Guess I'll try again.

Not cool. Always keep gates shut! I hope you get it back soon!

I hate it when people leave gates opened. I've had to round up horses at midnight because the OWNER left the gates opened!

Good news...I got Jack back last week. He will eat from the bucket, but he won't cross muddy wet fields...guess what I have...muddy, wet fields.
O well, I left the inner gate opened for him to come closer to the buildings but he won't cross the gate. The cows can't get out because they are sequestered to the field where they are eating right now. I'll close that gate tonight and leave him there if he won't come. I expect he won't until the water recedes.
Got a lot done around the farm this past several weeks.
Hope all are doing well.
Cheers

Jack is the llama? Oh happy days!

Yay! So glad he's back safe and sound!

Well Jack has taken up socializing with the cows. He spent a long time by himself on one side of the pasture gate (which I had opened for him to come closer to the buildings) but would not cross because of the swampy, deep mud on that side of the gate. For a few days, even the cows wouldn't cross that part of the field. It was where the water runs through the farm to get to the culvert in the road. It needs to be channeled properly to prevent flooding but in any case, it is now dry enough for the cows to cross. (that is not to say that it is at all dry enough to drive a tractor on or do any fence mending...tried that; nearly mired the tractor and got my boots so stuck in the mud that I fell into it...what a mess.

Anyway, Jack is now socializing with the cattle and they all seem to be doing OK.

I did get some fence mended that day so no more "elopements" have taken place since then.

I have set up my four wheeler as a moving fence mending kit. I put a foot locker on the back with all the tools; built a reel holder for the barbed wire and the #10 wire you use to stabilize the corner posts sits on the front. Now, I can, with relative ease go anywhere on my farm and fix fence. I bought a tool that crushes fence wire clips to hold the wire together and then just wrap the ends around on opposite sides. It give a really clean looking repair that makes it seem like I actually know what I am doing. The "golden rod" tool fits in the foot locker as does the two "come-alongs" that I carry. It is really quite a nice kit. I can carry the T post puller on the 4 wheeler as well but only when I need it.

I am looking at figuring a way to attach my fence post pounder tool to the bucket to pound the posts in with that rather than the bucket itself. I dented the bucket so I need to do something a bit differently. I have an idea but it will require some welding and I need time to do that.

The 19 chickens are doing well. The hogs are growing at an alarming rate. The dogs are driving me nuts and the cat/cats (depending on the day) are supervising the entire process.

Work has kept me busy but also able to pay the bills. The canning shed is "on hold" for now but needs to be done by the harvest so we can move forward with preservation of the food for the winter.

Life is good on the high prairie.
Cheers

Cheers! Glad to hear things are rocking along just fine!

well, Jack has a new halter on now. I got it on him two days ago and we've had a few "walking with a lead" lessons. This morning when I went to feed him, he was wise to that trick and wouldn't do it so I stopped letting him eat grain...which he loves. Maybe a few days without grain will convince him to do things MY WAY.

Garden finally beginning to break through the soil. It has been unusually cool around here lately.

More work...

It's cool here as well.

You're not alone in the unusually cool. It's in the mid 50s here this morning. Crazy!