Farm life

This summer we had a lightening strike that literally exploded a tree that was in Thor's paddock.
Thor seemed fine at the time, just very shook up. When I checked out the wires in his paddock they had been fused together. Thor didn't act much different but he started to lose some weight.

The vet said that he probably had some residual effects from the lightening strike and hadn't been struck directly but since it melted the wires in his paddock, it probably affected him somehow. Otherwise Thor seemed almost normal. The vet said there was really nothing we could do other than just watch and wait.

Thor was born on our place and was a super funny character as a donkey.

I will miss Thor's constant antics. He would take his water bucket and flip it outside the paddock. If he could find a branch...well,...

He'd hold up sticks and present them to you like a dog. Sometimes in the summer he'd stack all sticks he could find in his water tub. He loved attention and would bray at the sound of a vehicle, coyote, owl, or the neighbor's mini jack a mile away on the ridge top.
Thor was vocal. So vocal that one of the guys at CrossFit said "Oh, you are the donkey lady! The one with that loud Donkey!"

Yes, he could heart Thor from 1 mile away on certain days.

Each morning Thor would greet me when I brought him hay. It was generally a series of grunts and groans that precluded a long loud bray.

Yesterday morning, he wasn't there. I dropped his feed and went looking for him. He was laying down but didn't wake up when I approached.

He was still slightly warm but had no pulse.
Gone.

Your voice will echo through this hills for a long time and I will miss you every day.

Goodbye you big goofy donkey.

Checkin' Fences on a hot afternoon

Bunny was in the 'wrong' pasture the other evening, so I decided I'd better get back to walking the fences every other day and making sure all is right.

I found a place where the deer must have gone through and knocked off insulators and twisted the hot wire over the top of some posts.

I'd never seen anything quite like that before. But I went to work. I'd already taken the Weed Chomper to the other section of fence line and this line was nice and clean.
The Dexters do a great job of keeping the fence line spic and span.

I really do enjoy going out and wandering around looking at the fences, it is a great excuse to get outside and take a few farm shots.
Yesterday however, I only had my new Smartie-Phone to use.

It surprised me!

You can see the Dexter pasture, a round bale, and in the distance two red molly mules in the Merry Meadow.

The sky was incredible. I just loved the greens, blues, and the sky of course!

Thor agreed with me and had something to say when I walked past him back towards the house.

I swear he was saying, "Hot enuff for yah?"

And yes, it was HOT and sticky and very humid.

But the fences are cleared, and all are nice and 'hot' again. I think I'll make sure I go more often.
Remodeling has sidetracked us to some extent and ... well, who can resist going to check a fence when the view is like this?

Busy Day

Thor says....

Thor always has something to say when you walk past his area. He is one of the most vocal donkeys I've ever known!

Yesterday Mr. Morris and I went back into the valley to see exactly how much water moved around in the creek bottom.
We were pleasantly surprised at how many weeds got washed out and flattened.

These shots compared to a week or so ago, when we tried to go through the area...

Before:

After:

We walked down the valley to the snowmobile trail.

It looks like the folks who maintain this trail will have their work cut out for them.

The culvert they put across the little mild mannered creek is no longer working, the creek has moved its flow.
However it may go back to going through the tube once the water goes down.
That is unless we have another gully washer.

The trail is here somewhere, but no one has even driven a 4 wheeler down this trail this year.

Two years ago, the owners of this property have stopped mowing areas for picnicking and campfires. It seems that they aren't even willing to fence it and rent it out as pasture.

Being city folks and the fact that they inherited the land, I suppose they really don't care. I don't find hiking through 10 foot tall wild parsnips that much fun.

I do still have some trails that I have maintained and can follow, but walking through this valley will be reserved for this fall and after the first heavy snowfall.

Morris was a trooper, he struggled through the tall stuff after we left the creek.
We took the 'camp' road up and out of the valley instead of backtracking.

Both of us were hot. I wanted to walk to the end of the valley and take a look around. But Morris was panting and I felt I needed some more time to bush whack my way down the valley.

Morris was wearing his tags so I could hear him. Sometimes he is so quiet I lose track of him in the weeds.

Once we got on the ridge, it was much cooler and we hiked along the edge of the crop fields as the ridge road was overgrown.

Had I been riding Siera, I think my head would have been above the weeds.

The view from the top was absolutely stunning and made the rest of the hike worth it.

Surprisingly enough, I took this with my new Smartie-Phone.
I put it in HDR mode and took a pretty blind shot as the sun was so bright I couldn't see the screen.

Once we hit the 'driveway' Morris took off towards home, but kept stopping and looking at me as if to say...Hurry UP!

Even the driveway is showing a real lack of care. The brother of the owners who lives there used to keep it graded.

Now it is over grown and washed. 
I wonder what the future will bring.

When we arrived home, Morris immediately jumped up on the couch after we moved it. He went sound asleep.

Hubby and I began to pull the bricks off from the wall of the living room.

Part II of the remodeling begins!

Hot & Humid Day at the Farm

The Dexter cattle were sleepy and content in the meadow.

Thor was ever the alert Jack.  He always keeps an eye on movement around the farm.

Morris, the supervisor watches the guys wrap bales of oat hay.  

He is a great supervisor.  Yes he is tied up, machinery is too tempting for him, he'd try and hitch a ride on the skid steer or help out with the operation of the bale wrapper.

Just before sunset, I went out to check on the mares in the back meadow.
Belle, our farm hound who is a people 'shadower', followed along.

The boys in their pasture where doing the 'fly' swishing thing.
Funny how they lined up.

Chores were done late to avoid the high heat from the sun.

Our skies have been orange nearly every night.  I don't know if that has something to do with the wildfires out west and the smoke in the atmosphere or not.

But last night the colors conveyed the heat quite well.

And then darkness fell and the crickets began their night song.  The Robins chirped their songs and fell silent.
Off in the distance young coyotes ran and yipped.
Thor and Bob brayed their challenge.

And our small farm went to sleep for the night.