FFA Competition

Last week my family went to the Crawford FFA Livestock Show. My children showed their goats. This was my children's first show. The Copperas Cove FFA took up twelve animals. There were eight goats and four sheep. Out of the twelve animals we brought back nine ribbons. It was a interesting learning experience. For their first show the children's goats placed second and sixth. It was obvious that one of the goats just was not cooperating.




There are several upcoming competitions. Next week we are going up to Waco for a Species Clinic and Prospect Livestock Show. Everyone that shows recieves a prize. The more the children and goats show, the better and more polished they become.

Truck Trouble

Yesterday my family had a blast over at Inks Lake State Park. We hiked and then went swimming. We had spent several hours just getting out of the house and recharged our batteries. We need that once in awhile. The walking and swimming felt great, however, we are feeling the residule effects today, sore mussles everywhere.

When I got into the truck this morning, the truck battery decided to die. I took a trip up to Waco and look for a job and join my husband for lunch. When I stopped the truck at a potinital employers site, it would not start again. At that point it was time to call the husband to come and jump the truck. I took my son with me. I thought that the trip to Waco should recharge the battery. When the battery didn't charge, that told me that it was either the battery or a short in the electrical system. I took the truck to the Ford dealer and they tested both the battery and the electrical system. That is when they told me about the cold cranking amperage. There is supposed to be six hundred cold cranking amperage. When I had it checked out however, there was only two hundred and fifty. Unfortunally, the cost of the battery was not that inexpensive. Keeping things running these days are expensive.

Rain Rain Go Away

Since January, the ranch has received around thirty inches of rain. When the standard amount of rain fall for this part of Texas is only supposed to be around fifteen. If it rains anymore this year, I am going to have to go out and find me some Gofer wood. Then I can proceed to build me an ark.

Unfortunatly, with that much rain is also washing away all the good topsoil. This is also causing an erosion problem here. We are going to have to find soil or move soil from one part of the ranch to another. With all the greenary, the goats are not having any trouble finding plenty to eat. This is saving on our finances. The goats need to be taken into the back pasture. It is actually overgrowing to the point that it is getting really difficult to walk through it.

Traveling Vietnam Memorial War

My family and I just came in from visiting the Traveling Vietnam Memorial War wall. It was a sight to be seen. It is currently located at the Texas Veterans Memorial Cematry. This is on Texas 195 just south of Killeen. It will be there until 8:00 AM tomarrow morning. This caused us to go into a discussion about the war and all the details leading up to the United States involvement in it. This was a good learning experience for both of my children. We also pointed out that the headstones were in a straight line no matter which direction you looked. Being at the wall, was a mixed blessing for my husband. Unfortunatly, he knew some of the people that were engraved on the wall. This remineded him of a time in his past that were both pleasent and unpleasent.

In walking around the cematery, we also saw several trucks that were "tricked out." The trucks were "tricked out" by the Chrome Shop Mafia. If you are interested in learning more about the Chrome Shop Mafia, you can check them at www.ChromeShopMafia.com or on Country Music Television (CMT).

Life Continues

Unfortunatly, of the nine puppies one didn't make it. The other eight are just fine.They are becoming very active. Mommy is starting to get tired of taking caer of them already. She is a very good mother though.

On a sader note, we have managed to lose five goats within the past two to three weeks. We have no idea what might have killed four of them. The fifth one was born and the mother walked away from him. When that happenes, there is uwually something wrong the kid. I attempted to keep it alive, but withno success.

This past Saturday, we went out and got four replacements. There are two female and two male. They are only three weeks old now and have to be feed three times a day with a bottle. This and get ready for Christmas are keeping us pretty busy at this time. The four new additions are doing quite well. They know when its feeding time and let us know about it. These four are following us all over when we go up to feed them. I think that these four are going to become our shadow then they get older.

New Additions to the Ranch

We resently had a few new surprises on the ranch. Spirit our alpha female surprised us with a litter of nine puppies. Unfortunitly one of them didn't make it.

One of my does unexpectedly gave birth to a male kid. Kidding season has begun.

Now that the weather has changed drasticaly, I need to keep a closer eye on the livestock. Weather has a dramitic effect on all the livestock here. The temperture has dropped to the upper twenties to lower thirties at night. This therefore has increased the work load on the ranch.

Trouble be doggone

Max a dog that we have had for several years has finally found a happy loving home on Fort Hood. He caused a lot of trouble on the ranch killing my goats. After killing several of my goats he just had to go. As an animal lover, I just could not have him killed. I am feeling much more relaxed. I now can concentrate on ranch responsibilities without worrying about where the goats with respect to Max. Once all my fences are fixed then I will really be able to relax.