Weekend Review

What a whirlwind weekend we had.  It started out with a snowstorm hitting on Friday.  Middle of October, in Kansas and we have snow.  It never amounted to much, but there were half-dollar sized flakes coming down most of the morning.  The ground was still warm, so it melted as soon as it hit.  Kinda makes you wonder what the rest of the fall and winter will be like.  That's what we expect in  Kansas-crazy weather!

Our daughter was supposed to cheer in a mini cheer clinic at Friday nights home football game, but it was cancelled due to the cold temps and wet weather.  Thank goodness!  I'm hoping the next home game will have nicer weather for them to cheer. That was one thing I could check off my crazy weekend itinerary!

Saturday morning, we got out of bed, bundled up and went out to dig our sweet potatoes.  It frosted overnight, so we needed to get them out of the ground ASAP.  This was an experiment crop for us this year. We planted approximately 10 slips and seven of them made it to harvest.  We didn't get very many potatoes from the plants, but that was fine.  We aren't huge sweet potato eaters to begin with, so I'd rather eat what we have and not worry about a bunch of excess.  Sweet potatoes are one of those foods that I didn't really care for as a kid growing up, but if I had some now, I would eat them.  It's amazing what happens to our palates as we grow up.  Things aren't "gross" anymore.  We just suck it up and eat it as adults. 

Saturday afternoon brought a Tae Kwon Do Black Belt test for our son.  He received his first Black Belt back in April, but had to test again to get his 1st Dan.  It's the next level of Black Belt that you can get.  He was very excited to get this belt.  It's his "official" Black Belt.  The first one was a "probationary" belt.  Now he is a full-fledged Black Belt and will receive a special certificate stating so.  He will be receiving it in a couple weeks. 

Sunday brought with it a set of mixed emotions.  We had to say goodbye to Bella, our new puppy.  She was born with a defect that we and the breeder were unaware of.  She was getting worse and worse each day and the medication our vet gave us didn't help.  Saturday night, she passed away.  We were hoping to have more time with Bella, but I think it was probably best that it happened so quickly.  You could tell she was getting frustrated with it and we were holding out hope that things would just level off and she would be able to live.  It was a very sad day, but made brighter with the addition of Sophie, our new little girl.

 

 

 

Sunday afternoon we made a flying trip to the opposite side of the county for our 4-H Acheivement Celebration.  This is a time to celebrate all the hard work our 4-Hers have put into the past year working on projects and activities.  Our son had a long list of acheivements this year.  He is also a part of the 4-H Ambassadors.  This group has been a lot of fun to watch.  They help promote 4-H to anyone they see.  They go help at functions around the area and learn about leadership and citizenship. 4-H has been a wonderful program for our kids to be in.  It's been an asset to their everyday lives and will be with them for years to come.

 

 

 

 

So that wraps up a crazy weekend at our place.  I don't think I've recovered either.  Another set of late nights are coming my way, but you know what-I wouldn't have it any other way.  I guess I don't have a simple life, at least not in my eyes, but I love it!

 



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Sad News

Our little Bella, that we just got a little over a week ago, will probably not be with us very long.  She came home with us and as far as we knew, was a healthy puppy that was eager to start a new life with our family.  We took her into the vet for a visit just to see that things were developing like they should.  As far as we and the vet knew, she was healthy.  We would get her out and take little walks around the farm, go out to the pond, play and just enjoy the time with her. 

A couple days ago, we started to notice she would run circles to the right.  It was like she couldn't see correctly.  At first it was just a little bit, so we decided to keep an eye on her.  A day or two later, it was all she could do to walk straight or even find us when we called to her.  She would run into walls, or her fence and couldn't keep herself going straight. 

We decided she needed to be seen by the vet again.  After he looked at her and did some puppy development tests, he thinks she has fluid on her brain.  Her head is dome-shaped and his diagnosis doesn't look good.  If the fluid keeps building up, it could eventually kill her.  Not, something we wanted to hear after finally getting her.  She is healthy otherwise-gaining weight, eating well and trying to be playful. 

We don't blame the breeder for any of this.  I'm not sure how often this occurs, but we felt this was just a freak incident that neither side could have expected.  They are being very understanding and offering us a second dog.  Hopefully by next week, Bella will have one of her sisters with her again.  This could help her in the long run too.  A companion may help her and improve her quality of life. 

We are going to keep her and help her live as full a life as she can.  Maybe she will surprise us and live a nice long life.  Until that fateful day, she will stay Our Bella.

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Our Bella

Meet the newest member of our farm family-Bella!  

She is a purebred Great Pyrenees.  She is such a doll with a shy, sweet personality.  She's not too shy though.  We are hoping she will be a predator deterrent, guarding our animals from the coyotes and other animals that might think our chickens and ducks are and evening snack.  Hopefully we will be able to borrow a couple lambs to socialize her with, so she can practice herding and guarding them as well.  We get 4-H lambs each spring and it would be nice to have a buddy for them to hang out with that will also keep them safe.  Luckily we've never had to deal with a predator killing a lamb, but I don't want to deal with that-EVER!  I know, I'm dreaming, right?! 

I've had a couple people ask if she's going to live in the house.  Umm, I don't think they realize how big a Great Pyrenees will get.  No, she will not be living in the house.  I don't have anything against other people keeping dogs in their house, but I'm not THAT kind of dog person.  She is about the only dog I will let kiss me too.  I think there are two kinds of dog people in this world.  People who own working dogs and people who own the little lap dogs.  Call me a dog hater, but I prefer the working dogs.  I have had so many bad experiences with other people's indoor dogs, I'd prefer to not deal with those situations in my own home.

She is a working dog, and working dogs don't want to live in the house.  They have an instinct that says they need to live outside.  She will be able to get out of the rain, snow, or whatever bad weather comes our way.  It just won't be in my house. 

We've been without a dog for about 7 years now, so it's an adjustment having one around again.  Our last dog, Annie, was a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix.  She ended up dying at the age of 13 or 14.  She was just getting slower and slower each year.  Before we moved to our farm, we had neighbors who's Blue Healers came over and attacked her.  (Don't get me started on that one!)  She healed up fairly quickly after that, but about a year later, she died, peacefully.  It was hard on my husband since she was his dog.  He raised her from a puppy and she moved with us all over when we were first married. 

Now that we have Bella, we will be busy once again, teaching her to come, sit, shake, and all the other obedience skills dogs need to learn.  I'll try and post pictures as she gets bigger!

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