90 Worked

 I think our calves may finally be straighten out from weaning and moving.  Yesterday, E came home to help up round them all up, sort and vaccinate.

The rounding up proved a little frustrating.  Because they are already used to being fed it ended up that they towed better than herded.

 E was the Pied Piper of this group.

 J then took over with the tractor and a bale of hay.

 And E went after the stragglers.

 Finally, everyone was in the lot ready for the sorting.

 I don't think this is E's most favorite thing to be doing on a Saturday.

 J made his decisions, sorting out the replacement heifers and the smaller end of the calves. 

 That left a load of 90 head to catch and vaccinate.  E did the catching, and a fine job at that.

 And J did the pushing into the chute.

That left me to count and give the 3 vaccines (7-way clostridial, 5-way respiratory, and Pasteurella Multocida/Mannheimia Haemolytica) .  Now a few more weeks before they head out west.

Coupon Saturday #24

 There are more ways to save than just coupons.  A couple of years ago I was disgusted how my satellite tv bill continued to creep higher and higher.  It was up to $87 and I had just gotten another notice that it was going up again.  I called and complained to no avail so I cancelled it altogether.   I found live streaming stations on the internet, tried Sling TV, and had Netflix.  A week later, I got a notice that Direct TV wanted me back and they had a deal.  My new bill was $21.  When the year was up, the creep started again. 

 I was up to $59 and another notice that it was going up another $3.00.  This time when I called I didn't have to go through cancelling, they just lowered it.

New bill,  $27.66.  Now we will see what happens next year.

 But there is always couponing too. 

I was able to get $12.75 of Aleve for just 75 cents.   The Suave was free with digital coupons. (different receipt)

 Dollar General also had all Christmas items on clearance for 25 cents.  Who could pass that up?  J loves the cranberry sauce and I am ready for some punkin pies.

 I am also ready for some secret Santa gift exchanges. 

 And the house can smell like Christmas all winter.

 In all I splurged and spent $5 for $73 worth of Christmas stuff. 

But this was my biggest success this week.  An all digital coupon deal at Dollar General. 

I was a big spender with 6 cents out of pocket.  It is really hard to stay out of the store when they are just giving me stuff. 

Sick Pen

A friend of ours got back from a short trip to Nebraska where he visited the feedyard a group of us send our cattle to and talked to a Vet that does the work there.  They said our cattle were far and away the healthiest that our group sends.  They said we had the fewest pulls (taken out to treat).  

Well, that will probably end with this group.  This last set of calves that we weaned have been terrible.  We have already treated about 20 out of the 60 in the group. 

The weather hasn't helped much, wet, raining, mud, then single digit temperatures.  All that can be pretty stressful. 

These are the 3 J pulled to treat today.  Coughing, lethargic, fever.  We have had a couple of repeats too.  Hopefully, they will all get straightened out soon so we can sort them and get them vaccinated and ready for the feedlot.  

Apparently, we have a reputation to uphold.

Vet Emergency, Not Vet Emergency

There seems to be some confusion with people calling the answering service to have me paged for an emergency.  Some people have legitimate concerns while others are just out there. Here are some of my real life examples,

Hit by Car, train, Fed Ex Truck, 4-wheeler, haybine,  potential Veterinary Emergency.

I gave my cat it's pill but I think it spit it out so I gave it another one and now I have found the 1st one, at midnight, Just wanted to let you know.  NOT veterinary emergency.

Ate rat poison, pack of sugar free gum, bag of chocolate, entire bottle of owners blood pressure, anxiety, pain...meds, potential veterinary emergency.

Licked a toad, NOT veterinary emergency (at least in this area) (and I'm sure you could google that as well as I could)

Vomiting for 4 days, potential veterinary emergency (but why didn't you call at 3 1/2 days when we were still open)

Gave my cat a Fire and Ice logenze and now it is drooling and I am a truck driver 2000 miles away from you.   NOT  (my)  veterinary emergency.  and stop giving your cat fire and ice logenzers.

Can't breathe, can't stand, can't move, can't wake up, all legitimate veterinary emergencies,

I had my dog euthanized 2 weeks ago and was told the ashes would be back in about a week.  I called the cremation place and they will have them to the clinic tomorrow.  Why didn't I get them back in a week.
I am sorry that because of the snow and ice the return of your ashes has been delayed, but THIS IS NOT a veterinary emergency. 

Hope this clears things up.

Winter Break

E took advantage of her long winter break to head to Florida.  Her and and friend set out to camp their way to the Florida Keys and back.  They stopped in Savannah and Charleston before making it to the Everglades.  Aunt A had set up a wonderful adventure with Roger Hammer,  an award-winning professional

naturalist, author, botanist and photograper. (from his web page HERE) 

E and Friend Everglades

American Avocet

 E was able to get lots of great wildlife photos.

crocodile 

Key Deer

 She really enjoyed the variety of fresh fruits at the Robert Is Here roadside stand.  I think she also enjoyed camping out in the National Forest and other various campgrounds.

Wild Man with Wildlife 

I think it was a very economical way to travel and get a different perspective of our country.

Ice And Aggravation

We woke up this morning to find everything covered in a thick layer of ice. 

 It is continuing to rain and so far we have accumulated about 1/4 inch of ice.

 It is making everything just a little more difficult.

 The net wrap is frozen to the hay bales.

 J gave up trying to unwrap it and just cut it.

 But it still didn't want to let go.  It took a couple of inches of hay with it. 

 Not wanting to leave it and risk the cattle ingesting it, J picked it up with the spear and carried it to the barn.  Once it thaws he can wad it up and throw it away.  Just 4 more bales to go. 

At least it makes for some pretty pictures. 

Coupon Saturday #23

It's been two months since I have posted a coupon Saturday.  There wasn't much good stuff over the last few weeks.  But new digital coupons came out making a bunch of stuff FREE!

 There was a deal on the Pepsi/Lays products, $2 off when you buy one of each.  There was a different chip that was $1 less but I splurged on the Cheetos instead.  The Revlon coupon gave $1 overage, so $0.85 plus tax for everything.  Like I said, I splurged.  I would have gotten more on different accounts but the stores around here were wiped out.  I am hoping to catch them restocked before the coupons expire.

Then I needed something to go in the free Air Wick warmer, but the only cheap thing I found came with another warmer, 25 cents.  Toothpaste free at CVS.  Does anyone pay for toothpaste anymore?

Time To Come Home

First off I would like to thank everyone that participated in the rug voting.  I had some personal emails and comments too that I will take into consideration.  It seems the vast majority vote for keeping.  I am still on the fence thinking it might limit future decorating choices.  I'll give it a few more days. 

J had a couple of bulls out with the fall calving cows at our other farm.  Breeding season is over and it was time to bring them home and back out to the bull lot. 

 J already had them sorted out of the cows.  Whenever he gets me to help, he makes it as easy as possible.  Isn't he sweet?

 Anyway, there was a little scuffle but nothing too bad.

 And they headed on into the barn lot.

 Our trailer has a cut gate so one when on front and one on the back so they wouldn't fight on the way home.

 Once we turned them out with the other bulls, there was a lot of bellowing, head scrubbing,

and mud throwing, but everything settled down quickly.  Now we just have to feed them for 6 more months until we need them again.

Additional Pictures To Aid In Voting

I had a couple of requests to take pictures of the rug in place.  Maybe this will aid in the voting.  Also, even though it was made it India, I bought it on Overstock.com.  I have read some very bad reviews about returning things there.  But, you can pretty much read bad reviews about anything.  I should have 30 days to make a request to return. 

It is very frustrating to think you have made a decision, only to be faced with yet another decision.   Voting can continue, Should it stay or should it go?