The action picked up considerably yesterday. We had eight cows produce nine babies--yes, a set of twins arrived, much to the consternation of the mother! She seems a bit confused but doesn't seem to be fighting either of them so we're keeping our fingers crossed that they'll be okay. We don't have another cow to put one on right now.
R did his check through the calving pasture just before dark last night and found two calves. One cow was alternately licking and kicking her calf so he tried to get them to the barn. The cow wouldn't follow the calf on the sled so he tried to chase the cow to the barn, and she wasn't having any of that either. Rather than leave the calf in a snowbank he put it just inside the windbreak to see if the cow would eventually come to it. We went over about an hour later, and she hadn't come to the calf so we put it in the barn and gave it a bottle. It was a good sucker, but I was really hoping it wouldn't think I was it's mama. This morning we got her chased in although we had to bring a few more cows along with her to get her in. M put her in the maternity pen to give the calf an opportunity to suck without her kicking at it. That seemed to go okay, so now they are in a pen in the barn. She seems interested in the calf and isn't kicking at it, and the calf is aggressive enough that they should get along just fine. She's just a bit high strung whenever people are around. That might wear off after a day or two.
With all the monkeying around with cows and babies and chopping and filling up the feeders, we were still home by 9:30. Yes, I need a nap........
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
From Snow to Slop
We've had a few days now that really feel like spring and around here spring means slop, especially with the abundant snowfall we've had in the past month. There is water running through the yard and the pens are getting pretty soft. Funny how when it's messier outside my house stays cleaner inside....because the dog can't come in! He tries to stay clean, but it's nearly impossible. We've had some slow calf days, though, with only two yesterday. Guess the weather is too nice! Yesterday I went into the barn and it was empty. Seems like that hasn't happened in quite awhile.
A few days ago we decided to do some animal pen switching to give the cows and calves more room and have them less confined. The move required a bit of a game of musical pens. Anyway, now the cows and calves are out in the holding area and the cows yet to calve are in the pens. It's fun to watch the calves running and jumping and enjoying the sun on their backs. We only have a few heifers left so they are in the corral. We have easier access to the barn if we need to get a cow in. It went much more smoothly than M thought it would and really didn't take long at all. We have our later calvers out in our calving pasture but may bring them in and sort off the ones that look more close to calving. Every few days one calves out there, and we have to try to get it to the barn which is not always an easy task.
This morning M wanted to get a truck full of grain screenings up to the neighbor who is feeding our replacement heifers, but we had to do it early while the ground was still frozen. We woke up to pouring down rain that was freezing. Needed some ice skates out there, wow, was it slick! We had a new calf to get in and then M took off with the truck and I brought the pickup with a couple of bales while R did the feeding. I was pretty nervous about making the turn onto the highway (we've shot off into the ditch there before!), but it was fine. The road was in perfect condition, not too icy, but not yet thawing. We left the truck at the neighbors and brought our stock trailer back. We weren't there long, visited with fencer Bob for a minute and hooked onto the trailer, but by the time we headed home the rain had stopped and the sun was starting to come out and the road had gotten messy. There's a big hill right before you get back to the highway, and it felt to me like we were going down it sideways....with a trailer behind. I was holding on tight, but M wasn't too bothered by it.
R arrived back home last night for an Easter break and will be here about a week and a half so he'll be on cow duty while M tries to get some other things done. He was ready to get away from the city and roommates. He only has about six more weeks of school but is fretting about what he's going to do with the rest of his life. His dad has some ideas, but for now he's keeping them to himself.
This time of year I have to put on my Betty Crocker face and do some baking. Yesterday I made hot cross buns and I'll need to be making M's birthday cake and birthday lasagna this weekend. I'm sure R was surprised when he came home and my house smelled like fresh baked buns. He always says there's nothing to eat in my house.....and he's usually right.
Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays, just for the joyful message of hope that it brings. I hope everyone feels the power of God's love for the world and has a joyful Easter!
A few days ago we decided to do some animal pen switching to give the cows and calves more room and have them less confined. The move required a bit of a game of musical pens. Anyway, now the cows and calves are out in the holding area and the cows yet to calve are in the pens. It's fun to watch the calves running and jumping and enjoying the sun on their backs. We only have a few heifers left so they are in the corral. We have easier access to the barn if we need to get a cow in. It went much more smoothly than M thought it would and really didn't take long at all. We have our later calvers out in our calving pasture but may bring them in and sort off the ones that look more close to calving. Every few days one calves out there, and we have to try to get it to the barn which is not always an easy task.
This morning M wanted to get a truck full of grain screenings up to the neighbor who is feeding our replacement heifers, but we had to do it early while the ground was still frozen. We woke up to pouring down rain that was freezing. Needed some ice skates out there, wow, was it slick! We had a new calf to get in and then M took off with the truck and I brought the pickup with a couple of bales while R did the feeding. I was pretty nervous about making the turn onto the highway (we've shot off into the ditch there before!), but it was fine. The road was in perfect condition, not too icy, but not yet thawing. We left the truck at the neighbors and brought our stock trailer back. We weren't there long, visited with fencer Bob for a minute and hooked onto the trailer, but by the time we headed home the rain had stopped and the sun was starting to come out and the road had gotten messy. There's a big hill right before you get back to the highway, and it felt to me like we were going down it sideways....with a trailer behind. I was holding on tight, but M wasn't too bothered by it.
R arrived back home last night for an Easter break and will be here about a week and a half so he'll be on cow duty while M tries to get some other things done. He was ready to get away from the city and roommates. He only has about six more weeks of school but is fretting about what he's going to do with the rest of his life. His dad has some ideas, but for now he's keeping them to himself.
This time of year I have to put on my Betty Crocker face and do some baking. Yesterday I made hot cross buns and I'll need to be making M's birthday cake and birthday lasagna this weekend. I'm sure R was surprised when he came home and my house smelled like fresh baked buns. He always says there's nothing to eat in my house.....and he's usually right.
Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays, just for the joyful message of hope that it brings. I hope everyone feels the power of God's love for the world and has a joyful Easter!
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Cow Camp (Digging Out Part IV)
It's been a long week. In fact, we haven't slept in our own bed for the past four nights. We've been having snow and wind and cold temps so have been camping out at the in-laws house at the farm. Thank goodness we have a nice warm place to go (with satellite TV). We checked the cows frequently and brought any new calves into the barn until they were at least a day old. The barn got pretty full at times when we had six calves in a day. Thank goodness they haven't been coming any faster than that. We spent the nights at our "cow camp" so we could check late at night and in the early morning without having to fight the road between our house and the cows. The days kind of all run together since they were all pretty snowy and blustery.
I had to go to my job in town on Friday because my boss and his wife were out of town. We had spent the night at the farm so M brought me home in the tractor and cleaned out our yard so I could get to work. The roads were not good with ice and snowdrifts. I was not happy that I had to be out in that. That's part of why I'm semi-retired, so I wouldn't have to be out on days like that. It proceeded to snow ALL day so I was pretty sure that I wouldn't get home that night. About 4:30 the sun came out and it quit snowing in town. Hallelujah! I made the trek home and the highway was actually better on the drive home except that the north lane was partially blocked in a lot of spots. I drove in the middle of road a lot--good thing there's not a lot of traffic. When I got closer to Richland I ran out of sun and it was still snowing and blowing. I was worried about making it home without getting stuck and M was supposed to meet me, but he was tied up with a cow and calf so I ventured on and plowed my way through. He picked me up at our house, and we headed back to the farm where we stayed until this morning. M spent a lot of Saturday digging out again. He had to plow a path so that he could even get to the cows in the back calving pasture to feed them and then piled up some snow to act as a wind break.
Our cows are pretty gentle and easy to get along with, but once they have a baby all bets are off. One day we found one with a calf and wanted to get it to the barn but the cow wouldn't let us get close. She tried to run over M so we went back to get the sled. We tied it to the pickup since we weren't sure what she'd do if we tried to pull it by hand, and it was too cold to get a 4-wheeler started. By the time we got back with the pickup she was fine and followed along....until we got to the barn. Then she took off and made some laps around the yard before we could get her in. We're really happy with our heifers. They are calm and good mothers.
It was a nicer day today, and we actually saw some sun. It's still too cold for this time of year, though, and we have WAY too much snow. M plowed us home late this morning so we could have our Sunday pancakes and watch the race and I caught up on laundry. We did our check right before dark and put a heifer in that looked close to calving. So, we're off to make another check before bed. I'm getting used to our moonlit walks every night......so romantic......or not!
I had to go to my job in town on Friday because my boss and his wife were out of town. We had spent the night at the farm so M brought me home in the tractor and cleaned out our yard so I could get to work. The roads were not good with ice and snowdrifts. I was not happy that I had to be out in that. That's part of why I'm semi-retired, so I wouldn't have to be out on days like that. It proceeded to snow ALL day so I was pretty sure that I wouldn't get home that night. About 4:30 the sun came out and it quit snowing in town. Hallelujah! I made the trek home and the highway was actually better on the drive home except that the north lane was partially blocked in a lot of spots. I drove in the middle of road a lot--good thing there's not a lot of traffic. When I got closer to Richland I ran out of sun and it was still snowing and blowing. I was worried about making it home without getting stuck and M was supposed to meet me, but he was tied up with a cow and calf so I ventured on and plowed my way through. He picked me up at our house, and we headed back to the farm where we stayed until this morning. M spent a lot of Saturday digging out again. He had to plow a path so that he could even get to the cows in the back calving pasture to feed them and then piled up some snow to act as a wind break.
Our cows are pretty gentle and easy to get along with, but once they have a baby all bets are off. One day we found one with a calf and wanted to get it to the barn but the cow wouldn't let us get close. She tried to run over M so we went back to get the sled. We tied it to the pickup since we weren't sure what she'd do if we tried to pull it by hand, and it was too cold to get a 4-wheeler started. By the time we got back with the pickup she was fine and followed along....until we got to the barn. Then she took off and made some laps around the yard before we could get her in. We're really happy with our heifers. They are calm and good mothers.
It was a nicer day today, and we actually saw some sun. It's still too cold for this time of year, though, and we have WAY too much snow. M plowed us home late this morning so we could have our Sunday pancakes and watch the race and I caught up on laundry. We did our check right before dark and put a heifer in that looked close to calving. So, we're off to make another check before bed. I'm getting used to our moonlit walks every night......so romantic......or not!
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| Essential ranching tools--sorting paddle, shovel, pitchfork, attitude adjuster. |
Monday, March 18, 2013
More Winter (Digging Out Part III)
We've had a busy 24 hours after another winter storm. We laugh at how these winter storms get named once they get to Minnesota--no one cares about us in the west. But I digress. We had a winter storm warning on Friday with 100% chance of snow in the forecast and didn't get a flake. That storm apparently took a track to the north, thank goodness. So, when there was another winter storm warning issued for Sunday we were hoping it would take that same track (sorry, Saskatchewan), but it didn't. We had heavy, wet snow all morning with wind in the forecast for the afternoon. We did our morning feeding chores and made sure there was a good supply of straw in all the pens. We had one heifer looking like she was ready to calve so we put her in the barn and ran home for a little while. M went to check on her right before the NASCAR race started, and she had had the calf with no problem.
We watched the race with one eye out the window. It continued to snow, but the wind didn't kick in until the end of the race. As soon as it was over (yes, we're race fanatics), we packed an overnight bag and some groceries and took off to the cows intending to spend the night at the house at the farm. Those two miles in between get mighty long when you can't see 10 feet in front of you, so we weren't going to be driving back and forth. We didn't go over any too soon.
As soon as we got there, we put all the heifers with calves back in the barn. Those poor little things were wet with snow. We also put in a couple of heifers that looked close to calving. I'd thought one of mine looked close for a few days so M asked if I wanted her in, too. Of course, I did so in she went. She is so calm and nice, but she'd been on the fight a little bit, pushing other cows around, so I thought she must be getting close.
We had a couple of cows with calves so we pushed them into the corral with the pregnant heifers so they could get some shelter in the shed and stay warmer. Then we let the cows in the calving pasture into the back pens where the heifers with babies had been so that they could get more shelter.
We checked on them again just before dark and nothing was calving. There were already big drifts in the yard so that we couldn't take the pickup from the house to the barn. We checked again about 11 and decided to move a couple of the pregnant heifers into the front of the barn so they weren't in the midst of the ones that already had calves. We had to do a bit of cleaning up and put some panels up to keep them out of all the stuff we have stored in there. I recall when R was leaving us to go back to school that I said his would be mighty big shoes to fill and I would not be checking heifers in the dark in a blizzard like he did. I had to eat those words, I guess.
We then went to bed, but I don't think either of us slept much. We were in a double bed which we're not used to. This morning M said I had all the covers. I told him he had all the bed!
We were up before daylight and it was -4 degrees. Not good calving weather! We went out to check and one of the heifers had just calved.....and made a mess of the barn in the process! M went to check the cows that we had locked in the windbreak and found one there ready to go. She was happy, eager even, to go to the barn, and we had no trouble getting her in. We went to have breakfast, and she had calved by the time we came back to check on her. We went to feed and by then my heifer had had her calf. Very lucky that we had all three of them in the barn and not outside. A new, wet baby wouldn't last long out in that weather.
Thankfully, the sun is out today and the wind isn't howling so we can see where we have to dig out. M had to plow into the calving pasture so he could feed those cows. He also plowed a path from the house so we could get our pickup out, and then he plowed us home. There was a waist-high drift in front of our garage but just a few on the road. Could have been worse.
We're ready for naps, now, so we can dream of spring which is only a two days away, right?
We watched the race with one eye out the window. It continued to snow, but the wind didn't kick in until the end of the race. As soon as it was over (yes, we're race fanatics), we packed an overnight bag and some groceries and took off to the cows intending to spend the night at the house at the farm. Those two miles in between get mighty long when you can't see 10 feet in front of you, so we weren't going to be driving back and forth. We didn't go over any too soon.
As soon as we got there, we put all the heifers with calves back in the barn. Those poor little things were wet with snow. We also put in a couple of heifers that looked close to calving. I'd thought one of mine looked close for a few days so M asked if I wanted her in, too. Of course, I did so in she went. She is so calm and nice, but she'd been on the fight a little bit, pushing other cows around, so I thought she must be getting close.
We had a couple of cows with calves so we pushed them into the corral with the pregnant heifers so they could get some shelter in the shed and stay warmer. Then we let the cows in the calving pasture into the back pens where the heifers with babies had been so that they could get more shelter.
We checked on them again just before dark and nothing was calving. There were already big drifts in the yard so that we couldn't take the pickup from the house to the barn. We checked again about 11 and decided to move a couple of the pregnant heifers into the front of the barn so they weren't in the midst of the ones that already had calves. We had to do a bit of cleaning up and put some panels up to keep them out of all the stuff we have stored in there. I recall when R was leaving us to go back to school that I said his would be mighty big shoes to fill and I would not be checking heifers in the dark in a blizzard like he did. I had to eat those words, I guess.
We then went to bed, but I don't think either of us slept much. We were in a double bed which we're not used to. This morning M said I had all the covers. I told him he had all the bed!
We were up before daylight and it was -4 degrees. Not good calving weather! We went out to check and one of the heifers had just calved.....and made a mess of the barn in the process! M went to check the cows that we had locked in the windbreak and found one there ready to go. She was happy, eager even, to go to the barn, and we had no trouble getting her in. We went to have breakfast, and she had calved by the time we came back to check on her. We went to feed and by then my heifer had had her calf. Very lucky that we had all three of them in the barn and not outside. A new, wet baby wouldn't last long out in that weather.
Thankfully, the sun is out today and the wind isn't howling so we can see where we have to dig out. M had to plow into the calving pasture so he could feed those cows. He also plowed a path from the house so we could get our pickup out, and then he plowed us home. There was a waist-high drift in front of our garage but just a few on the road. Could have been worse.
We're ready for naps, now, so we can dream of spring which is only a two days away, right?
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
More Fun on the Ranch
It seems to be a week of "what can go wrong, will go wrong", starting with the blizzard and digging out. We knew we needed to get the couple of open cows and some late calves we'd been feeding all winter to market to open up some pens and get ready for the new calves that will be coming. J agreed to haul them to Glasgow for us on Thursday morning. M assured him we'd have them cut out and ready to load by 9:00 am. I was dubious about that for several reasons; a) I wasn't sure we could get the trailer out of the snow, b) we would be sorting two smart old cows and some stupid calves from possibly stupid pregnant heifers, c) I wasn't sure the trailer could navigate the snowbanks on the road out. As it turned out, things went pretty smoothly. M had plowed up to the trailer, and it came right out. The heifers worked very well, and it took no time to get them sorted out. The cows were a bit hard to load, but it didn't take too much cursing to get them in the trailer. Sadly, one of R's replacement heifer calves got wild on us so we decided to just send it down the road as well. He had picked out some nice ones and we're not sure what happened to that one.
We had been needing to get our replacement heifer calves moved over to the neighbor's but had plowing to do first. M was sure he could plow the trail through the fields to save us a bunch of miles. The rest of us thought he was crazy and apparently we were right because he didn't get far and gave up. The county snowplow showed up on Friday to plow the road to the neighbor's (the one M had shoveled a hole through so we could go get our tractor) and J was plowing over there because they were cleaning grain there. We didn't get time to haul any calves over on Saturday, but when our first calf arrived Sunday morning we had more of a sense of urgency.
M had walked through the heifer pen first thing on Sunday morning and nothing was happening. Not 20 minutes later I was waiting for him to come with a bale and heard a cow making strange noises so looked in the pen and one had a calf. That's the way we want them to calve! We have four now and they've all been nice, small calves and unassisted births.
We decided we'd better load up some calves and start hauling them so we loaded both our trailers, and we each took a load over. As M was pulling the first trailer away, the handle of the trailer gate hooked on the barn door and kicked the hitch pin out and the gate started to come open. Luckily, I saw it and ran to catch up and caught the gate before it came all the way open. I had to put my whole self into it to hold the calf that was partially out until M could come help me get it pushed back in and the door shut. Good save!! We were back home in time to watch the NASCAR race but had enough daylight to take two more loads after it was over.
M thought he could get the rest hauled on Monday while I was at work. He didn't count on a gate coming open and the calves getting mixed in with some of the cows. That was very weird considering we hadn't been through that gate the day before and everything was fine when we were there Sunday afternoon. I was just so happy that I was going to my town job and didn't have to deal with sorting things back out. The weather didn't cooperate either with strong winds and drifting snow so that the roads were drifting in again. There are another 10 head that we have to move today as well as feed troughs and feed buckets.
I ended up not making it home from work that night but stayed in town with my mother-in-law. I didn't think she'd mind the company and I didn't want to venture out by myself on nasty roads with poor visibility. I'm so over that, guess I'm getting old. We went out for pizza and stopped at J and K's house to check out their new living room and master bedroom carpet, master bath tile and the baby stuff that's accumulating. K is determined to have their remodel project mostly wrapped up by the time the baby comes, and they are making good progress.
That baby will be here before we know it, 9 weeks left, so my plan today is to get started on the baby quilt if M will leave me alone.
We had been needing to get our replacement heifer calves moved over to the neighbor's but had plowing to do first. M was sure he could plow the trail through the fields to save us a bunch of miles. The rest of us thought he was crazy and apparently we were right because he didn't get far and gave up. The county snowplow showed up on Friday to plow the road to the neighbor's (the one M had shoveled a hole through so we could go get our tractor) and J was plowing over there because they were cleaning grain there. We didn't get time to haul any calves over on Saturday, but when our first calf arrived Sunday morning we had more of a sense of urgency.
M had walked through the heifer pen first thing on Sunday morning and nothing was happening. Not 20 minutes later I was waiting for him to come with a bale and heard a cow making strange noises so looked in the pen and one had a calf. That's the way we want them to calve! We have four now and they've all been nice, small calves and unassisted births.
We decided we'd better load up some calves and start hauling them so we loaded both our trailers, and we each took a load over. As M was pulling the first trailer away, the handle of the trailer gate hooked on the barn door and kicked the hitch pin out and the gate started to come open. Luckily, I saw it and ran to catch up and caught the gate before it came all the way open. I had to put my whole self into it to hold the calf that was partially out until M could come help me get it pushed back in and the door shut. Good save!! We were back home in time to watch the NASCAR race but had enough daylight to take two more loads after it was over.
M thought he could get the rest hauled on Monday while I was at work. He didn't count on a gate coming open and the calves getting mixed in with some of the cows. That was very weird considering we hadn't been through that gate the day before and everything was fine when we were there Sunday afternoon. I was just so happy that I was going to my town job and didn't have to deal with sorting things back out. The weather didn't cooperate either with strong winds and drifting snow so that the roads were drifting in again. There are another 10 head that we have to move today as well as feed troughs and feed buckets.
I ended up not making it home from work that night but stayed in town with my mother-in-law. I didn't think she'd mind the company and I didn't want to venture out by myself on nasty roads with poor visibility. I'm so over that, guess I'm getting old. We went out for pizza and stopped at J and K's house to check out their new living room and master bedroom carpet, master bath tile and the baby stuff that's accumulating. K is determined to have their remodel project mostly wrapped up by the time the baby comes, and they are making good progress.
That baby will be here before we know it, 9 weeks left, so my plan today is to get started on the baby quilt if M will leave me alone.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Digging Out, Parts I and II
Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day to see how the snow piled up. The cows are getting very close to calving so we wanted to get them in and sorted. First, we had to clean out the pens that were full of snow and dig out the gates to make them usable. That took a couple of hours. We had the cows locked in the yard during the storm so it wasn't much trouble to push them into the corral and start sorting. We had to sort out some open cows that we need to sell, the pregnant heifers, and the early calvers from the late ones. That took awhile, but we got it done without too much trouble. Then we had to get everything fed which meant plowing to get bales out and plowing through the calving pasture to find a good place to feed. It was a long, exhausting day, and we were both tired and footsore by the end. I kept thinking about how when I go to my actual job I don't start until 9:00 and I get a lunch break instead of starting at 7:30 and getting no breaks.
Today was not as nice a day. The temperature may have been warmer, but we had clouds, fog and wind so it felt colder. M continued to work on cleaning snow out of the pens. He wanted me to bring the pickup with the mineral tubs into the calving pasture while he was chopping hay. I thought the snow looked a little deep even though he had plowed a path, but I dived in......and got stuck.....in 4-wheel drive. So, back to get a chain so he could pull me out with the tractor.
Then he had to bring the tractor to our house to plow out our yard so I could get a vehicle out to go to town. He was almost out of milk, and I had a nail appointment! While I was in town he continued to plow. He thinks it will take weeks to get things plowed out. He may exaggerate a little bit, but he does need to go plow at the neighbor's so we can move our heifer calves over there to make more room at home during calving. He's always wanting more cows, and I keep telling him we are not set up to have more cows. I wonder if he's hearing me yet?!?!
Today was not as nice a day. The temperature may have been warmer, but we had clouds, fog and wind so it felt colder. M continued to work on cleaning snow out of the pens. He wanted me to bring the pickup with the mineral tubs into the calving pasture while he was chopping hay. I thought the snow looked a little deep even though he had plowed a path, but I dived in......and got stuck.....in 4-wheel drive. So, back to get a chain so he could pull me out with the tractor.
Then he had to bring the tractor to our house to plow out our yard so I could get a vehicle out to go to town. He was almost out of milk, and I had a nail appointment! While I was in town he continued to plow. He thinks it will take weeks to get things plowed out. He may exaggerate a little bit, but he does need to go plow at the neighbor's so we can move our heifer calves over there to make more room at home during calving. He's always wanting more cows, and I keep telling him we are not set up to have more cows. I wonder if he's hearing me yet?!?!
Monday, March 4, 2013
We Should Still Be On Vacation!
What an ugly day. Yesterday after chores we went to Scobey to have dinner with M's parents and brother and his wife and some cousins. It was raining pretty heavily (for early March anyway) when we left here and was 32 degrees. That rain eventually turned to snow and when we headed home about 5:30 the road was kind of slushy. Later in the evening the wind was howling and it was still snowing. I woke up several times during the night and could hear the wind, and when we got up early this morning it wasn't a pretty sight outside with snow, wind and very poor visibility. I was scheduled to work in town today, my first day back after our vacation, and I couldn't go. They shouldn't have been very busy since no one could go anywhere.
We had to venture the two miles to the cows and that was a challenge with the poor visibility and drifts across the road. At one point on a curve, I had to get out of the pickup and determine where the edge of the road was so that we didn't dive into the ditch. The cows were all huddled up against the windbreak and pretty white except for their eyes and noses. There was a big drift right in front of the gate so M had to back up and take a run at it. On the way over we discussed how we could move animals around so that they would all have better shelter. We have a group of late calves in a back pen that we intend to sell one of these days and planned to move them into the barn, push the heifer calves into the back pens and let the cow herd into the corral and windbreak. That plan quickly changed when we discovered a 5-foot drift in the back pen, and we couldn't get the gate open to get into the barn.
There was no point in chopping hay in that wind so M went to pick up bales with the pickup and couldn't get to them. He started shoveling to them, but the wind was blowing the snow back in faster than he could shovel it out so gave up. Both of our loader tractors were MIA, one hooked on to an auger where we were having grain cleaned and the other one at Opheim where he had been moving snow so they could get to some grain bins. Not a good time to not have one at the farm. He had to push some bales with the pickup to get them into position so he could pick them up with the bale bed and then try not to get stuck getting to the cows. The visibility was so bad that he couldn't tell the snow was deep until he was in it.
We had to just drop a couple of bales in the corral for the heifers. Again, there was a big drift in front of the gate so he had to take a run to get through it and through the gate. Then I noticed that the wire holding the bottom of the gate post on the main gate into the yard was broken so we had to fix that before we headed home. I was afraid we wouldn't get home, but the trip back seemed a bit better than the trip over. It was easier to see anyway.
J and K had gone to Deadwood, SD with some friends for the weekend and were heading home today. J called from Miles City and said the roads were bad and wondered how the weather was here. When I looked at the road report, most of the roads north of there were closed or had severe driving conditions so they stayed in Miles City.
We spent the afternoon doing paperwork and I made some cookies and bread. Eventually the sun came out, but the wind was still howling. Then about 5:00 M decides we have to go get one of the tractors. I thought he was nuts and was not excited about him dragging me out again. It took a couple of tries to get out of our yard. It had blown in that much since we had done chores. We had to go around by Richland and up to the bin site. There's a big hill just after the turn off the highway, and we were almost to the top when we ran into a big drift across the road. M shoveled a path through it so we could keep going. Yes, he's crazy. I was bitching the whole way, and if we'd have gotten stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no backup I would seriously have had to hurt him!
We did make it to the tractor...and before dark, thank goodness. We took it to Richland and put it in the shop since it is supposed to get to -5 tonight. We'll have to go get it in the morning. It was dark by the time we got home. Then he had the nerve to ask what I was making for supper. He got a can of soup. I think I'm getting to old for this.
There was some interesting art in the barn this morning where the snow had sifted in and coated the cobwebs.
We had to venture the two miles to the cows and that was a challenge with the poor visibility and drifts across the road. At one point on a curve, I had to get out of the pickup and determine where the edge of the road was so that we didn't dive into the ditch. The cows were all huddled up against the windbreak and pretty white except for their eyes and noses. There was a big drift right in front of the gate so M had to back up and take a run at it. On the way over we discussed how we could move animals around so that they would all have better shelter. We have a group of late calves in a back pen that we intend to sell one of these days and planned to move them into the barn, push the heifer calves into the back pens and let the cow herd into the corral and windbreak. That plan quickly changed when we discovered a 5-foot drift in the back pen, and we couldn't get the gate open to get into the barn.
There was no point in chopping hay in that wind so M went to pick up bales with the pickup and couldn't get to them. He started shoveling to them, but the wind was blowing the snow back in faster than he could shovel it out so gave up. Both of our loader tractors were MIA, one hooked on to an auger where we were having grain cleaned and the other one at Opheim where he had been moving snow so they could get to some grain bins. Not a good time to not have one at the farm. He had to push some bales with the pickup to get them into position so he could pick them up with the bale bed and then try not to get stuck getting to the cows. The visibility was so bad that he couldn't tell the snow was deep until he was in it.
We had to just drop a couple of bales in the corral for the heifers. Again, there was a big drift in front of the gate so he had to take a run to get through it and through the gate. Then I noticed that the wire holding the bottom of the gate post on the main gate into the yard was broken so we had to fix that before we headed home. I was afraid we wouldn't get home, but the trip back seemed a bit better than the trip over. It was easier to see anyway.
J and K had gone to Deadwood, SD with some friends for the weekend and were heading home today. J called from Miles City and said the roads were bad and wondered how the weather was here. When I looked at the road report, most of the roads north of there were closed or had severe driving conditions so they stayed in Miles City.
We spent the afternoon doing paperwork and I made some cookies and bread. Eventually the sun came out, but the wind was still howling. Then about 5:00 M decides we have to go get one of the tractors. I thought he was nuts and was not excited about him dragging me out again. It took a couple of tries to get out of our yard. It had blown in that much since we had done chores. We had to go around by Richland and up to the bin site. There's a big hill just after the turn off the highway, and we were almost to the top when we ran into a big drift across the road. M shoveled a path through it so we could keep going. Yes, he's crazy. I was bitching the whole way, and if we'd have gotten stuck out in the middle of nowhere with no backup I would seriously have had to hurt him!
We did make it to the tractor...and before dark, thank goodness. We took it to Richland and put it in the shop since it is supposed to get to -5 tonight. We'll have to go get it in the morning. It was dark by the time we got home. Then he had the nerve to ask what I was making for supper. He got a can of soup. I think I'm getting to old for this.
There was some interesting art in the barn this morning where the snow had sifted in and coated the cobwebs.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
We're Back!
Actually, we've been back for a few days. I've been busy trying to get my life back in order with paying bills, doing laundry and keeping up with chores. Thankfully, R didn't leave my house a mess. I have to admit I was a bit worried about that. We are so lucky to have great boys who looked after things very well while we were gone. I felt a little bad when we'd call home and find out it was storming and cold.
We had a great trip with 9 days in Daytona Beach. Seven of those days were spent at the track. We saw the Sprint Unlimited race which was on my birthday. First time I've had fireworks on my birthday, and it was probably my best birthday ever....except that it was a bit cold for Florida, into the 30s. Not exactly what we were expecting. We were on the infield grass for the pre-race festivities at Daytona! Pretty exciting!
The next day was Sprint Cup qualifying so there was a lot of action. From the fan zone we could watch them work on the cars and saw a lot of the drivers, owners and crew chiefs walking back and forth. We watched the 88 crew put a new engine in Dale Jr.'s car, and M wanted to volunteer to help Joe Nemecheck's crew since he doesn't have much for funding.
We took the day off on Monday and went to the Kennedy Space Center. M is a bit of a space program fanatic--he can tell you who was on what mission during the Gemini and Apollo days, the years they went up and lots more trivia. They had a "Cape Canaveral, Then and Now" tour so that's the one we chose. The tour guides were retired Air Force men that worked on the rockets so it was very interesting to hear their stories. We didn't have near enough time to see all we wanted to. We could have spent another day there....or two. I forgot my camera that day of all days so I took photos with my phone (actually, I had it in my hand but had to run back our room to look for the car keys and sat it down and the left without it). I'll post those later.
On Tuesday the weather was beautiful and we had our beach day. We went to the far south end of Daytona Beach to Ponce Inlet and walked the jetty and looked at the old lighthouse there. It didn't take us long to get a little red--even with sunscreen! It was windy every day so we felt hot and cold at the same time. It also was really humid, especially the last couple of days. Our clothes felt damp before we put them on and we had that clammy feeling all the time--yuck! How do they keep everything from molding?
Wednesday was back to the track for Sprint Cup practice, Thursday for the Budweiser Duels and Friday for the truck race. It was the first truck race for us, and we really enjoyed it. We have a friend who is a big fan of Johnny Sauter so he's a sentimental favorite......and he won! Too bad he's now in a Toyota so we can't really cheer for him. We have to draw the line somewhere.
We enjoyed the days at the track when there weren't so many people. It was noticeably more crowded on Saturday for the Nationwide race. We were on the infield and right in front for driver introductions so I got some great photos. Very cool. The weather was great with near-record temps for this time of year--that's more what we were expecting. The racing was good, too, until the last lap when there was a big wreck and car parts flew into the stands. That happened a couple of sections away from where we were but we could see the engine smoking and the tire in the stands. Scary for the people in that section.
Sunday was the big day, the Daytona 500! We headed to the track early to get a parking spot and have breakfast. We were really getting tired of paying to park, and the cost of a space went up daily. There was rain in the forecast, but we knew it wouldn't dare rain on our first Daytona 500! We were right, the showers missed us although it did make for a humid day. We spent some time in the midway where the merchandise vendors and corporate sponsors were. There was music and games, food and drinks...and too many people! We were in the infield again later and got to walk pit lane. There was a pre-race concert by the Zac Brown Band, one of my favorites. During driver introductions and the parade lap the drivers were close enough to touch. Again, very cool to see those guys up close. The race was great and our guy missed all the wrecks and came in second so we were happy. We took our time leaving the stands to miss the rush of 150,000 people trying to leave. Then we stopped and ate at a place near where we were parked to kill some more time and miss the traffic. It was about six miles from our hotel on the beach to the track and an easy drive.
By Monday morning I was ready to come home. We decided to head to Orlando so we wouldn't have to get up so early the next morning and worry about getting to our flight on time. We thought about to Universal Studios but the day got away from us after waiting for an hour and a half for breakfast (which we never got) and then running into a roadblock and having to backtrack to get out of town. We went to the Florida Mall in Orlando to kill some time. We flew out on Tuesday morning and ended up being delayed in Denver so spent 5+ hours there. Not good when we really just wanted to get home and we'd probably had enough togetherness for awhile. Once we got back to Billings we had supper and were ready for bed after being up since 3:30 am our time.
All in all, it was a great trip. The people in Florida were really friendly (except the girl at A&W at the mall) and we didn't have any problems. Our hotel was a bit of a dive with awful beds and inconsistent housekeeping, but we've stayed in worse! Now that we know the ropes we hope to get some friends and family to come along with us next time.
We are officially in cowboy mode now with calving to start very soon.....
We had a great trip with 9 days in Daytona Beach. Seven of those days were spent at the track. We saw the Sprint Unlimited race which was on my birthday. First time I've had fireworks on my birthday, and it was probably my best birthday ever....except that it was a bit cold for Florida, into the 30s. Not exactly what we were expecting. We were on the infield grass for the pre-race festivities at Daytona! Pretty exciting!
We took the day off on Monday and went to the Kennedy Space Center. M is a bit of a space program fanatic--he can tell you who was on what mission during the Gemini and Apollo days, the years they went up and lots more trivia. They had a "Cape Canaveral, Then and Now" tour so that's the one we chose. The tour guides were retired Air Force men that worked on the rockets so it was very interesting to hear their stories. We didn't have near enough time to see all we wanted to. We could have spent another day there....or two. I forgot my camera that day of all days so I took photos with my phone (actually, I had it in my hand but had to run back our room to look for the car keys and sat it down and the left without it). I'll post those later.
On Tuesday the weather was beautiful and we had our beach day. We went to the far south end of Daytona Beach to Ponce Inlet and walked the jetty and looked at the old lighthouse there. It didn't take us long to get a little red--even with sunscreen! It was windy every day so we felt hot and cold at the same time. It also was really humid, especially the last couple of days. Our clothes felt damp before we put them on and we had that clammy feeling all the time--yuck! How do they keep everything from molding?
Wednesday was back to the track for Sprint Cup practice, Thursday for the Budweiser Duels and Friday for the truck race. It was the first truck race for us, and we really enjoyed it. We have a friend who is a big fan of Johnny Sauter so he's a sentimental favorite......and he won! Too bad he's now in a Toyota so we can't really cheer for him. We have to draw the line somewhere.
 | |
| Smoking engine in the stands |
 |
| Tire in the seats and medical personnel |
Sunday was the big day, the Daytona 500! We headed to the track early to get a parking spot and have breakfast. We were really getting tired of paying to park, and the cost of a space went up daily. There was rain in the forecast, but we knew it wouldn't dare rain on our first Daytona 500! We were right, the showers missed us although it did make for a humid day. We spent some time in the midway where the merchandise vendors and corporate sponsors were. There was music and games, food and drinks...and too many people! We were in the infield again later and got to walk pit lane. There was a pre-race concert by the Zac Brown Band, one of my favorites. During driver introductions and the parade lap the drivers were close enough to touch. Again, very cool to see those guys up close. The race was great and our guy missed all the wrecks and came in second so we were happy. We took our time leaving the stands to miss the rush of 150,000 people trying to leave. Then we stopped and ate at a place near where we were parked to kill some more time and miss the traffic. It was about six miles from our hotel on the beach to the track and an easy drive.
By Monday morning I was ready to come home. We decided to head to Orlando so we wouldn't have to get up so early the next morning and worry about getting to our flight on time. We thought about to Universal Studios but the day got away from us after waiting for an hour and a half for breakfast (which we never got) and then running into a roadblock and having to backtrack to get out of town. We went to the Florida Mall in Orlando to kill some time. We flew out on Tuesday morning and ended up being delayed in Denver so spent 5+ hours there. Not good when we really just wanted to get home and we'd probably had enough togetherness for awhile. Once we got back to Billings we had supper and were ready for bed after being up since 3:30 am our time.
All in all, it was a great trip. The people in Florida were really friendly (except the girl at A&W at the mall) and we didn't have any problems. Our hotel was a bit of a dive with awful beds and inconsistent housekeeping, but we've stayed in worse! Now that we know the ropes we hope to get some friends and family to come along with us next time.
We are officially in cowboy mode now with calving to start very soon.....
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