The Fiddler

Sadie started fiddle lessons this week. A man from Tulia is coming to Happy on Mondays--which is very convenient. Sadie has been asking to learn the fiddle for over a year now. She is very excited. She can now play the first measure of "Faded Love," which I know would make my dad very proud. It is a challenging instrument, but Sadie is determined to learn it.

Happy, Texas Barbecue Challange

Today, Robby and his FFA students used their bus cooker to participate in the first Happy, Texas Barbecue Challenge. They placed 6th in pork spare ribs and 1st in brisket. Sadie helped hand out the awards as part of her Miss Happy duties. Of course, I didn't have my camera. It was a fun day--everyone at our house is worn out.

Robby and Sadie are attending a pig sale tomorrow. Sadie has a new barrow, he arrived Friday, so no pictures yet.

Meet Honey

Meet Honey:

She is a Yorkshire gilt (Yorks make great mothers.). In January, Sadie will show her in the county's breeding show. We hope to breed her in the spring so we'll have our own show pigs next year. I hope Sadie enjoys being in the pig business as much as I did when I was younger. Robby still has to find two barrows (boys) for Sadie to show at the county show and at Fort Worth. It's an exciting time of zoo expansion around here.

When the cat's away...

...the rat will chew a hole in his cage. I guess the rat has been feeling a bit neglected. I happened to notice this the other night:

Thankfully we saw it before we had an escape--right now, we've fixed it with duct tape.

The rat is still "free to good home." We'll even throw the cage in for free!

Fall Fun

C.W. came home with us after school today. Sadie, T.S. and C.W. enjoyed picking our "big" pumpkins (they aren't very big, though, because the gardener didn't water them like she should have).

The kids enjoyed counting the little pumpkins that I picked this weekend. Sadie was the official counter as the boys attempted to drop them in and count. The final tally was 77 little pumpkins, 17 white pumpkins and 27 orange pumpkins. The only question now is where to put them. I'm pretty sure that Annie will drag them all over the yard since she is such a helpful puppy these days.

Fair Results

Sadie did a great job showing this weekend. Edward placed eighth (Sadie thought it was "awesome" that she received some prize money). Oscar didn't place, but Sadie showed him well. We were excited that Robby's parents came to spend the weekend with us and take in the fair. T.S. and Sadie enjoyed a few rides. T.S. had some asthma issues, but handled it all very well.

You've got to be kidding

Sadie has outgrown her boots. It's time to show her lambs, and she needs boots. We stopped at our "local" western store yesterday--they didn't have her size. So today we went all the way to Amarillo to see if the other store had them. They did not. That meant a trip to the chain western store. We told him Sadie's current tennis shoe size...he checked...none in her size. He suggested we try a small women's size. I laughed to myself thinking, no way, we'll have to drive across town to the other store or make due with what I have.

Well, Sadie bought a women's size 6 boot. We're taking donations for the boot and shoe fund now.

I was a little put out that our local guys didn't think of trying on a women's size. I'd much rather give them our money than the chain store.

A Snake Tale

Friday I went to the barn to help mom get the grain truck out so she could start sowing wheat. Mom opened the door to the grain truck and announced we had a problem. Lots of things went through my mind. I walked over, and, sure enough, we did have a problem. Wouldn't you call three snake skins in the floor and behind the seat a problem?

On further inspection, we found another skin coming out of the grill of the truck. I announced that Robby would sure have fun with this. He cleaned out all of the skins and found no snake. Saturday morning, T.S. and Robby went back to the barn to get the truck. Guess what was on the floor?

A fresh (still damp) snake skin.

Guess where the truck is?
That's right, in the barn.


On another note--we are still here and busy--Tri State Fair is this weekend, so be on the watch for fun fair photos.

The Week in Review

This week was another fast but good one.

• T.S. and Sadie were both recognized for character counts. Teachers choose students who exemplify good character. Those students are announced on Friday morning--they get their picture taken, a treat and a crow (that lists their name and what they are being recognized for) on the wall around the scarecrow.
• Sadie got to make sound on her saxophone (pictures soon).
• Dance/cheer class started and Sadie is working hard with her lambs to get ready for the Tri State Fair in two weeks.
• T.S. still really likes Kindergarten. He is big on the rules and procedures. He is in charge of snacks next week.
• A dove flew into my car today as I was headed to town. Some nice people at the gas station in Amarillo pointed it out to me. They seemed very disturbed by it. I just smiled and said, "That happens sometimes." They just looked at me in disbelief. Robby was kind enough to pull it out for me when he got home. In hindsight, I'm wishing I would have said, "Yes, I know. It's dove season."
• Robby and the kids have hunted once this week--they were disappointed with only bagging one bird. T.S. used his BB gun to shoot dragonflies. "I pretended they were doves and pheasants."

We're planning on getting together with friends this evening. Tomorrow, Robby is helping a friend cook brisket and will be gone most of the day. Monday it's business as usual--we have school.

Chicken Tales

This week has been an eventful week with the chickens. First, we had two very tiny eggs (on separate days) in the Leghorn pen--they had no yolks. I think this would be very marketable--yolk less eggs--you'd never have to separate them; they'd be great for recipes that required just the whites.

After having those two abnormal eggs, we had an unusually large egg--it had a double yolk. I guess that made up for the yolk less ones.

Finally, T.S.'s tiny game hen (for lack of a better word), Bob, is laying eggs. (You'll recall we got them before Easter because I couldn't say no.)
T.S. was very excited that his chicken was laying eggs:
"Mom, can Bob lay me a chick?"
"No, she's too little and the rooster's too big."
"Oh, Bob can't lay me a chick because Bob's a boy."
"No honey, Bob is a girl."