Feels Like Summer!

It is almost 90 degrees today so it feels like summer is here.  We've actually had a few nice days in a row now.  M commented the other day that he kind of likes the days where you need a light jacket.  Me too!

Sunday was the big Opheim Rodeo.  I was surprised that both my boys said we couldn't go to the lake because of the rodeo.  I didn't realize that they were such big rodeo fans.  I think actually it's more tradition, the one big thing that happens in Opheim, and they didn't want to miss it.  Also, it's an excuse to sit in the sun and drink beer!  My nephew rode broncs and my niece was in the barrel racing.  It's always fun to watch the locals compete.  The Budweiser Clydesdales were in town and that drew in a lot of people.  They are amazing, beautiful animals.

Today we were up early to move the neighbor's cows.  They live in Harlem, a couple hundred miles away, so we keep an eye on things for them here.  They came up last night so we could start early this morning before it got too hot.  R and I were up to the pasture at 7 on the 4-wheelers while M had to run to Richland to meet the chemical company truck to send back chemical shuttles and pumps.  He caught up with us later.  Neighbor John was on a motorcycle and his wife, Holly, on her horse.  The initial roundup through the first gate went well.  Then we had to move them through CRP with a grove of trees, and they went every which way and a bunch of calves turned back looking for their mamas.  It took a bit of convincing to get them all moving in the right direction again.  M showed up with the pickup and Pete so Pete came with me and was a big help.  We finally got them through the CRP and into the pasture and had a little picnic lunch there so we could keep an eye on the calves and make sure they got mothered up again.  The grass this year is just amazing, and the cows are looking so nice.  The get sleek and shiny this time of year and look their best.  Mandy must be so ashamed of me since I am always forgetting my camera.  I need a smaller one that's easier to haul around.

M and John were still messing around checking his crops, etc. and I realized that I needed to get to town to the post office so I took off.  Our state land reports were supposed to be in by June 15, and we realized yesterday that we hadn't done them so I worked on them last night and needed to get them mailed.  Seems like we are late with everything lately.  I am about ready to burn the stupid farm maps because I am so sick of looking at them after FSA certification, hail insurance, crop insurance and state reports.  We should be done with all the paperwork for awhile--I hope!

Oops, a Little Stuck!

I had three things I wanted to get done this week:  mow the backyard, wash the pickup and clean out my pond.  I thought Thursday was the day I'd get those things accomplished--wrong!  My new mower was at R's, and he hadn't had time to bring it back over.  He was busy hauling water for M who was spraying so he asked if I would come to his house with the pickup and he'd load the mower into the trailer and I could bring it home.  On the way, I was supposed to stop in Opheim and pick up chemical at the co-op station.  I did that and had a little chat with my brother who works there.  M thought it was going to get too hot so he was just going to finish spraying off the load he had on and then we'd come back home together.  He thought I could hang out with my Mom and wait for him.  No problem.  I had a nice lunch with Mom and then M called and said he was stuck with the sprayer.  Actually, what he said was "my ass end fell in".  There was a tractor where I was so he asked if I could air up the tire (it's perpetually flat) and bring a chain and come down to him.  I went to start the tractor, and it was dead and R was off getting water so I went and got M.  We had to do a little hunting to find jumper cables, and by the time we got the tractor started R was back so he took the tractor to the field.

M was trying to cross a grass coulee when the back wheels sunk while the front wheels were high and dry.  The wheels on the sprayer are huge, 8 feet tall maybe, and were in the ground halfway up the hub, so maybe 4 feet.  They hooked up the chain and tried to pull it out, but it was just churning up more mud.  After several tries and a lot of cursing and hair pulling, we went to an old home site and found some old wood posts and put them in the holes to try to keep the sprayer from sinking any further and maybe to gain some traction.  They tried pulling again to no avail, so off we went to get a bigger tractor.  They hooked that tractor to the chain and tried to pull and the chain broke.  They tied a knot in the chain and it held, but the sprayer still would not come out.  M was a bit concerned that they were putting too much stress on the sprayer.  I was getting sick to my stomach just thinking that a $100,000+ piece of machinery was going to be ruined.  I'm pretty sure M was feeling it, too, especially when he mentioned that a friend once had to use a crane to get his sprayer out of a wet spot!  We finally decided that we were going to have to drop the load, 800 gallons of water plus chemical.  That would lighten the load by 6400 pounds.  The cost of the wasted chemical would be negligible compared to the cost of a ruined sprayer.  A couple more pulls and out it came--my prayers were answered!!

I thought we'd be done for the night since it was about 7:30 but no, the wind was right so M could spray next to the neighbor's crop so he sprayed off one more load while R and I hooked up the trailer and loaded the mower.  We got home about 10 pm so my day was shot.  I did get to visit with my mom and had some time to pull weeds and grass from my dad's grave site, so it wasn't a totally wasted day.  I told M that I like to hear about the big problems after they are solved and not be in the middle of it.  He doesn't want to tell J and C about the incident, but they were wondering why he didn't finish the spraying that day.  Someone will eventually spill the beans.

I had to work yesterday and then get my nails done and then had supper at my in-laws to visit with some relatives from Canada.  They got to hear the story and M told them about my blog.  I told them that I didn't know my life was so interesting until I started this.  Now it seems it's just something every day! 

I wanted to go to the lake today, but it was cool and rainy this morning so we didn't go.  Instead, we moved a bunch of cows and calves to a different pasture with 4-wheelers.  We thought it would be a good day to do it since it was cool.  We probably put on 20 miles after checking gates and fences and making sure we had both bulls.

This afternoon I finally got to mowing and got the backyard done.  Then I cleaned my pond.  M had gone to check some other cows, and when he came back he started washing the pickup.  We thought about going out tonight, but we both are now thinking the couch and a movie is a better idea.

More Paperwork

Today I went to Glasgow with C and J to take in their completed Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) applications which needed to be in to the Natural Resources Conservation Service before Friday.  M and I had successfully navigated the system last fall so I helped them with their applications and went along to help answer questions and make sure they had all their ducks in a row.  The CSP program is designed to reward landowners for conservation measures and to encourage additional conservation measures.  Of course, the workbook and appendices had changed some since we picked up the applications a month or two ago, so we'll have some additional work to do.  The person at the NRCS office was very impressed at how organized we (I) was since no one else had been as prepared.  It helped to have been through the process before--a lot of hoops to jump through!

We also dropped off our certification maps to the Farm Service Agency.  The government has aerial maps of every piece of land we own or lease, and we have to tell them what we have seeded on every acre.  They also require that we have crop insurance and now have extended that to include hay land.  Just like mandatory health insurance, it seems un-American to require us to purchase insurance although I do see the logic of the government not wanting to have to bail out the farmers when there is a disaster.  We've been through many disaster years be it drought or hail.  M and I worked on the maps in the car on our vacation.  I guess that means we can write the trip off as a farm expense.

We also went to purchase hail insurance from the state of Montana.  Usually M picks and chooses which crops in which areas to buy hail insurance on.  All the crops are looking really good right now so we took out insurance on all of it.  With the state plan, if there is premium money left at the end of the year a percentage gets returned to the policy holders, so we're hoping for a slow hail year statewide.  We had to list every tract of land by legal description and county for four entities in two counties.  I was up late last night getting that ready, and it took the lady at the assessor's office at least three hours to input it all.  I think she was happy to see us leave!  She did say that next year we could fax it in, but she would never do it over the phone which is completely understandable.  Last year was the first in at least five years that we had no hail damage at all so we're probably due again.

C and I being together today caused a bit of confusion at both the NRCS and the assessor's office.  It took them awhile to figure out that I was not his wife.  We're used to it since it happens a lot.  M stayed home and sprayed all day and was so happy that we got everything handled without him.  It's good for J to get his feet wet with all this stuff.  M says that he owes me "big time" for all my hard work.  Can't wait to see what my reward will be.  Maybe it will be a secretary!!

Gophers Everywhere, but Seriously, in the Toilet???

R was at the house this morning and went downstairs to use the bathroom.  He came back up and asked me if I had been down there in awhile.  I hadn't.  He told me to go look in the toilet and there was a dead gopher--seriously!!  Of course, I had to scoop it out and dispose of it and disinfect the toilet.  At lunch with M, R, P and L, there was much discussion about how it could have gotten in there.  I knew we had a gopher problem, but that was ridiculous.

I did a little running around today with R to help him move the water truck for M who was spraying.  We also checked the neighbor's cows and hauled out mineral and salt for them.  After lunch I mowed my front lawn again.  I was happy to come home and see lots of flowers blooming.  We've had enough rain that I didn't have to worry about them too much although I did ask my mother-in-law to water for me if it got dry.

R said his dad was a bit owly yesterday and was wondering how that could be with him just having a week off.  Just getting back into the swing of things, I guess.

What I Learned on My Vacation

Wow, it's been awhile since I've updated.
Lesson 1:  I shouldn't talk with my hands while driving 80 mph down the interstate.  Nothing bad happened but the driver behind me was probably wondering if I was drunk.
Lesson 2:  My car has a terrible blind spot.  That was M--he doesn't drive my car much.
Lesson 3:  The cell phone should maybe stay off while on vacation.  I bet M had at least 25 calls in and out on our first day gone.  They had put bulls out the day before and apparently none of them wanted to stay where they were supposed to be.  R was a busy boy doing damage control.  We also had a cattle buyer come to video our calves to put on video auction so R had to handle that along with our neighbor.  There were also lots of instructions for J and C about where to spray and what to spray since M had been out scouting the fields before we left.


We had a great vacation although it didn't go exactly as planned.  M's sister and husband didn't get to go with us and our planned meeting with our friends in Mankato, MN didn't happen.  Their son did come to Minneapolis and go to two baseball games with us, though, so that was fun.  The new home of the Minnesota Twins, Target Field, is a beautiful facility.  We had great seats and great weather.  I was a bit disappointed that the Rockies only won one game, but Marty was happy that the Twins won two.  We managed to find our way from our motel to the light rail which we rode to the games and did some golfing at our favorite little course at Fort Snelling.  The crush of people trying to get on the light rail after the games got to M a little bit, but he survived without a panic attack.

We decided to take the long way home and go to Rapid City to see M's sister and family.  We left after the baseball game on Thursday and managed to miss all the hail storms and tornados.  Maybe I should say they missed us, only by the grace of God.  Lesson 4:  Check the weather report before you head out.  Actually we did that and thought we were okay.  We were smart enough to have the radio on a local station for updates instead of the XM.

We spent the night in Mitchell, SD and were in Rapid City before noon on Friday after stopping at Wall Drug.  In the words of M's sister "you have to stop at Wall Drug just so you can say 'why did we stop there'".  It has "tourist trap" written all over it, but M did find a couple of things to buy and we had root beer floats so it wasn't a total waste of time.

Friday, the 18th, was our 27th anniversary.  We met M's sister and went to the Prairie Berry Winery in the Black Hills and celebrated with lunch and wine tasting.  A perfect afternoon.  Saturday morning we went golfing.  Once again, the "in-laws" beat the "out-laws".  Our brother-in-law made us lunch, and then we just hung out and relaxed at their house which was okay.  I got a little nap in the chair, something I almost never do.

We finally headed home on Sunday, another 8 hours in the car.  The time went fast, and we had a really good time away.  M needed some rest and relaxation, and I think he achieved that.

Lesson 5:  No bed feels as good as my bed!

Vacation!

We leave tomorrow on vacation so today was a busy one.  I mowed grass this morning and then took a break and watched the NASCAR race.  Then J called and said he and K were taking the fishing boat out on the river so Pete and I went down and went with them.  That was kind of fun.  Pretty relaxing and it was a beautiful day.  Then I had to run my car into Richland for M to change the oil.  After that I brought it home and washed it.

M was busy scouting crops to let C and J know what needed to be sprayed for what.  Then he and R put bulls out into the pastures so they can get to work!  After he changed oil on my car he decided to go spraying so I walked 2 miles to bring his pickup back.  I thought I was 2 for 2 because I left with 2 dogs and came home with none.  Cruiser got pooped out so I was going to pick him up on the way back, but he wasn't on the road when I came back.  Pete had taken off after a deer so I had no idea where he went.  He was on the road and just about back home when I caught up with him.  Cruiser had apparently lost sight of me so turned and went home.

M has not been feeling well the past couple of days so I hope he snaps out of that.  He really needs this time away, and I hope he gets to relax.  I'm trying to get my toes done and still need to pack. We are going to Minnesota, and it's a 12-hour drive so we're planning to take some farm paperwork with us.  No sense not being productive when we can.  I know, we're sick people.

A Funny Thing Happened......

I received a call from M today while I was at work.  He said he needed a new phone.  Apparently, he had Pete in the pickup with him and was talking on the phone.  Pete saw an antelope and bounded over M and out the open window causing M to drop the phone and then run over it.  There was a lot of cursing about the stupid dog while I was laughing, nearly hysterically.  He decided that he had better run into town to get a new one since the old one did work well enough that he could get his contact list transferred.  There was more cursing the stupid dog when he found out the cost of the new one.  Oh well, stuff happens, and....I got a good laugh.

Cows and Dogs

I had a pretty lazy day yesterday which I needed after the wildly busy day at work on Monday.  We had gale force winds all day, and I didn't even want to get out of bed when I heard it blowing.  We had a few rain showers, too. M was up early this morning and so was I since I had a few things I needed to remind him about before he left for the day to finish seeding his millet.  We ended up working on paperwork for close to two hours since he was home late last night after stopping in Opheim and "bonding" with his brothers-in-law.  We had certification maps to do and put the finishing touches on the Conservation Stewardship Program application and work on a crop insurance audit.  Whoever thought it was a good idea to get the government involved in farming?  We were lamenting last night about how we feel we have to take care of everything and everyone around here, wondering if the boys will ever step up and take things over.  In their defense, however, we have to remember that things were a lot simpler when we started out.  They are making baby steps, I suppose.  I suggested we blow the joint and tell them they are on their own.  M looked at me like I was crazy--he knows I'd never do it.

It was a much nicer day today.  There was not much of a breeze this morning so I took the dogs for a walk and then headed to my mother-in-law's to plant some flowers in one of her pots as a nice surprise when she gets home.  As I came over the last hill to their place I saw cows and calves in the wheat field.  Uh oh!  M was west of Opheim (25+ miles away) so I wasn't going to call him about it.  I did call R to see where he was.  He was in Richland on call to haul water to C and J who were spraying.  He asked if I thought I could get them back in the pasture by myself and he'd come when he could.  Pete and I had no problem getting them back in, and then I scouted for the place they probably got out.  Didn't take long to find it.  The cows had pushed on the fence in a low wet spot so that the post was laying over and a couple of wires were broken.  R arrived shortly afterward and we fixed the fence.  While we were fixing the fence I turned around to get something out of the pickup and saw something dark move in the grass.  I thought it was maybe a skunk but when I looked again I realized it was dirt flying up from something digging--probably a badger.  I had to run back to the barn to get some fencing supplies, and while I was gone it came out of the hole and R shot at it and thought he wounded it, but then couldn't find it again. 

I got the flowers planted and then had just enough time to run home, have a quick lunch and take Pete to Opheim for vaccinations.  The local vet clinic comes around to the small towns in the area to do vaccination clinics.  I was really hoping I wouldn't have to be the one to take him, but no one else had time.  I may have mentioned before that Pete is a bit high-strung.  Everything would have been fine if we could have gotten his shots right away, but we had to wait in line and fill out the paperwork, etc.  He's not used to being on a leash, #1, and he doesn't really play well with others so all the dogs were stressing him out.  He was okay at first, but as time wore on I could tell he was getting more and more agitated.  He jumped up on the lady in front of us and hit a box of syringes on the table when I tried to get him down.  He needed two shots and they had trouble so had to stick him three times.  Some friends of mine were there, and I would have liked to visit, but Pete practically dragged me to the pickup so we left in a hurry.

Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided I should go see my mom.  I visited with her for awhile and the finished mowing her yard with our new mower that I hadn't run before--or even seen!  R had started to mow, but it was a bit wet this morning after the rain showers yesterday and then he got called away.  It was so tall that we cut it high and will cut it lower next week--or whenever someone gets time!

On the way home, I went to count the bulls and make sure the cows were still in.  They were but were still hanging around the spot where they had gotten out.  The ground is so soft there that they won't have any trouble pushing the posts over again.

We're counting the days until our vacation, but I'm afraid we'll be that much more behind by the time we get back.

Beautiful Sunday

It was a beautiful day today, sunny, temp in the 70s, just a breeze instead of a gale.  It would have been a great day to go golfing or boating, but no, my husband is obsessed with getting as much spraying done as possible before we go on vacation next week.  J was busy working today, too, working up some trouble spots before M seeds his millet.  I think C and R did more playing than working this weekend.  I did get out for a walk with the dogs and did some yard work to enjoy the day.  I also tried shooting some gophers.  I need some target practice, but I did hit three.  They are everywhere and definitely need to be thinned out.

I had to run to the field twice before noon, once to give J a ride back to town after he brought the water truck up and once to take M a couple of sandwiches for lunch.  I stopped to do the bull count on my way and had a moment of panic when they weren't in the pasture.  They were in the back pens where they go for water.  Whew!  Didn't want to go on a bull hunt.  I also fed the barn cats, but couldn't pet the kittens because they went missing.  M said there was a second batch and told me where to find them, but they too were missing this morning.  Their mothers must have moved them.  Hopefully, we'll see them again.

After M had his lunch, he took me for a ride in the new (to us) sprayer.  The technology is pretty amazing since it does everything, from the steering to shutting off nozzles if you overlap where you've already been to raising and lowering the booms according to the terrain.  M and C have a bit of trouble with the technology and have to call J for the answers to their questions.  We call him the vice-president in charge of technology.  He gets a bit frustrated with the "old-timers."

Yesterday I mowed at my in-laws.  It was clouding up a bit and starting to spit some rain and right after I got home the sky fell in with high winds, rain and some small hail.  It didn't last long, but I was glad I wasn't out in it.  We have a chance of showers again tonight.  We need to keep getting those showers so that the ground doesn't crust where we "mudded-in" some seed and it all comes up well.

A Day to Myself

I had a day completely to myself--no one called me to do anything!!  Seems like it's been awhile since that's happened.  Everyone agrees that we all need to do some little things for ourselves now that the stress of seeding is over.  M was up early and he and C went to Wolf Point to haul some cows back for a neighbor.  R was at an auction sale, and I don't know what J was up to.  I had transcription and laundry to do this morning and then spent the afternoon outside.

I finally went to the greenhouse yesterday, thinking that maybe the weather had straightened out enough that I could safely plant some things.  I bought a few new perennials and planted those in the flower bed today--a lupine, delphinium, balloon flower, lavender, black-eyed susan and a couple other things whose names I don't remember.  I also planted 8 pots.  I never make just one trip to the greenhouse, and I've decided that I need to go back for a few more things next week.  My in-laws are still gone so I should get some plants to put in my mother-in-law's pots, too.

After planting and cleaning up my mess, I realized that the front lawn needed to be mowed again--seems like I just did that!  It's very hard to keep up with yard work when it's rainy.  I mowed and raked.  Now I need M to get the edger out and take care of that chore.  Poor Pete had to stay in the house while I mowed since he's a bit high-strung.  I can dedicate an entire post to his "issues" and may do that later.

Friday night is movie night so we watched our movie from Netflix and I worked on some paperwork.  Farming isn't simple anymore, and I think my husband's secretary (me) needs a secretary!

Get Off the Tractor!

Yesterday J seeded some hay barley so I think he's done for the season.  M's tractor broke down just as he was finishing up on Monday night.  He got it fixed yesterday and decided to try to seed in some wet spots.  He didn't get far before he got stuck--guess those wet spots are still wet!  J had to pull him out with the bigger tractor.

Once again, my day didn't go as planned.  I had transcription to do for a friend this morning and thought I'd have the rest of the day to mow and rake and maybe bake something rhubarby (M brought rhubarb home and chopped it the other night, so I think that's a hint).

R called about noon and wanted me to meet him at the grandparents' so I could give him a ride to the 4-wheeler which had gotten left in the field yesterday.  I had to do my bull counting and cat feeding over there anyway.  On the way back we had to get a cow and a calf back into the pasture.  On my way back home J called to ask if I'd come get him.  He was taking his tractor to the highway so the repair guy could look at it on his way by.  I thought I was just taking him back to the field, but by the time I got to where he was, the plan had changed and I had to take him to Opheim to get the seed truck.  M needed more seed for the wet spots.  I had to follow him to the field so he could leave the truck and I could take him back to town.  I got home about 3 and had a quick PBJ and went to mow.  I had only made a couple rounds when R called wanting me to go to town to get the fencing stuff.  He thought it was in the 4-wheeler that they had used to fence down by the river.  He had been busy putting the neighbor's cows back in and was trying to find two of our heifers amongst the neighbor's 350 pairs--sort of like a needle in a haystack--and noticed some fence problems.

I went to town and there was nothing in the 4-wheeler.  I had to call M to find out where all the fencing stuff was.  He had put it in a shed on the new property--like anyone would EVER think to look there.  During the conversation he proceeded to tell me that we needed to do this and we needed to do that.  I told him that HE needed to get his butt off the tractor and deal with some things himself.  It gives him too much time to think of things WE need to do.  Anyway, I took the fencing stuff to R and we fixed some fence and moved heifers into a different pasture, minus the two that are lost somewhere.  We had to use a wire stretcher to open one gate because it was so tight and in the process I got my finger caught and smashed--at least I didn't break a nail!  R came for supper and a hair cut and then I went back out about 7:30 to finish mowing.  Not that simple--the mower had a flat tire, and it was starting to rain.  I raked for a little while, and the rain didn't last so I aired up the tire and finally finished mowing about 9 pm.  J wants the mower to clean up around the shop and the new lots and it needs to go to R's and my mom's.  It probably should really just go to the junk pile since it's older than R and has some issues.

I'm off to work again tomorrow.  At least there, the days are pretty predictable.