A shell in my pocket and waves at my feet...

Sunday, September 11

Reflecting on 9/11

Today my mom and I spent some time at Florida National Cemetery near Bushnell, Florida. This is my dad's final earthly resting spot. With thousands of service men and women buried here, it is a very sobering place to visit. As I strolled around the grounds looking at all the grave markers I was overwhelmed by the shear number of men and women who have served and protectecd our great country---many giving the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

the entrance to Florida National Cemetery

my dad's marker..George Eschenbacher

the bell tower...3 beautiful songs played while we visited today

some of the 1000's of grave markers

long may she wave....

As we remember 9/11 and all those that lost their lives in NYC, at the Pentagon and on that field in Pennsylvania, we must also remember all those men and women (over 6000) who have fought the enemy on foreign soil these past 10 years so that we can be "free" God Bless the USA

Saturday, September 10

Miniature Zebu Cattle Farm...

I am visiting my mom in central Florida and we found this "little" cattle farm near Ocala. The owners, John and Kathleen Schmidt have approximately 40 head of miniature Zebu cattle. We spent over an hour at the farm learning about these special cattle. On "The Other Side Farm" when calves are born they weigh approximately 23 lbs. and they are taken from the cow immediately after birth and then bottled feed 2-3 times a day until they are weaned at 4 months. The reason they are taken from the cow is so that they are more tame and social--thus they are imprinted with humans.These cattle remind me of big dogs! As adults they weight approximately 200-300 lbs. They had one calf that was just 2 weeks old and followed John everywhere. In fact he could hardly walk with all the younger calves trailing behind him. They are all named, such as: April, Mae, June, Dottie, Edgar etc... The cattle on this farm are raised and sold as pets and show animals, NOT for consumption!
Maybe we should consider raising Zebu cattle on the Bloy Ranch!!

So if you are ever in central Florida and are looking for a new experience please check out "The Other Side Farm" you will not be disappointed.

Sign at entrance to farm

love this driveway!!

the newest calf--2 weeks old

John and the new calf

this little gal loved to lick

a little shy

cow that is due to calf next week

just hanging at the water cooler!!

this one is just a bit bigger than my Schatzie

Bye for now....

Monday, September 5

Hummingbird 411

I had originally planned to post photos of our Labor Day activities, but due to a late developing story I decided to show you a few photos of our hummingbirds. During a brief break from our project I grabbed the camera and headed to the hummingbird feeders. I am trying to get the perfect shot and while I believe I acquired a couple I'm still trying. Anyhow, there were 4 hummers buzzing the feeder as I was snapping away and I noticed that one hummer didn't have any tail feathers. It doesn't seem to impede his flying, however it did appear that the others were "picking" on him/her. I don't know if that is really the case or not since they are so darn fast. I was curious about the situation and contacted a man named Lanny at www.hummingbirds.net He runs a website just about hummers, so I posed the question to him and here is his answer."The hummer has probably lost his tail feathers to a predator, probably a cat. Tail feathers are loosely attached, so the cat probably got a mouth full of feathers and the bird escaped with his life. The feathers will grow back in a couple weeks, and the temporary loss won't impair the bird's life too much."
So there you have it, a lesson learned about hummingbirds.
Here are a couple of shots of the birds today. I will continue to snap away, who knows maybe tomorrow I'll get that perfect shot. Remember you can double click on the photo for a large image.