Kids and a calf.

These are from Easter. There's a new baby calf we're (and by "we", I mean Dad) taking care of over at the barn. We took the kids over to check him out. Little niece didn't want to touch it, but little nephew didn't mind. I haven't named him yet, I usually always name the babies we take care of...Got any suggestions?

Rattlesnake Decapitation.

Photo warning: Guts ahead.

Snake season hath cometh!

Dad and I were moving a rock pile the other day when, once again, he stuck his hand within 5 inches of a rattlesnake. Luckily when he tried to move the rock he kept his hands on the side of it and didn't grab underneath. And luckily, the snake was napping under the rock. Unaware of its fateful dismal end. I told Dad to wait while I ran to get the camera, because that's what I do. When I ran in the house, Mom was all confused to my haste and I informed her of the quasi-excitement and she decided to be a part of the action. You'll see what happened next in the video posted below:

Laying unaware...

Oh. SNAP. The best part is at 1:05 when the actual decapitation happens. The snake flips out and, as you can probably imagine, is not at ALL happy about having a hoe attack its head.

I'm not entirely sure if it's still alive in this shot, but he was still squirming, still showing his fangs to me, so... Yeah.

Now I ask you, where else on the internet can you go from cute Easter niece pictures to gross decapitated rattlesnake heads?

Don't answer that.


Author's Note 4/16/10:
You may have noticed that the video was disabled by YouTube due to "inappropriate content". I received a slap on the wrist, y'all. Apparently YouTube didn't find my "depiction of cruel behaviour" without "educational merit" appropriate for viewing. Okay, pansies. This is Texas. Where I come from, you get the rattlesnake before it gets you. Lesson. Learned.

Vertical Blinds are Awesome.

I hope everyone's Easter was full of pastel-ey, eggy, and Jesus-y wonder!

The brother and crew were back in town for the holiday. I, of course, took tons of pictures which, of course, I will be posting here subsequently as I see fit.

For starters, I give you my niece who, upon finishing her post easter egg hunt lunch time feast, decided it would be just aWeSomE to hide from us in the vertical blinds.

Can you see her? Cuz I can't see her. Where'd she go? No, really. Where?

Peek. A-freakin'. Boo!

There she is!!!

Um... One word: Precious.

Pondering the Easter egg.

Sweet girl...

Once again. Try not to be jealous. :)

Stuck?

So, it rained last week. I suppose the uncle thought the ground looked dry enough to drive the tractor across. And the ground was dry. On top. But once you put a 10,000 pound tractor set up on saturated ground, it kind of sinks until it finds the mud.

Oh yes, it sinks. Up. To. The. Axle.

The AXLE.

Two foot hole? Anyone?

Post dig out. They had to go get the 8 ton tractor to get the 5 ton one out.

Babe was bored watching the whole thing.

Oh my farm life.

Happy April!

Here's a moon rise picture from a couple of nights ago.
And Sophie was behind me coming out of the pond. The water was so still it was like glass, until of course, she disrupted the calm. I like the ripples. ANYway.

I was also able to go down and take pictures of the UT tower being lit with the number one.

HOLY...Mother of God?

That's what I could have said. But nope, that's definitely NOT what I said. I was at a couple of churches today doing photography for a historical book that's being put together. I was minding my own damn blessed business, when a wasp decided to fly up to my face. You know what I said as I ran away from the wasp?

"Holy SH*T!"

On the front steps of the stained glass doors of a 130 year old church that my ancestors brought to being, I, girl who emits curse words without thought or control, shouted the aforementioned utterance.

WHAT! Is wrong with me?! {sigh.} I apologized to Jesus and asked for forgiveness.

Then dropped the f word ten minutes later in the cemetery. Again, without thought or control. I asked for forgiveness again, but I imagine Jesus just rolled his eyes at that one. Don't worry. I'm appalled at myself enough for everyone.

ANYWAY.

Here's a local church history lesson, folks!

This is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dessau, TX. Built in 1876. A Texas Historical Landmark, with the lovely bluebonnets in front.

This is Immanuel Lutheran Church founded in 1874, this current structure having been built post fire in 1928. This, obviously, is a view from the cemetery with, what I think is, a crab apple tree in the foreground.

Bi. Freaking. Polar.

My fellow Texans are aware, but for those who are not, I'm going to let y'all in on a well known fact about the Lone Star state. The weather around here is bi-polar. Menopausal? Erratic? Any of those adjectives will do. One minute it's all flowers and sunshine, and the next you've got a thunderstorm on your hands. For your viewing pleasure, a sampling of mother nature's work this week: