Just stuff

After a *gentle* urging from some of my readers, I decided that it was time I update this blog. There has been nothing terribly exciting going on, but I will give you a quick run down to get you caught up and let you know that we are all still alive and well.
Over the last few weeks we have had a lot of this..........
Then it got incredibly, unbearably, stifling hot. Of course Emma didn't mind the heat as long as she had her swimming pool...and her Jolly Ball.
Our grand-nephew Zach decided to accompany Emma for an afternoon swim...with all of his clothes on. In my opinion, this is how every child should spend their summer....splashing in a pool full of stinky farm dog, floating grass clippings and a slimy Jolly Ball....yeah, you might not want us to babysit for you.Since Mama Llama doesn't have her own pool, she had to do the next best thing to contend with the heat. Llamas like to have cool bellies and Mama would love to stand there all day having her belly sprayed.The air show always goes right over our farm every year in June. I am not a fan of aircraft of any kind, I hate to fly and I would never pay to go and watch the whole airshow....but boy do I love that big jet noise that the Blue Angels make when they fly over.....I'm not gonna lie...I think it's kinda hot.

The chicks are growing like crazy.
The Blue Cochins are starting to feather out.And who doesn't love a cute chicken bum? OK, maybe that's just me on that one...seriously though, look at that bum.The Mille Fleur Leghorn chicks are really changing. These are the most precocious chicks ever! They are only a few weeks old and already go over, under and through the chicken fencing, wandering out into the horse pasture alone. Out of the 10 chicks that I got, it looks like about half are cockerels....anyone need a roo???? Please???? Anyone??

Flowers are finally blooming. And we have seen the return of some good insects.....
And some very baaaad insects! The Japanese beetles are back and loving my flowers, although, since we are surrounded by cornfields this year, they are much less of a threat than the years that soybeans are planted around us. They are drawn to soybeans like a magnet and are happy to hop right on over into my gardens while they are at it.Some of the lambs have left for their new homes. Magnus was the first to go. He is really looking great and I am so happy with the way his horns are looking at this point. Strangely, his mother didn't seem very sad to see him go.....might have had something to do with those big horns and the fact that he was still trying to nurse......Ande is just feeling altogether neglected with all these lambs and chicks running around.
The big news though, is that after having his job eliminated January first, and being at home looking for gainful employment... for the past six months...Gary is finally back to work! Yay! YAY! YAY! I'm just sayin'....that's a lot of together time......oops, sorry honey, did I say that out loud?