Another week

"S" had lots of fun at Church Girl's Camp out in the woods. Thanks for Photo by Laney A. and borrowed from her cool blog.

K7 assisted me at Cub Day Camp running the BB gun range. Fortunately the temperatures were only in the high 90's through our last day, then up to 100 F!

K7 assisted Dan in taking down part of the dead oak tree in backyard. I'll have to rent a man-lift next week in order for Dan to safely cut off the remaining branches and top before we'll be able to drop the whole tree. I wish the tree hadn't died, but it will provide plenty of firewood for next two years. Oh, by the way, the temperature on this day was 101 F!

"Sandie's" de-horning has finally healed. I moved her into paddock #3 so she could have fresh grass, but she ran straight to the one bale of hay we broke while loading a few weeks ago.

After a few mouthfuls of hay, she figured out that the fresh green grass really was better tasting than the dry brown stuff. With 4 days in the 100's and no rain due for a while, I hope all of our fields don't turn brown and dry.

One of the two young ewes we have for sale.

"S" and I went to the big town of West Plains this week. We both got haircuts and had a sweet heart date. Spent time in a used book store where I found this little gem of a movie. It has been on my wish list for several years. If you look up this movie at Amazon.com, you'll see why I never bought it from them - it ranges in price from $60 up to $110! I found it for $6 and didn't hesitate buying it. What a bargain. No, you can't borrow it this summer.

I also bought this paperback book. It is the sequel to the novel, "The Prisoner of Zenda", both written by Anthony Hope in the 1890's.

This is on the back of the novel. Not many adults in 2012 could read this novel, let alone children or youth. The dated prose of Hope's writing style of the 19th century would be too challenging for today's modern educated young people - they would lack the imagination, patience and vocabulary.

"S" brought her car back from camp covered in dirt and has been wanting to wash it for a week. Finally got to it today.

She washed it in the yard so some of our grass would get a little water. She laughed and said if she washes the car, it is certain to rain soon!

Boys setting-up Girl's camp?

K8 and I returned home from Boy Scout summer camp last Saturday morning. We had just enough time to fix a late breakfast before K2 conned all the guys in the house into going for a little ride out in the country to help set-up Girl's camp. We thought we were just going to load up a truck of stuff and take it to the camp site. Didn't even get a chance to take a hot shower after a week at camp! Didn't seem to bother K8, but I wasn't happy. I also had only 3 hours of sleep that last night... Dan was happy to catch a few more baby turtles for his aquarium. 

Beautiful camp site, but hard to get to...had to cross river twice in my 2-wheel drive truck, and barely got up last sandy bank. Really wish I had bought a 4-wheel truck back in 2008! After unloading the truck, we all thought we were finished. Not so fast buddy! K2 didn't tell us that there were many other tasks.

The camp was located on the "Flying R Ranch" in Missouri. 30 miles from nearest towns - Willow Springs and West Plains. 850 beautiful acres. Rated one of the "top 5" horse trail riding ranches in America. Has RV hook-ups, camping, stables, and log cabins along the river you can rent for a quiet get-away. The owner also raises a cross bred herd of Texas Longhorns and African Watusis. This picture does not do them justice - they were huge! The owner says the meat is delicious, but since I raise my own cattle, I can't see spending money on someone else's beef.

One of our previously unknown jobs was returning to the main ranch and inflating 42 tire tubes, then transporting them back over the river. I decided not to cross the last stretch and just threw them all into the river and let K7, K2, and K8 have a little fun while working.

K8 in red t-shirt on a double stack of tubes and K2 "winging" it. 

K7 saluting and K8 crashing.

K7, K8, and K2 working hard in their own unique way... We got home after 7:30 P.M. and I finally had my first shave/shower in a week.

Boy Scout summer camp

Leaving bright and early on Monday, 11 June.

We were supposed to have another troop in our camp site, but they went elsewhere and we ended up with this large site all to ourselves. Very quiet and peaceful. Our site was the furthest from the mess hall and swimming pool. Lots of exercise.

All the amenities of home (except for the spider webs about 10" below seat).

Another popular camp devise, along with bug spray, water bottles, flashlights, and  cots.

The 40 foot climbing wall was awesome.

"Go out in the middle of the lake and swamp it. That means flip it over and fill it with water."

"Okay."

"Now what?"

Safely blasting away with .22 rifles. Of course these boys had fun!

K8 was the first in his class to qualify for the archery merit badge. His instructor was calling him "Robin Hood". While everyone else was shooting their arrows over, under, or around the target, he was hitting yellow bulls-eyes and the red or blue rings.

Based on the walking strides of these six lads, which exemplifies the confidence of a strong leader? Yep, K8, on the far right. Just look at those squared shoulders, and that bold, strong, confident, upright step. That's my boy. Just wish he would tackle his household chores with the same determination.

Everybody spent part of each day finding and removing ticks from their bodies. 

Two fashionable towel terrorists.

Most meals were eaten at the mess hall, but we had to cook our own supper Tuesday and Wednesday night. We didn't know we would need a dutch oven, but improvised using our iron skillet. We used tree bark for the lid. Our cherry cobbler turned out okay. 

Smokey the Bear says, "Only you can prevent forest fires."

All scout troops gathered at the mess hall 3 times a day. In the morning we would have a flag raising ceremony before breakfast.

In the evening we lowered the flags before going in to eat. Many troops had elaborate songs, skits, or routines to identify themselves in hopes of entering the mess hall first. Our boys always just said, "HERE". We never missed a meal regardless of where we ended up in line.

Old Glory looking good.

Since all the scouts at camp came from Latter Day Saint troops, we had a visit on our last day from Elder Roberts, who is an Area General Authority. Yes, I am still wearing the exact same clothes I was wearing when I left home early Monday. No shave, no shower. But I did brush my teeth daily! Yea, I know, "a scout is clean", but this is summer camp! I couldn't see taking a shower and then immediately spraying myself all over with bug juice. The only thing I changed was my foot wear - took off the heavy leather work boots after one day due to a recurring pain in my heel the past two months, and wore sandals all week.

Service with a smile

K8 had a service project he needed to do last Saturday before departing for Boy Scout summer camp. We had to delay finishing gathering our hay bales so he could mow a large over grown yard for a single-mom who lives two farms away. We loaded up his lawn tractor and headed out.

Stopped along our fence line to take a picture of our bull, Red.

Stopped near our boundary line where our land ends up on the hill side.

Took him an hour to complete the job.

I told him he could ride his tractor there and back, but only if his wheels did not touch the ground. He was happy with the compromise. We then finished gathering the remaining hay bales in the dark, finishing at 10:30 P.M. Both missions accomplished.

Fun Work

K7 trying out a new pellet gun that was donated to our scout troop. The boys are already scheduling a shooting activity for the troop.

K8 had a go on it as well.

K2 is building a house for his uncle. Yes, it is inside a steel building - should hold up well in a storm!

After waiting 4 weeks for the right people with the right equipment, we finally had some of our paddocks mowed and baled. Not prime grass anymore, but I'm happy.

K7 and K8 re-installing the gate to paddock #4 after a friend did some welding repairs to the brackets. Our heifer Sandie, standing behind the other gate in paddock #6, is recuperating from her de-horning.

K7 and K8 developed a routine - K7 loaded the bales up from the ground onto the truck, and K8 stacked them.

Either way, they both had a good work-out with their biceps and backs. Maybe I should have them move the bales to a different location every week...

Our dog Dandy enjoyed roaming around the paddocks with us. The boys got pretty itchy with all the straw dust each day, but they both commented that there have been very few ticks around the yard and pastures this year, so they are happy. 

K8 actually said that this 2-day work project was a lot of fun. That was music to my ears - he's back in my Will!

I had the easy job driving the truck and waiting for them to tell me when to pull forward.

We collected 114 small bales, which almost filled our little hay shed. Hope to get more from the fall cutting which should be enough to feed all the animals during a normal Ozark winter. K8 and I leave for Boy Scout summer camp Monday morning, so no posts until Saturday, 16 June.