The Lucky Turtle

Can you look at this photo and tell why this is one lucky turtle? Look closely..... I'll give you a hint:  Dillon has decided that it is his duty to rid the pond of all turtles and snakes. 

Our ponds are full of these creatures.  At any given time, you can see their sneaky little heads pop up out of the water, and then disappear just as quickly.  I've been told that they eat on the fish in the pond, so I really don't like them even more.  A couple of years ago Shane bought a pile of bream fingerlings and put them in the pond with hopes for us to be able to have some good fishing.  Between the Blue Herons and turtles, I don't think those little fish stand a chance.   

It has been HOT!

It has been so HOT the past few days! Whew! I'm talking HOT and dry. I went out yesterday to try to get some photos for someone interested in purchasing a kiko buck from us, and these fellas were like, "Lady, I aint gettin' up and out there in that sunshine to pose for you. I just got my belly full and plan on staying in this here shade." I couldn't blame them. I actually wanted to sprawl out there with them too because by the time I walked out there to where they were, I was hassling like a dog on a hot summer day.

Gold Digger [ our unicorn : ) ] and Elvis chillin in the shade

Sunday afternoon, our kids went to stay with their grandma for a couple of days.  Shane and I didn't know what to do with ourselves!  He decided it was time to fire up the old Shovelhead and go for a spin.  It's been a while since the poor thing had been fired up, so she needed a little assistance to get going.  It was so nice for us to get out and enjoy the scenery.  It took me back down memory lane.  I figured that day that it had been 7 years since I had sat on the back of that thing.  It was funny, because I had to get used to being a good passenger without all of that moving around and leaning correctly in the curves.  For those that have ridden, you know what I mean.  I told Shane we should do it again soon.  It made me feel young again ;)

The flooring has started going down that will be in the kitchen/dining/living/utility rooms.  It is a vinyl plank flooring that looks like wood.  It's supposed to be pretty durable.  We shall see.  Hopefully it will all come together soon.  It was quite hot yesterday working in the house.  We have the power on, but the AC isn't working correctly, so only the breeze of a few fans were on us.  It was in the 90's yesterday, and I could certainly feel it ALL day! 

Hopefully, I can convince the goats to pose for me today to get those photos before it gets too hot and they are not in the mood.  Photographing livestock is a challenge, I must say....Especially when the photographer is out there battling horseflies like crazy and hassling because she's out of shape and can't stand the heat!  Wish me luck!

"Fence-line weaning"

Our colt has turned 8 months old and it has become time for him to be weaned. 

Shane had saddled up his mother recently, to take her for a short ride, and the colt went absolutely crazy when she was out of sight. I could only  imagine how he could hurt himself if we were to separate them completely. Shane ran  2 strands of hot wire and put Dixie (his mother)  one one side while the colt is on the other side. They are able to be close enough to each other for comfort, but he can't nurse. He also has the company of 2 of our geldings on his side of the fence.  He's been hanging out with the fellas not paying too much attention to his mom. 

The palomino on the left is Dixie, his mother.  He is the bay at the right.  Sonny, the paint, is one of the geldings.  The weaning has went much better than I expected.  No running wildly and behaving psychotically.  So so so thankful for that!

Finally!

Houston, we finally have the cabinets installed! Hooray! 

Thank you Lord, for my hard working husband!

We also have a kindergarten graduate too!  So thankful the kids are on their summer break! 

Mal and her most favorite teacher Ms. Charles and one of her classmates.

Small Ruminant Field Day 2012

Mr. Nic Girgenti sent emailed me this flyer for the Small Ruminant Field Day that will be held this weekend at LSU's AgCenter. I was asked to share it with fellow goat producers or those that may be interested in goats.

Looking Back

Recently, I was asked if I could share some photos of our goats to be put on display at a convention. I got on the computer and looked through all of my photos from past and present and chose some to send. While I was going through all of the photos they just took me back to some wonderful memories. I'm very much a picture person. If I were to walk into your home (invited of course) I wouldn't be able to resist looking at all photographs that are on display. It doesn't even matter if I know who's in them or not. I absolutely love looking at pictures. So if there are any of you out there like me, I decided to share some of those that I have been looking through. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

kiko buckling

kiko doe

Chopper; one of our first and greatest LGD's.  His time here was short, but he was amazing. His story can be found here

flashy little buckling

The memories of Shane and I "making hay."

Dillon's first "responsibility" at 4 yrs.  Sprocket, a twin calf.  What a lesson for all of us.

Mal wanting to keep every kid goat born on this place.

Her own horse for Christmas.  Love at first sight.

His first attempt at getting over his fear of horses.

I am so blessed to live on a farm out in the country with my beautiful family.  God has blessed me richly!!!

What's Happening

Please accept my apologies for my absence here in blogger world. I've been mentally unavailable lately. My mother has been in the hospital for a couple of weeks due to a complication from gallbladder surgery. She had a perforated bowel and it went untreated for several days, which in turn made her one sick lady. She has gotten better over the last several days.....so thankful to God for answered prayers!

Baseball is still in full swing. I feel like we have practically lived in Hattiesburg this whole past month. This girl below here doesn't really enjoy watching the game so much, but she really loves all of the snacks that I pack for her to munch on during the game.

Trying to be a supportive fan

This baseball boy is actually getting a break this week from baseball due to this week being the "BIG state tests" week.  This morning he said he was so nervous about taking the test.  They have literally been preparing and teaching them for this test since last year.  It's seems like he has the weight of the world on his little shoulders.  The school has really stressed how important these test scores are to them, and he feels the pressure.  I tried to tell him this morning that it's all going to be okay and that all I ask of him is to give it his best. 

The clover is blooming and filling the air with such a sweet fragrance.  The bees are busy buzzing all over the place in a frenzy.  It's amazing how many bees are in our pastures.

I wish you could scratch and sniff!

We've gotten some rain lately which caused the clover to sprout up pretty tall, so we've turned out the cows and goats into one particular pasture to get it knocked down before it kills off our summer grass by smothering it out.  They have done a pretty good job of getting that done. It's amazing how well the cows and goats can work together ;)

In the middle of all the craziness, we managed to go pick up our cabinets for our kitchen at Hood's Discount Home Center in Gulfport.  They have some really nice and helpful folks that went above and beyond to help us.  Hopefully I will be getting some pictures of our kitchen progress soon.  

Hope yall have a great week!

Southeast Graziers Pasture Walk May 2012

On May 12, 2012 the Southeast Graziers will be having a pasture walk hosted by Nic Girgenti. We received these flyers and I have posted them here for those that may be interested in attending.  Nic's farm is located in Southeast Louisiana.