Proof!

I really did tame the baby donkey, if there was ever any doubt.

A Girl and her Heifer

This sounds a little like the type of short, coming of age story one might find in a dusty old FFA pamphlet, handed out at an after school meeting in order to promote the character building benefits of becoming a future farmer of America. Which reminds me - I was one of those people in high school that made fun of kids who spent their weekends at ag fairs and their afternoons in the barn, grooming show goats. Truth is, I was jealous of them then and I'm jealous of them now. The value of FFA is highly underrated by psuedo-cool kids in high school - so listen up all you teens - eat right, get exercise, and attend those ag classes. You might kick yourself later for missing out on farming and hoof trimming classes. Really.

Moving on.

I do so love my heifer, Matilda.

I just don't know what to do with her. The land is actually taking some shape and reality has set in that eventually, these animals must serve some purpose in order to earn their keep and help us establish an agricultaral tax exemption. Meaning: this cow has to have a kid sooner or later, otherwise, all of the hay buying, fence mending, and manure scooping will have been for naught - and that would really piss me off. Although, at the end of the day, I just love the stupid cows and their equine counterparts....

whether or not they prove to add some tangible value.

Some exciting developments include the complete and total filling of our pond-lake.

It received our dog's seal of approval.

And do you see those wee sprouts on the ground? A bit greenish and floppy? It's grass, we have grass!! (Jer planted rye seed everywhere last week and it grew. Grass for the animals to eat falls into the "Big Deal" category of accomplishments).

More trees burned...

(curious cow)

animals tamed...

More of the same but never boring. I know there was a time before the cows and donkeys, the acres of dirt and jumping cactus, but I don't remember it. And I don't miss it.

Your Boo: Turns 1. Eats thumb.

Happy birthday to Boo....Happy birthday to Boo!

Happy birthday dear donkey....

Happy birthday to - aaaaaaaaaargh (expletive, expletive, expletive)*^&%$!!!!!!

Well wishes were cut short when my thumb got in the way of the delicious birthday apple. Regardless, here's to you Boo.

Halloween!

The animals decided to get in the spirit of this holiday and dress up. This is actually Boo.

In other news, it's Boo's first birthday today. Happy B-day, Boo!

Man Week - Overview

One word: awesome.

After being back in the real world for a full week, I've had some time to look back, appreciate, and miss the time spent out there. It was a good week. While I don't think I got as much done as I probably should have with an entire, uninterrupted week, I also didn't try to kill myself. I got some good, quality, relaxing time to myself, as well.

Some highlights of the week:

• The first night out there was probably the most impressive. It was the beginning of the week, so I had the whole week ahead of me. I was out there by myself, so I had time to just sit and think and enjoy. The sky was clear without a moon, so I was able to see tons of stars and listen to the night sounds. That was a happy night.
• Friday night, several friends came out for dinner, fire and smores. I smoked a brisket all day (which didn't turn out all that great, unfortunately - but everyone pretended to like it, which I appreciated), so we dined on the picnic table after the sun had set. Shortly thereafter, we moved the party to a nearby campfire as the temperature was dropping. A cold front had just blown in, so the temp was dropping into the 50s, perfect weather to huddle around a camp fire. The sky was clear, so we pretended like we knew what the constellations above us were. And of course, you can't have a camp fire without a healthy dose of smores. It wasn't until someone looked at their watch and realized it was after 1:00am that the party started to break up. It's a sign of good company when you don't even realize 4 hours have passed.
• I was able to get some winter rye grass seed planted, which I had been talking about for a few weeks since I bought the seed. Hopefully, something useful will come of it.
• Several large cedar trees met their doom this week. I need to get back in the habit of taking out a couple of those bad boys every week, so that slowly the land will open up, instead of trying to clear an entire section in a single, infrequent, rampage.
• I had limited cell phone connectivity, which was overall a good thing. It was good enough to receive texts and the occasional dropped call, so I could keep in touch with Jenna and others. However, the service was not good enough to successfully and reliably connect to the internet (I can use my phone as a modem for my laptop). This meant I was unable to consistently sign on to work and check e-mail, which I tried to do throughout the week. So, thanks Sprint for your crappy service. No really, thank you.
• And lastly, the weather overall was fantastic. I had some gorgeous, sunny, cool days that made working all day outside a joy, and I had some rainy, gray days where I was able to lounge in the recliner with a book and a glass of wine without feeling bad for not being outside. Oh yea, and the pond filled up half way with that rain. All in all, a good mixture of weather. I couldn't have asked for a better week.

This is why I hate mesquite trees

These suckers will go right through a tractor tire, boot sole, etc. Die mesquite!

It's a good thing I like mud

Yesterday ended up not as muddy as I expected. I did get some quality couch time before I headed out into the muck. I finished tearing down the one section behind the trailer consisting of 2 sizable cedar trees and one monster mesquite with 3 separate, significant trunks. I cut off and saved a good portion of the mesquite wood for burning later, and piled up the remaining branches making sure to get as many of the wicked thorns as possible. I hate mesquite trees (have I said that before?). Jud showed up later that evening, right as it was starting to rain again. We were able to get the grill up some hamburgers in the rain, and hung out for a while discussing various aspects of life. Then it was off to bed, listening to the rain come down...all night long. Needless to say, this morning was amazingly muddy. So muddy, I ended up just parking the tractor and doing manual clearing.

It was Bambi's turn to sit and watch me do the work. So, with chainsaw in hand, I went on an old fashioned cedar tree killing spree. The approach is to pick a point in the wall of trees and just start cutting until you're pinned in from all angles and have to cut your way out. This is probably not the safest thing to do while I'm alone with the trees falling around me, various thorned plans scraping across my arms and face as I plow through the undergrowth, and the ample opportunity for any upset snakes to let me know that I am not welcome on their turf, but it's hard to control the tree slayer side of me once I let him loose. Eventually, I run out of gas in the chainsaw and realize my arms are dripping blood from the scratches and I have a maniacal grin on my face. At this point, I realize it's time to relax a bit. So, beer in hand, I start a couple of small fires (still too windy for a large burn pile) over a couple of small mesquite stumps. Later, Jenna arrives for the night. She actually gets to stay with me tonight...I'm so excited. Not that Jud wasn't excellent company, but I am a little starved for companionship. Matilda is only so understanding. So, we go for a little tractor ride and then sit around a camp fire as the temperature drops to about 50. Now we're back in the RV (with the heater on because we are wussies) and it's time to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is burn day. It's supposed to be relatively still, so I have 3 large piles that need to go. And maybe, I'll get to use my tractor tomorrow.