Eh

Another "eh" type of day.

This morning I started chores around 6...was a little late because I forgot that I needed to pack a lunch at the last minute...that I ended up not needing! Oh well, better safe than sorry.

After chores, we fueled up and Merle and I headed to Connor's last hay field. When we got there Mike was already raking and Delbert had just started baling. As we went two more balers showed up- one was Collin Peterson from Irelands and the other was Ed Risse. The two of us raking couldn't keep up with four balers today- it was way too smooth and you can only go so fast with a rake. In fact, yesterday I was told to speed up, today I was told to slow down. They asked how fast I was going and I said 5.5 (which is pretty fast but considering I was trying to keep up with four balers!). Delbert was like "well you're definitly going more like seven so the speedometer must be off." I wouldn't doubt it, so I kicked it down a shuttle gear. Anyway, I raked and raked until the predicted 50mph wind started blowing the windrows and rolling them everywhere. Then, Mike and I had to find other constructive things to do until lunchtime. Luckily, I had thrown a bunch a new rake teeth in, and we had some wrenches and sockets so we got to work on putting in new rake teeth. Merle's rake had only lost two teeth in three years, but the other day it lost three on one wheel and after that it was all history.We replaced ten, and that managed to kill enough time that everyone was done baling the section they were on.

We all loaded up and headed into town for dinner at Marva's. Laura and Nancy and Marva had the lunch battle and apparently Laura surrendered! lol...o I know how that goes... Right before we went into town Dave (Connor's Dad) and Nick (Connor's good friend and the kid that was cutting hay for him this summer) came by. Nick had been running the hydraswing to finish the field we were on. When he was done they tried to fuel everyone up but none of us needed fuel, or thought they should have to fuel us up. So, I helped him fuel up the by-directional that that hydra swing runs behind and he ran it to the next field- then we all went in to town to eat.

The food was tasty, and it was nice to sit in the air conditioning, but it wasn't long before we were back out finishing that field. I tried a round with the rake but we had the same problem so I just parked it and serviced my tractor while the three balers that were left finished baling the last part. While that was going on, Lee showed up and started stacking bales. We figured that he drove by and saw us baling so we went and got his tractor. Someone asked him what time he was leaving and he said...when they are all stacked. By the time I was done, the balers were too. Harv and Ross had just showed up from moving pickups around, stringing salt, and cutting some hay, so we all stood around and talked for a while. Then, we all headed out. Merle and I went straight back to the hayfield that we came from and finished what was cut there. Then, we came home and did chores. Dean was stacking balses all day and had come in a little earlier so he had them started (a first)- it didn't take long. I had to make a special trip back to Merle's house to pick up Bart. That poor fish- I forgot to pick him up before I went home! But, I have him now, safe and sound- the house is obviously much more lively with some livestock other than moths and me.

At some point today Delbert was on the radio giving me a new Indian name again...I think it was Sara Moose Tracks or something like that. He also dared me to sit on his knee at dinner time and I almost did- that gave them all something to talk about! haha...o the trouble I get into.

Overall, we definitly got something done today. You know that there are just plain good people out there when no one has to ask and four balers show up to put up hay almost immidiately after a tragedy like that. I know that Dave and his family appreciate it and like we were saying at dinner, I'm sure Connor is smiling knowing that the entire quarter is put up :) It's a rough time for everyone, but forward is the only direction a person can move. Please keep the family and friends in your prayers.

There isn't much one can say about today.

I knew chores were going to be at 5am because we had to round up, sort, and load up fall calves this morning by 8am. At 4:30am I got a phone call from Merle giving me some bad news. There was a really tragic accident last night. Merle's nephew Connor, (Dave's son) got caught in his baler last night and was killed. He was only 19 years old and had a whole future set up for himself. There was one of his hired guys with him that knew something was wrong but by the time he got across the field it was way to late. There isn't alot I can type that would make anything better- details dont' really improve the situation much, that's for sure.

So, with that in mind. I got out of bed and drug myself through chores. We loaded up horses and met Delbert out in the fall calvers and had to go some some nasty canyons to round htem up, but was got em and got them sorted and loaded. Merle used a guy out of Merriman who has a semi that loads from the ground...that was pretty neat. After that, Merle and I went straight to the tractors and headed out to Connor's hay that was cut. He was doing custom haying last summer and this summer, so Merle, Delbert, Mike, and some other neigbors got together and finished the field for the family. We had four balers and two rakes....meaning that the rakes were moving right along if you know what I mean. As soon as we turned in the field, Merle had a flat tire on his baler- adn everyone seemed to keep on having prblems throughout the morning but we got it done. We rolled out about 330 bales in just a couple hours...that's not bad. Laura (Mike's wife) brought us some lunch as we finished the field. After eating, a couple people went and grabbed Connor's tractors and got them to Mike's place. We used the rake all morning, but noticed that a hydraulic arm was bent real bad- so it went to town. The tricky part about all of it was figuring out how to run the equipment. But, after some phone calls and dinking around we go both tractors going and the baler closed and sent them on their way. There was a part of me that just wanted to beat that baler in with a basball bat. Not that that would help anything-but it would be good anger release...

We all split ways after getting his equipment out fo there and said we would meet again tomorrow morning in another field that Connor had cut for his great uncle. Merle and I went back to the hayfield we took the tractors from and carried on. We hayed all afternoon. Adrienne brough us some pizza and water at supper time and then we kept on going until we finished our field. Then, we greased up, and headed home with the tractors and left our pickup their so we will have a ride when we come back from Connor's field to Merle's in the afternoon. We just filled grain for chores tomorrow, and then headed in.

It was a rough day and there isnt' much words can say about it- we all kept busy and helped out in ways that we knew how- but there is only so much you can do to fill a hole so huge. I know that news travels fast and tons of people knew already last night- so obvioulsy he had lots of friends. He was a great kid that died way too young. The last time I saw him we were at Mike's branding and I specifically remember asking him if he would come rescue me and my horse from this obnoxious calf with his rope. It was pretty enteretaining...and a good memeory- and a memory it will remain. But, it seems that no matter what you do- time marches on.

Real cowboys never run, they just ride away.

There is a time for everything, And a season for every activity under Heaven: A time to be born and a time to die, ...A time to weep and a time to laugh, A time to mourn and a time to dance, ... A time to love and a time to hate, A time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8.

Weekend

For the sake of my sleep and to keep from borning you I am going to lump my weekend together.

I worked Friday morning. After doing chores, I headed straight out to the baler and rake and got started greasing. By the time I was ready to take off Merle had caught up with me. We got started on the big field over by Bravehawks and didn't have too much trouble or major obstacles other than some steep spots here and there. Merle had arranged for Johnny to come and take over for me at 10am so I could finish packing up my stuff and get on the road.

Johnny is the renter that lives on Dick's place. She had never driven a full sized tractor before so I had to do a little lesson for her to get her started before I took off. Raking isn't rocket science, but when you teach someone else it seems like there are lots of details! lol...pretty sure it's not that hard to catch on. I went a round with her, which took almost another hour. Then, ran home an switched the pickup for my car, showered, threw my stuff in the car, and took off for Kimball. I ended up not getting there until about 3:30- which was later than I wanted, but there really wouldn't have been much to do anyway. I met up wtih friends and the bride's house when I got into town and then we went out to the friend's bunkhouse we were staying in and got ready for the rehearsal and dinner.

After getting ready to go (yes, I wore a dress..it was rather painful, then I got over it). We got there and tried to get everything figured out and good to go. I got some duties assigned to me as personal attendant (since i was the only one of the four at the rehearsal) and then we went and ate with the wedding party. I knew it was going to be a fun wedding because I knew both the bride and the groom, some of their families, and lots of friends they have from school. After the dinner we all went across the street to "Club Vega"....THE bar to go to in Kimball. They had a dance that night, so I kicked on my boots with my dress and we went dancing and hung out. By the time midnight rolled around, we decided to head home because tomorrow was going to be a long one.

The next morning Kayla (the friend I stayed with who was a bridesmaid) and I left by 7:15 and were at Sam's (the bride's) house by 7:30. Kayla had to be there to get her hair done so I just went along to help out. When we got there the place was packed. There were more people in that house than I have ever seen in one families house before. I now know that if or when I get married...my family will not be invited to come and stay in the house! But, after hiding in a bedroom to actually have two feet to get ready in and getting Kayla's hair done (and having Kayla do mine because I'm not that talented) and helping Sam finish getting ready, we got out of there and to the chuch. The rest of the day is pretty much history. I just ran around in my dress and heels doing random things to try and help out. It got to be a long day, but it was fun. In fact, at one point they needed a needle and thread for a button on the best man's tux. Guess who had a sewing kit in their bag?? yep...I am a fabulous attendant! lol..that just kinda happened on accident. But, it was fun and the wedding went pretty smoothly. It was like an hour and 20 minute mass- but to each his own. I had the lovely responsibility of telling the bridesmaids and groomsmen when to walk down the aisle so i had to sit in the back pew the whole time...but it worked alright.

After the ceremony it rained for a short bit and then quit. We decided there is some saying about good luck if it rains on your wedding day, so I guess they are supposed to have good luck now? After cleaning all of the stuff in the church up, they came and got us in the wedding party bus and Melissa (another attendant) and I went bar hopping aroudn Kimball until the reception started. That was pretty entertaining...we left people here and there but they would beat us to the next bar...goes to show the montrosity of a town Kimball is! But, by the time we hit up the reception all of those folks appeared to be feeling pretty good. I met up with Jennifer and her boyfriend Ty and our joint friend who came as "our" date, Zeb and a few other friends from school and ate. Shortly after we wandered aroudn for a while and then danced the night away.

The dance was outrageously fun. And, because I was sober cab I had to drive people to the bars and all over the place afterward and didn't get home until 2:30 or something like that! We went to bed and woke up about 8:00 the next morning and ate some pancakes. Then, all of us staying over from other places packed up and hit the road. I headed east and the others went their own directions.

On the way home I thought that my tacometer was shwoing my RPMs wayyy too high so I just took note of it and watched it, but I made it home alright and went straight to the farm to do some checking on things, give Joel (my friend and neighbor) a ride and some help, and vistied my aunt. And then finished off the evening with nothing other than mowing...how exciting. After I mowed I went up to Brookings and visited a couple friends, ran some errands, and went and surprized my sister and stayed with her. She had no idea that I was in town so I caught her off guard...that was kinda hillarious. So, I stayed there for teh night and then got up in the morning and decided to get my car looked at in Sioux Falls. On the way down, I had to make a couple stops and then I took it to the rapair show to get the transmission looked at. They couldn't get the computer to pull a code and after a drive they decided that it may just run like that sometimes and that it should be ok. I thought maybe a switch, converter, or cellinoid was bad but I guess not. They didn't charge me anything for their time, so I just left and decided they must know waht they are talking about!

Then, I ran back up towards home, looked at a few cars with my sisiter, and then headed west. On the way back out, I stopped in Chambelain at Al's Oasis for supper with my friend Jennifer that was at the wedding. She had spent the night at her boyfriend's house in Winner and was now headed back east and I was headed west so we just decided to catch up real quick. After chatting over some tasy burgers we parted ways and headed out. I got here fine but just barely before dark- I was just glad my car didn't give me trouble. There were people all over the Hisle road and I was following a super slow and swervy car, but I made it anyhow. It was pretty late, so I just unpacked and went to bed.

It sounds like the weeked pretty much consisted of haying. When I left there were about 260 acres of hay laying down in front of us and that was all baled up by the time I got back- so some significant progress was made.

Overall, the weekend was fun and it was great to see people that haven't seen in a couple months. A few days off are nice, but it's always good to come back to the ranch!

Hayyy!

On to today.



I got up and did chores as usual.

Since there were not cattle to chase around that we knew of, we took on some different projects. Ross and Dean got ready to head out to the hayfield right away while I went out and checked wells after teh lightning we had the other night.



I helped them load a fuel tank and then off I went with a four wheeler. All the wells actually checked out good, but one managed to shock the crap out of me. I was standing with my feet in the mud and I grabbed the wooden transformer post to hold me up. There must have been some pretty good waves traveling through there to shock me through wood- but it did. The water wasn't hot (electrified) though, so it wasn't that huge of a deal. But, we will take a look at it.



After I got back, I stopped at home and grabbed some snacks, then went up to the shed to service and fuel up my tractor before I took off. Merle went down to the field to try to unplug his baler while I was fueling up. Before I could leave, he radioed me to come down and help it I could. Boy was he plugged up. Once we got it out it went fine, but it was rough until that point. Then, I headed back home and started raking around the draw that has lots of washouts and stuff in it. After taking that slow and easy he caught up to me right away. In the process of raking that piece, i managed to break a spring, but we got 'er bent back into place and fixed in no time. When we finished that one we went and made a round in the bottoms to the north of the ranch and then dinner was ready. So, we just unhooked my rake and took the tractor up to eat. Adrienne made some amazing meatloaf and potatoes. Merle was remarking how this would be our last hot hayfield lunch...sad day! Sandwiches here we come!



We headed back down after dinner and raked all day long. When we finished the bottoms we went down to a field of Delberts south of the neighbor's (Ed) place. When we finished that 40 or so really thick, good acres we headed up towards the big hay field by Bravehawks that Dean and Ross had been cutting on for a couple days. They were leaving as we pulled in. We just got our tractors down there, parked them, and then came home. It took long enough just to do that because my rake wheels vibrate and shake pretty bad going down the road so you have to take it pretty easy.



Overall, the afternoon was good. No major disasters or bent metal that I heard of. I made some comment about a bull not doing his job (he was off by himself). Merle said he must be whipped, and Delbert had to get on the radio and say something about him beign a college bull! I follwed that with...since there are no video games, pizza, or beer, he's far from it! Sometimes, everyone just gets bored and all sorts of things come across that radio.



When we got home I helped Merle fill feed pails for tomorrow and then I came home myself. One last story. Merle was telling us this morning that yesterday there was a van coming down Hisle road towards him with a tire just plain sliding. So he stopped and told them that their tire was sliding really bad. Then, they wanted a ride. He said no, sorry, I'm in a hurry and went on. No further than a couple miles down the road the cops came flying down the hill chasing after the van. Apparently they had beat someone up but Merle said they were stuck behind a caravan of the youthworks people and had a sliding tire...guess it wasnt' there day. Good thing he didn't give them a ride! ...just an example of the sorts of random stuff you find out here.



I thought that was a pretty funny one. Anyway, it's past my bedtime. I'm headed to a wedding tomorrow. Since I'm the personal attendant (boy what a title) I have to be there Friday and Saturday. Then, I'm gunna run home Sunday and come back Monday. I hate to leave when we're 260 acres behind on baling, but if I'm in Kimball for the wedding it's so easy to run home quick and get a coupel long past due things done. And as Merle tells me...the hay will be here when you get back.



So, I may not be on here for a day or two depending on the internet access at the bunkhouse i'm staying in. We'll see!



"Work and pray, live on hay. You'll get to the pie in the sky when you die." -Joe Hill

That's Bull!

So last night I didn't get inside the house until 9pm and just ate and went to bed...sorry- I'm behind.

Wednesday:

First thing I did was run around with the four wheeler and look for the pto shaft for the baler that we dropped off the pickup the night before. Thankfully, I found it up by the shed unharmed. I got up and did the normal chores. We had a few extra calves and a left over bull and cow to feed as well, so it took a while. As soon as chores were done Dean and Ross and I loaded up the horses and went over to Chief Bears to sort out the black bull I had seen the other day and put him across the road with Burns' other cattle so that he would have at least a couple fencelines to jump instead of one.

We found him with the cows just over the hill from where the trailer was parked, but seeing him was the easy part. The next half hour or so was spent fighting this bull. I knew it was going to happen because I have fought him with the four wheeler before. We just couldn't get him away from the cows; he kept cutting back on us. So, finally, we just took a few with us and ended up with just one heifer and calf and him. We managed to get him across the pasture, but he was looking for every way out possible at all times. Somehow in the process Dean's horse got hit (or so it looked like) and he bruised his calf. ...you would have thought the world was coming to an end. ...I'll leave it there.

So, after lots of fighting and running around, we got him across the road, shut the gates, and loaded back up. Dean stayed with the four wheeler and fixed the hole he made in the fence while Ross and I headed back home to load out the bull in the corral. As it turns out, Dean's dad who is visiting for the week forgot his pills so they had to go all the way to Rapid and take all day long to do it- so Dean was gone the rest of the day. Tanner and Joe had already worked hard that morning, but they weren't done yet.

We loaded the bull up in the front and put our horses in the back. I drove him out to Techs. Of course, the cows were as far away as possible, so we had to ride out and move them towards the trailer. But, that went pretty smoothly. We let our bull out, and to our amazement the two bulls didn't even fight. Guess we'll see how that goes! After we dropped him off we headed back home and unhooked the trailer. By this time, it was dinner time. We went in and ate with Merle and then went back out. Ross went to the hayfield. Merle and I hooked the trailer back up because Ross and I forgot about the cow that needed loaded out too. As it turns out, we kept a dry cow accidentally instead of one of the calves mothers. It wasn't the end of the world because the calf is old enough to wean, but it's never good when you mix stuff up like that. So...needless to say, we had this dry cow that needs to be sold yet. So, we loaded her up and then dropped her off with the fall calvers since they will be selling next week. We checked a well while out there and found it empty, but got it going...we think. Then, we came back, unhooked and headed up to get the haying equipemnt ready to go. After hooking back up to the baler and getting that moved back down to the field we were ready to go. While we were haying one of the Burns's stopped and talked to Merle. I knew that meant that something wasn't right with that bull. As it turns out...the black bull that I have chased three times now isn't theirs. Since I saw other bulls with the same brand in their pasture and I knew it was the only immidiate fenceline that would have some black bulls I thought it was theirs. EEEERRRR! wrong! It's Delberts. It has a bar mill-iron brand on him. That would be the same brand that we put on all the calves at his branding. The reason there was another bull with that brand is because two of them got out in Burns' cattle. It was pretty embarassing...how could I not notice- how could no one not notice. So, all of our efforts were in vein, and we looked like idots. Oh well, I guess life goes on...We almost finished baling the field we had the baler fire in, but not quite. Right at one of the last bottoms the baler plugged up really bad and Merle couldn't get it out with the tools her had so we quit and then headed home and did chores.

After chores, Merle had an appointment in town but he said it would be a good time to poinson some prairie dogs in the 80 here at home. So, I got out hte phs toxin pills and poinsoned away. I ended up staying out working until 9 just because I wanted to get it done and not have to come back. I think there were more holes that it looked but o well. Then, I turned in for the night. It was a long day...but at least we got a few things done.

Sometimes I wonder if I was mean to be a dog or something. Minimal thought...just wander around do things however while being content and wagging your tail. Hmmm... ok not quite, bu tthe point is: I don't understand why my brain won't work right so very often!!!

"I'm not a complete idiot; some parts are missing."

Cloudy Drive

I'm not even sure what to say about today. It went from super boring to wayyy to interesting pretty fast.

The first thing we did this morning was round up dry cows out of the 80 here at home and bring them in to sort and ship out. Merle headed out with the four wheeler while we were saddling up. I hurried up and left Dean and helped get them in. He didn't show up until way later due to his horse spooking at a cat running between his legs and bucking him off. I did all I could not to laugh. For the rest of the morning he was asking if it was bruised and saying he needed aspirin...seriously- man up. Yes, it sucks to be bucked off, but no one saw you (so it's best not to mention it) and life continues on.

Besides the point. As we get them in, then the sorting begins. Either we were slow or the trucker was early (I'm thinking both) because he came way too soon for us to have them sorted. We did some scrambling and messed up a few times, but the three of us got the owners sorted out and I wrote down all of the tag numbers before the trucker headed out. Nothing was too wild and crazy so it worked out alright in the end, the driver just had to wait a bit.

Then, I went and hooked up the horse trailer to my pickup and pulled it up. Dean loaded the horses while I was helping Merle load out some heavy stuff from the house into his pickup before he went to the sale in Phillip. He was trying a new auction barn today and it sounds like it wasn't half bad. He said it wasn't exactly what he expected but there were a few buyers anyway. So, back to the time frame.

As I'm loading stuff he finds out that the baler will have to be brought down to Gordon this morning to have it fixed. So, I got out, unload and unsaddle the horses and unhook the trailer! haha...oh well, that black bull will have to wait until tomorrow. Merle took off for the sale and Dean met me out in the field to help get the baler ready to go. We had to take off the roller bar and stap it on the flatbed and then pull all the loose belts up into the gate before I closed it completely. We got them pulled in there and put the pick-up up as high as it would go. Then, I hooked up and off I went. Dean headed the same way to pick up corn but was way ahead of me. In fact he was loaded up and leaving when I got to town. It was quite a long drive to Gordon going between 35 and 40 the whole way between Martin and Gordon. Hisle road was about 20mph...makes for a long 15 miles! But, non the less I made it.

When I got there there was only one guy in the building...a typical crabby old parts man. I didn't trust him relaying any messages so I came back in an hour and made sure they got started. They gave me some bs about the baler belts being all balled up and taking time to undo that. Well, anyone with a brain knows that there is no way those thick belts just became "wadded up" in that gate on the way down. I think that was one of those "she's a girl and won't know the difference" things. Forget them! So, either way I kept pestering them all afternoon just to make sure they would get it done and I wasn't waiting around for nothing.

So...what is there to do in Gordon, Nebraska all day...not much. I ate at Subway, visited a couple ma and pop clothing stores- I found a favorite pair of jean half off and some capri pants at one! In the next store I found this super nice button up shirt for $8 that I was excited to buy until right before I left the dressing room I realized why it was on clearance. Across the back it ready "sexiest clothing since 1999"....seriously- so that ruined the shirt plan. But all that shopping is pretty good for someone who doesn't like shopping. I also visited the lovely Family Dollar to kill time and crused Gordon. I wanted to watch the sale at the sale barn but by the time I got there it was already done :( So...I just sat around town awkwardly all day because there isn't a whole lot to entertain a person in Gordon. But, I made up for the bordom later. When I came back to John Deere I had to wait about a half hour until they told me to drive to the back and get ready to hook up.

The mechanics were just finishing up when I got there so naturally I had to go investigate. I found out that the belts were not wadded up (the mechanic had no idea that the other guy told me that when I asked him if they were or not), and that they never recieved the list of things to fix. But, luckily the kid was pretty sharp and had it all fixed but a couple little thigns that they did right in front of me. Then, they pulled it out of the shed to see if we could get the rollers to come down and tighten up the belts. So here we all are (it's past quitting time and we all want to leave so there's three of us working on this thing) outside, standing on/around and large metal object with lightning everywhere. I don't know why God chooses to let me out alive sometimes...I'm so dumb! But after multiple tries he finally got the roller to drop and got the gate shut the way it's supposed to. By that time the other guy and I were looking at the weather on his phone. I decided that i thought if I took off going 40mph I could stay on the edge of the storm that was coming in most of the way home.

Yeah...that theory didn't last too long. The storm just moved in aroudn me at about 50mph. The clouds were black and green and nasty all around me and the weather reports were all over the radio for the area I was right in the middle of. I have never looked at the sky more than the road so much in my life. This was one of those hail/heavy rain/ crazy winds/ tornadoes type of storms. Thankfully, I skipped all of it but the heavy rain part- so I did ok, it was just slow and super nerve racking. At one time there were saying to get out of the vehicle and get in the ditch. Screw that! I'm not gettign out until I actually see a tornado or something- I just kept on going! I tried to talk to Merle several tiems before there was enough reception to have a conversation- but we determined that if I kept on moving I could avoid a lot more than if I stopped.

When I turned north at Merriman I thought I would get out fo some of it, but instead it turned into sheet rain and stright line head winds. At least they were head winds so the baler didn't wail around too much. In fact, a car that passed me when I turned was sitting in a field approach when I went by much later. They decided to follow me and let the baler break their wind...how nice/obnoxious. When I got to Martin, I stopped at Ross and Marva's and got hammer for the hitch pin (I somehow left the ranch without one...basically a sin) and then unhooked the poor thing at the fire hall so I didn't have to pull it through the mud.

On the way up Hisle road I had trouble getting the pickup into 4x4 but after doing a near 360, I stopped and manually locked it in and yelled at it..then it worked. I had to go ridiculously slow because there were no tracks and just enough rain to make it gumbo. All the way home they were saying there was a new storm coming from the NW headed straight towards us. So, when I thankfully got to the turnoff I called the other house and told them. Then, I went and picked up Merle and we came and got my car and put it in. The plan was to have him drop me off and then put the pickup in too- but we ran out of time the clouds were flying in. So, we put the pikcup in and shut the big door just in time before it got blown off.

I turned around and saw something so strange I can't even describe it. This cloud that had popped up just a minute earlier that looked like white and black vertical streaks in the sky just litterally rolled in. It was moving sooo fast and was seriously right in front of us and had to have touched the top of the pasture hill. It kinda rolled over and came flying through so we new we had to move. We ran down to teh house and talked about our weird scary cloud adn watched the news and weather. Thankfully we didn't get the hail but we got some wind, that's for sure. It sounds like the town of Kyle got beat pretty good so we'll have to hear in the morning. Eventually, when it died down, I went and got a pickup and headed home. We dont' appear to have any damage, but we'll see in the morning. Somewheres along the line we lost the baler pto shaft in the driveway as well so that'll have to be found tomorrow morning before it gets driven over!

So...what a day. All that crazy weather sure made up for teh boredom this afternoon. We are still under some weather watches so we'll see how this goes. I'm headed to bed.

Baling Hot

So today turned out mildly interesting...

First thing comes first. I almost didn't get out of bed when I needed to because at some point my electricity went out and messed up my alarm clock. Good thing I set my phone alarm. So anyway, we did chores. But this morning the bucket calves had to stay in so that Judd and Brandy could come with Hannah and Hadleigh and pick out calves for the fair! So, the little ones were mildly upset that I locked them into the corral, but they got over it.

After chores we got the horses in and Dean and Ross and I saddled up and loaded the trailer with a four wheeler too and I took us out to Hodsens where we thought we saw a bull out yesterday. Well, after going through the entire small pasture and not finding anything we decided that we must have seen a ghost or something because there definitly wasn't anybody in there. So, we loaded back up and took the trailer down to Scotts (just down the road) and unloaded there to see if we could find the bull that we thought was in with his cows again. Sure enough, there he was. I ran to go open the gate right away but in the mean time the fart jumped the fence. So i ran back and shut it and made my way through the let down he created. By the time I caught up with the other riders and the bull he jumped he fence again. Then, as Dean is shutting the gate his horse gets away from him...(what a crew). But we caught him and got going. At that point we had one more gate to go through. I ran up and opened it and then got on the opposite side of the fence that he was coming down- slightly unorthodox, but it kept him from jumping and ruining another fenceline. When we got him through there Dean went back to get the pickup and fix the fence with the four wheeler. I ran ahead and opened gates and Ross followed the bull. I got to the very last gate and basically the whole herd was right at the gate. Crap. So there I am scrambling to get them far away, but the way the gate is set in the corner there was really no place to put them so it got interesting. But, by the time he came over the hill I had moved them far enough that he just let them be and went in. We chased him to the corral and then headed back until we met up with the pickup.

We loaded up and just as I was driving out of the first gate Merle came up behind us (him and Judd were videoing some heifers) and said that he top wire of the yearling pasture was broke in a spot. So Dean unloaded the four wheeler and took off that way. The rest of us headed home and he would meet up later. When we got back and unsaddled the girls were there with Brandy and they helped put the horses out and then we looked at bucket calves. They picked a big tame red one that I call Panelope, and a little black white face that is tame and super cute! They had their minds made up before Judd even came out! haha...

We loaded up their two bucket calves in the big stock trailer (kinda hillarious) and then went in for some pizza and cake. After eating way too much and laughing over the girls and how cute they are...for instance. They were talking about the amout of kegs of beer they had at the wedding the other day and Hannah (7) says, "I thought there was only one cake?!" It was cute. they got to hold the baby for a while and such but then it was time for everyone to get back to work. By that time, Ross and Dean were cutting hay and getting way to far ahead of us so Merle and I headed across the road to finish the smaller field we started on. I was getting sleepy and bored right off the bat today so I got on the phone and talked to a lot of people until my phone was actually dying! Yay for fields will cell reception! We hayed all afternoon with virtually no problem unil about the last round when Merle gets on the radio, asks if I have a copy, and when I answer he says: "My baler is on fire, can you come over to the electric well and help me get it out." Um....yeah! So I put 'er in gear and flew over there. By the time I got here he had it pretty much out. We poured some more water on it and then went to figure out what caused it. A bearing in one of the top rollers went out and the roller is so heavy it just cut the bolt that was left and dropped and bent down. That messed upt he belts but the bolt fell down into some hay that was built up in the baler and actually caused the fire. When we finally got it cool enough to work with we strapped the roller up so it wasn't hanging so bad and then went in to mix up grain for tomorrow. That brace for the roller was pretty bent up and the outside belt has some holes in it and it looks like a small part of the electrical cord may have been melter....What a way to end the day. At least it happened towards the end and not earlier in the afternoon. The dealership that green lighted the baler has warranty that should still be good so if all goes right, they will have to come and fix it at their expense. We'll see. Until then, we probably won't be doing much haying. At least we got it out before anything got too destroyed!

Ross will be gone tomorrow and we have to load out the dry cows in the morning, so I'm not sure what will happen. I am assuming we will go chase after that black bull at Chief Bears or something like that. Guess we'll see.

"A little fire is quickly trodden out, which being suffer'd, rivers cannot quench." -William Shakespere

Let the Haying begin

Sundays are always a bit more layed back.

This morning I skipped church to do a littly dry cow moving. It was the morning prayer anyway (When the pastor preaches somewhere else) so chuch wasn't really "church" persay. ...that's the excuse I'm gunna use anyway.

Dean and I did chores and then waited for Merle a bit because Rylee got up a little early this morning! She is getting so darn cute and I think her arm get a little chubbier every time I see her:) When he came out we were told to catch the ponies because we were moving dry cows. So, I ran and got them and we saddled up. Harv and Ross were on their way so I caught their horses and started brushing. They showed up a little later than Ross usually does so I had to give them a hard time about partying it up at the wedding too much! But I got shot right back at about getting stuck and going buck hunting while doing so...I swear I'll never be ahead! ;P

Merle took us out to the way south end of the pasture and we rode north. Ross and I took the west side that didnt' appear to have anything on it except two cows on a sidehill- which is weird enough in itself. Ross went and got them going while I backtracked to shut off the windmill. In that amount of time they got away from him and by the time I made it back we were doing some backtracking to find them. When we finally caught up with them down in a draw we were way behind the herd. We could see the others with the cows at least a half mile away. But, we just followed along with our stubborn cows. One of us could've rode up and helped with the herd but there two were so stubborn that you almost had to have two people to make sure they didn't go back!

We pushed them all through and caught up right at the end. They were all moved to the 80 and will be shipped out this week. When we got back it was about time to head to town for dinner but Merle was nowhere to be found. Come to find out there was an abandoned house fire in town and he got to take off and go! I was soooo jealous, he got to go in and cut out the floor and everything-why do I always miss the good stuff! Oh well, I be there will be more to come!

Marva was planning for steak dinner and Ross told me I was to come. He was already not impressed that i didn't come to the wedding so I thought I better go! After all, I can turn down a wedding when it's small and I feel bad because I don't know the bride or groom....but who would turn down a steak dinner! So I showered and rode in with Merle, Adrienne, and Rylee. I got to chaperone in the back seat with the little one- who remarkably sleeps through all the bumps and jiggling she does on that nasty road! We had some darn good food with Harv, Carol, Matt, Marva, and Ross, then headed back home. I got some time off this afternoon while Merle took Dante, his godson and Angie's son or Delbert's grandson fishing. I stayed in, took a nap and did the dishes. I guess they showed up with two pickup loads of ppl but didn't catch a ton of fish. They even kept on fishing long after Merle left them- so maybe they found a better spot.

Merle called about five and said he would do the chores if I woudl go pick up Ross from the hayfield. I was surprised because I thought he stayed in town, but I guess not! I went and found him down at Bravehawks and brought him home, helped load up some oats, and hopped back in the pickup and went to the other hayfield that was cut two days ago across the road. I raked for a couple hours until we got the bottom all cleaned up. Merle got 62 bales off of just the lowest part of the bottom- that's really good considering the smaller area we covered. But, it was 8 or 8:30 when we finished that piece so we went home.

It was nice to take a nap today, but I think I still could use some more sleep!

"When the sun shines, make hay." -Proverb

High in the Center...

Another interesting day- to say the least.

So when I woke up this morning I had no idea what the day would hold..After doing chores Ross and Dean and I grabbed our horses and the flatbed pickup and headed down to Scott's to get those two bulls that I saw yesterday out of the pasture. I parked the pickup right in the middle of the trail hoping that that would mean it would have to go quickly and it did ;P We cut them off and they put up a little fight but we got em goin' in the right direction. As soon as we got them back through the gates and into their pasture Dean went and got hte four wheeler and fixed the hole they made in the fence and Ross and I each took a bull on a treck that seemed like forever but thankfully there were cows at the well. I was laughing later because as i was pushing this bull across the pasture I was trying to figure out what my next plan woudl be if there were no cows at the pump. It turns out it was a good thing there were because I didn't have one at all!

We put Nelly and Joe and Andy back in the trailer with the four wheeler and headed back home, unsaddled, and started on the next project. Ross and Dean went straight out the hayfield to cut hay and Merle and I drove around checking some bottom ground. We found a lot of uncured stuff and very little dry hay. It's so hard in those draws because the thin stuff of way too dry by the time the wet stuff dries down- but there arent a lot of options really. After looking over some spots I got sent to rake just a couple little areas and then Merle and I headed in for dinner. I helped Adrienne make some fish and pancakes and it actually turned out pretty good- which is amazing since i had anything to do with it!

After we ate a played with the baby :) I went back out and loaded up some salt and mineral and headed to Techs to string just a few bags and check the cows and wells. I found the troughs and gates easily and remembered the trail pretty well. The wells were working and the bull was there with the cows. I actually had to get my spade out for one well and clean out some moss. It had literaly grown so much that it was plugging the tank...nasty. I dont' know how the cows were even drinkign out of it! But, I got it cleaned out and then went out the wrong gate. But, of course I didn't realized that until I was through two of them in the corner with them both shut behind me. I knew exactly where I was and an easy way home but didn't know that trail's condition really well for a few hundred feet or so. So...I took off up the hill and managed to get almost to the top when the pickup fell into a huge rut. When I say rut I mean washout. Then, I was basically SOL. I tried everything to get it out and even dug some with my spade- but it wasn't happening. So I had to break down and call Merle. He came right over and pulled me out- although it did take a couple pulls and some heavy duty four wheel drive to do it! Again, just like the last time I did this last summer in a very close spot with the same pickup...Merle showed up basically laughing at me and I was super upset with myself. It's always funnier after the fact! But, no harm done other than time lost and my stress level. He took off for home to get ready for Delbert's son, Tanner's wedding this afternoon and I stayed back and checked out some wheat.

I am not the best with wheat at all but I just gave it a look over and looked at some brown spots within the field. I called my agronomist friend Sam and he helped me out with some stuff, but we both admitted that wheat wasn't our specialty. I guess I'll have to work on that. If anyone that reads is an expert..you should let me know. Then, I checked the gates at Chief Bears and headed home for my next task. Merle and Adrienne and Rylee were off to drop Rylee off at Grandma's and head to the wedding. Dean had the afternoon off and Ross was headed towards the wedding as well so I just kept on pluggin away. Next task: go see if the black bull that I fished out of the red cows the other day is back. I was supposed to go string salt at the pow wow ground but Merle told me just to do this instead. I'm pretty sure that was because i don't know the trails that well and no one would be around to pull me out! lol So, I drive the four wheeler over there to check it out and sure enough- there he was. I tried adn tried and tried but couldn't get him out, I was right by Chief Bears' house too so I bet they got an entertaining show. I could get him within about 100 feet of the gate, but no further. That was super frustrating so I just gave up because it wasn't going to happen. Then, I had to go shut the gate I had opened to push him through. This was an experience. A lot of times I can open a tight gate but of course, I can't get the dumb thing shut. Such was the case. After a lot of grunting and bending, I ended up taking the piece of wire that hooks the gate post to the brace post apart and lengthening it. Whatever it takes I guess...sometimes when you're little like me you have to be resourcesful or learn to compensate! So I did.

After getting it shut I ran the fence to find the hole where he got out and again, I found more than one spot. But one spot was by far worse than the rest and it was right near the gate I put him back through the other day. I put some staples real temporarily until the posts get replaced in that spot. So, I guessing that as soon as I put him with the heifers at the gate and turned my back he probably just jumped right back out of where I put him in. How nice.

Finally, I got the fence up and headed towards home to do chores a little later than usual. It took a while due to a fight to sort out bucket calves, but I got them done either way. Then, I finally headed back home and have been working on paper work since. I'm definitly ready for bed.

"live and learn"

Penut Butter

You never know what the day will bring until it happens...literally.

So, I got up at about 6:20 this morning and we down to do chores by 6:30. Yes, thank you, I know I'm talented! After feeding everyone their breakfast in order to stop the "let's bellar and scream at Sara until she feeds us" fest, I was given a morning assignment. It was my job to go check all the electric wells and see if the wind and lightning took any of them out. So, off I went in the four wheeler.

It was a little chilly this morning to be going 40mph on a four wheeler, but my ears stayed in tact and did not freeze off as I thought they had. I made it over to the Red Cows at Boeman Dam and checked all three of their wells. They all looked good- even the one Ross and I fixed (it's a miracle)! As I was buzzing through the pasture I was checking the usual: salt troughs, grass heght, cows and bulls. Everything looked pretty good minus that last part. I ventured all over that pasture and never once saw any of the 5 bulls that are supposed to be in there. But, I had a job to finish and figured we would look for them later or hear about them being out first. So, I took off and stopped by the dry cows (and did not close the gate upside down this time). In fact, I stopped and tried to tighten that super loose gate and didn't have much luck because I had a crappy fencing pliers and no good wire to replace it with, so I will have to better the job I sorta did on that gate tomorrow or sometime soon. That took a little time, but not more than 15 minutes I would bet.

Off I went to Chief Bears which is clear on the north side of the ranch (I was on the south side). I made it over there with no problems and did not see anything out or in the wrong place along the way. When I got there I first well looked good, and so did the second one...minus one thing. The black bull that was drinking out of it. I read his brands and then called Merle to figure out where the little fart came from. After sorting it out we figured the only place he could have come from is Burns's pasture off to the east. I sat there and tried and tried to cut that bull off and send him in the right direction. But he had his mind made up and wasn't leaving the cows. So I tried to take a pair with him..yeah that didn't work either. Meanwhile, I opened the gate before I went to get him because he was spooky enough I figured I could never get in front of him to open it. But, I was getting nervous that the cows that weren't too far off in the distance were headed towards that open gate. Then, I woudl have a whole new problem. But, I lucked out. I was about ready to give up because there is no sense in running them ragged when he seemed to sort himslef off for a second. So I took it and sent him the right way. Of course, on the other side of the draw there were more cows that he had to camp out with until I got him out of there and finally he saw the cows he was supposed to be with- which were then getting pretty close to that gate. I finally got him in there after getting off the four wheeler and crawling up banks and everything else. Just to top it all off, this whole time my oil seal must have opened on the four wheeler when it misfired because the dumb thing kept on dying. I would be chasing him and need to shift to reverse and it woudl die. How convienient. But, that aside I got him in and then went to ride the fence and find the hole. Well, found a few places but of course had just barely enough wire to cobble it together but not enough to do a good job. After getting it all fixed I headed home. When I got back toward the turnoff I met up with Ross in the windrower and he had something to show me on the engine. Somehow or someway the oil cap for teh resivour got lost and he needed something to cover it. So, I ran home and went on a wild goose chase for some kind of cap and some duct tape. Well, when I finally got back he had remember that there was duct tape stashed away somewhere in the cab and had it covered. Oh well, again..bette rsafe than sorry.

When I got back Harrold, the tire man, was putting new back duals on the 7240 Farming tractore and I talked to him for a bit and then headed down to start the mower and mow around the shed...which would be the only place I didn't mow yesterday. I mowed that up pretty quick and then went on to eat dinner. I had a bacon and penut butter sandwich which was excellent. Now, before you go saying "ew! that's gross!"...you must try it first. It's very very tasty- right up ther ewith penutbutter and pickles!

While I'm eating dinner, Merle's good friend Pat shows up and he and I talked for a bit and cuaght up. Then, I sent him over to Merles. After eating I headed back out and decided to grease the disk since we powerwashed it the other day. Then, I noticed that Ross hadn't come over the hill with the windrower for a while I decided to head down there and see what the problem was. Well, as it turns out, Dean had shown up after fencing and was running the hydroswing where Ross was earlier. I wasted ten minutes to go check but I'd rather be safe than sorry!

About the time I got back Merle and Pat pulled up and we started in taklign and wandering around equipement. I got sent to see if our bulls where in Scott's pasture along the road because Merle thought he was one breeding Scott's cows. Sure enough. When I got down there there were two bulls that woulnd't go instead of just one. I came home and gave the report and just headed on to help hook up the baler. We got the loaded off and baler on and all the little odd jobs that go wtih that all figured out. After doing some shuffling of pickups and whatnot, i headed down and did chores.

After chores we started in haying up some draws! It's the first real day of the haying season...here it comes! Then, followed some raking up with getting my fire gear all together. We found most of it all together and ready to go so it wasn't too hard. With haying and the drying we are getting alot closer to prairie fire season.

After getting all that lined out, I came home, ate my pb and j and am now definitly ready for bed!

"Choosy mom's choose Jiff."

Mow Mow Mow

Today was kinda milktoast as far as normal days go.

I got up for chores and fed the bucket calves the last of the milk we had on hand (they were not super impressed). Then, got ready for the day's work. Merle was gone most of the day to Rapid for an apt. so we kinda planned it out in the morning and went ahead with the afternoon. Dean had an apt in Martin this morning as well so he wasn't around until after dinner.

So...Ross and I loaded up Joe and Nelly and took off towards Scott's pasture to go find our seven steers. We got in there fine and I parked my pickup at the well and we unloaded and started riding the draws and heading north. In the end I think we rode them all - it's always interesting to ride someone elses pasture that you don't know at all!. We met up at the end ... both empty handed (no steers). We decided that they must have crawled back through the fence but we would ride the north fenceline to find the hole. Well, we came over the hill and standing in front of us was our seven steers. They were right at a let down in then fence so we had to do a little moving around and holdinb but we managed to get them pushed through and later found a let down futher down the way that they may have gotten out at. With that job done (thankfully) we loaded back up into the trailer and took off for home. I am still mildly concerned that there is a bigger hole in the fence along the east side that they could have come out of and through a gate- but I guess we'll find out if we see more steers!

As we were headed on the trail back home, a cow stepped in front of me and wouldn't move fast enough so I had to stop. Well, then of course she moves and I go to take off and the one ton pickup has no power. I could put the pedal to the floor and the tac wouldn't move. After killing it enough times it finally decided to get some fuel to the engine and take off, but in the process the engine light came on of course. We managed to get the rest of the way home and unloaded and unhooked. Then, I parked that pickup until we figure out what exactly went wrong. My preliminary guess would be a fuel filter but it could be a lot simpler or a lot worse than that. Guess we'll have to try to take a look at it tomorrow. When we got home I played musical corral and got everyone back where they belonged. Meanwhile, Ross was up fighting with the windrower. When I got up there I saw what was going on. It has been a reacurring problem that was supposed to be fixed but apparently there istn' much more fix to it. It's a HW320 New Holland swather and it has to drop down into nuetral to start it. Well, when it gets parked it doesn't always get left in actual nuetral- the light might say it is, but they lie. There is a plate off the drive shaft that has to line up just right in order to get it going and of course, it wouldn't line up and drop down in today. After messing around forever and trying not to get frustrated with Ross who was already about ready to throw in the towel, I called the mechanic from the John Deere where he bought it. Long story short, he explained a couple things to do to get it going and I tried them and they worked. Then, everything in the world of Ross was better. He told me he thought we would never ge tit going so I'm happy to prove him wrong!

After him and Dean got off on their way to some little draws around here to cut hay (you could say we oficially started haying today) I hopped in Ross's pickup and took it to town to get an almost-flat fixed and a much needed wash. This all took a little time, the pickup looked a lot better and probably ran a lot smoother without the huge bolt that came out of if tire. After I got back they were just switching fields So, I went down to the yard, fired up the lawn mower, and started pushing. I was supposed to mow laws today and that is sure what I did. I started around 3:30 and went until past 8pm That's some pretty good time considering I mowed two fairly good sized yards and trimmed. I managed to get away with mowing without any breakdowns or accidents...minus nailing my knee on a handle on the mower once. After cleaning out from under mowers and whatnot, Merle told me to come in and join them for leftovers- so I did and I got to see Rylee Jo again- she gets cuter all the time!

That about sums up the day...now I'm totally shot and headed to bed- guess it wasn't very milktoast after all.

"The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence but you still have to mow it."

Salt and Mudd!

Good news of the day...I managed to not make a complete idiot of myself of do anything really dumb.

Besides the point- Merle told me that the baby was crying all night long and he contimplated calling me (that's the joke around here...just send her to my house)! haha...I probably wouldn't even wake up to the phone ringing!! Anyway, their lack of sleep aside, I got up and did morning chores with Ross, then headed up to do some heavy duty salt and mineral duty today. We had originially planned to string salt and mineral just this morning so we really loaded the pickup up. I started while Ross and Merle put the fixed tire back on the disk (which somehow had a tool or dirt or something floating aroudn on the inside of it...figures). 20 bags of each and a few blocks and we were off. We went through a couple troughs on the Baldy pasture but spent most of our time with the steers in the timber reserve. There were still a lot of risky wet spots but we managed to get through. There were only a couple troughs that we just plain skipped because we knew we would probably get stuck if we tried to get there with the pickup. While on our adventure we did find a bottomless tank that needs tamped in because it's seeping pretty bad...o horray for another fun task. We got rid of all our bags and filled all the troughs that we could make it to by noon. On our way back home we ran into Dean who was poisoning prarie dogs and had gone all the way home to get more and was coming back. Hopefully we get all those killed down on the wheat field because they are really ruining the hay and everythign else!

When we came back Merle was testing out the windrower and cutting some grass down in the draws around home. He said to keep on stringing salt because not only is the grass still rather damp, but it's supposed to storm later tonight so that kinda defeats the purpose of cutting hay. So, we loaded back up, this time with 25 bags of each intended for the steer on Duck Creek and the black cows on the Big Unit. We ran into my house for lunch- I enjoyed some left over pizza from the fireman's meeting last night..haha! Then, headed out for a salty afternoon. One of the first things we noticed was a steer in the cow pasture...and as we kept on creeping through that pasture we saw more and more. Then, as we were headed out for the day, we saw 7 steers in Scott's empty pasture next door. Super- I have a feeling I know what tomorrow morning will bring. So, after stringing all but two bags we headed home to do chores around five. We did the standard procedure and unloaded and put everything away. Then, went and did chores and talked about tomrrow. Meanwhile, Dean we cutting apart some trees that had fallen in the lane, hopefully that will make it easier to get through there and cut more grass down.

After chores we all talked a while and I headed home. It wasn't long before the phone rang and Adrienne needed some things out the kitchen that had accidentally been left here. I found them and offered to bring them down. They had company all day- her mother an sister, and when I got there her mom was cooking for more guests that were coming for supper and to see Rylee. She sure is cute! And was sleeping almost the whole time I was there. They invited me to stay but I was smelly adn tired and I think she has had enough company for a few days! So, I came home and met her company in my driveway and pointed them in the right direction. Tonight I decided to shower and watch a movie because being responsible and getting thigns done didn't sound like any fun.

I think I'm definitly ready for bed!

"I have vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals." -Butch Cassidy

Twisted...

I thought I was going to get away with not doing anything really dumb or embarrasing today...just kidding.

The day started out much cheerier than the last few as the sun was actually shining in the partly cloudy sky. As the day went on, it actually started to dry up a little around here. That is what makes it different out here from home. When we get wet, it stays much much longer. Here they have the luxury of it drying up in a day or two and moving on with life. By the sounds of if the water is up at home and will be that way for quite some time. The poor hay crop!

Anyway, on with today. After getting the regular chores done, Ross and I headed up to teh shed and loaded Dean's new salt troughs and put on about 7 bags of salt and 7 bags of mineral and a few blocks. This was not near enough but it was all the salt and blocks we had left! Dean took the day off to get his back fixed or something like that so I guess it was just the two of us getting something done today. We brought some mortar/cement type mix with us (the bag wasn't labled so who knows!) and stopped at the red cows to put out salt and fix that leaky tank that I found a couple weeks back. After chipping out the hole until it was pretty good sized, we put some of the cement in a bucket with water and it just didn't mix right. All it did was clump up- so I took the clumps and spread them out as evenly as I could over the hole. It appeared to cover it and stay sticky, even though something didn't seem right when we mixed it. In addition, I sure got one heck of a hand exfoliation treatment with cement! haha! So, we left that to cure and went on stringing salt to the red cows and spayed heifers and putting out salt troughs where we were short. After dumping all that we had but one trough out, we headed back towards our tank. It wasn't even close to dry but Ross said he wasnt' too worried and turned the water on anyway. Then, we hit the hills and headed towards home to unload the left over trough and some bags. I just want to note that I did not get wet or fall into any creeks while I was down there. Merle made it a point to call me after we left just to tell me to stay out of the creek! ...aw isn't it nice that he looks out for me :P ...right.

After we got home, I unloaded stuff while Merle and Ross took a flat tire off the disk and added it to another one to bring to town. Ross and I were planning on going to town and getting one tire on our pickup fixed along with the other two, washign the mud out of our tires in the carwash, vaccuuming out the pickup and the vents that are plugged so the ac doesn't work, buying salt and salt blocks, and eating dinner before heading home. Well, of course first thing is first- we headed straight to Ross and Marva's for lunch. Ross insisted that I not take my lunch box along so I just helped set the table instaed. Matt was there visiting and helping Marva too, so the four of us sat down for some sandwiches and then Matt and Ross dinked around trying to get the shop vac out to vaccuum the pickup while Marva showed me her beautiful lawn and backyard! We hadn't walked away but two seconds when Ross hollered for Marva asking how to get the shop vac to work...seriously! She replied: Men!. It was pretty funny. After cleaning out the hose with teh air compressor they were ready to go. They worked on that and went to wash the pickup while I followed Marva around and checked out the lawn...this is no ordinary lawn- it's the kind with automatic waterers and pretty flowers- but definitly not overdone. I guess if you have never seen it you wouldn't understand, but it you have- you know waht i mean!

It wasn't long and Ross and Matt returned with a dirty pickup. Apparently the line at the car wash was too long and Ross didn't want to wait so they just came back. I hopped in with Ross and we headed out to get the tires fixed and such. Well, Eagle Express was too busy to fix our pickup tire so we just dropped off the other two and went over to Jay's to pick up our 2 ton of salt. After getting all loaded up (or should I say down) we headed home. Then, unloaded it- again, I learn that I am not an efficient skid loader, but I sure am a alot cheaper for labor when it comes to moving salt! haha:) After that, Ross decided that he was going to go back to town to get that pickup tire fixed before five and have the other two picked up. So, he headed out and I went and got some prairie dog poison and hopped on a four wheeler to go check our well fixing job and kill some p-dogs.

First, I stopped by the dry cows to make sure their well was working and that all looked good. Then, I went down through the red cows and checked out our fixer uper well. It appeared to be holding water just fine. After talking to Merle, apparently whatever stuff we had was supposed to just be poured in the hole dry and then water was supposed to just go over it when the tank filled and solidify it. So, I guess by trying to we it early we just speeded up the process but wasted our time...oh well- at least it held. So, as soon as I found out it was working I poisoned p-dogs until it was time to go home for chores.

When I got home Merle had already started so I rounded up bucket calves and helped finish. As we were finishing chores he asked me if we had been through the dry cows today. I said, yes I had checked teh well, why are you asking. So, apparenlty, me and my idot self shut the gate upside down...again. I did this once before but caught it right away. But, this time, I must have shut it and not looked at all- not to mention that the gate faces the road! So, no I have given them something to pick on me about!

After trying to laugh at my stupidity I headed home and showered for teh fire meeting at 7. Merle picked me up and we headed out to the meeting. On the way we of course stopped at my gate and fixed it..thank goodeness before everyone saw it! When we got to town we found out that it was really not until 7;30 tonigth because teh people who volunteered to cook forgot to so it was pizza night and the pizza wouldn't be ready by then. So, we sat around and chatted and ate pizza and had a pretty short meeting that was done around 9. I no more than walked in the door and Chris, the fire chief puts me in charge of the fire day camp thing we offer for kids...super, just what i needed. If you can recall, this is the one that I still get a hard time for because i had to sing last year..yeah that one! I said that if I was in charge, Chris would have to sing! Lol, it shoudl be fun, and hopefully not too much work to put together! After the meeting I got most of my gear put back together and my pagers fixed and grabbed some pizza for the road. O, and I got a fire fighter duffle bag that everyone that is active on the deparment got- I thought that was pretty sweet!

But, we came home and I did some bookwork and now it's time for be for Sara! I think we may start haying tomorrow...guess we'll see! PS- baby is doing well and has beed pretty good for the most part so far :) Look down a couple posts and you can see a picture of her that Adrienne sent out when she was just born. Also, just in case anyone wants it my email is: sara_berg07@hotmail.com.

"Life is hard; it's harder when you're stupid!" - John Wayne

Burning Barrel

Every day out here is interesting...and today would definitly fall into that category.

I woke up to the soggy, grey rain...again. Last night I ended up staying up pretty late because I was being overly productive with some bookwork on my computer and then made hotdish...which went remarkably well- guess I won't know until I hear a taste report. Then, I decided to make a little sign for Merle and Adrienne's door...just for kicks. So, it was fun- but ended up later than I realized!

When I reluctantly rolled out of bed this morning I gathered all my stuff for the day and headed down to do chores. But first, I took some time to put the hotdish in their fridge and decorate the door with the sign and a couple balloons...how can you go wrong with balloons? :) Amazingly, for whatever reason Dean was there early and had started chores while I was putting my hotdish in the fridge so we had a pretty good start on things. We ended up spending a ton of time looking and looking for this one bucket calf that hadn't shown up and here he was in the barn! Oh well, at least he was there! So, we got the calves fed and everybody else grained and headed out to start the days work. Dean spent most of the day building salt troughs..cuz we really need them! I think he ended up with 7 total, so that was pretty good. But, throughout the day we interrupted his work quite a few times. Ross and I started out the day by washing the disk off with the fire truck. We decided since we were already wet from the rain we may as well do it right and get soaked. So, I powerwashed the disk off pretty good. Then, went and filled the truck. In order to make the hose reach the truck I had to literally park the back end in a mudhole. You know what comes next...of course I couldn't get out when the truck was full, so Ross gave the truck qutie a pull with my pickup and we managed to get it out and back up to the shed where I defeated the entire pupose by washing the mud off the truck and using almost as much water as we put in. I just hooked up the hose in the shed and let it fill while we went off to do other things. While that was filling, we started cleaning out the pickup we use for fuel and tools on teh north end of the shed. Over the last year, it had accumulated a lot of extra junk that needed cleaned out so we spent quite some time on that.

While we were up at teh shed I decided to go and get Rocks and Chica, Adrienne's dogs. They had been couped up in the yard for two days and I figured they needed some attention so they "helped" us out quite a bit. When we finished cleaning out the pickup we started to pick up that part of the shed. After cleaning out junk and metal for an hour or so it appeared no different...but at least we tried. So, we spent some time sorting through the junk we picked up and putting it in it's proper place. We couldn't even make the hill up to the iron pile so that all had to stay in teh shed- but we put a decent dent in the rest of the junk. After dumping our stuff off we headed back up to the shed and Ross backed up to it...a little too far. I wasn't paying attention (so it's really my fault too) but Ross saw that half the door was open and didn't notice that it wasn't pushed all the way open so we eneded up backing into the edge of the shed door....this led to a whoel new project. The three of us hammered, drilled, and put in bolts on that door before and after lunch. We eventually got it to close better than it did before I think! So, it wasn't an all bad thing- just added some work to teh day was all. I told Ross not to feel to bad it was a toss up between which one was dumber: falling in the creek or hitting the shed door.

After finishing that lovely little project we spent the rest of the afternoon hauling out obvious trash and junk from the south part of the shed while Dean worked on the troughs. We got it all moved and sorted and had one heck of a burn barrel fire as well. Then, we did chores a little early, and I was just headed out with the four wheeler to poison some prarie dogs when Delbert pulled through the yard with his four wheeler. He was checking cows. We stopped and talked for a while and just then Merle and Adrienne pulled up with the new arrival! We went and saw her and talked shortly and then let them unload their stuff and relax. I went down and cleaned the water out of their cellar (I totally forgot about that) then went up to see the baby.

Rylee Jo is her name. She was 6lbs. 12oz. and is of course, quite adorable. I got to hold her for a while tonight and she was really good! Of course babies change, but for now, she seems pretty quiet for the most part so we'll see! It was fun to finally meet the much anticipated "new ranch hand" (as I like to call her). She has a bump on her head that is harmless and the doctors say will go away-they will check up on all week to make sure she doesn't get jondice, but other than those normal baby things she is doing really well! I think Adrienne and Merle were super tired so I hope they get some sleep tonight.

After visiting down there I closed up the shed and went home. Now, I'm going to bed early to try to catch up on some lost sleep! :)

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." -Winston Chruchill

Whoa Baby!

What a day!

I didn't write last night because I was out! Yes...I did go find some west river cowboys! haha...that I already knew thank you.

Yesterday we all woke up to the nasty rainy wet weather. After gettting we doing chores, we spent some time bedding down the barn. Then, it was off to other tasks. My task for the morning was not difficult at all really. I had to go to town and pick up a few things. Well, the picking up a few things wasn't hard but the getting to town is always a little challenging in the gumbo out here. But, I managed just fine in the F350...just did some sliding around.

While I was in town Dean was fixing a barn gate. By the time I got back he was finishing up and I was told to take the rest of the day off and go and meet my friends early. See, my plan was to leave just after chores last night and go to Winner to meet some friends who live gathered there for a wedding. Then, we were going to travel together to Norden, Nebraska for another barn dance:D

But, since I got the day off early, I decided to head out a little sooner than I planned. I was reluctant to leave because I knew that if Merle and Adrienne left that would leave no one but Ross to do chores, but Merle told me to go- they could handle it. Then, came the issue of my car. Could it get down the road? Well, by noon I decided to try and took off. I did managed to slide my way right into town- but when Merle called to check and see if I made it I asked him to remind me to never try that again! lol...it was an "intersting" ride to say the least. So, by that time I was getting ready to have some fun. I stopped at the gas station to fill up and grab a pop and I took off for Winner.

It's an easy two hours straight down highway 18 to Winner from here, so that part wasn't hard at all. By the time I got to Winner, my cell phone seemed to work without major glitches for the first time since I left school! lol But, I was in a hurry (apparently) so I found my friends apartment that the family has in town (for during the school week) and met them there. They were going to a friends smallish wedding at 4 and it was about 3:15. So, long story short, they talked me into going with them so that Jennifer wasn't the only strange person there. I put on the nicest clothes that i thought I could find in my bag and borrowed some of Jenny's and off we went to a wedding! I have never "crashed" a wedding before- but I think this qualifies. It was nice, and fairly small. When it was over the bride and groom were going to dismiss everyone from their pew. So, quick before anyone noticed Jennifer adn I darted out so we didn't have to explain to them who we were and who we came with! haha After the wedding we went straight to the reception and sat with some of the boy's friends and had a decent time eating their cake and dancing it up! We made a quick trip to the apartment to change clothes and grab our stuff, then returned to the wedding dance.

After a couple hours (at abuot 9:30) we took off for Norden. We had decided to take a shorter route that had (quote) "4 to 5" miles of gravel. We were in Ty's car, so this was a slight concern, but we figured 4 to 5 miles wasn't much of a big deal so we just went that way. Well, first off, we took Jennifer's pickup to the turnoff for their place (where we were staying that night) and dropped it off. But, in the process, we managed to get too far behind the boys and they turned and we didn't. Luckily we caught it and pulled over...with no cell reception. But, they eventually found us and we parked it on a section line in bum F nowhere.. Jennifer was concerned and couldn't believe we were parking it there in the middle of a "road". I told here not to worry...no one would even know it was there! haha So, we hopped in the car and off we went.

We drove on about 10 miles of gravel, then turned onto more...and up a nasty hill we went- and failed. Ty managed to get his car stuck going up the hill and then while trying to back out of it he managed to dump the front end right into a huge washout...leaving us stuck there pretty good. When I opened my door the mud was right up to it...lets just say that! So, we aren't sure what to do when this little pickup that was way behind us pulls up next to us. What are the odds...its a friend of our going to Norden as well! Ridiculous! So, no one has a tow rope and we came to dance, so we just get in with him...sorta. He has a little Ranger that we call the Cougar Wagon. Jen and I hopped in the back that has a topped on it. Mind you, this is Roan's pickup so there are guns and crap everywhere that we're laying on. In addition, there is a window that is missing glass in the topper that spewed mud on us the whole way there. It was hillarious and quite ridiculous! But, after lots of twists and turns we finally made it to Norden! It was about 11:15 so we got about 2 hours of fun dancing it. Norden is basically a blink and miss it town that I have never even seen in the daylight. But, it's one oustanding trait is this huge old barn that has live bands every other Saturday night. With so many of our friends there thsi time we were able to just switch dance partners and keep on going.

About halfway through our stay there Ty took off with the Cougar Wagon to follow some friends of his back to their place and get a toe rope. This was supposed to be a "short trip". Yeah, right. He was gone for over an hour and when he got back told us of his treck going about 20mph the whole time! But, he had a ratty old toe rope that looked like it would do the job. The boys took off in the Ranger and Jen and I hopped in with our friend Carter in his Geo Tracker. That's right...we like to ride is style! We were all headed the same place so we thought the Geo would be much more comfy than the topper. On a side note- Carter's family has a farm/ranch near Carter, SD and they use Geo Trackers for everything that we use horses or four wheelers for. They own over 30! But, we were in a "nice Geo" with the donut on the back! haha :D So off we went. Until we got about 10 miles down the gravel road and saw two vehicles blocking the road. Apparently this isn't all that uncommon. Some drunks turned to early and hit the ditch and another kid was pulling them out with a very familiar looking tow rope!

So we just sat in the Geo and fretted about breaking the tow rope and waited while the others saved the day. The tow rope stayed in one piece and the drunks girls went on their merry little way. After some sloshing in the mud and some serious Geo moves we made it to Ty's car, Carlos and watched and Roan and Ty tried to pull it out. Because of how it sat on the hill, Ty had to be pulled all the way back down the hill....meanwhile Carlos is whipping back and fourth. Carlos is Ty's pride and joy and we thought he was about to have a hard attack- but it all came out ok and no metal was dented.

Reluctantly, we got out of the Geo and headed toward the car to go home for the night. Then, we get to teh lovely Littau Ranch, and I can't find my billfold. After looking through both teh vehicles we were in twice, we came to the conclusion that I left in in the box of the Cougar Wagon. We hoped it was there because Roan and Carter live with Carter's parents on the ranch and we didn't think calling them at 3:30 in the morning was the best idea ever. So, the boys were way too nice and gave up their beds for Jen and I and we slept well until about 9am. I don't think I have slept that late since spring break! We basically sat around and ate cereal and watched Spongebob for the morning, Roan and Carter stopped by to drop off my billfold, and then Jennifer and I decided to get off of our butts and head home.

We headed towards town about noonish and ate some lunch at the DQ. Then, parted :( and went homeward. On the way I recieved a picture message from Adrienne of a baby! Whoa...what?! After making a call I found out that Merle and Adrienne had a baby girl, named Riley Jo (not sure on the spelling)! They left yesterday afternoon sometime after I did and then didn't have the baby until this morning around 10am-ish. So, they made it there ok and there were no major complications. She will be a fun and cute addition to the ranch :D I'm not totally sure on the spelling but I will give more info later. I am excited to meet her hopefully tomorrow...I'm sure I'm not the only one:)

So, I made it to Martin, picked up a couple things in town and then braved the road back. It basically rained the whole time I was gone and was still raining when I came back. Dont' ask me how I got back down the road and home...but somehow I did- very carefully.

I helped Ross finish up chores- which I could have done anyway...but he is stubborn and had to come out anyway! haha- not a knew thing. Then, I headed home and started in on some chores adn catching up on things. I think I am going to make a hotdish for Merle and Adrienne before bed so they have some food when they get back. I don't cook- but after discussing it with my mom, I think I can do it! haha ..this could be interesting.

Wow! What a crazy 24 hours:)

"A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for."

Bear Creek

So I originally didn't think today was going to be much to write about but then I was proven wrong.

First off it rained 2 tenths, but it must have come down hard becasue I had to lock my hubs into 4 wheel drive to make it down the driveway again this morning. Chores were kindof interesting this morning. After chasing bucket calves in and sorting off the five of 14 that still get milk I decided to feed them all first. I dumped grain in for the weaned calves and pushed them towards it and then fed the five their milk. Well, a few of the weaned calves heard this going on and of course had to come back and bunt their noses on the gate and holler at me for being so terribly neglectful of them. It was actually pretty hillarious! After fighting through the masses we got all the chores done and got lined out for the day. Dean and Merle did odds and ends around the place: cleaning tractores inside and out, cleaning barns out, moving trash, etc. Ross and I strung salt and mineral all day.

As we headed towards the heifers down Hisle road we met up with Delbert and Mike. They had to give me a hard time for a while but we were cut short by a pickup coming down the road, so off we went. We started with 15 bags of each and dumped them all out for the heifers that we moved the other day. That was pretty uneventful As we were leaving we drove by Craig's house and saw that he had Danny Heins there working for him. Ross had to give me a hard time about that- but I managed to get him to keep driving straight and not go down and talk to him! haha...o the trouble we get into. We swung around town and picked up my mail and then headed back to reload and eat lunch.

After eating my heated up pizza (which was excellent I may add) we reloaded with more bags and headed out to the red cows at Boeman Dam and the Spayed Heifers. I drove this time and attempted to follow trails that I don't know. I accused Ross of making me drive for the sole purpose of it being my fault when we get stuck. The sad part is...he kind of admitted it! haha We dumped some salt out for the red cows on our way through and then got to the spayed heifers. We were missing a lot more troughs than we thought and had to go to some pretty nasty places in the mud to get to the spots, but oh well, life goes on. One of our last set of troughs is on Bear Creek. The whole time I was driving across culverts or wet spots Ross would give me a hard time about how he didn't want to end up in Bear Creek so I had better be careful. Well, I was careful driving...just not walking. In this last spot there are two troughs, one on each side of the creek. We filled the one on the side we were on adn then looked for the bridge plank that leads to the other side. We looked and looked and couldn't find the plank. But I did find a place where it was narrow enough for me to make a big step across. So, despite Ross telling me it wouldn't work- I threw a bag of salt across and it worked well. If one bag worked, I figured the rest should too. So, I grab a bag of mineral. At this point Ross is telling me we should just drive around (which is way out of the way) and then follows it by wishing me bad luck! Well, I go to throw the bag adn loose my balance (you can see where this is going). In I went, bag and all. Just for future reference- bear creek is waist deep. And I found the plank, it was under the water. After inching everything else across the plank I managed to stay out of teh water for the rest of the time. But, the duration of the day was rather wet and sloshy in my mud boots. I ripped a bag of mineral open and sat on it and made it through just fine. Ross felt really bad but I had to laugh because he told me not to do it and then wished me bad luck so it was pretty funny really.

Either way, I didn't melt and made it through the day...just a little soggy. When we were doing chores I informed Merle that the creek was about waist deep and then proceeded to ask for the boot dryer! O, the things we get into out here. Meanwhile, Dean was fixing and overhead cable that he took out in the corral lot with the loader...what a day.

Tonight I went down to pick up the boot dryer for my sloshy boots and watched Merle and Adrienne play some cribbage. Then, managed to get up out of the chair and make my way home. We are all still waiting on a baby! We'll see what happens.

I hope my boots are dry for another wet day tomorrow!

"Like dreams, small creeks grow into mighty rivers!"

ReD SkIn

Today was long. There is no way around that.

It rained so much (34 hundreths is all appraently) that I had lots of trouble getting up the driveway this morning- I had to try the big hill twice and get out and lock the hubs in! But, I eventually made it down for chores. We weaned all the bucket calves but five thsi morning. It wasn't nearly as traumatic as I thought it would be, but tonight they sure were upset about it.

After morning chores we tried to work on the water pressure down at the well and then Ross and Dean adn I hopped on four wheelers to try to find our missing heifers and bull down by Dicks from the other day. We took off for the hills and checked that leaky well that I talked about a coupld weeks agao along the way. We found out that the tire tank is leaking in the middle of the tire section and we'll have to brink some mortar out it fix it. After we got out of there we all took a section of the pasture we took the red heifers out of and scoured it for anything we saw. AFter lots of running around and going up and down cayons we came out with on bull and one heifer. They pushed right to the gate and then we started counting again to see if our original count was six off or so.

Somewhere durnig this time I was flying down a trail at about 35mph when (I swear) what looked like a boulder with wings hit me square in the eyeball and about knocke dme out. My eye is still sore from that ridiculous sized bug! So, back to the hefiers. As we went through the psture and counted we noticed more and more problems. We found six heifers on the wong side of the fence in Merchant's pasture and then we saw a red bull of ours in with Ireland's black cows. We had a heck of a time getting him out becaus of the creek and an old fenceline that ran throught eh pasture. But after a coupld tries adn some creek hops with the four wheeler we got him back in. As we were chasing him and a couple hefiers upt he draw, Ross managed to get stuck. So, we took a second and stopped and I pulld him out. The whole process took less than five minutes, but in that thime we lost our bull. After riding around amilessly looking for him I finally came across him- stading at the let down we pushed him in trhough. AFter fighting with and chasing him around for quite a while, I just gave up- he needed to see some heifers to keep him in the pasture and from tearing out the fence. I ran over tot he small pasture that the six head of hefiers were out of and Ross and Dean had just finished sending htem back into the right pasture.

Then, we tried to count again and still came up short on hefiers but had all the bulls. We moved the big group of heifers over by our bull and chased him up the thme to hopefully keep him happy and with our herd. By this time, I knew that we were only four- if any short on heifers so we just decided to go home for lunch at 2ish.

After some fabulous grilled cheese and apple sauce, I went down to the shop and started in with the afternoon work. Dean wen't out to fix the super bad fence on both sides of that pasture we spent teh morning in. I took Ross back out to his farming tractor and got him all set down and ready to go- then came home and serviced the rake tractor with Merle all afternoon. It's good that we are getting the tractors all ready- but we can't hay anyway if it never stops raining!

Finally, I decided to call it quits on the tractore and got everything put away for the night. I even put my car in tonight becasue the weather isnt' supposed to be nice! Even if it is beautiful I would rather be safe than sorry. Afternoon chores were slightly traumatic today because only 5 calves got milk adn the others watched in disgust! But, I thnk they will survive:) Other than that, I just did some odds and ends and came home to shower.

I got some pretty good sunburn today since we didn't think we would have been out there near as long as we were! Guess, I'll just have to use a lots l aloe vera to keep it from burning up~
I got achance to talk on the phone with some friends tonight but now i am going to bet rather than falling asleep on teh couch.

Time to clean up!

So last night I managed to fall asleep on the couch with a phone in my hand...and when I woke up I couldn't get the internet to work and was in no state to try to fix it- so I'll type tonight.

Wednesday:

We started off teh day with chores which went pretty normally but then things picked up. Originally, we were going to go try and find our red heifers that we missed the other day, but on second thought, Merle decided to send Ross farming and Dean and I down to Dick's to pick up the yard after all the winter feeding. Him and Adrienne were gone to Rapid for a baby apt for the day, so it was up to us to hold down the fort.

Ross took off and headed to his farming tractor out at Bravehawks and Dean and I gathered the chains and extra tools that we needed, let the horses back out after eating their oats, and headed down to Dicks. I had spent an afternoon down their last week, but there was plenty left to be done. We decided to start by moving feed bunks. After flipping them over and stacking them I noted that quite a few of them were bent up pretty bad from this past winter- making them harder than heck to stack- but we fianlly got it. Then, on to moving pallots and stacking them, picking up posts that held plastic down, cleaning up an old corn cob pile, cleaning sheds, finding battery chargers, loading up salt blocks, moving harrows, hooking up to the haybuster...and the list goes on!

None of it was super difficult or made you think much, but it was slow and tedious. In fact, I don't know that i can think anymore after hitting my head in virtually the same spot two day sin a row. I was carrying a 50lb salt block and went through a short doorway and hit my head so hard I knocked myslef down again! I give up- I might need to get a special helmet for work!We finally got everything pretty well done and cleaned up by 2:00 and headed home. Dean had to pull the haybuster home so while he was doing that I unloaded much of my load of things that were to be brought back home and then went in for a quick lunch.

After lunch, I started in on cleaning the haybuster that we brought home and Dean put fuel tank straps on the tractor that were long past overdue. After using the hot iron to cut off net wrap for quite some time, I was able to move everything to a side hill and pressue washed the haybuster with the fire truck. That worked out pretty well and I was able to get most of the hay and crap off of the machine. I also had a chance to give the tractor a bath as well, but it all ended abruptly as it started actually raining outside so I quick rolled up the hose and got the truck inside before all the tools on the truck got wet and rusty. By this time, chores were past due so we went down to the corral to get them done. During that time Merle and Adrienne showed up back home- no baby yet...we're just waiting in suspense!

While doing chores we had to go on a hunt for a missing bag of milk replacer but we managed to find the dumb thing right there in the milkhouse in front of everything. After chores I went back upt the shed to help Merle get some mud out of his pickup tires and then clean out the pickup a little. They had decided that it was a little dirty to bring a baby home in- haha, I say let the kid get broke into the pickup early! But, we cleaned it out with the air hose pretty good:) I mentioned that this is probably the only time that pickup will every be intentionally cleaned that well!

For the last few nights Ross and i have somehow managed to head home at the same time and just not cross each others' paths. Like last night, Ross radioed Merle asking where I was and if I was ok because my pickup wasn't at the house. Merle told him I was fine and just working late. Then, shortly after I radio Merle and ask him if he ever saw Ross come home...he tells me yes, I was doing chores and just missed him- and not to worry because he checks on him each day he is here. Maybe we should pay Merle to be our persoanal communication unit!

And one more random funny story: So the other day when Merle and I brought Ross to his disk we stopped to shoot prarie dogs on the way home and realized that we only had the 5 or so shells that were already loaded. We used those up and then scrounged around the pikcup and were able to find 5 or 6 more and kill just as many prarie dogs! Haha, I thought that was kinda entertaining.

Finally, by last night I was shot. I came home and was sitting on the couch talking on the phone and after I hung up I never got up- just fell asleep there. When I woke up an hour or so later I realized I needed to get up and go to bed- so I did. O, but the best part...I couldn't find my cellphone anywhere and finaly had to go to bed. This morning I flipped the couch over and couldn't find it there or anwhere else. I finally found the dumb thing between the couch and the back fabric on it. At lest I found it- I couldn't see how I could loose my cell phone within ten minutes in the house- but somehow I temporarily did!

"Cowboys never lie, they just improve the truth!"