August 2, 2011

Whew! July has been a whirlwind of a month and I have to say I'm kind of glad it's in the books.

The first week of the month we focused on preparing for the county fair. The fair started with the Fashion Revue on the 7th and wrapped up on the 16th with the livestock auction. Those 10 days were action packed. I won't go into all the details but Allison was enrolled in five 4-H projects - four "inside" projects and one "outside" project - her goats. Allison had a great week with her 4-H friends and did an awesome job; qualifying 4 entries for the state fair and earning two reserve grand champion ribbons. She also had a few obstacles to overcome including having to start her state fair blue ribbon cake over THREE times! This was a lesson in patience for Allison and her momma. Also during her time in the livestock barn, Allison found a new love, the wheelbarrow. I can't explain it, I just report it.

Natalie also had a good fair week. She showed two pieces of art and earned a blue and red ribbon. Anna had a good time just hanging out with the big kids. As a 4-H leader, I've really come to enjoy fair time even though it's always too hot and we never get enough sleep. The kids work so hard on their projects and are proud to show them off. There's also a good sense of camaraderie sprinkled with a little competition. The kids all want to do well but never hesitate to cheer on or congratulate someone else for a job well done.

While it sounded like a good idea this spring, leaving the day after the fair for Galveston was pure craziness! In the middle of keeping all our fair balls in the air, I also had a trip to pack for! What was I thinking!? It was a most necessary trip though. A week as a family away from the drought was just what we needed! Our first two nights were spent at Kurt's sister's house and she was the hostess with the mostest! We got to spend an entire day visiting with her family and hanging out by her pool. From Penny's house, we went on to the beach at Galveston. Do a quick Google search of Glenn Campbell's "Galveston." Now, imagine Kurt singing this tune the entire week before we left and you'll understand how badly we needed to get away. When we thought we were going to be debt free in the summer of 2010, we asked the girls where they would like to go to celebrate. After some campaigning on Allison's part, they decided they wanted to see the ocean and we settled on Galveston ("Galveston, oh Galveston." Sing it Kurt!) We had to postpone the trip a year and it was so worth it. We spent three days and three nights just hanging out. Except to go out to dinner one night and ice cream another, we never left our condo and the beach. Our days were filled with the beach, sand castles, the pool, good food and 2.5 viewings of "The Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Roderick Rules."

I'm a numbers kind of person, so here's a short summary of the week:

*26 times Natalie asked "What town is this?"

*6 nights away from the drought

*1 near death experience in Waco traffic

*53 CapriSuns Anna drank at the beach - good parenting practices tend to be relaxed when we're on vacation

*31 times Kurt said "it sure looks dry" as we drove through Oklahoma and Texas AND the number of times he said "Man, that's a lot of water" as he looked wistfully out at the Gulf. I know he was trying to figure out how to desalinate the water and bring it home.

*8 souvenirs the girls brought home

*157 souvenirs the girls looked at before they made their purchases

*1 totally awesome sister-in-law (and family)

*53 times Anna probably peed in the Gulf after drinking yet another CapriSun

*3 helpers Kurt had loading the car for the trip home - yep they all rode the luggage carrier while Kurt pushed

*0 helpers Kurt NEEDED while loading

*2 times Kurt visited with local law enforcement on our way home

*1 ticket Kurt received from said law enforcement

*15 explanations Kurt had for why he should NOT have received a ticket

*1560 miles traveled together by car in one week

*5 people who were glad to be home even if it was ridiculously hot and dry

Three days of not doing much was just the break we needed to find some respite from the unrelenting heat this summer. A friend told me that this has been the driest year on record since 1885! We were blessed with a quarter inch of rain last weekend - I stood out in it and got soaked! However, we need many more inches to make a difference. To go from a D4, an exceptional drought to D1, just dry. Kurt's grazing plan changes almost daily as he makes adjustments based on the condition of the cattle and the availability of forage. He figures it will take 3-4 years for the pastures to heal completely.

The incredibly dry summer has forced many in the county, including us, to make some very difficult decisions. Kurt has already sold off our replacement heifers (the young females that would calve for the first time next spring) and will sell off over half the cow herd in the next month - there's just not enough forage for them to eat. By next spring our herd numbers will be down about 70% from this year. There's a chance that we may have to winter the remaining herd somewhere else. Everything Kurt has read and his own experience has taught him that you can't feed your way out of a drought - it gets too expensive too quickly. Hay that sold for $100/ton last year is now valued at $250/ton.

Thankfully, Kurt found some CRP ground to supplement our butcher beeves with. CRP acres are acres that the government has previously paid people to take out of production. Many acres have been temporarily released this year because of the drought conditions. Amazingly, the steers have continued to gain 2-3 pounds per day - pretty good average even in a wet year.

Thanks to Kurt's good management practices (he told me to leave that part out), we will have bulk beef available in the fall and the spring. If you'd like a quarter, half or whole beef this fall, please reserve yours soon. We don't have a set deadline but the beeves are first come, first served. Kurt has told me that he plans on taking beeves to the processor in McPherson the first week or so of October and your beef would be ready towards the end of the month.

The dry conditions have also caused us to make some changes in our chicken plans for the fall. We cancelled the bunch of broilers that were going to be ready in September. It's just too hot and dry. We are still planning on our group for October. Your last chance at fresh chicken will be October 6th. After that date, our chickens will go up $.50/pound to help cover our storage costs.

One more item to put on your radar. We have a few turkeys that are about a month from harvest. We'll also have turkey available for Thanksgiving. Please let me know if you'd like to reserve one.

We continue to provide more options for our customers. This month we have added a PayPal option for you. If you would prefer to pay for a delivery electronically. Let me know and I can email you an invoice ahead of time.

Hmmmm . . . .what else?

Allison has become good buddies with the dentist. I'm not sure how many times we've seen him this summer with her braces. I do know that it's been more than 2-3 times we were supposed to see him!

We had a bit of a surprise last week when we went for eye appointments. Natalie's farsighted and now has a lovely pair of pink specs! The optometrist said they should help as she works on her reading this year.

And Anna - she goes to preschool in two weeks. Excuse me while I dry my tears. I'm not quite sure how that's going to work out. It will be awesome but I'm awfully glad that Miss DeAnn and Miss Christy will be there to help ease the transition.

One last minute addition and I can't believe I almost forgot. Save October 8th! We've decided to make the Pig Roast an annual event. Only this year, we're going to expand it just a little. Instead of throwing the party to celebrate Kurt's birthday - Happy 41st doesn't sound as party worthy. This year, we want to say thank you to our customers. Kurt also has plans to smoke a turkey, some chickens and a brisket. More details will follow but plan on an evening of good food and good fellowship.

May your August be filled with double digit temperatures and above average rainfall!