We have had very wintry weather lately with snow, wind and very cold temperatures. It's WAY too early to be having below zero temps! One day last week I left work early because it was snowing so heavily and I wanted to get home before dark. That 35-mile drive can get mighty long sometimes! I have driven more than enough miles on ice and snow and through blizzards. I'm really losing interest in doing it anymore.
R went to Missoula last weekend for the Cat-Griz football game and fought bad roads all the way there and back. He also froze his toes at the football game. We were happy to watch the game indoors on TV and super happy that our Cats won. One of the players that isn't a Montana native called it the greatest rivalry in the nation.
We babysat Trip while R was gone, and he was a very good doggy. He seems to be healing well from his broken pelvis. We were pretty worried about him for awhile, but he's bounced back well. He and Pete actually played together so that's a good thing. It's taken awhile for Pete to warm up to Trip.
Yesterday we had to be in Scobey (35 miles east) by 9:00 am and in Glasgow (100 miles south and west from Scobey) by 1:00 pm. Our morning meeting on our CSP projects lasted until 11:00 so we had just enough time to get to Glasgow, get a quick bite to eat and get to our 1:00 meeting. That lasted about 5 minutes. I had a medical appointment at 2:00, we got groceries and headed back home. It was snowing and blowing the whole way but the roads were clear.
M's parents have been stuck in Rapid City, SD with his sister for the past month while his dad has been doctoring. He was hospitalized last week and released yesterday. He was supposed to have a stress test the other day. M suggested that we just pull out the co-op bill from July or the quote we just got on a new combine and see how he handled that stress! Always a comedian. Hopefully, they will get on their way to Arizona soon.
Tomorrow we are leaving for Billings and then on Saturday we'll be going to the lovely island of Kauai where we will be for a week. Hopefully, the roads to Billings aren't too awful. After this year from hell, M deserves a good vacation, and I guess I have been nice enough to him that he decided to take me along. So, our Thanksgiving dinner is nothing fancy and just us and R. We have to pack and get our ducks in a row.
We have so much to be thankful for, a healthy, loving family, a roof over our head and food on the table. God has truly blessed us, and we will be eternally grateful for all He has done in our lives.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Okay, I'm Cold Already!
There hasn't been too much excitement around here lately, and we actually had a fairly quiet weekend. I did have five here for lunch on Friday--our banker, M, C, R and our neighbor, John. It was pretty much a business lunch. We were finalizing the paperwork with our banker for the loan for the land we bought recently. John was here to finish up his state reports and settle up on the custom farming we do for him. Kind of a relief to have all that stuff behind us.
Saturday M and I moved combines and a header over to Opheim to store in the hangar. The hangar had been full of wheat, but the boys cleaned it out earlier in the week so we could get machinery put away. We had a late lunch in Opheim on the way and our niece was waiting tables. The boys both took the weekend off and did some hunting but weren't successful.
M and the boys finished putting machinery inside for the winter on Monday since the forecast was calling for a change in the weather. They were predicting 6" of snow yesterday preceded by freezing rain. Thank goodness we didn't get that. We did get some snow and wind but not much accumulation. It has been snowing lightly most of the day today, and the temperature is only in the teens. I saw some below zero readings in the forecast for next week--NO!!!!
M has been busy hauling calves the past two days and has another load tomorrow. Then it looks like the cattle hauling should be over for this season. And then, we're off on vacation!!!!
Saturday M and I moved combines and a header over to Opheim to store in the hangar. The hangar had been full of wheat, but the boys cleaned it out earlier in the week so we could get machinery put away. We had a late lunch in Opheim on the way and our niece was waiting tables. The boys both took the weekend off and did some hunting but weren't successful.
M and the boys finished putting machinery inside for the winter on Monday since the forecast was calling for a change in the weather. They were predicting 6" of snow yesterday preceded by freezing rain. Thank goodness we didn't get that. We did get some snow and wind but not much accumulation. It has been snowing lightly most of the day today, and the temperature is only in the teens. I saw some below zero readings in the forecast for next week--NO!!!!
M has been busy hauling calves the past two days and has another load tomorrow. Then it looks like the cattle hauling should be over for this season. And then, we're off on vacation!!!!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Beautiful Fall Days
We've had a stretch of gorgeous fall weather. Warm, sunny, no wind, just wonderful. I've been thinking it feels more like spring than fall and that maybe those two days of wintry weather are all we're going to get. People tell me I'm crazy, but a girl can dream......
M has been super busy hauling cows and calves and comes home every night smelling like cow manure (he thinks it turns me on--NOT!). I've been having a hard time remembering where he is and where he's going. I hope he knows! When I complain about all his time away he reminds me that this craziness only lasts a few weeks and then we're going on vacation. I'm pretty sure he's taking on all this extra work so that he doesn't have to go near his "honey-do" list. Sad. He went a fall without a cattle trailer and had all kinds of people calling him so he had to get another one. Then he had to get a better one. The deal was he was supposed to sell the first one once he got the second one, but that hasn't happened yet. I'm ready for him to sell them both! I guess I shouldn't complain about him working so hard--better than living with a dead beat!
I have been trying to take advantage of the nice weather. I finally got my fall bulbs planted and did some other work in the flower beds and watered trees. I have a few more things I need to get stored away for winter and then my fall to-do list will be taken care of.
R finished hauling hay in the dark last night. I guess he wanted a day off today! It's a relief to have that job done. It was CRP hay that had to be off the CRP by Nov. 15 so they were working on a deadline. Now whatever else gets done this fall is gravy.
I think I'll go out and soak up some more of the sun while I can.
M has been super busy hauling cows and calves and comes home every night smelling like cow manure (he thinks it turns me on--NOT!). I've been having a hard time remembering where he is and where he's going. I hope he knows! When I complain about all his time away he reminds me that this craziness only lasts a few weeks and then we're going on vacation. I'm pretty sure he's taking on all this extra work so that he doesn't have to go near his "honey-do" list. Sad. He went a fall without a cattle trailer and had all kinds of people calling him so he had to get another one. Then he had to get a better one. The deal was he was supposed to sell the first one once he got the second one, but that hasn't happened yet. I'm ready for him to sell them both! I guess I shouldn't complain about him working so hard--better than living with a dead beat!
I have been trying to take advantage of the nice weather. I finally got my fall bulbs planted and did some other work in the flower beds and watered trees. I have a few more things I need to get stored away for winter and then my fall to-do list will be taken care of.
R finished hauling hay in the dark last night. I guess he wanted a day off today! It's a relief to have that job done. It was CRP hay that had to be off the CRP by Nov. 15 so they were working on a deadline. Now whatever else gets done this fall is gravy.
I think I'll go out and soak up some more of the sun while I can.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Cows and More Cows
It has been a super busy four days of cowboying around here. On Friday, we had an auditor from Verified Beef so we could get our NHTC (non-hormone treated cattle) certification. We were kind of under the gun to get it done because of some confusion and miscommunication and the guy was very helpful. That went off without a hitch, thank goodness. Saturday we rounded up our cows and calves and got everything ready for the next morning at our place and at the neighbor's. We were at the neighbor's until about 7:00 when M remembered that he needed to weld a piece on his stock trailer so we had to run to Richland to the shop and do that.
Sunday morning we were up and at it before sunrise getting the cows sorted from the calves and then the calves sorted by sex and sorting out the heifers we were planning to keep for replacements. R and C were helping us and J was over helping the neighbor's. We had to haul them into Scobey to the scale. Most years I get to help sort and load and then I can go home, but now we have more paperwork to keep track of so I had to go to the scale. We didn't get there until almost 11:00 and were there until almost 3:00. The buyer and feeders invited us out for supper so we decided not to go have lunch. We had a few calves to haul back home so we did that and had snacks and drinks at the neighbor's and then we all went back for supper. I told M's sister that we were going to supper with the cattle buyer and she said "order chicken." Shipping is always stressful no matter how good it goes so we all slept well that night!
Today we pregnancy tested the neighbor's cows and ours. J and R went to help them right away this morning while M, C and I got things ready here. We had to get the cows in again and round up the heifers. We then went to the neighbor's and got in on the last 100 of their 300 head. We had lunch there and then moved back here to do our 150 head. The vet and his helper are quite the characters and make it interesting and fun. The vet is from Canada and I always want to make fun of his Canadian accent, eh, but wouldn't want to offend him. His best comment today was "look at the sun go down over the shit pile." He usually palpates by hand to check the cows but this time he used an intravaginal ultrasound. I told him he looked like Iron Man with the battery pack on his back and the goggles. He let me look through the goggles and see a calf heartbeat. Very cool!
We've had gorgeous fall weather to get our cow work done, and I've been loving being outdoors. I bet M never thought he'd see the day when I would rather be out pregnancy testing the cows than go to work, but I was so happy that it was a Monday and I didn't have to go to my job. The bad news is I'll be cooped up indoors at work for the next three days. With the shipping and pregnancy testing done, we feel like we can catch our breath for a minute.....before we're off to something else!
Sunday morning we were up and at it before sunrise getting the cows sorted from the calves and then the calves sorted by sex and sorting out the heifers we were planning to keep for replacements. R and C were helping us and J was over helping the neighbor's. We had to haul them into Scobey to the scale. Most years I get to help sort and load and then I can go home, but now we have more paperwork to keep track of so I had to go to the scale. We didn't get there until almost 11:00 and were there until almost 3:00. The buyer and feeders invited us out for supper so we decided not to go have lunch. We had a few calves to haul back home so we did that and had snacks and drinks at the neighbor's and then we all went back for supper. I told M's sister that we were going to supper with the cattle buyer and she said "order chicken." Shipping is always stressful no matter how good it goes so we all slept well that night!
Today we pregnancy tested the neighbor's cows and ours. J and R went to help them right away this morning while M, C and I got things ready here. We had to get the cows in again and round up the heifers. We then went to the neighbor's and got in on the last 100 of their 300 head. We had lunch there and then moved back here to do our 150 head. The vet and his helper are quite the characters and make it interesting and fun. The vet is from Canada and I always want to make fun of his Canadian accent, eh, but wouldn't want to offend him. His best comment today was "look at the sun go down over the shit pile." He usually palpates by hand to check the cows but this time he used an intravaginal ultrasound. I told him he looked like Iron Man with the battery pack on his back and the goggles. He let me look through the goggles and see a calf heartbeat. Very cool!
We've had gorgeous fall weather to get our cow work done, and I've been loving being outdoors. I bet M never thought he'd see the day when I would rather be out pregnancy testing the cows than go to work, but I was so happy that it was a Monday and I didn't have to go to my job. The bad news is I'll be cooped up indoors at work for the next three days. With the shipping and pregnancy testing done, we feel like we can catch our breath for a minute.....before we're off to something else!
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