If A Tree Falls

Joe went to clean out the cattle guard yesterday. It was full of leaves, gravel and dirt from the winter. But since it has been so dry, it was like concrete. That is until our 4 inches of rain. That softened it up enough to work with. 

Joe had gone down in the truck. I came a little later with the 4 wheeler.  You may be wondering what all of this has to do with trees.  Well, Joe took the 4 wheeler back to check the cows and I went out with the truck to turn around and come back. 

That is when I found this dead oak tree blocking the driveway.  So I had to back back up the driveway, find Joe and tell him he now needed to get the chainsaw. 

It was steep and dangerous. 

But Joe has a lot of experience with fallen trees. 

At least there wasn’t a fence to fix afterwards. 
 

Cattle and Mud.

Joe and I worked cattle Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  We are barely speaking to each other now.  Anyone that has worked cattle will understand.  

There were actually no issues and everything went smoothly.  

Calves got 2 shots, ear notch, and pour on for ticks.  Cows got one shot.  

And look!  Since the first of the year we have gone from abnormally dry, to moderate drought, to severe drought.  We are now on the borderline of extreme drought according to the drought monitor.  But we finally got enough rain to make mud, over 4 inches in the last 4-5 days.  At least now the tire troughs have filled back up.  
 

Snake!

Joe was mowing the lawn this afternoon when a black snake came slithering out from under the shrubs. 

It was a big one. Joe does not like it when they are heading towards the house. 

He killed it with a hoe. 

 I know they are good snakes but I don’t like it when I find them in the garage.  I also don’t like it when they are heading towards my bird houses. 

Kidding Done

It was a disappointing year for kidding.  Several nannies ended up being open.  Half of the ones that did kid only had singles.  We only had 2 sets of triplets.  But they were finished so it was time to work them and get them turned back out of the field they have been in for over a month. 

They seemed to know it was time to get turned out and they came running. 

Getting them into the lot and into the barn was uneventful.  

I am hoping for a younger person to help take my place next year.  Running around and catching each kid is getting a little more challenging.  Joe on the other hand, is still great at his job.  After we finished banding the male kids and letting the female all out, we dewormed all the adults.  Joe held each one for me to squirt the dewormer down.  

Everyone was excited to be done. 

Final kid count - 44

 

A New 4 Year Old

Happy 4th Birthday Allie!

 Looking forward to a wonderful year of fun!

Nice Ride

Yesterday’s weather was beautiful for an afternoon ride. 

I started out in the barn.  Draper gets penned up in the stall and Clyde gets moved over with Hugo. That way the barn is open and I can ride out without having to get off and open the gate. Walk, trot and canter both ways. Otoelene acted like she was ready for a ranch riding show. 

Then I headed outside for a couple of trips up and down the driveway. I alway like how her speed never changes whether she is walking away from the barn or back towards it.  Had I been braver I would have ridden around the farm some, but I am still having problems with my courage.  Maybe one of these days…
 

Special Treat

I had some special visitors yesterday for Mother’s Day. 

Virginia and Mike brought Sadie and Allie over in the afternoon and stayed for dinner. Allie is a big fan of Kit Kat. 

But she is still scared of the dogs. Sadie isn’t though. She loves to feed and pet them.  We also watched the baby goats play and run around. 

And they both wanted to give Clyde some treats. 

 But the best part was them doing poop patrol in the barn where Draper is hanging out.  Nothing is too messy for a couple of princesses. 

Big Mistake?

I either made a mistake planting them or cutting them down. 

The two river birches in front of the house had gotten too big.  We just had a new roof put on and I was afraid they might damage it at some point.  Plus, they shed limbs constantly and plug up the gutters with catkins in the spring and leaves in the fall. 

The Leland cypress trees were also getting pretty tall. 

So we hired someone to come top them and cut down the river birches. 

It was an all day job  

I don’t think it will miss the tops of the cypress trees. 

But the river birch that was on the right might leave a hole. It will take some getting used to. 

But I will have a big pile of mulch for next year. 

 

More Big Bin Dealz

My Pyrex storage lids have been disintegrating for some time now. Joe said you might as well just lay a paper towel over the bowl and it would be as helpful as one of those lids. I have thought about getting replacement lids but that is as far as I got, thinking. 

That is until I went to the Big Bin Dealz store yesterday for $1 day and found these. 

They are not Pyrex brand but they fit. 

 And it looks like I saved $17.  

Turned Out

We finally got the first group of cows and calves worked so they could be turned out. 

We had them up in a smaller field last night so they would be easier to corral. 

Cows got one shot and dewormed and calves got two shots and their ear notched. Joe has been notching ears instead of tagging. Then the heifers we keep as replacements get a tag later.

It was just 17 pairs so Joe and I whipped it out in no time. 

 Then it took three loads to take them across the road to our rented farm.  17 down, 150 or so to go.  

Transfusion Update

The video speaks for itself. 

 I guess the transfusion bought enough time for the calf’s bone marrow to catch up on making red blood cells and maybe for his immune system to help fight off the theileria. 

Cattle Work

Yesterday Mike helped us with some cattle here.

Some were vaccinate, some dewormed, some both and one dehorned.  It was nice having the extra help.  Mike being there always makes things easier for me.

After we were done, the cattle when back out where they came from.  

Today we were at it again.  Mike was busy this time so it was just me and Joe. 

We were not doing anything with the cows, so we sorted them out first.

More deworming, vaccinating and 3 to dehorn.  That is always the drawback to using a horned Hereford bull.

We we were done, the cows didn’t go back to where they came from, they went to new pasture.  You can tell how excited they were for that.

 

First Hummer

I was sitting at the kitchen table yesterday when I saw a hummingbird at the irises off the back deck.  I yelled “it’s a hummer, my first hummingbird”. 

I went directly to the garage to get the hummingbird feeder. I think he appreciated the sugar water.  

4 Random Things

Monday was Mimi day with Allie.  She chose to go to the playground while we waited for Sadie's dance class to conclude.  

It was a beautiful day and she had lots of fun.  There was another girl there that her father was talking on the phone the entire time.  She kept asking me to take her picture and video her.  She wanted me to push her on the swing and watch when she was doing something difficult.  I felt sorry that her father didn't pay more attention to her.  

Allie didn't want to leave when it was time.  I said Sadie would be scared and worried if we weren't there.  She said, no she wouldn't.  We left on time anyway. 

I went with Joe yesterday to check the fence at our rented property before we turn cattle out there.  Of course there was a tree down on top of it.  

But I did find some nice wild flowers, this is wild ginger. 

Cancer root, 

and stonecrop.  

And my first peony is blooming! It is over a week earlier than the earliest I have recorded on the blog so far.