Cow Stuff

We shipped our cows last weekend, and it was a frantic week up to that point.  The new water line was put in, old waterer pulled out, fence taken out to dig the water line and then put back after that was done.  There was a broken pole in a windbreak so that had be replaced so that the windbreak didn't fall over.  In the midst of all that, J and R put in three cattle guards and M hauled several loads of calves for neighbors.  We, thankfully, had good weather for most of that activity.

We rounded up on Saturday and then helped our neighbors round up their cows.  We sell our calves together, and he has a portable scale so the buyer comes right to the ranch.  It is so much less stressful than having to haul the calves to a scale somewhere.  We do have to haul to their ranch, but it's just a couple of miles cross country.

Sunday morning we were at it at daybreak, getting the cows and calves into the corral and sorting the calves from the cows and then sorting out the steers from the heifers.  We have only sold the steers so far so we're feeding 100+ head of heifers at the moment.  Some of those will go to market later and some will be kept for replacements.  We had lots of good help so it went pretty smoothly.  J and Jared were on trailer duty hauling the steers to the neighbor's while the other guys got another load ready to go.

As soon as we got settled up with the buyer and the trucks loaded with calves we headed back to our barn to pregnancy test our cows.  I was impressed with the vet getting right after it and getting it done.  All I had to do was keep records and sometimes I could hardly keep up.  Sometimes he likes to talk so our neighbor told his wife not to talk to him so he wouldn't get distracted.  We finished just before dark and then came to our house where a great meal awaited us.  It's nice to have your own personal caterer for a sister-in-law.

The next day we preg tested at our neighbors.  It was a cold and miserable day and I asked myself more than once why I was not at my job--indoors!  I had taken the day off and gotten my boss' wife to work for me.  I joked with her that if the weather was crappy she was supposed to call me and say she had an emergency and needed me to come to work.  She didn't call.  M and his friend, Roger, were brining the cows to the tub, R was loading the tub, and the neighbor's wife, Holly, and I were up on the tub getting the cows down the alley to the chute.  M admitted that he was actually feeling sorry for Holly and I out in the elements.  I told him that I couldn't feel my feet after the first half hour so after that it just didn't matter.  We finished about 3 and then had a nice stew lunch.

This weekend we moved our heifers closer to home.  It's the second time we had to get them out of the same pasture.  It wasn't easy the first time, and it wasn't any easier the second time.  The pasture has a couple of boggy coulees without good crossings, and of course, they were as far away from the gate as they could possibly be, and we had to get them across both coulees.  We found one limpy one, and she made it clear that she wasn't going anywhere so we left her behind.  After much cursing, we finally got them out and from there they moved easily, but slowly.  We drove around on Sunday trying to find the limpy one but couldn't get everywhere with the pickup so didn't find her.  M went out yesterday on the 4-wheeler and found her and got her moved out with the other cows.  She had worked her way in that direction.

You can lead a cow to water.....
 

Something spooked the heifer calves in the corral one night and one got her leg injured.  R called in the morning and said one "had a cut on her leg".  More like tore the skin halfway off her leg so we've been cleaning that and dressing it every few days.  So far she's doing well, and she's an excellent patient.  She'll be stylish, too, getting a new color of vet wrap every three days.

J has been hauling gravel and doing some road work.  C has been helping with the cattle hauling and R was on vacation for the weekend.  We had Kobe for the weekend and thought it was going really well until he and Junior disappeared for a bit on Sunday afternoon and Kobe came home with some new body jewelry--porcupine quills.  Hope he learns one of these days.

We're making progress on our fall paperwork thanks in part to some gale force winds with cold temps that have kept us indoors.  We're still hoping for more good weather because we still have lots of projects to work on.  First up, pouring cement and setting the new waterer in place.  After that, it's all gravy.

The Harvest That Wouldn't End....

....is now over....for us at least.  There are still quite a few people that are still plugging away at it.  There should be a huge sense of relief, but there isn't because a) everyone's to-do list is a mile long, b) a lot of the grain we harvested is right now worth next to nothing and c) J and K moved out of their "summer house" and back to Scobey (that makes me sad because I liked having that grandbaby closer).

My little John Deere girl

We had two weeks of good harvesting weather and the guys put in some long hours...enough that I was a bit worried about them and their lack of sleep.  We rented another combine so we had three going for awhile until the last rain delay and then we sent one back.  That one we had to pay for by the day whether we used it or not so it didn't make much sense to have it sitting for a week when we were close to done.  The other one we just pay by the hours used.  We needed about 2 more hours before the last rain delay to finish here at home, but we weren't that lucky.  Then we sat for a week with frost and fog and just damp conditions.  M did feel as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders when all the wheat close to home was cut so he didn't have to look at it standing there every day.

J had a couple of issues with his combine.  One of the inside tires on the front of the combine came loose.  Luckily, he felt that something was wrong while we were in the process of moving and stopped before it fell off and caused a really big problem.  The John Deere mechanics were there quickly, but it still took a few hours to get it fixed.  Then he had a shaft break in the spreader.  He was able to continue without it, and it still isn't fixed.  He was just hoping the pulleys didn't start a fire.

There are a lot of quality issues with the grain harvested late and with lots of rain on it.  The rain causes bleaching of the kernels and the kernels are not as hard as they are when harvested at a hot and dry time.  Of course, the elevators and grain companies seem to seize on any opportunity to discount the worth.  This was also not a year to raise wheat with high protein since we didn't have a hot and dry summer.  We tend to get more bushels and less protein in a good year.  Right now the protein scales are worse than I have ever seen them.  The price of wheat is low anyway, but if you don't have 14 protein you almost have to pay them to take it.  We heard a rumor of someone selling for 95 cents a bushel.  We have a 50,000 bushel pile of wheat on the ground right now that we have to find a place for--and we're pretty sure it won't be going to an elevator any time soon!  And, all of our bins are full.  Sometimes it makes you wonder why you're working so hard and spending the money to get the crop harvested when it's worth so little.  Hopefully, the market will settle down in a few months and make sense again.

The highlight of harvest was that M's dad came out three different days and rode the combine.  He hasn't been to the farm in probably three years and a few weeks ago wouldn't get out of bed so it was a big deal that he was feeling well enough to come out.  We were all pretty excited.  He took turns riding with J, C and M.  When he headed home the first day he said he would be back the next day.  We all thought he'd be tired and sore and would change his mind, but he showed up around 11 and stayed until the rain shut us down at 5.  He had a lot of catching up to do!

 

 

 

I love this three generation photo
 

We've been busy with a variety of things this week.  Friday morning we trailed some cows and calves up to the neighbor's.  Then on Saturday morning we rounded up the rest and brought them there, too, so we could vaccinate the calves since we ship in a couple of weeks.

J and C have been spraying to get some problem spots cleaned up.  M and R have been hauling the last of the hay bales, and M cut some late oats.  He was hoping it would make grain because he didn't want more bales to haul, but the frost took its toll so he swathed it and will bale it.

The next high priority is getting the corral water project completed since we'll have cows and calves there in less than two weeks.  We had a line break about the time we got all the cows moved out this spring and it was too wet to dig it up and fix it then.  They plan to modify the system now.  M has been pondering it all summer and now with input from C, J and R they've come up with a plan.  We also have cattle guards to dig in at R's and gravel to haul into his yard.  I finished clipping the wires for the last stretch of fence around the hay yard.  After 285 clips (and 57 squats) I was wishing R had made it just a LITTLE bigger--ha!  I also painted the barn doors.  We had some guys repaint the metal barn and they painted right over the white doors so everything is silver.  R's girlfriend and I thought it looked stupid so I finally had time and a nice day to paint; however, the paint was crappy and it took a gallon to do two doors and I'm not happy with the result.  I'll try again in the spring unless we have a string of nice weather still this fall.

I'd like to get my patio project done (or started).  I told M we had to get it done before haying.  Didn't happen.  Then I said he couldn't go on vacation until we got it done.  Didn't happen....I caved since I wanted to go on vacation, too.  Now he's so busy that I hate to ask for his help and may just have to do it myself.

Hopefully, the decent weather continues so we can get a handle on all of our projects before the snow flies. 

Harvest Continues.......Sort of

It has rained two more times since my last post, but we got a few good days in.  They switched back to wheat so were able to go late into the night for a couple of nights.  Our nephew and his friend are here this week so the guys decided to cut the place that is difficult to haul out of where the trucks have trouble keeping up since we had the extra help.  That was a good plan!  M and J figure they had a record day cutting 20,000 bushels of wheat in a day.  M thinks it is the best crop he's ever cut with his average never going under 55 bushels to the acre all day.  M's sister is here, too, and spent a day in the combine.  She picked a good day to do that.  Too bad the wheat is bleached to some degree and the elevators are severely discounting the price.  Every rain affects the quality....and the general mood and morale of our crew.

We didn't want our visitors to get bored so we enlisted their help for a couple of projects.  M bought a small Quonset-type storage building from a guy in Richland who was moving but has been pondering for a year how to get it moved here.  They lifted it up and got it on a trailer and hauled it here and set it on railroad ties.  M says there was a lot of luck involved in the process, but it's here now.  It may be the home for the Jeep for the winter.

Yesterday we preg checked our heifers.  We found out on Tuesday that the vet was going to be in the area, but M was afraid to commit at that time in case we could get back to harvest.  There was really no drying on Wednesday and it was still muddy and cloudy yesterday morning so he called the vet right away to see if he could still do it in the afternoon.  Then we scrambled to get ready.  We had to round up the heifers which was a bit of an adventure.  The pasture they were in is a bugger to gather from with bogs and coulees and trees to hide in.  First thing, we had cross a bog on foot to chase some out.  Hard to stay on the bumps, and I got wet feet right away.  Felt lucky that I didn't break an ankle!  Then they circled and hid in some trees and some were in another bog.  To make a long story short, it took a lot longer than it really should have.  Then once we got them out of the pasture we had to make a few jogs to try to keep them out of the wheat that hasn't been cut yet.  That went pretty smoothly but took some time.  K made us a great lunch and delivered it to the barn.  Sawyer was happy to see the dogs and the cows, and we were happy to see her.

We had a hard frost overnight.  I had covered my cukes, but they still don't look too good.  The frost shouldn't bother the crops too much except for some late oats.  We'll probably end up haying them, and no one is looking forward to hauling those bales home.  M and R spent most of the day hauling the hailed out wheat bales and discovered that the fields are pretty soft, and just not drying out very fast.  We had some sun and wind today, but we could really use some sustained heat.  Too bad they can't send us some of that record heat they're having in California.

We keep plugging along, but this harvest is just unbelievable.  We haven't cut an acre in the past four days, and we need to get back to it soon.

Harvest Update

And now for a quick harvest update.  Harvest to-date can be summed up in one word--frustrating!  August is supposed to be hot, dry and dusty, but that was not the case this year.  We had 3.5" of rain in August--not normal.

The boys had most of the peas done by the time we got home from our vacation.  The lentils weren't quite ready so M and R swathed some of the hailed-out wheat--ours and the neighbors.  Then they baled the neighbors but combined ours.  No one was a fan of that, but it got done.  They had put off desiccating lentils because a big storm was in the forecast.  Thankfully, we only got 2 inches (only!) as places not too far south had 5 to 9 inches.  I can't even imagine that.  But then, just as things would dry out, we'd cut a few hours and get rained on again.  The lentils close to home are all cut except for the hailed ones.  M made a pass through those and decided they weren't worth wasting our time on at the moment.  We had a 360 acre piece that they finished cutting wheat on last night.  If they had a really good day they could get it done in a day--they were there for three days because of rain showers.  The days are kind of short because it's so dewy in the morning and gets so cool and damp once the sun starts to go down.

On the bright side, we haven't had rain for two days now, and they've gotten some good days in.  There were showers in the area yesterday, and we didn't get wet.  And, they were cutting on some of our poorer ground and the yield was really good, into the 40+ bushel/acre range.  The trucks were sure on the move by my house yesterday.

We're making progress, but we've sure got a long way to go..........ugh!

Wedding/Family Reunion

I was home for three days after our vacation and then took off again to my brother's ranch in southwest Montana for my nephew's wedding.  All my siblings were there, and it was the first time we had all been together since my dad died in 2004.  Harvest be damned, there was NO WAY I was going to miss it!

Every time I go there I wonder to myself why I don't go more often.  I love my brother and his wife, and I love their ranch.  There's such a peacefulness there.  I'm a bit envious of my other brothers and nephews who have been able to spend more time there.

One of my sisters had an appointment with a guy from the Montana State University Alumni Foundation to take a tour of the campus so I tagged along.  I really hadn't spent any time at the campus since I graduated from there so I was excited to go.  First we wandered around downtown Bozeman (and didn't see one strange person, unlike Missoula!) and then had lunch at the famous Pickle Barrel.  Love their sandwiches!  Then we met nice Joe from the alumni foundation and took our tour.  There has been so much building and renovating since I was there.  The big field between the dorms is now filled with buildings--weird.  Funny, though, the Microbiology building that I spent a lot of time in has not changed one iota--even smells the same.  We went through the girls' dorm that my sister and I both lived in and found our old rooms.  The dorm has been redone, too, and is really nice.  It always was the nicest dorm on campus.  We enjoyed the tour so much and wish we could go back to college.  Being college-age would be okay, too.

The next day we got into full wedding prep mode.  The tents were up, lights strung, tables set up, cupcakes decorated, wedding mints made, cow pies flung (the wedding was in a pasture).  Many hands made light work.  The bride made us drawings of how the tables were to be decorated so we could do that the morning of the wedding.  I was afraid she'd be walking down the aisle and thinking "who put that there?  That's not right!, but she was confident that we would handle it just fine.

It was really a beautiful evening for a wedding although the wind had to blow just enough to mess up the tablecloths a bit.  The flower girls were adorable, the guys were handsome, the bride was glowing.......and the groom arrived on his Harley.  Probably the only time I'll ever see that in my life.  His grandpa would have been proud.

There was oodles of great food and drink and a ton of family to dance and celebrate.  I was so happy for the bride because she's wanted this for a long time.  We love her and are very sure she'll make a great Redfield girl.

It was so wonderful to be with all my siblings again.  It's been way too long since I've seen a couple of my sisters, and they're all so fun.  They need to live closer to home--hint, hint!!  I'm sure it was great for my mom to have us all in one place for a change, and she found a new cowboy friend!

I was so sad when I had to say goodbye and head home.  Hopefully, we'll have another happy occasion to get together for soon.

Bride, groom and grandma--the best photo of the day!

My mom and siblings

Mom and some of her grandkids

Vacay!

M and I took off on a much-needed vacation on August 2 and headed west.  He had been telling me to figure out where we were going to go and what we were going to do, but I didn't think we'd actually get to go.  He's always wanted to see Tom Petty in concert so one day I thought I'd go online and see if he was touring and if he'd be anywhere close to us.  As luck would have it, he was starting a new tour and was going to be in Boise, ID on August 5.  M thought that was doable and a few days later discovered that ZZ Top was going to be in Missoula on August 8.  We got tickets for both of those concerts and started planning the rest of the trip.  I was very excited to go to places I had never been before!

We didn't have a plan for the first night.  M thought it would be nice to stay in Lincoln, but as we drove through all we saw were "No Vacancy" signs.  My guess was there was a wedding or family reunion going on.  No problem, it was early, we'd head to Missoula.  I had never been to Missoula before and M had only been through once or twice so we didn't really know our way around.  We were trying to stay close to the highway we would head out to Idaho on but there was road construction and a detour and we got kind of lost.  When we finally stopped at a motel there were no rooms, and the clerk was sending people to the Days Inn in Lolo so we headed there.  We got the "last room" for $200.  Guess a person can't be spontaneous these days.

From there we headed to McCall, ID.  J had raced there, but I didn't go on that trip and M wanted to see it in the summer.  The scenery through Idaho was beautiful with mountains, trees and rivers.  We stopped in Riggins to get a sandwich and listen to the end of the NASCAR race on the radio.  Dale, Jr. won in Pocono.  What a great day!  As we were sitting in the car listening to the race we were looking across the street at a couple of rafting companies and decided a float down the river would be fun so we ran over as soon as the race was done.  The last float had left about an hour earlier, but the guy said he'd run us down the road to catch the raft since there were only two guests aboard and give us a break on the fee.  Awesome!  It was a pretty calm ride, and I felt bad for the guide who had to paddle his butt off against the wind.  It was a great day to be on the river, tho, and we enjoyed it a lot.

From there we went on to McCall and stayed at the Hotel McCall on Lake Payette.  McCall is not a very big town, but there's a lot of money there.  They have a huge ice arena in the middle of town.  We also think it's the ice cream capital of Idaho since every time we walked down the street someone was eating ice cream.  We finally had to indulge.  We had a stay-and-play package at the hotel which included 18 holes of golf at Jug Mountain Ranch.  It was beautiful but a little challenging for our golf skills.  M was in the sand traps so much he was looking for flip-flops and a Corona!  Still better than a day of work!

Our breakfast view of Lake Payette

The golf course that kicked our butts!

Our next stop was Boise.  We arrived around lunchtime, too early to check into our motel, so walked to have lunch and then walked to the campus of Boise State University.  We found a walking/bike path and followed that along the river.  There were lots of floaters on the river, and we discovered later that you can rent tubes or rafts at a park on one end and float six miles down the river to another park and there's a shuttle that will take you back.  We were disappointed that we didn't know that earlier and didn't have time to take advantage.  We also discovered that the path went right back to our motel.  We checked in, ordered a pizza, freshened up and headed to the Tom Petty concert.....which was awesome!

First up was Steve Winwood.  He had four others in his band and two of them were drummers.  I spent most of my time watching the saxophonist.  He played several different saxophones, sometimes two at a time, sang backup vocals and played keyboard and some percussion instruments from time to time.  He was amazing.

Steve Winwood band--did I mention we had awesome seats?!

M was really pumped for Tom Petty, has been a fan for years, and he did not disappoint.  It was pretty cool to hear a stadium full of people singing "Free Falling".  We really enjoyed it.  It was a beautiful night and we walked back to our motel along the river path.  At one point we were offered "a toke before bed".  A first for me, but we declined.

Tom Petty

The next day took us to Ketchum.  I found it ironic that the only day we had any rainy/cloudy weather was the day we went to Sun Valley.  What I will remember most about Ketchum is the smell.  I'd walk out of the motel and stop and breathe deeply and soak in the smell of the pine trees.  Our motel was on the edge of town across the street from a ski hill.  We walked over to ride the gondola and the man there told us that it had shut down early so they could get ready for the concert that night.  I asked what concert and he told us Chris Isaak.  There were still tickets available so I got online and bought some.  We went to a movie and then grabbed blankets to sit on and two-day old pizza to eat and went back for the concert.  I was more excited about this than M, but he had to admit that it was very entertaining and fun....and I had the best margaritas of the whole trip there!  We felt a bit out of place since there's a lot of money in that town, also, and some of the people around us had quite the elaborate meals for their picnics.  I wanted to see the Sun Valley Resort before we left but that didn't happen.

Chris Isaak

From there we made the drive back to Missoula following the Salmon River and over Lost Trail Pass.  We had planned to stop in Hamilton to see an old college friend, but she had an appointment in Missoula so we met her there instead.  I hadn't seen her in 30 years, and it was good to catch up......except that her life in the past few years has not been rosy.  She's been battling cancer, only recently in remission, and has been through a divorce and has been having problems with her son.  She's still smiling and not letting it get her down.  I hope things get better for her.

This was my first time in Missoula.  I have never had any desire to go there and am a bit biased since I lived in Bozeman and went to MSU, but I really wasn't that impressed.  The downtown area was not what I thought it would be, and there were a lot of really strange people there, young transients.  We ate at a great restaurant (recommended by several people), and enjoyed the river walk there also.

We went Jeep shopping while there.  M had seen a Jeep on Craig's List that he wanted to check out so we looked at a couple of others to compare and then test drove that one and ended up buying it.  M has been looking to upgrade ever since we got our first one, but this one seems too nice to be a cow checking rig like the old one.

That took up most of our day and then it was time for the ZZ Top concert.  I have to admit that I was not as excited for this concert.  M made a new friend while standing in line to get in.  He had a 20-acre ranch near Ronan so was very interested in our 20,000-acre farm/ranch.  He and his wife were very friendly, and it was fun to hang out with them.  We got rained on a couple of times--while in the line waiting to get in and during intermission.  First up was Jeff Beck, a rock guitarist.  I told M that I am probably the only person in the world that wanted to fall asleep while listening to Jeff Beck.  He was good, but after two songs I was over it.  ZZ Top was better, but they didn't play that long.  Maybe I was just worn out from vacationing.

Everything went well until the last morning.  I was crabby anyway and then I got charged for the room that I had already paid for.  They charged us for our breakfast the day before for which we had a coupon.  Our breakfast was slow and not very good.  Guess it was time to go home.  When I texted my sister that we had bought a Jeep she asked if we were tired of travelling together and had to buy another vehicle.  I said that wasn't the case, but it may have been good that we were in separate vehicles on the way home the way the day started out.

All in all we really had a wonderful time and got some rest and relaxation....and the boys were home harvesting peas!  Win-win!  So, after 2 states, 8 days, 1900 miles, 5 motels, and 3 concerts we're still smiling at each other :)





Simpler Times

I didn't realize how long it's been since I've blogged.  The guys have just been busy haying--swathing, baling and hauling bales.  R cut for a couple of other people and M baled for a neighbor.  R finally got sick of the swather and went to hauling bales, but I swear M would make bales forever if he could.  I've been telling him that he's not using his time wisely, doing someone else's work when he has so much of his own to do.  He said "that's what got us here", and he's right, but it may be time to concentrate on our own stuff.  He just can't seem to pass up a money-making opportunity.

That brings me to the subject of my post--Simpler Times.  I've been feeling bad for my boys lately (actually for awhile).  Times have changed so much since M and I started out.  We were still farming and ranching but on a much smaller scale.  We had to contend with the same challenges like hail storms and drought and fire, but the costs were not as great and there was less government involvement.  It just seems that now nothing is simple, and we never have enough time.

I think back to when we were first married and M and C played on a softball team with games two nights a week and tournaments in various towns on the weekends.  The relatives used to come over for Sunday dinners and horseshoes.  Now, I can count the days M has taken off for fun in the past four months on one hand--two!  And still we can't get done everything we want to or need to.

The boys seem to have inherited their dad's work gene.  That is not necessarily a bad thing, but they are young and have young families, and they miss out on so much "life" when all they do is work.  We were afraid J's baby wouldn't know him for the first month of her life because she was born during seeding (what were they thinking?).  R's girlfriend doesn't like to be alone, and R, who used to be so social, hasn't been out on a weekend in ages.  It makes me scared and sad for her.  I've been there and done that, and I want more for them.  I remember saying I didn't get married so I could spend all my time alone.  I wasn't alone once I had children, but then I felt like a single parent.  I also remember M telling me what I call the "big lie".  That farming is so great because you can take off when you want.  Except during calving, seeding, spraying, haying, harvest or fall cattle work.  That leaves January and February.  Even he admitted today when he was fearing another hail storm and the neighbor had bales on fire from lightning that we have a lot of bonuses, but we really have to work for them.  Hopefully, our boys won't have to struggle financially like we did at times, and they don't have to live in old trailer houses and run old equipment, but looking back, those times weren't all that bad, actually not bad at all. 

I wonder if it's a sign of old age that I'm feeling nostalgic.  M is feeling his age and desperate for some time off so we're leaving for week.........and no, it's not a good time to be gone.