What's Happening here

Hi to everyone still reading my blog, or more like willing to wait for me to create a post.  A lot has happened lately, and I will do my best to explain things in an interesting way so that it is enjoyable to read.

To start things off--Some of you dog lovers might enjoy hearing that we have recently added to our number of dogs.  We went from two dogs to three.  Lightning, Big J.'s own female dog, is half lab, half border collie--a great mix.  She is such a puppy and has been learning a few things like not eating chicks--ugh, she did kill one--and she knows to sit and play fetch (she even brings things back to you).  She has also gotten it in her mind that she should gather the chicken eggs for me.  Thankfully, she hasn't eaten any.  She is also a water dog.  Just today we went swimming in the river and she was acting like a crazy dog, jumping in the water and catching twigs and such.  It has taken me a while to get to liking her (she is just what my dog isn't), but I have to say, she is such a sweet, loveable pup.

Speaking of dogs, my dog came home a few mornings ago with sixteen porcupine quills in his nose!  Poor thing had to be sat on while Dad pulled them out one by one.  But he forgave us and still likes us. 

On Saturday the whole family loaded up in our nice truck and began gathering our cows.  Mom and Little J. gathered a few pairs (a mom cow and her baby) while Dad, Big J., and I gathered some other pairs.  Paradise did very nicely that day; we started the ride by trotting a ways to get to the cows quicker and then bumped the speed to a lope.  We had gathered and Dad started sorting all of the mammas that had heifer calves.  We sorted 14 pair with only heifer calves.  There was one calf which we didn't know if we paired up correctly, so with a little more waiting and watching the cows, we found the right mom and then started pushing all of the moms and heifer calves east.  We went in that direction for a while and then turned north into a gate.  We continued to push the Angus pairs to another pasture and held them for a little bit.  We came home after that.

We have also had the privilege of borrowing a donkey to breed our white buckskin mare.  His name is Mike.

I have also been milking three goats each morning for a while now.  They are giving a good amount of milk, though some of it doesn't taste too good.  We still have six out of eight kid goats, and they are still really cute!

 

Big J. has three female cats which all became pregnant around the same time, so we have seven kittens now.  One cat, Monster, lost all two of her kittens, so "adopted" Ghost's, her sister, three kittens.  Really, the two moms take care of the kittens and take turns watching them.  They now have a weird relationship.  Kind of gross, really.  And then Numbers, the other mom cat, had four kittens which are healthy and happy.  So, not only has our horse and dog numbers gone up, our cats did also.

 

And the garden is planted!  We have cucumbers, squash, peppers, cantaloupe, okra, green beans, and maybe some other things that I forgot about.  Sadly, the grasshoppers are plentiful this year and think the garden makes a great café.  There are millions out there and when walking, waves of them fly up everywhere you step.  Our chickens are eating them and are doing their best to keep them somewhere under control; it's impossible.

I have also gotten a turtle whose name is Tortoise.  I feed him grasshoppers and give it daily walks in the kitchen.  Yes, we have lost him once and he has been kicked across the room, not on purpose, of course!

That cat which was attacked by a coyote is doing much better; he may not loose his foot.

 

We did get a nice amount of rain a few days ago, but other than that, it is hot and either really windy or really still.  Weather good for only swimming or staying inside with air conditioners.     
 
I thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  Till next post...  : )