Sheep, you have to catch 'em before you can sell 'em!

The day arrived to sell our last weaned ewe. Everyone had their own idea on how to catch her. K2 was just running after it laughing while everyone else hollered their advise.

K2 was joined by K6 and eventually K7 and K8. They eventually came up with a more practical plan to capture the fast little ewe.

Wish I had a photo of "Jill" penned-up and waiting for her buyer, but I forgot the camera. Darn. Afterward, we moved the older of the baby rams in with the big boys - Red, Mutt, and Cork - in paddock #6. Then we moved the 3 momma ewes, Snowwhite, Yogurt, and Booboo, along with "Stewie" and the remaining baby ram into paddock #2 with our dairy cow Darlin (who is due to deliver a baby calf any day now). Fresh cow's milk will soon be back on the menu.

Rural waste disposal, otherwise known as the family dump!

It is apparently common practice in rural America for many farmers and others to dig a hole and fill it with their trash over the years, sometimes covering it over and digging a new pit. Then there are the people who just throw their trash on the ground. At least the family that used to own my land drove it up into the woods on the hillside to toss their trash instead of out in the front yard. I knew about this "family dump" for the past 3 years. and decided it was time to fix it. I had a friend bull doze it into a giant pile so I could more easily attack the problem. It has been drying out for a month. Fortunately some trees were knocked down in the clean-up effort, so...

...we had a little dry firewood mixed in with the "trash".

Our biggest fire ever!

We lighted it yesterday morning when there was not much wind, and what little there was blew north, down hill toward my stream.

Oops! the dry grass caught fire. I had previously called my neighbor to give him a heads-up about burning, so he was on hand with his Bobcat to put it out.

Caution, cancer zone. I visited the fire several times during the day to keep an eye on its progress. I was afraid to breath in the unknown fumes.

It burned and smoldered all day and into the night with many pops and explosions - whether from bullets, spray cans, shot gun shells, or what ever - so I kept my distance.

This is what was left 24 hours later. We now have to wait a few weeks and hopefully get some rain, but eventually the boys and I will have to rake it and pull all the metal scrap out of this pile and take it to metal recycling. There is old furniture, bed, bike, hub caps, barrels, and other assorted metal. Then get my neighbor's Bobcat and push everything into a smaller pile and burn again. Someday, we should have very little to pick-up or bury. Its a real shame these knuckle-head folks and their friends tossed all this trash over the years, because this would have been a great site for a pond for watering cattle.

Let's talk turkey

Pretty, isn't he? A Royal Palm turkey, which is a rare Heritage breed. Got him from a friend I know at church who had too many males. At $25, a bargain! The three Barred Plymouth Rock chickens across the fence to the left each weigh about 9 pounds. How much do you think he weighs?

He lives in the corral with the goats (the sheep spent the last week in there to help eat down the grass). Don't want him in the chicken paddock because he will fight with my rooster. No, he will not be going into the oven this Thanksgiving, although that was my original intention when I bought him 2 weeks ago. He is the start of a new product line here on the Wanch.

He won't be alone for too long. Next week I pick-up 4 baby Royal Palms, 2 at least of which will hopefully be females - 3 girls would be better. I ordered them from a hatchery, and its cheaper to order "straight run". Usually you get 2 of each sex, but you never know...The Heritage label means they are hardy enough to forage and take care of themselves. They also breed and have babies, which the modern factory raised turkeys can't. So, who would like to place an order for your 2012 Thanksgiving supper?

Building a road, sort of

We have several acres of open pasture up on top of our wooded ridge across the stream. I have not been able to use yet...ran out of time, money, fencing, etc. My new neighbor who bought the 40 acres behind us asked if he could run a power line down the hill through my woods to connect to the electric line in my main pasture. He is a super nice guy and it would be much cheaper for him. We won't be able to see it from our back porch, so why not?

 I have an old dirt trail that follows the stream and then climbs up the hill. He did all the work clearing and widening it in preparation for putting in power poles. My long range plan is to clear the under brush and slowly open up the entire hill side in order to double our farm's grazing capacity. This is a good start and doesn't cost me any money. I want to keep most of the big trees so our cows, goats, and sheep have plenty of shade in the summer and shelter during foul weather. Not to mention a camp area for the Boy Scouts.

He also cleared the banks along the stream. Now I need a little bridge! (no, there won't be a troll under it to eat my goats - I'm living in a different fairy tale)

Wedding photos

Houston, Texas, 9 July. Its 9:00 A.M. and some of the guys are already trying to cool-off and escape the morning heat.

The wedding "photo shoot" outside the Houston Temple - from the young person's perspective, hurry up and wait! ...and watch your little nieces and nephews.

The bride greets her three wonderful Grand Parents. Of her 4th Grand Parent - Nana's spirit was felt later in the Temple Sealing Room.

The Bride and Groom with his family.

K5 helping stage the next shot. Not sure either of these boys wants to become a photographer.

Enough of the photo session, now into the Temple to become Mr and Mrs, for All Time and Eternity.

Outside the Temple, the family awaits the new Mr and Mrs.

What a handsome couple!

And happy couple.

Mom and K7. KT insisted on the ladies wearing hats, and she picked a color theme of blue and white.

Nothing to worry about - just a few sprinkles.

The Bride sings a special song for her Groom.

We were highly entertained by a variety of talented singers, musicians, and even Hawaiian dancers from among the gathered family and friends.

Unique cake for a unique couple.

My artistic shot of the day.

Family. The Bride dancing with her new father-in-law, the Bride's Mother dancing with her new son-in-law, while K2 holds the mic for K4's husband who is singing and playing the piano (yes, he turned down a professional music career to become a professional lawyer). The new couple will be working and living in the Houston area for next few years while finishing college degrees in Nursing (her) and Engineering (him). After which, I hope they move somewhere close to the farm.

Took a little road trip to Texas

K3 wedding was scheduled for Saturday, 9 July. First time the entire family away from farm, so good neighbors would watch animals. Told the boys to load the luggage carrier in back of truck before the rain storm arrived. Oops! Looks like they waited too long.

Finally got on road and drove 12 hours, starting with rain and 86 degrees F in Ozarks and ending with drought and 102 degrees in south Texas. Why this pic of Toyota show room? Just 10 minutes short of destination, a nice State trooper pulled us over to inform me my rear tail light was out. Big surprise to me. He gave me a "warning" and I promised to get it fixed next day. K8 then asked him what kind of pistol he was wearing, which resulted in a friendly conversation for few minutes.

Waiting room at Toyota was pleasant, but no internet, so I was not able to update blog.

Driving a big V-8 powered truck on long road trip means lots of stops to refill gas tank. Some days, I wish I still had my 4 cylinder Honda CRV.

On way home after wedding, the boys and I discovered our favorite California burger place had opened a store north of Dallas on US 75. Unfortunately, everybody else who had ever been to California also stopped, and we all waited about 45 minutes in a massive line to get this great tasting "fast food". The temp outside was 105 degrees F (later reached 106 as we crossed Oklahoma). Very happy to return home to Ozarks and 71 F evening temp. 

The last ancient pet passes

The 3rd and final of our "ancient" pets, 15 year old Lizzy, died tonight. The poor girl had been an indoor cat her entire life, but had been living out on the upper back porch for some months because she couldn't control her bowels inside the house. She started going seriously down hill the past few weeks. Last night she was struggling for breath, wouldn't eat or drink, and couldn't lay down properly. I put her in my lap and the two of us slept in my leather recliner. She was much worse tonight when we returned home from Scouts. We buried her next to her dog sister Lilly who died at 14 1/2 years. The two of them came into our home within less than 24 hours of each other when they were babies. Lilly was the only other animal that Lizzy tolerated. Lets hope all our other pets have such long and healthy lives.

Independence Week!

K6 likes to be comfortable while doing chores, such as milking Cinnamon. 

While S is out-of-town (delivering K4's newest baby and helping K3 with her upcoming wedding), K8 moved into the master bedroom and claimed ownership of my leather couch. This was taken about 12:30 - after he passed out while drawing pictures.

I had to check out some locations on a friend's ranch in preparation for our Boy Scout Camp next week. This gigantic sycamore tree had a massive nest. What kind of squirrel could possibly occupy it?

A dead squirrel since the nest had 2 juvenile eagles! One of them took off and circled around over head and landed on a branch near the nest. Neither has their distinctive white head yet, but still, what an awesome sight. I can't get enough of watching this magnificent creature. I'l spend my whole time at camp parked in a folding chair in the shade near this tree just waiting and watching. 

K7 is somewhere in this group shot. He accompanied S on her trip, partly in order to attend this Youth Pioneer Hand-cart Trek. The Church offers teenagers this physically demanding yet spiritually rewarding experience once every 4 years. K6 did the Trek last month and K7 was left behind because he was just shy of his 14th birthday. When this opportunity popped up, he hopped on it. Located in northeast Oklahoma. The temperature was 102. 

We have had two powerful thunderstorms the past few days. Broke a large branch from one of the walnut trees along driveway. Can't complain too much since we did get water and the temps are in the 80's while parts of country are too dry and too hot. One of the storms hit last night on the 4th of July, which delayed the boys from indulging in...

...lighting fuses and launching rockets.

Big beautiful rockets.

My cheap-o little camera does its best, but just can't always capture the real star burst.

But you get the idea. We had fun and no neighbors were bothered and no laws were broken. Love living in rural America. The only unhappy critters were some of the dogs. Poor Rose crawled into my lap shivering with fear. Good thing the boys ran out of money and rockets.

Happy Independence Day! I love America!