Summer
June 25 2007
Howdy from Dogleg. Summer is officially here but it sure doesn’t feel like it. I can’t remember the last day there was zero chance of rain. In fact, it’s raining right now. I never thought I’d say it, but I really don’t want it to rain for 2-3 weeks, but that’s the way it goes. I had to go ahead and cut some hay this past Sunday because the field right below the camp house was dry enough to drive a tractor in. So I’ve got hay on the ground, and after Thursday or Friday it will start to dry out, and I just might get to bail it too someday....maybe. I’ll get the big field and coastal field cut one of these days as well. The animals certainly have enjoyed the rain. The cows are still looking great. I think it’s time to start “beefing” up the herd a little bit. I have a fence crew coming fairly soon to put in some good water gaps. When that’s done, we’ll put some cows back on the east side, which is lush with grass right now.
I’ve been making some progress on the fence around the houses but it’s hard to work on that when the weather has been so summer favorable to burning cedar. I’ve almost got that whole pasture on the right side of the road past the two tanks burned, besides what needs to be re-piled and re-burned. The cedar clearers should have finished by now but have a little more to stack. They have had to take a lot of days off to let the ground dry out. They probably will be done in a couple of weeks. It looks like the pigs are making a come back. I’ve had several sightings and even more on camera. It looks like we’ve got a good crop of baby deer of all types roaming the ranch too. I even caught some sheep, which I believe are “Aoudad,” on camera. They are wild sheep that are used for hunting and can get pretty big. These were some young females. I don’t know if they have been here or if they are just visiting. I walk and patch fence lines when I can but it’s quite possible they’ve been here. I’m sure there’s lots of animals I haven’t seen yet. I devoted yesterday and today to getting all the deer feeders back in good working order. This Fall’s hunting should be good. Even the east side will be fun to hunt especially if I can get some oats planted.
I’ve located some more Cypress trees and should be getting those in the next week or two. Friday, the dog, discovered her first Texas porcupine, and I don’t think she likes them. So that’s what’s happening in this neck of the woods.