We "worked cows" yesterday morning.  We vaccinated and tagged and wormed. . .

 These are a few of our "babies", we have 5 lil boys.  They did not appreciate getting shots and ear tags!

 This is our SPOILED Jersey, her name is All-Star (or Star to us).  She was a show calf before we got her.  I wasn't quick enough with the camera but right before this pic she was over halfway in the shop waiting on J to give her treats!

 After working cows we (as in J) had to fix the chicken coop.  We had a board fall in and the chickens were able to get out, and chickens in the yard means tasty food for the dogs.  :(  We lost 2 :(

 Unfortunately J's 6'2" wasn't the best for the 4' coop but he got it done!

 After working cows we rotated pastures with the beef and dairy cows.  We let the 2 dairy cows out in the yard to do a little mowing for us.

 This is Lucy.  She will be bred soon and we'll have little Lucys!

 Lucy got to mow the garden. 

 My poor only lonely pear!  Hope it ripens before the birds get it and I can eat it!

 Lucy weeding the garden!

 Star doing a bit of weeding!

 No idea where these came from but there were morning glories growing in my watermelons and tomatoes!

 Lucy got thirsty!

 This is J's aquapontics project.  The barrels had syrup in them and Star kinda liked it!

 Isn't she pretty!

 Now Star is thristy didn't mind me filling the bucket while she was drinking.  She was having a good time getting wet!  She even let Julie (the dog) drink with her.

 After all the morning work we had a few people out to shoot clays and pistols and rifles. . . I didn't get very many pics but here is a cool one.  You can see the shell flying!

Here they set some clays up to shoot with pistols and rifles.  We had a good time!

After all of that and yet another shower (I only took 3 yesterday) we rested and then went to a Red Hawks game. 
Crazy but fun day with my wonderful husband!

Why I love summer!

 This is an Orange Glo watermelon, the best watermelon ever!  It is super sweet and YUMMY!

 This is how we eat it.  We slice it open on the counter and dig in, after it has been refrigerated to a super cold temperature. 

J gets half, with his utensil of choice, a spoon, and I get half with my choice utensil, a fork.  Why do I love doing this?  It reminds me of summer at my great grandparents house!  My grandpa would slice open a few watermelons and grandma would bring us a pile of forks and we'd all dig in.  There was anywhere from 5 - 50 of us (or so it seemed), and it was an amazing fun time!  Love the memories!  I so wish we had digital cameras way back then so that I could have pics of all the fun times there, like the flour sack filled with hay we used as a swing and crawdad fishing in the pond behind the house. . . .

Below are some other fun summer stuff. .  .

Fresh sheets on the line! 

 Frogs in the pond. . .

 Baby calves playing in the field. . .

 Kaci taking a dip in the pond. . .

 Cows chasing Kaci outta the pond. . .

 Cows also enjoying the pond. . .

Well, this has nothing to do with summer but it was taken in the summer.  Yeah, that's me, trying to take a pic of me with my cowboy hat and cowboy revolvers. 

Today I went to my last "scheduled" handgun "training" "class".  I say "training" "class" because it was for sure training but not in a structured setting and it was class but no other students or again structure. . . Maybe private lessons is a better term?  So, how was I?  Well better but I still need to practice A LOT!  But I can hit a steel target at 75 and 100 yards!  I also am getting better with "trigger control".  Trigger control HAS to be the most important fundamental there is!  We also worked on some "self-defense" stuff, like pulling from your holster, shooting one handed, shooting close quarters, and taking a gun away from someone.  So, all in all I think it was worth it, I think I'm better because of the "training". 
After about 3 hours there I headed toward Prague, went by work for a lunch, and to steal my uncles pickup to run to the vet and get some dope for a sick calf. . . After that my awesome father in law and I went out to our "Prague Place" to pick up some calves.  Went to pick up 5 and ended up with only 3.  First, remember it is Oklahoma and was only about 104, and we were in the sun, semi-chasing calves, well, not chasing really but trying to lure them into the makeshift pen so we could load them in the trailer.  Well 3 went with out a problem, one of them is halter broke so I knew she wouldn't be a problem, the other 2 are just spoiled, so they LOVE a good treat!  But the other 2 were not very shy!  They wouldn't even get close to where I needed them, and eventually went to hide in the shade/pond, not caring that we really needed them in the trailer!!!  So, after overheating, my F-I-L went and got us some ice cold water, and rearrange the panels, by then I was way too overheated and the 3 girls that were in the trailer were getting warm and needed water, so I decided to rework the pen, so that when we come back to get the other 2 it will funnel them down a fence and hopefully into the trailer and come back for them later.  Finally headed home, after stopping at Atwoods for some cow wormer, got the girls unloaded an crashed!  Ended up with a sun burn and head ache.  :(  UGH. 
My awesome husband did laundry and dishes and I fixed some oakie chips for supper!  Oh and I gave the sick little guy a couple shots.  Now it's time for a cool shower and a nap!!!!!! 
tomorrow I get the day off again.  I have no idea what I'm going to do but it'll be nice to be able to stay home!

 This is the Lincoln County Republican Fair Booth. . . We sell concession type stuff during the county fair.  It needs work!

 So, we cleaned, installed the hot water heater, cleaned some more. . .

 Fixed some messed up boards. . .

 Cussed and discussed how to do it. . .

 And I climbed on the roof and painted.  And stuck my head in the paint (actually primer at the time) and got it in my hair.  Yeah, it's still there, it is also still on my arm and leg, and I have taken TWO showers since then!  It was some good stuff!  We will have to replace all of what I painted next year, but at least this year it looks a little better!

 I also went to a surprise birthday party for a good friend tonight.  Her husband did a great job planning and pulling it off! 

 She had some family members who weren't very nice about her "aging". . .

 I'm pretty sure this is HOMEMADE Moore Sausage!!!!  I traded for it and it smells WONDERFUL!  I will have to put it to good use soon!  They also brought me some that they have made in a "factory" but it will not be near as good as this!  I'm VERY excited about it!

 Me & my new "bling.

 Isn't it awesome!  I've been looking for a few months for "gun" related jewelry and found this today in a small town that I never would have guessed would have had anything like it!  I want to wear it every day now!

These are some "survival" bracelets a kid in town is making.  They are awesome and only $5.  I just seen a link for a place that sells them for $24.95, I think I got a great deal on these!  The kid is probably 12 or so and is making them and selling them so he can save the money to buy a S&W M&P 22.  That's awesome all in itself!

Not much going on around here but work, so this may be a kinda boring post. 

First, I *think* our German Shepherd *is* bred!  I surely hope so, I love puppies!!!

Second, I started Tuesday with some "advanced" firearms classes.  Wow, I thought I was decent and knew a little, UM, yeah, I was wrong!!!!!!!!  The instructor fixed a lot of issues I'm having and wants me to shoot a lot between then and the next "class".  Well, that's Tuesday and I'm only at 100 rounds.  I need to be at 1K rounds.  He said next time we'll work on shooting with *both* eyes open.  I have always closed my weak eye and I guess that's not really good.

Third, well, I guess there is no third that I can think of.  J is finishing up now with the last load of hay, we worked at the fair booth this morning, I've got a birthday party this evening, and we get tomorrow off!  Looking forward to that!.

Oh, J and I have been "running/walking" in the mornings.  I've had to lay off zumba because of scheduling of work and classes so I had to start doing something else.  It is not near as fun as zumba but at least it's something.  Hopefully things will level out and I'll get to start zumbaing again. 
Here is a yummy recipe I found.  Well, I assume yummy, I haven't tried it but it sounds really good!  I'll have to make it soon!  Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

Next Womens Only Gun Class

Women Only

 Introduction to Guns and Concealed Carry Class

Saturday, September 24

9 am to 5 pm

Cost is $80 and includes *everything* you will need for the day, plus a light breakfast and a full lunch

Limit 12 Women

To sign up or for more information please contact Missy at Davenports Archery & Sport

405-567-9507 (please leave a message if you want a return call)

or email at missy.husted@gmail.com or find Davenport’s on Facebook

Safety and handling of a firearm will be discussed with a question and answer session

We will shoot .22 auto, 9mm semi-auto handguns and .38Spl revolvers

All guns, ammunition, eye and ear protection will be provided

Please bring a ball cap if you have one available. 

No low cut shirts or open toed shoes

After learning the handgun basics and shooting we will spend time going over the Oklahoma concealed carry law and take the concealed carry test and you will receive your certificate making you eligible to apply for ccw the same day.

Class will be held at the home of John and Missy Husted 1 ¼ mile north of Agra on Hwy 18

Sponsored by:

Davenports Archery & Sport

803 Jim Thorpe Blvd

Prague, OK  74864

405-567-3844

davenport_archery@allegiance.tv

                                                                              

Class taught by NRA and CLEET Certified Instructors

Garden

Gardening Notes:  This has been our best garden yet and it hasn't been very good. . . What do we need?  RAIN!  What do we not need?  BUGS!  But here's some beautiful yummy tomatoes! 

I'll start with talking about them. . . We planted right at 80 plants this year.  Why so many you ask?  Well, I like to can juice, we use it for salsa, stews, chilies, meat loafs, and many other yummy things. . . And we like to give away any extras we have.  We planted several different varieties also.  Most of which J's dad started in his green house.  I planted 2 early girls from the green house down the road early as an experiment and they were not the first to produce :(.  And I don't think mulching them helped a lot but that's fine as I said it was an experiment. . . We also planted 12 homestead that we got from J's grandma, she started them from seed using manure and miracle grow dirt.  They are doing the best!  We've gotten several tomatoes off of them and very few off of the others.  I think the 2nd best would be the big beef and they are not big and the have yucky cores.  We had some kind of problem with the leaves curling up, not sure why but we sprayed with neem oil, and we had some kind of black beetle bug, we sprayed and it helped them go away! I'll normally take care of the plants until harvest time and then he takes over harvest and I take care of putting up.

This is our "water rig".  We are not able to use the pool this year because of leakage so J is pumping water out of it into barrels.  It works great and isn't putting a strain on our well in this HOT weather!

Watermelon anyone?  No because EVERYONE of them busted before they were ready to pick.  :( very saddened by this.  I have NO idea why.  But I will experiment with them again next year!

The bees LOVE the blooms!

Not sure what kind of larva this is, I'm assuming "squash" bugs but because of the bees I couldn't spray them. . .

 Row of cucs, used cattle panels to train them up, which would have worked great if I wouldn't have got the bright idea to lean them so the cucs would hang and be easy to pick.  They weren't.  Cattle panels good, but put them upright.  Also 2nd & 3rd row is peppers.  Need to do something different with the cups.  They were great but the plants need planted and then the cups put around them.  It made hoeing easier and watering. . .

 4th row is half 3/4 green beans and 1/4 squash.  The beans were beautiful, but it got hot, we only got one mess off of them before they burnt up.  The squash did fine.  Maybe next time we should put diotamasions earth down before we plant so it's under the leaves. . . Rows 5 and 6 is corn (please discard the weeds in the middle of the row, it's hard keeping up with it all!)  Corn didn't do very well, but again, it was due to heat and no water.

 Row 7 was tomatoes (see notes above).  row 8 and 9 and 11, is onions, they did better than ever before!  The red ones were my favorite!  Row 10 is lettuce and cabbage.  Lettuce was good, too much for us. . . Cabbage was a lot of work and then I never got anything done with it when it was harvested. 

 Row 12 was potatoes, 13 and 14 peppers, and 15 tomatoes.  Potatoes did good but I need to find another way to store them.  They got too hot and rotted.  Peppers need water and it's not happening this year. 

 Beautiful wheel barrel of onions!

 Storing onions hanging like this in the barn is working ok, some are rotting because of heat but mostly they are doing good. 

 Here are some pics of the garden "further along".  Cucs going up the cattle panels...

Well, that's about as long as I can drag this out.  Most of this is for myself for next year but maybe it'll help some of y'all gardeners too.