Thursday, August 13, 2009

REDNECKS UNITE!

JAKE AND AARON - OWNERS - WITH THEIR 2nd PLACE TROPHY MADE OF 2 SHOCKS WELDED TO A BRAKE DISC


Well, the ol' Shaggin' Wagon won 2nd place in the Redneck division at the Vernon Summer's Last Blast Cruise Night. It was held last weekend, and I have been waiting for the pictures to be emailed to me so I can post them. What a group! They look like hardcore rednecks, but they're really good guys with sweet hearts! (Please don't get the wrong impression!)

AFTER THE NEW PAINT JOB - HANDPAINTED WITH WALMART SPRAYPAINT!

CORY AND AARON-AFTER THE ADDITION OF THE LONGHORN RACK AND REBEL FLAG

AARON ADMIRING THEIR TROPHY AT THE REDNECK COMPETITION

JAKE, AARON and CORY

JAKE, CORY and AARON

CRUISIN' WITH THE CHICKS!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

READY OR NOT!!!

Sweet Biscuit's lesson today included learning how to not fight the hobbles.

To get her ready for the mountains, (then he won't need a portable pen etc...)Dyke tied a set of hobbles out of the leadrope and she spent the better part of an hour or more out of the pen...grazing, & learning how to "hop"around.

She did very well and is such a fast learner!



While I was talking on the phone with my mom, Zack raced in to say that the cows were up at the barn and that we were ready to castrate the bull calves. Having to hang up the phone with your mother because you have to go castrate...well...I guess that sounds kinda wierd...but that's life out here on the farm...
Dyke and the boys roped and wrestled, while I did the honors (as usual)...
I am so proud of my new knife (A new Mooremaker knife was my Christmas present from Dyke!). Actually, the Mooremaker was what we used to lance that mama cow's tumor, and I hadn't sharpened it since that day, so I had to go with my other new and very prized knife - a limited edition Case XX Appaloosa 15/100 made.
I love that knife! What an edge!Well, with all hands on deck, there was no photographer (Zack's usually perched on the fence as the resident photographer), so the only shots I could get were of the evidence after it was all said and done.
The first calf was the biggest and he had sucked 'um up inside and I had a tough time squeezin' 'um down to cut...that happened with another calf last year and I never could find the other one, so he was dubbed, "one nut" and we had to sell him as a bull.
Anyway, I was finally able to get the job accomplished and the moment they were cut and released into the grass, Penny, our lab, had scoffed them down...fresh and hot! I'd rather fry 'um up!
Actually, we must be in the right phase of the moon, because he hardly bled at all...(A rancher I once worked with only castrated or butchered according to the Farmer's Almanac, checking where the sign was (moon phase). If you're castrating, you want the sign in the head - less blood...if the sign is in the groin, he'll bleed like the dickens! Now, if you're going to butcher, you want the sign to be in the groin (away from the head/neck where you're butchering)...make sense?? It's been a long time since I've known anyone who goes by the Almanac...

So... on the second one, a smaller bull, I had to actually hold on to 'um after I cut 'um so that I could get a picture before Penny had her way with them.
Zack, who is usually on the fence, had never seen the procedure done up close and personal like, so he filled our ears with AHHHHHHHs and OUCHHHHHHs while I pulled and cut.

Now THESE are good fryin' size!
With only 2...that would just make a snack and it wouldn't be worth heatin' the oil to fry 'um, so Penny got some extra nourishment today!

As soon as the ropes were coiled and we were heading back to the house, Dyke's cell phone rang and he was off to town to get an injured Mississippi Kite (small hawk).
When he got home, Zack caught crickets and june bugs to feed it and gave it water through a syringe. He'll transport him to the bird rescue place in Wichita Falls where they'll rehab and release him.











By that time, the 10 o'clock news was on and it was time to turn in...

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

WHERE HAS THE SUMMER GONE?

Yesterday, I went up to school for the first time all summer...I can't even wrap my brain around the fact that this is the last week of summer for me... I had to go buy new name tags, locker labels, stickers etc....Oh, I don't like this transition time...once school is full steam ahead, it's fine and I love it...but...the transition from "What will I do today?" to "Up at 5, gone by 7" is....well....I'm too old for this....I'd rather be in labor..................well....maybe not that bad! I am extremely thankful for my job and the awesome girls I teach with. We all get a long so well and have such a fun time! I have missed that comraderie....a lot!

IT'S A GUSHER!

We woke up this morning to find that we had a water leak...I am so thankful that Dyke is so handy and can fix anything at all...

so, no shower... yet, no early morning arrival at school to work...yet, no chores that require the use of water...yet. Jus' bloggin my heart away.

We still have 4 pups!

Friday, August 7, 2009

I TOLD YOU HE JUMPS!

Biscuit took a refresher course in jumping today
Dyke set up a small PVC pipe as the level to jump and Biscuit made it look easy!

~BEAUTIFUL CONFIRMATION~


NICE N' STRAIGHT!



Jumping mules are used for transportation when hunting - jumping logs, fences and other obstacles. It's wierd that he doesn't jump unless comanded to. He's so sweet! I took him out last night to check the cows. He really is a sweet mule, but it's definitely not like riding a horse...I'd still take a fine ranch-bred horse any day of the week...but....I do have to admit.............Biscuit has a special place in my heart......(I never thought I would say that for a dang mule!)


........A COLD FRONT CAME THROUGH.......




EVEN THE CHICKENS WERE PANTING...DID YOU KNOW CHICKENS PANTED?


(TOO MANY FEATHERS TO SWEAT THROUGH!)



Wednesday, August 5, 2009

AUGUST ON THE PLAINS Oooooo-weeeee!

Well, it's hot...again...today....

Football practice started on Monday, so both boys are doin' their thing out on the field...105 yesterday and 104 today...YIPES!!


The Shaggin' Wagon has just had a fresh coat of spray paint, a longhorn rack has been duct taped to the headache rack and today a set of bench seats is being mounted in the bed...all of this for......VERNON'S CRUISE NIGHT! Part of Vernon, Texas' Summer's Last Blast. The guys are hoping to win the BEST Redneck Vehicle around.



DOWN IN THE CHUTE...
A second visit to the vet with the first sick (bred) cow didn't go so well. She went down in the chute and after several hours, we were finally able to get her in the trailer to go home. She has since died and the second bred cow that we got on July 14 is now passed as well. Same symptoms and all. It's really wierd. We spent almost 2 weeks pumpin' high doses of high powered antibiotics in her. I think the intense heat was a major factor too. Bless their hearts.


I rode Biscuit to the other pasture to gather cattle and check on them. He did rather well...considering I hadn't been on him much. It's certainly not like riding a horse, I'll say that! Give me a good horse any day of the week! He's a jumping mule, so he is trained to jump fences on command. Dyke learned that he'll jump creeks too - even when he has 260 pounds on his back. I think Dyke was a bit unraveled with that stunt! I used to jump bareback - when I was a teenager, so jumpin' a creek with a saddle is a cinch.......or it would have been when I was young and plyable!

We still have 5 male black lab pups.......come on, people~!


This morning, as usual, Dyke got up early to fix a hot breakfast for the boys before practice...he let me sleep in a bit....when I awoke, squinting to the north, I noticed there were 5 cows standing around the chicken pen....out of the pasture....so, before the coffee got started, or the animals got fed...out I went on the 4 wheeler to get them back in and survey the fence problem....in my P.J.s....Of course, as usual, they went right back to where they got out, so that part wasn't too awful bad...Starting at the east fence, I traced it back to where the escape took place. YUP, hot wire was down...all over! With a few extra posts driven in the ground (thank goodness it rained recently), I was able to get the fence back to working order and gave the cattle a good scolding before I went to the house to brew my coffee for the morning. Sheesh - sweating before coffee....not fun!


We've had 2.5" of rain in the last 2 weeks....very unusual!


THE COTTON IS GROWING!!!



EVERYTHING IS GREEN!