Riding the Range

We've had a few days of rain so the farming duties are put on hold for the time being.  That means it's time to catch up on our ranching duties.  It was high time to get the few stragglers out of the calving pasture, especially since they weren't staying in very well.  Most of them belong to a friend so we got them all in and had him come and check them and decide what he wanted to do with them.  We had a few that were good at preg checking time but had apparently lost their calves somewhere along the line.  Some of those we decided to keep so hauled them to pasture.  Our friend had eleven left to calve and four of those were open.  M and R hauled the other seven over to Opheim where he has some of his other cows.  They will be calving on their own, whenever and however.  We've run out of time and interest.

It was interesting getting the trailer to the barn and back out again with the mud.  I was having flashbacks to the days when we were trying to haul out pairs this spring.  It would be nice to do it on a dry day!  We had to use the tractor to pull the pickup and trailer away from the barn, but after getting out of the yard it was smooth sailing.

This morning R was over early to get the good trailer to take a load of cows to Glasgow to the sale.  I went along to double check the numbers of the cows he was taking.  It took some maneuvering again to get the trailer to the barn, and the tractor was again required to get out of the yard.

I've been determined to get my mower out of storage and back to my house so I can cut my grass before it requires a swather so M said he'd get it loaded up today.  First we had to replace the battery and then he suggested that we ride out on the 4-wheelers and check the cows and take mineral out.  As we were heading to the first pasture I noticed some animals in our neighbor's adjoining pasture.  We weren't sure if they were the neighbor's or if some of ours had jumped the fence.  We delivered our mineral and found a neighbor's heifer in with our cows so from there we went to check out the other animals we could see.  There were nine more of the neighbor's heifers running the fence line between their pasture and ours.  Since there were only nine we were pretty sure they weren't supposed to be there.  M called the neighbor and sure enough they weren't supposed to be there.  But, all the gates were open between that pasture and their place because "I didn't think they'd go that far".  Really?!?  And, he'd maybe find time tomorrow to get them out.  We know how that goes because he had two pair in another of our pastures for at least three days; until we opened the gate and they walked out onto the road.  He was going to get them out when he had time, but he hasn't fixed his side of the fence in two years so we weren't holding our breath that he'd get to it.

We delivered more mineral and filled up the cattle oiler.  While M was doing that I was watching the calves.  I saw one of my cows, and her baby looked good and healthy.  There was one curious calf that was checking out the 4-wheeler and then came up to me and was licking and biting at my pants.  Not sure what that was about, but it was pretty funny.  From there we checked more fence, and I found two of our cows and their calves out.  I met up with M and we went back to get them in, and they were nowhere to be found.  M thinks I was hallucinating, but apparently we have a couple of fence crawlers.  Actually, he could see where they had been bedded down on the wrong side of the fence, and we found the loose wires in a coulee where they probably got out.

M was worried about the neighbor's heifers jumping in with our cows so I suggested that we give them a little chase so we did.  We chased them to the first gate on their way back home and closed it so hopefully, they won't be back too soon.  It just gets so frustrating when your range management depends on your neighbor's or your neighbor's lack of management.  I always tell M that he's too nice when dealing with the irresponsibility of others.  The old saying is "good fences make good neighbors". 

By the time we got back home R was already back from Glasgow.  I finally got my mower home and M mowed the backyard while I made lunch, and then I mowed the front this afternoon.  There is more rain in the forecast so I was really hoping I could get it done today.

I did enjoy riding the range with the sweet peas in bloom and the bluebells starting to show up.  I think I spent more time looking at the flowers than the cows.

Time Out!

Time out, your work has been interrupted.......for life.  It's been a bit crazy around here, but we took some time out for some important life events.  R graduated from Western Dakota Technical Institute in Fire Science last Saturday in Rapid City.  Every few days he'd ask if his dad was going to come so I knew how important it was to him.  M wouldn't commit for the longest time until some unfortunate events occurred, and we were physically and mentally exhausted.  I finally told him he had to go if only to get some rest and relaxation.  It helped that we had a rain shower the night before we were planning to leave.  We did our cow chores and hit the road on Friday morning, graduation was Saturday, and he headed home on Sunday.

When R started his program there were 36 in his class.  By the beginning of the second year there were 14.  At the beginning of the last semester there were 12 and only 6 graduated.  Some failed a class during the last semester and some didn't take a required class.  How do you let that happen?  We were very proud of how R applied himself and excelled.  We could see how he had grown up every time he came home.

While M was on his way home, M's aunt, uncle, cousins, girlfriend and I were busy cleaning his apartment and moving him out.  It wasn't as bad as it could have been and didn't take as long as I thought it might when I first walked in.  He had two roommates but one was one of those who had failed a class and didn't graduate so had left town on Friday.  The other was on his way to a job in Idaho.  At least for now, R is ready to be back to his cows, and we are very happy to have him back!  His auntie might be in deep depression without him, however.

We headed home on Monday morning hoping to make it back for the other big event in our lives....the birth of our first grandchild.  K was scheduled to be induced that morning.  We thought about going home by way of Glasgow, but when we got to the point where we had to decide which way we were going, nothing much was happening so we came home.  R wanted to get the trailer home so he could start to unload his stuff.  We got home about 6, and I headed to Glasgow about 8 so I wouldn't have to drive in the dark.

Sawyer Grace made her appearance at 1:56 am on May 21 to a welcoming party of K's parents and sister, her best friend and me.  We were all on pins and needles when we knew her arrival was imminent.   I cried when I heard her first cry and found out that she was a she!  It seemed like forever until we got to see her, and she was so delicate and beautiful.

Sawyer, about an hour old

J had a motel room but stayed at the hospital, but I went there and went to bed about 4:20 am, 22 hours after I had gotten up.  I started getting texts and calls about 6:30 so didn't get much sleep.  I went back to the hospital to see the new family before I came home.  I was hoping to get a nap, but that didn't happen.

Such a little angel!

J took the day off and then brought K and the baby home on Wednesday before heading back to the field.  He has been seeding at the place that is the fartherest away, unfortunately, so spent a couple of nights in the tractor, poor guy.  We can see the end so it can't come soon enough.  We had rain again last night and tonight so everyone can take a breath.  I really don't know how the guys do what they do day after day with little rest.  I don't go as hard or fast as they do, and I'm exhausted.  I'm hoping that one of these days the dark circles under my eyes will disappear!

CSI: Richland

It has been one crazy place lately since the farming has started.  On Sunday, I gave everyone the heads up that they'd need to pack a lunch because I was going to my town job on Monday.  I got "are you kidding" looks from everyone.  Yes, I need to go to work once a week for my sanity!

I'm getting kind of tired of M starting every sentence with "if you get time".  I was really worried the other day when he said "if you get time.....oh, never mind.  You're not going to have time".  I don't think he realizes that I have LOTS of other things I would rather do than be out in the field.  I told the guys again that they all need a buddy to make sure they have help when they need it because I cannot be everywhere.  So, I was so happy to hear the sweet words "I'm on my way home and will be there until Sunday" from R on Tuesday afternoon.  Yes, I have backup!!  His classes are winding down and he needs a trailer to haul his stuff home so came home for a few days, and everyone was so happy to see him.

Yesterday we had quite the bonding day.  The day before, Bob, the fencer who is feeding our heifers, called to tell M that there was one dead.  He was going to be gone so we were going to have to go up and feed, but M wanted to get them moved out to pasture anyway.  Since R was home, M left us to the cow duties and headed to the field.  R and I ran around and closed and opened the appropriate gates so we could trail them to the pasture.  When we went to move the heifers we found another one dead.  Bob has an old horse that's been in with the heifers, and we wondered what to do with it.  I was able to walk up to it and lead it into the corral.  Of course, all the heifers followed us so R was at the gate to keep them from going in.  I was holding the horse and told R to come shut the gate behind us.  He wouldn't because he didn't want the heifers to get into the other part of the corral.  We argued for awhile and then I had to let go of the horse and try to close the gate.  Yes, the horse took off as did the heifers.  I was not happy!  Why won't he listen to me?!  Then we discovered another dead heifer.  This was getting a bit concerning.  This one looked like it had struggled before it died, poor thing.

We thought the heifers would follow the Gator since it brings them their feed every day, and they sort of did, but we couldn't get them to go out the gate.  Eventually we got them out the first gate into a grassy area where there are grain bins.  We had to get them out of one more gate which took forever.  They were happy to see green grass and when we tried to push them, they would just circle around.  Proof that they can be too tame!  Finally, we got them out the gate and the couple of older cows knew where they were headed and took off, but it took awhile to get the heifers moving.  They did eventually go and the move went pretty smoothly.  They should be happy to be out in a big pasture after being cooped up all winter and spring.  We didn't care if the horse came along or not.  It did for awhile and then headed back to the yard but then came back to where we were.  We were concerned about it scattering the heifers so were happy when it headed back to the yard again.  By then we were over a little rise so it couldn't see us anymore.  When we got back it was standing by the gate wanting to get back in to its home.  Now it will be lonely again.

We had to fix a couple of broken wires in a coulee where there is still snow.  They were still buried when M went around the fence.  There was a spot we were concerned about where it looked like they could walk over the fence, but we had to just hope they wouldn't since there was nothing we could do there.

We then had to help J load a truck and a load his drill.  We ran home for a quick lunch and to make a lunch for J.  We were just on our way back over when C called to say there were two heifers out.  Great, that didn't take long, and yes, they got out where we thought they might.  Of course, they wouldn't go in the gate that they were close to, so I walked them back to the corner gate we put them in the first time.  We told them not to get out again.  Hope they listened!

M had called the vet about our dead heifers since he had heard about losses due to grass tetany.  He said he'd be out to have a look.  In the meantime, we went on a search.  There is a huge pile of junk that they had access to and M thought old batteries may have been the culprit.  We found three old batteries and near them was some dark, pink powdery stuff that they had obviously been nosing around in.  Not sure if it was old paint or old seed treat.  Either way, it would contain lead or mercury and the batteries contain lead.  Lead poisoning can make them act really weird and J said he saw one that looked like it was having a seizure the day before when he was seeding nearby.

I needed to go to Opheim to give C a ride home, but I didn't want to miss the autopsies.  The first one had a twisted intestine which is just bad luck.  The second one was interesting in that it died on it's knees with it's head up instead of lying on its side.  That one had obvious pink stuff in its stomach.  The third one is probably the one that J saw acting weird.  It didn't have any pink stuff in the stomach and the heart and lungs looked fine, but the liver was kind of grayish instead of the dark red it should have been.  We suspect that it had lead poisoning.   We rode through the herd later in the day and they all looked fine at that point.  R was going to go check again this morning.

I've always been worried about what they could get into in that junk pile.  The neighbor wanted to bury it all when he had a backhoe up doing some water line work, but Bob wanted to salvage the scrap metal.  He hasn't gotten it done, though, so something needs to be done before there can be any livestock in there again.

After the autopsies (which were fascinating to me), I took off for Opheim and brought C back to Richland.  Then I visited with K at their camper while waiting for R to come get me.  He had loaded the truck for J again and helped him fill his drill.

So, we got home about 9:00 pm...and then had to make supper since I was out of leftovers.  It wasn't a bad day, though, since I got to spend all of it with R.  It's so good to have him home.

He gets the fun job of digging a hole and burying the dead animals so he might not be thinking it's so great to be home.

Demoted?

The guys are finally getting seed into the ground and I have been on call as a runner to do whatever they need me to do from running for parts, checking cows, helping move machinery and the dreaded.....making lunches.

My mother-in-law has spoiled these guys for years.  She's a great cook and always has a plan and as R always tells me, "she cooks with love".  I don't.  I dislike everything to do with food.  I don't like to buy it (my goal in a grocery store--get in and out as fast as possible), don't like to cook it, don't like to clean up after cooking it, get a bellyache when I eat, and then there's the whole excretion thing.  It's hard to come up with good meals when you don't care if you eat.  If I lived alone I'd probably live on popcorn, yogurt and toast.

M and I have had a few disagreements because of his need to eat on a regular basis, especially when traveling.  I just want to get where we're going and don't care if I eat on the way.  I've learned that he NEEDS to eat on a regular basis and try to be more understanding.

The past few years I've tried to help my mother-in-law out some and usually would do the delivery to the field.  But, it appears that my in-laws are not coming to the farm for the summer and the job will fall entirely to me.  M asked his mom if she could bring something out on Monday since I will be at my town job.  Well, no, she can't because she has cards at the Senior Citizens.  Never should have bought that house in town!!  I may have to have her go shopping for me and make buns every week.  I'm sure the guys are as nervous about it as I am, and are probably afraid they're going to starve.  They might need to learn to pack a lunch or have their wives pack one for them (the other wives actually like to cook--what's wrong with this picture?).  One of these days they are going to have to figure out that I cannot be everywhere and do everything.

I've got to go because I'm baking buns.  See, I'm trying!