Animal Pairs

Pep was having a little drooling problem so Emma was trying to clean it up.

I was afraid Thumper was going to have his eyes scratched out but Oreo behaved himself.

Lilies

I lave several different lilies blooming now.Stargazer, from a mail order catalog. Tiger, originally from my grandmother.

These yellow lilies were from a lady at church.

Goats and Thistles

J always likes to see the goats doing their job (weed control). He usually bush hogs this section but decided to see if the goats could handle it instead.

They are eating the thistles like its candy.

River

V walked down to the river today and took these pictures.

The water is a little muddy due to the recent rain. We got 3 inches Tuesday after a very long dry spell. Things were looking very bleak, the grass was turning brown and 2 of our springs were about dry. It's amazing how much some rain can brighten our outlook.

Southern Regionals

We just found out Friday that E will be able to go to the Southern Regional 4-H Horse Show at the end of the month. 13 states can send 42 horses each. Needless to say, we've been doing a lot of riding.Yesterday the girls attended a riding clinic for their 4-H horse club.

There were 10 horse and riders in attendance. The instructor trains reining horses and really liked J's horse.

Herefords

A couple of months ago we traveled to North Carolina to check out some purebred Herefords. We ended up purchasing 5 cows and 6 heifers. They were finally delivered this week.

J thinks this will be a good start for E and V to have their own purebred herds.

Sunflowers

I planted sunflowers in the garden one year and have continued to have volunteers ever since. Here are some of this year's crop.

Bull

This is a 3/4 Angus 1/4 Tarentaise cross bull we got out of Colorado a few years ago.

He wasn't very happy about getting cut out of the cows when we moved them Saturday.

Horses

I spent a lot of today working with the horses.

The farrier came this morning to reset the shoes on the three horses we ride. J got along well riding Thumper this evening.I had to ride Pep some because E is still having trouble getting her to canter.

Nurse Emma

When we moved the cattle yesterday, we had to get a limping calf up in order to treat it for sore foot.

Emma is always very concerned over anything hurt or sick.
She is always right there trying to help. I'm never sure the cattle see it that way however.

Cattle Drive

Because we practice rotational grazing, the cattle need to be moved from one field to another every 2-7 days depending on the size of the field. Most moves just involve opening the gate and letting them into the next pasture. However, today's involved walking 75 cow/calf pairs .4 miles to the next location. Emma, thinking she is helping with the mini cattle drive.

J doing a head count.

Turkeys

We never know what we will run into going down the driveway. This group of turkeys with 10 little ones hung around for several days.
The little brown spots are the poults (baby turkeys).

Flowers

These are flowers that have recently bloomed in my yard.This rose was originally growing wild at an old home site on my grandparents farm. I thought if it could live for 50 years in a cow field without any attention maybe I could grow it. It has done quite well.

Here are some red, white and blue Speedwell.

My row of daylillies always does well. I learned to confine them to their own spot and not try to mix them with other flowers. This seems to be an aggressive variety.

The Beach

We just returned today from a short beach vacation. This was the view from the deck. The weather was very nice, maybe a little breezy in the afternoons.Shark tooth hunting is the biggest past time here. I found 250.

But that is counting the ones I purchased from E and this giant one someone on the beach gave me. He said he lived nearby and had loads, he had just found this one and said it was good luck to give a shark's tooth away.

Photography

J's attempt at horse photography.

I don't know how he got her ears to do that. And what about that rabid looking eye.
I think he did a little better with landscape photography.

Pergola

Pergola at Arlington Cemetery that I liked.
I have big dreams.

New Project

I started a new yard project today. I've been wanting a grape arbor, but I can't just put up an arbor. I have to dig up the sod, level the ground and build a retaining wall.V was a big help all day. She cleared most of the sod and helped collect the rocks out of the field.

This was the end of today's progress.