The kids had fun on Monday, Juju came over and they worked on steers, went fishing, Juju got to pull the tuff calf for Kade. Anna rode Jojo in her new saddle and loved it. She says they both loved it. Anna has an old saddle that was cheap when our friend bought it 30 years ago, so although it is nice, it isn’t great. Glad we got her a saddle for her graduation gift. It has both the HJ and the KT brands on it, so semi custom and affordable from Sheridan Saddlery We finally got our checks from the cows that we sold the week before, and the rumors are true, cows are selling well right now. I went to Othello for meetings all day. Toni is prepping for a big trial starting Wednesday, in addition to all of her other stuff. Ben drained the water out of the camper and then filled it back up with fresh. But now the water pump will not prime…. Anna is packing up to head to Moscow on Wednesday. Kaine chopped Russian Olive trees, he is working off his pickup repairs from this spring. Kade worked on Holly and Joss Monday. Toni stayed with grandma on Monday night.
Tuesday Anna continued to pack to go to Moscow. Everyone washed their steers to get ready for the up coming fairs, we only have 2 this year as Connell and Othello are at the same time so we had to decide to go to the local one. I went to a Farm Bureau dinner Tuesday night. Toni called me at the dinner that Copper had gotten her leg caught in the gate chain somehow. It was a pretty significant injury, but luckily Copper is a really nice filly so stood patiently and let them get her out. She is out of Izzy so they got the pair in. Toni, mom and Kade doctored her Tuesday night and turned her out with the yearlings. Once the swelling goes down we will be able to evaluate it better, but currently keeping it clean, anti-inflammatory, and Exceed to stave off infection. Getting all of that handled took awhile so Kade let his horse go and didn’t ride.
On Wednesday Ben, Anna, and I headed to Moscow bright and early. We picked up Grace in Pullman to unpack, and Lane also came up that day to unpack. We were done by midmorning, we went out to the Breakfast Place in Moscow to eat, which was really good, and then stopped at St John on our way home to check on the house. It is still there. Toni started her big trial, which was supposed to last two days but only lasted one, and she won. Wednesday night we doctored Copper, who is still being a patient patient. Kade rode Joss and Gucci. Wild came up to the gate to also be ridden or just to check things out. So then Tee came up too. Basically we had a whole round pen of 2 and 3 year olds being nosey and getting in the way. Really, they are a fun group.
Stina the mini mare foaled on Thursday had had a filly. Toni and Kade ran Santana into Sagehill vet to have the lavage removed from his eye, his eye looks really good. Then Toni took the three kids to Wilco with their gift cards from the Sagebrush show to buy school clothes, and their food for the fair. They should buy stock in Little Debbies because that is what the got to take to the fair for a week. Toni is still suffering from what we call South Dakota foot, meaning she likes to drive like the speed limit is 80 not 70. Those S. Dakota roads really spoil a person with how fast you can go. When they got home Kaine and Kade took the propane canisters to Connell and filled them with propane and picked up Dad’s prescription that was supposed to be ready the day before. Thursday night Kade rode his favorite two 2 year olds, Joss and Gucci. We would like him to ride more than just those 2 but they are his favorites. Maybe somebody could come buy Joss and we could force him to expand to some of the others. He rode Joss out around the house getting her exposed to all kinds of stuff- dogs, cats, ATVs, tractors, studs running to the fence, people doing people stuff. She is doing really really well.
On Friday the kids clipped their steers and packed the trailer to get ready to set up at the fair on Saturday. Ben, Leslie and Manny brought the campers to the fair to set up, Jolene, Traci and I met them there. By Friday the swelling was out of Copper’s leg and it wasn’t looking good. “Desperation is the mother of invention,” Mom remembered she had kept her wrist brace from when she broke her wrist. Luckily it fit around Copper’s leg so we got her braced up and had some hope again. Marlo came out to help with chores and took the Donks treats. They are becoming spoiled little devils. If you are out changing water and you feel hot breath down the back of your neck, you can bet it is a donkey wanting to be fed. They think they run this ranch. Looking at the treat bill, I really can’t argue with that……
On Saturday Toni, the boys and I went down to setup at the fair with the 4H group. After we had everything set up and the shavings out the fair board members came by to tell us there is supposed to be 50 mph winds that night so not to put our shavings. Too late. The big boys are showing FFA, so we also working on the FFA stalls and helped get them ready for Monday. We had pizza afterwards so didn’t get milkshakes on the way home, we were all too full. It was a great group of kids that showed up to get the work done so looking forward to a really fun week at the fair. The theme is the “Best Week of Summer.” We all hope so. On the way home we went by Connell to get the giant fans with misters we bought that Uncle Tom found for us. They are really big. Bigger than we anticipated. They had to be loaded by the Skidsteer. Great news for us, we were informed by individuals in the back seat of the pickup that they were semi-professional equipment operators. As the fans got loaded and no one died, I think that is probably an accurate statement from the boys. Semi-professional equipment operators seems like as good of a term as any.
On Sunday we did normal ranch work on top of getting ready to leave for the fair. We also got one of the fillies sold, and are really excited to see what this family does with her. We are slowly getting disease panel results back from Animal Genetics. I am uploading them to that foal’s “click here for more pictures” link. Those results should be at the top of the foals we have results for. The bull calves were behind the house when I got home so I went out and walked through them and got some pics.
We are at the Benton Franklin fair this week, come by and see us. We are looking forward to seeing friends and having a fun week with the boys. The boys have worked really hard and have some awesome steers for the fair. If you are looking for some meat for your freezer the sale is Friday. See you there.
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