We had a very full day!

Besides the usuals (chores; meals; quick cleaning; etc...), it seemed like we got a lot done today.  It was lovely and hot outside---lovely in that there was almost no wind and hot as in HOT (for this time of the year). 

After morning chores were done, my dad went to Napoleon to buy more ear-tags; cake ingredients for me; and to put money in the bank.   I baked a half-sheet cake and a grad-cap cake to assemble later. 

Meanwhile, Mom and Jacob drove down to Kintyre to take pictures of the big fire (they burned the elevator remains finally), and Andrew and I got the heifers/cows/milk cow assortment of livestock in the corralling behind the barn.  Many of them had lost their tags, so it was time to put new ones in while we still know who is who, before they leave for pasture.  By the time we had them in the pen, everyone else was back to help.

   After some troubles getting everything adjusted (and Dad getting banged in the knee--ouch), we got into a routine and got the new tags in and recorded.  Then, Mother went in to make our lunch and the rest of us got the bigger group of yearling heifers in so that we could re-tag a few of them (some of them had changed ownership, so the old tags had to be removed and new ones put in).  We actually put a tag in each ear so that, if they loose one tag, we'll still be able to tell who the heifer belongs to.

After eating, Dad went out with his, well, I don't even know what it's called.  I call it the "Porcupine Machine", on account of all the little teeth it has on the wheels.  He went over the corn fields around our farm here to kill the little baby weeds before the corn pops up.  That took him all afternoon.

Andrew spent the afternoon working on his vehicle projects.  Jacob spent most of the afternoon mowing the lawn and Mom later went out to help him finish------after her new client left. 

I finished planting in the greenhouse and planted some more in the garden.   I'd ordered several new things to try this year (grapes, for one, and yellow raspberries, and roses...) and so it was fun to plant those! 

 Right around 6:00, our hunter friends from the SE showed up, so we visited with them for a while and showed them the not-so-little turkeys.  They'd come to rent 2 of our tractors again, as they want to plant about 70 acres of food plots for the deer and other wildlife.  It was good to see them again!

I whipped up a double batch of buttercream icing and started working on K's graduation cake...

After supper, Mother had another new client to do a session for, so the rest of us did chores.  Then we untangled the swings after yesterday's windstorm and rested for a few minutes before heading inside.   

I worked on my cake some more....trying to get a true black color for the cap, a task which is more difficult than one would think!  I have the writing left to do yet, but decided to take a break and watch a show with my family.  Right at 10:00PM, Andrew went on another conference call with his friend, Jared H. and others from SD.  He'll probably be heading down there sometime next week to help for a while...   The rest of us prayed together before heading our separate ways for bed.

Oh yes, I forgot to say that Jacob and I put some panels up (he pounded the posts in and I did most of the wiring) and got the goats out on grass.  They'd been jumping over the panel where the hay's built up and eating grass anyway, but now they can officially be out grazing.  :)

'twas a good day, yah?