Meet Pretzel & Midnight

These 2 ladies are my birthday present this year! Pretzel is a Katakin cross sheep and Midnight is a Black Hawaiian sheep. Both are supposed to be bred-time will tell!

I do believe that Kaytlynn & Pretzel are becoming close friends! Pretzel is very friendly while Midnight is still very skidish!

We had another eventful week-Spent Monday & Tuesday in Conroe visiting a friend's mom who was in the hospital-we went up to Mom and Shorty's on Thursday and spend the day-and the next-mowing the pasture and cleaning up. They have 2 new calves-so cute! We met our friends Pat & Randy who owned the beach house next to us in Cleveland on Friday night and had the best visit! It was so great spending time with them again!

We started the incubator with 25 quail eggs this afternoon-2 weeks will tell if they hatch! The young pullets having started dieing off-we've lost 4 this week! Now we are down to only 6-so we changed their pen and will get some wormer for them tomorrow. They are very thin-although they have feed in their pen all the time.

I go back to work tomorrow-I really am ready-I know I'll have lots of things to catch up on! Ricky got the house pressure washed-so now we are ready to start painting it-but we have a 50% chance of rain most of the week-maybe by the end of the week we can get started on it!

Have a good week!

Vacation Pics!

The crew with the Penquin at the Aquarium-Mady doesn't like him at all-Kaytlynn didn't either after this pic was taken!

All of our penquins!

Well, my summer break started today. It was so hard leaving work yesterday knowing I wasn't coming back until July 26th. We have so much still to do before school starts back again. I let my boss know that she could call me at anytime and I'll come in and do whatever needs to be done. But I do have lots to do at home before then!

I have an eye appointment in a little while-I've gotten to where I can't see with my glasses and can even see better without them! The crew has been working some on the bathroom remodel-but we've hit a snag-the clawfoot won't quite fit in the area where the old tub was! So now the plumbing will have to be rearranged to make everything fit! So much fun!

Jeff made 14 pints of pickles on Monday and I finished up the juice with 4 more this morning. We are still waiting on the call from the locker plant to pick up the steer-sure thought it would be ready by now-but the longer it hangs in the cooler-the more tender the meat! Jeff's been tinkering with the welding machine-the valves are stuck and it won't run-Shorty was needing it to finish up his new catch pen-he's making a little headway-only 1 valve is still stuck.

Hurricane Alex is not sending any rain our way it appears. It has given us cloudy days which mean cooler temps though! We do get a slight shower every now and then-but hardly enough to even drip off the house.

We are having Jeff's dad's 80th birthday party on Sunday-he still isn't doing very well-should be a pretty big crowd-he has a very large family. Gonna have hamburgers and hotdogs and birthday cake! We still have a good chance of rain on Sunday-but we'll just make the best of it!

Have a great day!

Chicks!

Here is a pic of the 4 of them. Boy-can they make a mess in less than 24 hours! With the cold weather we are having-and the even colder the rest of the week-they MUST stay in the house for awhile!

First day back at work today went well. I am tired though. We weren't quite as busy as I expected-but tomorrow could be. It'll take a few days to get back in the groove of things.

All the guys got the back porch filled up with firewood yesterday-with cold weather coming-I don't know if it'll be enough to last to the weekend or not! We have really had a cold winter so far-and it is far from over!

Stay warm!!

Deer!!

Jeff got his first pictures of a deer! It was late Sunday night/early Monday morning in the pasture across the road-between our house and Jeff's parents. We are so excited! He doesn't have a good rack-but it is the first deer we've captured on the camera!

And Sheila-I locked my keys in my truck yesterday!!! I don't know when I last did that!! Luckily, Jeff was on his way home from work-so he came to my rescue-my hero! But I couldn't help but think of you-all those times in Cleveland!! hehe

I'm still working on my bedroom-with the wasted time yesterday afternoon-I didn't get much done-but I'm slowly making progress! Mostly need to get the dressers cleaned off and find some place to put blankets and other things!?!

Jeff has a big meeting at work today-it's finally here-Rumor has it they are cutting part of the plant to 32 hours-today will tell which sections and for how long. They have very little work-so it's not gonna be good! Belt-tightening time!!!

September is Gone??

What happened to this month? Was I so busy-probably doing nothing-that it just quietly slipped by? WOW!
We stayed home last weekend-other than a trip into Conroe Saturday morning for fencing supplies-I never have been able to figure out Tractor Supply knows just how much money I have to spend? Anyway-the cows are pushing part of the newer-of course, fence down-We have to get the bull here! and the chicken pen had huge holes in it! So Sunday-they got a new pen-We enclosed the rabbit shed and gave them the old garden area. We haven't been getting but maybe 1 egg a day and go figure-we got 4 Monday and 3 yesterday! Do you think they like their new home? Jeff butchered 3 rabbits yesterday-7 more to go and I bred 1 doe on Monday.
And our weather is just wonderful!!! We've had rain and cooler temps! The first strong front came through yesterday and it is 58 degrees this morning on the back porch! It will warm back up to the low 90's tomorrow-before te next front comes through Thursday night and cools us back down for the weekend!
Work is going great-Jeff is hearing rumors of a lay-off again and cutting back to 32 hours a week-we'll just roll with the punches-it'll all work out!! Have a great day! :)

More Vacation Pics!

Jeff & Tim with the speckled trout they caught. They were both the same size-but Tim's was a little meatier!

Jeff, Tim & Jason seined at the beach and caught a LOT of bait shrimp! They weren't quite big enough to eat-but were perfect to fish with!

Jeff-in Jason's boat- with his big speckled trout!

Well, we made it through the first day back at work! Mine went very quickly in fact and Jeff said his did, too! I'm still working 10 hr days this week and my supplemental pay sheet was turned in yesterday for all the extra time I have worked-around 75 hours-HEH! Our 30th anniversary is Sept. 15th and we are trying to decide what we want to do. We have checked into Fredricksburg and might go there-but we had such a good time at the beach last week-we really thought about just spending some time there. But we would only spend the weekend working! And since it is such a big milestone in our lives-we really want to do something special. The main problem-other than money!-is time. School will be in full swing by then-but my boss has already told me I can have some time off. We'll probably take a Friday and Monday off-but nothing's set yet!

Jeff had fish fried when I got home yesterday-I had him grill some for me-they were SO good! We put several bags in the freezer on Saturday from the ones that were caught. Finally-fish in the freezer again! We had bought some table shrimp right off the boat last week and froze them,too-so now we can have fish and shrimp down at the beach again!

We are back to needing rain again! We have only had little hit and miss showers lately and it's getting dry. I haven't even paid any attention to the garden lately-it's nothing but weeds-although there are still a few tomatoes trying out there. I have been thinking a little on a fall garden and what I might want to get planted. Gonna have to get on that one soon!

Have a great day! :)

SHARKS!!!!

Dusty and Cayden with one of the sharks that Tom caught.

Randy and his shark-tickling him!!

We had another WONDERUL weekend at the beach! Two of Jeff's brothers-the twins-and sons came down on Friday morning. They set up on the beach and started fishing. They caught many small sharks over the weekend. David caught a 3 1/2 foot one on Friday. All the rest were small ones. Julie, Randy and the girls came down on Saturday and enjoyed a sunny day. Randy caught his first shark, too. He had seen on TV that if you rubbed their bellies, they would just lay in your hand-SO of course, he had to try! And it worked!! The shark just layed in his hand for almost a minute-then rolled over and swam off!

Our Doc visits went well. I'm waiting on the Doc to call me back with results of the x-rays and blood work he ordered. He seems to think there is a separation and infection in my heel that is causing my ankle to stay swollen and hurt. Guess we'll see!

The garden is coming along-we did have 1 almost ripe tomato when we got home. I need to pick the beans again this afternoon and will have to run the sprinkler this evening, too. We have NO chance of rain this week and some of the hottest temps this summer.

Still watching the cows-it could be any time now. I thought I saw a calf when we got home yesterday-but it was only a shadow under the trees. Jeff butchered 2 more rabbits-didn't get finished-we had some friends stop by and stay for awhile.

This is my first day of working 10 hour days. I won't get home til 5:30 this afternoon-YUCK! But I only do it for 11 days-unless they need me for more! I have plenty to keep me busy at work-so I know it'll go by fast!

Have a great week!!

Green Beans!!!

I actually think I am getting the hang of working everyday-well, some days!! Jeff & I picked green beans up at Mom's on Sunday evening-their's are growing like crazy-ours aren't doing much of anything :(. So-when I got in from work yesterday-I got a canner of beans going. Don't they look good?? I got 10 pints and enough for supper, then put 2 pints in the freezer to add to soup stock later on. YUMMY!

We also got part of the yard mowed and some weed-eating done. We fed the grass clippings to the cows and chickens-what a feast for them! And poor Jeff-they have him working 12 hour shifts this week! He said he was fine yesterday-but 5:00am to 5:30 pm is gonna take a toll on his back real soon! My job is going great-the school year is starting to wind down-but there is still LOTS to do.

We had some pretty bad weather here on Monday-nearly an hour of hail-and some of it BIG! I really don't know how my garden didn't get some damage from it! But I couldn't tell that anything was hurt. Jeff moved the tractor under a big tree-but it and the trucks didn't receive any dents. It was SO loud you couldn't stay out on the porches.

Gotta go to work! Have a great day!

Good Week!

Well-we've had another busy week. Jeff's job has had him working strange hours-seems some days his schedule changes daily. On Thursday, they moved him to a place in the plant where he had never worked before. That area works 10 hour days-the extra 2 in the afternoon-so he didn't get home til 6:00. I did all the feeding for him and tried to get as much done as I could to help him out. Same thing on Friday and he had to work Saturday-but got off at 1:30. We got rain again this weekend-so we have gotten about all we want to handle for awhile.
We went to Conroe yesterday-we thought we were going to go to the Trade's day -but they had it the weekend before. But we went on and bought the rest of the tin to finish our roof. With all the rain-we've had several pretty bad leaks in the house! So-it was time to finish what we'd started a few years back.
The swine flu outbreak has not affected our area-hopefully it will stay away. None of our schools or any closely surrounding us have been closed. I still can't believe that so many pigs are being killed unnessesarily.
Stay well and have a great week!

WOrk,Work, Work

I think I'm getting the hang of this 5 day a week thing!! But it was a pretty hectic week at home last week and I just didn't get around to posting! With the new pigs-we have only 6 left-but they are very healthy!- and all the visitors we had to see them and all the sick family-Alana has now been sick with this flu stuff for over a week-Jordan had it for 2 days-Ricky stayed home from work most of the week sick,too. Jeff had to work Saturday again and we had to run to Conroe that evening to pick up my new glasses. Yesterday we went and bought 4 rolls of hay from a guy that lives not too far from us that has rescued horses. Some were just beautiful!! But such sad stories!! Later we went up to the Burt's and saw the room they are working on for their oldest son, Travis. Then we rode down to the river on the 4-wheeler where another son-Jeremy-was fishing. We stayed down on the river for awhile-it's ALWAYS so peaceful down there! All in all -a great weekend! Oh-and I got some work done in the garden Saturday morning-one of the beds finished-mixed lettuce and spinich planted and finally got those red onions in the ground. Our weather is supposed to be warm this week with small chances of rain-we really need it! And the search for a camper is still on!! We really are ready to get back down to the beach!! Have a great day!

Sad Greenhouse :(

We had some pretty bad rain and apparently wind here last night!! I heard the rain hitting the side of the house a few times. Got up this morning and looked out only to find my greenhouse MESSED up!!! Jeff leaves for work before daylight-so even though he went out to feed the calf-I don't think he saw it. And to top it off-since the side closer to the pasture was revealed-the cows found-and ATE-my tomato plant and 1 of the broccoli plants :( Guess I get to start over! Jeff butchered the goat on Sunday evening-it's been in the ice chest-so we have to process it tonight-I think we're gonna make alot of it into jerky!! Yummy!!!!! I'm feeling a little better-so I went in and worked 2 hours at the county. Ann needs me 3 days next week and Jeff has to go back to the Dr on Friday-so that only leaves me Monday off. So I'll work awhile with her on Monday-then get the rest of my week lined up! I am subbing at 2 different schools the rest of this week-so busy-busy-busy! Well-the sun is shining now-hope that doesn't mean we'll get more heavy storms this evening!! Someone said we'd had between 5-6 inches in the last 24 hours!! I think we're gonna have leftovers for supper-I made homemade chicken noodle soup last night and cabbage and sausage on Monday-and there's plenty left for another meal. Think I might just make a blueberry cobbler to go along with it!!