Brief Summer Re-cap

I know it's been a while since I last posted and a lot has happened since then.  Some of it is good, and some not so good.  I think that's why I didn't post, I didn't want the not so good to be real and somehow putting it on here would make it real.  In May, my dog Kami was hit by a truck and killed.  She ran out into the road and there was nothing they could do.  I didn't realize how much I would miss her.  I still miss her.

So, a brief recap of what we have been doing this summer.  Taylor participated in 4-H with Archery and a Dairy heifer project.  Her heifer, Cassidy, was pretty good for us.  Taylor had to go out and feed and water her everyday along with walking her.  She did a real good job taking care of her.  We took her to the fair and Cassidy did not like the show ring so she didn't cooperate very well.  Taylor got 2 red ribbons for her and even made a little money selling her.  It was a good experience and we are still thinking about doing it again next year.  Lindsey also may do a Dairy project next year.  The fair was a very long week.  Taylor had to be there early every day and then, make sure everything was okay in the evening before coming home.  If Lindsey and Taylor both have an animal at the fair next year than we are going to seriously look into camping out at the fairgrounds.

Our sheep have continued to keep us busy.  They keep finding weaknesses in our fences and it seems like we are continually chasing them back where they are supposed to be.  We have sold some of them at the auction.  The kids thought that was neat to go and see.  We still have quite a few, though.  We want to get down to only a couple of ewes and our 2 rams before winter.  Once some of the lambs get big enough we will put a couple of them in the freezer.

The sheep and chickens have also wreaked havoc on my garden.  The sheep will eat the plants, the chickens like to scratch up my young plants, and then eat the fruits once they do come.  They took out all my beets and spinach.  The kids weren't too sad about that.  They have also taken out a lot of the peppers and then stunted the remaining ones.  The only things looking good right now are my tomato plants and my squash plants.  Hopefully we can get lots of winter squash that we can store.  Last year we used it as a treat for the animals and they thought that was great!

With the exception of our 4th of July trip to Huntsville we really haven't gone many places this summer.  We had some car troubles and were down to 1 car for a lot of the early part of the summer.  Then, with the animals, we couldn't be gone too long.  We did manage to get in a few camping trips, though.  Mostly, though, we just stayed close to home.