Ahhh! I love summer! We have been busy here on the farm. Most of you probably know that we moved last fall. We wanted to buy a place with a little more acreage (we had 3 acres, now 15). We now have 3 cows, 5 cats and 2 dogs. Sometime this weekend we are going to pick up 2 nubian wethers (male neutered goats) to help clear some brush on our property. The little buggers love the stuff. I had 2 nubian wethers when I was a teenager. What fun they were! One accidentally hung himself (not a good memory), but the other one was like a big dog. We had so much fun with Cinnamon. The kids (mine ha ha) have already picked out names for the new goats: Jacque and Pierre.

We had some critter that was making a mess in our barns, and were killing kittens. We finally figured out it was raccoons. Someone brought a live trap by and caught one of them. I think there may be more roaming around out there, the little varmints! I figured out that it was coons when they started eating the cat food. They could actually unscrew a lid! Amazing. I have to screw it on very tightly so they can't get it open. The first time I did this, I went out to the barn to feed the worthless, non-mouse catching cats, and there were coon paw prints all over the container that held the cat food. It was kinda cute, actually. And I have seen coon prints in the bottom of the cats' watering bowl.

We had to redo the landscaping around our house this year. The lady who lived here before had the entire length of the front of the house planted with hostas. Brother! A little hosta goes a long way for me. I pulled all of them out. The rest of the landscaping was full of wandering jew and some other viny thing. I actually found bushes buried in all that wandering jew. What a mess. Now it actually looks presentable, and gives the house more curb appeal. As soon as I figure out how to upload pics, I will post them.

Also on our list of projects this summer was putting in a pond. We have a natural indentation in the back; our own little "valley", if you will. Nice place for a pond, right? Well, turns out it is full of springs and is wet all the time. The contractors had to come out and put a gigantic trench down through it so the dirt can dry out enough to dig it. I guess it will be worth the wait, but it is frustrating when we thought it would be dug right away. I keep telling myself that patience is a virtue, but darn it, I want my pond NOW!!!!

We had a little tragedy at our house this summer. Our beloved dog Jett was hit by a car. We were so upset. Jett was miss pet personality. No more pets without invisible fence collars. I just can't take that. It's so upsetting when something happens to them. I know it seems silly, but I cried and cried over that dog.

We went to look at puppies at a breeder's that I know. She breeds several different kinds of dogs, but I am interested in getting a chihuahua. We picked one out of a litter that was born just 3 weeks ago. I want to get a female, and we are going to name her Chiquita Maria Consuela Romano. Ha ha! She is black with a little brown on her face and chest and legs, and a little white patch in between her front legs. She should reach 4-7 pounds full grown.