Peaceful Easy Feeling

Got my country peacefulness fix this afternoon. Tuff dog and me went for a walk. Once I get out of the city limits, I can let him off the leash and let him roam the ditches, splashing through the water holes and sniffing all the smells. The sun was shining, the wind wasn't roaring, the air clean after the rains we had yesterday. When we got home, he was satisfied to just be outside in the yard chewing on his toy while we bbq'd. Can't really explain the feeling. Just a peacefulness that I haven't felt in awhile.

First Good Snow

Started in on the winter routine (daily chores) about a week ago, and didn't barely get 2 nice days before I had to start chopping ice! Today we had our first real good snow and I had fun taking pictures on my morning trek to pellet the calf crop and feed/water "Gimpy."

We don't have any bottle calves this year, but we've got "Gimpy" isolated for the time being while her hoof heals. I-magine she'll end up the sale barn when she can get around good again. She was a good cow and she's not that old, but she's not holding up her end of the bargain right now with no calf and a bum foot preventing her from breeding back again. All our cows get 2 strikes before they get culled, but she chose to take both her strikes all at once! Swelling in her foot is going down, so hopefully she'll make a full recovery from whatever accident she had in the pasture that caused her hoof to tear!

Here are my snow pictures for the day:

Fall Farm & Dog Update

Spent a good majority of the weekend driving the diesel around, shuffling people and seed and fertilizer tanks. Helping hook up to this or unhook from that. It isn't the most exciting job on the farm, but it helps keep the tractors and combines rolling efficiently if they will get me involved doing the little things so they don't have to stop so much. We're about halfway done with the wheat planting. The last of the beans will be cut this afternoon if the little shot of rain in the forecast holds off a little longer!

I had a few minutes here before I have to go pick up the farmer man again, so I came home and gave the dog a bath. He found a glob of grease while we were unhooking from this and re-hooking to that...and smeared it all over everywhere. So he's clean now so I figured he was worth a few quick pictures with my new little point and shoot camera. I think he's about as big as he's gonna get now. He's got a strong protector personality when he's on his home turf (and once in awhile on someone else's turf), he talks a lot of talk, but he's a lover underneath all the barking and growling. He'll put his ears and tail down and come to you all crouched down and excited to be loved on!

Between the Sirens...

Tornado sirens fired twice in my neck of the woods today. Once about 7: 30 this morning and once again in a nearby town closer to noon. Neither translated into an actual tornado creating damage on the ground, but we are thankful that technology has improved enough to give us warning when it's likely that there is rotation in the sky. Of course, we do live in Kansas, so most of us run outside and look to the sky for the signs of severe weather when the sirens fire, as opposed to taking cover like we should. Between the 2 bouts of excitement, we went on a crop tour and fed our cattle. Here are a few pictures:

Tuff pup is growin' faster than the weeds

This post is for my momma...so she can see the Tuff dog since it snowed and she probably isn't roadtrippin' this weekend... :-(

These pix go back a few weeks. He's about 9 weeks old now. Had 2 visits to the vet, a nail trim and a half, and 2 baths. Many rides in the diesel. Eaten cow a patty. Started a stampede with his annoying don't-leave-me bark. Been humped by another dog about his size. Chewed through more than one stuffed toy. Played in the snow now. Overall he's doing well on the crate training/housetraining and minding. He sits if you have a treat in your hand, it not, well forget it! He's big enough to work with the leash now - doesn't just slide right out of his collar anymore. Might even have to adjust that collar next week if he's keeps on a-growin'! :-)

I've Fallen in Love

Sorry to disappoint all the romantics out there but this isn't a post about falling in love with my dear hubby all over again...

This is a post about falling in love with my new puppy, Tuff! We've talked about a puppy off and on for awhile now, and talked specifically about blue heelers. So when a blue heeler breeder and good friend broadcasted the word that her litter of puppies were coming in January, I could hardly contain my excitement. At first I thought, I'll just get it and surprise Jarrod with it. Then I thought again and decided it was too big of a commitment to jump into without the hubby's stamp of approval. Well as it turned out, he could hardly contain himself either, even though he played it off all cool.

So the Tuff dog came home to Lincoln the last week of February. He was between 5 and 6 weeks old. I've taken a few pictures of him each week, and in those pictures you can really see how fast they grow. He'll only be 8 weeks old for 1 week! He is super smart and "tuff" as nails for such a little thing. His personality is starting to show through now and he's learning how to be a good dog more and more everyday! He and the cat, well they have some adventures. I have video too and if I ever stop playing puppy games long enough to edit them, you just might get to watch 'em!

Until it gets a little warmer, Tuff will be in the house with us but eventually he'll move outside where he has more room to run. Times like these reinforce my strong desire to live in the country (like right now, not 10 years from now). I want to give him as much room as possible to be the cowdog that he is. In the mean time, he's learning to ride well in the pickup and is making frequent trips to the farm with us to do chores every day. Hopefully when he's a little older and wiser, he can help us put the cattle back in when they get out! He seems to have the herding instincts 'cuz he sure does like to heel on the cat!