Thursday's Things In A Row...

 Pat who hosts A View From The Edge is doing Thursday's Things In A Row.  Stop by and visit those who have joined in this venture.  Also, read a little Pat while you're there...she is  a delight.

Although my ducks are not in a row,

I found a few things that were.

The Sisters' Garden...

Despite the heat,

no rain,

abundant bugs,

and grazing wild life,

the garden still grows.

It is producing,

each plate of food is a hard won victory.

and the bugs,

the critters,

and my sisters still work on the garden.

Just When I Think I Have Seen It All...

the males on this place surprise me.  I don't think a woman could or would have done this.  Kawasaki's are good but they are not planes, tanks, nor water vehicles, or this one's not, anyway

This tale began when the deer and other varmints began decimating our garden.  The garden lays along the spring branch which runs into a pond, then overflows into the creek.  The males plotted and planned their attack.

Hubby is driving at break neck speeds, I'm sure.  He has Andrew holding a flashlight (the headlights were not reaching out far enough)...did I forget to say, this was all in the dead of night. 

When they chased the deer out of the garden, they failed to remember there's an outlet to the pond!  I find this strange because Hubby built the overflow.   Maybe in the excitement of the chase, Hubby thought he could jump it, who knows what goes on in those two heads when they're on an adventure!  Hubby says Andrew wasn't holding the light right,  Andrew says Hubby wasn't watching...this is the result of both, I would say.

At least the deer left the garden for a while and, after all, that was the goal, right?

Daylight came and the Mule was removed, undamaged...and we wonder why the equipment breaks down around here.  Need I say more?

Ki-Anne...

is trying her herding skills.

You can tell Arrow is impressed.

A still shot...how did I get that?

Moving on,

she continues to blur the camera.

This lady wears me out just watching her!

Never a dull moment with this girl around.

Shave Your Legs/Change Your Life

I had become quiet hairy, either due to laziness, pp attitude, shortage of time or maybe a combination of all of these.

My daughter said, it will take two bottles of Nair to clear your legs...who can afford Nair?  Hubby has offered the use of his brush hog every time I wear shorts.

These are my legs, guys...not your business!!  Who ever came up with the idea my legs should be shaven anyway??

Well, I gave in. I shaved my legs...several times.

This one act has opened a whole new world for me.  I can wear pedal pushers, or whatever you call the short pants now, to work!  I can wear shorts without shocking my family by my negligence.  I can even walk through tall grass with out seeds and burrs sticking to my legs...Wow!  The best thing is, bare legs are cooler.

Now, if I can just unstop the bath tub drain, everything will be great!

What Men Will Do To Recover Balls...

Remember the tennis ball from yesterday's post that Ki dropped down the hole under the rock.  The gentlemen in the family decided they were going to recover the ball.

This equipment is supposed to be for working but just as many times it used for playing.  Is a tennis ball worth the use of this much fuel??

Raising the rock, the dogs search for the ball.  No luck and I am cringing because I can just see this rock dropping.

 Under the huge rock is a post laying across the hole.  The post is removed after the Testosterone Team figures out how to do it successfully.

Maggie digging for the ball with assistance by Andrew.

Here is the rather large hole and tunnel under the rock.

The rock was lowered safely in place with access to the hole.Now the dogs can seek the ball at their leisure.  I am amazed at the energy and thought expended on the recovery of one tennis ball!  I believe it has rolled to the center of the earth.  Maybe the dogs will dig a storm shelter here or access a new spring...and this is what we do for fun At The Farm.

Saturday's Work...

was just a small job.  Somewhere in the tall grass and brush, there is a spring and a pump house.  This is our water source for both homes here.

Between the May floods, getting the garden going, having calves, building fence and work in general, we had not gotten around to our second cleaning of the spring this year.

The candy-#ss that has to have hubby start the weed eater volunteered...that's me.  We are having August temps in June, I work in an air-conditioned office all week and I'm just down right out of shape, period.  I managed to knock down this year's growth so we can see the snakes, see the pump (in case we need to work on it) and see the water. 

Normally it is not this bad but we are all a little older and a little slower this year.  This part is done now.  I weed eated small willows, floribunda bushes, poison oak, and all kinds of grass...to the edge of the water.

I rested some, I drank a lot, I took some pictures and took my time but it was still too dang hot for this kind of work in the middle of the day.

After clearing some around this rock, Lil found a den of interest.  Ki comes to help, with the ball of course...

and promptly drops the tennis ball into the cannot see the back of, no end to it, den...now no one can get the ball except whatever critter is hiding in there.  Ki-Anne looks at me like, I thought that is what you wanted me to do.  After all, I was telling Lil, get it...she needed a ball to get, I guess.

We can see the spring now.  I have grass to rake out of the water and up the sides but that can wait til the sun goes down.  This Candy-#ss went to the house for a shower and many cold drinks.

Moving My Babies...

to greener pasture.

A Tale With A Touch Of Weird

Years ago after we first married, hubby came to the farm with Dad.  We had a horrible lightning storm the night before and they wanted to check on the cattle. 

They saw the huge bull leaning against a tree and wondered what he was doing.  As they drew closer, they discovered more cattle on the ground.  Lightning had struck and traveled to the cattle in a hollow.  Our bull and five of the best cows were dead.

Last weekend on a Mule trip with hubby, we passed that spot and talked about the incident.  I spotted a bright color down in the hollow that wasn't normal.  Climbing down, I found a Happy Birthday helium balloon that had died in the same spot as the cattle.

On my return trip, I found bones.  This huge pelvic bone of the bull was loaded in the back of the mule.  Then my imagination went wild.

I first sealed it with Gesso,

added a little color,

added a little more,

and sprayed the new face with sealant.

I am thinking of painting strange eyes,

drilling holes and have the eyes swivel in the wind...

Now, you have to agree, that is a tad weird.

This now guards my entrance to the yard.

It surely was fun.

With All The Work Waiting...

I took a walk, after all, isn't that why you take a day off, to enjoy some of it?  After the doctor, the grocery shopping, the weedeating and the hand laundry but before the dishes, I treated myself.

We played in the creek.

We explored

and we played stick.

We watched Kubota King operate.

I kinda like days off!

Finally Arranged Two Days Off...

It took much planning...on someone else's part.  We have one helper who "floats" and we use her when we can.  I called by chance to see if she had any days empty.  June 2st and 22nd then June 27th and 28th, those are the only days til middle of August!  I said, I will take them all and did not stutter one bit!

I spent Tuesday from 7AM to 11:47PM on the computer, off and on, with IT Support.  Computer died again. After the one man had cleared it, I had no protection so three days later, I got infected again.  Had no Trojans (in some cases, this would be bad, but not in this one) but 31 Mal ware infected parts!!!  My speakers had even deserted me.

I talked to Brian, Stephanie, Jason, Michael and Christopher...and many I did not write down.  Each did their own thing but no one made my computer whole again.  At ten thirty, I said, okay I am not quiting, I've wasted my whole day, I am calling one more time.  That is when I met Pedro and shall forever be grateful to this young gentleman.  He discovered my computer was locking up because of the new virus protector my Internet provider installed, convinced the computer my speakers were really there, and installed a free, yes, a FREE virus protection.

All this was done remotely.  I have seen places in my computer I never knew existed.  I have watched computer magic as it happened.  I was amazed, mad, cranky, tired, but in the end, completely satisfied...and Pedro did it!

For Pat, who insists she is tired of my snake pictures...Here is tractor and some dogs.  If you don't know Pat, stop by to visit, she is a breath of fresh air!

Slithering...

by, heading toward the chicken coop,

this big one caught Marcy's eye.

Another Kodak moment

Snakes are really wonderful creations when you think about it.  Look at the way it undulates to move across the ground.  They eat rodents, frogs, birds...and chicken eggs. They are able to unhinge their jaws to accommodate what they are swallowing.  Black Snakes are harmless critters unless you are one of the above mentioned creatures. There is a sort of beauty in their shine, not slime, as some people think.  They are cold-blooded and therefore they maintain the temperature of their surroundings.  The scales have a texture that is amazing to touch.

Marcy redirects this one, away from the hen house.  I imagine he was at least five feet long.  Beautiful!