I was gone for 3 weeks...now I am back!

I was out of town three weeks for work. Right before I left we found a few chicks that had hatched in the hen house. They were in the upper box, and the hen had moved to another box. This little yellow chick looked like your typical Easter commercial chick.



This is what three weeks did to that little chick! This thing is almost twice as big as everyone else! Quite a while back we had a couple Jersey Giants, and I don't wonder if we have a crossed Jersey in the group, and this little chick has picked up the traits. It also has feathers on it's legs, so it has some Faverolle in it. I wish the picture turned out better...it is a stocky little thing!



Like I said, I was out of town for 3 weeks. My first destination was Dodge City, KS. They had a lot of big hail, etc. On my way there and back I was in awe of the windmill farms! I was driving along, and this is what I saw...



I spent 1 week there, and thought I was coming home. Then I was told to stop at our Kansas City, MO office (actually Lees Summit) and help out there because their territory got hit by one storm after another...so I spent 2 weeks there. That was the hardest time I have ever spent away from home. We live a little over 2 hrs away, and I was close enough to tell people I lived "just down the road a ways" but not close enough to come home. Brian did come visit me twice. We met at a 1/2 way point for dinner one night, and the last weekend he spent one night, then headed home to take care of critters when I headed to work. The visits were soooooo nice!

When I got back I was so happy! I knew rain was in the forecast, which meant mud, but I did not care!

Friday afternoon it had not started raining yet, so I decided to see how Tiger and Wy would do with the trailer...
Tiger was my first victim because he was the first to come say hello to me. :-) We walked around the trailer a couple times, I opened the gate, he sniffed it, we walked around a little more, I hopped in there, he sniffed again, and no joke, within 2 minutes he was up and in there. Even the banging around of his hooves in the tin can did not get him excited. We practiced that several times - I was so proud of him!

Here is Tiger looking out at the others.



Tiger hops down.



While I was gone, Tiger's adopter, who is also Brian's brother, came to visit. I am so glad that Brian got a few pictures! It had been raining so was a little muddy as you can see, but Justin took Tiger for a short walk, and they got to know each other. They are talking about his new home....



It was Wyoming's turn to visit the trailer. I was worried because the last time we hauled him was for the Humansville, MO adoption, and we had to get him in the trailer in the dark, and he spent the night in there. I felt horrible, but the weather was so bad, we had to take advantage of the yard being half frozen enough for us to get out there before it warmed up and rained again, and we really wanted to get him some exposure to find him an adopter.

It took a little longer to get Wyoming in the trailer. He took about 4 minutes after walking around it a few times! He was all excited because nobody else was close, and he called to them, but he still listened. He followed me up and out several times, and we even loaded 3 times with me sending him in with me outside the trailer. I really hope he remembers that one! :-) I was very proud of him too! As we were playing around, he seemed like a totally different horse. I have learned so much from him. This guy is happier when he is busy, which means I need to stay on my toes! He reminds me of Tripp in some ways. Tripp was happier when he was learning new stuff, and when we finally got out on the trails he loved looking around at the new things in his life (or maybe some of the old if he remembers them). I can't wait to get Wy out on the trails to see what he is like.

He stood here for a long time. I think he liked being high enough to see what was going on in the other pen.



Leaving the trailer...no big deal.



Brian was very busy while I was gone and he got so much done. This is a project he has been wanting to do for quite a while. These are tomato ladders. You take out two screws at the end of the season and they fold down for storage. Brian found them in an article, and the guy has had his for 20 years! They are cheap to build too! The baby chick cage is close to them, and when you look out at night the glow of the light makes it appear to be a bunch of tipi's.



And of course we can't forget Batman! I took this before I left. He has grown and is totally full of himself. He was playing with the big boys Friday evening and they tolerated him. He is only a few weeks old, and knows he is a little stud. YIKES! He was nickering that studly nicker and tried to perform for Wyoming. Of course he could only reach Wy's hock...I was somewhat shocked! Other than that, he is doing great. I forgot to measure him to see how much he grew. He sure is more stocky. I really need to put together another video...



Oh yeah, on a final note, I am a trainer for the 2009 Eastern Stampeded Mustang Makeover in Murfreesboro, TN. We pick up our mustang on Friday, July 17th, which is right around the corner! Woooo hooooo!!!!!! Last year Angela and her daughter Jessi rode with us, along with Judy of the Judy and Bob team. This year Angela will be out of town with a friend for Frontier Days, so Jessi is going to ride with us. We have already started teasing her Mom...yep, the heckling has begun! Ha!

Whew, I feel better to get a little bit of blogging done. I did not realize how much I enjoyed doing this until I couldn't!

Hope everyone is doing well. Hug your critters!

Until later...Karen and Tripp, who is bleaching out from the sun and is very very brown!