Field Day

Now that Teddy is through with his worm medication and is hopefully through with worms, we decided it was time he went outside for some playtime with Reggie and Kenzie. This is the first time we've let them all three play outside without my holding onto or massively protecting Teddy in some way. Luckily, it was a great success!

Reggie took the role of big brother very seriously. Honestly, he was as over protective as I've been. Gradually, he learned to start letting Teddy explore while he was a step to the side instead of completely encasing him like a Reggie forcefield. Kenzie just looked in on him from time to time and only got protective if he started to go in the tall grass. Good girl Kenzie! All three had a great time and Teddy obediently came every time I called him. I'm so proud of all of them!

As for the barndo, all the cabinets have been painted and now the final coat for the walls needs to go on. The septic has all its pipes in the ground, but still need some connecting before it's done. The propane hole has been drained from the rainwater and hopefully the tank will go in before any new rain comes!

Final Fun Day

Ok, so even though Rob had to work today, I decided to take one final fun day. I let Rob handle the barndo stuff and the animals while I laid around for most of the day, then I went to hang out with the sisters. 

With all the game nights I attend, there is this pair of sisters who are fantastic players. They enjoy friendly competition and enjoy having fun. I was honored to take part in their sister game night where we played lots of fun games. I didn't win a single one, but that's quite alright. It was fun!

Tomorrow is back to work for me. I've got to make sure everything is lined up now that the painters will be done tomorrow. I've got to check on the septic progress and find out when the propane is getting delivered. I'm hoping tile, wood planking and/or countertops can get going as well. Then it's a hop skip and jump and done!

Did I hear you say I'm adorable?

Memorial Day 23

We spent a wonderful day with our dynamite couple friends and their family. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and sodas, the American classics. Other than some spontaneous storms, it was wonderful weather and fabulous company. 

All of our animals didn't appreciate us leaving them behind, but after some treats, everyone was ok. Poor Teddy though, how can someone so small have so much waste?!

Tomorrow, Rob is back to work, but I think I might just continue having fun. Anything is better than sitting in that RV!

The dynamite couple as we wait out the rain. Ok I got more of her, but do you blame me?

All Work, No Play

As that saying goes, all work and no play makes for a dull boy/girl. Rob are anything but dull! To kickstart the summer, I'm going to share more of who we are and just let the haters hate. It's an expression, if y'all hate, you have no place here. 

Rob and I married and started our family young. Since we did everything early, we are fortunate to enjoy the finer things in life earlier than most. We worked hard for many years, we spent little, we did some things wrong, but we did a lot of things right. Those Minute Rice dinners of sugar and cinnamon, the skipped breakfasts and lunches, and the single ply toilet paper days are over. Oops, no still have to do the single ply until the barndo, but not because of financial reasons! The point is, we can eat, drink and be merry now. This weekend, we proved it. 

It started with BBQ at L&B Roadhouse BBQ (get the pie!)

Saturday night we took in a Texas Comedies production Murder and Moontowers. This afternoon, we supped at Stoneledge Winery. Tomorrow, we're gathering with the dynamite couple for an impromptu outdoor picnic. 

If it doesn't bring us joy and we can avoid it, then that's what we'll do! That whole motto of Live Laugh Love is making us happier than we've ever been. 

Truck Thursday

I kept a theme this week, but today was a stretch. It somewhat pertains to the farm, but only somewhat. It's about me and my truck blindness. 

People might not assume that's a thing, and I might be the only Texan who has it, but I can never keep up with anyone's truck with describing it. Was it red, white or blue? I couldn't tell you. Was it Ford, Chevy or Dodge?  I don't know. Was it two door, four door, short bed, long bed, dualie? It did have wheels and at least two doors. Seriously, I own a truck and I still have the blindness. 

I'm not like this with cars. I can tell you make, color, and if it had the basic trim package or a premium package. So why am I truck blind? Don't worry, I can always find my truck because it has dog prints inside and out!

Our neighbors

Wormy Wednesday

Teddy had his first vet appointment and mainly he's healthy, except for worms. It appears he has a high concentration of hookworms, so he gets a strong dewormer for the next three days. 

But that begs an interesting topic: worms. For our goats, donkeys, cows, cats and dogs, we don't want worms. Yet, the chickens can eat them and nothing. Ok yes, they're not the same worms always, but while I didn't use to have an issue about something so small. Now, I do. They are hurting my Teddy Bear and must be stopped!

I'm also including pics of the stain in the barndo that's almost done. Next week be painting!

Not my pig, just seeing if you're paying attention

Tumultuous Tuesday

As storms are starting to brew all around us, I thought I would share about how tumultuous today has been. For Rob, not for me. 

Somehow, in the wee hours of the early morning, we had a bold and loud thunderstorm. Reggie and Kenzie needed Rob's calming touch and Teddy just needed someone to chew. Rob supposedly asked me to watch Teddy, which I said ok, and promptly went back to sleep. I don't remember this, but it does sound like something I would do if I was asleep. 

Well, we're set for another round of storms within the hour, but I'm awake and ready! My friends think I sleep all the time, but truthfully, I really don't get much sleep. I lay in bed, I read, and I ignore my phone. If my brain allows me, I'll sleep. This usually only happens when people seem to need me. People don't need me between midnight and 3am, so I get a lot of reading done. Now ya know!

Anyhow, hopefully this storm doesn't do much as we still have plenty of wet ground around here. I'm hoping for these storms a lot this August though! 

Monday Mayhem

It was a busy, but overall good Monday. Did you know not all UPS centers will allow you to ship laptops? Rob had to send his in to his work and we had to go an hour or so away to get that done. 

While we were away, the painters did stain! Most of the barndo is now stained and looks fantastic! Pics tomorrow on that, the fumes were a bit much today. 

All the animals did well in our absence and luckily, Teddy is dutifully using the potty pads! Otherwise, we would have had a big mess on our hands with our being gone so long!

Ok, I also stopped and got him a new bed and a new toy

Coming and Going

Ok, this week we're going to start out with who left. At the end of the week, I'll share what came. 

Our awesome ranch hand, gathered up all of our roosters and took them to auction for us! Can you believe we had 9?! Out of fifteen, only six were female. They're gone and our hens are so much happier.  What we love is the quiet. We didn't realize how much constant chatter those roos did. 

Tomorrow is barndo day. All the floors are prepped and I think, even though my Spanish is poor, they are finally going to start painting tomorrow. I sure hope so, we've lost two weeks of work already and my patience is wearing thin. 

Eyes Open

You really never know what you're going to see on our farm from one day to the next. I can guarantee my own animals, but then there's the wild animals, and even neighbor's animals who pass through here. Most of them I'm great about, some not so much. 

For instance, the other night I was sitting outside the RV and had just finished a phone call. It's late and the awning light only puts out so much. I start to get up and I notice something move directly next to my foot. Luckily, it was just a frog. You're fine dude, just give a little ribbit next time, ok?

Then last night while I was on the phone, yes I actually use my phone to make calls, I saw a scorpion walk right past me. That dude is not welcome here, but he survived only because I was wearing Crocs and not wanting to test out their smashing ability yet. 

Finally this evening, in the barn, I saw we had two very new visitors. Ducklings! I don't know if they hatched here or not, they are our neighbors ducks, but it was so cute to see them!

Everyone have a spectacular weekend. Nothing has been done this week on our barndo, so I have to put the kerosene away a little bit longer on my RV. Joking, maybe. 

Factory to Farm

Before we moved out to the country, we were part of the Amazon two day prime delivery. But even before we moved, we noticed the two days started becoming three or four. Well, we're way out in the country now and it's a week. That's your Amazon prime for you. Considering we're 90 minutes away from the warehouse, I would think it wouldn't take as long. So, I did a multitude of experiments. 

If you order early in the week, you stand a good chance of getting it that same week. But it's only a chance. I thought it was because of their service trucks only coming by here and there. Nope, they use UPS for us and I know for a fact that guy comes every weekday out here. 

The next experiment, I chose a couple of different companies to ship to me. In order of quickest delivery with only paying the normal shipping: Lowe's, Chewy, Build.com, Home Depot, then Amazon. 

So, if you're thinking of getting us something online to send to us for us moving into our home (projected date end of June/early July), please plan accordingly! Ha!

Friends and Fun

Ok, I've spent the whole day with friends having fun, so I don't have much to write about today. 

Are we still muddy? Yes. Did we get more rain? Luckily no. Will work begin on the barndo? I certainly hope so!

I just know once the rain ends completely, it's going to be hot around here. I'll have to suffer through that until the barndo gets completed. I've got some ideas to do that!

Floaters

I just have to laugh. This morning, there wasn't a chance of rain, things had dried off enough from Friday's rain, so the septic tank was put into the hole. Well, Mother Nature threw us a curveball. 

We weren't here, but we saw the aftermath. I don't know how much rain dumped from the sky, but it was a lot at once. Our poor painter got his truck stuck in the mud. Our poor septic guy had to get the floaters out, or whatever he said to get the water out. All the livestock was livid with us. While the cows like the rain, they don't like the quicksand similarity of our mud. It's a mess!

If I hear another person say we need the rain, I'm going to put them in one of my multiple mud pits. Lori, don't test this threat! We don't need all the rain at once, ok? Just let us get into the barndo, ok? Please???

Noah's Barndo

Ok, this week, we're either going to get a lot done on the barndo, or we'll be using the barndo as an ark from rain. Either way, the barndo will be the focus this week. 

There's what seems like a lot left, but also not so much left to do. For example, most of the plumbing is done. Well, except for actually putting in the fixtures that use water, but the hard part is done. The electricity and air conditioning, done except for the fixtures again. We're waiting on staining and painting. Once they get done, a flurry of activity can happen inside. Tile and flooring can go in, countertops can go on, and all those fixtures can be installed. Let's hope we get the painting and staining done sooner rather than later. 

And today, I'm finding joy that out of all of my animals, only two won't let me pet them yet. Sugar is still playing hard to get, and Dandy still doesn't feel settled yet. I'll keep working on them. Eventually they'll like me, right?

Rob and Kenzie taking a little time to themselves

Pup Pics

I'm just going to sign off this weekend with a roll call of all our animals and then cute puppy pics of Teddy. Enjoy!

Cows:

Fiona

Ciarán

Flora

Brogan

Coorie

Goats:

Scotchie

Cocoa

Sundae

Cookie Doe

S'mores

Caramel

Sugar

Spice

Nutty

Nutella

Scotchie Junior

Boots

Onyx

Donkeys:

Patches

Fancy

Dandy

Chickens:

Barred rocks are all Chickadee

Reds are all Hennifer

The non Orpington randoms are currently called Are You A Rooster?

Cats:

Flurry

Mango

Dogs:

Reggie

Kenzie

Teddy

Pics Today, Less Words

As I'm writing this, Gator is putting the finishing touches on the lean-to! Our well house was finished today, too. All projects are getting done around here. 

We also got the propane hole dug, septic stuff dropped off, and Rob and I took our builder Curtis Durham shopping for bathroom tile! It's getting done y'all. 

Speaking of tile, I would like to mention that the home improvement store in orange carries more in stock than the one in blue. However, the lady who helped us in blue went above and beyond great customer service. It's refreshing to get good service, that's not always common these days in retail. 

Half of our front yard

The well house, expertly built

Gator finishing up the lean-to

Words Today, Pics Tomorrow

Ok, a lot of stuff was done on the land today that I meant to take pics of, but pics will be tomorrow. We got the front of the land cleared, the lean-to is almost done, and the well house would have been completed today if we hadn't had a middle of the afternoon thunderstorm. Little rain, but lots of that fun lightning and thunder. 

Teddy is learning his name actually quicker than Dandy is, but that's probably because we're around Teddy almost constantly. Everyone else in the RV did much better today with him, funny how a thunderstorm changes things. 

Tomorrow I'm meeting with the builder and hopefully getting an updated timeline for completion. Last week it was six weeks, but not much has been done since that time, so is it still six weeks or five? I'm really hoping for five!

The only pic I did take today, our burn pile

Fur-filled

For now, all my desires for Fur Real Farms have been achieved with animals. All in due time, we'll be breeding donkeys, coos and more goats since I missed the last milking opportunity. Teddy was the last link to the puzzle and now we're all set. 

Y'all would be proud of me, the owner of the turkey I was babysitting decided he didn't want the turkey anymore, but I let him find a different home for the humongous bird. We're currently overrun with roosters from our last batch of chicks, so until we get them sold, no make bird is safe. I used to think cock fighting was something horrible humans trained the roosters to do, but I've realized they have that capacity all on their own. In the next two weeks, they should be moving on. Hopefully!

Things around the farm are happening as well. Gator is building us a lean to for the bigger animals to have shade in the pasture. Our Smart friend is currently ripping up the mesquite on the first third of our land. The air conditioning units for the barndo are almost completely set! 

All the indoor animals are adjusting to Teddy. Can you believe all of them are afraid of the four pound little fuzz ball?! Within 24 hours though, Reggie and Flurry are cool with him, that just leaves Kenzie and Mango. 

Awesome Weekend!

I'm writing the blog early because I've got so many wonderful things to share! 

Friday night, my adopted son and his son (he's not really adopted, it's just his name from me) came in like a wrecking ball with every Texas weather springtime could bring. While we showed them the barndo and the animals, we also saw a very impressive lightning show, heavy rain and some hail!

Saturday night, we went on a double date with the Roadhouse crew to check out the Dueling Pianos and drink some wine at Fiesta Winery. It was fun and I found which drink of Fiesta I like, Southern Sparkle. 

Lastly, we took a two hour drive to get our newest furry addition. Ted Theodore Logan, Teddy, is our first working dog and first full bloodline dog. He's an English Shepherd which is a cross of a rough collie, border collie and Australian shepherd who loves to herd, is playful and smart, loves to swim, and gets along well with all animals. Reggie and Kenzie are already protective of him and I think everything's going really well bringing him into the fold. 

Fun Weekend Ahead

As we finish off this week, I want to say I'm looking forward to this weekend. We've got who I lovingly call my "adopted son" visiting tomorrow, we've got a double date for Saturday, and a fun little activity planned on Sunday I'll share about on Sunday's blog. Rain or shine, we'll be having fun!

On the home front, things are shaping up and hopefully we'll be in the barndo sooner rather than later. The animals are all adjusting well and Nutty has even calmed down some with having Dandy around. We're even turkey sitting for the next few days. The bird is huge! I'll take a pic tomorrow, it wasn't the time when he was delivered. All in all, things are hunky dory!

Chance of Rain

Whether what Rob is telling me is true or not, I'm not sure, but he claims we have a chance of rain everyday starting tomorrow until next weekend! There's positives and negatives to this news as it's especially happening now. 

The positives are rain will continue to keep temps down, the scenery lush, and most of the critters away. The negatives all pertain to the barndo. We've got holes dug that need things filled in them and plus, we've got painting and staining coming up, so the extra humidity won't help things dry quickly. Bottom line, in ready to move into the barndo already!

At least Dandy is starting to hold his own a little bit now. Tonight he decided he would go into the barn, but he would greatly appreciate to not go into the stall with the others. As Patches has been a little rude to him, I acquiesced and allowed him to sleep in the barn and not in a stall. Nutty was not happy with that decision, but you can't please everyone!

A Hole Lot

Today was digging day. Ok, digging for the barndo, there will be other digging on the farm in the future. One can never have enough holes, right? This afternoon, we got the holes for the septic and the water (not the same hole for both thank you) and the area for the propane will be dug next. Yes, we're burying our propane tank and yes it's safe to do so. 

Sometime in the next month or so, we're going to have a stock pond dug for the animals and possibly have our current pond dug deeper. As we learned from last year, it's great to keep as much water as you can. 

Aside from holes, we've got other things happening with the barndo. The air conditioning units (2) went up to the attic. More trim, shelves and doors went up. I met the tile guy yesterday and the granite countertop guy today. It's coming together and things are getting done!

And don't worry, I still found time to love on my animals. I need to break Patches of hogging the food in the stall. It would be great if Nutty would stop urinating on his beard all the time because now you can smell him twenty feet away. Ciarán and Coorie are getting more sociable and Dandy is warming up to his new home!

Scotchie Junior

Out of all of our kids, only one looked like his/her mom, Scotchie's son. We started calling him Scotchie Junior as he's a dead ringer for his mama, but he'll probably get a more official name one of these days. 

Anyhow, Scotchie Junior is just as much of a handful as his parents are. We all know about Nutty, but y'all don't know that Scotchie once gave us quite a chase when she got out after first getting her. Our old neighborhood was involved in trying to catch her. That was fun. 

So Scotchie Junior is continuing the trend by being the absolute most vocal of all the goats. He cries like a prisoner on death row just because he and the rest are on lockdown until Onyx gets a little bigger. By Wednesday, they'll get pen privileges again, but try telling that to him! So if y'all come by and hear a goat carrying on, just ignore. It's Scotchie Junior singing the song of his people. 

Scotchie Junior on the left, not his mama on the right (Caramel)