Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday presents this year were awesome (gift card, new clothes, morgana skin...) and the day was lots of fun. Em, Marie and Sam came up for the day, made me cupcakes and shot some arrows/bolts at our new and improved target. So here are some glimpses of my day...

 Nate got me some better arrows and a pull/release thingy that is supposed to help my string last longer and my arrow come off straighter. I gotta say I'm getting lots better than when I started. I just wish the arrows would hold up better. Even shooting into hay I'm still getting some damage to them every couple of days.

 Nate trying out my new arrows, unfortunately I am now down to 3 from the 6 I got new but hopefully they will last a while

OUR MILK COW!!! I'll call it a birthday present even though it was a joint decision to get this little black milk cow. Well she's actually not in milk, and maybe not even pregnant, but we got a REALLY good deal, and the old owners say we can bring her back to their bull if she isn't. Betty is a 1/2 jersey 1/2 Florida Cracker and a tiny 40 inches tall. So this past week has had me in an emotional roller coaster over this new addition to our homestead. She is not the nicest cow to put it nicely. For the first 2 days she would charge at us and try to head butt anyone who came within her rope circle.

  I admit I was losing hope of taming her, but these last 2 days we have seen HUGE improvements in her behavior. We can stand next to her when she eats, and she will even eat out of my hand a little bit before getting her bad attitude back and turning away from me and the food. This calmer Betty is due to lots of grain, "the stick", and patience. She gets a smack on the nose when she is aggressive to anyone and treats when she eats from our hand.

 We have now untied her from the post and let her in one of the cleaned out hay stalls so she has more room to walk around and she seems a lot happier. We left her on the lead rope so she will learn to respect the rope - we've heard that stepping on the lead rope will teach her she has to stop when there is resistance on the rope. We'll see if it helps after we start leading her around the pasture in a couple days. I'm getting more and more happy about finally getting a milk cow like I've been dreaming for the past 3 years.

Celebration Time: Theron came up after work and we all had a yummy dinner of, can you guess, Spaghetti and meatballs, my favorite meal since before I can remember. Topped off with yummy garlic bread, veggies, and home made orange julius courtesy of Sam and our magic bullet. It was a great day.

 Me and my sweet Avenlea on my birthday

 Mommy and her babies

My birthday cupcakes (red velvet with cream cheese frosting) and my little candle - hope my wish comes true!!