Just catching up

Well hello everybody!

The farm has been going great over the last several months. We've put in a new tank for the bio-gas and we've actually managed to produce enough to sell a little bit on the side. We might have to set up a business on the side. Maybe we'll call it "Frenworthy Gas" or maybe "NauGas".

The real news though was the Travers' place comin up for sale. Seems Ole Missus Travers just up and departed one fine day in May. Yep, she just up and moved to Montana. Said she wanted to be in God's country where there was nothing between the sky and her but a bunch of flatland and the horizon. Now between you and me, I'm not so sure that she had it right but nobody ever could tell Bettie what to do once she had her mind set on doin something. 'Course I think there was another reason behind her sudden move.

It had really been buildin up for some time. Bettie, that's Missus Travers' first name, had just lost the urge to do anything with the farm. Her husband had left it all to her about twenty years past when he ran away with that fan dancer from Billingsby... but that's another story. Bettie made a go of it for a number of years, raising sheep for wool and Naugas for... well for whatever she could get for the meat and hides and such. After a while though, she just seemed to lose interest in the whole thing. Started to let things go. Folks would find her sheep roaming in odd places around the county. A bunch ended up in the water treatment plant. Took a month to get all that wool out of the filter system. Shoot... I even found a few in my east field last fall. Theyse looked all bedraggled and ill fed... had to round them up and take care of therm for awhile before taking them back.

Worst thing though was the Naugas. Bette more or less left them to their own devices and you know what happens when you leave a bunch of Naugas alone for any length of time. They pretty much ate everything in sight. T'weren't much left growing anywhere within reach of them teeth, I tell you what. And babies... well them Naugas just multiplied like theyse were in the Garden of Eden. By the time Bette up and took off, them Naugas were all over the place. Seemed like there was thousands of 'em. It was a real blessing for the farms anywhere near the Travers place when they finally put it up for sale. Them Naugas had started migrating to other farms in search of food and had become a real nuisance rooting through folks fields and trash piles and... well just about anywhere you don't want a Nauga to get into.

The sale took place in two parts. First part was the roundup and sale of all them Naugas. Turned out to be real fun for the youngsters. Folks came from all around the county. Real sight to see. The kids were paid in candy and hotdogs for every five Nauga they could herd into the sale pen. They had a great time doing it. The hard part was getting the last of the Naugas out of the big pond over by the hay barn. You know how Naugas are once theyse in the water. Still, the kids had a real good time splashin and making all sorts of noise as they chased every last one of them Naugas back up to the field where they could be corralled. Most of the Naugas ended up being bought by someone representing a foreign firm. Think they said he was Malaysian. Wasn't too sure what a Nauga was but just couldn't pass up livestock at that much of a bargain. I ended up picking up a couple hundred myself to freshen up my breeding stock.

The second part of the sale was the property itself. That was pretty straight forward with no real surprises. Only three or four folks, besides myself, had any interest in the land and such. We had a real lively biddin contest for awhile with Chuck Connors from down by Cotters Creek being my main competition. I probably ended up paying too much for the place but I figure it will come in handy as I look to expand some of my other businesses.

As for Bette... last I heard she was somewhere around Billings lookin to set up a homestead somewhere in the wide open spaces. Not too picky about the location as long as there ain't no sheep or Naugas anywhere nearby...

Anyway, it's turned out to be a real productive summer for all of us here.

Until next time,

Jon