I feel girls should be able to do (almost) anything boys can do. Whether they choose to or not. Just as Boys should be able to do, supposedly, girly things. We try to do as we preach so we are starting The Goblin Child out early. Not only should everyone know how to drive a stick shift, she will have to work more on this lesson when her legs get longer, being able to drive a semi never hurts.

She enjoys practicing. I think. It could just be the horn she likes.

Hauling hay is a family affair. The cousins come along and play in the sleeper and take rides in the payloader. Bouncing across the hay field makes for some surprisingly good naps too.

Seriously.

This is ridiculous.

I see that my last post was about how hot it was. All we hear, on what little news we hear, is how hot and dry this summer is and the fires. So I guess/realize how lucky we are but still a genuine freeze in August?

We haven’t talked to anyone whose thermometer read below thirty five. And these are farmers, they take their weather watching seriously. That seems a little warm for frost. Between that and the short duration of the freeze hopefully that kept it from being a killing frost and the crops in the field fared as well as the garden. It was already a bad year this doesn’t help.

There are so many things I mean to write about and never get around to.

Like the fire in a wheat field a couple of miles from us. We saw the black smoke billowing up and, since no one would be purposely burning on such a hot windy day, had to go check it out. They have some cattle on pasture over that general direction and as we explained to The Goblin Child we had to make sure it wasn’t burning their feet. It wasn’t.

A neighbor had caught their wheat on fire while combining. The fire department was already there and had it out. Much of their wheat was burnt but the green fields and bare dirt, I know better than to call them plowed fields but what is the proper terminology here? farming is beyond me, along the sides had allowed it to be contained before anymore damage was done.

Very astute readers may recognize the trees on the hill in the back ground and the section line along side from this post, years ago.

But what I meant say before I got distracted was…

It was hot today. Far hotter than what I thought had been predicted. The children, one in particular needed exercised though so we went out anyway. I turned the sprinkler on so it was just hitting the swing set and we swang. Then noticing that the pivot was close we walked out and played in it. It was heavenly. And cooled us off enough for the long walk back home.

Now that it’s turned hot and dry it has done so with a vengeance. All the moisture earlier in the year created lots of fuel and the air tonight was heavy with the scent of smoke.

I knew they’d been eating the chickens corn. The signs were obvious. As the corn got lower in the bucket I waited for the day it was too far down for our mouse to climb back out. I was a bit surprising to find five mice inside.

I wasn’t sure what to do with them. The Goblin Child was staring at them fascinated. I could not set them free, we are over run with the little pests. Usually I would call Daisy to take care of the problem for me but how could I with a small child cooing over them?

As usual my small Goblin Child surprised me. She watched them for awhile then declared that we needed to call Daisy. She will grow up knowing the facts of life. We have watched calves born and suckled and died, gardens grown and eaten and she knows how to take care of a mouse problem.

It had been awhile. Like months. Since spring, 8 makes it a bit difficult. The ride was short, around the quanset and back, but it felt good.

My darling Coyote isn’t getting any younger and although in theory I believe horses can live healthy useful lives into their thirties I’ve never had one make it past twenty. He has been lame on his left front twice this year, he’s never lame it worries me. But it also is interesting to me that it’s the same leg that he severed an artery in years ago. If we hadn’t been watching when he did it he would have bleed to death in minutes. The vet drove over an hour in the snow on a Sunday morning to come patch him up. To my shock and horror at the time the vet simply sewed the artery shut and patched the hole.

I wanted to know how blood was going to get down the leg and was assured that the surrounding veins would take up the slack and carry a little more. And they did. He has worked hard most of his life since then and never been unsound. Until now when he is suddenly and mysteriously off in that leg. Who knows maybe it’s unrelated.

I was greatly bothered to hear of the death of one of my favorite studs this summer. Old ways bimbo was high up in the running when I was looking for a stud to breed Princess Onna to. And now he’s gone at only seventeen, if my math is right. The exact same age as Coyote.

So I will continue to love my rotten pony and worry about him as I appreciate that his advancing age makes him the perfect horse for me at this stage of my life. Just as he has been the perfect horse for me at every other stage in both of our lives and hope that he goes on to be a great first horse for 8 with The Goblin Child having already claimed Princess Onna.

It got off to a slow start. Lots of hot days followed by rain. Even with all the moisture this year the crop was poor to mediocre. The late snows and freezes in May(!) did a lot of damage and set everything back.

It’s here, it’s busy, it’s the usual. Pictures are easier than words.

We’ve been hauling hay

Swimming lessons are done but they were sure fun while they lasted

When not playing at this pool

We like to play in our pool

I have been noticing what excellent city parks we are blessed with. We, one of us in particular, enjoy exploring them with the cousins and friends.

The garden is doing pretty good. Especially considering the late snows that sat it back quite a bit. My pumpkins are growing many inches every day, it’s pretty amazing. Our one cucumber plant died which is really sad considering 8 eats, gnaws to a disgusting pulp, a slice for supper every night.

Unfortunately not much horse stuff going on right now. I keep reminding myself that when 8 gets bigger there will be time for that again. For now I try to get out and hose the poor things down with fly spray half as often as they need it and make sure they have all their legs.

And of course that means the the temperature drops from the nineties to sixties and we are all freezing. I don’t know how it does it every year. But we are tough, or maybe it’s more that the adults throwing the children into the water  aren’t wet and cold. It’s not so bad I think, as the one not in the water, they have the heat in the pool turned up and the water is near one hundred degrees.

June is almost over and with it the school summer camps. Mine is long since done. The Goblin Child got to attend another one the last week. There were so many fun sounding ones available it would be hard to choose which ones to join. The best of all though, in my humble opinion, was the one put on by my ever brilliant husband.

He did rockets.

Does it get any cooler than that? I don’t think so and neither did the gaggle of preteen boys and one very cool girl who participated. They set off rockets of every variety from match powered to mentos.  And with every launch the whole school turned out to watch.

The match rockets were cool. The idea and pattern came from this strange and interesting guy. It was precision engineering, I’m told. Each kid built there own. Some worked.

Some didn’t.

They all had fun.

I caught the tail end of the water rockets. I hear the others went higher.

The grand finale. Model rockets from a kit using real rocket engines and propellent. No home made stuff here.

They got done just before the rain. And in time for the play the theater camp put on. (It was very cute, the kids were adorable. The Goblin Child actually sat still for it.) The kids got to take home their rockets. If they have a launcher and the engine they could even launch them again. How was that not the best summer camp ever?

We never go on vacation. My husbands many jobs keep him too busy and my staying home with the kids means money for extras is limited. I must have been pretty grouchy during the hard push to get cows out and corn planted for my poor considerate husband to declare that we were going, no matter what. If we wait for all the work to be done on the farm we would never leave the place. If we waited for the work load to lighten at the job in town the results would be the same. If we wait until the kids are old enough or well behaved, well you get the idea.

So when the day came we finally managed to get out the door not too long after the time we were aiming for. Stopped in town for a couple groceries and some cash. We even made it to Hot Springs before lunch. In time to walk along the river, look at the water fall and the springs. And feed 8.

So the Goblin Child and her father walked while I fed. They got back as he got done and we went again. Unfortunately strapping 8 into the stroller, which he is totally cool with what with him being so secure and all, inspired horrible jealousy and a pretty good temper-tantrum.

After lunch we headed north. As planned both children fell asleep and we got to enjoy the beautiful drive in peace. They woke up just as we pulled into Legion Lake with all the fun things to do. And it was time to feed 8. So The Goblin Child and her father got out to explore the options while I fed.

They came back all excited to report paddle boats. She desperately wanted to ride in the white one, so we  got tickets. Luckily for her they were all white. Nobody was policing the time, we could have stayed out on the cool water as long as we wanted exploring the shear cliffs and families of baby geese. She did not want to. She wanted to splash and jump around and, mostly, to get out.

So we did. We also repeated the stroller issues.We also Walked along the lake, climbed on the playground and the rocks and waded in the water.

Once in Custer we found our hotel which had a pool. Unfortunately it was not warm, the weather or the water. We swam anyway. She plunged happily down the slide and bounced in the water where she could, just, reach the bottom until the shivers racking her little body overwhelmed her and we retreated to the room and a hot shower.

The next morning we found a large furry guest playing in our tub. We also headed further north up the iron mountain road which we enjoyed immensely. The children not so much. 8 cried then fell asleep, The Goblin Child kept wanting to know when we were going to see the dinos she had seen in the brochure at breakfast. She was not interested in the rocks and trees we were so strangely fascinated by. She was happy to find and point out deer as we passed. Finally much to her relief she fell asleep too and when she woke we were at the dinos.

And it was time to feed 8. So The Goblin Child and her father got out to explore the Dinosaurs. I wasn’t all displeased to sit in the car while they climbed clear up there in that heat. I did want to play on them with The Goblin Child having been there and played on them with my parents as a small child around her age. Not bad enough apparently and I declined the offer to go once 8 was done.

We had lunch at Hu Hots! The family next to us said they had left their children in the car watching Frozen with the nanny. It would have been much more peaceful. Despite her obnoxiousness The Goblin Child was pretty into it and loved watching the food get cooked.

The we went to Storybook Island. What more is there to say.

It’s always sounded pretty cheesy to me. Its not. It was probably her favorite. She walked as though in a daze from one thing to the next unable to believe that such a place existed. I don’t know that I can properly describe the state of sheer happiness she was in. 8 rode contentedly in the stroller enjoying his bottle.

Then the impossible happened and it got even better. A friend and the youngest of her children, a few years older then The Goblin Child and incredibly sweet, showed up and she had someone to explore the wonders with. It is an amazing and small world.

After reaching a state of exhaustion we drug her away from her little slice of heaven. To A&W. After refreshments it was time to return home. Thinking the children would be tired and might sleep we decided to go through the needles. It was beautiful to us boring and awful to the children who were not tired and would not sleep  much preferring to cry. After stopping several times to feed/console 8 we finally made it home. Trips must have been easier before this whole car seat thing. We were exhausted but had enjoyed our trip immensely.