The Farm Wife's New Hair Dryer

This might not seem like a "Farm Wife" post. But ohhhhh my goodness! I am in love with this new hair dryer from Harry Josh! Harry Josh Pro Tools This blow dryer was a Christmas gift from my sweet mother and father-in-law. They ordered it from Derm Store and it came with an assortment of free gifts too! http://www.dermstore.com/
So this is what I love.....this thing saves me time! And, I'm all about anything that will save me time. It dries my hair fast, it makes it smooth and shiny and I barely need to use my flat iron!

New Baby Calf and a Winter Hail Storm

Our weather around here has been crazy to say the least. Torrential downpours, frigid temps, damaging high winds, hail storms in December....and, keep in mind, this was all in one day.
And, to top it all off, we had a brand new baby calf born in this weather. The poor baby was born in the cold rain, just before the hail storm and high winds hit. Fortunately, my husband was home for this adventure. He misses so many of them.....
We were able to get the cow and calf in a lot with a shed and get a heat lamp on the baby. However, he was still shivering. So I took my coat off and wrapped him in it while I snuggled with him to attempt to transfer my body heat to him. All while holding the heat lamp over his head.
The cow was on the other side of the lot, behind a gate, happily eating hay. But I truly believe that she knew I was trying to help her baby. Because now she will come up to me and let me pet her. Something she had never done before.
I'm happy to report that cow and calf are doing fine.
Here's the cold, wet, newborn calf-

Here I am, snuggling the baby and holding the heat lamp on him-

Here's the hail on the ground after the storm!

And here's the sweet baby today-

Winter Wonderland

Well, I'm back! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! We had a very warm Christmas. However, three days later, we had a belated white Christmas! We are still recovering from all the cooking, cleaning, eating, and houseful of welcomed guests. But, amidst all that, a nice snow storm yesterday gave us the opportunity to sit in front of the fire and enjoy a good book and the snowfall. 

Just Look at That Sky!

Yesterday evening I had been down in the lower pastures (what we call "the bottom"). I was checking water gaps (the fences across the creeks) and doing some repairs to those before turning the cows back in on those fields. There was some water gap damage after the recent heavy rains we've had.
As I drove back up the hill, the sight in front of me was breathtaking. I wanted to share the gorgeous view. This is my last blog post until after Christmas (unless I get a minute to share a great recipe!). Family begins arriving tomorrow and things are going to be busy!

Apple Butter

It's that time of year again.....time to make my yearly batch of Apple Butter! This stuff is delicious and so easy to make. (Plus it smells amazing in your house while it cooks!)

I started with 7 pounds of Gala apples which I peeled and cored. And, honestly, that's the hardest part of this whole process. 

Next I placed the apples in a large crock pot (and the peelings and cores in my compost barrel).  In a separate bowl I mixed 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves and 1/4 tsp salt. I poured this mixture over the apples and mixed well.

Next, I put the lid on and cooked on low for 10 hours, stirring occasionally.

After 10 hours, I added one tablespoon of vanilla, stirred that in and cooked uncovered on low for two more hours.

Next I used my Cuisinart immersion blender to puree the apples until smooth.

After that, I ladled the apple butter into half-pint jars (which I had heated in a hot water bath) leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top. I put the lids on and processed in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Then I removed the jars and left them on the counter overnight. You'll hear the popping sound for about an hour as the jars seal. 

Then I printed some cute labels and put them on the jars and I was done! 

10 jars of Apple Butter ready to give at Christmas!

Rescue!!

Last week, while checking cows, I found one of our new baby Angus calves caught in a barbed-wire fence! He was on the ground and had his front leg caught, just above the hoof. The bottom two strands of the fence were twisted and had him caught, very tight. I tried to pull the fence apart but it was in too much of a bind. Fortunately, I had wire cutters with me and was able to cut the fence and free the baby. He had a difficult time getting up at first. The video is right after he got up. I was very concerned about the limping plus he had a pretty bad scrape on his side. I am happy to report that yesterday he was running and playing! All is well.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

Well since I posted so many pics of my fall decorations, I decided to post a few of my Christmas decorations. I already talked about the sentimental Santa mugs, elves and snow globe. There's some pretty special old Christmas books with my decorations too. Enjoy!

This is an old Christmas record from when I was a kid. 

Love this cute snowman cookie jar from Cracker Barrel!

The kitchen tree

Cute Mr. and Mrs. Clause that I found on eBay

The master bedroom tree

And I'm STILL NOT FINISHED WRAPPING GIFTS!