WoooHooo times 2!

Today is a double blessing day. I woke up to a much happier me. Yesterday was a special day for me so I literally "escaped" the farm and took myself a drive. I spent a wonderful, relaxing day with my
Mom, Dad and sister, got to see both my brothers,
my brother in law, one of my nieces and my nephew. Sometimes with the pressures of my life, I forget about the old days, the laughs, the silly things we did when we were kids, the adventures we had as a family. It really does a body good to remember those things and share them with the ones you love.

Long drive home last night tho ( so very worth it) and sometime between the time I got home and the time my son rolled out of bed for morning chores, Goober cow gifted us with a healthy calf. Not sure on the gender yet, Goober is a little defensive a the moment so the "tail lift" can wait. She must smell the "cheese making" thoughts on me! hehehehe

Giggles in the rain

An old friend sent me this in my email this morning. We don't talk much anymore but she still emails me funny things she finds every now and then.

Does the statement, "We've always done it like that" ring any bells? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5". That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US Railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.

Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England, because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since...and the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. The United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5" is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot and bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification and wonder what horse's ass came up with it, you may be exactly right, because the Imperial Roman Army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the back ends of two war horses!
Now here comes the twist to the story. When you see a space shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters,or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Morton Thiokol at their factory at Utah. The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains. The SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds. So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass. And you thought being a HORSE'S ASS wasn't important!

Sunny Thursday

Oh, is today a nice day! Partly sunny and decently warm. Morning chores went off without a hitch ( I like that) and I spent some time grinding up feed when we finished. Standing there tending the grain hopper, my gaze kept falling on that smoker grill on the porch. Yep, it's almost time for some eats, I'm going to light a fire. So, with some help from a handful of corn husks, brunch was created. You just can't beat fresh eggs and a little steak.

Still no calf, Goober is doing this on purpose. Actually, it could still be up to another week before she decides to have that calf. I am just impatient, as usual. I'm ready for some fresh cheese.

No seedling casualties overnight, that's a good thing! Nothing new has sprouted yet, another case for patience I don't have...

Hump Day in March

Having a goat, a dog and 4 cats running around in the house is proving to be a bit of a nuisance. This is all that is left from the seedlings I had started 2 weeks ago. These are the tough ones, having been on the floor at least twice,
stomped, chewed on etc. Once again, I have a myriad of seeds "cooking" in their little baggie greenhouses. Hopefully by the time they sprout, I will have some remedy for the critter problem.

There was a nice frost on the ground this morning. That pleases me just a little, it lets me know I'm not behind in getting my seedlings going. It's still going to be a while before the soil warms up.

Still no calf on the outside. I think Goober is playing with me. She sure is enjoying all the attention. I don't mind her being so "lovey" either. I hope that trend continues. It sure is nicer than the rodeo cow attitude ;)

It's still pretty darn muddy here with more rain in the forecast for this weekend...