Late this afternoon, Daddy and I headed out to brand and ear mark the heifers. While I was escorting the girls into the hopper pen, Daddy started to get set up. I heard him say, "I've got a problem..."

When I came over, I saw him fiddling with the propane tank. After a little more messing around, he determined that the regulator (I think that is what he said) was broken. That being the case, we couldn't heat the irons, so we were unable to brand the heifers.

So we decided to just go ahead and ear mark them and nevermind the branding--this time around at anyrate. I had the job of running the girls down the chute; I managed the tail-gate on the first one, but after that Daddy worked both tail gate and head-catch. I still got the squeeze job.

To describe the operation a little better, I first went into the hopper pen and parted one of the heifers out (I got two by accident once and that caused some minor problems). Next I followed her down the chute until I got to what Daddy calls the "waist gate". I'd slide through there (having to open and close it), and then hurry up to the squeeze chute. Daddy would already have the tail gate down and I'd prod the girls in the rump with my hot-shot and as soon as they got their heads through the head-catch Daddy would slam it and I'd squeeze them down. On a two of them, I had to kind of swing underneath the handle because of the size of the girls and how heartily they were kicking.

Daddy would then mark the ears and then we'd do a reverse of the process, followed by the opening of the front gate of the chute and away they went--first Big Red, then Whitey, then Blondie (she was the hardest to get), and finally August.

And that's how come it's only half a success...and I think I'd better mosey into the kitchen and seriously think about supper. I know I'm not the only one who's hungry.

I was already awake at 6:15 when Savannah pushed open my door. I hadn't realized that I'd gone back to sleep after waking up at 4:30...

I rolled out of bed, made my coffee and read my Bible (I think last time we worked cows I didn't get my Scripture read). Then I crawled into my clothes and meandered out to feed the animals and saddle Snip. I thought for a minute I was going to have to go get him, but I guess he heard me singing (I figured he'd hear me better if I was belting out Irish and Folk songs than if I tried to keep whistling at him) and realized that I had "FOOD!!", so he came running up.

I rode him into the yard, tied him to the tree, and went into to fix my own breakfast. Once I finished that, I trotted out to un-wire a couple gates in the pens. I forgot to do that Saturday. I also used that as an excuse to check how wet the ground was and try to choose the best route for Tommy's truck--the only 4x4 out of the three we usually use.

Tommy and Ricky arrived about the time I was quarter of the way back. I trotted into the yard and said my how-de-do's and minutes later was on the way back to the pasture. It took a few minutes to get the girls moving toward the pens, but once they did, they did okay--though all told today, they were a little more boogerish than any other time I've worked them with the W brothers.

I tied Snip in the loading chute--since that wasn't going to be used for a while and it was in the shade (Ricky's suggestion--it worked great!) Ricky put me on the hopper gate this time. Savannah was on the beef gate (I'm afraid she had to work almost too hard today!) Tommy was our worming man again (as usual), and Ricky had the job of all the footwork of moving cows. I did a little of that too, but not over much--though it seems like I climbed that fence an awful lot!

I got a badly jammed thumb trying to help back Moon-Bat up the chute to put her in one of the holding pens. (She got by the beef gate.) I'm not exactly sure what happened but I do know that that red stick whamed me a good one and that my thumb joint still hurts. I know I didn't break it because if I had, I would have cried instead of just thinking about it, and besides, I could (and still can) bend it without any extra pain. Also, it didn't really swell up.

Anyway, we worked the cows through, leaving all the calves (including the heifers I weaned earlier this year--they need branding and ear-marking) and the two cows we were going to sell. Then we worked through the calves. I cut out all but 5 or 6, I can't remember exactly.

After that, we parted out the heifers--I decided to sell the lighter red one because she is kind of spooky. That leaves me with four: "Big Red", "August", "Whitey", and "Blondie"...nothing overly crazy on the names there. Most of the cows don't have names, but it seems like with me, if I'm around critters (other than chickens), they end up with names because I constantly talk to them.

Parting done, we headed back to the house. Tommy and Ricky went to see if Mr. Al's folks were done with the trailer (we always borrow his trailer) and I went in and watched most of Ironside before they returned. I didn't get lunch in between either.

We loaded the animals and went to market. Seems like everybody and his kin was there today. I don't think I've ever seen that many trailers there! (Maybe because we usually go Wednesday?) We've never been so low on the selling list either! Lot number 77! Whee! I think the lowest I ever remember was 50-something.

We got back, dropped off Mr. Al's trailer and truck (nice truck, by the way), and Tommy and Ricky brought me home. As soon as I waved them off, I sat down here and ate my lunch. (Okay, so 'ate' is a little mild. I scarfed down my lunch like a ravenous hound! I'm glad nobody could see me as I chowed down and read the lastest Proverbs Perspective.)

Once I was done eating (speaking of which, I think I could stand to dig something else up to eat), I went back out and hopped on Snip and went and opened all the gates. Since it is so wet, and I'm not going to be here, I decided that I would go ahead and take the cows out of their summer rotation schedule. That also means Daddy won't have that one extra thing to do on his list...

Then I unsaddled Snip (who by the way behaved himself pretty decently today--he didn't offer to buck with me--which I greatly appreciate!) By the time I had all the tack (except for the saddle) gathered up, he was happily rolling about, scratching his back in the grass.

I came in, showered, washed the dishes, and made my coffee and then sat down here to write this. I'll have to shove off and pick up the check sometime in this upcoming hour, unless Daddy does it--which since he's out that way anyhow...well...I might just call him and see if he'll pick it up (if they've gotten through to #77 yet).

Now, if y'all will excuse me, this cowgirl with a bum thumb is going to go raid the refridgerator...

For some reason, Friday the 13th's have a bad name...I've been on the verge of being crabby a couple of times today, but not enough to earn the 13th it's bad name.

Today was pretty busy...not counting the time we sat in the health department waiting room for Savannah to get a TB test (dr.'s orders) and me to get my tetinus shot. I was just going to get a plain ol' tetinus shot, but they were out of that so I went ahead and got the one with the whooping cough and dyptheria vaccinations included. Either way, it was still more expensive than Savannah's test. The nurse reminded me of Aunt Laurie...she kind of sounded like her and kind of looked like her (same dimples!) It's always rather interesting when a complete stranger reminds you of a relative.

I got my shot before Savannah got her blood drawn. The last time I had shots I was around 7 or 8 (I think Katherine and I got shots when we moved to Fort Polk--but I don't remember if it was before or after we got there). The nurse told me to relax as she swabbed my arm a couple of inches down from my shoulder. She said, "You have hard muscles!" and I chuckled a little bit when I said, "That arm is probably harder..." "Are you left handed?" "No, but that arm is stronger." (At least I think it is...my left hand is definitely stronger because of the guitar--which I have not been playing very consistantly lately.)

Among the other things I did today was pick out my clothes and shoes and belts (can't forget those!) and make a list of things. I also dashed off to our place to grab our camping blankets and a few other things. I tried to work up a good list of things I should not forget. I gathered some of my film stuff and organized some papers...and I finally got the latest two pairs of socks listed on the Rebel Gray Socketeer website!

My plan of action for tomorrow (if I can keep myself from getting engrossed in the Saturday westerns--I'm going to try real hard...) is to do my usual stuff (i.e. bathroom, vaccum) as well as some non-usual stuff--like trapping the cows in preperation for working them Monday. I'll go ahead and saddle Snip in the morning and let him stand under the tree until mid-afternoon (the cows seem to pretty much go into the trap area of their own accord anyway). I won't mow because it will still be too wet.

The count-down to D-day has started and Lord willing, they'll be busy day's. :) You've already heard my plan for tomorrow; Sunday we join the church; Monday we work cows and there will also be a couple of doctor appointments; Tuesday is packing day; and Wednesday--we hit the road!! (You won't hear from me again after that until probably the following Tuesday or Wednesday--and expect reenactment pictures!!)

Maybe...maybe not exactly. Time will tell...

What on earth am I talking about? Well, I rotated the cows this morning, my bum knee braced up with an old scarf I've had forever (it's my favorite for tying over my ears when a cool/cold wind blows).

I had already opened and closed the 'wood' gates and was pushing the two old cows (I call them 96 and 98--those are their birth years branded on their hips), when I decided that I wanted to roll down my sleeves. Instead of stopping Snip in order to do so, I just wrapped the reins around the saddle horn and started rolling down my sleeves. I was doing a little directional work with my legs, but not much. All of a sudden, I realized that he was working the hindmost cow!

By that I mean he was weaving back and forth keeping her moving (roughly) straight along, while keeping himself at the correct angle to her rear hips. I've been doing this manually with him (and this particular set of cows) pretty much ever since I started the on-horseback rotation. I think maybe he's got it! In other words, I may not have to control him so much as I have had to do. I was also pleased that he wasn't crowding the old girl--that is something he tends to do.

All in all, I have been seeing improvement in Snip's behavoir; some of it more slight than others, but he's "got it", if you know what I mean. (I even think he knows when I want him to stop or slow down; but he just ignores me for whatever reason floating around between his perky ears.) I think that when he misbehaves these days, it's mostly that--bad behavior, not ignorance. (Now...how to break that bad behavior streak? My main guess, patience and constancy...)

About 2-ish or so, I went out to tinker around on the lawn mower, the plan being, if I could get the thing to crank today, to mow the grass (which is in dire need of it). I messed around for a few minutes, then decided to try jumping it to see if it'd give it just that much more "umph!" Jumping didn't do any good, but I did check the transmission fluid in the truck when I was done. It was alright.

Anyways, as I was backing the truck up into its usual parking spot, Savannah hailed me on her way back from the gauva bush (under which young Stinkpot was standing happily munching).

My bull, Captain Abraham, was in our neighbor's pasture! (Turns out he'd been there since Sunday.) Anyway, we went over and talked with Mrs. S for a little bit, then walked out to recon the situation at a closer angle. (There was no way in the world my truck could get out there. It would have gotten stuck not half way across the yard!) I should have put on my mud boots, but I didn't...obviously, I wasn't thinking of how wet it is on that side of the creek--or the downpour we had last night. Anyway, by the end of the adventure, I was sloshing wet in my boots and my jeans were wet clear up to the knees. At least I didn't fall down that time I stepped on my spur!

Abe ignored us. He knew he was being a bad boy--you can tell by the way he stands when he knows. A brief look-see convinced me that trailering him out (one of the options) was probably the most practical. We went back to the house and Mrs. S talked to her son...he had to go pick up his trailer. While we were waiting, she mentioned something about seeing Abe walking the fence with cows on the other side of her property. Wondering if they were ours (the colors fit), Savannah and I dashed over to our place to check. All the girls were in the yard, but we (I) decided to go ahead and walk the fence anyway--even though I didn't have my pistol with me.

The fence was nice and tight--not only where the S's had fixed it on their side, but along the back...while there, we walked by Uncle L's barns. One was unlocked with the key hanging out of the padlock. Savannah called Daddy and got Uncle L's number and then called. Aunt C answered and it turns out that Uncle L had just accidently left it like that last time he was down. We checked the place out (no squatters), I locked it and took the key. It's the only key so he'll have to drop by to see us next time he's down! (I won't mind that, I always kind of did like my Uncle L for all his quirks.)

We got back to the S's just about the same time the younger Mr. and Mrs. S got there with their trailer and cow-dog in training. Savannah went on out with the hot-shots and I popped back up to the house because Mrs. S had suggested putting some dog food in a bucket (since we had no feed) to rattle since Abe comes to a bucket (usually).

Anyway, by the time I got out there, they were already working my bull. I could tell they didn't know him by the way they handled him, but since he was already riled up some, I had to go along with what they were doing. (I think if we'd worked him much slower, we'd actually have gotten him trapped sooner.)

It probably took at least an hour and a half, if not more to catch him. We did a lot of running and some of us came pretty close to getting bumped by a running bull. Good thing he's good natured. If not, someone might have gotten gored by those fine horns of his.

About the time Mr. S went for the Gator, Daddy called to see how it was going. He told me to have Savannah run to Smith's and get some feed (that didn't happen by the way; I should have just dashed in there first before we even headed over to the S's) and call Mr. Ricky to please come help. I called Mr. Ricky and got his voice mail. Minutes later, Tommy called and told me Ricky phone was dying so that's why the call didn't take. I told him our predicament and he said that he and Ricky were tied up doing something with a pipe, but would try to come if they could.

Mr. S wore Abe out chasing him around with the Gator. He eventually got him pushed into the little pen (made out of movable panels--great things). Abe walked straight into the trailer from there without needing any urging. About that time Mr. Tommy called me and I told him that we'd gotten Abe. He almost sounded disappointed... :)

From there it was a cinch...drive over to our place and open the trailer. Abe immediately went to sniffing the girls the way bulls do.

I'll skip the rest of the run around...but suffice to say...we went to pick up the Caddillac, I ran back to our place to check the electric wire (it's not working), and then came home. I tried cranking the mower one more time, just because, and wouldn't you know it, it cranked right on up!

"HA!!" I said, "HA!!"

Then I turned it off....

I saddled the beast up this morning and went for a fight...er, ride. He was an absolute booger most of the morning, fighting me nearly the whole time. I have discovered I start to really get grouchy with him about the time I'm in need of a drink--which happens faster when we're fighting with each other.

Anyway, I also rotated the cows--which is where the soggy boots come into the story. I had gotten the 'girls' over into the north pasture when I remembered that I needed to go take care of the gates into the woods. I grouched at Snip some as he kept poking his nose into the grass while he should have just been standing and waiting for me. He's started doing this a little more than he used to.

After closing the last gate, I remounted and clucked at Snip. I went down to the creek overflow and let him drink, then on the spur of the moment decided that we should go through the creek area. It's been a couple weeks since the last time--and the water is higher. I pretty much remember where the low spots are (the benefits of being very familier with the terrain) so I thought we could get through without too much problem. I rode through half a dozen spider webs and tried very hard not to freak out too much about it. I didn't see any spiders, so I didn't completely go nuts. :)

Well, we managed to get almost all the way through the bayhead before the wetting came. I purposely didn't go the way I go when it's dry back there because it would assure a swim for Snip and a soaking for me. Neither did I go the way I had the previous two times because last time I nearly boxed us in--and I wanted to avoid any more spider webs if at all possible. I should have known that the water was going to be deeper at this particular spot--we were shooting here a couple of years ago--but I plowed Snipper down anyway. All of a sudden I realized that there was no helping it...water was cascading into my boots and I was at least calf-deep in the water (which means Snip was in about half-way up his withers). I'm not sure he didn't even swim a stroke or two. Anyways, I kept pushing and he climbed out (kind of steep right there). I pulled him up, hooked one leg over the saddle horn, removed my boot and dumped the water out and then repeated the process with the other foot. I grabbed the boots by the spurs and carried them with me like that--sort of upside down, trying not to drip water onto my pistol. Then I headed to the house with my feet encased in soaking wet blue argyle socks. Those feet stayed out of the stirrups mainly--I can't exactly reach the stirrups bootless anyway (except with my toes stretched . I did find that it was easier to bump Snip with (essentially) barefeet than it is in my mud-boots. He behaved like a gentleman all the way back to the house, even when I dropped my boots over the electrice fence.

I'm going back to the bayhead now--but not with Snip. I'll be lugging my camera... :)

Might as well start Monday: I rode Snip in the morning per usual. Sometime after lunch, I loaded the boys into the truck and away we went to work on fence. Philip looked rather nice in his new cowboy hat. :)

The boys got most of the chainlink pulled out (without the truck because it was much to wet to use the it); the only reason they didn't get it all was because the one ditch was so full of water that they didn't want to work around it--understandably.

While they were doing that, I got the western portion of the area around the RV tent done. I had to retighten the top two wires. I called Daddy to consult and he remarked that it was probably most likely because the ground was so wet that I was just shifting the posts in the ground. I think I agree...

The boys helped with the southern side of the RV tent area. I passed the gray mule off to Joel as well as the final tightening while I took care of all the hammering and wire twisting work. While we were doing that, I sent Philip down the west fence (what I'd built back in March or April), to loosen the staples in preperation for tightening.

When we got to that, I had Philip work the dog. Joel was outside the fence so he got the job of final tightening with the wire pliers, then he'd hand them to me, and he'd hammer that staple in. This was after Philip went down the line and hammered the staples back in. At one point, as he was sauntering along, I looked back down from the growing number of darkening gray clouds and yelped, "Double-quick!" He had a bewildered expression for a second, then he grinned and picked up speed. He moved quicker after than in general. It was just funny.

Just as we finished, it started to pour down rain. Joel dashed into the cover of the RV tent, since "Aw! I'm outside!!" while Philip and I sprinted with the tools to the cover of the truck. Joel ended up having to get the gate. It didn't hurt him to get a little damp though. Thankfully, the windshield wipers worked. They seem to be working more frequently than not these days.

Yesterday...I rode Snip. (Does that ever get boring to hear?) I noticed that one particular trouble spot was not there like usual! See, most of the time when I head toward the house, Snip starts pulling. He didn't do that yesterday. He went nice and steady at the speed I wanted. He did try drifting slightly to the left, but even that wasn't as bad as normal.

I then rotated the cows. This took a while because some were off in the north-east corner though most of them were in the north-west area. I went up the trap to drive down six calves--three bulls and three heifers (Big and Little Red and Charlotte). Two of said critters, Charlotte and this adorable little black and white bull calf, had been there the day before...so I don't know if they spent the night there or not. At some point, I thought I might have a bull fight on my hands because Napolean Jr. literally came running up along the southern side of the airstrip bellowing as he came. I think the high-horn brindle must be seriously in heat, because he went straight to her and stuck there. I told Snip not to paw when Angus walked by...last thing I wanted was a bull taking after me and my horse! :D

Between lunch and 3:00, I played my instruments and did a little snickering at Festus...

About 3:15 Savannah and I headed out to go to Miss Debbie's...we stopped to pick up a bag of rice for her. Miss Debbie is going to give Savannah one of her mares. The one that Savannah rode and will probably end up with, is Diamond. She is shorter than Snip as well as a darker bay--her mane and tail are black and she has black socks up to her knees. Miss Debbie has about ten horses and I made friends with an old boy named Tadpole. He is taller than Snip by about a whole hand. (I learned that a hand is 4 inches.) He also has a Roman nose--like the Strawberry Roan!

Miss Debbie did some ground work with Diamond--that was amazing to watch. Then she got on her and rode her around a little bit. Debbie doesn't ride Western on this animal. The 'steering' is different. Savannah got to ride after that and thought the saddle (a Canadian trooper saddle) was very comfortable. I got on for a few minutes and a found the whole rig kind of awkward. :D It was like learning to ride all over again, because the reining was so different, the saddle sits different, and Diamond's gait is a little different than Snip's, though not much. It didn't help that the stirrups were a little long for me. I did enjoy myself regardless, but didn't stay on too long. Afterall, Diamond is going to be Savannah's ride, not mine.

Debbie showed us around her place and we made friends with some doggies--Sport being the most memorable. Apparently something is wrong with him because he has un-explainedly lost 30 pounds over the last couple weeks. Among the dozens of cats running around,  you can only pet one...then there were the roosters strolling about and constantly crowing. It was quite nice out there. Miss Debbie fed us supper--smoked pork and rice and tomatoe gravy. Savannah and I ate that, but managed to pass on the corn and the pie. I'll admit I pigged out on the rice. I was mighty hungry by that point and I figured I might as eat well since I was going to blow my diet anyway.

Let's see...we goofed off with her psalters and dulcimar for a few minutes...I talked to Miss Pat (who also came for supper) and Larry for a little--and watched a little TV with them. I was quite comfortable in Debbie's home--which is the center isle of a horse barn converted into a house. It was wide open, with high ceilings, and yet it feels very lived in...very comfortable.

It was at least 8:30 by the time we left...Savannah was starting to get dropey. I was pretty tired myself. I don't understand why socializing, fun and exhilarating as it is, leaves me so tired.

I was still tired when I rolled out bed this morning--late. It was all of 7:15! I stumbled out to the kitchen and had just poured the coffee when I realized I had about 7 calves in the yard. I didn't feel like being nice this morning (the two strolling through the barn bugged me for some reason), so I slipped to the backroom, removed my BB gun from the rack, put on my hat, and proceeded to creep out of the house barefoot and in my nightdress, hair down all over my back. I probably had something of a scowl across my face too. I landed a few good ones on the really pretty little sandy colored heifer with the white face before she took the fence with a bound. I popped the little tan brindle bull calf and he didn't think too much of it. Then I fired off at the black heifer. I hit her good--but the really neat thing was I saw the BB arc and smack her right in the ribs. Well, I wasn't getting the response I wanted, and Curiosity was curling herself around my feet, tickling my ankles, so I picked the cat up and petted the damp-footed fur-ball for a minute. After a little bit, I set her, my BB gun, and my hat on the tongue of the horse-trailer and let out a couple of those awful sounding bellows and took off after the calves on foot. I'm just glad I didn't slide in the wet grass and take a header. At least two of them went through the fence in the corner (as far as I could tell, they didn't pull the staples out), but most of them jumped the electric. By the time I got the rest of them out, that pretty little heifer was back in so I gave her a yell and boy did she take off.

I went back in, wiped my feet off (amazingly I only got one misquito bite out there--on my foot), and got my coffee--which Aunt had just poured into the thermos! I sat there and watched as she got her boys up so they could go to the beach. She mentioned that she'd be glad to take one of us (or both) with them--so I told Savannah to go. I stayed home--obviously.

I fed the animals (11 eggs this morning!), washed my hair, ate my breakfast, and got to work. First I washed the dishes, then I cleaned the bathroom. Somewhere along the line, I started the laundry. I vaccumed the floor and started on lunch. While making lunch--the inevitable carrots along with some version of eggplant parmesan--Granddaddy and I recieved some visitors. The ladies had brought Granddaddy a hunk of cake and they sat and talked for a while. It was observed, "You seem to keep busy." I laughed a little and said, "About the only time I'm not busy is when I don't feel very good!" That might sound bragadocious, but I didn't mean it like that. I know I do waste time sometimes, but when I work, I work.

Anyways, I thought lunch turned out pretty good, even if I do say so myself. Granddaddy seemed to like it, so that is encouraging. I started out with instructions from Savannah to cook some onion and the eggplant in the skillet and finish it up in the oven. From there, I decided to put the left over meat in between two layers of eggplant (how did I use to not like the stuff?). I put some cheese in it too. The carrots were normal--salt, pepper, and some cinnamon. I also heated up some of the left over potatoes and Granddaddy ate those. I don't cook very often, but when I do, I seem to make out all right.

After lunch, I washed the dishes before turning my hand to making a loaf of banana bread. I managed to break the canister with the coconut flour in it. I had to throw it all out because it was on the dirty floor and the glass shattered pretty bad. That didn't make me very happy, but I didn't bawl about it. I just cleaned it up and went on with life.
 
Since then, I've had my coffe, taken care of some computer stuff and have nearly finished the laundry. I put the clean sheets on my bed...and have spent way too long on this post. :)

So, I'll leave you...farewell for now!

Okay, so the day really wasn't mad. At all. It was pretty normal.

I rode Snip this morning...big surprise, right? He behaved fairly well. I didn't trot him for a full 15 minutes, but what I did do (more like 10 minutes) was at a fairly quick trot. I loped him a couple of times and naturally, that was the most troublesome overall, since he so aggrivatingly pulls toward the trees when we're headed east.

I wasn't planning on it, but I rotated the cows this morning. They were all in the woods (except for one old girl who has been keeping to herself a lot lately--and I didn't see her until later), so all I had to do was open one gate and shut another. Meanwhile, I tied Snip up to a fence post. I have started carrying a hay bale rope on my saddle for such purposes.

After lunch, I took my truck, which is belching smoke like a dragon, into Tex. When I'll get it back I don't know.

On the way home, Savannah handed me her phone (she was talking to Mama). At some point, she handed her phone to Grandpa so I got to talk to him for awhile. That was great...except now I miss him all over again. I have a pretty good relationship with my Grandpa--better than I do with Granddaddy (though I love him too!), so it was good to chatter with him about everything from birds to bees to food.

I then talked to Mama some more...finally, as her phone was fixing to die, we got off. Both of us had stuff to do anyway.

I had an apple before heading out to tighten up the fence around the house. I got the north side done. I'll do the west side tomorrow I guess. I hope to get out that weedwacker I've never used and have no idea if it works, and trim around the house and pump and barn. I need to mow again fairly soon, but I will have to go get some more gas before I can do that.

I made myself a new watch band out of some black grossgrain ribbon this evening. The leather one that Katherine gave me was falling apart, so I figured I might as well preempt loosing it by replacing it. A new watchband every six months! This is the third one. I guess I just sweat on them so bad that they just fall apart. Anyway, I took some inch wide ribbon, folded it in half, stitched it together and weasled it onto the watch. The raw edges of the holes for the buckle and the ends, I 'singed' with some matches to keep them from fraying all over the place. It seems to be a pretty sturdy band and hopefully it'll last at least six months. Of course, my battery may be dead by that point...but whether I replace the battery or the watch is a question I'll answer when I reach that point.

Busy days are good days...

This is definitely over due...

Saturday we attended Mr. Tim and Miss Donna's wedding. She looked lovely and Mr. Tim of course was striking in his Confederate general's uniform. Mr. Leon and Mrs. Evelyn were their attendents and both looked very nice as well. Miss Donna was late because she got hung up in the traffic surrounding a triathalon!

After the ceremony, which was rather short, Savannah and I hurried off to go help put the food out...once the bride and groom reached the reception area, we got roped into the picture taking spree going on because of our dresses. :)

Anyway, it was an outdoor wedding at a state park. It was kind of muggy, but it could have been worse. :) As Savannah said, the lighting was perfect for taking pictures.

This is the first wedding I've been to where the couple opened their wedding gifts after the reception. We stayed around and laughed with them as they opened things...Mr. Tim told me afterwards about our gift (kitchen stuff), "Now Donna will really learn how to cook."

I would put pictures up, but Savannah's camera battery is dead and I don't know where to locate the other one...and she isn't here.  I'll have to get to that later. (With more chatter which the pictures will produce.) 

I mowed the grass yesterday. That is an all afternoon adventure. My left eye is still slightly blood-shot from the volume of flying debris that it had to handle (I can only wink my right eye, so when I had a real mess blowing at me, I'd close that one and leave the left one partially open so I could see where I was going). I lost the guard off the deck about my second pass around the yard and didn't bother to put it back on since I knew it would just bounce off again directly. That naturally didn't help the clippings, dirt, and leaves stay out of my face.

One of the two calves born last Thrusday (both heifers) is dead. Sunday night, I went to go feed Charlotte and the mother cow had just come around the pens. I didn't think anything about it until I heard the calf bawling and saw it kicking. Even brand new calves don't lay on their side and kick like that. Mammy snifffed the calf, licked it and then raised her head and (how does one describe this?) with her neck stretched out, lifted her upper lip and kind of blew. The bulls do this all the time when they're sniffing out a cow in heat. Put those three things together and I knew something wasn't right. I managed to get close enough to the calf to touch it. It didn't flinch--which is odd for a wild one. I then grabbed it under the flanks and lifted it, trying to get it to stand on it's feet. No good. It just flopped (or would have if I'd let it) back down. The cow, who surprisingly had let me get that close and not made any fuss, started to move back in and I left.

When I got back to the house, I called Daddy and talked to him about it...it was clearly obvious that the calf was in the process of dying. We decided to just let it go. I could have tried to feed it, but I think it was too far gone. I wonder if it got snake bit or something because just Saturday I had seen her up and about looking like a normal day or two old calf. It's always sad to have to let one of your animals die, but sometimes it's best.

It probably died within the next couple of hours. It was most certainly dead yesterday morning and was hardly in a different position than when I'd left it Sunday evening. What was really sad was the mama cow hung around all day yesterday with her dead baby.

Yesterday, between my horse ride and lunch and mowing, I ended up watching most of a Western movie on TV. I believe it was called "An Eye for an Eye" and was most certainly a '60's film. One of the stars was Patrick Wayne (John Wayne's younger son).  I've only ever seen Pat in four movies--McClintock (a favorite), The Comancheros (the book is better than the movie; Pat has a small part in that one--and gets killed), and now An Eye for an Eye. He gets killed in the end of that one too. I wonder, with 2 out of 3 resulting in his death--how often did he stay alive in his movies? He's a pretty good actor, but I guess with the Duke as his father, he had quite a reputation to live up to!

Anyway, it was pretty good for a 60's movie. Even the female actress was alright. The ending was sad, but not exactly hopeless...the other main character's riding off and leaving the girl was understandable to a degree. He left because he did love her and didn't want anything bad to happen to her because of his occupation (that of a bounty hunter).

It's about time for me to take the bread out of the oven. We've had a banana sitting on the counter oozing worse every day for several days, so I finally just took the time to slap a banana bread together this morning since I wasn't going to ride (Savannah really prefers me not to ride when she isn't home.)

I also whipped up myself some avacado based chocolate pudding--I've been needing a chocolate fix for a while...

Anyway, I need to go take care of a few little things!

That's an old cliche I guess, but it really seems to fit.

I have fence work I need to do stacked up around me like cordword. I've been awful lazy since Daddy left; not intentionally, but I have been. I make no excuses--since I can't think of any!

Yesterday, I was going to mow our place. I arrived to find cattle in the yard. The chainlink in the back is laying on the ground. Well, since the cows had eaten the grass down short, I didn't need to mow. I went ahead and finished trimming the trees though...those nippers are dull, by the way. While doing that I ran water into the pool.

I called Daddy when I was done to tell him that I was making a judgement call decsion and was going to get to work building a barb-wire fence all the way around the yard. The chainlink is going down in several other places besides the back. It's a good thing I did call him too, because I got a few pointers.

I headed to Smith's and was back by the nails and staples when Justin came in from the back. He saw me getting some staples and grinning asked, "Can I help you?" I laughed (I laugh a lot no matter who I'm talking to or what I'm doing--but I think you already knew that!), "I guess so!" He got me squared away with 5 pounds of staples and I think it was about 1 pound of 16 penny nails. (For making the H-frames; I was all out.) Then we went to the counter (I was almost trotting to keep up with him--that young man has much longer legs than I do!) and had an interesting exchange about a bundle of fence posts. He didn't think they'd fit in the back of my pickup (probably right), so he wanted to know where to deliver them. Why do I never think of saying "the old ---" place? I explained what it looked like and he went, "Oh, the old --- place! I know exactly were that is at." Then he wanted to know if it was alright to deliver them that evening. Sure, why not? So, he turned around and asked the "Old Man", "Can the boys deliver a bundle of posts?" To which Old Man replied (with a down right ornery twinkle), "It's your business..." I laughed...couldn't help it!

Anyway, I went on ahead and was poking around in the cab of the truck trying to straighten things out when Redneck 1 showed up with my posts. I let him in--I'm not sure he thought he was going to make it through the gate by the way he was looking at his mirrors. The way they unload posts, when they don't have a forklift, is rather interesting. Drive forward, back up, and hit the brakes! He had to do this several times before they finally fell off the back of the truck--and they still didn't end up in the tent! Oh well...they're going to be out in the weather anyway, right? Then he unloaded the two rolls of wire I had also gotten; I guess they keep that in the warehouse because he brought it out--and I would think that if it was in the building, that Justin would have loaded it in my truck.

My plan was to start working on fence today--but seeing as the coon got into my rooster coop again last night, I think I may just finish the chicken plucker instead. Who knows, I might even start butchering! I only have 14 roosters left (not counting Tail-less and the other one I put in with the hens). That is NOT a very good percentage from 50 at all. It stinks, but that's how it is. I've certainly learned a thing or two about chickens, and roosters in particular, through this venture.

BUT, if I'm going to get anything done, I'd better get to it. My coffee is gone. I still don't feel much like moving though. I rode Snip this morning and because of the amount of trotting I did yesterday, my legs are worn out. The ol' boy behaved fairly well today; he spooked once and almost fell once (tripped on something), but didn't even attempt to buck--of course, I also didn't even try loping today. The way my legs felt, I wasn't sure I would stay on if he did buck!

I won't ride tomorrow (it has become a habit not to ride on Saturday; partly because it's the day I take care of my indoor stuff and partly because if I did fall and break something, I'd rather not do it on a Saturday with church the next morning and all). By Monday, I should be nice and rested and ready to start in again!

See ya!