Prairie Scents

My sister, who is now a "city girl", once said that she missed the smell of the great outdoors at home, the pastures we used to roam.  I think of that and now pay more attention.  First thing this morning we went to check fence in a pasture in the middle of nowhere, and I breathed it all in, the mint and the sage, the grass and the wildflowers.  I love it up there where the only signs of civilization to be seen are some fences.  In some spots you can look in all directions and see nothing but hills of grass and maybe an occasional cow.  It's a banner year for wild sweet peas and hillsides are covered with them.  The bluebells aren't really blue this year, they are more of a deep purple.  The grass is thick and lush.  The cows are going to love it when they get up there.

M told me yesterday that he wanted me to go up there today and check the fence.  He's been trying to roll peas, but we had a little shower this morning so it was too wet to do that.  By the time I got up this morning he was ready to go so I grabbed a banana, a go-cup of tea and off we went on the 4-wheelers.  When we got to the pasture he went one way and I went the other and we met in the middle.  Well, not exactly.  He had a lot more repair work to do than I did so he was a little slower.  Plus, he had the stretcher and splicer so I couldn't fix the spots I found.

Prairie Smoke

 When we got back to the farm John was coming in with another load of bulls so we visited with him a bit.  Then I went to check the pumps at the in-law's house while M was getting fuel for his tractor.  The pump in the sewer wasn't working so we took it out and cleaned it up and determined that it was fried.  We moved one of the pumps from the house out there until we could find another pump.  M went to his tractor to roll and I went home to make his lunch.  On my way back from delivering lunch I checked the well at the house and it was full almost to the top so I called M to let him know.  He sent me to Richland to get another pump so I brought it back and hooked it up.  By that time he was moving through the yard and checked out the situation.  The pump doesn't have a float so I let it pump while I walked a mile or so to get M's pickup.

I went home and finished my mowing and about three hours later went back to pump again.  The in-laws are staying in Scobey this week so no one is there to keep an eye on things.

Yesterday we got two more loads of cows and calves to Opheim.  John had brought bulls up and had an empty trailer going back so we loaded up some cows and he took some to pasture and some to the sale barn for us on his way home.  That was a big help!  As soon as we were done with that R went rolling west of Opheim and M came home and relieved C on the roller here.

It was a beautiful day today and everyone was busy.  R was rolling, C was changing the wheels on the sprayer in the hope that he would be stuck less often, and J was trying to do some more seeding.  He finally got his tractor and drill stuck so we may have to call it a year.  He was calling a friend who was close by to pull him out, but neither M nor I want to call and find out how that went!

Now I just need to make supper, fold laundry, vacuum and pay some bills before I go to bed.  I finally go to work tomorrow after several weeks off, and it may be a relief.  The plan is to test and brand bulls tomorrow.  I always seem to miss that fun activity.

Right now I need to go check for ticks......