Hey y'all! (yes, I just said "y'all", don't judge me :P)
So, I have a project update. My grazing study has been resurrected. We have cut the sudangrass/crabgrass mix out of the study because the grass will not be able to reach a safe height before the 15th. Instead, the calves that were assigned to those pastures will be moved to the novel endophyte grass this coming Wednesday. The new idea is to see if the calves from the endophyte-infected fescue (Kentucky 31) can catch up in performance, especially ADG (average daily gain), to those that have been grazing on the novel endophyte infected fescue during period one. However, I'm not getting up my hopes too much since the novel endophyte fescue pastures that they will be moved into and even the Kentucky 31 fields are looking pretty worrisome. I just don't know if the grasses will last long enough to complete the study. But I've got my fingers crossed and my Grandma prayin' for rain! (Thanks, Grandma Dorothy! Love you!)
Anyways, going along with my title......
My Mom and Mike (my stepdad) visited me this weekend. It was great to show them around the farm and introduce them to my "bovine babies."
I also brought them to the animal shelter that Eileen and I volunteer at in Metropolis, Project Hope. As we pulled in the parking lot, I saw a german shorthair pointer in the back of a SUV. I immediately, commented to my mom (knowing that the shelter is at maximum capacity and they would have to be turned down and having a german shorthair of my own), "They better not be giving him to the shelter, cause we'll be going home with another dog if they are."
Unfortunately, they were. However, they had gotten him from the shelter, so Project Hope was obligated to take him back. I told them I would call my friend and Mona's old foster mom to see if we could get him into a foster home with the Illinois Shorthair Rescue (ISR) (http://www.ilshorthairrescue.com/ ). He is a great dog! He is only 3 years old and is very handsome, I must say.
Here is a picture of my baby girl, Mona, whom I adopted last summer.....Let me know if you would like a german shorthair of your own; I have connections ; )
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| Mona, pooped after her first day of dog training |
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| the whole family (from the right: Kohl, Roxy, and Luci....and of course Mona) |
Anyways, my mom and Mike's visit actually made me realize how badly I needed this summer. And I am so grateful for it! Needless to say, this past school year kinda sucked.
(I don't mean to complain or focus on myself but this is a blog, usually that's what they are for :P ) But anyways, starting the first week or so of my sophomore year not being able to walk after being diagnosed with Lofgren's syndrome, toeing the line of failure in Animal Science Physiology, and not being allowed on campus for a week and a half due to the mumps
(who gets the mumps these days, you ask? . . . Me, that's who) really ruined the mood of my second year of college.
But this summer turned all that around. I don't think I have ever been happier. It's not that I don't miss home or my family or my amazing friends, but this place really feels like home to me. Maybe it's the people, the independence, the feeling of a hard day's work. Whatever it is, I love it!
For now, I'll leave you with the lyrics to a song that I like by Sara Evans........
I've been telling my dreams to the scarecrow
About the places that I'd like to see
I say, "friend do you think I'll ever get there?"
Oh, but he just stands there smilin' back at me
So I confessed my sins to the preacher
About the love I've been prayin' to find
Is there a brown-eyed boy in my future, yeah
And he says, "girl, you've got nothin' but time."
But how do you wait for heaven?
And who has that much time?
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know that you were born,
You were born to fly
My daddy he is grounded like the oak tree
My momma she is steady as the sun
Oh, you know I love my folks
But I keep starin' down the road
Just lookin' for my one chance to run
Hey, cause I will soar away like a blackbird
I will blow in the wind like a seed
I will plant my heart in the garden of my dreams
And I will grow up where I wander wild and free
Oh, How do you wait for heaven?
And who has that much time?
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know, that you were born?
You were born, yeah, you were born to fly
So how do you wait for heaven?
And who has that much time?
And how do you keep your feet on the ground
When you know, that you were born
You were born to fly, yeah
