Its a mold, its a fungus .... no wait!

It is a Woolly Bear!  This is the third one I have seen this week and solid black like his brethren.  If traditional southern folklore is to believed, we will have a hard winter.  I enjoy traditional southern folklore, and have a tendency to believe in some things, much to my pragmatic husband's dismay.  Other indications that say we should be stocking up on the firewood include an early heavy crop of acorns and the super thick fur coats all of the critters are sporting.  I think the pony may have jumped the gun - his coat is over three inches long and it is still hot most days.  

Woolly Bear

Late Independence Day Pictures

Independence Day is a  day of celebration.  We spend time with our family and friends, grilling hot dogs and watching fireworks.  It is also my daddy's birthday - one of the few birthdays I will never forget.

 

Family

 

Friend

Friend

Friend and Family

Family and Friend

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Anniston Museum of Natural History

Recently, my family went on a field trip.  This was not only for the

kids, but for the husband, too.  He had to go for his science class for

college credit.  Our first stop was the Anniston Museum of Natural History,

in Anniston, Alabama.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so

I had to make do with my phone.  I only got a few decent shots:

Rooster and Happy in front of a dinsoaur.

Happy in front of the African exhibit. 

The museum had an Alabama exhibit, a dinosaur

exhibit, an Egyptian exhibit with mummies, the African exhibit 

with a ton of animals - literally.  There was an African

elephant.  Also included was the Birds of America exhibit, with hundreds of

birds. They were stuffed between 1860 and the early 1900s.

  There was one more exhibit they were putting up that we

did not get to see, called Attack and Defense.  The museum

 also has gardens and walking trails, but it was raining so we did not

get to see that. If you are in Anniston and have some time,

stop by and check it out

Wild West

His name is Wild West.  You can imagine a beautiful

white stallion running across the desert (or across the plains, really it doesn't 

matter).  He is every little horse girl's dream come true.  They have a magic

bond which no one can understand.  Usually there is no magical
white stallion.  But there are special ponies and horses out there
that are every little (and not so little) horse girl's dream.

To give an illustration, I go to Happy and her pony Wild West.
I literally think that he thinks that little girl saved him.  You will
see why if you finish this story.  She can grab him by the mane and lead
him anywhere.  He will pick up all four hooves for her, but stand
firmly rooted for me. She rides him and though she's a beginner,
he is perfect for her.

Unfortunately, she is starting to outgrow him.  She is adamant, however

that we are not going to let him go to another little girl.

Instead she wants a harness and cart so she can keep him 

forever.  Personally I'm on her side.  Even though he won't have anything

to do with me, I like the fat turkey. He's come a long way

since we got him.  Not bad for $75.00 plus a little gas

(Thanks Summer!)

On a side note, beware of "rescues".  If all of your dogs and horses

are skinny, patchy from lice and mange, limping, and being bred because

he/she is so "pretty" you are not dealing with a rescue.

I would have left him there, because I didn't think he would make the

trip home.  But my non-horsey husband insisted we get him. We

had his feet done, gave him groceries, got a good worming,

 and scrubbed him twice a week until the lice was gone.

Meanwhile Happy was down at the "seclusion pen", sneaking him carrots and apples.

I'm glad we got him.

Auburn versus Texas A&M

On Friday, Happy and I went to the Auburn University and

Texas A and M equestrian meet, held at the Auburn University Horse Center.

It's got beautiful arenas and is just across from where I used to work,

AU College of Veterinary Medicine, in the Equine Repro Unit.  It is a state of the art

 facility, and very well laid out.  They are on either part of Wire Road, and 

I lived down the road from the facilities, so I passed them constantly

But back to the subject.  We went to the equestrian meet, and enjoyed

ourselves.  There was English and western equitation, as well

as over fences and western riding.

My favorite jump!

I didn't get as much  western riding as I would have liked to
get, because the arena was kind of dark.

Slightly blurry, but this is the shirt she got.

All in all it was a great amount of fun.  We looked at pretty horses

and some excellent riders.  There were also inflatables, pony rides, 

kids crafts, and "gimmes". It was all free.  If you are around Auburn, look

 up the Athletics page.  It has the date of meets and times they start.  

P.S.  #4 ranked Auburn beat #9 ranked Aggies!

War Eagle!

My Little Project

As I mentioned the other day, my husband and son shot a coyote. It had 

beautifully colored, thick pelt on it.I couldn't let it go to waste, 

so we skinned it, and I defleshed and salted it.

This morning I rinsed it out good, and dried it.  This afternoon, I oiled it

and stretched the skin.  I am hoping it comes out okay with this method.

As of right now the hide side is butter soft. Tomorrow, if it is nice, I will work

it again and oil it again. Then I will sew up the holes in the skin with 

dental floss. I am debating on whether or not to line the pelt with satin,

or to leave it unlined. Or I might send the husband for a couple

more, so I can make a coyote fur vest.  Then I would be rednecked

up whenever I went somewhere!

Drying out the fur.  The left side was the head side, and
it has that beautiful ruff.  The right side would be the back
end, and it is still wet in this photo, so it's not fluffy.

November Hunting

Hunting season is already upon us.  Hunting is very important to

our family.  Not only does it bring in food for us, we cull our area

so it does get overcrowded with deer.  We also use hunting as

a bonding time for our family.

We usually hunt deer, but that season is still a little ways off, 

so today my husband and Rooster went squirrel hunting.  They bagged two

which really is not a enough for a meal.  So I froze it and I am patiently waiting for

more to come along. They had gone hunting yesterday, 

and shot a young coyote instead of any squirrels.  His pelt 

was beautiful.  But don't worry about a waste. Even a coyote

has a use at our house.  I fleshed it out and it is waiting to be turned into a fur.

Rooster with his two squirrels.