Alot Less Grasshoppers Now!

Well, Bobby is off from school for the next 3 weeks. I intend to fully utilize him for the duration. There are things that need to be done around here, and they are things I feel that are his responsibility to do, and not mine. After all, there has to be some payoff for washing his dirty laundry. So he got on the mower yesterday and did what I just couldn't bring myself to do, but so desperately needed to be done. He mowed the lawn. Not only did he mow the lawn, (And a fine job of it I must say, complete with weed eating) but too, made mince meat of about a gazillion grasshoppers! I can now walk outside without fear or in trepidation of being covered in them. How nice is that?! Although the dogs and Kyle seemed a bit unamused about it. No more hunting and teasing mom. Bummer. Though I feel sure each in their own way will find other things to amuse them selves with. So, for the moment Bobby is my hero and I actually folded his pants with a crease the way he likes them last night. Wonder what he'd do for a pressed shirt!!

A round pen is in order as well, but I'm not sure I can motivate him into that just yet. He still has his day job, and gun work after that, but at least he has the weekends free now. I'll be working on a motivator to get that done.

We have been getting a good bit of rain recently. I like that. Pastures are staying green, and are barley, but still keeping up with the demands the sheep and horses put on them. I have one little wether lamb that I am seriously looking at putting in the freezer. I talked to Lewis last night, and he and Joy would like to have a little bit, so I'm going to look into butchers here around town. There is one in Sanford that has been there for over 25 years, and I knew the owner back when I lived out here in NC that long ago. Now his children run the shop and though a few things have changed, very little from what Id remembered it from way back when, has. I liked his daughter, and talked to her a few months ago. She remembers when her dad use to sell huge frog legs, (that's why I use to go to the store, he had great fresh huge frog legs) and we had a grand time recounting how her dad use to bring them out and show them off. Claimed they were so fresh that they'd do a jig in the frying pan when ya put them in the hot oil! He was a hoot.

Poor Bruin has had a bad experience. We had a bad thunder and lightening storm last week, and the lightening hit our fencing. It blew my box which supplies the juice to the electric fencing to bits and pieces and either Bruin was sitting leaned up against the fence, or got a shock through the ground. I was in the house when the lightening struck .The boom was enough to scare me too. It was very loud, and the flash / ball of light it created was really scary. Id thought that it had hit either one of the horses or a sheep, but couldn't go out till the storm had passed. Thankfully, everyone and everything seemed fine. I didn't notice the blown up electric box until the next day. Id wondered why Bruin hadn't eaten his food the night before, that in itself, should have given me cause to worry, but he seemed fine albeit a bit restless, but after a storm like that, I figured it was acceptable behavior. It was unsettling for us all. It wasn't until the next day when Bobby went out back to test fire a hand gun that he had been working on the we found out the true impact the storm and possible subsequent shock had had on Bru. Bobby hadn't gotten but one round off and all 110 lbs of great white Bruin came underneath a 6 inch gap under the pasture gate. Now Bru has grown up around gun fire at close range, and has never had a problem with it, so we knew it was because of the storm that he had such a shock when the gun was fired. I'm sure in his mind it reminded him of the of the storm the day before. Poor fella. So I took him into work the next day, cleaned him up and gave him a couple of days off in the house. When I turned him back out with the sheep, he was just fine, until another storm started to rumble in last night. Again, as soon as he heard the thunder, he was looking for a way out of the pasture. I watched him for a bit, but as he became more and more anxious and frantic, I opted to bring him back in so he wouldn't do himself an injury or change the structure of my fencing trying to get out. As it is, at the moment, he is laying on the floor in the house, serving a dual purpose, looking like a new bit of taxidermy, ( a new polar bear rug) and a garbage disposal. He revels in "helping" me do away with unwanted bits of food and scraps, and hasn't forgotten how to look starving when it comes time for the good stuff either. Bobby is back sharing banana Popsicles with him as well, and that for Bru is the bomb. I don't know what will happen now, either he will get over it, and resume his guardian roll, or not. Either way, we all adore Bruin, so he will be a welcome addition to the house dogs. Time will tell.

Chris has re injured her toe, may have to take more drastic steps with it this time around, though the vet the last time seemed to think it would heal fine if we just kept her inactive for a few weeks till it healed. It seemed to have healed just fine, and I'm not sure how she re injured it, she doesn't show it while working, at least not until she comes off the field, so its back to a few weeks crate rest and leash walks until I can see some change, or feel that it will require another vet visit. Again, time will tell.

Stella has been put on pet duty. She is no longer allowed to work Chris, or the sheep for awhile. Having both dogs on leash and line is time consuming, but its whats best for both dogs at the moment. I am hoping with Stella, that when allowed back on sheep, that she goes at the work with a lot more enthusiasm than she had been showing in the past. Again, only time will tell.

So, with all these "only time will tell" dogs at the moment, there is plenty of time for pups. Who are, as pups will be, quickly becoming a job within themselves. Both with their own set of demands on my time, and individual needs. But that, is definitely a labor of love, so far be it from me to begrudge the time. I truly enjoy every bit of time spent with the little......darlings.