Rained Out

We were going to go to a horse show today that started at 5 pm. It drizzled and rained all day but we continued to work toward going to the show. We bathed the horses in the rain the tied them in the barn to dry.

We even braided 44 braids in Jessica's mane. I called 3 times to check that they were still having the show. Each time I was told yes.
These were suppose to be show pics.
We loaded the trailer and hauled the horses to the show grounds. When we arrived at 4:oo they decided to cancel the show. A hard days work with nothing to show for it.

Rain

It has been painfully dry this summer and the 90 plus temperature and wind haven't been helping.

Thankfully, we got an inch of rain this morning. I almost went out and played in it.

Yard Ornaments

The farm we bought a few years ago had a big collection of old farm equipment.

A couple of years ago J gave it to some local boys to haul off for scrap. I requested that we keep the iron wheels. We finally got them back this week.
Now I get to decide what to do with them.

More Fair

A few more pictures from the fair.

Couldn't resist taking a picture of this family "watching" the cattle show.

Fair

J, V, and E have spent the last 2 days at the NRV fair. I didn't have to go until today.

V took the Hereford heifer she showed a couple of months ago.
She didn't place in showmanship and was 3rd out of 3 in her heifer class. We weren't expecting that the heifer would do well so we weren't disappointed.
We suspect this was the real reason she wanted to go to the fair.
She did place 5th in the Stockman's contest. But it was a long, hot, tiring day for all.

Peppers

I planted a variety pack of rainbow peppers this year.

The yellow and greens look nice but the purple is a little puney. They all taste good however.

Quote of the Day, "If I have my dog cremated will he still look the same?"

4-H Arena Day

Another 4-H meeting at the arena.

E still isn't home from the beach with Aunt A, so I took Hank and V rode Jessica.
Only one other 4-Her came. Katelyn with Scribbles. The horses all did well. Hank's second time in a real arena and after the nerves wore off he did fine. It is so frustrating the so many people in the county have horses yet no one will bring their children to a 4-H meeting.

500th Post ! Road Trip

Today our cattle are heading west.

We sent 60 along with 11 from a neighbor.
The tractor trailer can't get into our farm so we have to haul them across town to a barn with a scale.
The truck can only haul 49500 pounds legally so it's imperative the the scale be read correctly.
J was getting the final count while they were being loaded.
They should arrive in Nebraska tomorrow morning.

Undesirables

I have found a couple of very undesirable things in the yard recently.

Looks like Emma found an old goat carcass. I say old because since Bumble and Bea have been on the job we haven't lost any more goats. Of course deworming the nannies may have helped, but I am giving them full credit on not losing any kids.
Then I nearly stepped on this mummified toad while hanging out the laundry. A sort of "oh!" moment.

Hank was in the yard this morning. Although he is not gross like these previous two, it is still undesirable that he was in the yard. He was looking for a way out and had only been in for a few minuets. I don't know it he walked or jumped the cattle guard.

Harvest

Finally, the harvest I have been waiting for.

I got 3 cucumbers and 4 tommy toes today. Yea!

I'm trying out a zucchini casserole for supper. Hope it turns out.

Pears

I planted 2 pear trees in the yard about 8 years ago. The last 2 years they have produced a total of 6 pears.

This year they have a crazy number of pears on them.
If they all ripen I don't know what I'll do with them all.

Bare Back

E has decided to try to show Pep in Ride-A-Buck Classes. This is a bare back class where you try to keep a dollar bill under your leg while riding at different gaits.

She hasn't ridden bare back very much so she started off trying to lunge Pep first. E did more running around than Pep, so this didn't last long.
After a leg up she was off. Pep didn't think much of being ridden bare back. She did OK at the walk and trot but didn't want to canter. After much head tossing and some rearing E finally got her going.
She then practiced with a tissue (I didn't have any money with me). I think the tissue must have really stuck because it never moved. With a little more practice I think she'll be ready for the next show.

EID Tagging

We are going to be sending 61 of our yearlings to the Circle 5 feedlot in Nebraska next week.

There usually is a premium for source and age verified cattle. In order qualify for this premium we have to tag the cattle with special electronic ear tags. J and the girls worked on this today while I was at my work. J did the tagging.
V worked the head gate and E took pictures and kept up with the paperwork.
Papa R even helped out. I don't think he came by to work but he volunteered anyway. They got 32 head tagged. The others are at a different farm and will probably get tagged right before they get hauled out.

Dry, Dry, Dry

The hill in front of the house has really dried up.

Only the horses are grazing here now.
All of the seams where the top soil is shallow are dead.
Anywhere where clover was is now nothing but brown. It has been worse but we are getting there fast.

Beach 2010

Just got back from 5 days at the beach. I think I could about live there if not for being allergic to the sun. I think 3 days maybe J's limit however.

The weather was beautiful and the ocean calm. The wind wasn't even too bad this time.


We celebrated the 4th cooking some steaks. We did have sea food the rest of the time. No bad burns or sun rashes. Lots of walking, floating and shark tooth hunting. All in all a good vacation. Too bad we returned to a scorched farm. Temperatures have been in the 90's with no rain in sight. A little depressing to come back to brown fields.