Evening Walks with My Farmer

My Farmer and I decided to start taking a walk in the evenings after we get done with chores.  With the nights getting longer, we felt this might occupy some of the evening hours and help us get a bit of exercise .  Last night we walked out behind the barn and spooked a couple of deer that were grazing by our willow trees.  It was pretty dark, so it took a bit for me to figure out what they were, but it was kind of cool (after I got over my scared shock) watching them skimper off out across the field into the dark. Tonight we walked across the field from our feedlot to the house.  The air was very crisp and cold, yet so refreshing.  The moon is just at a sliver, and with its small slice shinning below the clouds, just on the brink of settling behind the mountain tops,  it made me feel so blessed to be experiencing that sight at that very moment.   Standing out in the middle of the field, my Farmer started reminiscing of times gone by when he was growing up here.   We stood there looking around at all of the lights from all the houses that have been built since he was a child. He recalled maybe 5 houses that could be seen back then, and maybe only one of them having a yard light.  I stood there trying to imagine it as it was when he was young.  Then imagining it as it was when his grandfather was young.  And being thankful that I am experiencing it now.  There are way more houses with their lights shining into the night these days, yet not to many to distract from the beauty of the new moon as it peeks out from behind the clouds.  What an awesome sight.  I think I could get use to this kind of exercise.  Exersice for the body and soul.   I am looking forward to tomorrow nights adventure.  I really am.....Livin the life, the farm life that is. 

A Job Needs Done and Needs Done NOW

The dreaded (especially when I am suppose to be having a "day off")  phone call from my Farmer.......
"Can you go (whatever it is he needs done) for me? I'm doing (whatever he is doing) and (whatever needs done) needs done now."  
He does usually give me a choice.  
"If you don't want to do that, you can come take over (whatever he is doing) and I'll go do (whatever he needs done)".  
Ummmm....ok.    
I'm thankful for getting a choice, but some of the time neither job is something I am completely comfortable doing.  My first reaction when I get this call is, Sure! I can do that. (yes, I have been diagnosed as a people pleaser). Then as he gives me directions, I am thinking....oh no, I don't think I can do that (yes, also diagnosed as lacking confidence).  Of course I don't say this out loud.  (I have to live up to my "front" that I can do anything).  One thing I am fortunate for, is that my Farmer is pretty good at giving me step by step instructions. (as long as he is in the right mood, otherwise instructions can be pretty brief.)  It does make me feel really good that my Farmer has enough confidence in me to ask me to do (whatever needs done), especially when I don't share his confidence.  I cant let him down (or mess up his illusion that I know what I'm doing) so I take off to do (whatever job that needs done.....now).   As I am doing the needed job, my Farmers words of instructions are running thru my head along with my words of I don't think I can do this, making it take me 10 times longer to get the job done then it should.  When I do finally complete (whatever the job is that needs done), I feel so dang GOOD about myself!  What an AWESOME feeling!  Now I DO have the confidence that I can to do anything!  Well.....until my Farmer shows up and tells me I did it wrong.  Honestly, that really doesn't happen too often.   Otherwise, as he has learned, I will not be available the next time he calls and needs that "job" done "now".  And yes, that is Living the Life.....the Farm Life that is. 

Stylin' and Dancin' while I'm Workin'

Looks like this summer I am going be a little more "actively involved" on the farm.  We did not hire anyone to help with the irrigating so that leaves me to step up to the plate.  I am not extremely happy about this.  Mostly cuz it means getting up and moving earlier in the morning. (which we all know I am NOT a morning person).  Since this is the way its gonna be, I had to go shopping the other day for some new irrigating boots and a new summer hat.  I found they now make some pretty colorful ones and I decided...what the heck, might as well have some fun with my outfit.  Thinking, if I am stylin' while I'm workin'....I'll feel much better about working.  (it's the little things in life that make me happy) (hehe)
The only problem I know I might have, (no....that should be "will have") is that the boots fit loose.  That makes them easy to slip on......and off, meaning when I am walking thru a puddle of deep mud, they will slip right off my feet.  Leaving me standing there, in the mud, doing the flamingo dance, as I attempt to pull the stupid boot out of the mud, trying not to let my sock touch the ground or fall flat on my face!  (I can describe it so well cuz....yep....been there done that!)  And the only problem I might have with the hat is, as my Farmer put it....he'll be able to find me from far away.  Could be bad, could be good.....good if I'm doing the flamingo dance!    Yeehaw!  and Thats Livin' the life....the Farm Life that is.

A Day of Confusion.....with Lots of Experts.

Today was a confusing day.  That's what my Farmer said when we got to the house this evening.  Let me explain.  During morning check on the cows, my Farmer found three new baby calves.  Two with their momma's and one all alone.  After looking around and not finding any cow looking for a calf, my Farmer assumed that one of the cows had had twins and she claimed one and not the other.  Not knowing which cow it belonged to, but knowing that neither cow could raise two calves anyways, he brought the lone calf to the corral figuring this one would have to be raised on a bottle. Really didn't want another bottle baby, but that's how it goes. First step was to give the calf some colostrum, which is vital to a new calf.  This is where the confusion started.  He would not eat.  Since he would not suck the bottle, my Farmer had the feeling that the calf had already eaten. (We have found that new born calves will not suck on the bottle if they have already eaten from their momma's)  At lunch we were discussing the situation and we decided it might be a good idea to check the herd again to make sure he didn't just overlook the momma.   When my Farmer got out to the herd, sure enough, he found a cow that was looking for a calf.  Yay!!  He went back and got to calf, took it out to the momma.  She sniffed it, then walked away.  Dang it!  Now my Farmer was thinking he confused the cow by taking her calf so he separated them from the rest of the herd, thinking that maybe it would help if they were by themselves.  Once in a different pasture, just the two of them, she once again sniffed it, even kind of acted interested, then walked off.  More confusion.  The pasture this cow was now in has lush green grass, which the other place did not, so all she was interested in was eating.  Now my Farmer started thinking that this cow was just starting to calve and was just looking for a calf, but had not calved.  Which sometimes they will do this.  This is where I entered the picture, adding to the confusion as best I could.  I had been fixing fence, which I was on my third day of doing all by myself, which I am not very good at, which I was getting very tired of doing, which is why I decided to quit early, knowing my Farmer needed my expertise.  Ha!  I was excited when I drove up and seen that he had found the momma!  Then he tells me he thinks its not the momma.  I say, being the expert that I am,  I think her bag has been sucked on and she doesn't look fat enough to still have a calf in her, so I think its hers.  My Farmer says, being the expert that he is, it is not hers.  However, with my little input, it makes him question himself.  Yep, that's my job.  More confusion.  We decided to run her to the corral and help her to love her calf, cuz we are all confused, remember!  Once there my Farmer wonders if we should go ahead and run her in the chute and check to see if she has a calf in her.  Wow, now that is an idea!  I second that.  That's what we do.  And guess what, we helped her find her calf.  In the birthing canal!  Yep, she was calving!   Believe me, she had not been showing any signs of being in labor, except for the looking for a calf part, (and chasing after the dog).  We went ahead and helped her calve....and life is now good for them.  She found her calf.  The other little critter, well she is my responsibility now.  And getting her to suck on a bottle....yea, I was able to do that.  You just have to have a little motherly experience and a lot of patience.  And I am an expert on that.   That's livin' the life......The Farm Life that is......

When the Pressure drops.....the Calves drop....

I believe this to be a true statement.  When the air pressure drops, we can always count on lots of babies to be born.  And the other day was no exception.  The weather here went from sunny and hot one day to cold, snowy, rainy, and windy the next.  On the sunny day we had 3 calves born, which has been about our norm.  All jumped right up and took to eating with no problems. The next day, the cold, rainy, snowy, windy day, we had 8 calves born.  And since it was cold, they are slower.  4 went to the corral and two got to spend the night in the calf house to warm up.  The others did get up and eat on their own but it took them a while to do so. (When I say it took a while I mean over two hours, because if conditions are right, a calf can be up and eating within an hour or less.)  This makes for a long day for my Farmer (well, and me of course).  My Farmer and I have a system when it comes to bringing the calf and its momma to the corral, and usually it works pretty smooth.  He puts the calf in the ATV trailer, which he built sides for,  the calf can stand up, but can't jump out, and the momma can see it and sniff it, which usually means she will follow it all the way to the corral.  Usually.  And this is a one man job.  It seems if I go out to help, the momma freaks out, thinking its a trap, and she will not follow.  So my job is to close the gate at the corral as soon as she goes through it.  Sometimes, once the cow realizes that she has been lead through the gate, she will freak out and try to turn around and run, not caring whether you have her calf or not. So shutting of the gate is a very important job (well ALL my jobs are very important, right?!? Haha).  I have to hide so she can't see me and then leap into action once she is through the gate.   The other night, as I was sitting in my hiding position, I was admiring the beauty of my surroundings.  The sky was incredible. Picture perfect.  I was suppose to be very still as not to spook the momma, but I just HAD to snap a picture!  To share it with all of you, of course.  And I did.  I was sneaky enough, momma didn't spook....Thankfully!  But don't tell my Farmer, we need him to think he had my full attention.   And he did, of course.....kind of.
Hope ya like the picture cuz .......This is...... Livin' the Life......the Farm Life that is. 

Layer on....Layer off....Strip tease Act

As many of you know,  when we are feeding cows, I usually drive the tractor and my Farmer throws off the hay.  There are a few times when I will "give him a break" and let him drive while I throw the hay off.  Tonight was one of those times.  He was already in the tractor, the sun was shinning (remember I am only a fair weather farmer),  so I thought, what the heck, he can just stay in the tractor and I'll toss the hay this time.  Now you have to realize that we are having spring in the mountains right now, which means it is cold one minute and warm the next, which means you dress in layers and it is a game of on/off all day.  Well just before we fed, it was cold, so I was layered.... winter hat, snow pants, heavy coat, snow boots....yep I was pretty much bundled up.   As we headed out to the field, the wind stopped and the sun was warm....it was just plain beautiful.  As I got about half way through the first bale, I started to get rather warm, so off went the coat.  Then the hat.  Then the snow pants. Then the vest.  Then I realized,  if anyone was watching,  it probably looked like a strip tease act!  On a hay wagon! That made me laugh.  I kind of wanted to keep stripping off layers just to see what my Farmer would do. That really made me laugh.   After all, it is all about livin the moment and keepin life exciting right?  But then that would make this blog x rated and well, we can't let that happen now can we.  Haha!  But ya know.......Thats livin the life, the farm life that is.   And I'm still lovin it.....all bundled up. 😊

Snow Painting......the Farmer way

My Farmer and I did a little "snow painting" yesterday, the farmer way.  Let me explain.  One of the problems we have when we get a lot of snow around here (note I said one because there are many) is that it can be hard on our wheel lines.  If the snow covers them then crusts, it will pull the lines down as the snow settles.  Believe it or not, the snow can crust so hard that as it pulls the line down it can break the pipe.  One year we had enough snow that it pushed down hard enough to flatten the metal wheels.  Crazy! And wheels do not roll so well not round.  Snow is an interesting object.  Anyways, to prevent this from happening, we remove the snow from the pipes.  In the years past, or lets say when my Farmer was younger and had lots of energy, he would walk the wheel lines and shovel the snow off.  As he became, ummm, lets say "wiser", he started saving the ashes from our fireplace and spreading them on the pipes, which made the snow soften and melt.  It worked pretty darn good, only we never really had enough ashes to do all the lines.  Well....this year we used lime.  This is where the "snow painting" comes to play.  We put lime on our fields every year, something about needing it for the ph in the soil or something, not my expertise so thats all I know.  So my Farmer decided why not use lime instead of the ashes, should work the same.  I like the idea of using the lime.  We have lots of it AND it comes in pretty colors.  Now let me admit something here, I normally do not help my Farmer do this task.  Main reason.....he does it early in the morning, when it is cold out.  I guess that is two reasons, early and cold.  Yesterday, the sun was shinning, it was a beautiful day, I went outside for a little walk and there he was, working, and I had a guilt moment. But he was riding on top of the snow with the atv so I didnt have to walk, it was a gorgeous day, and I did need a little exercise.  Turns out, it was kind of fun painting the snow.  We had purplish lime and a beautiful pink color lime.  I kept wanting to make flowers or something, but I was suppose to be working, it was a job, and the boss was watching.  I did manage to snap a picture or two, when he wasn't watching.  hehe. 

So, if you drive by and see this image, you now know the reason. 
Well, the sun is shinning, there are three more wheel lines to do, and I had so much fun yesterday, I think I will go help my Farmer finish.  Besides, have you ever riding on top on the snow with your ATV?  It is a blast!!!   That's livin' the life.......the Farm life that is!