Squealing from the Feeling........

They sure are and as you can see, at least I see a photo and I hope you can, things are coming along rather well for Eric, Lori, and "Baby Jonathan" (he is the brains in that crew) as far as construction goes. As far as getting the hay cut and bailed, Baby J" fed and caught up to, and brakes on Lori's car (speaking of squealing) that is still in progress as is the arrival date of the oinkers, (not Eric, the pigs)!!

Keep up the good work kids, ittal be over soon and time for a well derserved rest.........i'm so full of it............:)

Show Girls with their Show Pig.....

This is just one of the many Champions that Steve has produced at the farm, and yes I am including his girls Auburn (with the banner) and Ashtyn (with the "I got a rope and I am going to ride this piggy outa here so hurry up") look on her face although I don't think they were actually produced at the farm but I will have to check the Pig Champ records to be sure.
The girls do love their pigs but I think they are Cow Girls at heart but that remains to be seen, so we will have to watch as they grow to see if the Cattle thing moooooves them.........:)

ittabitanuttin...........

I know, they look healthy, and they are but it isn't because they have had plenty of rain cause "Mother Nature" has not provided any for a very very very long time and this is turning out to be a very very very serious dry spell with no relief in sight.

Well, there is really not much going on with the exception of Thursday turmoil and I was waiting till some fair reports were in on how our 4-H pigs are fairing (get it, fair fairing, sometimes I just crack myself up) but I didn't wait and here I am!!

Speaking of Thursday, the last one went rather smooth again with our flow go still a go and so far we have not had any, shall we say sows LABORING away unnecessarily, in the gestation barn but given our excess of sows that could change at any time. You know how women are. One minute they are as quiet as a mouse and as content as can be and the next minute they just explode, go figure, but in our case that is a problem because they do literally and I mean stuff fly's everywhere just like.....

I'm done......it's been a long day but as of now everyone is home and tucked in for the day and all is well on the farm once again.............:)))))

I Lost A Friend........

I lost a friend this week. Not to an accident or some other natural occurrence but to stinking cancer, in my opinion a completely "UN"natural thing, he should have grown old with the rest of us, that would have been natural.

I guess with friends, as it is in life, it is best not to question why or how, just to make the best of the time we are given and enjoy our life and friends for as long as we have them, as did Benji, his love and friendship had no boundaries.....

He will be greatly missed.

Rain...........

No the moisture you see on the petunia is not from the well but actually rain!!! But if it hadn't been for the well water this petunia would not look as it does. We are getting mostly showers but not near enough to be of any long term benefit just some short term relief. At the time of this post we have had only .89 inches for the month, that's not good. Let's hope next week our luck changes for the good.

Well the week went pretty smooth and even Thursday came and went without any boo boos or unauthorized depositing of piglets in an unauthorized place visa v the gestation barn instead of the farrowing house but Lori and I were sweating aardvark ears (ouch) before the day was over. For the moment our flo is a go but next week will be a different story. At that point the mommies will have formed a line to get into the farrowing house that resembles the line to the ice cream window in July at a NON weight watchers convention (for you country folk that means theys a whole bunch ready to pop at the same time) if their is such a thing, I would like to go!

Thursday also brought us some much welcome information and or new developments or revaluations or good news or just things that made us go "yee hah"!!! Randy and I sat in with Steve and our Veterinarian Dr. Powers who enlightened us with some extremely interesting developments in the dietary field for our sows that looks very promising especially for the upcoming summer months, it was to say the least a very informative visit and I was impressed that Randy stayed awake almost the entire time, GO RANDY!!!

Well, the week is over and another is about to start and so is this day so I will go see what havoc I can create with Marie, who by the way is recovering as is Lori, from a bout with what appears to be a cold, sore throat, sneezing, watery eyes a little fever which I think they both caught from BabyJ last week when they were doing the typical woman thing by kissing and slobbering all over the baby like he was a new pair of shoes (yea, women do that with shoes, I have seen it) when he had a cold so it is no wonder they got it!!! But as of the time of this post everybody is home and tucked in for the day and all is well on the farm once again...........:))))

Happy Birthursday.............

Be sure when you see Kim and Susan you wish them a big ole "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" cause it's today!!!! I didn't have a recent photo but I promise I will before the next birthday(which will give me plenty of time to edit). Catching them together is about as easy as catching a butterfly with a scoop shovel.
Today went very well again for a Thursday. I got in around 4 and got things cooking and expected to find some new baby piggies where they shouldn't have been but piggy luck was with us today and the mommies held their goods until we got the washing done and moved them into their clean room. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut about that cause there is another week a commin!!!!
There really isn't much new to report but wait......Lori and Eric are closing on their loan tomorrow and they started moving dirt yesterday (kinda like the cart before the horse huh) so when you see them let's give them a big pat on the.......back and a Masta Lee thumbs up and wish them the bestest ever good luck and fortune it is well deserved!!!!!!!!
Yep, this is a short one cause I gotta go water cause it ain't rained yet and all the stuff is thirsty and dirty but other than that everyone is home and tucked in for the day and all is well on the farm once again..............:))))

It's Thirstday......

Well, it's Thursday again but it's been a rather pleasant Thursday at least as pleasant as a Thursday can be, that is if it is possible for their to be such a thing as a pleasant Thursday, which I think there is but given the fact that Thursday is a very hectic and "run yer butt off" kinda day and you really wouldn't consider that to be very pleasant, but it has been a very pleasant Thursday!!!! We got all the mommies moved, all the little piggies moved, and all the little turds washed away, and all the mommies that were waiting on us washed and put away. Steve got all the feed ground and put away plus hiring a new employee (hopefully for more than 8 hours) but Eric worked on a heater all afternoon and still couldn't get it to do squat, what's up with that, messed up our whole ora thing we had going on but it was still a pleasant Thursday(did I say that already).

As you can see in the photo Terry fired up one of the irrigators today cause we haven't had enough rain in the past 3 weeks to wash the dust off a gnats butt and the corn is getting a little thirsty. Hopefully this dry spell will be over soon (we got a lot of dirty gnat butts around here) and we won't have to spend as much time watering this and that and just about everything, it's been especially rough on the new plantings.

I am going to go water some dry stuff (me) so I will take my leave, or leave my take, kinda confussing, I can't leave without taking everything...although I do kinda leave my butt behind!!

Sorry..........the day is finally winding down and everyone is home and tucked in for the day and all is well on the farm once again...........:)

We need rain...........

Yep, we NEED rain and the outlook for it is NOT good for another week at least. It isn't a drought but it is awfully dry in these here fields!! I can spoke like that ifin I wanna:)

Well another week is about to start and I can only hope the next one goes as smooth as the last one did. Selling went pretty well, no one got injured or maimed and Thursday went off without any serious problems with the exception of needing the electrician to get one of the washer up and running. Lucky for Lori it was the one she was using which gave her a little extra down time that she needed anyway cause she came in last Tuesday with what appeared to be a summer cold all scratchy throaty watery eyesy(my word) sniffly sneezy nosey full of snoty kinda thingy (and if you have seen Lori's nose, that is a lot of snot) with aches and pains and just feeling like some body's old sock that has gotten wet and muddy and she just needed a hug, or a week off which ever came first (she didn't get either) but at the time of this post she was at home feeling much better!!!

Terry has taken advantage of this long dry spell to get the corn side dressed. NO we don't put dresses on our corn, thats farm talk for the corn getting a little nitrogen on the side, it deserved it.

As you can see by the photo the split rail fence is comming along nicely and looking really really good and will soon be all over the farm defining borders like a good fence should. It's kinda ironic, we spent the last 20 years ripping out old fence cause we didn't need it anymore and here we are building new again. I guess you do things in your life just as your life does, comes full circle eventually go figure.

Well I have to go water stuff again but as far as I know everyone is home and tucked in for the day and all is well on the farm once again......:)

New Baby On The Farm.....:)

Lee was on a journey of some sort this afternoon and ran across this new fawn in the woods across from the cabin and sought out Marie to do the photo shoot. It is probably only a day old as it still doesn't have it's legs under it yet but it did manage to get up and walk a few feet, I mean hoof, deer don't have feet, but then right back down it would go and pose some more. I am sure mama was near by watching these two "humans" annoy her new baby (kinda like a new mom at the mall huh) but all was set right with nature and all is well on the farm once again...........:)

Maykinbaykin and Corn and Beans and.......

Now that's some corn ain't it!!!! Course we got some of the most potent fertilizer you'll ever find just ask anyone that knows me. I apologize for the tired look but I had been chasing that darn pig for hours and as you can see, he had been out for a while cause he got a little sun burned. No kidding aside, all the corn is in the ground (and some coming back out as you can see) and at the time of this post probably half the beans. Planting is rolling right along ahead of schedule only after a long rain delay which has apparently turned into a rain deficit or so it appears as you can see by the cracks in the ground (almost lost the pig in one) ! But despite Mother Natures attempts to stop them Terry, Lee and Randy are going to "Gitter-done"!!

Things have been a little hectic in the barns the past few weeks. Despite the usual routine it is time to get the cool cells up and running so the mommies can maintain their coolness (my word) and hopefully maintain their embryos that we spent so much time getting into place and hopefully those embryos will turn into little piggies running all over the place. To this point Lori and I haven't had a problem in that respect. In only a few months the 4-H pigs we sold will start winning at fairs all across the state and states and before you know it the State Fair will start. Time just flies when you are having fun don't it!! We have sold more pigs this year so Steve is going to have to have wings before all the shows are over. Good luck with that (won't take much of a set of wings to lift him)!!!

Marie and I have been working in the garden for the last two days and finally finished today but now the flower beds need redone, says her, what a load, says I, doesn't matter what you say, says her, yes mam, says I, so redone we do. There is something to be said for concrete and gravel. I once made fun of a guy who had to take out the garbage all the time till I met my wife and had to do everything but.....

Well, it's another beautiful warm sunny day here on the farm but it is finally winding down or at least slowing to a crawl but for the most part everyone is home and tucked in for the day and all is well on the farm once again.