“Its a country thing” is a term I have heard several times in the past few months.

This whole farm thing is so very different for me and every day I learn new things.

I ask a million questions and Troy is always so patient as he explains the answers to me.

I hate to use the term city-slicker because I really am not one. I grew up on an island and it was hard to grow grass there, never mind things like hay and a vegetables.

So to see this stuff grown on a regular basis is very different for me.

There was no livestock around and we ate seafood like the farmers here eat deer meat or wild turkey.

When I first heard the term “cow pie” I thought it was a dish cooked in the oven with hamburger meat then I stepped in a fresh cow pie and I learned quickly that it was not something to be eaten.

I now walk softly in any field that the cows have recently been visiting.

This weekend we were riding around the farm in the Gator, just checking on the cows.

We went though this mud puddle and suddenly I felt this wet stuff hit me in the face.

I was sure it came from above and looked upward.

If you got hit in the face from above at home you can bet your dollar there is a pelican around and he just relieved himself.

So when I looked up and saw no pelican I was unsure where this stuff that was quickly drying on my check came from.

I was quickly assured it had not come from above but from the mud hole we had just traveled through.

That was a relief because I would much rather have mud on my face than bird droppings.

The guys castrated several pigs and kept talking about eating mountain oysters.

I was told if I held the bowl we would have a fine meal later.

Okay, I don't care how hungry I get I will never, ever eat a testicle from any animal. If someone wanted mountain oysters then they would have to hold the bowl. The dogs had a fine meal that day.

The other big chore that was accomplished on Saturday was to remove horns from some recently purchased cows.

That was a sight I could have lived fine without seeing but my curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to watch.

They loaded this big cow in the cow holder ( I am not sure what they call that thing so cow holder will do).

Then they closed the top down on his head so it looked almost like the cow was praying.

Troy took this huge clipper like thing and chopped the horns off the cow.

Chris quickly cauterized it to stop the blood from flowing and then the process was repeated on the other side. The cow was released back to the field.

It was an interesting process. I never thought you could cut a horn off a cow or the testicles off a pig and I am sure there are various reasons to do both but I was glad I did not have to do more watching on either chore.

It seems every day is different on the farm and we spend a lot of time riding around checking on the cows.

It always amazes me how Troy knows which cow just had a baby and how close the others are to giving birth.

There are over 160 acres of farm land and I would get lost if it were left up to me to find a single cow.

But when I asked about the little guy that was banded a few weeks ago it was just a moment before we came up over the hill and he was pointed out to me.

The water shortage held new meaning for me this year. I had never thought about all the animals that rely on the various creeks and streams that were drying up.

The weekend before the big rain we rode the four-wheeler around just to check the water supply and it was a relief to see the rains finally come the next week.

So far my favorite thing has been learning to drive the tractor. Suddenly I see the attraction to the John Deere Tractor.

I have never driven anything that moved a whole tree with a couple of pushes. That tractor can do that and I was the one behind the steering wheel when it did.

I am looking forward to winter being over and spring arriving. I have never planted a garden and grown my own vegetables. That might seem silly to someone who has grown up on a farm but I am looking forward to eating what I grow in the spring.