No reason, just liked it...

"The secret of life isn’t in what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you."

— Unknown

Bringin' in the Big Guns

Last week I got around to tilling the new garden spot.  I have a small tiller--we call her Tuffy. 

The spot where we are putting our garden had cattle on it over the winter.  It is REALLY packed down.  Tuffy wasn't gettin the job done!  I was expressing my frustrations at work and my boss said, "go out and get my tiller.  It'll get it done for sure."  So, we brought in the big guns!  I really wanted to keep it.

Now, to get a few things in the ground.  Yesterday we planted potatoes and onions.  Maci was pretty serious about getting the rows dug.

Quentin was great help planting the potatoes.

Then, we had to go see how Ryan was doing with his planting.  The kids always like to see if they can dig up one of the seeds that just came out of the planter.  Here they are looking for a corn seed.

Planting season means lots of meals in the field, eating in the pickup.

It also means lots of seed runs for the kids and I.  We replenish Ryan's supply one last time for the night before I get the kids home to bed.  Then, grab the empty bags out of his truck and take them home for a late night bonfire.

The Great Rat Shootout of 2010

It was finally time to move the chickens and ducks into their new chicken house.  We had been noticing that we hadn't been getting as many chicken eggs as we thought we should be.  Upon further investigation we uncovered a rat problem.  We could tell that they had been burrowing under the old chicken house and were stealing the eggs.  Obviously, you never have just one...no, they had found the motherload and invited their friends!

We had to move the old chicken house before we could build the outside run for the new house. We knew that when we did this we would have those rats to contend with.  So, we called in the troops....Ryan's brother, Evan. 

This turned into quite the little project for these guys.  They were like two little kids plotting out how this was going to 'go down'.  First, we moved the chickens and ducks into the new chicken house.

Then, they decided that Ryan would lift up the old chicken house with the tractor and Evan would shoot the rats.  They originally decided on using my pink pistol for the job. 

Although Evan does look like a real stud with my pink gun, it didn't get the job done.  They both came walking up to me with grins on their faces (I could tell something was up) and Ryan said, "Hey, don't we still have a bag of fireworks leftover in the basement?  Go get 'em!"  Oh yeah, this sounds like a great idea!

The fireworks didn't really work either, but the kids had fun watching the show anyway.  So, it was time for a new plan of attack.  Go get the proper supplies:  a couple pops, a box of ammo and the shotgun.

Nothin' says redneck like a good rat killin with your shotgun!

Okay, back at it again.  Ryan lifts the house up while Evan gets in ready position.

This next picture is a little blurry, but it's one of my favorites.  It shows just how determined these guys were to shoot the rats.  Evan saw one on the other side of the tractor...

It took a lot of shells...

..but in the end....the score was settled..
Slater Boys 10
Rats 0

(a couple of the victims)

SWEET VICTORY!

Moo-ving Day

Last weekend we moved our cattle from the pasture to the lot at our house.  It was time--the Little Rascals are continuing to get out and go on adventures around the farm.  Quentin took all of the pictures and came up with the name for this post.  Good job Quentin!

First, we ran them around the house, through the yard.  This is Quentin's favorite picture because he caught some of the cows jumping.

Then, across the driveway...

..and into the lot.  There's always a straggler or two that have to check things out along the way.

Check em over and make sure they're all here.

Then, line up for the buffet!

The kids love these bunks because they can get so close to the cattle.