A new farm addition and a fun project, LONG in the works..........

We were blessed with yet another bum calf, this time it's a heifer, and she's in good shape compared to many bums we've received over the years. Of course you know we can't have an animal without a name so Cortney watched her for a few days and announced her name is to be "Suzanna". It seems to fit her and she is a really sweet little calf. She will not be raised for breeding purposes, but rather as beef for our freezer in about 2 yrs.

 Hoss and Button are now sharing a open faced barn and they don't seem to mind one bit. Suzanna is a cross between a red and black Angus, but looks to be showing her red side more than the black.  She'll be on a bottle for another few months and is eating hay, grass and chewing her cud well. It's always fun to have a new baby on the farm :o)  Now as for the fun project, LONG........ in the works, see below........

 Mike has always longed to learn to play a banjo but we never seemed to have enough $$ or time and finally we decided we've put it off long enough and bought a top rated banjo. This is one instrument you want to start off with a good quality and tone, rather than buy a cheaper instrument and upgrade later.  As I said Mike's longed to learn to play a banjo since we were first married and when we moved to our farm we found that our neighbor gentleman, to the East of us, played banjo beautifully. In getting to know our new neighbor's better Mike expressed interest in him teaching Mike to play but there always seemed to be financial interruptions. In talking about things we wished we done different one evening, Mike said he wished he'd followed through with his desire to play the banjo and I said, "why not do it now?"  He said he'd still love to and I began by talking with our neighbor and picking( so to speak*wink*) his brain as to which banjo was the best for what we could afford and come to find out we could afford a really top rated banjo. Our neighbor has played banjo with some of the best bluegrass and country people in the music business, he's played in Nashville at the Grand Ole' Opera as backup for many famous Bluegrass and Country stars. He simply decided he didn't like the demand and time away from his family( this was all when he was a young man, he's now in his mid 70's)  So here is Mike's new project, he and Charlie got it all adjusted and tuned. They were talking about some pieces that need to be upgraded for a better tone and of course a new set of strings and a beginner's cord book. Charlie sent him away with some things to practice, such as rolling his fingers and getting used to the picks. This weekend we hope to get to the city's music store and get the needed items so he can get to work. Mike has musical talent, he played the sax( baritone) for years in school, so has a jump start on reading music.  I can't wait to hear him play his first song, and the times we'll be able to sit around the fire pit in and listen and sing along. :o)

 Isn't it beautiful? If you click the photo, you'll see all the inlaid mother of pearl on the neck. It truly is a beautiful instrument, now to make it sound as beautiful.*wink*

Just another dream coming true, PTL!!!!!!  My dream is to actually find the time to begin some of the projects I've longed to do as well, I have already acquired the needed tools and instruments, it's just the time I've been lacking*wink* That's one thing nice about aging priorities begin to take center stage :o)