The cute goats came for a walk around the farm (they live just across the field with Shannon)
They are a hoot! Always thinking of something to do—they follow like dogs and stop still like donkeys and hug Shannon like cats.
Laugh, my friends, laugh for the joy of laughing!!
Happy Day after Christmas,
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
Here we are on a wee tour of the farm and how things are now
The moon is dazzling peeking here and there through the corn
We have deer hanging out in the corn
We have new ‘saved’ goats on the farm. They are not young, very old, complete with arthritis. They are so sweet.
The mornings are dazzling
The Quails are so much fun to watch, and we have lots and lots of them.
The sunrises have been lovely
We have a family of raccoons
And coyotes (Sigh)
The leaves are falling, but they didn’t turn colors this year
We still have water in the canal. It will leave on the first of November. I still enjoy hearing the rush of the water passing through our place.
AND I got a photo of a wasp in flight! How cool that is! 🙂
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
We have been having wind….lots and lots of wind
Which always makes the earth seem slightly used
It hisses through everything; stretching the earth into a dust storm of wonder
We have a strong need for rain.
(Beaglie ears flying in the wind)
But not until all the pinto beans, the onions, and the hemp are all harvested. Until then we just live in gratitude for dry weather so those farmers still trying to get crops harvested can.
Your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
I don’t care if you are working with cats, dogs, rabbits, sheep, pigs, goats, horses or cows…there is ALWAYS ONE! That has to live outside the box…
Yesterday Mr. Davis and his daughter were helping our neighbor move his cows from Mr. Love’s place to two miles down to My-Way Cattle Company’s corn field.
You can’t tell it here, but one of the cows jumped into our field giving Mr. Davis and his daughter a merry chase up and down the fence line. Terry went down to help and to see if our electric fence was still working (it was). Seems the errant cow had also taken them on a merry chase just below our place…running happily through the swamp on Gennis’s land. Once they got her back into the quickly moving herd she marched along very nicely, until she got our cornfield…HOP she was back over the fence galloping into the middle, standing there snorting frozen breath while they got the fence open and got into the field with her.
Then across the field she went, down to the end of the fence line by Misty’s house, back up the fence —by this time Mr. Davis, his daughter, two dogs, and Terry were all starting to squeeze her into the canal whereby the up gate could be opened.
NO! Not this girl, no sireee! DOWN THE CANAL she ran, ducked UNDER the bridge, kept on galloping to the end, and pushed herself under the fence to the other side coming out on our lane. Two more dogs arrived from Mr. Love’s end of the herd, I was on the lane…she turned so fast dust and sparks flew off her hooves. Within seconds she was hidden well in the middle of the herd heading north, right where she was supposed to be.
There is always one!
It’s acting like snow here, if we will get some I don’t know. But all around us the mountains are socked in giving me hope for fuller reservoirs this summer!!
Your farm friend,
Linda
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}}}
It cold, calm and clear here. We woke up to 8 degrees, but it is warming up. I think it was 20 when I came up here to post.
I’m not surprised at the cold…I saw a Sun Dog Saturday morning.
Most of the corn is about harvested. The fields that are left are having that high moisture trouble we had last year. Its a type of corn, of which we are not ever going to plant again…I can assure you.
I’ve been critter sitting….the kids have been gone for several days so the little cage animals have been living with us, Hank/Puff has been living with Shannon, and I go down and take care of the cats and the goats.
Terry is working on the grain truck…he got the tailgate fixed from when the bolt came out.
We are being over-run with mice so we have a huge trap line going in the barns. Ugh. Our two cats and the dogs work at it, but there are just too many.
Anyway, have a nice Sunday!
Linda
This is Boomer. I’ve never in my life, ever, positively ever saw, see, or seen a goat! Who knew such an animal even existed!? They are ….well…I don’t even have words for them.
They have eyes like a cat, or maybe a snake…Fuzzy says they have eyes like a goat!
Fuzzy gets rather irritated with me when I see the cows (they scare me, so I back up and bay at them). The first time that happened, me seeing the cows, I bayed at them with my fur all raised up, Fuzzy just laughed at me. I still get all ‘afeared when the cows come around. I hover around Mom’s legs and try to not let those big huge black cows see me. Fuzzy just looks at me with disgust!
Fuzzy he is amazing. They don’t frighten him not at all, he walks right in the corral with them, sometimes Mom has to tell him to “get out of there, Fuzzy”, but mostly he was taking care of business in there.
The cows they don’t even mind him. Me they snort and paw the dirt and sometimes I can see snot coming out of their noses when they fling their heads around and stamp their hooves! I like it better when I stay right by Mom and she is outside of the corrals!
Anyway, back to goats! Mom-mom has the goats…there are two of them, a black one and a white one. They are real tame….anyway that’s what Mom’s says. She says—“It’s okay Boomer, they won’t hurt you.” Then she gives them a cookie and they bounce all over with their really sharp little hooves and baa at her, begging for more.
I bay when they bounce around too much, my fur raises up and get all nervous.
But, here is a little secret, I’ll tell just you.
Shhhhhhh!
Don’t tell!
Please!
Okay, I’ll let you know…I’m really not afraid of them. I just like to bark, well bay. I think if my people were watching me they would see that I have a really big beagle smile on my face and my tail is wagging. The second they look at me I stop and run back beside Mom.
I really like getting to bay at the goats.
Now don’t tell.
Boomer
Remember those cute little baby ducks from last July?
Here they are today!
And those scrawny little goats rescued from the Sale Barn
I can’t ever get a good photo of them, because they are so afraid one or the other might get a cookie and the other one won’t.
I carry Vanilla Wafers with me at all times, it’s always nice to have a cookie with a friend.
You take the goats for their nightly walk,
and they don’t need a leash!
Life on a Colorado Farm 