Thanksgiving

I know I didn’t blog for the last few days. You see first there was Thanksgiving. We ate alot and Harry came over and we roped some and hunted some. That was about it. Then Friday I was going to blog but then Quinton Called and at the time I normally blog I was on the road with Dad to go get him and his horse. Then today I have been at a Rodeo and now I have a really bad headache like I used to get when I was a kid. So I will bring you up to date really quick and then tomorrow you will get a real blog post.

So Thanksgiving was a lazy kind of day but then Yesterday was kind of cool. Thursday I found one item that I really wanted from the Black Friday Sales. However that store is over an hour away and there was no garentee that I would even be able to get the item I wanted. (I saw video of the store I wanted to go to afterwards and I know I would never have gotten the item I wanted so I know I made the right choice) Anyway, I couldn’t convince Mom to go … Well, she said she would if I really wanted to but the problem is that I wasn’t sure it wasn’t a waste of time. So I gave in and told Mom she could show me her way of Black Friday shopping.

I have to say I had a blast shopping Mom’s way and Mom got all her christmas shopping done and I got to pick some stuff out I could have never afforded but thanks to the sales Mom and I rocked those deals. Mom got Dad his Roping Box pad and she got me a few things I wanted too. My Christmas present was getting to shop like that … It was awesome! I have to tell you I got a couple Of things I never thought I would have. Like a bale bag with handles. It normally is almost a hundred dollars and It is a bag that goes over a bale of hay and has handle so you can carry it. Well, I would never be able to afford a hundred bucks for it when we would only use it a couple of times a year. It just didn’t make sense … Then Mom showed me her shopping day on Black Friday. I got one not for 100 bit for 75% off. It came to a little over 20 bucks. I can’t believe it. I also got a bit I wanted and a new rope and I even found a couple of sets of horn wrapps. And I got them all at great prices. I can’t believe that I spent so little and go so much. Sometimes I wish we lived in town so we could do things like black friday but then I find out Mom has been working about that for years and I think it is pretty cool.

Anyway, for most of the day yesterday that was all I did was hang out and find deals online. Then Quinton Called. He is a friend of mine who lives over an hour away and he had lost his ride to the rodeo. Well, to make a long story short, Dad and I left and went and got him and his horse brought them here late last night. Then this morning we went hunting and did a bit of roping before we went to the rodeo. The deal was that Quinton and I were suppose to ride each other’s horses but for some reason when we got to the rodeo he really didn’t want me to ride his so I let him ride mine instead. I am not sure why but it just didn’t work the way we had discussed. When we were done at the rodeo Dad and I took him and his horse home.

Anyway, I got sick to my stomach and a headache, like I used to when I was little, about halfway through the rodeo. I took my medication and I am now going to head to bed. Tomorrow the only thing I have to do is take a friends trailer back to his house. The only thing I want to do is get in a little hunting. Other then that Mom has called it a lazy day. She says we all need a day off!! Did I mention Dad hit a deer on the way home??? Well, Yup he did so Monday Mom has to take her truck in for some repairs … or at least to get an estimate??

One thing that I did do was I put a coupon on the shop for Cyber Monday. If you use the code word “CHRISTMAS” you will get
25% off everything in the shop. You can find the shop by clicking HERE!!

Not a Day off and off Day!!

So today Mom woke up with a really bad headache. It turns out she wore her old glasses yesterday and it gave her a headache. Anyway, that made her late to get up so it just set the tone of our day as a bit off. We did have to run to town and get our 4-H flyers posted everywhere and that went great. We timed it so that we could be in town on one run and take care of our 4-H Art Class. To bad after everyone said they would be there, and Mom told them she would make cookies, No one showed up!!!

That is okay though because that mean I got home about the same time Dad did and we went hunting again. Mom stayed home and baked … ALOT! When Dad and I got home from Hunting we did chores and then headed to get our Pizza. It is our family tradition that on Thanksgiving Eve and Christmas Eve We have Pizza for dinner. You know Mom has that Huge stove now with two ovens and 5 burners but what you don’t know is that Mom likes to use every last bit of that huge stove to make our holiday Feasts. And I do mean Feasts. This year Mom is making so much food she isn’t sure if we will have enough room on the bar for it all.

While she was cooking she kept hearing what she thought was mice in the feed closet. So when we got done eating I told Mom I would check it out. The noise was coming from the shelf we keep the egg crates on so I got a chair and started clearing things out. You guessed it there was a whole family of mice. And I am here to tell you these were no ordinary mice. These Suckers could fly!!!

I can still hear Mom busting a gut in laughter as I came off the chair backwards and made it half way across the room in one bounce. All the while doing the mouse dance Mom invented awhile back. Nope, to me it wasn’t funny but Mom absolutely lost it. She had tears running down her face and couldn’t catch her breath from laughing so hard. I am sure I looked funny. I never thought that those mice would run at me and jump off the shelf and splat on the floor like that … and live to tell about it. Until the cat got them that is. And I do want to ask each of you how scary it would be if you saw a mice running right at you eye to eye? Yeah, you guys wouldn’t be laughing if it happened to you.

Okay it did happen to Mom and she was laughing about it but not everyone else would be … LOL I mean it they were flying mice and they were out to get me.

I do have one little bit of news that I found out today. I mean, I guess I knew it but I didn’t know what I knew until today. Oh man, say that one three times fast … LOL So do you want to know what I knew that I knew but didn’t realize that I know?? (Okay I am having way to much fun with that one … sugar high from helping Mom bake I guess) Anyway, while Mom baked she watched her pod casts. We got to talking about why people podcast and I asked why she liked them. She said she likes seeing what others were working on and just learning about different things in general. She then told me that pod cast don’t have to be about knitting, they can be about anything.

Now, in the past I have helped Mom upload a few things but I didn’t ask what she was working on because for some reason I thought it had to do with her school work. I don’t know why I thought that I just did. All of her school work is done online so I guess it was just natural to think that. Anyway, today I found out it was not for her school work. A few months ago or so Mom and I talked about a pod cast and she learned how to watch hers that were on youtube on the roku. I remember her and I talking about them in general but didn’t think much about it. We even talked about why I don’t video cast anymore and if we would ever do one for the farm.

Well, as it turns out, I found out that on Mom’s Blog she has been podcasting. Yup, you read that right. Her podcast she says is more her own video journal about her role here on the farm as not just farmer but Mother and wife. I will admit I did check it out for myself but I didn’t watch them. They really are there though. Anyway, now you know what I know that I didn’t know that I knew …. LOL

Deer, Oh Deer!!

So Dad got called into work today so My older cousin Andy took me hunting. I have to say it is always cool to get to go with him. I was up and did all the chores so Mom could sleep in as Moose had accident in her bed and she was up cleaning it up for awhile late last night.

We got to my spot right as the sun was coming up. We didn’t have sit long and we got the first of two deer that I took today. I even gutted it myself. I will say that Andy is better about teaching me that kind of stuff then Dad is. Dad will start and then tell me I am so slow and he will take over and tell me to sit in the truck. Andy doesn’t mind if I am slow and when he asked if I had ever gut one myself I explained I was slow and he laughed and said Yup sounds just like your Dad. Then he took the time to show me everything and even give me some pointers.

After we got that deer checked in we went to check Andy’s spot and watch it for a bit. There I took my Second Deer of the day. After that I didn’t get any other shots. If Dad can fill one of his tags and I can fill my last tag we will have enough meat to get us and my Cousin Jessie through the winter … We are half way there.

During my short break between the two deer hunting spots and checking in our Deer two other things happened. First, the Shetlands broke out again. I have no idea who is rubbing the gate latch but I tied it with rope today and it better stay. We have just a week left in breeding season and I really would like to keep everything separate. The second thing that happened is that our Cloverbud leader changed counties and didn’t tell Mom. Today was Penny’s last day and she had some obligations that she had promised to the 4-Hers. All those now fall to Mom and if she doesn’t want our projects to fail she will be stepping up and doing the work of both her and Penny until the middle of December when we get done with our community service projects.

To say that Mom is a bit stressed is an under statement. At least she took her last test and passed her class today. That means no school for her until Jan. 1st 2015. I have to say that I knew kids would just drop the ball on things but I really didn’t think that adults did. I mean I knew they did but I didn’t think they would just not tell someone that they wouldn’t be able to take care of things like that. Being the leader was part of her job and she didn’t tell Mom anything. As a matter of fact she still hasn’t Mom was told by someone else and she had to call the office to get it confirmed. And you know Mom, she says it is her responsibility and hers alone, as she is the one in charge, to make sure us kids don’t fail. With or without Penny!

Anyway, When Dad got home he went and got the car. The mechanic can’t find a single thing wrong with it. Mom says that is normal. No car acts up for the Mechanic. Our mechanic is a good guy though he checked everything just in case and said if it did it again to call him. When the evening chores were done Mom and I made the last run to Wal-Mart go get the last of the items we need for Thanksgiving Dinner.

The last thing I am going to do in this post is call our online auction to a close. Ms. Karen is the proud owner of the three items for the wonderful price of 30 bucks!!! Thank you to both our bidders …

Going Once, going twice …

Today I was gone to a roping but I am going to make this short and sweet … this is last call on our online auction for the kids items … If I get no more bids by tomorrow at 6pm I am going to call it … You can find the post about the auction by clicking HERE …

Dear Cookies …

Today was the first day of Deer season here. Dad and I got up did chores and hit the road to try and fill our freezer and Jessie’s with Deer meat to last another year. We saw some this morning but nothing I could get a shot off at. I want to say up front … We only Hunt for Food. I enjoy deer meat so much more then beef just because it has a gamier taste … (okay I don’t know that gamier is even a real word but I am using it for lack of any other word that would fit there … LOL)

When we got back from the mornings hunt, Mom went to town and got to go to a craft show. She said it wasn’t a very large one as only like 8 little booth style tables. She did find me a cute brick count down to christmas “thing” I will have to post a picture of it tomorrow. It is kind of cool and I am going to use it. While she was in town Mom also picked up everything she needed for Cookie Day.

Mom has learned that to make cookies last through out the holidays, She takes one day and make a batch of dough for each kind of cookie she is going to offer this year. Then we start off the “Cookie Season” making half a dozen of each kind of cookie to start with and then putting the dough in containers in the Frig. That way each day we can make what we need to keep a variety available for our guests.

Anyway, this year we have Chocolate Chip, Raisin Oatmeal, Peanut Butter, Banana, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip, Lebkuchen, Orange and Ginger Snaps. I like most of them so I am okay with the selection. While Mom worked on Baking up the cookies Dad and I went hunting again. Harry came by and ate cookies and drank coffee until Dinner. After we all ate Dad, Harry and I all ran the car to the mechanic’s and picked up Harry’s old truck so that while we are getting the car checked out Mom and I can get to town if we need to when Dad is at work.

Tomorrow I have a roping and it will give Mom a chance to get her school work done and the house cleaned up. Harry is going to come watch me rope and then go to the Casino …

A Harry Day

So last night I went and stayed with Harry. He isn’t depressed or anything he is Bored!! He used to have to care for Bet day in and day out 24/7 and now he doesn’t have to do any of that. Well, I got up and Harry and I went out to find Breakfast. We ate and then headed home. When I got home I found Mom soaking wet.

It had started to rain and B’Day didn’t put her baby under the stall so Mom had to go make her and Tonka get in their stall. It is never as easy as that with B’Day but when I got home Mom had her up but chores weren’t done and Mom had been out in the rain for awhile and I went and finished everything up. Some how while I was out doing chores Mom showered and I came in to find that Harry had babysat Moose and then he was taking us to do our shopping for Jessie’s family for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Anyway, Harry took us everywhere today as we did our running. We even ate lunch with him. Then Mom took me home and Her and Harry went to get His glasses. Somehow they didn’t get his glasses because the lab had issues but they ended up at the casino. Harry had a blast and when he brought Mom home I made us all taco.

Tomorrow is the opening of Deer season and Please remember that we only hunt for food and we waste as little as we can. While Dad and I are hunting Mom is going to a craft show and then she is coming home to have a cookie day. She will be baking a ton of cookies for the people around our area. You know the post office, fire department … The list goes on and on …

The things we say …

I have to let everyone know that I am so sorry for not blogging the past few days. Nothing has been wrong but then again there really hasn’t been a whole lot of news to report either. Some times it is just normal days on the farm. Chores, school and roping. I have been checking everything as with the colder weather I like to keep a good watch for any of our older ewes having problems keeping warm and making it through the winter. I have heat lamps in place if we need them but so far everything is going fine.

Tonight however, I am going to stay with my Grandpa Harry. I will be back in time to do chores tomorrow. Why?? you ask??? Well, it is kind of a long story but the short of it is that my Aunt doesn’t listen to Harry. I mean she hears him talking but she doesn’t really listen to what he is saying. Then she over reacts and then calls my Dad to have him Deal with whatever she thinks is the issue when half the time their really isn’t one. Did any of that make any sense???

Okay, I have no idea how to even begin to fix that last statement so that is makes sense but I will give you the short of it. Harry went with Jeannie to the eye doctor. Harry told them, he would “rather die then wear glasses.” Jeannie calls my Dad telling him that Harry is suicidal because the Doctor prescribed Glasses. She now wants my Dad to call Harry’s Doctor and get antidepressants for Harry.

Okay, so how many of us have said these same words about something?? I tell me Mom that I would just rather die then lose a rodeo. And Mom says she would rather die then make mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving. I promise you that when I lose a Rodeo I don’t become suicidal and Mom will make mincemeat pie for Thanksgiving if anyone really wants it but it won’t lead her into a great depression. Harry says it as a joke here all the time. He would rather die as to help us spread rock too … LOL

When Jeannie called Dad, Dad tells her he will call the Doctor tomorrow. Then he tells Mom what is going on. Mom can’t believe it. Mom asks if anyone has talked to Harry about this. Dad asks why they would do that. Mom is mortified. Yes, I really mean Mortified. She has dealt with her grandparents and has had to help take care of them at different times in her life and she has learned that elderly parents and grandparents don’t need someone to do things for them and try and take over their lives. So Mom decided to go talk to Harry. We are going to go get ice cream at Sonic, talk to Harry a bit and then I will stay the night with him.

Mom says that when she talked to Harry she will make sure he knows that he can get to feeling down and that it happens to a lot of people especially around the holidays. She also says she will talk to him about how it kids are seeing things and how they feel and she will let him know that if he needs to go to the Doctor for these issues she will be happy to take him.

She says it is a much better way to handle the situation. She says she will make Harry understand that we all love him and that Dad and Jeannie are concerned out of love. I just have to say I can see Harry mouthing off …this is the same man that tried to marry me off to a waitress at a restaurant too … but I can also see Jeannie over reacting to his jokes as well.

Sometimes I wonder why Dad and Jeannie don’t see that they should try talking to Harry first, before they try taking over his life like a child.

Migrating Moose

I have to say that today was not about me. First, I want to thank all those bidding on the kids items for Jessie’s fundraiser. That means alot and the kids are keeping an eye on it to see what everything goes for.

As for the rest of my day, I did the regular things we do on the farm and even fit in a bit of roping at a friend’s house but for the most part the day was taken up with Moose. You see Moose started migrating north a few days ago from Texas and as of today, despite the snow and ice Moose made it to Oklahoma and our farm by this morning.

So I am sure that Most of you know that Moose isn’t really a Moose. Moose is a long hair miniature Dachshund. And he is Mom’s Baby. He has been with her all day and when he gets scared he runs right to her. He is calm for the most part but does have bursts of energy. Mom did get a bit concerned when he didn’t potty or winkle until almost 9pm tonight. We think it is that he is almost potty trained and he couldn’t stand the cold winds today so he didn’t want to be out but for just a couple of seconds at a time and that was just to run back to the door …. LOL

Anyway, tonight he finally got everything out of his system and he is doing just fine. Just let me show you all this cuteness …

Snow comes to the Farm

So today we awoke to a blanket of white snow outside and a picture of white rain coming down everywhere. Okay, so I was trying to be poetic and yes it took me quite awhile to come up with that. However, it is true. I am just really glad that we didn’t get the 5 inches they had predicted.

Anyway, Today was Jessie’s fund raiser and I have to say the weather didn’t help but it didn’t hurt either and that is a good thing. The Indian tacos were so good they sold out and they started with 75 pounds of meat. The Silent auction was a success for the most part. Everyone has something to offer but there were a couple of things that got no bids. So Mom bought them home so that we could see if we could do our first ever online auction fund raiser.

There are three items that we are going to put up for auction together so if you are bidding on one thing you are bidding on them all. All the money we raise goes to Jessie. Two of the items are made by young cousins of Jessie who thought they didn’t have anything to offer. They were a bit down when their work didn’t sell. So this idea was born. I have agreed to cover the postage. And the get the pride of being able to say they helped raise at least some thing for Jessie. So here it goes.

First up – One of Jessie’s young cousins drew a photo of Jesus.
Second up – A poem named “A Mother’s Love” written by a different Young Cousin of Jessie’s
and Last is a wool ball necklace.

Here they are …

So if you would like to bid on these items just leave me a comment with the amount. The highest bidder will be the proud owner of all these works and will also allow young kids to give when they think they have nothing to offer. Thank you in advance!!! And Blessings to All who take part.

And just to keep you from feeling left out in the snow, I will leave you with a few images of today.

Another cold one

Today it was even colder then yesterday. I started my day having to clean out my horse stall. It was so cold that the poop was frozen. It made cleaning it up easy but MAN, was it cold out. I didn’t look at the gage when I first got up but when I did look at it the number 18 was what it said. 18 degrees out … Really!!

After that I came in and found Mom cleaning out the cabinet in the kitchen. She can’t wait to get to move all the feed out to the new barn as we are going to put it out in the pasture just out the back door. That means things like the chick starter, pine shavings, milk replacer for both Cows and sheep will all be out there instead of in the house. Also Mom says that she is going to assign certain Cats to the new Barn. They will have plenty of hay and a nice warm bed but Sebastian, Tom and Grey will be calling the new barn home. Toby and Macy will be calling the house home and as long as he behaves DC can go where ever he chooses.

Anyway, I spent most of the afternoon working on getting the light and the web cam in the milk shed in the yard pen up and running. You see I have a plan. If the new barn is in place for Birthing, Which it should be I will have lambs birth in the barn and then move them to the yard pen and then to the pasture when they are a bit stronger. Not only will that give them time to get their barings but it will give all of you the chance to watch them for a week or so before they head out to the pasture.

Mom said she would help me and we are going to try and get the cam to work in the new barn but the fact is that it is going to be a metal building. I am sure most of you know just how hard it is to get reception in a metal building so the odds aren’t great. That won’t stop us from trying but I am just saying the odds are against us.

When I got it up and running Mom went to cleaning the ceiling fans and found that the light in her room was in need of repair. I have to say I like helping Mom. There is one big difference between helping her with repairs and helping Dad. Dad just says “Here fix this”. Mom on the other hand gives you instructions. Not to mention that she doesn’t even ask you to do it. She will just start working on the repair and if I want to help I ask her to join in. If it isn’t something I want to mess with I don’t.

That being said the first thing I learned today that when you are working with electricity you need to turn it off at the breaker before you start. I learned that because Mom started fixing the light and she knew what she was doing so she didn’t turn off the breaker. Then when I took over she made me turn it off because she didn’t want me getting zapped by not knowing what I was doing.

Over all it went very well. It seemed to take longer then when Mom fixes things but I got it done and I learned to fix a light kit on the ceiling fan!!