The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Got Ya

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Dayphoto

Now as everyone knows, it’s been hot here!

Hot and dry!

Dry and Hot!

Did I tell you it has been very hot and dry here?

Well, it has.

Still the work has to go on.

We are still changing water every eight hours.

Boomer and I LOVE to change water.

We were out with Mom and Dad changing water last evening when Boomer hollered that Pete and Polly were over at the old apricot tree!

I didn’t go see them; the bubbles in the water were more fun.

Boomer said he just barked “Hello” and went on his way…there were lots of things to smell out in the equipment yard:

The bunnies have had more babies
Two more ground squirrels have set up home next to the leveler
The badger has two little badgers hanging in the badger hole
Nope, still no coyotes…..yet (we hope they don’t come back…they can live in the draw or the canyon, but not here, please!)
Hummmm, the raccoons and the fox were fighting over the fallen apricots
The big buck deer is sleeping in the middle of the corn field
There are two new fawns

You know lots and lots of news.

A whole bunch of storm clouds blew in around the two o’clock setting that afternoon.

It cooled down real nice.

Then suddenly the heavens broke loose…thunder, lightning (shudder, shiver, pant, panic) and big wind. Boomer and I headed indoors to be with Mom. Thunder doesn’t bother Boomer at all. Nothing really bothers Boom, outside of some men and some boys in caps and the garage other than that…he is always happy!

While we were inside it rained!!

Yippee! Mom and Dad were so happy they sat outside and watched it rain. Lots of rain, really nice rain! (Oh and when they went outside I (and Boomer) had to go outside with them (shudder) because I am NOT leaving Mom when there is thunder in the sky!!!!

EVER!

Then Mom saw it……

A RAINBOW! Just as the sun was starting to set!

“A perfect ending to a perfect day”, Mom said.

Just then the phone rang….it was Mom-mom, seems that Hank Puff met Pete and Polly.

(Taken with a cell phone)

Which reminds me, we did hear Hank sort of barking and yipping down at his house, but since there was so much thunder I didn’t really listen to him.

I keep telling that boy, he can’t chase everything, nor can he bite at everything.

(taken with a cell phone)

Boomer asked me later, just as we were going to sleep…

“Fuzzy?”

“Hummm?”

“Do you think Hank Puff has learned his lesson about trying to catch everything that walks close to him?”

“I don’t know, Boomer. I really don’t know”

Fuzzy

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Grass

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Dayphoto

We don’t have cows anymore.

Nope, Dad sold them.

“This is too bad” — according to Mom, “because we have lots of grass this year.”

Dad said, “Yes, and no fences!”

Oh…that’s right!

Cows eat grass. That’s why ranchers raise lots of grass — because they usually have lots of cows (and sometimes sheep or other grass eating animals).

We live on a farm and Dad kept cows so they could eat the grass on the land that he couldn’t get a tractor on.

Cows love grass.

They eat grass even when they aren’t standing up eating grass; they eat grass when it looks like they are chewing gum. That’s because they swallow their food (grass and weeds) whole and then (this is the really good part) they burp it back up and eat it again and then swallow it again. That’s because they have many chambers to their stomachs.

I would like to burp back my food, but it doesn’t work that way for us dogs. We burp it back up and it just comes on out of our stomachs and mouths and lays there on the ground all wet and gooey. Of course, we eat it again. But it doesn’t work like ‘cud’ does for a cow.

One thing the fire did is burn off all the old grass then the new grass came back nicely.

We got lots of nice thick grass.

And some Sweet Clover! Mom loves the smell of Sweet Clover, the honey bees like it too, so us dogs stay away from Sweet Clover, we just take Mom’s word for it that it smells good.

Dad, Mom, Boomer and I all rode around checking everything out.

Sure was fun.

Crops are looking good!

Beans are getting more leaves…Dad says he will have to cultivate soon, and maybe one more time. After that all the spring equipment will be put away until another year.

Corn is getting tall.

And the alfalfa is greening up starting to grow again after the first cutting of hay.

The wind sure has been bad…hot and windy.

It gets in your eyes and your ears and even up your nose if you don’t lie in a hole. You have to get lower than the wind, ya see!

We have lots of haze here because of all the fires burning in Colorado and Utah …. Everything is just way too dry.

So last evening Dad took us out to the North Delta Ditch…we were all bored…and he drove around on the ‘dobies for a while….Boomer and I loved that!

Really cool smells out there!

Mom says we are officially into summer now…something about the solstices or something like that.

It’s been feeling like summer since the first of May if you ask me!

Fuzzy

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Holes

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Dayphoto

I’ve been thinking….

We need to talk about holes!

Fuzzy and I like holes!

We use them for resting in!

We use them when it’s too hot to breathe!

We use them when we are bored.

But….

Sometimes when it is over the head HOT, we look for other cool places to lay…

Fuzzy likes under the pickup. I’ve tried to lay under there with him, but he gets all grouchy and snaps and growls at me so I don’t go under.

I like this spot…

Especially after Mom has just watered

This beats Fuzzy’s spot all to pieces, but I won’t tell him, he will make me move.

Boomer

P.S. A bear came down and visited. We were DELIGHTED. We barked lots and lots. He stayed the WHOLE night and left around the gray of morning light.

Cool! Neither Fuzzy or I have EVER seen a bear before!

Boomer

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — What is a Farm

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Dayphoto

When I first got here I didn’t know what a farm was, I didn’t know what a ranch was, and I didn’t know how to ride on a four-wheeler or in the back of a pick-up.

See I had always lived in a house and when they were gone they put me in a garage. I didn’t like the garage! I still don’t go into ANY of Mom and Dad’s garages…..they can have the doors wide open and be in the garage and I still won’t go in there.

I didn’t make any noise when I came here either. The vet told Mom that was weird because a happy Beagle likes to express him/herself.

I also don’t like some men or boys with caps on either….I get very, very fearful and try to run away from them.

Now that I’ve been here TWO years…TWO REALLY WONDERFUL YEARS…I can ride on the four-wheeler with Mom, or run beside them, I love to ride in the back of the pick-up, and I talk…..lots!

So when those men and boys with caps come on the place (I never bark at Dad), but I will Blade IF he has a cap on….I BARK! I bark warning barks! I bark until Mom comes out and pets me. Then she feels me trembling inside and gives me lots of hugs and love.

Anywho….

A farm is not a ranch. Nope, No Sireee.

A ranch grows grass…lots and lots of grass and has animals that eat grass living on it.

A Farm is crops.

A farm is ground where the soil is worked up to hold a seed, then the seed is watered until it becomes a plant, and then the plant is watered until it produces something eatable to someone or some animal.

Here on our farm (YIPEEE I LOVE LIVING ON A FARM!!!) Oh, hum, well, yes, I got sidetracked a bit— Here on our farm we grow alfalfa to turn into hay for people who feed it to their animals, we grow corn —the kind that is ground into chicken and cow feed…it could also be ground into meal for people if you wanted to have some, and we grow pinto beans.

Dad does all the ‘tractor’ work, but Mom and Fuzzy and I help Dad water the seeds, then the plants until harvest time.

I LOVE IRRIGATING! That’s what we call watering. If you live in town or just have a house and some yard, you water, on a farm you IRRIGATE!

That is so much fun.

We ride (sometimes I run alongside) out to the fields on the four-wheeler —with Mom. Dad always makes us run long side.

Fuzzy doesn’t go with Dad any more, he says he will wait for Mom.

I know it’s because his joints don’t work like they used to, that’s okay. I sometimes stay with Fuzzy; I would never want to hurt his feelings!

When we are out there, I check out the burn area….everything is still burned, but has lots of weeds growing. The guy who started all three farms on fire just keeps saying he’s sorry, but he really doesn’t know what to do. Dad says the guy will stall everyone out and never fix anything so he will get away with ‘lighting fires’.

Makes my people rather sad, I know how they feel. I was always sad when I had to stay in the garage and got in trouble for talking.

Dad says we will have to fix fence this fall before the cows come, and the bad man will just have to live with his conscience, whatever that means.

Mom’s been painting stuff outside…she said everything was starting to look old and tired, like her! HA!

So what once was blue is now white.

Fuzzy and I and Sam the Cat hang around while she paints. Monkey the other cat stays inside all the time so she misses out on lots of cool stuff.

Mom’s friend, Robin, stays close, but not too close when Sam the Cat is laying around next to Mom. (But still there).

One of the cool things out irrigating are the smells…I learn soooo much! Like what the birds are doing, we have three new ground squirrels and there is nest of Killdeer, not to mention all the bunnies living next to the equipment.

The coyotes have moved someplace else…which makes all of us happy. The fire did that to them, now they could come back……

But we hope not.

Oh and a Momma Skunk has a nest next to kids barn down there…Hank found that and told us about it.

Mom told HANK “You stink, Hank!”

Hank said he thought he smelled really beautiful!

Anyhow….sometimes I forget to come when they call (I always think I have time before I have to leave my smells) then I hear the four-wheeler….and I know it’s too late.

Since I have to run in any way I go ahead and finish reading the news…then I

RUN

IN!!!!!

Hope you have a GREAT DAY!
Boomer

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Dear Diary

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Dayphoto

Dear Diary—

I finally have a few minutes to write a few notes to myself! Boomer and I have been extremely busy this week.

The water is finally starting to work right. It took a while. The ground was so hard and dry and the air so full of hot wind and dirt, oh, yes, and the amount of irrigation water so slim, we had to go change water ALL the time.

But everything is coming together now.

Dad goes out and checks the water often, but we only have to CHANGE the water twice a day, which is normal.

That is because the ground FINALLY got wet. That’s how Dad and Mom talk when they talk about the water…they say: something, something, something now that the ground is Finally wet.

Dad wastes nothing with the water. He sets up a series of dams so nothing is wasted.

The water at the end of the field goes off our farm and back into the canal so then next farm below us gets our water, it goes on like this clear to the Gunnison River.

Pretty cool!

Sometimes Hank goes with us; he likes to check the tubes for mice.

Boomer is off smelling the news somewhere….he reports back what he finds when we all get home.

Me!?

Well, I help the folks out.

I stay right with Mom and make sure the water is the right height in the ditch, (I really like catching the water bubbles, but I don’t tell anyone, they would probably not let me get in the ditch if they knew)

I just jump right in and show them I’m good at irrigating.

Dad has cut baled and hauled hay. The first customers came last night.

That is always cool…..we like to bark the customers into the yard, and then we like to lead them to the haystack with our barking signals—

Bark, bark, bark…THIS WAY—

COME ON– We will show you!

Bark, Bark, Bark!!!

Boomer and I do a really good job of getting them to the hay yard.

By the time we get the truck and the trailer there and all backed up and lined up, Dad is ready to load.

We are a gooood TEAM!

Sometimes Hank and his family walk over in the evening.

Boomer is terrified of the goats!

Terrified!

Did I tell you he is terrified!

Boy is he ever!

Hank and I laugh at him.

Boomer doesn’t care…every time he gets around them one of them tries to butt him so he gets real nervous and barks at them.

Hummmmm

Maybe I would be afraid also if they would try to butt me.

But they don’t.

I get that look on my face and I crouch down and slink close to the ground and they stop.

They look at me and I give a warning growl.

They walk off and I go my own way.

Bullies never like courage!

I tell Boomer to do that, but he says he just can’t.

One day going to town, we saw a devil – a dirt devil.

I thought it was pretty cool.

Boomer said he had never seen one!

Well, Diary. There you have it. Just another day on the farm!

Like I say…changing water is always the best part!

Fuzzy

P.S. Oh, yes! My fur is starting to come back in. I really like having fur.

P.P. S.S. Mom says I have to go to the groomer again NEXT WEEK (SHUDDER) But she said I won’t get shaved.

{{{SHUDDER}}}

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Three Blustery Days

Posted on June 1, 2012 by Dayphoto

It has been ‘wind(ing)’ for a very long time.

Very Long!

We had wind before the really bad wind, then wind after the very bad wind, but Mom said this weekend is looking good. Although, she says we are having August heat in May…no WAIT(!) this is the First of JUNE! So we are having lots of heat for the first of JUNE!

The wind was really bad….3/4 of Utah blew into our farm, on my fur and stuck to all the leaves that live on our place.

Sometimes the wind was so bad Fuzzy and I couldn’t really stand up in it, so Fuzzy stayed under the pickup most of the time. I hung out with Mom; she still had ‘stuff’ to do.

The wind even blew over her flowers…she was not happy about that so staked many of them. It was my first time to smell an Iris. I sneeze for a long time after that first time of smelling the iris.

We worked in the yard

We also babysat Mom-Mom’s cats and their goats, Linky’s bunny came up and lived with us while the whole family, including Hank, went to Nebraska for several days.

Sometimes Fuzzy and I would go stand at the edge of the field and bark for Hank to see how he was doing, but he never came to his edge of the field to bark back. Fuzzy said it was because the wind was too bad and he couldn’t hear us….the wind was whipping our words away from Hank.

Then Mom told us Hank wasn’t home he went in the motor home to Nebraska.

Bummer!

I really like to talk to Hank!

One day it was so horribly hot and windy that Mom and Dad took us down to the Rubidoux Canyon and Rubidoux River for a swim.

I didn’t swim…only Fuzzy. He loves the water…I love the news!

The other thing was we had to go do was take care of the poultry, the two cats and the three dogs at Shannon’s…..The TURKEY is SOMETHING ELSE!!!

I didn’t bark at him once, but I sure was amazed…I sat and just watched him. He fluffs himself up, up, WAY UP and flings his wings down, then makes a drumming noise as he walks around in front of me.

That is some way cool bird, let me tell you!

The sun was amazing too, during this time, YOU could SEE IT!

Now how cool is that?!

There wasn’t even a sunset…just this

On the fourth day the dirty wind left and we just had regular wind.

When we were setting the last of the irrigation rows…..

The little family came back!

Complete with Hank!

I sure love living here. Couldn’t ask for anything better!

Boomer

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Mom Gets a Present

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Dayphoto

Shannon found a rooster! She brought it over to our house. The poor thing is in pretty bad shape…someone cut off his comb and his wattles;

he had no tail feathers

and had been de-clawed.

Mom asked Shannon where she found this damaged rooster. He was running down the highway as fast as his legs could carry him, so she stopped and walked back to where he was hiding under a big weed along the bar ditch and just picked him up.

He is very tame.

He is also in a healthy condition (considering).

“You have just saved this bird from being killed,” Mom said.

“I know he could have been smashed on the highway.” Shannon replied.

“Hummm, no. I think you have a rooster that escaped from a rooster fighting ring.”

“Well, he is safe with me now.”

She put him in her car and took him home!

So that wasn’t a present for Mom

Both Boomer and I thought that was good, we don’t want a rooster here.

The next day…..

We went down to see how the rooster was doing and we found out that Shannon now has A TOM TURKEY AND TWO TURKEY HENS!! (Mom forgot her camera!)

They were living in a tiny, tiny cage so Shannon and Buddy told the people they would give them a home.

Now that is an animal paradise…7 hens and a rooster, one tom turkey and 2 hens, plus three dogs and two cats that had been dumped at their place!

We have three hens and two cats and us…that works for Boomer and me. It is just the right amount of animals at our place.

Dad is working on getting all the pinto beans in the ground, he has decided not to plant alfalfa this year; he is putting everything into corn and pinto beans. That leaves one alfalfa field. Next year he will plant one of the big fields into alfalfa, if the water situation is better.

We went out and changed the water while Dad planted.

No present for Mom out there, but it sure was pretty.

The next day….

Mom went over to visit a friend of hers and see her yard. She has several acres of beautiful plants. The cactus beds were just blooming. Mom says Sheryl’s yard is the local botanical gardens.

No present for Mom there, except the beauty of flowers for the soul.

Two days later

Mom told Dad that she had to use her last two strings of twine on the chicken pen. Two of the strings had gotten old and were hanging down causing the chickens to think they had a couple of new toys.

Dad got a big smile on his face and asked Mom to come with him out to the new tractor shed.

Off they went….there in the middle of the drive way sat….

A PRESENT FOR MOM!

Delighted Mom asked him where he found it.

“Oh, I had it stuck back here out of the way” Dad replied.

“Well, this is just perfect….I do not have to wait until first cutting of hay, and I’m not using a good roll!”

Mom happily picked up the loose wobbly roll and carried it to her shed!

Boomer

and I did that happy dance with Mom!

Fuzzy

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Summer Work

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Dayphoto

Golly Geez, this summer work fun!

This is my second summer here and I love every second of it.

We do ‘stuff’ all the time! ALL THE TIME!!!

Well, I know we do things in the winter, but this is just so much better!

For Instance—-

We, meaning Mom, Fuzzy and I, went down to Shannon’s to work in her yard. Shannon was building some raised beds so Mom went down to help her and to put the soil in the beds while Shannon went to work.

I played with Rock, Balou, and Houston in their yard and Fuzzy stayed out and helped Mom. Mom made me stay in the yard because it has a fence and I have a great curiosity to smell lots of things so she put me in the yard with the others so we could play.

Shannon’s cats helped Mom.

Sunny hung around the old stump where some dried catnip was…he sure likes catnip…rolls in it and eats it and everything. I took a huge sniff of the stuff….it only made me sneeze, so I don’t get the fascination.

Willow just lay down by Mom and Fuzzy he doesn’t get that catnip stuff either. What he likes is to just be next to people so he can get a pet and a rub now and again.

That was cool….we were there for 2 ½ hours.

Then when we got home we went to the pinto bean field to change the water…I always like that!

Mom tells me I can play around the area, but if I hear the four-wheeler start I had better be back as fast as my legs can take me — if I want a ride home.

There were a couple of little girls out in the field with us, so that means Hank was with them…we sniffed around lots of stuff, then I headed off to the equipment area, and Hank hung with the folks looking for mice. Fuzzy stayed right with Mom and helped her chase water.

I was a little slow getting back to the four-wheeler so I ran in right behind them…well, not to ‘right behind’, but really close.

Then later on Hank (he’s in the photo with the others in the truck) came over to build bottle rockets with Dad (Grandpa). He walked over with his family. They walk down the bottom of the bean field, and then up the side between the bean field and the corn field…..it’s a short cut they like to take to get from their house to our house.

Hank and I played run, and chase until we got too hot and tired.

Sammy hung out with us

But Monkey spent most of her time trying to get back inside so she could lay around on the carpet.

Mom told Monkey she could be outside with the family, it was good for her. She didn’t listen.

After that Mom, Dad, Fuzzy and I went back out to set the water for the night.

The sunset was really cool.

I stayed right with everyone so I could ride the four-wheeler back in. I was a little tired after all the running I did today.

I sure enjoyed this day…Good night everyone!

Boomer

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Water (Predicted to Shrink)

Posted on May 12, 2012 by Dayphoto

The irrigation water sure has Dad and Mom worried.

They don’t have to go out every eight hours right now because the water is in the corn and the old alfalfa field. See those fields have their plants up and growing so they don’t take as much water, but when the water gets BACK to the pinto bean field they will be back to the eight hour change No Matter What!

Dad is planting the very last of the corn today…this morning in fact. He has given up on planting the new alfalfa field.

He will start planting the pinto beans on Monday. Outside of the alfalfa field (alfalfa seed is like buying gold at today’s prices, so he is not going to chance losing the crop because of the lack of water) he will have everything planted. (Dad will plant the alfalfa seed after the sweet corn farmers start harvesting their crop. Once the sweet corn is gone, more water will be in the canals. Hay is a nice cash crop to have.)

Water is extremely short…they are working with 70% of 100% right now—as they move into the middle of summer the ditch riders have told everyone that water is going to be moved lower and lower until it gets to 40%. That will be a 60% loss of water.

Everyone is hoping 40% is as low as it does get!

We hope so too!!!!

So the race is on!

All the farmers HAVE to get the seeds in the ground, watered up, and growing well ….BEFORE…the irrigation water drops to 40%.

As the water levels shrink the nightmare, of keeping everything wet, will just get worse. But the critical stage is getting the plant UP.

Boomie is doing better about coming when he hears the four-wheeler start…Mom talks to him as soon as we get to the field…”Boomer…you can play, but when you hear the four-wheeler start, you HAVE to be back here ready to go home or you will have to run home by yourself!”

He has done real good, even coming back to check on us once in a while.

But the last evening he said he was clear over in the wet lands smelling out the birds and things when he heard the four-wheeler start. Everything was just getting really interesting so he decided he would run home.

That’s a pretty long run, let me tell you!

We had everything put away for the night when he came dashing in just as fast as his Beagle legs could carry him.

Worked out for me really well, as I had the whole four-wheeler to myself!

Fuzzy

The Adventures of Fuzzy and Boomer on Friday — Corn’s UP!

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Dayphoto

It’s been a shade too hot here for May, temps running around in the 80s*. Fuzz and I pretty much take it easy, not lots a guy can do when it’s already so hot. We were laying around in the shade just the other day wondering together what August is going to bring.

Fuzzy said maybe rain.

I told him I sure hope so.

Dad harrowed off the corn, which means he knocked the dirt off the top of the corn beds so the corn can poke up through the ground and not have to work its way through too much dirt.

We are dry here….pretty much has Dad and Mom very worried about getting the entire farm wet.

The ditch rider came through and locked all the head gates down to 70%! That’s a HUGE amount of water. And Mom said we still have to pay for the 100% even if we don’t get it.

Then she let out a big sigh.

With the loss of 30% of water it makes the folks have to change water more often; instead of twice a day (morning and evening) they are changing it every 8 hours – day and night.

Another headache for this lack of water thing is because it is so dry and hot, the water doesn’t want to go down the furrows in the field.

Not just on our farm but everyone’s around here.

So the folks go out and ‘walk the water through’ — which means they have to help the water down the rows by making sure a corn cob or a dirt clod or weeds don’t make a mini-dam and stop the water from going anywhere.

BIG JOB!

That works for Fuzzy and I as we get to go with them every time they go out. Nighttime is the best, but I like any time.

I was over sniffing some stuff behind the equipment area when I heard Mom holler for me to come. I didn’t, man, there was just so many things to learn about I didn’t want to stop and go wherever they were going.

So they left me!!!!