Thanksgiving is coming - soon or so it seems!  At Moosters, it means the end of the sales for the year.  The last of the "kids" will be leaving home over Thanksgiving weekend - our biggest bull, Winchester and our smallest heifer, Sky.  It's always a bittersweet time for us.  On the one hand, we can't keep them all.  On the other, we'd sure love to keep them all.

This year, we've said goodbye to some real favorites:  Stewie, our little rock star (we can't wait to see him next year at the AGM!), Carnival, our first Reserve Grand Champion and Winchester, simply because he's a big marshmallow (and he was born here three years ago and has already left once and just had to come back home).  We miss Belle, our horned pocket cow (not a good combination when most of our pocket cows are dehorned or polled).  Oh, and our sweet November who died in a truly tragic accident after she went to her new home.  Actually, I guess they are all favorites, but some are just special.

Thanksgiving weekend also means that our newest non-Dexter addition is going to be coming to live with us!  We got to meet him this weekend for the first time:

 

Check out those ears!

 

 

Meet Yodel, a six month old standard donkey.  He's going to help with guarding the herd when he gets a bit older.  For now, he's going to learn to be a Mooster and will continue to learn how to walk sweetly on his halter.  He's highly motivated by treats!  Yodel is truly going to be a new, but definitely fun experience.  We can't wait until he gets here! 

MDBA Show and Sale

Thanks go to everyone who put together this amazing show and sale.  We were truly impressed with both the number and the quality of the Dexters.  We were also in awe of the amount of work that went into this event.  It went smoothly the entire day of the show and sale.  No small feat considering the sheer number of people and animals that went through the ring.  If this is a preview of the AGM Show and Sale in Springfield next year, we can't wait!

We left on Thursday morning, planning to drive roughly halfway.  We'd found a lovely boarding facility in York, NE (the Diamond B - highly recommend it!) where both the Dexters and the humans could rest up for the night.  We're so glad that they were there because the best laid plans don't always pan out:

It's difficult to tell from the photo, but we drove through spots along the beginning of our travels where we could barely see through the blowing dust.  The high winds continued to get worse as we drove along.  By the time we approached Sidney, NE, the winds were really pushing us around.  Surprise!  I 80 was closed at Sidney and we could go no further on the interstate.  Thinking that it would only be for a while, we stopped at the local Perkins for a late breakfast and tried to get some news.  The only news was that the roads north and east were pretty well closed.

When the Wal Mart parking lot started to fill, so did Chris' ability to sit in one place and we headed for parts south.  We drove into Colorado, then traveled east on secondary roads.  Eventually we reached our resting place for the evening - about five hours later than we'd planned.  After a short, but great night's sleep, we were on the road again first thing on Friday morning. 

We did get to Marshfield and the fairgrounds with a bit of time to spare to get our "kids" washed and blown dry - it was a chilly afternoon and we wanted to ge that over with as quickly as possible.  Once the Dexters were washed, dried, fed, watered and bedded down, we had a chance to catch up with old friends and meet some new ones.  It was nice to finally get to our hotel and do the wash, dry, and sleep routine ourselves!

We sadly said good bye to Stewie, our little rock star (thanks, Danielle, for showing him for us.  You both did an amazing job in the show ring!).  He's gone to live in Ohio where he will be very much appreciated for all his special qualities. 

We also said goodbye to Lucky, who stayed in Missouri.  She looked beautiful, behaved nicely in both the show and sale ring and was shown by this young man in junior showmanship.  Lots of show time for her first time!  We know she'll do well in her new home.

Heading home on Sunday morning, our plan was to pick up some hitchhiking heifers along the way, spend the evening again at the Diamond B, then driving home today.  By the time we reached the near halfway point, we decided to push on home.  A quick call to Dianne at the Diamond B to cancel our stay (what a gracious lady...), another nine hours on the road and we finally arrived home.  There's nothing like sleeping in your own bed! 

Once again, HUGE kudos to the MDBA for such a terrific show and sale.

Introducing......

Our new Jazzy girl ----

She's got quite the personality!  This is High Pines Jasmine and we've been waiting for her for several years...  at least that's how long we've been admiring her and flat out asking for her to come to Moosters Meadows!  We're so glad she's finally arrived.  While we admit to having a slight weakness for polled red Dexters, we cannot resist this horned black traditional look.  Lovely udder.  Beautiful horns.  Great depth of body.  Love, love, love her!

Although she's been here since last summer, we've never properly introduced Meara.  She's a very shy girl, but just as sweet as they come.  She was cosmetically dehorned, so we suspect that's one of the reasons that she's so shy.  She's given us two red bulls from Belle Fourche Washington.  We can't wait to see a Dance and Meara calf next spring!

How can you not like this view? 

Family Photos

No, you won't be seeing one of the humans around here, but this one is hard to resist.  That's 'Dance and his daughter DancinQueen and her momma Seana.  It's almost as though they were begging to have the family portrait done!  Definitely one of those times that I'm glad we often carry the camera to the pasture when we go to visit......

And lest it appear that we only have Dexters for pets, here is our other little non-human family.  Brewster, Ripley and their son Johnny Ringo (having a nap on mom).  They are even more spoiled that the Dexters.

White Stuff

SNOW - COWS

SALT - CARS

We've been surrounded by white stuff - but this kind doesn't melt.  We've spent a few days away from home with our other favorite three letter word beginning with a "C" -- car!  Escaping the white stuff that does melt (snow already in Wyoming) and the other three letter word - cow - we headed to the Bonneville Salt Flats near the Utah/Nevada border to watch a bunch of guys (and a few gals) attempt to set land speed records at the World Finals.

If you've ever seen the World's Fastest Indian, starring Anthony Hopkins, then you have some idea of what happens out on the salt.  If you haven't ever seen this movie, watch for it!  It's absolutely inspiring and will give you a pretty good idea of what land speed racing is all about.....

And now - back to our Dexters - and winter (apparently).

 

Did you say Winter?