Home again, visitors, breeding program, farm news

It was good to get home last night. I had fully expected to be in offsite meetings today but was excused from the portion of the proceedings this morning. I left after our “team-building” exercise; which is just another way to say we played a round of golf as a group. I did not play but rather rode around with my boss and two of my peers as they frustrated themselves. It was a very picturesque place to spend the morning – albeit I have no interest in the sport supporting that venue.

When I got home Mama had a group of three little ones laid down for a nap. They are the children of a younger couple at our church. The wife plays the piano and the husband runs the Master’s Club program. The oldest – about five years old – is mildly autistic so he can be a handful at times. Yesterday was not one of those times. The only drawback to yesterday’s visit to the farm is that the temperature was near one hundred degrees.

The kids went outside anyway and they really seemed to enjoy the farm, the animals and the two living areas. I am not sure what was going through their minds as we went back and forth between the apartment and the mobile home but they really seemed to get a kick out of the variety and expanse. We turned them over to their daddy after church and both Mama and Victoria were sad to see them go.

This evening I am planning on loading up our lone heifer and taking her to visit a young bull. One of the families at church has the young bull in a small holding area and offered us his services for Daisy May. Mama is excited to get her bred so we can have babies born on the farm. It is certainly the slowest way possible to build a herd but it will be fun to see our own calves be born at the farm. At least we have a breeding program started.

The little piglets are getting better. They have been to the vet twice now; once for diagnosis and initial treatment and once for a follow-up. They are scheduled for one further appointment next week. It is costing me a small fortune but they are finally on the mend and looking better.

Mama and I spent the evening Monday fixing up her little flower garden. We rooted out all the weeds and put down landscape fabric and mulch. It was a dramatic change. Mama is very pleased with the finished effect. Of course, we came up short on landscape fabric so there is still a small portion to complete, but overall it looks very nice. Maybe it will look that way for a while.

We are struggling to keep the garden watered in this heat and wind but it also looks pretty healthy so far. We are harvesting zucchini and summer squash already. The tomatoes are not doing well in the heat regardless of how we water them. Next year I may put them in a little shelter like I have the peppers and squash in. That seems to be making a big difference for the plants inside the shade and windbreak the shelter provides.

Without some rain I will have to start feeding out hay this week – especially to the horses.