It’s the little things

Yesterday Mom had me doing a bit of everything. I started out getting some more goats sheared. I will say that by the end of September, just as planned, we will be done with shearing. No, I don’t shear as close as professionals but I get the job done!!

Anyway, Mom and I did get a ton of little things done around the house. The yard got mowed. We did Laundry and I even helped Mom try out a new bread recipe. The thing that took the most time was pulling the fans and A/C units for the winter.

We have been waking up to Temperatures in the Mid Forties for the last few mornings so Mom decided it was time to get the A/C units out of the windows so the house doesn’t get so cold at night. And with all things you know that isn’t as easy as it sounds around here.

Mom likes to make sure to hose them all out and clean the filters and wipe them down and … You get the picture. When we put them up for the winter they are put up clean. Mom even takes the box fans apart and cleans the blades and everything … Yup, she Really wants them clean!!

The other thing that went on around here is the Kid is learning to be an outside dog. He spent his first night out and man were the Coyotes on the move. For now Kid is just in the yard at night but when he learns his job he will go out with Hank and Jethro. For now he is doing great … And he is learning to get some sleep during the morning hours … We will see if he gets much more during the day today!!

Shearing and Catching up

So I spent the weekend Roping. I started Saturday at a large pasture roping where I didn’t get much done. It was a three head and I roped my first two nothing great but was sitting the middle of the pack of about 60 ropers. On my last one I missed knocking me out of the Average.

From that roping I headed to another one on the way home. I roped in two ropings there. In the first one I won second in the average but no round money. In the second I was feeling that Kick from Caballo and at times could barely catch my air and I didn’t get much done. I I even broke the barrier on my second calf of that one.

Sunday was a bird of a different color. Mom had plans to get the list of little things done around here but Nature wasn’t on our side. So Dad and I got the Garage Sale screen door hung … That Mom loves I might add. The thing that had us up in arms was that the 5 baby chicks and their Mom got locked out of the new barn and somehow got scattered and the Momma disappeared. By Noon we had gathered up Four of the Five babies and figured out our issue … A Predator had come to the farm … Coyotes to be exact. One was bold enough to come back during the day light hours so Dad and I went hunting … We didn’t get a clear shot but if he returns we will be ready.

Jethro and Hank work the night shift and I am sure that is why in the rain they were sleeping it off. But the Coyotes have figured out that the dogs have to sleep sometime. And they are trying to come back at those times. I will say that Dad and I have agreed to step up our game and help keep the place safe in the daytime so that the dogs get a well deserved break. By Nightfall we had found all the baby Chicks and they were safe and sound in the bathroom. After getting all dried out and fed and watered Morning found them all doing just fine. When we returned them to the barn about 3 other hens came to stay with the Chicks and started taking on the Mother role. After the Hens fussed it out one hen in now acting Mom and the 5 chicks are safe.

Yesterday I spent my time getting feed, Health Papers and Medications. Yup it was a Vet day. And I am proud to say that I have everything lined out for my Dallas Trip except the finances. I have the room covered and I think enough for the gas but we will see how it all goes. I had hoped to have a bit more won by now but as Mom says it is what it is …

And to let everyone know I think I only have like two days of shearing left to do …. YYEEAAHHHHH!!

Shearing and Roping

Well, my morning hours have been spent shearing instead of blogging. I have been getting up a bit later these days. When I was in School I got up at 5am, did schoolwork then headed to the barn. Then Mid day was more school work followed by some free time and then more evening school work and then back to the barn.

Since I graduated I have been sleeping that time that I would have been doing my school work. Now when I get up I head straight to the barns and don’t get done until after about 3pm. Each day I work Caballo to let us pick up his feet, Derf to stay gentle, Precious to get her over being mounted, Storm to get her taking her left lead and Ice and Coop to keep mine and their roping sharp. I think after I get done with shearing I will be more back on time but for now I will just be getting things done as I can.

So each morning I start by shearing a few head of sheep. By Monday I will be done with the sheep and will move on to the goats and they should only take a few days. That means I should have the shearing done on time by the end of September.

Most of my afternoons are full of roping and my evenings I spend either going to friend’s houses to rope or like last night I roped as a card carrying member of the ACRA and I won second. Mom took me and she hung out with one of her fiber friends and they seemed to have a lot of laughs telling stories about sheep and “not having a real job” … Yes, that one is a joke between them. I will admit I did stop by and hang out with them for a moment or two but …. They were people watching and I couldn’t contain myself so I headed back to the arena. One little boy was caught poking a raw fleece cause he didn’t know if it was something dead or not and his little sister made a run for it when they couldn’t figure it out. Another girl came walking by and her shorts were up very inappropriate and I thought Mom was going to lose it. People the word is RESPECT! If you don’t respect yourself enough to dress appropriately PLEASE, PLEASE Respect others enough to dress appropriately. You can show it by dressing so that the whole world isn’t seeing to much!

Anyway, for the most part we all had fun. Other then things like that my week has just been full of the little things. We had a nice lady that takes Dialysis three times a week come out and enjoy the farm and the peace and quiet. She was cool and saw the farm for all the wonder it has to offer. Oh and we had a little visitor I relocated … I have no idea if it was a boy or a girl.

At one point I even helped Mom make felted Soaps. I like them …

The final thing we have going on is that we are one of many businesses entered in The BRASSYs 2016. We ask that if you have faith in us and would like to help Please take time to cast your vote for us … You can vote once every 24 hours. Follow the link below and check it out.

https://thebrassys.com/entrants.html#the-straw-family-farm

If you do vote each day 25% of our score is our Votes so you can rest assured you do make a difference and with $10,000 on the line that could really help this farm We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Shearing

So Yesterday Morning I started. Yup it is shearing time again. I sheared three head and will continue to shear three or four a day until I am done. The fall shearing is just the shetlands, the Goats and the QT Crosses so it doesn’t take as long as the Spring Shearing that takes all Month.

When I got done I Roped a few head to keep Coop working good. This weekend I have one of two large ropings I entered. I am Praying this year that I do well and we all know to do well you have to practice. After I got done in the Arena it was time to deal with Derf and Thunder. First came the nose to nose introductions in the same pen.

When then seemed to get along just fine we turned them loose in the Arena … They ran and played and enjoyed it.

Then after the dust settled it happened. We released the two onto the pasture. I know that doesn’t mean much to anyone else but us so I will let you ponder this for a moment.

Do you know what it means yet??? I will tell you what it means to us … For the first time since barred wire and modern life … The first Wild Mustang was released back out on to the Prairies we call home. No, he isn’t free as we only have 40 acres but it is a start and he will live a happy life here … Will his Pal Derf by his side of course!

It is hard to follow that with anything but we did have a Farm Visit. The lady that came has the weirdest job ever … I think anyway. She Capitulates Placenta for a living. Yes, Human Placenta and it is taken after giving birth by the mother. In theory it should provide a lot of nutrients and help the body recover as long as the processing it’s self doesn’t take the value from it. Anyway, her and her daughter had a blast.

After that I went to Rope at a friend’s house. He is helping me get in more practice for the two big ropings I have. When I had down time or was waiting for things to get done I finished up the movie I was watching. It is a 6 hour movie and I have no way to watch it all at once. (Not that I cam imagine me sitting still for 6 hours to do so either … LOL) The Movie was called The Return to Lonesome Dove. If you haven’t seen it you should. Lonesome Dove is a great Movie and The Return of Lonesome Dove is just as good.

As for now, Mom and I are waiting on a 67 years Wise Lady to come fill a bucket list so I will get off here and set up the pop up so she can have some shade!

Horsing around

So yesterday I spent most of my time with horse stuff. I started out early and headed to a friend’s house to let a Kid from Texas Try Storm. The kid got along good with her but then again everyone always does. We will see if they call and then we will decide if they will be her forever home.

It took about 2 hours to get back home but after we did I got something to eat and did my everyday chores. Mom had already wash my bedding for me so I just had to put up my laundry, clean the cat box and feed Rascal.

By the time late after noon rolled around I headed to a friends to get used to his horse. This year I have someone I know going to Dallas so I will be riding his horse to team rope on when he isn’t riding it. That means I needed to get to know the horse. So that is how I spent the evening. I did help him get a couple of Steers out of the wrong pasture but other then that the better part of my day was spent roping and riding.

It’s the Weekend

So I have made it to the weekend. That is a good thing. I didn’t spend much time at home yesterday though. But I did get to Rope in two rodeos … So that is a good thing.

In the morning hours I helped Mom move a dinning room table, an end table and a lamp to my Sister’s house. Then we had to move a 4 legged hanging thing to our house that Mom is going to try and make into a swing for the front yard. All of these tasks were accomplished with the flatbed trailer and really took no time.

After that I headed out to a two head roping. I won second in the second round and third in the average. From there I headed to another roping but there I broke out so I didn’t get a paycheck at that roping. All in all I am up for the weekend so that is a good thing.

Another thing that happened while I was at the roping is that I was approached by a gentleman about Storm. He has a Family up to try one of his horses from Texas and things weren’t really going very well. When he saw me at the roping he asked me about Storm and asked if I would be willing to bring her for a 12 year old to try this morning. So after Dad finished up chores and I finish this, I will be headed out to let this young man try her.

She is Bucking

So today I woke up and decided I would just do what I needed to do. So I went out and saddled up Precious. I took it slow but as I put my first foot in the stirrup it occurred to me that I hadn’t ponied her … With that my butt hit the ground and she was gone.

Yup, Precious has a bit of Buck in her … To tell you the truth I didn’t think about ponying her until I had my first boot in the stirrup and that was a bit to late. As Mom and I watched her buck all the way across the pasture Mom and I figured it out. She is Cold backed … about that time the wind changed and within a few minutes the temps had dropped about 20 degrees. Mom and I both got a bad feeling and the black clouds shifted leaving us a bit worried.

Mom grabbed Precious and I grabbed Ice as both were saddled and we headed for the barn. On the prairie a quick shift like that can spell wicked storms. We got to the barn and waited a bit to see what the weather was going to do but just as quick as it came up the storm dropped off without as much as a sprinkle. At this point The weather was colder but the clouds were passing and seemed to be breaking up. I unsaddled Precious and used Ice to go gather cattle with Precious in tow.

Precious did just fine in the pasture and from now on I am going to have to pony her before I mount her. When I got done roping the Storms had rebuilt and started to rain really hard off and on. It was in this off and on rainy part of the day that Mom left for her meeting. And just when I though I would get some time to myself The Young lady that was going to give the last Shetland Ram a new home showed up. We got him loaded and she headed out on her way.

Then I got time to do a little picking up of my room but then Mom came home and went on a cooking spree. She make Chocolate Chip Cookies and two different casseroles. Her plan is to have them so we can just microwave them over this weekend and we will have something to eat before we head out for the Rodeo.

Her Plan worked too. Dad and I ate before I headed to my rodeo. I did good and won a paycheck but I am telling you I roped in a foot of mud and lost two bell boots.

Fussing

So Yesterday Mom and I spent most of the day fussing. It isn’t anything terrible but it is on me … Kinda … Okay you all are going to say it is me and in the bottom of my heart I kind of know it is me but I don’t want it to be me so I am not wanting to admit it is me … Does any of that make sense??

You see, there are things on the farm that are fun to do and there are things on the farm that need to be done. The two don’t always go hand in hand. Roping on the finished horses is fun but doing the ground work and reining to get to that point is not. And I haven’t been working with Precious or Caballo like I should have because Precious is in the reining stage and Caballo is still on his ground work. To make a long story short Mom was in the arena yesterday with me making me do what NEEDED to be done. All the while I wanted to do what I think is Fun.

I am sure you are getting the picture about the fussing. Well, finally I told Mom that I couldn’t be like her and enjoy everything I do. I wasn’t exactly nice about it but that is the summery of what I said. At this point Mom got a bit upset. She asked If I really though she liked doing everything she does? I told her “Well, Yes” She is always humming and happy no matter what she is doing so she must but having fun.

Then she looked at me (with daggers in her eyes) and launched in to this whole so you think I like Cleaning toilets? She said things like how the aroma of cleaning up the Dog Accidents was so wonderful. And how the smell of my socks in the dirty laundry just made her Giddy. Okay, so I hadn’t thought that whole thing out before I opened my mouth … But I told her “Well, you always seem like you like everything you do.” She looked at me and said “That is because I CHOOSE to be positive in every thing I do, Not because I like every thing I do.” I saw her point but I didn’t like it and I wasn’t about to admit it to her. So she then went on with a lecture to tell me that if she didn’t like doing certain things she has a choice. She can complain and do it anyway because she knew if she didn’t Dad and I wouldn’t or she could hum a little tune and get the job done and move on.

After that I went in my room and stayed away from Mom. I was just tired of hearing it. And nothing she said Made me WANT to do the things that NEEDED to be done anyway. I got my Laundry put up though so that was a good thing … LOL

Later when I went to rope at my friend’s house, Mom got my friend to teasing me. You see my friend is the kind of kid who doesn’t know when to stop and he gets a bit irritating sometimes because of it. Most people don’t like him because of it but I just accept that he is that way and go on. If I don’t feel like dealing with him that day I don’t. Anyway, I went to rope because I just couldn’t get things going my way in my roping. So I thought if I practiced more it would help. So I pushed myself to go to my friends even though I wasn’t in the mood for him after Mom and I had our fussing. Well, my friend asked Mom what got under my saddle and Mom told him. And just like he always does he started to tease me about it and he took it to far.

By the time I was done roping, I had had enough and was ready to go home. When I got in the truck Mom asked if I was okay. I told her that I was fine but I was just tired of the teasing. She asked why I didn’t just stop roping earlier and we could have left. I told her “because I needed the practice.” She then asked …. “So, you just grinned and bared it because you NEEDED to practice but really you didn’t WANT to do it????” AAUUGGGHHHHH ….. Sometimes I hate the way Mom proves she is right. We drove home in silence, I did chores and went to bed!

Rainy Day

So Yesterday wasn’t much of anything special and it began like normal.  I roped a bit before the rain set in.  After that I helped Mom around the house doing little jobs that needed to be done. I match Kamsnaps to the bags she finished and did a bit of general pick up.

Then in the evening I headed to a friend’s house to rope a bit more but it started down pouring on us before we got there. He called and said he wasn’t even going to saddle up with it coming down like that. Mom and I were already a few miles for town and with no good spot to turn around we went ahead and went on in. In town Mom picked up a half gallon of Ice cream and we came home to have us a rainy day snack.

I ended the day going to bed a bit early. Then again early was actually our on time … LOL I slept hard and I am getting ready to hit the roping pen before I take on the day with Mom and all her “little things” she wants to get done today!

Trying

So I got up on time yesterday and got to the roping pen before daybreak. It was nice to be back in the groove again. However, I still didn’t find time to Blog before the day was gone. So I am going to at least Blog one day behind. That means I will see if I can drop you a note every day about the day before and I will do it early in the morning before I head to the roping pen. I know it isn’t the same but at least I am getting back to blogging ….

Anyway, I was in the roping pen first thing yesterday. I had to be done by 10am as we had a scheduled Farm visit with a home school group. I will say that this bunch of kids were super nice. They all listened and seemed to really enjoy themselves. One ever told us she liked it out here as the farm was way out of the Norm for them. It wasn’t a bad thing but they also ran out of time so they didn’t get to do all the centers.

The did get to learn a little bit of this and that. We didn’t get to the Milking or any Animal care but Mom demoed Spinning and had them all eating Lemon Balm and Chocolate mint from the pasture. I taught them to rope and gave Rides on Storm. They did squeeze in the indoor treasure hunt and the outdoor scavenger hunt. And of course we topped it all off with Paper Rockets.

After the visit was over Mom and I headed to my roping practice with a friend. We had to stop and get toilet paper on our way through town and while we were parked a lady actually hit the trailer … with my horse in it. This lady did even say sorry … She decided she was now a vet and declared he looked fine. Mom was mad. She told the lady that the trailer wasn’t what she was concerned about but that the horse inside was a living thing that she just crashed into. I can’t believe someone could hit a parked trailer with a horse inside and never even say they were sorry.

Thankfully Ice was fine. He was a bit jostled but other wise fine. I fit in Roping practice and didn’t get home until late so Mom made us an omelet