There shouldn’t be an online livestock auction on Halloween night. I made it to a computer with good internet connection (which happend to be at Big Bill’s). We watched a hog auction while the wives and kids went searching for candy. I bid a couple of times and then waited on extended time. I spooked myself into bidding one more time, and whoops, I’m now the proud owner of a hog. Not exactly sure what the plan is, but I bet we will have a story before it is all said and done.

     I drove home from from Kansas City on Saturday.  I was informed that Seelke’s were bringing a doe on Sunday afternoon to breed to Rumour Has It.  The buck had been acting like a buck for the past month, but I hadn’t put him with anything yet.  I decided to clip him up and have him looking decent–1–so Bob could look at him and feel good about his purchase.  I wanted to hear a “Dad Gum, that sum bitch looks good.  2–Every girl likes a sharp dressed man for a first date.  3–We could also snap a picture of him before he starts looking like a danged old buck.

     Not many people got to see Rumour Has It in real life.  The whole damn world saw his picture when Kenneth put him on facebook when he was little.  But there hadn’t been very many see him since then.  One reason is because of the isolation factor of where I live and two, I didn’t want the whole world putting their paws on him. 

     I’m REAL pleased with him.  Bob is too, as he used Dad Gum and several other terms to describe him.  He has grown well as he weighs a 105 pounds at 6 months without being on a feeder.  He is wide chested, smooth fronted, heavy boned while being the absolute best ribbed goat I have ever handled.  He has that massive 191 three dimensional loin, hip and ass while having the look and balance of the S100 females.  He is way cool to look at and even more impressive when you get your hands on him.  As long as he makes babies that look like him, then it was money well spent.

     Last night, I put two doe kids in with him, one of them was standing and hot to trot.  We’ll find out if she settled or not.  If not, it wasn’t for a lack of trying as he was nailing it left and right. 

     If anybody needs a last minute wether before nominations, I have two that were brought to my house this weekend.  Both are decent goats and will be priced under $500.  Give me a holler if you need one or two. 

     OYE nominations are due on Nov. 1.  Lone Star Elite entries are due Nov. 1.  Phoenix and Denver nominations are due Nov.1  Basically, it is time to be turning nomination kits in to those shows.

     I made it to Kansas City to help the Schovanec’s.  Didn’t win it, but they got along well.  I had not seen that judge line up a wether show before.  I’m not saying it was bad, but it was different.  There were some good wethers there from several states.

     Last week, I was buried under at work.  I wasn’t able to go to lunch, stayed after hours and literally had customers lined up waiting to get to me in my office.  Last Thursday, I was at my desk dealing with a customer when the florist walks in with a potted plant with an orange & black bow on it.  I said, “Who the hell is that for?”  She said, “The name on your door and your desk matches the name on the card–Chris Kelln.  Here.”  She sat the plant on my desk and walked out. 

     I briefly stared at it, trying to figure out what it was.  The customer said, “Wow, somebody must really like you.  They sent you spinach.”  I finished that tractor deal and the next customer walked in my office.  He looked at the plant and said, “Who sent you the ornamental cabbage?”   Huh, I thought, it does look like cabbage.  I said, “I don’t know?”  He said, “Well, what’s the card say?”  I said, “I’m scared to look.”  But I did.  There was no name on it other than mine.  All it said was, “I want to tear you open like a bag of Special K.” 

     Tammy swears it wasn’t her.  Nobody at work has laid claim to it.  I’ve gotten several laughs out of it.  I haven’t had time to pursue the culprit.  But, I give them credit.  If they would have sent flowers, not very funny.  But a basket of ornamental cabbage.  That’s original. 

     It is Wednesday, so it is Hump Day.  It is a downhill slide to the end of the week.  It should be a slow time of year at work, but I have been plenty busy.  A good problem to have. 

     Finally, got the big barn cleaned out on Sunday.  There is a working fridge in there now, so I can keep, umm, things cold.  Hopefully, I can get the fridge set right so that they will be Kelln cold without freezing.  Now, I can start on the garage and the red barn.  Then I’m going to cut some trees down and trim some others. 

     I’ve got a little buck prospect at the house that we call Rumour Has It.  He has decided that he wants to be a buck.  You don’t want to get too close to his pen.  He is a April 19 kid and is weighing close to 100 pounds.  He has grown well and looks good.  I’m real pleased with how he looks and handles.  I haven’t seen a perfect one yet, but he has a pile of good to him.  We are going to let him get some action next week. 

     Homecoming at OSU is today.  I stayed home.  Tammy and Duke went to visit Kela, but I went to work instead.  Then I’m going to haul some small alfalfa bales and stick them in the barn.  Those things aren’t cheap anymore, but I’m glad to have them. 

     Last night was interesting.  The Dragon Lady was in Stillwater, Big Bill’s wife was gone, Tyke’s wife was gone and little brother Daniel wasn’t tied down.  We met up at Bill’s house and watched the chef at work.  I witnessed a lot of different cooking devices.  Smoker grill, oven, microwave, a bowl from 1957, a hairdryer, a plate and no utensils.  There was chips and dips, steaks, crablegs, sausage on a stick, cookies and yes, maybe a beverage or two.  We were actually well behaved.  But Daniel, Bill and I were thoroughly disgusted when we realized Tyke has never seen possibly the greatest movie ever made, “Blazing Saddles”.  We will soon remedy that problem.  Even though Tyke hasn’t seen the movie yet, he has now heard and seen all of the lines re-enacted.  He won’t be disappointed when he does see it.

     It is the end of the wether goat buying/selling season.  I don’t have any wethers left available at my house.  I do know of a couple of good goats available that will be priced around $1,000.  If you still need one, call and I will get you in touch with the people. 

     I enjoy buying wethers.  Studying phenoptype, genetics, condition, etc.  Sometimes, my imagination gets the best of me and I end up buying some sleeper that never wakes up.  Sometimes, they work. 

      Everybody has their next champion on feed at this point.  Although, it is the end of some of these goats chances to become a winner as they ended up in a home that won’t take care of business until a week or two before their show in Feb or March.  The real winners are already working goats.  Champions are made in the months of October through February.  Working, exercising, bracing, setting up, monitoring feed, keeping warm, etc.  Of course, there will be some good ones wrecked right before the shows.

     I am glad the buying season is over.  I’ve had enough.  I’m also glad that it is the end of this week.  I am looking forward to the end of this drought. 

The end.

      It actually isn’t hard to admit, but I admit that I have been wrong before.  I catch crap at work and at home because I am always right.  I recently traded for a slick 4440 tractor. Some of the higher ups thought I put WAY too much money in the trade in.  Three days later, it was sold for a substantial profit.  I was RIGHT.  However, I’ve got another unit or two that I wasn’t quite as right on. 

     There is no way to always be right when buying livestock.  There has been times when I’ve hooked a kid up with 3 animals and all 3 turned out to be just nice ones.  The next year, same kid, and all 3 turn out to be winners.  It isn’t an exact science.  If it was the gauranteed ones would definitely cost a pile.  I have even been accused of working harder to make a potential screw up look top notch, just so I can still be right.  “If you worked that hard on a great one, you’d be tough to beat.”  Well, we don’t feed many great ones.  I like a challenge and a project.  It also makes a kid a better showman if they have to work to hide the faults.  The harder you work, the luckier you get.  Although I can be right a lot, I will gaurantee that I am NOT always right. 

     We have a wether for sale out of Duke’s pen.  Duke has four wethers and he is only keeping three.  Tag 560x is an April born Helms 191/100.  He is weighing in the 70s.  He reads to be a wether that will weigh between a 100 & 110 by Mid March.  Big, square butt.  Level hip with tail up where it is supposed to be.  Long bodied and jack necked.  Good boned with a big loin that ties into his hip/loin juncture like it is supposed to.  He would bring a PILE if he was in an auction.  He is a definite OYE premium sale quality and could play really tough in div. 4.  The first $3,000 will own him. 

      There are a couple of other wethers that will be for sale this week.  Mike Weber’s grand-daughter has too many wethers on feed.  There is a June born Goofy wether from me that is a shapely handling dude with a cool look.  He has a big back in him.  He will be a div. 2 kind wether or could be managed to stay in div. 1.  There is also a Joe Dirt-Bodog wether from Tyke.  This goat is big ribbed, heavy boned and powerful.  He will be moderate in terms of frame size.  Both of these wethers are good.  Enid/Woodward district premium sale caliber with a shot at being OYE sale caliber.  Call Mike Weber at 580-254-1749

     I open my personal email this morning.  There is a message from my favorite daughter.

“Well, I have a bit of a problem and it seems that the father figure is the traditional source to turn to in this situation. Hope you have been helping Duke with his math because it seems that this is a word problem. 

Kela goes to school at Oklahoma State University where tuition is high and she is but a poor struggling college kid.  She has approximately $1,000 in her bank account.  She already had a $1,000 scholarship deducted from her bill and her current bursar balance is attached to this email.  How much does Kela need to ask her father for in order to continue her education?

Your loving daughter.

Help me I’m poor.”

I would imagine she will get all of it paid for.  I’m going to have to sell a goat.