Rains, 4th of July Birthdays - Kickstarter Is Nearly Ready
Rains kept coming. Two days of impassible roads. And yet, we had three birthdays to celebrate this July 4th. All while my Kickstarter was a-borning.
Hi,
Glad to have you open this once again (or even for a first time). Yes, life goes along on this farm with trials, tribulations, joys, and marvels. Glad to share this all with you .
Farming News - Now fourteen calves!. #12 is featured. Rain continued this week. And bittersweet choices of which steers left us.
Writing News - I was reminded how all writing is built on classics. And even today, how they out rank the novel formats like “socials”.
Expectancy - Your attitude controls what you get. Learning to “seek the silence” is a skill that masters your actual world, and so - the real world.
Farming News
Here’s Calf Number 12. Another new bull calf.
(He does have a full tail - in these pictures, he’s got it curled to the opposite side as I took his picture.)
All black. And the only other all - black one this year was a heifer, so that’s one way to tell them apart - other than the ear tag. Her momma’s name is #10 - because she still has her tag. She’s another 17-year-old momma. Even though there’s no white on him, he’s got that “hybrid vigor” we talked about last week.
He was born next to a watering “hole” which has had it’s water refreshed several times this week - as the rain flooded the area.
Challenge: send me your ideas for an original name - comment on Substack or reply to this email.
Still expecting a total of 17 this spring. Only 3 to go - now we are getting later day by day. I walked around them this morning, and they are all “closer”. But if they don’t have them by the time the bull goes in (around mid/late July) then that backs everything up for her and any calf being in sync with everyone else.
Three 4th of July Birthdays
Had a new calf on the 4th. Name is “Betsy” as in Ross, not Bossie. (Sorry, my wife beat you to that one.) I’ll have pictures in about about two weeks.
The other two July 4th birthdays were our guard dogs. These are siblings appropriately named Justice/Jussie and Liberty/Libbie. 2 years old this week.
Bittersweet Note
Shipped four steers and an open young cow to the processor this week. All great looking animals. That open cow should have had her second calf - but was still open a week ago. And we can’t keep animals that aren’t fertile enough to drop a calf every year. A rule that we have to keep in order to keep the herd productive.
We saved back five steers this year, and 7 heifers. Which is the majority of last year’s calves. Fortunately, we are doing well on rain this year, so the grass is abundant. Those heifers will be bred (ideally) and each have a calf next year - which will bring us up to 24 productive cows. And those that don’t will go to auction or get “shipped”. Since keeping them through the summer to sell in the fall costs us forage, they will bring more income by processing instead of waiting.
The best auction prices are in the local auction’s “Black Saturday” sale where we have a calf on them and a “calf in them” (pregnant). That’s highly profitable for anyone who buys them, so we get quite good prices. Those are usually very old or very late, as I’ve mentioned before. This year, as we are so short, I’ll probably risk another year on our 17-year-olds. (It’s better to have them walk into the auction ring - or process as all hamburger - than have to bury them.) And that is the bittersweet economics of raising cattle.
But I do send them off with my prayers, oddly. I try not to get attached to them, but there’s always something - especially when I’m taking pictures of them as newborns and visiting them twice each day, every day of the year...
Tiny Home News
Blackberry season looks like it’s over. We pick the residuals this morning, and scouted out where our thornless ones will give up their handful in a couple of weeks.
I did gather our first elderberries this afternoon, so that season is starting now.
We had a cool night the other evening, with the front door open, the screen door shut - but one of our guard dogs was enjoying the deck that night - and barking to reinforce her brother who was barking out in the woods nearby. A bit sleepless that evening. I did get up to invite her and her brother off the deck when they both wound up out there. The price we pay to keep our farm secure from varmints…
Writing News
3rd chapter of the Cashflow Code arrived. Follow this serial…
And the fiction serial - The Saga of Erotika Jones continues:
Kickstarter Previews Arrive
Did the video and opening graphic. I’m working through all the details about the levels of support, and the “Story” section as a glorified sales page.
Kickstarter display page here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1481356435/1548894263?ref=a5wy7u&token=315549e4 (Feel free to share that preview…)
Revised video here:
A Special Offer Returns
For a short time, the beta-readers version of Cracking the Cashflow Code is now available. It will be available at this link until I start the Kickstarter release, you can download the new and improved edition (especially if you already have it from earlier.)
That link is also Pay What You Want - a nice way to donate.
Here’s the link: https://livingsensical.gumroad.com/l/CashflowCode
AN ASK: if you’ve downloaded it, please give some feedback. Leave it in the comments, send me an email. Something, anything. Like it, could be better.
NOTE: This will be a bonus for the Kickstarter. Publishing decisions will be in the next few weeks.
Expectancy - Attitude
Life on this planet causes certain reactions in a person. Your attitude isn’t necessarily constant. But if you take responsibility for your actions, and practice responding positively at most times, then you can find yourself having a fairly equitable attitude almost all the time. Now, if you keep your regular sleep, and decent diet, that takes out most of the reasons for being irritated.
But I avoid people who are working all they can to be critical to everyone about everything. And people in bad moods - when I can.
And, there’s always Wayne Dyers’ saying: “If you can’t change the people you’re with, then change the people you’re with.”
Once you set your high-flying goal, the next thing is to set your attitude to one that you’d have once you’ve achieved that goal. Just the 1-2 punch you need to do every time you consider that goal - at least twice a day. And the more you practice any attitude, the more habitual it gets for you. Practice makes permanent, after all…
Thanks for being there, opening this.
Sharing is caring. You’re who I do this all for. I value your input.
Leave a comment if something strikes your fancy.
I hope your life is not too interesting to be overwhelming, but sufficiently engaging to keep you amused. (Like some of us here...)
Robert
PS. Again, you can always email me about anything.
PPS. Again, do upgrade to the paid newsletter version. That helps me keep the lights on - so I can keep all this coming to you. As much or little as you want…
(Meanwhile, I’ve put my archived newsletters and articles all available as free on Substack, instead of behind a paywall.)
AND you can always buy me a coffee…
Here’s that new beta-reader advanced copy: