What To Do??

We have actually had a few "what to do" days lately.  There is spraying to be done but sprinkles of rain and gale force winds for four days kind of put the kibosh on that.  M is contemplating starting to lay some hay down and has been getting the swather ready.  I think he's dragging his feet, though, because it might interfere with his lake plans?!?  J is also thinking about the lake and took the camper to town for his wife to clean and was working on his new (to him) jet ski.  I'm not holding my breath that we'll get there.

Over the weekend we went to R's best friend's wedding.  R was a groomsman so made a quick trip home to participate.  Those are always fun events, and we got to see a lot of people that we don't see often enough. He has a bit of a dilemma in that he probably has a hernia so his boss won't let him on the fire line until he has a definitive diagnosis and/or gets it fixed.  There was a chance that some of their crew could be sent to the fires in Colorado, and he was hoping to go.  He's not a very happy guy right now.  He sees the surgeon on July 6 to see where to go from here.

We had planned to go to the Opheim Rodeo on Sunday as it is the big event of the year in our area and our nieces and nephew, neighbors and friends participate.  We had to make a quick run up to check on the cow water first thing in the morning.  There is no natural water in the pasture, just a well and tank.  At first we checked it every day and started the generator.  Then M thought we could just go up every other day.  When we got there on Sunday morning the tank was dry.  Not good!  And, we could only see a few cows.  Again, not good!  We started the generator and had water pumping and went to find the cows.  They were huddled up at the gate going into the pasture we had moved them from.  They knew there was water there.  They hadn't broken through it yet, thank goodness.  They followed us back to the tank but there was a lot of pushing and shoving to get to the water and the pump couldn't keep up at that time.  We stayed there awhile to make sure they didn't break anything and went home when things settled down a bit.

By the time we got home we had missed the parade and would be late for the rodeo.  The wind was howling so we thought it might be better to stay home and watch NASCAR.  After the race M went back to check the water again.

My sister from North Carolina was here for a few days so I was glad to have time to go to my mom's for lunch with her, my mom and my sister-in-law.  Another thing I don't do often enough.

We did some cow work and moved our last six pairs to their summer pasture and a couple of cull cows back home so that they can go to the sale barn soon.  That went pretty smoothly, and I'm always surprised when it does.

My replacement at work quit and my boss is gone for a few days so at least I know what I have to do.

Whirlwind of Activity

We had a crazy few days during the artificial insemination process.  Twenty-five heifers in heat at the same time can create a circus atmosphere with them chasing each other around all day.  Insert bull testing into the middle of that equation and things could get really interesting.  The timing of those two events in close proximity to each other could have been trouble, but all came out unscathed.  The bulls were hauled back out to the neighbor's corral as soon as they were tested to avoid any problems.  We spent the weekend watching the heifers and AI-ing.  M was complaining about them being so hard to work with until I explained to him that they were all hormonal and not themselves.  He had to admit that they were better the next day. We also moved our cows from one pasture to the next on Sunday--after we watched the NASCAR race, of course.  It was cold and windy and threatening to rain so not that much fun.  I was in the Jeep, though, so was pretty much out of the elements, thank goodness.

We finished AI-ing on Monday and hauled the heifers to pasture.  M and Roger had done ten of ours Monday morning, went to Wolf Point to work a bunch of heifers for another friend and then came back here to do our final ten in the evening.  Roger was a bit pooped and ready for a beer but commented that it's still better than a real job!  I'm going to miss having him around--he's much more gentlemanly than my husband!

M picked up his two new bulls on Monday so on Tuesday morning we branded them and took them to the pasture to get to work.  Then we had to take a water truck and some lunch to Opheim to J.  We had just gotten home and were getting ready to load up the rest of the bulls to deliver to their respective pastures when J called and said he had the sprayer stuck.  So, back to Opheim we go again.  Thankfully, we were able to use a neighbor's tractor so we didn't have to run a tractor all the way over there.  Took us an hour to get there and five minutes to pull him out.  He wasn't being very smart crossing the coulee where he did so his dad wasn't real happy with him at that point.

So, by then it was getting a bit late to get all the bulls put out, and we didn't want to make a third trip to Opheim so the plan changed just slightly.  We took one bull to the far east pasture--5 1/2 miles and three gates through the prairie and the other five home--two to a pasture and three to the corral to wait for another day.

On Wednesday, our neighbor, John, brought some of his bulls up and we moved his cows from one pasture across some CRP to another pasture.  It was a bit of a gray day, but M had been checking on the weather radar and said he thought the rain would miss us.  We were on 4-wheelers rounding up 350 pairs and were rained on before we were done.  The move went relatively smoothly and quickly.  I just hate when they get to the new pasture and can't pair up, the calves bawling for their mamas and the cows bawling for their babies.  I know that panicky feeling when you can't find your kid!  That situation eventually sorts itself out and they find each other again.  We sat in John's pickup and had some sandwiches before heading home.  By then it was raining pretty good so we had to ride the 4-wheelers home in the rain.  About the time we got to the yard the sun came out--it figures!  We did, however, have a couple more storms roll through during the day.  It was good to get home and into dry clothes with a cup of hot tea in my hand!

M and J decided to go to Glasgow to finalize the new tractor purchase (the one that was supposed to be here a month or more ago) since it was rainy.  I was very happy to see the back of M's head going out the door without me so I could catch up on some housework--mainly laundry.

The rest of the bulls were delivered to their respective pastures yesterday while I was at work.  I dislike having to deal with them, but I never want M to do it alone.  He managed just fine without me.

This morning we were off again to check the water tank in the pasture and rig up a float.  We pump water to it with a generator and have been guessing how much gas we need to pump as much water as we need.  With the float we can fill the generator with gas and it will shut off when the float floats.  Someone has to go check on it at least every other day.  We've been up to check on it almost every day lately, and it is a long but scenic and peaceful drive through the prairie.  I love the smells and the wildflowers, the big blue sky.  The country is so green and beautiful this time of year.  I often feel sad for people who don't get to live this way.  M loves to drive his Jeep and look at his cows.  We leased quite a bit more pasture this year--more than we really need--and I tease him about feeling like Ben Cartwright.  Today I commented that he must be a very happy man, out in his Jeep driving across the Ponderosa.  He smiled and agreed and said, "the only way I could be happier is if I had a sandwich."

Wide open spaces!

Calves are growing and looking good.

Breeding Season

Life has been a bit hectic and busy after our short vacation to Denver (which was a ton of fun by the way).  We had some catch up to do and now are getting ready for breeding season (the cows, not us).  Our friend, Roger, is going to artificially inseminate our heifers.  It's our first time doing things that way so we're learning as we go. 

First thing this morning we had to move the heifers from the pasture to the barn.  We've been having the debate for a few weeks now as to whether we will be chasing them home or leading them home.  They've become a bit like pets (okay, A LOT) and come running to us when we come into the pasture.  We pretty much led them to the gate and out of the pasture.  Then we had to cross some seeded fields and had to chase them.  They pretty much knew where they were going, though, so we mostly just had to keep up with the 4-wheelers.

Since that went so smoothly we had time to go to Richland and get a water truck for J and C who were spraying crop before Roger arrived.  We started running the heifers through to give them a shot to bring them into heat, apply a heat sensor patch to their backs and pour them for flies.  M was called away to give C a ride so Roger and I finished up.

Then we rounded up some pairs to move to Opheim and corralled them until after lunch.  After lunch, M had to go get more water for the spraying crew so Roger and I sorted the pairs and loaded them and took them to pasture near my brother's house.  That went smoothly, too.  Roger thinks M has me trained pretty well.

We had two more pairs to take to a different pasture so we got them loaded and M and Roger dropped me off at home and took them.  They then had to go load bulls and bring them home since the vet will be out in the morning to test them.

They had originally planned to do that yesterday which would have been great for me because I was supposed to work so wouldn't have to help.  Sadly, we had to go to the funeral of a friend yesterday so the bull testing was rescheduled.  Now I have no excuse to be absent from that fun event.

Roger lives about 80 miles away so is staying with us while the AI-ing is going on.  He told M to keep him busy while he was here.  M is pretty sure that won't be a problem.  I say, oh Roger, be careful what you ask for!