Sunday, November 23, 2008

Harsh Realities

What the heck is in shampoo, anyway?

The Bag Lady gets her very best ideas for blog posts while she's in the shower, which means, of course, that she has no way to write them down, short of using her finger on the steam on the shower door......

Perhaps it's just the stimulus of massaging shampoo into her hair, but she will get a great idea and work it out in her head. Unfortunately, by the time she has rinsed, conditioned, scrubbed the rest of her body, toweled off, blow-dried her hair, gotten dressed and made herself ready to face the world, whatever was in her head is long gone and forgotten. (Hmmm, what does that say about the Bag Lady, anyway? She has to have a blank mind in order to face the world?)

In other news, the Rancher and the Bag Lady, with help from the Rancher's brother and a couple of good friends, brought their cows home yesterday. Some of you may remember the White Bitch from this spring. She was the first cow to calve this season. The Bag Lady called her the White Bitch because of her rather nasty disposition, which turned even nastier yesterday.

She was one of the last cows left to be loaded into the trailer, and she went a little berserk. She charged at everyone in the corral, almost ran over the Bag Lady and the other woman who was helping (twice!), took a run at the other fellow who was helping, then charged the Rancher's brother! She finally jumped out of the corral, knocking down part of the fence in the process. Few things are more frightening than being down on one knee with your other foot in a rut in the mud with a two thousand pound cow charging directly at you! (She charged the Bag Lady twice before the Bag Lady could get her foot out of the rut in the ground....cows can move pretty fast when they want to!) Fortunately, no-one was hurt.

She is now hanging at the butcher shop, waiting to be turned into hamburger. The Rancher will not keep a cow that cannot be trusted. After much discussion, we all decided that she was trying to protect the wee calf that was left in the corral. A noble cause, which she gave her life for - and it wasn't even her own calf!

The peace and quiet of the ranch has been shattered, and will remain a little on the noisy side for a few more days. The calves are being weaned. They have been locked in the corral and the Bag Lady will give them some grain and extra attention now to compensate for the loss of their mothers' milk. The cows will stand on the other side of the corral fence for a few days and bawl at their calves, demanding that they "come out of there and have some milk!" to relieve the pressure. Eventually the cows will stop producing milk and everything will settle down. This is not the Bag Ladys' favourite time of year because she feels sorry for the cows. But it is a necessary part of the procedure. The cows need some time to recover before they have another calf next year.

35 comments:

solarity said...

Hamburger, definitely. (Glad you're all right.) If she was white, did she have Charolais in her? They have a rep for being completely nuts, although my best-friend-the-doctor's grandfather, a Charolais fanatic, never had any that weren't well behaved.
I'm consoling myself with the fact that goats weigh less than I do. Travel in back of truck, not needing stock trailer. Have twins routinely, and triplets about as often as cows have twins. But I still want some Cows, Dammit! The result of a childhood spent with Mr. Matlick's cows across the back fence. Cows are Just Right.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

the Bag Lady said...

Mary Anne - yes, she was purebred Charolais. And nuts. That was a very scary episode!
The Rancher is a die-hard cattle man, so no goats or sheep around here.

Hilary said...

It's been 16 years since I last nursed a baby, but upon reading about your cows' predicament, I could almost feel that letdown reflex all over again. Poor mamas.

I'm very relieved that you were not hurt. Cows must appear massive coming at you under those circumstances.

the Bag Lady said...

Hilary - yes, yes they do! And she was a very big cow.
We didn't really need to slaughter another animal right now, but sometimes you have no choice. I'm thinking the soup kitchen in town is going to benefit, though!

Unknown said...

Ack that's frightening! Am glad you're okay.

I get the same way about the ideas thing, too. My best ideas ALWAYS come when I don't have a pen or can't write things down. I have created my best stories when I'm out walking and then I try to put them to paper when I get home- and they're just gone!

Leah J. Utas said...

Bitch Burgers.
Too bad about the whole episode, but OTOH she died a heroine and you call always use the story to spice the Bitch Burgers.

As for ideas, yeah, I get them in the tub. Sometimes I take a chance to dry myself first, if I've remembered by the end of the bath, before jotting anything down. Other times, well, the rest of this story is way TMI.

the Bag Lady said...

Sagan - you need to start carrying a little mini-recorder on your walks - that way, when you have a great idea, you can record it! (Of course, walking down the street, talking into your hand might get you a few strange looks......)

dfLeah - Bitch Burgers - LOVE IT!! Can hardly wait to start serving those!! :)
And thanks for the mental picture - because what I'm imagining is probably far worse than the "stark" reality....LOL

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

That's unfortunate about the cow but even a city gal like me knows you can't keep an animal that is unpredictable. It sounds like she wouldn't have hurt anyone on purpose, but good intentions don't pay the doc or the vet.

I tend to get my best ideas for blog posts on my long runs. But by the time I get home, all I'm usually thinking is how glad I am to be done and where's the ice packs? Part of what I like about long runs is that they clear my head. Too bad for the blog posts, but it keeps me sane. Sort of.

the Bag Lady said...

BG - well said - good intentions don't pay the doctors bills!

And it is annoying to get those great writing ideas when you have no way to record them! Mine also come when I'm in that state of paralysis right before I fall asleep - keeping a pen and paper beside the bed does me no good in that instance, and I can just imagine what the Rancher would say if I suddenly popped up in bed, turned on the light and wrote something down! Pretty sure it would only happen once.....

Anonymous said...

I get my best ideas in the early morning in bed.

and grab a notebook quickfastandinahurry lest I forget them.
I like to not think about where my burgers come from.

*plunges head in sand*

Reb said...

Glad to hear she missed you all! The soup kitchen is a great idea...I make soup in my kitchen - didn't you say you needed to come to the city for Christmas shopping? ;)

Blog Ideas? Lately I've been stuck on cleaning mode...not that it helps much.

the Bag Lady said...

Miz - the only idea I get first thing in the morning is "get up, get coffee"

Reb - wish I could afford to come to the city to shop! :)

Geosomin said...

Sorry the Bitch had to graduate to Bovine University...I agree tho- having an animal you can't trust around is *not* safe.
Glad she was only out to scare and didn't do anyone any serious harm.

Maybe pick up one of those little hand held tape recorders for when you get ideas...I find I get ideas and try and scribble notes that often don't make any sense later :)

the Bag Lady said...

Geo - that's a good idea. The one time I tried to write a note to myself in the middle of the night, I woke up to read garble....~~sigh~~

Crabby McSlacker said...

Oh dear, that's sad--but I have to agree, sounds like a very dangerous situation! Glad you weren't hurt.

(We had to put down a cat once because it started attacking us--can't imagine how scary it would have been if he were about 1,000 times bigger!)

Hilary said...

"The one time I tried to write a note to myself in the middle of the night, I woke up to read garble....~~sigh~~"

Well there's a blog post in itself! Scan it and post it, and you have yourself a contest. "What was the Bag Lady trying to say?"

the Bag Lady said...

Crabby! Are you home?
It was terribly scary, and I feel terrible that we had to deal with her the way we did, but the next time might have been worse!

Hil - If only I had kept it!! :)

Anonymous said...

Too bad we couldn't turn all those others that do us wrong like the "White Bitch" into hamburger. Problem is we would have more burger than we could possibly deal with.
I'm glad you're OK, but a smile came across my face by how you dealt with this. Good for you and the rancher Bag Lady.

Penny said...

That sounds terrifying! I remember moving cows when I was little and we were up in the Lakes. They were faster than me, I had to run so fast. It was horrible!

I almost felt sorry for White Bitch until I started thinking about how tasty a cheeseburger would be about now.... yummm...flesh....

TA x

the Bag Lady said...

Tom - your comment made me chuckle! There certainly would be a lot of ground meat if this was the accepted method of dealing with anyone who pissed us off!!!

the Bag Lady said...

TA - ah, so you understand how fast they can move!! I am usually the soft-hearted one when it comes to killing anything (I have even been known to cry when I see an animal lying on the side of the road that's been hit by a car), but there was not much other choice in this situation. No-one wants an animal that might hurt them.

Terrie Farley Moran said...

df Bag Lady,

I am so glad you are okay.

As to the noise, ear plugs!!!

Terrie

the Bag Lady said...

dfTerrie - good idea! Every time it quiets down, if we start a vehicle or the cows hear us moving, they start all over again!

Sarah said...

Aww.. that's kinda sad about the weaning. But you'll be showing them some extra love so I'm sure they will barely notice!!

the Bag Lady said...

Sarah - that's true - cattle love oats (like candy to them) and these little ones will learn all too quickly what that pail in my hand is all about!!

Anonymous said...

The White Bitch should have been put down, it was totally the right decision.

I feel a bit bad for the cows, although you're right about needing to recover before they have another calf.

the Bag Lady said...

Tricia - I feel so sorry for the cows and calves, I can scarcely stand to go outside! They will start to settle down in a few days....I hope!

Missicat said...

Wow, I cannot begin to imagine how scary that was! I just have to deal with 14 lbs of kitty, that is bad enough....

the Bag Lady said...

Missicat - sometimes 14 lbs of kitty can be kinda scary, too!! :)

Missicat said...

Bag Lady - but that is 14 lbs together between 2 kitties! :-) Makes it a little easier...

Anonymous said...

I'm glad everyone is okay! A freezer full of fresh beef is a small price to pay for everyone's safety. The Rancher is a smart man.
I remember staying at my uncle's farm the night after he separated the cows from the calves. He had a very small operation but I didn't get much sleep that night. So much for the peace and quiet of country living!

I often suffer from CRS (Can't Remember Sh!t). It's problematic, isn't it? All those wonderful ideas, just escaping into never-neverland.

the Bag Lady said...

Missicat - it isn't double trouble? :)

Kcinnova - our operation isn't very big, either, but they can certainly make a lot of noise!
Should start settling down tomorrow, I hope.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my gosh! I'm glad you're ok. Sorry to hear about having to put the cow down, but that's better than the possible alternative. :(

I feel bad for the mama cows, too. Another necessary-but-unfun situation.

Anonymous said...

just checking in on you.

hope you are living not blogging and not back under the weather!

the Bag Lady said...

Marste - Thanks! I'm really glad no-one was hurt too! Thanks for stopping in!

Miz - Oh yes, all okay - just busy with nothing much on the blog-worthy front!