Owls

The great horned owls have returned!  I have seen them and heard their hooting a couple times recently.  They are magnificent!  Too dark for pictures but imagine their hoots to one another across the yard and pasture!

We continue to be plagued by game cam problems.  Even with the new cameras, there is always some kind of challenge.  A few recent pictures:

Rocky the raccoon leaving the area after enjoying some corn.  If he gets any larger, he may have problems...

We've had a number of pictures of the daddy deer doing a little jousting in anticipation of impressing the "ladies."

The morning "coffee clutch" just seems to be getting bigger!  I think I see the bull participating too!

Morning Moon-Set

Rooster tipped me off to the "big ball in the sky."  What a beauty!

RAIN

Finally we had rain, the first measurable since Memorial Weekend.  Our rain gauge measured 8.5 inches of rain for this past weekend.  The tank is full, cracks in the yard are gone, and the dust has settled.

Renewal comes to mind!  More rain is forecasted for this next weekend.  We'll take it!

Fire!

The word "Fire" can be a pretty scary word around here.  Right now in Smithville, a town in Bastrop county (70 miles away) there is a large uncontrolled fire going.  Several thousand acres have burned, as well as a bunch of structures.  A couple evenings ago I took some pictures of the smoke.

It has been hazy the last few days, but the affects of the smoke on us is minimal.  All of this is a reminder that we need to be practicing fire safety in the event a fire occurs in our vicinity.

Two Fears

Out in the country, there are two fearsome events that are for, the most part, unavoidable.  One is a flat tire:

Mike came over to check on the cows and his plans got put on hold due to a flat tire.  He called me to give him a ride home because no one was at his house.  If I had not been here to give him a lift, he would have had to walk a couple miles home.
In the last two weeks, we've had a flat on the go-buggy and more recently, a mesquite thorn took out a tire on the Bad-Boy.  All are costly and very inconvenient!

Our other Fear is fire.  Today there were two fires southeast of our little plot.  They were probably 2-3 miles away, but headed in our direction.  The good news is the wind velocity was fairly low and there is a plowed field and a road between us.

I think we are okay, but I will need to monitor them.

Unexpected Results Of No Rain

We have had no rain since that flood we had Memorial Weekend.  The yard is full of huge cracks and I continue to water our baby trees every three days so we don't loose them.  But one area where the plants have thrived is in the Septic Field.

So I gave Peg an opportunity to ride the Bad-Boy!  There was some fear that she might disappear into the weeds and be lost for good.

However, that Bad-Boy is a mowing monster and the task was completed!

We sure could use a bit of rain!  Rumor has it, we may get some in a couple weeks. 

Finally We've Filled The Garden Boxes!

This past week we ordered and received the soil to go into the garden boxes.  We were lucky to have our Laborers to help.

I must confess, there was a lot of interest, activity and discussion about the equipment they were willing to use.  This was followed by a bit of work, then much more interest in beverages, snacks, and suitable seating to watch us complete the job.

Now we need some seeds, rain, and cooler sunny conditions!

Now What Do We Do?

The cows have decided that if they want something all they have to do is "strong-arm" their way into whatever they want.  In our case, they wanted into the fenced area where the deer feeder is tossing out the corn.  It use to be the calves who were naughty pulling at the wires, etc.  Recently, the "mamas-on-a-mission" just pushed and shoved their way through the fence to gain access to the tossed corn.

 As this mama looks into the camera lens, I see her symbolically "thumbing her nose" at us!

 It's a regular "coffee clutch" at our expense!

Their behavior has resulted in overwhelming destruction.  After repairing the mess a couple times this past weekend, we gave up.  We are evaluating how to proceed...

Mud Daubers

We deal with many pests and distractions.  The mud dauber is both interesting and scary.  Our over hangs and covered porch areas are a calling card to a variety of buzzing (stinging) pests.  The regular hornets with their "paper" type of nests were a problem during the first part of the summer.  We sprayed and have since knocked down all of their nests.  The mud daubers arrived a little later or have stayed active longer.  Their nests are everywhere.  They generally don't hang out at their nests so are harder to kill.

The small nests grow and become like the mini condo below.

Or they build a row of townhouses.  This one is about eighteen inches long.  I have left it undisturbed just because I am curious about how big it will get.  Below is about a month's worth of construction.

At some point, I will knock all of this construction down.  Until then, I watch out for these workers as they pursue their destiny. I have no doubt that next year at this time I will again be lamenting these pests.