Long day

Today I woke up with a headache. We have had rain and storms and that is keeping the pollen count pretty high too. For me this mix spells issues. I have been taking my medication so by this evening I was doing okay. I could still feel the presure in my head but at least I could breath and I wasn’t hurting.

To make sure we got something done Mom and I worked to get everything in the Etsy shop. All those handspun yarns she has been working on and all those Batts are now for sale. You can find them By Clicking HERE We worked to get the best Pictures we could but some just don’t show the color as true as it really is. And some of the luster is lost as well. Oh well, If they don’t sell in the shop I know they will sell at Fiber Christmas once people get to see them in person and touch them … They are super Soft!!

This evening I did take time to work with Snorts … I have to say he has horse sense. Mom says I have a way with animals that I need to learn to use a bit better but that Me and Snorts are doing great. I brushed him down and we had a little talk. Then came the saddle. He did just fine…. Tomorrow and the next day will be more of the same. Then I will try to mount him on Wednesday. From that mount I will be able to tell more about him. I hope he will trust me enough to let me do it and not put up a big fight. Check him out…. I love a horse that has horse sense. They are easy to work with and a joy to handle …

Snorts

As most of you know I am having issues with my eyes and that is leading to me not having a driver’s license and that is making it hard for me to find a job.  So I have decided to do what I do best to earn a little money.  Last night, I went and picked up a horse from a lady to ride for the next 30 days.  He just needs a job so I am going to teach him to work cattle. 

I do have to teach him one other thing and that is to not run off with his rider.  It seems that the last time anyone rode him, he took off with them and scared them to death.  So for the next month my time will be spent with Socks the horse.  However, since he has been here all he has done is snort at everything.  So Mom and I are calling him Snorts!!!  Check him out.

Heating things up

So it is summer on the prairie and as most of you know the Oklahoma Prairie is hot … So I thought lets really heat things up!! How??? Let’s have a contest … and of course the prizes will be Yarn and rovings … How fun is that?? And everyone will have a chance to win more then once. Want to know more?? Well, I was looking at a way to grow my pages and groups. You know Plurk, Fabebook, Twitter, and Ravelry. Even here … This is what I came up with!

Each media will be competing for one prize … and all medias will be competing for one bigger prize. I am calling it Follow, Comment, Share … There will be one contest for Facebook, one for Twitter, One for Ravelry and One for Plurk. The more ways you follow the more chances you have to win …

At the end of one week there will be one big drawing from all those that have followed, commented and Shared in anyway, here on the blog as well as one prize for each media post. And there will be an extra bonus drawing for the entries from the media with the highest percentage of increased following … Does any of that make sense? I hope so. It is meant to help you want to share the contest on your media that way you can have a chance to win more …

So I will make the posts (one on each social media) that you need to follow with the prizes listed on them and it will be one that says Follow, Comment, Share … If you follow me already that is fine just comment on the post and share it. You may enter one time for each media but you enter all medias. (And of course on the Blog)

The prizes are different on each Media so enter away. Please make sure you follow, comment and share. You can follow the links below to make sure you get all your entries in … Then … Share, share, share

Facebook

Ravelry

Plurk this is the only one that won’t take you to the actual picture so make sure you find the right plurk …

4 way contest on Facebook, Ravelry, Twitter and Plurk. Follow, Comment and Share this post for a chance to win this pic.twitter.com/nBlhDolhjt

— RJ (@YoungShepard) June 27, 2014

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I’m Baccckkkkkk!

So I am back from 4-H Camp. I just hope that the kids I had in my group had as much fun as I did. I even won second in a food showdown… My team made a food teepee with yogart, strawberries, gram crackers, cheese and marshmellows. Not to mention the Speech that me and one little kid put on that had everyone in stitches … even the little kid I was doing the speech with …

While I was away, Mom sure was a busy beaver … Look at some of the option we will have in our booth this year… I know the pictures aren’t great but it is because they were taken with Mom’s phone I stole them from a friend she was texting … LOL

Then she dyed up all of this in Cotswold to make batts with as well … She has been busy …

And just so you can have all the drool over those batts with a dash of Awwww … Here is Grace (just so you know Mom has started calling her Gracie instead of Grace)

Just so you know she doesn’t stay still much … she is a mover and a shaker … LOL

Camp

Okay so I love that I can set this blog post to post when I am already gone … and if you are seeing this to tell you I am at 4-H Camp … Nothing important happened on the farm today. You see I left for 4-H Camp today. I have been a camp counselor every year for the late few years and this year is no different. However, I left Mom instruction to only let this post if nothing happened today … So I guess nothing happened today.

I will get back Thursday evening and Mom will only post, Like I said before, if anything happens. So until then I will see you Thursday …

Milk Day!!

Today I have to admit I am tired… I even slept in and let Dad do my chores. Then this afternoon I took a nap. I slept hard last night but it seems like once you get behind on sleep it is hard to ge back on track and caught up. What makes it worse is that tomorrow I leave to go be a camp counselor at 4-H Camp. I know I am not going to get caught up there. Anyway, I Have to be honest. The QT Flock has no news other then Cuteness of Miss Grace.

On the Farm side of things I did go with Mom to the Vet tech Program and get Holly and Ms. Sweetie Pie ultrasounded. The only issue is that not only do our goats have 4 stomaches to get around but it appears that our little darlings are in excellent shape as they couldn’t get a clear picture because of the muscle mass on our goats. The Vet said we had very athletic Goats … LOL

So without the ultrasound to tell us positive they tried to palpate them. The issue there is that if they are only 3 months along as we suspect the babies may be to small for them to feel. So for the comfort of the goats they tried reaching in once on each and they really couldn’t feel anything. Most of the growth of an animal takes place in the last couple of months so the babies will start growing but just aren’t big enough to find right now.

Since all else failed … They drew blood to take to the lab and we will know something in a day or so … LOL With that issue under control we addressed Holly’s bud as call it. You see she has a cute little curled half horn that comes from someone not debudding her properly as a baby. This problem normally wouldn’t be a problem except that her half horn is growing in a way that it is about to grow back into her skull. It would have killed her if it was allowed to progress so … We had it removed.

It bled a bit and Mom hates that it had to be done but for Holly’s health it was done. So each goat has a shaved area on their sides and their necks and Holly has a nub of a horn that needs to heal. I couldn’t get a good picture but here is the worst of Holly’s bud …

You can see her shaved neck and her bud there on her head… It isn’t so bad but Mom hates it … She just says “Poor Holly Girl”

Life just got complicated

So I know that I said I probably wouldn’t blog this weekend but this weekend isn’t going as planned. First, the whole Dimples and Grace thing. Then last night in the middle of the night my Sister returned home. Not for a visit. She is going to be living here until she can save some money to get herself a place. Her Live in of like 1 year and a half and her have split up and it wasn’t pretty.

Mom took care of everything that they could in the middle of the night. Then My Dad, and some friends went as back up, and got all her stuff today. She even brought her Dog with her. She spent most of the day working to get her name off of everything they did together while I went to Rodeo Bible Camp and Mom went to get the Jumk wool that we use to teach.

Mom and I have had a talk about what I am to do if my Sister’s Ex-partner shows up and starts making trouble. I have a safe place to go even if that person isn’t home I know how to get in and hide. Mom also had a talk with my Sister and she has to help out around here and keep her nose clean. Honestly, I hope there is no Drama and everything works out.

To make this day a Bit brighter for all of you, here is a dose of Cuteness … Brought to you by GRACE!!

Tomorrow we will take the two milk goats to have ultrasounds done at the Vet Tech Program and I will let you know what we find out.

Another Awesome Day

I will start by saying that I wasn’t going to blog today … I have had 3 hours of sleep in the last two days and if there are spelling, grammer or any other kind of Errors Please just over look them and know that this post is worth the oops. You see last night I was at the rodeo. I did well and placed 6th giving me point to go to finals. The down side is that I didn’t get home until 2am then I had to get up at 5am this morning to get to Rodeo Bible Camp.

I kind of left Rodeo Bible Camp a bit early as I fell a sleep laying in the grass and didn’t want to fall asleep during service so I told them I was heading home to take care of a “little Issue at home” … I am guessing that Most of you already know that I wasn’t home today for all the excitment. I am glad Mom got it on Plurk, Ravelry and Facebook … I have trained her well. For those who do not follow on those places here is what I am talking about.

While I was at camp, Dimples decided she didn’t want an ultra sound or to meet the Vet Tech crew on Monday. So she did this instead …

Now that I have met the little girl I will say this. I don’t think the flock liked her being removed from their pasture. Because if you tried to come through the back gate today to come see her … You were met by this!! Every animal in the flock/herd was in the back yard and as Mom said you couldn’t get through without them all knowing it.

Next up what are we going to name her??? So far suggestions are as follows:

Marie, after Marie Curie

Betsy, after Elizabeth Blackwell

Any others please post them here. We need something really cool for this girl … Scientist or mathematician

A whole lot of Nothing

So I am having an issue … Over the last few days I have had little things happen that I have forgotten to blog about. I always think I will Just add it into tomorrow’s post but then I forget again … I now have a list. I started this list right on the blog today and wrote a bit here and there through out the day … Then before I left for my Rodeo I set it to post this evening. So Here is the list …

1) Sweetie Might be in a motherly fashion This leads to Holly and her milk issue and brings in ICC West
2) Cattle got out while I was at State
3) Fat Joe is a little anemic
4) Flies
5) Rodeo Bible camp rescheduled and 4-H Camp right on top of each other
6) Mom hand spinning
7) Junk Wool

First the Serious Issues – Health of our Animals

#1. Sweety is showing sighs that her milk bag is getting loose. That normally only happens when a goat is getting ready to kid. That means we bought a milk goat that was bred instead of one that isn’t. This isn’t an issue in it’s self. However, Holly and Sweetie haven’t been apart. They were together for at least 6 months before we got them. So if Sweetie is Pregnant then Holly could be too. I know AAWWW … Babies!! No Not AAWWW for Holly. Her body has been producing milk since the spring and Mom says that we need to stop milking her at least 6 to 8 weeks before she kids so that her body can recover and make collostrum instead of Milk when the baby comes. The plan was to have one goat carry us through every other summer. This year was Holly’s year. Then next year she wouldn’t be milked through the summer but Sweetie would.

The goats being pregnant isn’t really a good thing. It is okay for Sweetie as we will just let her raise her baby and milk her just a bit to teacher her for next year. However, Monday Holly is going to get an ultra sound at ICC West. We are going to take Dimples and Sweetie too. Just so the Vet Techs can practice. Dimples will be palpated to make sure she is just fat and Sweetie will be have an ultra sound with Holly. If they are pregnant Mom says she will have to figure out how far along they are and she will have to dry up Holly ASAP!

On top of that I forgot to tell you when we got home we found one of the bigger calves had gotten out of the pasture. Mom and I got it caught and Dad helped me move it back to the pasture. This morning I worked the fence line and found we will have to start replacing some of the broken post. Mom says times and money being what they are she will start buying 10 t-Posts every payday until the entire fence it totally fixed…

Then there is Fat Joe. When we got him he was just a few days shy of 5 weeks old amd he had fleas. So Mom and I took to washing and bathing him once a week. We took him to the vet to try and get something to help keep the fleas off but the vet wouldnt’ allow it due to his age. We are trying to get the fleas under control but they are crazy thick this year. Soooo, His fleas have gotten so bad we are now washing him once every 4 days. We took him back to the vet and he is anemic. This is one of the reasons Joe went with us yesterday as I am keeping a close eye on him. Our vet has agreed to allow Joe to get a certain kind of treatment with a chemical this weekend and I will stop and pick it up today on my way to the Rodeo. He will be just a few days shy of 7 weeks and the vet says with his size he should be able to handle the stuff.

This has lead to Mom finding some fleas in our house. Now, due to my health issues Mom doesn’t use chemicals in our house. That means Mom is busy washing everything from dog beds to sheets to throw rugs. She then salts everything and after some time she vacuums. This has been going on once a day for the last week. And I haven’t seen a flea but on the Dogs so even though Penny and Buddy have their flea stuff on at all times… Mom has them on a bath Schedule as well as Brewers yeast tablets. Honestly, I think every Flea in the house is on Fat Joe because they can’t survive anywhere else in the house. LOL … Mom has even salted her and mine’s bed between the matress and the matress pad! If you didn’t know that Salt kills fleas you do after reading this blog … LOL

With all of that going on there is still more. Remember my Rodeo Bible Camp that was cancelled?? Well, it is this weekend and so is my rodeo in Inola. So as you read this I am on the road and will be gone for the next two days. Then when I get done with that camp, Monday we are taking the goats and then Tuesday – Thursday I am away at 4-H Camp where I am a camp counselor. I didn’t plan for this month to be so busy but it sure is turning out that way.

Keep in mind that in a few weeks we also have our fiber booth at Fiber Christmas in July. Mom is busy spinning some of the rovings we get each year from the animals so that I will have something different and new in my booth … We also hit the dye pots and we are going to make up some 2 oz batts. I made one orange and Black for OSU and then I made one I am calling bumble bee!!! With any luck Mom is going to post a picture for me right in here so that when this goes live you can see all the pretty colors from today …

(Yup Mom got it done … LOL)

On top of all that my Friend that we get the “junk wool” from for the 4-H kids called and Sunday Mom is going to go get some more. She has 45 ewes that she sheared and what I don’t take in fleece she will take to her dump site and burn. If anyone wants to pay shipping I will be happy to send you some. It isn’t soft but it is very grippy and Mom says it is easy for the kids to learn to spin with. She also says it is great to use to learn to process wool … Because if you mess it up you can always mulch it into your garden or throw it out … No great loss there. LOL

So if you don’t hear from me tomorrow or the next day don’t worry … Monday I will update everyone as to the health of the animals …

Awesome Blessings

Today was awesome. I spent most of my day at the Oklahoma 4-H State Horse Show. The show opened with my two events. The break away Calf Roping and the tie down calf roping started at 11am. That meant I had to be there by 10am to get checking in, saddled and have my Tack checked. That also meant we had to be on the road early as the show was 3 hours away and we had to stop and get gas to make the trip.

After getting everything loaded, including Fat Joe, We were on the road and I was stoked. While the trip was uneventful I was surprised that Fat Joe did so well in his kennel … He didn’t have one accident and we only stopped one time each way for his potty break.

When the event started Mom realized her camera batteries were dead so she tried to get some pictures with my phone. Sorry they aren’t very good but they are all we have right now. As you can see most are to far away for you to really make out anything…

The Break away calf roping was the first even and I was in line about the middle of the class. And I brought home Reserve Champion. I was only 1 tenth of a second off the winning time. The kid that beat me had a 3.46 Second run and I had a 3.56 second run … I bet you never knew tenths of a second could mean so much did ya??

We lined up to find out the standings and I walked away with a new bridle bag and a second place ribbon and the title Reserve Champion.

My next and only other event was the tie down calf roping. I am starting to just do the events I am good at instead of paying to do a bunch of things I know I won’t win at. I am also practicing just those events. I am finding it is cheaper too.

In the end I brought home the title 2014 Oklahoma State 4-H Champion Tie Down Calf Roper. And the guy that beat me by 1 tenth of a second in the Break away too home Second … LOL

Here it is close up …

After my events I spent time hanging out with Em and Chaz … We have this same picture for the last 3 years I think …

At first Em and I took one thinking Chaz wasn’t going to make it in time to see our events … His event doesn’t start until 7pm tonight… Don’t worry though he finally got there … LOL

Before we headed for home Mom took the official picture for the newspaper for me.

Then I was like this the whole way home…

I put up my horse, did chores, showered and I am now off to bed… it has been a long day … a Great blessing but long!

On a side note … If you read last night’s blog you will understand this next part …

At one point on the way home my phone went off… It was my friend that worked at my Uncle’s with me yesterday. You see he got a speeding ticket. Did he go straight to his parents and fess up??? NO … he posted on Facebook saying “this is why you shouldn’t speed” When someone remarked that his parents would be upset he said something about “I got paid today so I will take care of it.” The way he put it made it sound like he was going to take care of it then tell his parents … I now understand … My friend is repeating the way my Uncle handled the issue yesterday … Fix it first then fess up! Fear Not … I have learned the lesson well … I will fess up first and make the “fix it part” part of my apology … Hiding things can only lead to trouble!