I had a pretty lazy day yesterday which I needed after the wildly busy day at work on Monday. We had gale force winds all day, and I didn't even want to get out of bed when I heard it blowing. We had a few rain showers, too. M was up early this morning and so was I since I had a few things I needed to remind him about before he left for the day to finish seeding his millet. We ended up working on paperwork for close to two hours since he was home late last night after stopping in Opheim and "bonding" with his brothers-in-law. We had certification maps to do and put the finishing touches on the Conservation Stewardship Program application and work on a crop insurance audit. Whoever thought it was a good idea to get the government involved in farming? We were lamenting last night about how we feel we have to take care of everything and everyone around here, wondering if the boys will ever step up and take things over. In their defense, however, we have to remember that things were a lot simpler when we started out. They are making baby steps, I suppose. I suggested we blow the joint and tell them they are on their own. M looked at me like I was crazy--he knows I'd never do it.
It was a much nicer day today. There was not much of a breeze this morning so I took the dogs for a walk and then headed to my mother-in-law's to plant some flowers in one of her pots as a nice surprise when she gets home. As I came over the last hill to their place I saw cows and calves in the wheat field. Uh oh! M was west of Opheim (25+ miles away) so I wasn't going to call him about it. I did call R to see where he was. He was in Richland on call to haul water to C and J who were spraying. He asked if I thought I could get them back in the pasture by myself and he'd come when he could. Pete and I had no problem getting them back in, and then I scouted for the place they probably got out. Didn't take long to find it. The cows had pushed on the fence in a low wet spot so that the post was laying over and a couple of wires were broken. R arrived shortly afterward and we fixed the fence. While we were fixing the fence I turned around to get something out of the pickup and saw something dark move in the grass. I thought it was maybe a skunk but when I looked again I realized it was dirt flying up from something digging--probably a badger. I had to run back to the barn to get some fencing supplies, and while I was gone it came out of the hole and R shot at it and thought he wounded it, but then couldn't find it again.
I got the flowers planted and then had just enough time to run home, have a quick lunch and take Pete to Opheim for vaccinations. The local vet clinic comes around to the small towns in the area to do vaccination clinics. I was really hoping I wouldn't have to be the one to take him, but no one else had time. I may have mentioned before that Pete is a bit high-strung. Everything would have been fine if we could have gotten his shots right away, but we had to wait in line and fill out the paperwork, etc. He's not used to being on a leash, #1, and he doesn't really play well with others so all the dogs were stressing him out. He was okay at first, but as time wore on I could tell he was getting more and more agitated. He jumped up on the lady in front of us and hit a box of syringes on the table when I tried to get him down. He needed two shots and they had trouble so had to stick him three times. Some friends of mine were there, and I would have liked to visit, but Pete practically dragged me to the pickup so we left in a hurry.
Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided I should go see my mom. I visited with her for awhile and the finished mowing her yard with our new mower that I hadn't run before--or even seen! R had started to mow, but it was a bit wet this morning after the rain showers yesterday and then he got called away. It was so tall that we cut it high and will cut it lower next week--or whenever someone gets time!
On the way home, I went to count the bulls and make sure the cows were still in. They were but were still hanging around the spot where they had gotten out. The ground is so soft there that they won't have any trouble pushing the posts over again.
We're counting the days until our vacation, but I'm afraid we'll be that much more behind by the time we get back.
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