It was pretty cool, sitting on the couch, watch The Amazing Race with Kela.  It was an episode that was filmed in Seoul, South Korea.  This was an episode that she set up the challenges and produced.  She dispensed info about personalities of the contestants, facts about the city and the inner workings of making reality tv.  It was pretty cool.

But then, the power went off.  For the 2nd night in a row, the wind picked up, lightening lit up the sky and then…no power.  And no rain.  Believe it or not, we could use a bit of a rain.  Yes, I remember it being muddy for quite a while in April and May.

When it goes to thundering and lightning, Sasha the old corgi gets scared.  She usually stays on the back porch during storms.  But not when Kela is home.  Kela put a blanket down for Sasha in the living room.  Sasha lied there while we watched tv.  Then the power went out.  Kela and Tammy went to bed.  I stretched out on the couch.  Sasha just laid there on her blanket.  I happened to take a breath of oxygen but it had been replaced with a vile odor. I breathed short and was just paralyzed by the smell.  I don’t know what that little dog had eaten but it didn’t smell good.  Sasha just laid there, acting like she had done nothing.  It was either her or me and I would have claimed it but I didn’t do it.  It was wicked bad.

Spent Wednesday cruising around this part of the world looking at some of the goats that are selling this weekend.  I have some cool wether prospects, a brutally big ribbed and assed Warthog kid with his nuts intact and a cool doe kid.  Tyke has a pair of 3 Amigo wethers and a doe kid that are dang good.  Sweets are taking a set of Mudslide wethers that are going to feed well.  They have several doe kids that are good.

Sounds like lots of breeders are flushing does right now.  And it sounds like the results are varied.  Typical.  All I know is that I am not flushing anything this summer and I am in a better mood as a result.  Horseshoes and shamrocks to all of you that are flushing does.  You’ll need all the luck that you can get.

What in the Hell?

I’ve got several.

Why does the internet goat buyer worry more about delivery than what the animal actually looks like?

Newer gas can spouts—I spill more fuel with these “safety” spouts than I ever did with the old style.  These “federally regulated” safety spouts ain’t worth 2 squirts of owl crap.  Whoever designed these things probably had a barely passing grade in engineering but had connections to somebody in a high level position that helped pass legislation that required these “safety” spouts.

I had a good customer here today to look at the wethers that we are selling this weekend.  The temp and wind was fine when we were at Tyke’s. 30 minutes later–the temps spiked and no breeze.  We broke a sweat while handling little goats.  It happens.

Took a little goat to the chiropractor this evening.  Maybe she can fix the problems caused by doe goats.  We’ll see.

Thank you to all of the doe kid buyers in tonight’s online sale.  These kids will get better in their new homes.

This is the biggest week in the OK show goat industry.  3 big sales on Saturday plus a whole crap-load of online sales this week.

I’m a little road weary but it will be okay.  Not all of the traveling has involved goats.  There has been some FFA stuff, a sheep or two, a cattle deal, maybe a goat, a buck or two delivered and then a trip to the airport to pick up the favorite daughter.

I need to make connections today to get a buck on a trailer to head to north and east.  I don’t know why I am doing it, but I am getting ready to make a 6 hour round trip drive to get this buck to the trailer.  I am pretty sure that this stuff is the buyer’s responsibility.  But I want to accommodate all buyers if possible.

It is a picture perfect morning in paradise.  No wind.  I was able to mosey through several pens of goats.  One pen is weaned and starting to come out of the ugly stage.  A couple of other pens are now 8-9 weeks old and ready to wean later this week.  I’m trying to decide what to take to the sales and which sales to take them to.  I am really pleased with these Warthog kids.  I don’t have many but there are several that look like they will work.  There is a Law & Order kid that I have had intentions of keeping intact but dang he could make a wicked wether.

Decisions to be made.  Have a good one and a better tomorrow.

How do I spell misery?   It only takes 3 letters—D O E.   I hate female goats.  And my hatred is getting worse.  Why oh why do they have to hurt a kid?  Yes, there is a very well bred buck kid here that is now carrying a back leg because another doe decided to plow him.  I try to keep does and kids in small groups to limit this from happening, but NOOO.  It still happens.  It happens to every goat breeder.

As a result of me being pissed at female goats, I am selling doe kids that I would normally keep and breed.  We kept a bunch of doe kids the past 2 years but I don’t want to increase the herd size.  In fact, I’m probably going the other direction.  That way I can have one doe per pen.  These Feb. and April doe kids will be online next week.  They aren’t overly fitted or fluffed.  Just good stock with top shelf genetics.  A couple of them could be fun to show.

I had the honor of traveling to Stillwater (which is always a good thing) to help judge the National Chapter applications for Oklahoma.  This isn’t necessarily a fun thing to do but I was glad that I did it.  Shattuck couldn’t apply this year because we were a National 3 Star Chapter last year (It’s an Oklahoma thing and it doesn’t make sense but it’s fine).  This was a two day process, so once again it left the Dragon Lady to do chores as Duke and Braden went to Cramblet’s to clip and photo does.

I was disappointed on Monday evening.  I met up with a fellow ag teacher and we were going to go eat somewhere downtown Stillwater.  We thought that we would play it safe and get us a driver.  I have yet to Uber or get a Lyft, so I was looking forward to catching up with modern society.  But no!  There were no uber or lyft drivers in the Stillwater area on Monday evening.  So we were well behaved.  Probably a good thing.

It’s kind of time for me to start paying attention to which goats will sell at Norman and at Perry on the 24th. There are a couple of Woody Warthog kids that are catching my eye.  I know, I know…what the hell kind of name is that?!  He is a Rumour Has It x Harley goat.  He is a embryo kid that is a full brother to Darcy Whitley’s  goat that was Grand at Woodward in ’15.  That goat was 2nd in class at OYE.  I flushed his mother that summer and only got one embryo.  It actually stuck and it was a buck kid.  When he was about 2 weeks old, he got sore mouth all over his body.  I really can’t believe that he survived.  It was that bad.  So, he was a brother to that Woodward goat, thus the Woody and he had sore mouth warts all over him which brings us to the Warthog part.  I know.  I’m retarded.  But I’m liking his kids.  There is also a Law & Order doe kid that handles pretty cool.  I don’t know which sale I’m taking her to yet, but I’m not keeping her.  Another proof of my retardation.

Have a good one.

A month or so ago, I got a call asking if I could be a presenter at a show clinic. I had to check the calendar.  Ooh?!  Those dates are the same as a big goat weekend in TX.  And it is also crowding the date of a cow sale that Duke and I wanted to attend.  But, I accepted the offer.  And it was one of the best decisions that I have made in a while.

First of all, it kept me from going to sales that I almost never get anything bought.  Therefore, it saved me travel expenses and time wasted.

Once I accepted the offer, I found out that there was also a pig and sheep clinic.  Corey Taylor presented the sheep clinic and Tom Lamle was the presenter of the pig clinic.  People, this excited me.  A lot!

Corey is one of the young up and coming stars in the livestock world.  He is already judging shows and we will see him judging big sheep shows in the near future.  I enjoy interacting with the next generation of livestock people.  Full of confidence, enthusiasm and a desire to show and raise good stock describe him.  I like it.  He and his wife host clinics and raise successful show sheep.  It doesn’t hurt that she is an Okie.  It makes him smarter.

Since Lamle lives about an hour away, we traveled together.  As much as I like dealing with the younger crowd, one of my absolute favorite things in life is listening to livestock legends.  And yes, Mr. Lamle is a legend.  His resume in the hog world is impeccable.  Showed great ones–Check.  Big wins–Check.  Raised great barrows–Check.  Raised legendary breeding stock–Check.  Yes, he is a hog guy, but he is a true livestock person.  This guy has stories and connections that involve all species of show stock.  He is a wealth of information.  Sure, the Lamle family has long been friends of the Kelln Klan.  But, I consider him a mentor.  He is an old school ag teacher, a pillar of his community and profession and he is dang fun to hang with.  In earlier years, we might have found/created some mischief, but not on this adventure.  Both of my kids get a smile when you mention his name.  And it was pretty cool watching the young kids in his clinic give him hugs when it was done.  Which brings me to the awesome part.

This clinic was top shelf, actually it was awesome.  One of the best that I have ever had the honor to be a part of.  Several county agents in the Farmington, New Mexico area organized and hosted this event at the San Juan County Fairgrounds which, by the way, are great facilities.  The hospitality was great.  Everybody, and I mean everybody– kids, parents, sponsors and supporters were extremely courteous.  They had lots of door prizes for exhibitors.  Lunch was provided both days.  The hospitality was unparalleled.  It was awesome.

Most importantly the kids wanted to learn and the parents were there to facilitate the learning process.  Numerous goat parents attended.  They never got in the way of the kids but they asked questions that helped the clinic flow.  Several times, the goat clinic was the last to get done, but I was fine with it as kids and/or parents were asking questions and I was there to answer questions.  It was a challenge to deal with kids that have their first animal versus some that want to win their county in addition to some that have bigger goals of competing at the Colorado or New Mexico state fairs.  But it all blended together and worked–simply awesome.  As we left Farmington and headed towards home, Lamle and I were in agreement.  Dang good deal!

I will say that the best quote came from the pig clinic’s first session.

Mr. Lamle:  “Does anybody have any questions?”

Little boy with cowboy hat:  “Yeah.  When are you going to quit talking so we can show our pigs?”

I came home from this deal in an awesome mood.  Then took my favorite son to look at awesome cattle.  Then I had to get on a tractor with no A/C and the drills were plugged up.  Farming–not awesome.

I need to give a huge thanks to the Dragon Lady since she took care of all the stock while I was gone.  Duke was in south TX clipping and photoing online sale goats, so she had it all to herself.  I couldn’t do these kinds of adventures without her.   I got home early Saturday AM and then Duke and I made it to the cow sale which was higher than a goat sale.  There were some awesome cows-to-be at this sale.

Lamle and I will agree that Pappadeaux’s in Albuquerque was awesome!  And he informed me that Marble Slab creamery makes a blueberry ice cream with blueberries added to it milk shake.  That sounds awesome!

Supposedly these Yeti coolers are bear proof.  A bear can’t break the hinges, open the straps or crack the outer shell.  Well, I haven’t seen a bear attack a Yeti cooler.  However, I can tell you these coolers are Deere proof.

I was performing some agricultural tasks such as cultivating and then running the drills to plant some summer cover crops.  I had a Yeti cooler baling wired to the frame of the front of the John Deere drills.  This cooler contained ice and fuel which is used to keep the auto-steer operational in the cab of the tractor.  Anyways, I hit a furrow and it bounced the cooler off the frame and left it hanging by the handle, at an odd angle.    The handle came off the cooler which let the Yeti fall right in the path of the drills.  The Deere drills went over the cooler.  I stopped, went and picked up the wounded Yeti. I put the handle back on it, wired it in a different spot, checked the contents and went back to drilling.  It now has battle scars.  The drill disks did do some slicing but the cooler is still intact.  The lid seals tight.

Today, I am happy to report, the ice is still good in the cooler.  Oh, I can also report that the Dragon Lady isn’t as impressed with this as I am.  Maybe, just maybe, it was actually her Yeti cooler that got run-over.

Have a good one and a better tomorrow.

I’ve never been much of a smoker, but I grew up around a bunch of smokers.  Dad smoked, then quit, then chewed, then smoked, then quit, then quit again and probably would still like to light one up.  My aunt and my grannie could roll through several packs of cigarettes.  Now, when I walk down the halls of Shattuck High, I can distinctly remember the smell of a cherry pipe smoke from Mr. Bush’s (Busellato) office.  Of course, it was legal to smoke in schools in the mid 80s.  And pipe smoke does smell good.

But, even though I don’t smoke and I don’t want to be in a smokey environment, there are times that one can enjoy a bit of a whiff of cigarette smoke.  Just enough, to remind you why you don’t smoke.  Sometimes, a puff of cigarette smoke with Juice Newton on the radio singing “Angel in the Morning” kind of puts one in a good mood.

With all of the research and proof, I don’t understand why any kid would smoke, chew or dip.  There is no positive reason to start.  It is obviously an extremely addictive problem with no positive benefits, so don’t start.

Last fall, I told my buddy Tyke that I was going to kick Joe Dirt out with a pile of does, let him have a last romp and I would keep a set of doe kids out of this deal.  Well, that worked, kind of, not really.  There will be benefits, but I should have also turned a young buck out when I pulled Dirt.  Several open does and the dreaded single buck kid epidemic are what I have to show as a result.  My mis-management, not his fault.  And, very few doe kids.  Which, normally I am in favor of.  At least this gives me an excuse to gripe about.  Anybody that has ever talked bucks with me knows what I think of Joe Dirt.  I have had the pleasure of owning two Helms bred-bucks.  Rumour Has It was the home-run hitter and Joe Dirt is the best one.  I often wonder what a wicked picture of Joe Dirt would have done for his “image”.  Screw em!  With his resume, he don’t need no stinking picture!

While it was raining on Saturday afternoon, the Dragon Lady and I watched “Man on Fire” with Denzel Washington.  I had not seen this flick.  I remember it, but hadn’t seen it.  Dude, if it has Denzel, Tom Hanks or Chris Farley in it, a person better watch it.

I think that I will end this on a good note.  Juice Newton– “Playing with the Queen of Hearts”.  That’s a pretty good tune as well.

And we have the first Manilla Gorilla kids on the ground.  I don’t get too fired up about baby goats, but I am liking what I am seeing.

Have a good one and a better tomorrow.

Some things will make you want to throat punch an anaconda.  To start with, I share this house with a 16 year old Kelln male.  I know that I was an easy kid to raise.  But I am gaining an appreciation for what my parents dealt with while raising the other two brothers.

Some things, such as weaning cows and calves, will cause some grief.  Especially, if those cows and calves belong to that 16 year old mountain of intelligence.  Notice the trend?

Some things make you wish that you didn’t pay for insurance while others make you glad you did.  I had to meet the insurance adjuster today.  He asked what I thought of that newly painted barn roof.   I told him that it looked like a pair of orangoutangs went after it with ball peen hammers in each hand.  He said, “I don’t think that I can write that in my report.”  I said, “Dude, that description will go a lot farther than the pictures that you are taking.”

Some things make your day go better.  Such as, moving some week old kids out of the kidding barn.  A couple of them are out of a new buck and they kind of make you think that things will be better.  Maybe not.

Some things make you think that maybe, just maybe, we ought to go into the business of raising recips.  Maybe not.

Some things make the day end well.  I always like breakfast food, especially Blue & Gold sausage and some bacon (any kind).  But this Dragon Lady now has the art of blueberry pancakes perfected. I have loved this woman for many years, but I think I love her even more when eating these blueberry pancakes, fresh eggs and breakfast meats.

Some things make you wonder if the writer of this deal is right in the head.  While some things make one think, who reads this crap…….the answer would be……..You.

I found summer last Saturday.  It was a 104 degrees near Guthrie, TX.  I’m not ready for that heat.  Sunday was not a fun day here.  Started the day assessing hail damage.  Then realized that the diesel tank was leaking.  Good thing I had the CooP fill those tanks earlier in the week.  Duke got to catch several buckets (clean white buckets from NE OK) of farm diesel while I went and stole a fuel trailer to off-load onto.

Then, I tried to farm.  Ruined a tire on the sweep plow.  Hooked up to the offset disk.  One of those tires had gone flat and lost its bead.  So, Tuesday morning found Duke and I getting two tires fixed on his pickup and the two implement tires.  And oil changes in two pickups.  And it all takes money.  And the AC is going out in the tractor.  And people, I can tell that tractor ain’t going to run without AC.

And I still don’t like does.  And the exhaust fan on the greenhouse went out on Sunday.  Plants took a bit of a hit but have rebounded nicely.  A new belt is installed and we are back up and running.

As you can tell, it wasn’t a fun holiday weekend.  However, I kept calm and we got stuff done.  Once, the farming came to a stop, Duke and I clipped some 5 week old kids.  I was in a better mood.  Had the first Manilla Gorilla babies born.  I was in a good mood.

Had a pair of Wyoming ladies here to pick up some online purchases.  We always enjoy repeat customers.  And we will gladly walk and talk goats.  It is a pleasure dealing with people that are trying to build a quality herd while staying within a budget but willing to put some time and effort into the project.

Cheers to Halie Schovanec as she plays in several all-star/all-state basketball games this week.  She ain’t tall but she is fast and mean on the court.  I think that her dad might have been an all-state catcher.  Maybe not. I’m sure that he was all-state in something.

I enjoyed the text that I got from a grandpa, with his grandkids and Mickey Mouse at Disney World.  And he is holding a Moscow Mule in the pic.  I never really cared about going to Disney World but I think that I could.

The wife and I are getting to where we like to go look at the cows.  We don’t have that same enjoyment looking at the doe herd.

Here’s to a good week ahead and nothing but horseshoes and shamrocks to all of you that take time to read this stuff.  Have a good one and a better tomorrow.