New Bedding for a New Year

2015 is only days away. A new year means new beginnings including the new bedding that we put out this weekend. However, I'm not talking about this kind of bedding (although it is really pretty, and I love this look!)

I'm talking about this kind of bedding. 

On January 1st we have three cows due to calve. Although, the weather in Iowa has been amazingly warm, but it is about to get really cold, and that means we need to start planning for the new calves that will be coming soon. But things don't magically look like this. 

First we had to shovel out all the old bedding and get it clean. Thankfully those doors push open and we used a skid steer to push most of it out. 

Then we bring in the cattle bedding aka plain yellow straw. That's what cattle prefer over gold polka dotted bedding. The Boy is also in the picture waving or maybe saying under his breathe get over here and help me shake out this bedding. 

Lot of shaking happens and the panels go back up. You can't see it from this picture put there is a gate only bigger enough for the calves to fit under. This way they can sneak into their bedding and take a warm nap away from their moms. We change out the bedding throughout the winter to keep the calves happy and healthy. 

You can also check out my post from last year My Bedroom Compared to a Cow's Bedroom to see what the bedding looks like for the adult cows. To get details on the bedding and furniture in the top picture click here. 

Real Life Social Media Friends

The past few days the Boy and I have been in Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo. It was a bit of a last minute trip, but we had been looking forward to the seeing the rodeo, the food, shopping and seeing if Lady Luck was going to show up. However, there was another reason why I was really excited about the trip.

Meeting online social media friends in real life.

My blog and other social media accounts have served as a Match.com set up for me finding like minded women. Women that are passionate and driven. They have to be open minded. They have to love clothing and make-up. They don't have to be farmers, but they do have to have an appreciation for those that grow and raise food.

I guess if there was a Match.com for finding girlfriends that is how my profile would read. Darcy and Myla are two of the gals that have fit the criteria. I can't remember how we all began connecting. I think Darcy actually might have found my blog first, and I think I found Myla's blog through a comment she left on another blog I was reading. Now I enjoy reading there posts or tweets each week, and I really felt like I "know them."

However, our status has changed to official. A few weeks ago e found out we were all going to be in Vegas the same time. So Monday morning us three social media friends, our husbands and a few other travel partners got together for breakfast. We talked for three hours and I am pretty sure could have gone on for longer!

Topic ranged from boots and make-up, to artificially inseminating cows, to our love of agriculture. Online isn't such a bad place to meet and make friends. So thanks girls for the awesome time and I can't wait for the next social media friends that I get to meet in person.   

Now go check out 

Darcy's blog - Success is Reason Enough 

Myla's blog - Purple Front Door

Farmer Rap

These Kansas farm boys know how to get down.

Remember the Peterson Brother's video Farming and I Grow It and Farmer Style? Well there is another farmer that has decided to share a little bit of farm life via this fun little video.

 

You can follow Daddy D on Twitter @klingpossum

Our new wedding gift ride

Pimp out my ride.

Our heifer calves at
the State Fair.

A week ago today the Boy and I were headed to State Fair (for the whole recap you can check out our cattle blog www.jjbcattle.com). It went awesome and we even brought a banner home. However, rolling up to the State Fair we had pretty big smiles on our faces.

You see last year when we went to the fair we had to borrow a stock trailer to haul our cattle in. However, this year we had our very own stock trailer! Last fall we purchased a used stock trailer. She was a little worn/broken in, but she was ours. I know I sound sentimental but buying a stock trailer is a pretty big purchase for a young farming couple. It kind of gave us a sense of accomplishment.

The week of our wedding our best man asked if he could borrow the trailer to help his sister move her furniture. This is a pretty common way to move friends and family in agriculture communities and it is a whole helluva lot cheaper than a moving van. We agreed and told him to bring it back when he was done. A couple days before the wedding our best man called again and said it would be a few more days because he had gotten a flat tire on the trailer. Not a problem. I was busy planning a wedding.

All along our best man and dear friends had been scheming and when our trailer rolled up the day before the wedding it looked like it had been on a episode of Pimp My Ride.

They stole our old trailer and made it brand new! They had it acid washed so the aluminum now gleams.

And they put all new signage on it for us. I really like all our Pottery Barn dishes, but our "new" trailer was pretty cool.

I guess you could say I am a Rockin' Rural Women. I love make-up, high heels, nice clothes, cattle and stock trailers. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Alphabet Crayons and Soybeans

An educational experience 

I came across this awesome DIY project on spearmint baby. Don't raise your eyebrow as to why I was on a baby blog, I actually found it through a wedding blog, and no hmm about that either, the point is I am glad I found it because...

Look at these! Alphabet crayons!

How fun are these. The wedding blog suggested that you spell out words and give them to your little guests. I think coloring outside of the lines would be more fun if you could use the letter C. 

And they are really easy to make. Click here for the full directions. 

And lastly, did you know that lots of crayons are made with soybeans. The petroleum oil used in crayons  can be replaced with soybean oil and waxes, and that means they are safer for us to use, and gives you another reason to supporter farmers. 

Did you know this is what soybeans look like when it is time to harvest them?