So long, Duke

This morning, we loaded Duke onto my brother-in-law, Jim's trailer to head off to west Texas where he'll live a life of leisure as a stud bull to a number of herds out there. Jim's friend, Robin has several hundred head of mostly Angus cattle. Duke is a Hereford. The result of the cross breeding is known as a Black Baldie.

The American Angus Association has pulled off an incredible marketing coupe with the Certified Angus Beef program that has convinced the American public that Angus beef is somehow inherently superior to beef from other cattle breeds. Since the Black Baldie puts on weight quickly and yet still qualifies as Angus, it is a very desirable mix.

I wish Duke all the best in his new life.

Addendum: Duke weighed in at 1590 pounds. No wonder it hurt when he stepped on my foot!

Derek got his cast off

Derek got his cast off today! We had expected him to be in it for at least two months, but the orthopedist said his x-rays looked good and sent him home in one of those orthopedic walking boots. He has some pressure spots from the dressing and some seriously scaly skin. His calf muscle has shriveled to almost nothing and his ankle is still swollen. He asked why he doesn't have an ankle anymore. I told him he looked like a pregnant woman.

He is soaking in a bath right now to get the dead skin off and is supremely happy to be able to scratch again. He'll go back to the doctor in a month to see how it is progressing. The doctor said that mild activity, putting partial weight on it, will stimulate bone regrowth and help it to heal faster. We are just happy that everything is going so well for him.

Karate Family

We were asked to take a picture to provide as an example of a family that participates in karate together. Of course with Derek in a cast, our "karate" posing ability was limited. As you can see above, we got pretty creative with the assignment.

Spidey sets sail on The Black Pearl

I'm not sure what I find more odd about this, Spiderman, the dog, or the Aardvark. In any case, Kevin certainly doesn't lack in the imagination department.

Here Kevin is working on his Leap Pad while Spidey and company sail The Black Pearl into who-knows-what adventure. This (the Leap Pad, not the sailing adventure) is one of his daily school work exercises where he gets to spend time alone working with one of his books. He has an amazing capacity for entertaining himself and always handles this "alone time" very well.