Pearl's Mani and Pedi

While my parents were here, I took advantage of my dad's skills.  I asked him to please bring his horseshoein' tools so he could take care of Pearl's feet.  They had grown out so bad.  I'm a bad donkey owner!  Most of them had broken off but they still needed tended too.

Dad was gracious enough to help his daughter out. ;)

I sure wish my parents lived closer.  There are lots of things they could teach us.  He had tried to tell me before that I or the husband could trim them.  Just get a rasp and nippers.  But I told him I didn't think it was that easy!

Thank goodness for parents!

Busy Picture Takin'

Wow, it's been a week since I've posted!  Been a little busy round these parts.  The husband and I had a nice Christmas at the house.  Then my parents and niece came on Monday.  While they were here, I attempted to take her senior pictures.  Of course, it rained both Tuesday and Wednesday!  Cloudy, no sunshine at all.  But we made due with what we had.  Here are a few of my favorites.  Tell me what you think.






















This is my first attempt at senior pictures.  Well, really, at "people" pictures.  I think they were happy with some of them.  But it helps bunches when the subject is so pretty!

From Us

to each and every one of you...

May your holiday be filled with joy.

Santa Came Early

Okay, it was me, not Santa.  I splurged on us.  I didn't tell the husband what I did until I picked it up.  I wasn't going to tell him then but I needed help gettin' it in the house!  So it was an early surprise.

So what did I get....a FORTY-TWO inch TV!!  I know some of y'all don't do TV so you probably won't get it but we love it!  The husband was so excited.  We've only ever had a 19".  So this one is just huge to us.  We plan to eventually mount it on the wall where the mirror is.  Cause I have pictures and junk that need to go back on my cabinet.  (With a 19", there was plenty of extra room on there!)

Both the husband and I kept repeating, "Man, that's a big TV."  Even Harley was in awe...

Don't think he knew what that enormous glowing box was.  Plus we have a small house.  And our living room is very cozy.  I'm standing in the "dining area" when I took this picture.  So the new TV is like being at a movie theater!

Just need some popcorn now!

You Just Never Know...

what you'll see around here.  Of course, that's why we go by the name Crazy M.

For instance...




Can you guess what the husband was doing?

He was worming bulls in the trailer.  Nothing like hanging upside down from the top of a stock trailer pouring wormer on upset bulls!

Yep, that's how we roll around here.

Mundane Chores

I've just felt boring lately.  That's why I haven't blogged much.  In my eyes, there's nothing worth talking about.  How exciting does that sound? Pitiful, huh!  I helped the husband put out hay this weekend.  Actually took my camera out while we were doing it.  This is pretty boring too but at least there are pictures.

I'm the keeper of the gate while the husband brings the hay in.  It's never good to see this coming at you!  Especially with the husband driving!

The bull pen was first.  Stubby was very interested to what was going on.  He's still so pretty.

The weanlings were watchin' closely.  They wanted their hay too.

Eyebrows was giving me the evil eye.  I don't trust him.  I stayed in the pen taking pictures while the husband went for another bale of hay.  The husband said he thought Eyebrows was gonna come after me.  He said he was trying to figure out how he was going to jump off the tractor and run through the pen to save me from him.  I was taking pictures of Stubby and Gus.  Wasn't even paying much attention to Eyebrows.  I didn't feel threatened though.

The heifer pasture was next.  We have the young heifers at the house.  Want to keep them close for when they start calving after the first of the year.  The one on the right is Bucky.  She's very ornery.  She'll chase ya.  I don't go out there much.  While I was out there then, she kept coming towards me.  I finally got on the tractor with the husband.  Her horns are way to pointy for me to be messing with her.  She needs tipped!

Next was the baby pen.  They waited patiently while the husband took the netting off the bale.  Do you see who's in front?  Know who that is?

Roscoe couldn't wait any longer.  He dove right in!

Maybe I'll find more inspiration in my mundane days to blog about.  I'll keep looking.

Diesel's DNA Results

After months of going round and round with the company, I finally received the results yesterday.  It was only suppose to take 4-6 weeks to get them back.  It's been 3 months!  So if you remember, the husband and I have had some questions on what exactly Diesel's breed may be.  He's always been labeled a mastiff from the beginning.  That's what the shelter/rescue told the original adopter.  Once I got him, I began to suspect that mastiff may not be quite right.

Some reasons why:
1. He's VERY hyper.
2. He's not that large.
3. He LOVES to swim.
4. Did I mention he's really HYPER!

I had done research on mastiffs.  I've always wanted one because they are just huge gentle giants that lay around.  There is no laying around with Diesel.  But don't get me wrong, I LOVE Diesel just the way he is.  I just want to know what his breed is so I know more about him.

According to the DNA testing company, their results are extremely accurate.  Of course, the company is going to say that.  But after reading the results, it seems to fit based on the behavior Diesel exhibits.  Any guesses on what the results showed?  Let me tell ya, Mastiff was not listed as part of his DNA!


Drum roll please........




BOXER
and
LABRADOR


Yep, that's what it said.  The husband and I always thought he had Lab in him.  He loves to swim and fetch.  He would do that ALL DAY LONG if you let him.

But I never thought about a Boxer!  I know from my experiences with dogs that they are very energetic.  Here is short description I found on the web:

"The boxer is playful, exuberant, inquisitive, attentive, demonstrative, devoted and outgoing; he is a perfect companion for an active family. He can be stubborn, but he is sensitive and responsive to commands. He is generally good with other household dogs and pets."


That pretty much pegs Diesel.  And further research shows that boxers come from mastiff lines.  So in truth, I do have a mastiff.  I also found out that early in their breed, they were used at cattle dogs.  Maybe that's why he liked chasing the cattle?  But we had to stop that behavior!  It was out of control!


So can you see the boxer in him?

Cooler Weather

That means Diesel and Ruby got to open their Christmas presents up early.

They are sportin' their new waterproof horse umm, dog blankets.  Rod's Western Wear had them on sale.  So I bought them online.  It's usually pretty hard to find XL and XXL nice dog blankets for only $19.99.  I thought that was a pretty good deal.

On-going Saga

Yep, we've got an on-going saga 'round here.  It's been a few months now and still no resolution.  Let me fill you in.  Do y'all remember Mad Dog?

When he was a weanlin', we had to rope, tie and drag him into the trailer to get him out of the pasture.  Not the sweetest bull calf around.

So we put him with the other weanling bull calves on a lease pasture with the rent-a-husband's weanling bulls. We had decided to share the lease with him cause it was really good grass.  Plus we needed some place to put the young bulls for about a year.  BUT, the lease is over two hours away from the house.  Not convenient to check.  Rent-a-husband checked on them for us many times.  A few months back, when he went over, there was one missing....you guessed it....Mad Dog.

The husband started calling the neighbors.  No one had seen him.  We got in touch with everyone but one.  The husband left him many messages on many numbers.  No return call.  Several weeks passed.  Husband tried again and FINALLY spoke to the man.  He said Mad Dog was on his place with his cows.  He'd been there for awhile.  He thought he belonged to another neighbor but hadn't bothered to ask around or call anyone.  Okay...  The husband told him he had been leaving messages for him.  He stated he never got any. Okay...The husband asked if he could make arrangements to pick him up.  The man said yes.  Then he asked what place the bull came from.  The husband told him who we were leasing from.  The man's tone changed immediately.  He did not like the land owner.  He told the husband he would be there Tuesday morning and he could pick him up then.  The husband asked the man if he could make other arrangements for the weekend cause he works during the week.  Husband may not be able to find anyone to go get him then....The man hung up on the husband!

So we couldn't find anyone to go get him that Tuesday.  The husband has tried calling the man over and over and over.  He won't answer his phone or return any calls.  The husband brought all the other bulls from the lease home.  While over there, he spoke to another neighbor.  He told husband to call another landowner.  He thought he had a gate into the butthead neighbor's place.  We could just go thru his gate and into the man's pasture.

We had come to the idea that we were going to get the Sheriff involved since the man wouldn't return our calls.  We would tell the Sheriff we were going onto his land and getting our bull.  Mad Dog is branded thankfully.  And I have pictures of him to prove he is our's.  Thing is, you can't just go load Mad Dog up.  We will most likely have to dart him. (So we weren't real worried that the man would load him up and take him to the sale barn or something.  Cause he would be way too hard to catch. The only plus about it being Mad Dog that was out.)


THEN the husband spoke with the neighbor that has a gate into mean neighbor's pasture.  This neighbor said he had been trying to get in touch with butthead neighbor too.  He won't return his calls either!  So he said he would try to get the bull in his pasture.  He was needing a bull to breed his cows.  The husband told him if he could get the bull over, he could use him as long as he needed.  The husband said he was really nice.  He's gonna call this weekend to let us know if he was able to get Mad Dog.  Fingers crossed he can get him into his pasture.

I'm just wondering what happened to being neighborly.  Some people still have it but some never had it!

Treats for my Peeps

Well this week has had it's moments.  It started on Tuesday.  I came home from work with a horrible headache. One of those that makes you upset to your stomach.  Yea, not good.  So I got in bed around 7pm.  I'm laying there, trying to be as still as possible and all of a sudden, I hear the most gawd awful noise.  It sounded like there was a monster in the attic, jumping up and down and roaring.

Well, it wasn't a monster.  It was our heater!  So I got out of bed, turned the heater off and got back in bed.  Then I called the Husband to inform him that something was wrong with it.  Not that he could do anything about it from work, but I wanted him to know why it wasn't on when he came home.

Yesterday I got home to a cold house.  I decided to warm the house up with the oven.  I baked the Husband his favorite...Snickerdoodles and made the dogs....Snickerpoodles!  Plus I'm volunteering for a big adoption event this Saturday and they are having a bake sale.  I wanted to make dog treats for it as well.  Both turned out great.  All the dogs loved the snickerpoodle cookies.  I'll post the recipe if y'all are interested.   I left the Husband his cookies on the counter.  This morning he told me the cookies were good but were those he ate the human ones?  He was hoping so.  He's so silly!

Can I just tell you last night was COLD without a heater!  I wore a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, long john bottoms and two pairs of socks to bed.  (okay, I may be a slight wuss when it comes to cold.  Texans aren't used to very cold temps.)  As I left the husband with the covers over his head, he told me we WOULD have heat today.

He called the repair man out.  The guy told us that our heater was a piece of crap (yea, like our AC that went out 3 years ago).  He could replace the parts but it would be better just to replace the entire unit.  So now we just have to pay $1600.  Ugh! Not what I really wanted for Christmas.  He said we could run the heater sparingly until he changes it out on Saturday.  It can go completely out at any time.  Now it just makes noise but still puts out heat.  So at least the house is warm.....loud but warm.

How's your week going?

Bloody Mess

We took some of the older bulls to Stephenville yesterday to buck.  You really can't expect a whole lot when they had all been out in the pasture.  The husband picked some of them up last Saturday.  They had been at a lease pasture for about a year now.  A couple others were brought right off the pasture the day before.  None had been grained  so we didn't expect a lot of spring in their steps.  But we did want to see if they would even buck.  Trying to get rid of what we don't need and cut our feed bill.

Here was Gus.  He just came in off the lease place.  He's always been my favorite out of this bunch.

After the buckin' was done, we ran the younger bulls that had been at the lease thru the squeeze chute to tip their horns.  They were way too big and dangerous to leave.  Now, if y'all know me, then you know I HATE blood.  I try to make myself scarce when we tip. My theory is blood should remain in the body and not come out for viewing.  So while the husband and rent-a-husband did the tipping, I pushed the bulls up the alley.  I stayed behind all the spraying blood. UGH!

I ran out of batteries in my camera to get really good bloody shots for y'all yesterday.  So I raced home today to try and beat the sun going down in order to take some.  Of course, you don't get the same effect but here is what Gus looks like a day later.

He still had a nice pink hue.

Deuce just looks pitiful.  He had the longest horns of them all and was really bad at hookin' the other bulls.  I think he misses them!

Eyebrows is in the pasture with them.  He must have fought with them last night.  He was showing me his new dye job.

Five Stooges!

I can't leave these guys home alone for a second.  Look what I found them doing when I got home from work today.

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