Winter Weather

We have been having a taste of winter weather the past couple of days.  We've had high winds, snow and colder temperatures.  It was about 32 yesterday, only in the 20's today.  The wind howled yesterday, all night long and most of today.  M was a bit worried about his cows trying to head home and breaking into his parents' yard so he had R check on them yesterday and give them a bale while he was hauling a load of calves for a neighbor.  He went over first thing this morning to check on them again and give them another bale and check on their water which was frozen.  Then he went to check on our neighbor John's cows and got stuck in a snow bank trying to get them a bale.  There's really not much snow on the ground, it's all blown into drifts.  He was cold when he got home for lunch after digging himself out.

I was hoping I could just hibernate here in my nice warm house, but he recruited me to ride along in the truck while he went for his last load of bales so I could bring the tractor home.  We are now done hauling our own hay, just have the 1000+ for the neighbor.  M and R will start on that tomorrow after M gets back from hauling another load of calves for another neighbor.

Warmer weather and sunny skies are coming soon.  I guess this taste of winter weather is just a reminder that we had better get ready!

Hauling, Hauling, Hauling

The guys have all been busy in the trucks hauling grain, cattle and hay.  They've been so busy that C actually bought another truck.  He and J have been hauling wheat and J and R have also been helping with the hay hauling.  M has done most of the hay hauling and most of the cattle hauling.  We have 150+ bales of our own to get home plus 1000+ bales belonging to our neighbor.  It will be a busy week for cattle as well since this is the time of year when all the ranchers sell their calves and ship them to feeders.  The bad news is we are supposed to have a drastic change in the weather with snow and wind in the forecast this week.  We're not ready!!

I have been busy with my job and doing some yard work and getting things put away.  I dug out some of my iris bed and thinned and replanted.  I have some bulbs on order, but they're not here yet.  I really hope the snow doesn't last so I can get them in the ground.  It's funny that a couple of things in my flower bed are toasted from frost and some things are still blooming.

M's parents headed south this morning, first to South Dakota to see M's sister and then on to Arizona for the winter.  I always hate it when my mother-in-law predicts a change in the weather and then laughs because she's leaving.

It was kind of gray and damp today but relatively warm.  I mentioned to M that it would be nice if it were a nice spring day so we had the prospect of summer instead of the six months of winter that are looming in our future.

More Cows

It's been a busy weekend on the ranch--actually on the neighbor's (John and Holly) ranch.  On Friday we rounded up their cows, all 300+ of them with four 4-wheelers, a motorcyle and two pickups.  It's pretty rugged country with a bog through the middle, but the roundup went pretty smoothly.  I thought I was a goner once.  Holly and I were on one side of the pasture and easily got our bunch rounded up and headed in the right direction.  I could see the bike in the distance trailing a couple of animals so I went to see if they needed help.  It was John herding two bulls.  It was slow going, but he was doing okay.  As I headed back to the big bunch I noticed that a calf had turned back.  It was in some brush, and I wasn't sure John would see it so I tried to catch up to it and turn it back in the right direction.  Easier said that done.  It could run a lot faster in that rough stuff than I could go on the 4-wheeler.  I came over a rise and there was a trench at the bottom.  I was pretty sure I was going ass over teakettle and thought "this is gonna hurt."  Luckily, I didn't wreck but hit hard enough that the back of the box on the 4-wheeler flew open and the fencing box flipped completely over.  I had to stop and pick up some tools.  I considered myself lucky that the sledge hammer didn't clock me.  I tried to catch up with the calf and found myself in the bog and about tipped the 4-wheeler on the side before getting out of there.  I usually get "4-wheeler knees" after a ride, but this time I had "4-wheeler butt"!  And, now the fencing box is cleaned out and neatly organized.

Lucky for me, John was able to intercept the calf and it saw the bulls and followed them.  We then had to trail the herd a couple of miles south to the corral.  We had to laugh at the herd of black moving across the hill with a white cow and calf smack dab in the middle.  That would be Snowflake and her calf.  Holly got stuck in the back with a slow calf that wasn't feeling well.  I think she would have just thrown it on the 4-wheeler and given it a ride if she could have.

We had a sandwich at the Sugar Shack which is an old house on the property (Holly has cute names for things and animals) and got home in time to have a shower and get ready to go out for dinner. 

M decided it would be a good time to have our annual post-harvest family dinner and we invited John and Holly and their helper to come along.  We had good food and great company and a very enjoyable evening.  Some of us were tired and knew we had another busy day in front of us so went home early.  Some others stopped downtown for a few more drinks.

We were at it again by 8:00 am on Saturday.  It took about three hours to sort cows from calves and then heifer calves from steer calves and then heifer calves to sell from heifer calves to keep.  Then we had to run all the calves to sell through and give them their vaccinations and put buttons in their ears and just vaccinate the heifer calves that they were keeping.  That took about another three hours but really went pretty smoothly. My job was to keep the button gun and the vaccinating gun loaded.  We found our cow-calf pair and one of our yearlings which we knew were in with the neighbor's cows.  We also found a calf that belonged to another neighbor.

Holly had chili in the crock pot at the Sugar Shack so we unwound with lunch, loaded up our critters and were home in time to relax on the couch to watch the NASCAR race.  All that fresh air and activity left me ready for bed early.  I think I get a few days to myself now to catch up at home which is good since the maid forgot to show up again!

Another Roundup

Silly me, I thought I might have at least part of the day to catch up on some things at home.  Last night I asked M what HE had planned for today and he said, "WE are vaccinating the rest of the calves."  Okay, there goes my morning at the very least.  This morning he said, "You and Pete can bring the cows while I get things ready at the barn."  I'm pretty sure I gave him a look that showed I was skeptical that that would work.  He had trailed the cows about 7 miles home from our pasture near Richland yesterday, and they were not really in the mood to be moved again.  We have our neighbor's cows across a fence to the south and our stupid heifers across a fence to the north.  Before I even got to the cows they took off running across the road up to the neighbor's fence.  As I was trying to get them away from the fence a calf dove under the fence to the neighbor's pasture and the mama cow jumped over the fence to be with the calf.  I chased the rest of the group up the fence line trying to get them off the fence and heading more northeast.  About that time I saw a cow floundering as if she couldn't get her hind legs under her.  She finally laid down and I left here there to get into the neighbor's pasture to get our pair out.  I also tried to call M but there was no answer so I called his mom and asked her to go to the barn and tell him I needed help.  I was more concerned at that time about the cow that was down.

I headed into the neighbor's pasture and got the pair moving in the right direction away from the neighbor's cows.  I was making Pete ride on the back of the 4-wheeler with me, but he has a bad habit of immediately jumping off as soon as I slow down or stop.  He tried to chase the cow and she didn't appreciate it and came after him and then headed in the wrong direction.  This happened more than once, and by then I was screaming at Pete to get on the 4-wheeler and stay there.  I did finally get the pair to the gate and out and by then the downed cow was up and gone.  M showed up and was trying to get the stupid heifers away from the fence to no avail.  One heifer jumped in with the cows we were trying to move but as we moved them through a gate it turned back so M turned back to put it back in where it was supposed to be.  The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.  I later asked M if he was going to quit sending me out by myself when I always seem to have to call for backup.  He was just trying to save time, but I don't think it saved us any.

We got that group of cows and calves into the corral and sorted off the calves from the cows and cut out a bull and discovered one bull was missing.  Since we were waiting for R, we brought in another group and cut off the bulls.  R had been at a 21st birthday party so you can imagine how he was feeling today.  Pushing calves was probably not the thing he wanted to do.  Oh well, that's the risk he took.  We got the calves vaccinated and tagged and back with their mothers and went to have lunch with M's parents and J who had been out spraying.

When we came out from having lunch the yard was full of cows.  Uh-oh.  At first we thought they had rubbed a gate down and then realized that they were the ones that were out in the fields grazing and must have heard the commotion and came to see what was going on.  We had left the gate open after the sprayer moved through because we were going to move the cows we were working through there.  We let all the other cows out and sent them all back out to the fields.  No harm done.

I thought there was a chance I could be still be home by 2:30 and get some things done at home, but we had to take a water truck up to J and I had to run to Richland to get surfactant for J.  Then they remembered there were still mustard trucks in the field so we moved those to Richland.  The guys went to the shop to get on the internet to look at some trucks so I cleaned out the fridge in the camper.  Then they decided to move the combines to town.  At that point, M asked if I had stuff to do at home because they could make two trips to get the combines.  It was about 5:00 by then so I thought it was silly for them to do that so I flagged for them to move the combines to town.  We unhooked the headers and started cleaning out some straw and chaff.  I finally got home at 6:30 and then had to give haircuts to R and M.

So, I didn't get anything done at home.  Looks like my next chance will be Sunday, but that's a day of rest, and I might need a rest.

Harvest is OVER! Now on to Cowboying

J finished up the hailed out mustard this afternoon so we are officially done harvesting and the crop year from hell is over.  M is so happy to not have to drive by fields of wheat with the heads tipped over.  He said he'll sleep better now which is a bit of a joke since he almost NEVER has trouble sleeping.  It has been a long, stressful harvest so everyone will feel better now that it's done.

M and I spent the day doing cowboy chores.  We moved one bunch of cows this morning into the fields to graze as long as possible this fall.  We also had to fix some fence and run around and close gates.  We were headed across the hills on the 4-wheelers when I realized the posts that were in the box of my 4-wheeler were no longer there.  M was ahead of me and had just looked back so knew I was behind him just before I turned around to backtrack and find the posts.  I did find them both and then tried to catch up.  I was wondering how long it would be before he noticed I was no longer behind him.  He did notice and turn back to find me.  He teased me about getting lost.  I assured him I wasn't lost but knew he wouldn't be happy if I got to the fence we needed to work on and didn't have the posts.

We got home about 1:00, in time to watch the NASCAR race.  After the race was over, we went to move another group of cows.  In the interest of time, M had me go round up while he checked and closed more gates.  Easier said than done.  When I found the heifers, they were in a corner across a boggy coulee that I couldn't get across.  I tried with the 4-wheeler and fell in a hole and thought I'd never get it out.  I did manage to but didn't want to try again.  Then I tried to find a place that I could cross on foot to no avail.  I tried to send Pete up to them.  He would get almost to them and then come back to me.  I guess he wasn't sure which way to herd them without one of us to guide him.  I finally called M and he went into the fields on the other side of the coulee and chased them on foot.  Of course, they couldn't just cross the coulee, they had to run parallel to it all the way to the fence on the other end.  He finally got them to cross.  We have had a "pet" cow and her calf in with the heifers to keep them in line, and it seemed to have helped.  Today, however, she wasn't herself, and we discovered why.  Her face is full of porcupine quills.  She's probably in pain and not eating well.

I got them headed in the right general direction toward the gate but they had to run into another coulee that I couldn't cross on the 4-wheeler.  I chased them on foot to get them through it and then had to circle around with the 4-wheeler to get back to them.  From there on out they followed the trail to the gate and into the fields.  I had to find the salt and mineral tubs and load them up and take them to where M was and then head home.  It was dark by the time we got home.  A quick little job that took a lot longer than planned!

M thinks he needs to make a priority list for the week ahead because they have so much to do.  It's nice to have a variety of chores, though, instead of riding that combine for 12 hours a day.

Big Yellow Beast

One of the local implement dealers has been trying to get us a New Holland combine to try out.  It finally arrived yesterday afternoon so we had three combines going again.  It seems like a massive yellow beast.  J ran it yesterday but he, M and R all got a turn today.  We're not sure we could ever switch brands since we're so good at working on the John Deeres plus we could practically build another combine with all the spare parts we have on hand.  It's been fun for them to try something new.

There was a chance of rain last night so they were anxious to get as much done as possible.  They finished the neighbor's and another section of our own wheat.  M is happy that now he can turn his cows out into the fields to graze.

We were lucky and got no rain last night or today.  They thought they could finish everything today but it didn't happen.  There was a problem with one of the trucks so the truck drivers couldn't keep up.  J moved the New Holland combine up to the hailed out mustard this evening which is the last of the harvest.  They should finish that easily tomorrow.  Then we will breathe a big sigh of relief and shout a loud "Hallelujah"!

Our nephew headed back home to South Dakota this morning.  He was a big help, and we owe a big thanks to his boss (and our brother-in-law) for loaning him to us for the past two weeks.  I think we wear him out since those city boys apparently can't take the hours we work.

M and I will be moving cows tomorrow and leaving the combining to the boys.  He informed them that we can't get lazy now because we still have a ton of things to get done this fall.  I think the first thing to be done is haircuts all around!

The End is Near

I had to spend the past two days indoors at work so it was good to be out and about today checking the harvest progress.  We've had three combines going all week so things are moving along nicely.  The truck drivers have been kept on the go and P has been manning the grain elevator.  We're hoping that harvest will be over by Sunday.

This morning I helped M move his combine back home and then made lunch and took to the crew.  They are cutting on some of our best land but it's a hell hole to get in and out of there--the truck drivers hate it.  They should finish there tomorrow and then everything that's left will be close to home.  M thought he might need me to drive a truck this afternoon but his uncle was able to keep up so I rode on the combine for a little while and got our production records up to date.  I'm trying to get a jump on that so it's not such a big job when harvest is over.

We had frost this morning, but it turned into another beautiful harvest day.  We need three or four more of those!

Too Old to Cut the Mustard?

We made the move east yesterday.  Now the far east place is done, the far west place is done, and now we just need to work on the stuff in the middle.  R found sieve parts in the wheat yesterday as he was dumping a truck.  This time it was from J's combine.  We sent our nephew to Glasgow for a new sieve while we made the move.  A friend finally showed up to cut yesterday morning so we had three combines going yesterday.  That didn't last long, though, because his combine was having engine trouble today.

They started on some mustard today so the joke always is that M is too old to cut the mustard since J usually ends up doing it, and he hates it.  It doesn't feed into the combine well and it's not fun to dig out if the header gets plugged up.  The crop wasn't the best either, on some sandy ground and it had shelled out some.  The truck drivers weren't too busy today, at least at lunchtime.  After lunch they moved to another piece that may have been better.

It was a beautiful day, warm with no wind, and the forecast looks good for the week.  Keeping our fingers crossed that we can finish this exhausting harvest this week.  At least the end is in sight!

Badly Broken

It wasn't a good day on the harvest front.  My mother-in-law was making lunch and called about 10 am to let me know that there was a hotdish in the oven and the cooler was stocked and ready, and she was on her way to Plentywood for parts because M's combine was broken down.  Not what anyone wanted to hear.  I knew it was going to happen because last night M said "we've had two uneventful days."  He realized something was wrong right after they got moved last night.  This morning he found a chunk of twisted metal in the grain tank--definitely not a good sign!

When I arrived at the field with lunch I could see that it wasn't good since half the inside of the combine was on the ground.  As it turned out, they sent our nephew for the parts so L didn't have to go.  M, C and J were all working on tearing the combine apart in the meantime while R was running the other combine.  The parts arrived shortly after they finished lunch, and then we started putting it all back together.  Our nephew was worth his weight in gold today because he's the smallest of the group so was the one who crawled into the back of the combine to get things back into place.  We got it all back together and realized that something wasn't right and discovered a piece was put back on backwards. As they were taking it apart I had asked how they remembered how it all came apart so that they were sure it all went back together right.  Apparently, someone didn't remember something correctly.  My theory is that you can never have too many heads or too many hands when tackling a project like that.  Finally, about 6:30 M was back in action.  R had a nice peaceful day in the combine instead of in the trucks, and Trip was happy just to be around people and chase the pigeons that were around the grain bin. 

M hasn't been home in three nights but said he's coming home tonight.  Not sure if it's because he misses me or because he needs clean socks and underwear.