My good friends, Liz and Dennis, should be in their new home by now. I hope they had a good trip and that everyone arrived in one piece. I will miss them lots but they will be happier in their new home once they get settled in. God Bless you guys!

It is a brilliant hot Arizona day. We should be back into the monsoon cycle this afternoon if the weatherman is correct. A bang-up, wicked thunderstorm with lots of rain would be terrific. Of Course, I'm hoping the clothes out on the line will be dry by then and I will have plenty of time to get them down before that storm hits!

I got some more pictures added to my files so thought I'd add them. I don't think I've talked much about our little red dog, Penny. She is about 12 years old now and still going strong. We think she is a Tibetan Spaniel. She adopted us all those years ago when we still lived in California. She just ran up into our front yard one day and refused to leave. We advertised in the local paper but no one ever claimed her. So we became her forever home. She is a terrific little dog.

And here's a better picture of Buddy. Maybe you can get some idea of how big he is. Of all my animals, I think I will always love the dogs the best.

This morning it is windy and dusty. We haven't had any rain in a couple of days, hence the dust. It is 76 degrees at 7 a.m. so I figure we'll get up to 106 by 3p.m. or sooner. We could use some more rain. Most of the monsoon thunderstorms seem to be to the west of us this year. I hope we don't get skipped altogether. I like the occasional wicked storm!

The swallows' second group of hatchlings are starting to leave the nest. They aren't quite ready. One of them fell out of the nest yesterday afternoon and landed on the patio. I managed to keep Buddy and the cats from getting it so far. The parents are sticking close by. Since it made it through the night, I am hoping it will live long enough to fly away. It is making a great effort, flapping it's wings and staying hidden under the drain spout. You go little bird!

Little Buck and The Donald seem to be getting along OK. The blood has dried and no horns were lost. I have cut the bottle feeding to twice a day in preparation for weaning by the end of August. Little Buck doesn't seem to be a part of the herd yet. He is holding himself a little apart from the rest of them. He does get his nose in there for the pellets and the hay and he doesn't seem afraid. He is about 3 weeks younger than the rest of them but he is a good size. I cannot tell him apart because of his size, but because of his fleece. He's much curlier than the rest of them and a little off-white. They are pure bright white and fluffy more than curly.

I did make it to the feed store yesterday so we are all stocked up for now. I'll probably send Steve for hay again on Saturday.

Yesterday evening we moved Little Buck, the buck born with Little Bones, into the pen with the pygora kids, Mouth, Bold-Fresh and The Donald. The Donald is the pygora kid that we did not wether. His name struck me when I noticed the great "Donald Trump" type hair he has between his horns. It is like two waves parted in the middle. Anyway, it made me think of Donald Trump's hair so I call him The Donald now. I'm sure his new owner will call him something else.

It looks like The Donald and Little Buck didn't get along so well during the night. Little Buck has a bloody horn this morning. The Donald has blood on his horn and neck. None of it looks as serious as Little Buck's horn. I hope there is not enough damage to threaten his horn. It would be a shame if his horns did not get as magnificent as his daddy's, Falkor, horns. I will keep an eye on him today to make sure all is well.

I moved Little Buck away from his mama, Caramel, because he is 14 weeks old now. Other breeders have told me that bucks can breed at 3 months of age. Little Buck was chasing Caramel around their pen and attempting to mount her so I thought it was time to move him. The Donald is supposed to be picked up this weekend along with Mouth, Snowy, and Butterfly. I'm hoping that Little Buck will get to be friends with Bold-Fresh, then I will keep him. If it turns out that Little Bones and Mouth get along better, then I will keep Mouth. I'll have to wait and see. Mouth is definitely more friendly with me than Bold-Fresh is now, so that may be a factor too.

I forgot to close the chicken door last night when I bottle fed the kids, probably because I was moving Little Buck. So at 12:30 a.m., my rooster started crowing like crazy. He's demented. It was pitch black outside! Since we have all the windows open, I had to go out and put the rooster inside so he would shut up and we could get some sleep. Of course, that started a chain reaction. Little Bones jumped up and started bleating and looking for her bottle. Then Caramel got up and remembered that her baby boy was no longer with her. She started bawling. It was enough to wake the dead! And, as if that wasn't enough, I heard a coyote start howling down in the wash, which set the dogs off! Holy cow! I almost wished I'd let that demented rooster keep crowing!

Today my mission is to buy more feed. I'm always buying feed. I'm almost out of alfalfa pellets and chicken feed. The timothy pellets for the alpacas ran out yesterday and I should probably get dog food again so that I don't run out of it. So it's off to Walmart and the feed store!

Another weekend has come and gone all too quickly. We are always busy but some how we don't always manage to get everything done. It was hot and humid but we didn't get any thunderstorms. This year's monsoon seems a little dry compared to previous ones. There is still time to get more rain I suppose. I just remember that this time last year the weeds were already topping the fence. This year they are barely sticking up shoots and everything is still pretty brown.

My favorite cat, Loki, caught two big old rats this week. I walked in the goat barn yesterday and there he was sprawled out on the floor, half a rat laying next to him. I got the dust pan and removed the carcass to the manure pile. When I returned Loki had regurgitated the rest so I had to remove that too. Yuk! Disgusting! Loki is doing his job though. Good kitty!

We once had 6 cats on the property. Not all at once. Our first cat here was a little black and white female. She was an independent little hellcat. My son named her "Evil". Suited her just fine even though the vet tech disapproved. Then we adopted Blanca and Mikie from a school teacher in Tucson. She said she had rescued them from a bad situation in Mexico. Neither of them was very friendly. We kept them in the goat barn for a long time until they got more tame. They were finally able to roam the property and would come back to eat and sleep. One day Blanca didn't come back. So then we got Crabbit. She was a little bob-tailed cat with tiger stripes and a weird little hobble walk. Hence the name, a cross between cat and rabbit. She didn't last long outside either. And we had Shadow, a solid gray male. And Obie and orange tabby. They couldn't get along and eventually Shadow drove Obie away, never to be seen again. Shadow just recently disappeared. So now we just have Loki and Mikie. Loki still likes to be in the house and Mikie stays in the barn. They both stay pretty close by most of the time. They know that if they are in the yard, Buddy can keep them safe from dogs and coyotes or any other threatening critters. They are both beauitiful cats, but Loki is my baby. I hope they are both around for a long time.

It is hard to believe that we have almost reached the end of July! That means the year is more than half over! Amazing! I remember when I was much younger thinking how long a year was. Now I think how short a year is and how fast the time goes. Perspectives change with age, probably in more ways than I imagine!

The new chicks are still with us and are growing quickly. Speedy little birds. They manage to keep out from under Falkor's feet, dodge the rooster and the other hens and stick close to mama hen. She is under constant stress, her feathers all puffed out to ward off the other chickens. She clucks softly to the chicks constantly except when she's after another hen for encroaching in their space. I would move them to a space of their own except that might cause worse stress, to me trying to catch them as I avoid Falkor's playful horns, and to them by chasing them.

The pygora kids have stayed away from the feeder box since their escape was foiled. I will figure out a way to make it more secure this weekend with the help of my industrious spouse. Maybe we could just put a piece of fence over the front of the box. That way I could still feed them but they would not be able to climb into the box like they can now. That would solve some of the problem of them wasting so much hay also. Of course, their new owner is supposed to pick them up in another week so that would solve everything! Then we can change that pasture into the new chicken enclosure.

To do that we will have to put a new roof on the goat shelter and figure out how to install nesting boxes. The shelter probably needs to be more enclosed too in order to keep the chickens safe from coyotes or other predators at night. And, I want to get some new chickens, some Delawares. They are large white chickens with black speckles. They are also a Heritage breed so I would be helping to preserve the breed. So much to do!

This morning is is gray and gloomy and COOL! Cool is great but it won't last.

Last night my three pygora kids got out of their little pasture. They were wondering around the front yard bleating and bleating really loudly! They didn't know what to do with themselves. It was dark of course. I managed to get them back in their pasture but they proceeded to try to jump right out again through their feed box. So I'm pushing their heads back, trying to keep the three of them inside the box and yelling at the top of my lungs for Steve. All the windows in the house are opened and I'm thinking, he will never hear me! So I kept on yelling and pushing goats and getting stabbed with sharp little horns and bitten by sharp little teeth and finally Steve came out. H'e carrying the grandbaby! Yikes! No help there. Then grandbaby's mom comes out! Hallelujah! So while Grandpa holds the baby and the flashlight, Sara and I get the lid back on the box and weigh it down with rocks and bricks! They are still in the pasture this morning with the lid in place. It will have to be fixed more permanately of course. Something always needs fixing on a farm. The cuts and scapes on my hands from moving rocks and boards and sharp little teeth will heal by themselves. Thank God for small favors!

We had a nice surprise on Sunday. We have one little white hen. She is probably 5 years old now. She disappeared for awhile. I thought she was hiding away to die, but, nope! She was hiding away to hatch her two new baby chicks! They are so cute. They are both little yellow puff balls. One is a darker yellow than the other. The mom has moved them all back in with the rest of the chickens. She is a very protective mom and I think they have a chance of growing up. I have had chickens that killed the chicks but I think those chickens have passed away now.

The two big dogs had a squabble tonight over a frog of all things! I think Lux, my daughter's collie mix, wanted to eat the frog and Buddy probably wanted to protect the ugly thing! We've had quite a few big green frogs this year. They are the biggest frogs I've ever seen. You wouldn't think there would be frogs in the desert, but they show up every year when the monsoon hits. And they make the creepiest frog noise. I don't even know how to describe it. When I first heard it, I thought a cow was dying somewhere. They have some kind of protective coating too. If the dogs lick the frogs or bite them, the dogs start foaming at the mouth. Not pretty! I don't think it tastes too good either. The dogs don't look too happy and they don't do it again.

We had to go to Tucson today for doctor appointments. One was at 10:30 and the other wasn't until 3 so we went shopping. I fell in love with a big Ford truck! That truck could haul lots of hay! Maybe some day....