Road Trip

Yesterday we took a fun little trip to Grass Range, Montana, just a 250 mile (one way) jaunt.  We bought a pickup just before Christmas and needed a bale bed put on it.  There was a guy there that handles the beds and put it on for us.  He had picked the pickup up in Glasgow a couple of weeks ago so we had to go get it.

We had originally thought we'd make a weekend of it and spend the night in Billings, but we had too much going on to do that so yesterday was the only day we could do it for awhile.  We were up at 4:30 am, left the house a little before 5:00 and left Richland before 5:30 after hooking up the trailer (to bring the pickup box home) and fueling up.  I had a moment of panic when M plugged in the lights for the trailer and they didn't work.  Been there before--spending hours trying to get trailer lights working.  He jiggled connections and got them to work--sort of.

We ran through a bit of freezing rain but not much, and it was bright and sunny by the time we came back.  In fact, it was about 50 degrees in Grass Range at 9:00 am when we got there.  A beautiful day for a drive. 

We needed to pick up an auger in Malta but the co-op we were buying it from was only open until noon.  M didn't think there was any way we would get back there in time, but when we left Grass Range about 30 minutes after we arrived there he thought we could make it.  I was hoping we wouldn't because I didn't want to have to pull an auger home.  We pulled in at 11:50, picked up the auger (after the guy tried to charge me almost $1000 more than he had quoted M on the phone--thank goodness I had a clue that it was too much), had lunch and were back on the road at 1:30.  M pulled the auger and I pulled the trailer with the pickup box on it.

We were back to Opheim by 3:30 and stopped to have a beer and were back in Richland before dark.

I got to haul bales in style this morning with the new pickup.  It's a different bed than we had so it'll take some getting used to.  I just don't want to be the first one to dent or break something!

I don't think it will look this nice for long!

Back on Duty

I have finally started going to help with the cow chores again.  I think M was getting a bit impatient with me, but I'm really not much help.  I bet he was thrilled the day I just watched him fill and haul a bunch of feed buckets.  I specifically asked my doctor about hauling feed buckets, and he said I couldn't do it.  My main job is as the gatekeeper.  It saves M a lot of in and out of the tractor.  I also have been taking bales to him with the bale pickup so he doesn't have to come back to the hay yard with the tractor and processor.  That saves him time.  I can also chop the ice in the water tanks and feed the barn cats.

The first day I went along the temperature was in the high 20s with no wind so it was really nice.  The next day was a bit windy.  Yesterday it was 10 degrees below zero.  He fed close to the yard so I sat in the pickup most of the time to stay warm.  Today was a little warmer, about 0, so I was okay.

I'm enjoying getting out and getting some fresh air, and I try to make lots of steps to get my exercise.  I'm still wearing my brace part of each day and being careful.  We had a few warm days (above freezing) so things got a little slick.  I came close to falling once, but so far, so good.

I'm still working on getting some of the heifer calves to the point where I can pet them, and I think they'll get used to me soon.  I have a favorite one, but somehow it has R's brand on it!

The days seem to be flying by.  Winter rears it's ugly head once in awhile, but we really can't complain about the weather.  Throw in an almost-two-week vacation to the sunny south and spring will be here before we know it.  Hopefully, by then I will be back to normal.

Out With the Old

There was nasty weather in our forecast last week and M suggested that if we got the blizzard they were calling for we should tackle cleaning out our storage room.  It had gotten to the point that there was just a path through to get to the water softener, and we really didn't even know what was in there.  Big job, but it really needed to be done.

Sure enough, we had our first blizzard day of the winter on Friday.  M made it safely to the cows and back, and we gathered up garbage bags and set to work. We eventually had a pickup load of garbage in the middle of our family room in the basement.  We didn't quite finish before we were tired and hungry so gave up for that day.

Saturday was bright and sunny but really cold, like below zero cold.  M did his cow chores and then loaded up the pile in the basement (after shoveling through the drift in front of the basement door) and hauled it to the dumpster in town.  While he was gone I worked in the storage room a little bit, mostly sorting nails.  We should never, ever have to buy another nail with all we have left from when we built the house.  He had some plowing of snow to do so he could get to the shop so it was lunch time before he got home.  Then he rested...and then the football games were on, so, nothing more was accomplished on our project. 

On Sunday, I laid down the law that we were going to finish our project because I know how things go around here, and I wasn't going to have that mess for two years!  After chores he went to the shop to get the trucks in so they'd be ready to haul on Monday.  I thought maybe I had scared him off and he was never coming home!  He did and we finished the job.  Now he has a small workbench, all his tools are arranged and in sight so he remembers what he has, we again remember what we have down there, and we can walk all the way through the room.  There are a few more things that can probably go, but I hate throwing out things that are perfectly good and could be useful to someone.....like TV's. 

I'm kind of an anti-waste person, but who needs so much crap?!?  Around here, it's hard to find a place to take stuff.  I'm tired of having every drawer, cupboard and closet full to bursting so there may (should) be a lot more cleaning projects going on.  I told K that my next step may be the closet in J's old room.  She's pretty sure that he doesn't need any of it which translates to mean she doesn't want any more stuff moved to their house.

I have quite a list of projects I want to start on:  organizing my recipes that are ripped out of magazines and newspapers and stuffed in a cupboard, rearranging the extra bedrooms now that I have a new bed and moved the old one downstairs, finding pictures to make a photo book of his childhood for J now that he's going to be a daddy, the never-ending attempt at making more sense of my office, plus working on year-end book work (mandatory) and starting baby projects (fabric is arriving daily!).

Today I went with K to her doctor appointment and heard my grandbaby's heartbeat.  Such a cool sound, almost made me cry.  The baby projects may move to the top of my to-do list.

And We're Off.....

Happy New Year!  I seriously think it is going to take awhile to get used to it being January already, let alone getting used to 2013.  I worked on New Year's Eve day, and we stayed home and watched a movie that night and were in bed by 11.  Not much ringing in of the new year for us!  We did spend some time with my brother's family on New Year's Day so it sort of seemed like a holiday.

I had my checkup with my back doctor on the 4th.  He said my x-rays looked good and that I could start weaning out of the brace which I had already started, but no, I can't haul feed buckets yet. Yes, I asked that specific question.  No heavy lifting for six months.  By then I will be so wimpy that I won't be able to lift even if I want to!  I need to start some exercises to get some strength back, and I need to get out of that brace by the time we go on our trip in February.

Today we vaccinated, branded and re-tagged our heifer calves.  We had 119 to do (59 of ours and 60 of the neighbor's).  Thank goodness we had our A-team to help; R and our friend and bovine expert, Roger.  The process went relatively smoothly. but I find I'm not as much help as I used to be...sigh.  The local vet and her team are pretty efficient and a good bunch of people to work with.  They have a young Brazilian man working with them.  He thought it was too cold to be working cattle.  We politely informed him that it was a nice day and at least 15 degrees warmer than when we did it last year.  R and I each got five heifers.  He thinks he picked the best five after running them all through the chute.  Only time will tell.

I hope the new year is good for all of you.....and for us!