Kylee DeBock / DeBock Harvesting
Well, we are on day three of no school for the kids! We have had some cold days here in Oklahoma and have actually seen temperatures into the negative numbers.
The other morning, I found a baby calf that had just been born. He was cold, wet and shivering. So, what do you do? You put them in the house and turn the heater up as high as you can…and you pray.
I was able to get his body temperature up. I had some colostrum that I had milked last year from one of the mommas that lost her baby, so I thawed it out and got him to drink. He stayed in the house for about two hours before we took him back outside to his momma and got him to nurse. I love having bottle babies but I would much rather them stay with mom, if at all possible.
Shivers (that’s what I named him) is about three days old now and he is doing great, despite this cold snowy weather!
Even though the kids have not had school, we still have to go out and feed cows and break ice. I think they would rather go to school then go to “work” with mom and dad!
The other day, it got down to -9 degrees and I am certain that is the lowest temperature that I have ever experienced in Oklahoma! The water tanks were so frozen that Dillon had to use the chainsaw on one of them because the axe just wasn’t good enough. The ice cube that he cut out was over 5 inches thick!!
With weather like this, it is really rough on farmers and ranchers. They work endless hours trying to get feed, hay and water to their cattle. They do everything possible to keep the babies alive when they are born in this extreme cold. I have seen more pictures this week of baby calves inside trucks, homes and barns than I have in many years combined.
I would like to say “thank you” to all the ones working so hard to see that their cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses and chickens are taken care of!
Colston has been playing basketball the last few months and will be having his last few games this weekend. We hope that the snow and cold weather will not keep them from playing. We enjoy watching him play so much and he has really improved a lot this year. It seems like the boys always start playing their best ball right at the end of the season. Then its over and we have to wait a whole year to watch them again.
Riggin will start soccer next month and he is really looking forward to that. Last year, like so many other things, his soccer season was canceled so he is really excited to get out and start playing again.
The end of this month, I will start playing basketball too! There is a league in Woodward that I have played in for many years now. It is a lot of fun and a great source of exercise! I have always loved basketball and even though I am out of shape, I still enjoy playing.
We bought a new tractor (new to us anyway) so we sold our 8480 Massey tractor to Casey, Dillon’s youngest brother. We took it to Texas and when we returned home, we got to bring our nephews home with us for a short visit. We picked them up on Friday and they were supposed to go home on Monday. However, the weather turned icy so we were able to keep them until Wednesday. I sure enjoy having them stay with us and so do the boys. Cousin fun is the best fun and I love watching them make memories together!
With all of the snow in the forecast, I decided I would do a little painting project. Riggin has wanted us to paint his room ever since we redid Colston’s room four years ago. We painted it in Gleaner gray and decorated it with harvest pictures and added a new Gleaner comforter.
So Riggin got a Massey red room! The comforter will be here today and I am still waiting on the pictures that I ordered of him driving the grain cart this summer. When it is all finished, I will post a picture for everyone to see.
Here’s hoping you are staying warm wherever you are and that the sun will start shining soon to thaw us all out!!
God Bless,
Kylee DeBock
“Rejoice in hope; be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs; pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” Romans 12:12-14
