THE THREE TIA’S

My friend John from Chicago has many Aunties called Zia (Tia means Aunty in Spanish) and his favorite  (though he has other favorite Aunties too) has an apple tree here that has just come into blossom. Planted right beside the turkey house. And then I have Tia the heifer. And then there is Aunty Del named for my own favorite Great Aunty Del. So with Tia, Zia and Aunty – they felt like the three Tia’s to me.

Yesterday I brought Tia and Aunty Del back to the home pastures so I had Three Tias on my mind.

 

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Yesterday had a still stormy disposition but no good rain.

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The lack of clarity in the above blossom from Tia’s apple tree is testament to the endless strong wind.

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Aunty Del.

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Tia.

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I am looking for a nice Angus bull that these two girls can go and visit. I am hoping to gentle Tia and see if she will work out as a milk cow. It all depends on her udder – she is out of an outrageously valuable Holstein show cow Mama and the bull was an Angus. So being half Angus and half Holstein it is possible she will have a milk cow udder or maybe not. We will see. But she is a lovely gentle animal and I am going to train her as a milk cow anyway. If they breed and deliver ok they will produce two beef calves and if  all goes well I will milk the Aunty’s next summer.

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WaiWai would like to announce that the last scab has come off his back and his skin is completely healed. So all up it must be a year since he was set on fire and now look at him. Healed and even sleeping with Tima and Tane in the night times. Not close yet, but in the same room.

 

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Sheila.

 

The cold is coming back with the nights going down into the low 40’s in the next few days. The chicks are too big for their old heated table so I made them a new one with one of the heated mats (it is made of fiberglass – heavy and rigid) set on brick ‘feet’. This is plenty big enough for the twenty Rhode Island Red chicks to get under if they get cold.

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This morning the wind is blowing briskly.

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I love how this shot shows the true state of my tea towels!

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I picked four pounds of asparagus yesterday and then washed the usual three dozen eggs. The rhubarb is not quite long enough to pick yet but I will be listing horse radish leaves for sale next week as well. My daily take is rising.

I hope you all have a lovely day.

Love Celi

WEATHER: Very windy. Mostly scudding clouds and a little brave sun.

Friday 05/04 20% / 0 in
A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early. Partly cloudy. Windy during the morning. High 76F. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph.

Friday Night 05/04 10% / 0 in
A clear sky. Low 52F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

Sun
5:47 AM 7:52 PM

Moon

Waning Gibbous, 82% visible

 

61 Comments on “THE THREE TIA’S

  1. Oh WaiWai looks wonderful! You are a miracle worker for sure. And I am glad to hear that you may be milking again. Tia looks so sweet. Your tea towels look a lot like mine :*)

  2. Good thing you have strong clips for those towels or they may have ended up in the next state!

  3. Aren’t everyone’s tea towels like that…? Congratulations, Mr WaiWai, you and Miss C have done it between you. A whole skin is a wonderful thing.

  4. that is the most extraordinary cloud, it looks like somebody has rolled out some modelling clay and slapped it on the sky! All three Tias looking good 🙂 What a wind, I would be hiding for sure. Laura

  5. Rhubarb, yum! The plants here have just started producing, and I made some really great apple-rhubarb crisp with it and some apples I froze last fall (my most recent blog post has the recipe if anyone is interested!).

    Yay for Wai! That is so wonderful! I started following your blog right when you got him because I stumbled upon his story and had to know how it all turned out. Now I read you every morning and am totally invested in your whole farm’s story. Someday I want to bring the husband and kids and stay at the B&B!

  6. Sheila looks like a very, very happy camper! 🙂

  7. I am excited that you have the opportunity to sell some of what you grow. It’s good to get wholesome food out into the community. I will be planting some things for sale, too, but mostly decorative things that give joy instead of a harvest. Wish me luck. I’m late getting started.

    • Oh! I wish you lots of luck. My best success is when I find my market first then grow later/ people love decoration/ you will do well..

  8. WaiWai looks wonderful. Congratulations you saved him.

  9. I did a happy dance for Wai! That is great news!!!!! And here you go – didn’t you just say you would not be milking next summer? You just can’t stand the thought of no fresh butter, cheese and ice cream…. not matter the work that goes into it.

    I just love Aunty D’s neck. We had one bull, Pepper, that loved neck rubs right behind his big ole head. I would get on one side and Mom or Dad on the other and he would just groan/moan. Yes – full size HUGE bull – Red Brangus – and he was more pet than aggressive bull. But he did his job well and kept our small herd growing for 5+ years. I think he was 9 or 10 when he came to live with us so he was getting to be an old man at 15. Our next bull was full Brahma (BABY!) and was nice to women – but oh so aggressive to men. After living with him two years – Dad decided AI was the way to go. Few too many close calls! But I could load him in the trailer in no time. Dad never could get that bull loaded.

    Okay – I guess I’m chatty today…… Have a great weekend! (I know, I know – you don’t get weekends on a farm…..)

    • Chatty is good. I am not milking this summer. I will breed the cows this summer and hopefully they will calve next spring – then I will be milking. Your bull sounds just lovely. Wish our Dexter had been like that but no such luck. C

  10. If that’s a big long tube cloud, I believe they are rare. I saw a documentary about people who go in search of them, a couple of years ago.
    One wouldn’t recognise the old Wai next to the new Wai – you have worked a miracle.
    Sheila looks content, as always!

  11. WOW!! Those clouds rolling across the sky ~~ blowing the towels ~~ and Boo Boy is there to catch ’em in case they blow off!!!
    Love all the close ups of the cows beautiful faces!! And then the Wai Boy!! He’s looking great ~~ thanks to his MasterMiss!!!
    Have a great day!!
    Carol

  12. my favorite photo is of WaiWai…..so wonderful to see him so well….makes me smile!

  13. Hooray for Wai! What a long road. But worth it to give this guy a happy life. And that cloud is amazing! Such weather you have. Los Angeles is so mild, and New England (where I’m originally from) has interesting weather, but is too hilly for those sorts of dramatic views and clouds.

  14. Glad to read and see WaiWai; yes, it’s wierdly cold after the heat, but we did get the rains here. Sounds like things are progressing well in your corner. Glad to see.

  15. How old is Sheila ? I wish I could get some of your rhubarb, I have been buying it here in the store to make some German recipes like yogurt cream with rhubarb compote. I love rhubarb.

  16. Such wonderful news about Wai’s recuperation (physical and psyche: )
    Hope things work for you on the bovine front. And no wonder those poor tea towels are showing wear while whipping wildly about in the wind like that! So much good news and these are all great pics, but the towels are so fluid…

  17. That’s quite an impressive line of clouds. And the wind…reminds me of my native Minnesota prairie.

    Everything looks so summery compared to here in Minnesota where my tulips haven’t even bloomed yet and farmers are hoping to soon get in the fields.

  18. WaiWai looks beautiful! Is that what happened to him – he was set on fire? I know you weren’t sure for the longest time…sunburn/neglect….but if it was a sadistic prank….GRRR! Oh, those beautiful cows – makes me want to hug ’em! Love the beginnings of blossoms inTia’s apple tree! Have a fun day!

  19. Congratulations to you and WaiWai! I’m thrilled he has healed completely.

  20. Such an extraordinary transformation of WaiWai. And so inadequate “Congratulations “! If ever you feel down on yourself I hope you will remember how immensely impossible treating his extraordinary medical needs were—not to mention his emotional needs—and how disheartening day after day was— when nothing seemed to be working —and how disgusting his wounds were—yet you persevered. And cured him not only physically but brought him to place where he is beginning to trust others. This is the real meaning of awesome.

  21. Lots to love here… sending your good homegrown food out into the world and getting some well deserved and directed $ back in, the Tia’s, Wai Wai good news… and tea towels… that you have them and so obviously put them to good use. Only just the other day I noted that mine look well-used, and thought that is a fine thing, they aren’t decorative.

  22. So good to hear Wai is all healed!!! Things are looking up there, even the laundry. 🙂 It’s that time of year again when I go outside and work if the weather is permitting and stay most of the day. Had my break for a little rest, linner, (lunch and dinner combined) and now back to work after I’ve stopped by here for a short visit. Those little red chicks are adorable and hope you get a chance to make Tia a milk cow. Hope you had a perfectly wonderfilled day.

  23. Peeking in from a busy blogbreak . . . Celi, to the best of my knowledge and John’s usage the Italian word for Aunt is ZIA, ie zia Lea, zia Pina etc . . .

      • Tia, Zia and Aunty- the Three Tias is s play on the Three Tenors. I have clarified than first sentence – I really must proof read more carefully! Thank you for pointing that out . Must have been half asleep

        • Oh, you and me both – amongst other matters ‘spent’ most of the night in Jerusalem watching the start of the Giro d’Italia . . . oh, Celi, you would have loved to get to know that beautiful, big, sophisticated, architecturally and culturally fabulous place: after all the ‘home’ of three religions! The helicopters did a wonderful job . . . . the museum housing the Dead Sea Scrolls alone id 20 acres in size . . . . and I really felt I was swimming in one of the pools of the world famous King David Hotel . . . this night thru’ the desert to Tel Aviv! 🙂 ! Oh, there is road cycling too !!!!!! Sorry about mentioning ‘zia’ but I thought you would kick yourself later . . . . best . . .

  24. Bravo, Wai!!! All healed so the flies can’t bother his wounds. Sheila smiling and happy. Beautiful Aunty Del and Tia, they’re lovely cows. Apple blossoms and flapping laundry. What a grand day. I wish I could meet everyone. This post is the special topping on the day after finding we’ve got a “new” truck (it’s older, used but in good shape, handles well and doesn’t need any real repairs, just a few little odds and ends) which was brought while i was getting dressed after getting up.

  25. I love the host of the washing on the line. It brings back memories of my mother’s washing line. How wonderful that Wai Wai is healed. This proves what can be done with faith and hard work.

  26. Oh dear, spell check said the ‘host of the washing . . . ‘ Well, heavenly host perhaps but I did mean to say ‘shot’.

  27. So perfect, “Wai Wai would like to announce…”. He’s been a resilient boy, finding his way through so much abuse, and learning to trust again. I love the towels line drying images. We don’t often get to see the curl of the fabric before the wind snaps it!

  28. Love the pic of the washing blowing in the wind .. So good to hear that Wai’s skin has mended. Good on you Celi. As for that Sheila, she hates that camera doesn’t she! 😃

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