Q. Do fish blink?

A. Most types do not--according to a couple articles I read on-line.

However, this evening, while attempting to get a good picture of my two Black Tipped Tetras, my camera displayed the following message on the screen after taking a picture:

"BLINK DETECTION".

So, who do I believe: the computer or my camera? :)



The following picture is a couple days old already, but I thought I'd post it anyway, as it's --interesting...

This is what our trampoline can look like after a bad wind storm!
Thankfully, Dad helped Mom, Jacob and I to get it straightened out again.
I spent most of my day babysitting at the Daycare I help out at occasionally. The lady who owns the Daycare had appointments in the city and asked if I could come watch the children for the day, so I cared for 8 children, ages 1-5 for 7 hours. It was pretty fun, as the children are pretty well behaved and know the routine of the day even better than I do.


And now, about the exciting part of our day...

Shortly after arriving home, my dad looked out the window and saw a chicken with several little balls of fluff scurrying behind and around her! The last couple of years, when a hen showed up with a new brood of chicks, we'd let her try to raise them, but have had very poor success, usually the ending result being that of one or two new additions to our flock of aging (laying)chickens. So, this year we've decided to take the chicks away right away and raise them ourselves, letting the hen go set on some more eggs if she so desires.

However, we weren't quite prepared for chicks yet, so their current abode is in our kitchen, under a heat lamp that's tied to a yard-stick. :)

Mother snapped this picture of Andrew and I bringing the chicks in out of the rain/hail...

Me, transporting 8 fluff-balls from the pail to the box...

(The box is their new home...)

What an exciting time of year Spring is!

Oh yes, I was also going to mention that we have another bottle-calf now, as one cow had twins today and didn't have enough milk for two babies. Now our other calf will have a romping companion. :)

The splendor...

"The splendor of the rose...


...and the whiteness of the lily...

...do not rob the little violet of its scent,

...nor the daisy of its simple charm.

If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose,

Spring would lose its loveliness!"

~Therese of Lisieux

Need any wind?

The wind was so strong this morning that it required a lot of strength to get the house door open (not to let it bang into the side of the house) and closed and then to walk across the yard to the barn! Thankfully, it's gone down some now. I did go into town by way of the gravel road this time so as not to have to drive around the lake where the wind would surely be blowing the water and tree branches across the road again!

After morning chores were finished, my dad and brothers and I (Mom would have gone too, except she went to Bismarck) drove over to the little lake close by us to see how the railroad tracks going through the lake were fairing. The railroad crew have been using our rocks to try and build the track up there, but they still have a long ways to go. Here's a picture of some of the rocks and dirt they have in a pile down in Kintyre... (Please note: All that dirt was in the piles from when the former owners of our place pushed the rocks together into piles. We wish that the top-soil wouldn't be leaving our fields, but I guess it wasn't doing much good where it was at either and now we can get at the land below the piles.)
Here's what the water looked like on Goose Lake...

I just got home from work a little bit ago and found everyone in bed, so I guess I'll join them in dreamland now, so I can wake up when they do in the morning. :) My family let me sleep in this morning and they had the first batch of cows milked already before I got out to the barn!

Now I lay me down to sleep...

After helping numerous residents at the care center get their PJs on and get all tucked into bed, I'm very much ready now to do the same!

By the time I got home, most of my family was in bed already, so I'm not even sure what all transpired around the farm after 1:30 this afternoon when I left...? I guess Mother or the boys will fill you in on happenings here from time to time. :)

I went into town a little earlier today as I needed to fill the gas tank on the car. The gas-gauge is broken, and always reads FULL, so I like to add fuel once a week or so, so I'm sure not to run out!

I feel like my posts have been pretty boring lately, and there's so much I'd like to share about work in town, as there are many new experiences there everyday for me. However, I've learned how important confidentiality is and, as "They" tell me, "What happens at work, stays at work," I feel that I can't share anything more than very vague descriptions of what goes on there......

And so, I shall leave you with a quote by C. S. Lewis, and bid you good night. ~

"God loves us; not because we are lovable but because He is love, not because He needs to receive but because He delights to give."

It's hard to keep my eyes open...

...so I'll go to bed! I just got home a few minutes ago from working at the nursing home.

I have to tell you before I go though that there was snow on the ground this morning when I woke up! Maybe it's a good thing we don't have our garden in yet?????????

April showers bring May flowers...

...plus they water the April flowers at the same time! :)

(It's raining currently--the first good shower of this season.)


Some of our tulips opened up yesterday! This is my favorite one, so far...

This picture shows the new apple buds bursting open on one of the grafted trees...

And this little bumbler found himself a nice, yellow dandelion to rest on for awhile...


And now for a few details about, and pictures from yesterday!

Members of the Dagley family (and Hannah S.) joined us for the noon meal yesterday and the rest of the S. family arrived about an hour later, just in time for Sarah S. to hop in the van with the Dagleys, Andrew and I to head for SD. It was a very fun journey, spent in visiting and singing lots of hymns. We arrived (after a 2 hour journey) at the church where the graduation was being held, just in time for the program to start.

Here's the happy graduate, RubyAnn giving her speech...
RubyAnn's family sang a couple songs together (pictured below) and her extended family and some friends shared encouraging words and memories they had...

After the nice ceremony, there was time for visiting with friends (plus there was delicious chili to enjoy downstairs--served by the graduate...)

Here, Andrew's visiting with a couple of the Dagley young men (Michael and David)...

MY DEAR FRIEND DORENA WAS THERE!!! Today actually marks the 12 year mark for us--12 years ago we met at RubyAnn's older sisters' graduation and sweet Dorena (left) asked me (right) if I wanted to be her pen-pal. Little did we know then how close of friends we'd become over the years--through lengthy letters and in-person visits. :) We figured out that it had been 2 years since we'd seen each other now, so it was quite a joyous reunion!

More dear friends... There were several other friends there too, but I didn't get a picture with them because, well, I just wasn't thinking about it at that time!

Left to right are: Sarah S., Hannah S., RubyAnn, and myself...

Yesterday held a surprise for us--that being that we learned Hannah S. is now engaged to Ben Dagley. :) We did suspect this might be in the works, but didn't realize that it was a reality already! "Congratulations, Ben and Hannah!"

It was a very enjoyable day, one that I'm sure Andrew and I'll remember for a long time!

What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.....day!

It was just the type of day that gets me motivated to be a better Christian and friend--just being with others who love Him and show His love to everyone they meet. :)

I have a few pictures to share and several stories to tell and much joy in my heart, but it's late once more and so I'll wait for tomorrow to continue.

I hope you all had as wonderful a day as I did!~

Fun day tomorrow! (and a fun tag!)

First, let me tell you quick about the tag I just received from Hannah... The rules are as follows:

Go to the forth folder in your photos and find the forth photo.
Post that photo on your post (no editin' no croppin' no nothin') and explain what the picture is. Then, tag four people.

...And so, here's the forth picture in my forth folder...

It is: A blurry picture of a flash of lightning.

The fifth picture in the folder was so much better, I just had to share it with you too! Aren't God's fireworks amazing???

As several of my blogging friends may wish to do this one, I'll just tag anyone who wishes to do this one. :)

Below are a couple of the pictures of the big rock-moving equipment that's been in our fields the last few days. They made a lot of progress today and it's neat to watch the view from our south windows gradually change. It's a very nice change!!!

There are 3 of these big trucks running all day--going down to Kintyre and dumping the rocks in a big pile for later use.

I'm really excited about tomorrow! After a few phone calls on my mom's part, plans were made for us to have a full house tomorrow, with around 15 people for the noon meal. The reason? Well, one of my/our friends in SD is graduating from her home school high-school tomorrow and Andrew and I really wanted to go. Mom called Mrs. Dagley to see if they'd have extra room in their vehicle for us to ride with, and they said they would, but some of the S. family's' children would also like to go, and could they stop at our place and the S. parents spend the day with my parents and Jacob, while the S. children rode with Andrew and I to join the Dagleys for the rest of the journey..... Then, Mom had a great idea and just invited the Dagleys and the S. family for the noon meal so we can all spend some time together as a group before we younger people and Mrs. Dagley head for SD. What a fun day it will be!!! When we get to the graduation, not only will we see dear RubyAnn who's graduating (and her family), but I'm hoping to see 2 of my other close friends who are also friends of RubyAnn. What a fun day it will be!!! (Have I said that before? :) )

I'm also happy because the three skirts I ordered came today in the mail, so I can wear one of them tomorrow! I'm not happy with one of the skirts, but I'll leave that for another post.....

Right now, I'd best get some sleep, as I think Andrew and I will get up and do chores in the morning as we won't be home to do them tomorrow night............... :)

Home again~

What a busy day this was...

After morning chores, Jacob and I went to repair more of the fence (the snow had pulled a lot of it down over the winter...). When we were about a third of a mile away from our farm, Jacob had turned the Ram off at a certain place in the fence that needed checking/fixing and, when he tried to turn it on again, it wouldn't start. He and I tried several things to try to get it to start, but all to no avail. Soooooo, we had a nice walk in the sunshine back to the farm. :)

When we got back, we walked out to check the apple trees we'd grafted and were so happy to see that some of the grafted limbs are starting to bud!!! It's still too early to say how many are going to take, but it's encouraging to see that at least a few did!

Around noon, we were surprised to see some big equipment driving up the road and then soon realized it was the railroad with some bigger machines to move rocks with. Jacob & I drove out to watch them for a few minutes (and to get some pictures which I'll post tomorrow). How nice it will be for my family to not have to drive around rock piles in the fields here anymore!

At 1:30pm, I headed for town. I worked until 10:30pm and learned so many things once again... I still feel lost there sometimes, but it's helpful to be learning who the residents are now and to be getting to know the staff better as well!

I pulled in our yard only a couple of minutes before my dad and Andrew got back from their grain cleaning jobs, so we were able to eat a late supper/snack together and unwind a little bit. And now, it's time for sleep once again.

"God makes our lives a medley of joy and tears,

hope and help, love and encouragement."

Lazy day...

I wasn't feeling well most of the day, so didn't get much done other than helping Jacob fix some fence so the cows wouldn't break out...... I'm still not feeling very good, but am not actually feeling too sleepy as I slept most of the afternoon. So goes life sometimes!

"Congratulations, you passed!"

I was delighted to read those words on the piece of paper one of my teachers handed me this afternoon!!! ("Thank you Lord!!!!!!!!") I'm so glad that's done with. :) Thank you for your prayers and well wishes! They helped I'm sure!


To celebrate, I went to the store and bought----yes, ice cream and root beer for floats---our usual big-celebration treat. :) I also got paid today; Andrew finished his first grain cleaning job with his new cleaner; and Jacob stacked up bales by himself for the hay hauler to bring in later, so we actually had many things to celebrate!



(Below: I'm toting the piece of paper that says that I passed my test and, in the other hand, I have our celebration supplies, fresh from--the grocery store. )
Hip hip hooray! What a great day.
~Cora Beth, CNA

Which is more important?

...Studying 'til all hours of the night, or getting a good nights rest?


Well, I just read in my thick manual that getting a good nights sleep the night before testing is the best idea, so I'll follow those instructions and head for bed immediately! :)

~Good night~

It's going out tomorrow!

"It" being Andrew's grain cleaner!!! It still isn't quite finished, but is hopefully usable. Jacob and I helped Andrew most of the afternoon, as he's scheduled to clean at our neighbors' farm tomorrow morning and there were a bunch of odd jobs needing to be done. I learned several things while out there, but still was mainly lost in the guys' world...

I've been studying my CNA training book (my test is scheduled for Tuesday) in my spare time and consequently didn't have time to do much catching up in the land of on-line communication. Maybe life will slow down--sometime? :)

I'd best get some rest, as we're all getting up at 6 AM to get the chores done before Andrew and I leave on our separate exciting journeys.

May God be with you, and me~

The gophers were out...

...and so were we!

While we 3 younger Bornemanns were out tagging calves and checking cows this afternoon, we also went on a gopher hunt--one of our favorite pass times on a sunny spring day!

*Note. If you get squeamish at seeing pictures of blood and such, please skip down 3 pictures before continuing on!

Jacob got 3 gophers...


Andrew got 3 gophers...

and I got 1 gopher--THEE gopher that happens to be the first proof that I've actually got that I've shot a gopher dead. Maybe that Appleseed event last Fall really did help--or maybe it was the fact that Dad got my gun sighted in a bit better??? The boys said that I had to go get it because I shot it... Yuck! The cats really appreciated it later though.

Here's a picture of Crocus Hill, as we call it... I would have taken a better one, but the boys were anxious to go find more gophers. :)
Here's Andrew, tagging one of his new calves (he had 2 today)...

He got so tired of tagging that he needed a break, I guess, and sat down on his tame cow, Janie. :) She didn't mind!

Here's a picture of my favorite calf of the year so far... (Perhaps I'm biased, as he's mine, but isn't he the cutest thing you've seen all day?)

Andrew's other new baby...

Yesterday when I got home from town, I was surprised to see Andrew's grain cleaner out of the Quonset!!! It is nearly finished and what a day of rejoicing it will be when the guys pull it out of the yard to test it out at our neighbors' place!

Oh, and here's a picture of the railroad people loading up one of our rock piles... "Goodbye rocks! We won't be missing you."

Spring time is so busy, but is so much fun at the same time!

A tongue-twister!

Jacob thought up a really good tongue-twister in the barn the other night and he and I had fun trying to say it. Tonight, he asked Mom and Andrew to say it too and they got mixed up as well... Want to try it also?

Here it is:
Just simply say, "Shredded Swiss cheese" 10 times, as fast as you can. I'm guessing you'll have some "Swishhh trees" and such by the time you're done. :)


This was a busy day at the Napoleon Care Center... I forgot to take my lunch along too, so decided to eat a few pieces of toast (provided by NCC) with honey spread on it for my noon meal. :) I'm glad it's the weekend so we can all get rested up again!

I helped Andrew tag calves again tonight. (Not one of my favorite jobs, on account of the mothers often being pretty protective of their babies.) While we were out there, we decided to bring a small, skiny calf into the barn to feed, as we've not been able to find out who it belongs to and have force-fed it a couple times while waiting for someone to claim him. The calf seemed weak tonight, so we decided to just make it a bottle-calf! When I went in the pen to feed it during evening chores, it was wild and strong enough to charge me, but thankfully, a 60+ pound calf doesn't have enough ramming power to damage a person. :)

It seems like I have so much blog-reading and commenting to catch up on, and I'd like to start on that right away, but I think it wise to wait for the sun to shine again before proceeding...

So, until then, "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Cute animal pictures...

A friend of mine sent me a forward today full of cute baby animal pictures and I just had to share a few of them with you to put a smile on your face too! Enjoy~

This was my first day of spending a full 8 hours "On the floor" at the Care Center. I learned a lot and was able to start helping with some things. I made a list during chores and found that I know about 2/3 of the residents' first names now and remember most of the staff's names as well (the ones that I've met). Now I just need to learn the others' names, and then the last names, and then their likes and dislikes, and how much help they need, and when they takes naps and when they get up, and........ Thankfully, they're very gracious there and know that these things take time!

Exciting things have been happening at home too, I hear...

Two of the Bartletts came to join Dad in talking with a Senator friend of ours about home schooling (and then they also bought a steer from us to raise).

The railroad people have come and started clearing up our rock piles in the fields, as they need the rocks for building up a track about 4 miles away.

Many more new calves are popping out each day. I hear 4 of my cows had babies today! :)

Mom had a new client this afternoon here at home.

Andrew (mostly) and Dad still have lots of grain to clean.

And I'm sure much more has happened too that I'm not even aware of......

It is so wonderful to come back home again after being gone for what seems like a good part of the day. What a wonderful comfort home is!

No title!

I'm really tired and can't think of much to say tonight. I had an interesting day and took a CPR/Heimlich/Defibrillator training class this evening which was full of good information... But, now I need to get some sleep as it'll be an early morning once again tomorrow.

So......................... "Good night!"

On the floor...

Today I finished up with most of my book-learning part of class and went out on "The floor" to observe the CNAs (Certified Nurse Assistants) working. Tomorrow I'll actually be starting to help them, and will do that for a few days before my test (on Tuesday). It's really helpful to see the actual cares being done instead of just reading about how to do them!

It was a little scary driving home today, as the wind was so strong that it was blowing water and debris across the road by the big lake. Thankfully though, the Lord (via the old faithful car) got me through safely!

When I made it home, I helped Mother make supper and then went down to the Quonset to see what improvements the guys made on the grain cleaner, and to call them for supper, as they'd never hear us calling from the door (as we usually do) in all the wind. When I got down there, Lady (my dog) was in there and she was apparently so happy to see me that she started making little howly noises that sounded like she was trying to talk. Jacob and I had a good laugh about that!

Tomorrow morning, I get to sleep in a little more than I have been, as I won't be going to town until 1:00PM and then will stay until 9:30PM...

On the home front, there've been a lot of new calves making their entrance into the world on our farm lately. :) There are also some new kittens to play with! I love Spring!!!

Class.

I know that's a boring title, but that's mostly what my day was spent on. My family was so kind as to do chores without me later so that I/we could sleep in a little longer. :)

When I got home at 5:00, I made bread and a pizza crust, and just when I was about to bake the crust, I looked out the kitchen window and happened to notice a bull walking down the side of the road. After notifying Dad, Mom and Jacob, I saw two more bulls in the ditch. Fun, fun! Bulls are definitely not my favorite animal to be working with..... We jumped in vehicles and got them in, only to have them walk over to the fence and crawl right through it again! Dad had fixed the fence in that spot a few days ago when one of them was out, but since then, the snow-pile that was in the fence-line has melted and the wires were sagging severely. So, Dad and I fixed that bit of fence (while 3 of the bulls that were still in the fence were having a head-pushing show down) and then we all went and got the bulls in AGAIN. Thankfully they stayed in the fence after that. The bulls that had been out were the young ones, so if they don't respect the fence now, I guess someone will have to take an electric fencer over there...........

It is really, really windy out now and it sounds like the house is going to blow over, but I don't think it will. :)

That was my day. I'm sure this day was very different for the other members of my family, but I'll leave them to tell you of their adventures as they have time.

Sweet dreams and God be with you~

More pictures from our trail ride...

I need to get to bed quick, but I've been loading these pictures while doing other things and thought I'd give them some quick captions and post them right away..... :)

Several of these pictures are ones that Mother took (I'm glad you had your camera along too, Mom!)

Ready to ride...

...but first, how about some food?

Hmmmm, so many choices!

Mother asked our waiter to take our picture, and he did! (This was when we couldn't take another bite...)

Then, we had to wear off our big meal! Jacob looks like he's ready to go...

I thought I was ready to go too, but soon realized I wasn't when my brakes weren't working correctly... (and no, Rachel, I didn't hit Andrew's bike tire hard enough to do anything but make everyone laugh! :) )

On the trail, we passed this statue of an eagle...
Much later, we crossed this little bridge... It was so fun to be out amongst God's amazing creations--the trees, fresh air, and green grass springing up everywhere!

Much later still, we drove around the back side of the zoo and saw a couple of camels eating their snack...

A little while later, we came to this part of the path where you could go under the interstate. There was water and ice inside, so we got off our bikes and walked through...

There are many more pictures I could share, but I think Mom wants to post some too, so will leave some for her too. :)

This afternoon, Mom and I finished up with our apple-grafting project. Now, if all goes well, we'll have 43 apple trees!!! Anybody need some apples in a few years?

I did the actual grafting and then Mom came behind and put stakes in beside the trees and tied them up for support...

Some of the trees... I think it will be many years until we have apples, but I guess you have to start somewhere!

And now, dear friends, I'll meet you/join you in dream land~