Plus she took her mother-in-law, who is well-acquainted with cattle, and between the two of them, they managed to purchase a few cows. When the Cowboy got home from work, he had to take the slip-tank he uses for work out of the back of his truck, put the fifth-wheel in, hook up the stock trailer, then the three of them went to the auction mart and picked up the first load of their cows. They took them directly to summer pasture, then went back for the other load. Each trip took over an hour. It was almost 11 pm before they got home for supper!
Today, the Bag Lady has to go over to the summer pasture and check the fence. There have been some fairly strong winds recently, which tend to make trees fall over. There is a law of nature that says if a tree has to fall, and it is close to a fence, it has to fall on the fence. There is another law of nature that says if a tree has fallen on a fence, a cow will automatically know that there is now a possible escape route to get at that grass that is always greener on the other side of the now non-existent fence. Consequently, the Bag Lady has to gather up some fencing equipment and take a tour around the perimeter of the summer pasture. A journey of many miles, with many obstacles. And possible encounters with all manner of perils, including everything from rosebushes to mosquitoes, and various wild critters.
With any luck, there won't be too many repairs and the Bag Lady can turn the cows loose from the smaller pasture they spent the night in. With even more luck it won't take the entire day to check the fence and she'll be able to get a few other things done that have been begging for her attention lately (like cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors and various other tasks of that nature!)
Oh, and here's something to brighten your day:
21 comments:
Beautiful flower!
And I love the contrast in our lives--I go to the grocery store and buy a package of hamburger (boring), you guys go off and buy entire cows!
(My groceries are a bit easier to unload, however).
Ahh, the vaunted Bovine Sixth Sense. They know. They always know.
Hope the fencing goes quickly.
I'd love an entire post on the bidding process!
MizFit
I'm tired just from reading your post - how do you keep up with it all?
Lovely picture!
Wow, you're making me feel spoiled for just sitting here at my desk.
When I do rural bike rides it seems I'm always coming across escaped cows. Luckily they don't seem to realize they can truly make a break for it. They just wander in the vicinity of their pasture, eating whatever grass and weeds strike their fancy by the roadside. They must be pretty easy to catch, since I've seen Dan herd them back to pasture from his bike when they block the road!
Crabby - Thanks! And yes, there is a little contrast - our meat-on-the-hoof walks out of the trailer (thank heavens I don't have to carry it!)
dfLeah - they do know! Every time. And it is a beautiful day here - so far. I'm sure the storms will roll in again today, though.
Miz - I'll work on that, but it will be difficult to convey the proper atmosphere of noise, smell, and...well smell and noise! :)
Javachick - I have to confess, there are times when I feel a little overwhelmed because I never seem to be able to get everything done! Then again, I'm really lazy, too....
BG - like everything else in life, sometimes it's easy to herd them back, sometimes, not so much! If they spook for some reason, cows can run amazingly fast!!
And good for Dan for being "neighbourly" enough to herd them off the road. Lots of people haven't a clue how to do that!
Very pretty!
Have to admit that "picking up the first load of cows" has never been on my to-do list....I feel deprived!
Missicat - you have no idea what you're missing! :)
I used to love going to the cattle sale with my Dad! Of course, I was always sad to see one of them go, but it was cool to look at all the different breeds and hear how much the bulls would go for.
side note: I would love your bread recipe! I don't think my water was too hot, but I don't have a thermometer to test it with. Maybe I should get one?
That's an iris right? I have never seen them that color before.
Good luck with the fence mending- I hope you have the camera in case you come across anything interesting.
The life of a rancher sounds so glamerous compared to sitting on my ass in an office for 8+ hours a day!
I always found it funny how cows on my uncle's farm had a 6th sense for where the fence would be down...FREEDOM!
It sounds like yesterday was a *long* day - glad you made it home with some new little moo cows. I'd be hopeless at bidding on cows...I get stressed out at auction sales and I end up bidding on the wrong things! :)
That really did brighten my day! Flowers always make me smile. Hope the repairs go well for you.
You are a pioneer woman! I love hearing your tales of life on the open range. :)
Good for you! (about the auction) Good luck with the fencing, I hope you took your bear scare! I also hope you don't have to chase any cows.
Lovely Iris.
Gena - I like going to the sales, too, but my problem is I want to take all the calves home again! And hubby refuses to take me to watch our own sell anymore because he's afraid I'll cry....
I'll post the bread recipe for all to see! And yes, get yourself a good thermometer - it makes like so much easier!
Emily - that is an iris - it is pretty, isn't it? I have some really dark ones about to bloom, too.
I'm not so sure you'd think it was glamorous to be tromping through the bush, swarms of mosquitoes around your head, trying to pry the end of a freakin' piece of barbed wire out from under a huge fallen tree, but maybe that's just me!! :)
Geosomin - I get stressed, too, when I'm bidding, and find I can't understand the auctioneer half the time, so don't even know how much I've bid! Sigh.
Sagan - glad the flower brightened your day! The repairs went fairly well - only a couple bad breaks and a couple trees to cut off the fence.
SB - thanks! I'm glad you enjoy my stories.
Reb - didn't see any bears, thank heavens. Took Gramma with me so was in good company.
Wow Sometimes when reading your post and everything you two do. I'm exhausted. lol
Beautiful Flower!!
Maggie - sometimes I'm exhausted too! lol
And stressing because there just isn't enough time in the day. Sigh.
Glad you had company and you didn't see any bears and are back.
Crabby said the very thing I thought when I viewed the flower! :)
I so enjoyed reading your post, but now I'm tired! I am truly impressed with your ranching skills!
I hope the fence repair was a smooth process and the cows didn't try to escape!
Thanks, sis!
Susan - glad you enjoyed the post! I'm a little tired tonight, too, but still have to do a few things before I can call it a night.
And yes, everything went smoothly with the fencing - only a few spots needed attention, and there were no escapees! The worst part was the throngs of mosquitoes!
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