Pasture in Place... Now the Wait

I can only imagine how waiting for grass to grow is going to test my patience. The pasture has been disked earlier this week, and lime, fertilizer and seed spread today. I wish it would be like those Chia-pets and start to grow immediately. Somehow, I think it will be spring before I see much of anything.

I asked Dave how Dixie was looking. His response was "buff". I know it's only been a couple of weeks, but she is obviously not showing signs of pregnancy yet. Usually it's five weeks or more before the plumpness set in.

The Last Burn Pile

Today I set ablaze the last burn pile of the sticks and logs that I have gathered in the future pasture. Yesterday we had some rain after several weeks of dry weather. This will make disking the ground much easier. Hopefully next week I can get the truck out to spread the lime, fertilizer and seed. Could there be a pasture in our future?

I had planned to take Buddy to a Brittany trial up at Sumerduck this weekend to ride and watch, but the trial was canceled due to lack of entries. So instead, I started yet another project at home this weekend - painting the window and door trim / sills on the exterior of the house. I won't finish the project this weekend, but I hope to get a good start on it. This is all in an attempt to stay ahead of any more rotting around the windows... already had some repair work done this summer.

I can't wait for field trial season to get here. Today's cooler weather sure did get me in the mood for it. Puppies on the way will cut my fall season short a bit, but it'll be fun having wee ones in the house again.

A Third Time?

If we don't have puppies this fall, I will be shocked. Dave put Joey and Dixie together again on Saturday, just to be sure that the breeding window has been covered. Once again, we had another tie. I'll be heading out to Iowa in mid-October to join up with Dave for some field trials there. Then we'll head over to Nebraska for the Vizsla Club of America National field trial. Dixie should be quite rotund by then. She'll come home with me after Nationals.

Second Breeding Attempt

Thursday Dave put Dixie and Joey together again and had a good long tie. Dave was whining because he didn't have a chair nearby to sit in while he held the two during the tie. Been there, done that! I once had a pair tied for about 45 minutes in the middle of my backyard and had nothing to sit on except the wet ground. I think I finally gave in and just sat on the wet ground. Breeding these two has probably interrupted their individual progresses in the breaking process. Joey has only one thing on his mind right now. Next week things should be getting back to normal for him. The whole complexion of the fall season has changed for Dixie, however. Hopefully, she is successfully bred and that motherhood suits her. She can then resume training as a gun dog next spring.

Dixie and Joey - First Breeding

Dave informs me that Joey and Dixie successfully tied yesterday. He will put them together again tomorrow for another breeding attempt. Perhaps we will be blessed with puppies in about 9 weeks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The Future Pasture and Buddy

It's Labor Day weekend, and today (Saturday), Misty and I worked a bit this afternoon picking up and piling up sticks and logs in what will someday be the horse pasture. This project started back in January when I decided to clear a few acres for pasture. I think the guys who did the clearing worked more on their machinery than on the property. It was May before they got what is cleared now - about three and a half acres - and the wood burned or hauled off. By then, it was too late in the spring to plant, so all summer I've been staring at what looks like a baren waste land. As it turns out, the burn piles were just scattered out, so now I am picking up the bigger pieces to try to burn them again. This fall my neighbor will disk the ground and I'll have the lime, fertilizer and seed spread. It won't be soon enough when I can finally get Buddy (my Tennessee Walker) over here. But there is so much yet to do before then... the pasture, a run-in shed, the fencing.

Buddy is the newest "member of the family" around here. I saw him at a field trial in Georgia last December, and fell in love with him. And I felt a bit sorry for him. The gentleman who owned him had just recently acquired him, but didn't seem at all comfortable with him. And I thought that he was a little bit too much fellow for Buddy, who is a lighter built horse. The headstall that he was using was way too big for Buddy, so Buddy kept getting his tongue over the bit. I bought a more appropriately sized bridle for him with a walking horse (leverage) bit. But he still manages to get his tongue over it, so I am researching what alternatives I should try. Boy, there are a lot of bits out there!