Around the Place

We lost a lot of bales in the rainstorm, but we were able to salvage them for a friend who raises beef. We all pitched in to turn the bales over, to help them dry out a little.

Several bunnies can be seen in the pastures this time of year.

Miri helped make a great sign to point people to our barn.

One weekday evening we took a quick Shorty ride!

That's always a special highlight.

Goofy kids walking together up the hill.

Goobers.

Aleaha carried Miri through the hay field.

Now that the grass is drier, the bay boys can get into the pasture too. Such antics when they are all together.

Pioneer Day for Aleaha

 Aleaha's class took a field trip to a nearby one-room school house for a day of history lessons. They were studying the pioneers, and everyone got into the spirit.

Aleaha and her friend Zelda looked the part!

Inside the schoolhouse, their teacher, Mrs. Tubbs, explained how the school days were spent for the children back then. Not easy to be a kid back then!

There was a wonderful woodworking demonstration too. The kids got to try their hand at all sorts of things.

So educational!

This was a great demo of how to make a shake (handmade shingle), using a "fro."

The kids show off their work.

Lunch was especially fun, as we planned it well. Aleaha insisted on authentic-style wrappings and trappings for everything.... so it was wax paper and a cloth napkin around our sandwiches. 

And she toted it all in a bucket.

In pioneer fashion, we enjoyed some baked beans.

And her favorite - homemade applesauce.

Then a snooze to enjoy the break!

Such a fun day.

They took a drawing lesson, 

and a spinning lesson. 

Very full and fun time!

Miri Update

As a part of her elbow healing, she's been in physical therapy. Here she is pulling herself up the rope, gaining strength.

She's been getting much stronger and has regained her range of motion. Thank heavens!

While Daddy and Aleaha spend the weekend at the race track recently, Miri slept with Mommy. Mommy liked waking up to this sweet little face.

Such a character! (her chosen outfit for school recently.... the pioneer dress that Grammabon made in 1976 and Mommy's purse from around that same time)

The Tooth Fairy for Miri!

Miri began to get a wiggly tooth! In this picture it's on the bottom, right (her left).

Mommy found a note wherein she had tried to convince the Tooth Fairy to visit a little earlier than usual.

And a few days later, it was super wiggly. (Even kind of gross to look at!)

That tooth wanted to come out!

And Miri wanted it to come out too. Except she was pretty nervous and wouldn't let anyone help her. Mommy tied some floss around it, with a plan to make quick of it.

But she still didn't want it to happen that way. We had about an hour if intense drama with that doggone tooth. 

Then Daddy touched it with his magic and suddenly it was gone. 

HOORAY!

And the Tooth Fairy made a legitimate visit that night.

This Year's Hay

For the last 9 years, we have purchased horse hay. For many years we would have to buy one ton at a time and fill our barn over the course of the summer.  Last year, we contracted with a farmer to put "big bales" in for us, all in one day. We didn't really like managing the feeding process with the big bales (they are a pain to flake off and maneuver into our feeders), but we liked having it all put into the barn in one shot. 

We've been subject to market conditions, which felt somewhat silly -- to have trouble finding hay when we live in the middle of grass fields. It's not just the cost, but also the hassle and risk to have to find more hay in the winter, when there might not be any around. And this year, with droughts in some places and flooding in others, it's likely to be another hard year to find hay, as most local farmers will plan to ship all theirs off to Eastern Oregon or Texas, where there could be a shortage. That causes a shortage here too, which seem ridiculous. But of course, economics are the driver in this.

This year, we decided to experiment with haying some of our own ground. We aren't sure we are going to do this again. It's not for the faint of heart -- there is one helluva lot of risk in this. And it's definitely not proving out to be cheaper. But it's certainly a learning experience.

In addition to a hillside field, we took a few acres of a lower field, because the grasses are a mixed type and the grass seed farmer is not happy with the way that plot of land grows. So we thought we would simply turn it into horse feed.

It looked pretty nice after being cut and tetted.

Then finally the raking and baling began. 

But the weather started to change. Slow at first, but we were fighting against a thunderstorm forecast. See the clouds building up?

We put together a hay crew to get it out of the field and into the barn over the weekend, when it was still dry. They worked some hard and long hours. 

We used our hay elevator for the first time. Wow, what a savior it was, for loading hay into the loft of the barn.

Aleaha was a helper too, cleaning up in between loads.

The good news is that we filled the barn chock-full. I'm not sure if we have our full 20 ton like I wanted to have, but every nook and cranny is crammed with hay.

The tough news is that the rain came with a vengeance, and we have lost a lot of hay. I can't dwell on that, and we are going to try to recover. Hopefully we will still be able to sell some to recover some of the cost.

Aleaha's Spring Concert

We were back at the school for a hot evening in the gym, enjoying the musical skills of the second through fifth graders. Aleaha's third-grade class played a special song  on their xylophones and drums, and they did a very nice job.

They had been practicing for a long time. It really showed!

Smokey, the Hunted and the Hunter

One afternoon recently, Mommy was sitting on the back deck with a couple of kitties, enjoying the quiet. All of the sudden, Smokey bolted up to the top of a tree, quick as a flash!

Turns out that there were two coyotes chasing him! They had come out of the nearby grass seed fields, thinking they'd get a little tasty cat for a snack. Suddenly, the hunter becomes the hunted! Not cool!

I chased the offensive little buggers off into the field with some choice words. They were so brazen! One had his front feet up the tree, ready to follow Smokey right up it! Smokey spent about 15 minutes in the tree, assessing whether or not it was safe to come down.

A few days later, he was recovered and bringing in the kills. This is a weasel! It's only a baby (my foot for comparison), but where there's baby weasels there are mommy weasels, and we don't like that. We have chickens, and they don't take kindly to chicken-killers!

Way to go, Smokey!