Hurricane Farm

Nope.

Not baseball.

Trout!

I've always been into fishing and spent hours at local ponds and "lakes" catching sunfish, bass, and catfish as a kid.  I never really experienced trout fishing, though, as I grew up close to the ocean.  The brackish salt marsh was always great for catching bait fish and eels (yuck!), but there were not really any fresh-water streams nearby.

Luckily, we have a stream running through our farm...So I experienced my first opening day!

Trusty pole in hand, Liev takes his first step out into the water to take control of the fish in the stream.  (Isn't that the coolest fishing rod?  My brother and I--the expert fishermen that we are--love using our kids' rods when we go camping.  It makes catching sunfish and bluegill feel like we're angling for swordfish.)

It seems that there are more interesting and fun things to do than fish on opening day, however...

Violet poses for her best "A River Runs Through It" moment.

The kids found a great spot out on an old dead tree.  There were some small pools on either side where there may or may not have been fish.

They did have fun "racing" their bobbers down the stream, though!

Violet and Liev make their way back, safely avoiding the grasp of the raging waters...for the time being.  The water has been pretty high for the past few weeks...

We had a good time.  Maybe next time we'll catch something other than the shubbery on the other side of the stream!

P.S.  We found more bones.  Smaller ones this time, with an interesting pile of feathers nearby.  At Violet's behest, we are starting a small "bone museum" in the barn. 

Here are some updated photos of our new calf, Aloysius, running in the field.  These were from about two weeks ago.  By now, the grass is really starting to take off in the field.  We over-seeded the pasture with a nice mix of grasses just before we had about a week of rain, so hopefully we will be able to improve on the quality of our grass. 

The lower portion of the field was all overgrown with golden rod and brambles, which were of little interest to the cattle and sheep.  I ended up cutting it all down with a field mower last fall.  I was sort of shocked at how bare it looked afterwards, and nervous that I ruined the field, but it looks like the grasses below the golden rod are now able to have a fighting chance. 

With a few years of work, we should be able to have this old pasture brought back...

It never ceases to amaze me that all of our animals instinctively know when to throw on the brakes when approaching a fence.  They will come at you at top speed and stop just before pummeling you or the fence.

Though he is still only about a month and a half old, he is starting--emphasis on starting--to learn to follow me around and to respond to our voices.  He knows his name when called and perks up when he hears it.  Always a good thing just in case they happen to "escape."

Above Aloysius (or Monster Truck, as my son Liev just reminded me over my shoulder as I type) romps about.

There he goes, trotting back to his stall after a hard afternoon's play.  We feed our cattle only grass/hay, but we do have them trained to grain as a treat.  When returning from the field, they (the big ones, too) have to cross through an unfenced area to gain access to the barn.  All I have to do is hollar for them to come and they come running.  They receive a small handful of sweet grain as a reward.