Hello everyone!
I want to apologize for not posting for a while. It has been a rough and trying summer so far. We have had approx 2" of rain total since early June, normal would be 8-9" in the same time frame. So the crops are hurting bad around here. Gonna be tight on hay this year for sure!
We also lost my wife's father this summer as well. He will be dearly missed and was a great man. I will always remember the first time I met him. As a young college grad, just starting my new job, I flew with my "then fiance`" to Japan to ask her parents for permission to get married. I practiced during the 14.5 hr flight to be able to ask in Japanese. Apparently I made a good impression cause they said yes!
As you can see Zeus is getting much bigger! We just weighed him this morning, he is 6.5 months old and weighs 53 pounds!!! It is looking like he will most likely be around 95-100 lbs at maturity.
I have been picking up some new custom work this year with the wrapper. Some day soon I will need to start advertising some to get some more work. This is way to expensive of a machine to have sitting idle during the growing season. As usual, if I get a call to help someone out I get it done, I just haven't went looking for work yet. Next year I will be beating the streets to find work for it!
This is also my daughter's first year in 4-H! She purchased and has raised two calves for the fair this year. One is a Dairy Beef Feeder named T-Bone and is the Holstein to the left. He is the one going to the fair. The other that you can only see a part of is a bull calf that is a Shorthorn x Red Holstein cross. Lisa purchased is and raised it and will be giving it to me to cover the costs she incurred with feed and everything. She has been washing, walking, and feeding them both mostly by herself with our help. It wasn't until just before vacation that we separated the boys from the herd to give them their own hay and feed supply. Her plan currently is to use the money from her 4-H career for College. She already selected a beef steer from this years calf crop to take next year. I cannot wait to see how she does as the fair is less than two weeks!
With all the things going on this year we decided to extend our annual vacation to Frisco North Carolina on the Outer Banks so we could be on the beach a little longer. We normally go for six or seven days on the beach, this year we did nine days on the beach. It was just what we needed!
This was Zeus and I and the kids waiting on Mom to get lunch when we arrived in Avon NC on our way to Frisco NC. He road shotgun the entire way down. As soon as the truck starts moving he lays down. As soon as the truck stops he gets up to see what is going on and what we are going to do!
He definitely likes the water. He also learned a great lesson on not drinking sea water. His last day he drank a bunch while we were out in the sound together catching crabs and got sick. It didn't last long and he was fine by supper but he had to learn since he wouldn't listen to me!
Here is the camp site. It was cloudy the first night and we had some light storms but out of 9 days we only had a really heavy rain one night and it wasn't nearly as bad as in the past years. The ocean is in the back ground but is not highlighted due to the cloudiness.
We had an awesome haul crabbin and clammin and fishin!!!! Total count for the trip was over 200 clams, 20 blue crabs, 1 spanish mackerel, 3 blue fish, and 12 mullet!
The pic below was of the kids playing on the sound side while the wife and I were fishing. We all had a great time and it was a cozy little spot. Next year we are planning on going later in the year when the weather is still great for swimming and the fish are actually there to catch!
We were able to get a family picture again this year with our newest family member.
It was so different this year without Daisy. She will always be missed. We are forging new memories with Zeus and since he likes the water and Daisy did not this opens up some new opportunities for fun. He will actually go clamming and crabbing with us and play in the water when we give him the opportunity. The down side is that Daisy was so well behaved at camp and at the beach and when possible would be able to go without a leash and not have to worry about her running off. We will most likely be putting Zeus through a training class so he listens better and sooner. He is learning but needs to learn quicker!
Lastly I want to say thank you again to our friends in Hatteras NC, Eddie and Gail! They own A. S. Austin Company in Hatteras NC and are the nicest people you will ever meet! If you ever go to Hatteras be sure to stop in and say hello. Eddie is a treasure trove of knowledge of the area and you will never be disappointed! I am greatly looking forward to getting to do some fishing with Eddie next year. That is the other reason for going a little later in the year is so he is not so busy and able to take a break and go fishing!
Well, we have been gone for a couple of weeks so there are some items to address before I start work tomorrow :(. Gonna be a crazy fall so this break was absolutely needed.
Have a wonderful day everyone and talk with you again soon!
Kenny
