spraying

Went to spray thistles today, unloaded took off was reaching really far to spray when I noticed the ATV was a little tippy. Then it rolled on over. All it did was sprain my wrist but I had to go get the pickup to turn it back over so I started out in a really bad mood. Tami has some ibuprofen in the pickup so I took a couple and as soon as I tasted them I realized they were aspirin. It takes about 3 hours to get rid of a tank, even though it only 25 gallons. By that time my wrist was really aching. When I got done I took some real ibuprofen and drove home. I called Paula to get me a wrist brace and by the time I got home it was feeling much better. Both ponds are totally full. The north one is probably 10 feet deep or more and goes down fast by the dam. Claire jumped in and started swimming big 20 or 30 foot circles very leisurely around the pond. Lucy jumped in and swam 2 or 3 foot circles right by the edge. I don't blame her. the water was deep and Claire would probably drown her if she could.

more bird

Juan brought another bird in. This one was very alive. You could hear them coming as soon as they came in. He got over to the TV and Jose wanted to play. They lost it immediately and the bird flew over me to the other end of the room. Even Sue chased after it. They jumped over Paul who they used as a springboard. Josanna got the bird and left with it. Juan and Jose came upstairs looking pouty because Josanna took their bird and wouldn't play. We ended up with a big pile of feathers by the TV and more feathers by the table.

field trip

Rory went to the sale with us this week. He had his feet done. He had a good time. I tied him right along the side so he could see everything. He wasn't a bit afraid. He wanted to join in. He leaned so hard on the fence it was really bending. I moved him so he didn't take it down. Later on someone said my horses were fighting. I went to look. Rory had knocked down a cattle panel which scared Elena who now was loose and she stepped in a plastic tub to make her jump. Rory was going who, me? I retied everyone and next week I'm going to take my own wire and rebuild the pen. Of course everyone thought Rory was gorgeous. He also did well with his feet.

summer camp

We're having campers this summer. It's really wet at Tami's so we took some horses to help her get out of thew mud. There's a mother and baby and 2 yearlings. In cow terms a couple of stickers and a pair. They haven't gotten too far from the pond. The remaining cows are horrified. Just when they get rid of our horses here come some more. Horses don't respect a cows space. The yearlings are pettable and I think the baby would be if mom didn't keep pushing him away. They had a bunch of cockleburs in their mane tonight. I said we'd better get them out, I don't want to flunk camp. I don't know where they got them, or how they got on the top of their heads.

elena

When today's sale started I took off on Elena and she started bucking. Actually she can't buck so it's hard to say what she was doing. Mainly she didn't want to go. I thought we were stuck on the gate because we just barely got by. Whatever it was that she was doing she was really having issues so I went back and took her saddle and blanket off and redid them After that she was OK but I never figured out what was going on. I'm expecting a storm because all the animals were acting funny. This morning Juan brought another bird in, a robin this time. Not dead of course. He was chasing it all over and one of the Joses was helping him. Finally Claire stood up, grabbed the bird and took it outside. I think she'd had enough.

teaching

Today I was at Lucas spraying thistles. It was hot and there's not much water. By the time I got done both dogs were wore out. The cows were at the tanks so I decided to water the dogs in the ditch on the way home. But when I stopped I couldn't get Lucy in the water. I tried to carry her but we couldn't make it. So I stopped at the lake. Now both dogs jumped right in. Claire swam around but Lucy wouldn't go in that deep. I could tell she didn't know how to swim. When Paula got home I said we had to take the dogs to a pond so Lucy could learn to swim. The pond was deep and it took awhile to get Lucy in. Then she jumped in and went completely underwater. Claire wasn't much help, she just woofed at Lucy. Finally I went ob the other side. Claire swam right over and the Lucy started swimming. At first it was very jerky. I told her to smooth her strokes and try not to bob. She listened and by the time we quit she was swimming very well.

records

The Mexicans are ringing birds in at a record pace. They're not bothering to eat them anymore, there's too many. They bring them in, play for awhile, and let them lay. Leilani went to the sale for the first time in a month. It was almost all cows which I didn't want to use her on. So she spent the whole sale standing and still managed to lose a shoe. Angel didn't go so Claire had the whole seat to herself. She took it. She stretched out as far as she could and was on both of us.

feathers

When I came in this evening there were feathers under the living room table. Nobody would admit to anything but Juan and Jose looked very pleased with themselves. Also kind of stuffed. The horses are all back together. They thought it was great when they were able to just walk across the fences to get into the other pen. I think they are having second thoughts. They had a lot of fun lounging around the pond.