I Killed A Toy Today

Here's My House In the Snow

I couldn't stand it any longer. I turn a blind eye to all the poor stuffed toys that litter the yard, only picking up the pieces if one meets the shredder. If I nearly fall over a limp teddy bear, well that's just the way it goes. But today... I couldn't take it anymore. Boone has been nursing along this stuffed dog for weeks now. It's currently his favorite. The reason it's his favorite is because it barks--it sounds like a Chihuahua on speed. Every time he chomps it, it 'rawr rawr rawrs'. This can be very startling at 5:30 in morning, outside in the black dark.

This Is Boone, Faking Being Playful
(I kept encouraging him and he did this one little prance to get me off his back)

So he was carrying this thing around all day, making it bark. It was incredibly annoying. He would prance up and down the fence line where the sheep are with the toy dog in his mouth. They were freaked--and kept stomping their feet at this 'thing'. So late in the afternoon, the thing got stuck...it kept barking and barking and barking. Everywhere I went, here came Boone, with this barking thing in his mouth. It was getting weaker, and weaker, but not weak enough. Finally I snatched it up and smashed it against the wall! It's not stuck anymore.


In other exciting events (not), it has been a rather cold and windy weekend. The sun shone quite a bit so that helped. I was able to clean out my little storage shed and move my lawn tractor in there. I had to take out the battery and air up the tires before I could move it. Of course the shed shouldn't have been so crammed full of stuff, but it was, so it took some time to sort it out and make room. Another thing I needed to get done was go up to the well house and pull the insulation around the pipes. I'd opened it up over the summer to spray for ants. Blue and Lanny are in the paddock where the well house is, so I had to lure them into the catch pen and lock them up while I went up there. Blue knew something was up, so every time I tried to open the gate, he would run over there. (I fed him a little grain to keep him distracted while I opened and shut gates---you don't want to go into the pasture with him!) So that took a little longer than needed. I also put them a fresh bale of hay out in their feeder while I was at it.

Today I got most of the 'false fence' put up. This is a section of the night paddock that the ewes stay in, and it will border Blue's paddock when I get him moved over to his winter quarters. I'm trying to be pro-active here and keep stress to a minimum (on me!). I don't want him and the ewes to be able to share the fence line, and this will put about six feet between them, with a 'no rams land' in between. I used cattle panels, so it isn't permanent. In years past they have shared a fence line with no problem, but with this year, I trust nothing! I still need to get a big round bale out before I move Blue and Lanny over, but once that is done, I will finish the two sections left on the fence. The steering linkage on my Dad's tractor broke, right in the middle of putting out a bale for the ewes last week, so he had to get that in and fixed before we can try again. Anyway, within the week, I should have them moved over and set for winter. They will be happy, as they don't care much for the paddock they are in. Such creatures of habit they are.

That about sums up the weekend! I stayed inside quite a bit, because it was just so cold and windy. I need to work on some Christmas cards or something. It sure doesn't seem like Christmas is almost here! Very strange season.

This Is A Little Deer Fawn Named Tabitha
(Okay, It's A Sheep Named Tabitha that was mad and stomping her feet at the real dog with the toy dog)