Here we are, once again, mid-dive into another Missouri spring. Sure, this year is a little different, yet nature will have her way, and all we have to do is watch and enjoy, knowing that spring always will come again.
For me, this “craziness” looks like a lot of outdoor time, which I’m so grateful for. The animals at the farm need taken care of whether there’s a pandemic or not, so a lot of my time is being spent there.
I can’t help but take photos of the emerging spring, the critters, and the life going on around me.
I hope you enjoy a more photo-centered blog today!
With more time than usual at hand, I’ve started to exercise my green thumb again. I love gardening!
So far, in the garden, are the hardier cooler-weather starters. I have onions, peas, potatoes, beans, carrots, and garlic all in. I also added marigold seeds around them to hopefully ward off dangerous bugs and bunnies.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelon, and pumpkins are all starting in the house. This year, I’m also trying out some “new” plants: butternut squash, Brussels sprouts (I’m super excited about this one), and a few other things. Hopefully they all grow, and I’ll be able to share pictures later this summer.
Another project I will be starting this week is halter training some calves. We have a young bull and a heifer we’ll be keeping this year out of our weanlings, and we like to have them halter broke. I used to show calves as a teenager, and I truly enjoy working with them and making friends with them and halter training them.
Last week, one of my sweet old show calves was limping. I had to catch her, and ended up pulling a stick out of her foot. It had lodged between her toes!
This grand old lady had a healthy set of twins last year, and I might be just a little proud of her! In fact, I’ve started taking pictures of her every chance I get. I want this gal to be remembered long after she is no more. But hopefully that won’t be for several years!
One of the greatest blessings of this time off (other than family time and rest) is that I’ve been able to spend time with my horses. Time that I haven’t been able to spend with them in about five years. So, this year, they are getting reminded what it is to be “work” horses again. My Chari has been ponying a friend’s mare who can be a little nasty, and she’s been doing great! We’ve also been working on flat arena-type work and will be jumping shortly.
As the summer days get longer, we’re looking toward summer. Maybe horse shows, maybe not. Maybe social distancing, maybe not. Maybe travel . . . shall I say it? Maybe not. And what to do with my MA degree!?
Bethany Swoboda is a freelance editor for Wordbender Books. She has always loved reading, reading, reading, and enjoys helping authors polish and develop their manuscripts. Some of her many hobbies are horseback riding, bouldering, helping work her family’s farm, playing piano, crocheting, and volunteering at her church. She has a BA in creative writing and a minor in professional writing from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.
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