Whew!

Gosh I should be fired from blogging. I'm sure no one is even reading this darn thing because I never update it. It's so much harder to blog this summer because I work much longer/later hours and when I get home it's already a feat to just shower, let alone type about my day.

I have been a little bored at my plant science lab job this past couple weeks. We haven't had a lot to do- or at least not enough for three people to keep busy. But, it is rather nice just to be able to slow down a little bit and just type in data on the computer or clean and do simple, mindless tasks. But, it does get dull after a while. It's picked up now a bit this week since our main boss is back from running her summer greenhouse so maybe things will be a little faster paced in the lab from now on.

As far as the farm job...o so much is always happening. I wish I blogged more often and could include more of my riduculous stories and happenings. I have earned the nick name "wrecking-ball" and that's rightfully so. It seems that everthing I touch has been breaking down. I've gotten several flat four wheeler tires for no reasons that we will ever know. The wheel bearing when out on one of them when I was driving it the day before we really needed it to sort and work pairs. So, Chad (my boss) went to Madison and dropped it off to get fixed- and bought a new one while he was ther! haha only Chad would do something like that. He claimed he was going to buy one for his wife anyway...he said it was a Valentines/Birthday/Mothers Day present...haha! ...men

I've had plenty of other break downs as well including- the 7800 tractor AC, the steering cyllinder on the 7800...which by the way has snap rings on the pins so thaty ou don't have to pound out the dumb roll pins for a half hour before you find those snap rings... O and best of all I had the one inch shaft break on the feed wagon last week. It was on my last load on a day when I needed to leave early to get home for something or another (I don't remember). So, I get out to the pasture and SNAP! I thought it was just a shear pin, but to my horror the entire shaft was loose. As is turns out it was worn and old and already cracked. But still, I felt pretty bad leaving with the load still in the wagon and a broken feed wagon. Now, we're having trouble with the agar I use everyday to put mineral in the feed rations...it just never ends.

It seems like something riduculous is always occuring around their. The other day we loaded out pairs and Bryan, Chad's friend who also works for him was hauling out loads. We basically bring all the cows and calves into a couple lots and then sort of ten pairs at a time, move them to the barn and work the cows and calves. Then, load them up into a 30 ft stock trailer and haul them to various pastures. Well, one place the Bryan went was really muddy and you have to drive through the owners yard to get to the rented pasture. Appartenly Bryan got stuck in the yard after he unloaded and they had to PUSH him out...He was all cranky about and being annoying but we needed cattle there. So Chad sent him back there three times! haha it was hillarious the second time was fine but the last time he got stuck with the trailer loaded and no one was around. He called Chad, but their call got cut off and then Chad Forgot! So Bryan had to unload the cows in the yard and chase them to the pasture. I would have paid to see that.

Another funny story, last night the rear outside wheel bearing went out on the 9520 tractor that pulls the huge disk. So, they unhooked the disk and got the tractor hauled home. Chad sent Randy (the full time hired man who is really good to work with) and Jeff (summer help every year, he teaches in Kimball and is origianlly from Sinai) to go get the tender truck and disk with a big truck. Well, apparently the boys didn't think this one out well and Randy ended up with way too much weight too far back and off of his back axle. He got stuck on a dry gravel road going uphill with his back wheels off teh ground. Jeff pulled him up the hill with the tender truck- I bet it was hillarious.

Another random fact...apparently barn rats (like the huge cat sized ones) are omnivores. Yesterday Chad said he saw literally hundreds of them eating on a couple dead cows we have in a pit that has been underwater way to long. He said he pulled up right next to them with the four wheeler and they didn't even move. Nasty! We didn't shoot them because we want to get rid of those gross cows but tomorrow...I can't wait to get the shotgun out! I also have to open a new 'ag bag' of corn tomorrow...and am a little nervous about all the critters who might greet me as I cut the bag open. O well! As I like to say- they probably don't bite, and what doesn't kill us makes us stronger! I hope this theory works with barn rats...

Stuff like this seems to happen a lot. There is just a lot going on but I think it'll slow down as soon as the spraying and fertilizing does. Today they just started cutting hay so I think I'll be on my own to take care of teh place for the next few weeks. That doesn't really bother me. I would like to visit the ranch soon. Next weekend I would have but I'm going on a family vacation to my aunts lake home. I have never gone beacuse I've been out west, so this will be a good opportunity to take a couple days off. But afterward it's back to work...and then maybe Martin for a couple days :)

I've been trying to keep up with things at home and that's going decently. We got all the corn and beans in that we are going to for the season. It was not a good year for numbers, but the preventative planting insurance will help a lot. One night I drove all the way down to do a few hours of field work (after I broke the 1" shaft) and I drove over a rake tooth and put it through the tubed outside dual...needless to say my bad luck carried over to home too! But we got it fixed the next morning so no huge worries.

Well, I'm going to try to do a better job of keeping this blog up. It's just really hard when I don't get home until 11 or midnight and leave by 7:45. But I'll work on it:) I"m actually attending a welding workshop for teachers today/tomorrow so I've got a bit more energy tonight. It's been really good and I'm glad I took off work at the lab to do it. But, goodnight for now, I"ll try to write again sooner than later!

... Behind

Ugh...I'm always so far behind. There have been lots of goings on over the past week. Once again I find that it's almost midnight and I'm tired. But, I figured that I ought to write someting in here before it appears that I've fallen off of the face of the earth.

I had a bit of a couple frustrating evening a few nights back. When doing chores- it always seems that something has to go wrong, and this night all I wanted to do was go home and sleep...but no. First I got started really late becuse there were so many calves to tag after work at the lab. Now, the night before I realized that I needed fuel on the tractor and parked it while another tractor was being fueled. When I went to restart it...it wouldn't. I had to dink around and wasted like 45 minutes getting it going again. So...I figured the next night would be easy...what more could go wrong with chores- o theres's more.

So, as I said I got started late, then about halfway through my second ration mix, I realized I had started mixing a 3500 lb calf mix and then added the ingredients for a 4300 lb cow mix. Wow...talk about sleep deprivation. Usually, when I mix up a ration I can fix it...not this time. I knew it could be fed to the cows the next day if I measured it out right, but that meant dumping out all my hard work. So, it's already late, and now i have to dump out everhting and start over. So, I dumped the ration into an empty bin and started over. I finally got the right ration mixed and got to the bunk and realized that I sheard a pin. I have not idea how but I did. So....I had to drive all the way back to teh shop and switch the pin, This was quite the task because it was dark and I couldn't see to get the pto lined back up. But, I finally got it and sheared the pin before I even moved again. I started teh process again, adn finally got things fixed and moving. After I finished chores at 11:30pm I went into the barn and started working with the most frustrating calf in the world who wouldn't suck....and ended up tubing him anyway.

Obviously that was a frustrating evening, but things got better the next day as I just worked in the morning, did chores early and then went to see my boyfriend Mark at his farm! I stayed from Friday until Monday and had a great time. His whole family was home and I had a good time talking with his mom and sister and helping Mark and his dad and brother with farm projects. We took in a Memorial Day service and met with some relatives a couple times. It was really nice to get away from Brookings and work and see Mark.

But now...I'm back here and we moved cows today. I think we ended up working and moving about 60 pairs which wasn't too bad for the small time we had. We didn't have any big disasters but did take in one more bottle calf. It was a long day and I managed to lose a pin out of the grapple fork when I was doing chores as well.

So, I'm headed to bed. I'm going to try to keep this thing more updated if possible.

Catch-Up

No...I have not forgotten about my blog...due to my computer charger cord biting the dust, I've been without a computer for a week or so. Not cool. Obviously that means I have some catching up to do. But, I just got home and am not feeling too good so I'll have to update the blog some but not all the way tonight. Since I have written last...here I'll just make a checklist;
Times the cows have been out: 5
Times Sara has been the only one around to put them back in herself: 4
Things that broke when I was running/utilizing them: 4
Four wheeler wheel bearing
Planitary on front wheel assist
Pin on calf catcher
Hydraulic O ring on hose of neighbors tractor
Number of the above listed items that were actually my fault: 1/2
Number of frustrating little calves that Sara has taught to suck: 2
One is pending
Number of nasty dead calf carcasses I used to bait a cow to the barn: 1

Haha...what I list. It's actually been a good few days- there just seems to always be something going a little bit wrong. One day I made some comment that I just couldn't win. I had the cows get off on me twice, fed 500 pounds of the wrong ration to the wrong calves, and broke a bale moving hay. I think after all that I said something like: I just can't win. It seems like wherever I go nothing can go smoothly." Chad then looked at me and said: "Good, you'll fit in well here". That was pretty funny, and mildly true. For example: today him and I were using the hydraulic wire roller to roll up some barbed wire and it should have been a simple task. But we kept having problems with the roller. Then, when we turned out head, Chad's dad was running the disk right through it and dragging wire all over the place. haha...o what a day.

Our bigger event of the week was moving cows yesterday. Chad, Randy, Chad's good friend Brian, and I moved 50 head in the afernoon. I went pretty smoothly but one more person would have made it even better. They have a pretty nice set up so it's kinda hard to mess it up once you have them sorted. I was definitly tired after running and riding four wheeler all day long. blah.

Today, I just did odds and ends and I spent a while folding up and moving calf creep feeders. Getiing the wings up was a chore- but I got it done.

I am going to have to cut this short. I'm in need of along nap. I'll be trying t update my blog as often as possible, but since I can get back so late at night I'm not sure how often that would be just yet.

New Beginnings

Well...it's been a while. I'm the worst at keeping up with anything that is not required during the school year. It just gets too busy and sleeping or spending time with friends and family comes before blogging I guess! haha. It was quite the school year, good, but full of riduculous assignments and long days of work. I have never been so happy to be done with a semester...but it was extremely bitter/sweet. Most (meaning pretty much all) of my friends graduate. After all, that's what you are supposed to do after four years of college...but not me. Since I would like to finish my minors in agronomy and animal science, I will be here at SDSU another full year. This isn't all bad, but it will be a big change as most of the people I know closely are gone. Three of my close friends went to vet school- which is awesome for them, and not all bad for me either since they will still be in school still when I finally do graduate! hehe. They are in Iowa, Kansas, and Georgia...go figure. My boyfriend, Mark (YES, I have a boyfriend and he is awesome!) graduated with an agronomy degree, and went home to Scotland, SD to manage the family farm with his father. Scotland is about two hours away from Brookings (just about 40 miles of so south of Mitchell. So...in a nutshell- Here I am all alone! But in a way it's been nice. This summer will basically consist of work work work, so I don't mind it so much.


Over the past year Virginia has moved into our house at Dad's place and is working at Well's Fargo and I have been working towards buying our grandmother's place and building site. We also started farming on share this year as well...but since all the share ground it bottom land- it's still afloat. I could go on and on with the details of the year- but as far as catching you up- that's the big stuff.


As the school year came to an end I found myself still looking for a summer job. Yes, I would love to be back at the ranch, but it has come time that I need to be at home. There is plenty to do and worry about at home, and farming on share is hard to do from several hundred miles away. So, despite my mother's wanting and many other people pushing, I did not go back west. Of course I miss it and I will certainly be back to visit, but for now, I'm in Brookings for the summer. I had to pay rent on an apartment here anyway, and there were good job opportunities and it's a decent driving distance from home- so I stayed here. Over this past year I visited the ranch a few times. Each time was fun- I brought Mark with once, and Rachel with once too. Jennifer and I tried to go once, but I got sick and that didn't work too well. This past month, Rachel and I went out for branding. It was lots of fun and I got to see many familiar faces. We branded 506 calves in three places in one day. It was lots of work but we had a good time. I always enjoy seeing Rylee and how big she has gotten. She's so cute and we play well togther. Heck, some of her toys intrigue me! I am sure I will be back soon to visit- it's hard to avoid people you love spending time with! And as you may have noticed...I haven't changed the name of my blog. I don't have the heart- maybe someday I'll get creative and add to it.


So, since I decided to stay here in Brookings I had to find a job or two. I was offered a job right away from the SDSU plan diagnostic clinic because I have working in the building for three years. I really didn't want the job because it would mean I would be inside from 8-5 on a state pay rate. That didn't sounds too great- but I knew I would like the people I would be working with and I didn't have any other jobs at the time, so I took a position part time: Wed-Fri 8-5. Then came the hard part...filling in the gaps. I had recieved an email for a local farm/feedlot looking for summer help in Volga. This was the same way I found the job at the ranch and I knew it was a pretty reliable source. So, I called the family and met with the owner, Chad Wosje a few days later. I now work at Wosje farms all day Monday and Tuesday (8am-10pmish) and from 5:45pm-10ishpm Wed-Friday. I am also trying to do one to two weekends a month. This farm job has been a great experience for me so far and I have definitly learned through trial and error.


The lab job is fun, but it's a lot of hours to be inside underneath a sterile hood. In fact, my hands are so caked with dirt (as in they don't come clean) that I have to wear gloves at the lab all the time! haha it's kinda funny. I work with a girl named Megan who I have just met and we seem to get along great. I also work with a girl named Marlee who I have know from previously working in the building- we get along awesome! The two people above us are Grace, the lab technician, and Connie, the lab manager. They are both a lot of fun and it's great to work with all of them. Right now, Connie is gone because she owns a greenhouse, but she will be back in the middle of June, which will liven up the lab.


So far at the lab I have been working on cleaning up a Ascochyta bacteria. Mark (yes he worked there) was actually working on it and now it has been passed off to me. So, last week was my first chance to get the hang of a new lab. Although I have worked in labs before, it still took some time to get used to the new atmosphere. I've pretty much got it down, but it still took some time and patience to learn a new project. In fact, in order to finish one step of the project I was in the lab from 8am until 5:30pm working on the same thing all day long! ahhh...I do appreciate the security of the job though. At least I don't have to be very nervous or scared that I'll really mess something up because I have quite a bit of experience. Another great thing about this job is that we actually produce results in a timely manner and work directly with extention educators and farmers.

This week was also the start of my work at Chad Wosje farms. Chad is a very nice guy who has been very willing to work with me and help me to learn new things. I work with Chad and Randy (the full time hired man). They are both easy going and great to work with. There are a few other seasonal employees that I see come in and out of the yard, but for the most part Chad and Randy are the backbone of the place. Chad and his wife Rhonda and their very cute three year old son Carson live near Sinai, just about 6 miles away from the farm site I spend my time on. Chad farms nearly 4200 acres of row crops with an additional 800 plus of grass/alfalfa hay and his place has the bin site and houses most of teh farming equipemnt. I work on a different farm site that Chad owns. The main focus is livestock. He has a large mixed herd of 300 pairs and 500-800 head of cattle on feed. I was hired as a general farm laborer with an emphsis on livestock herd mangement. Although it would be nice to do more farming- I know I can get that at home and through farming on share, so the livestock has been good. Of course, I have some experience in the area, but everybody manages their herd differently and I have seen that throughout my various jobs.

My job at the farm is a bit more routine that my ranch job, but I don't mind. After all, I really don't have it all down after only one week so everything seems new right now. I usually spend my morning checking cows and tagging and vaccinating new calves. One great benefit of this job is that we are calving right now. It's awesome to calve in nice weather, and I am excited to finally have the opportunity to be around full time for a calving season. I use this awesome calf catcher (I will have to put a picture up) to catch all the calves (or at least most of them) that I vaccinate and tag. I will go out in the morning first thing and make sure that everyone looks happy and healthy. There are two pastures but right now they are both halfway under water, so checking cows takes a while. After I make sure there aren't any emergencies, I go hook up to my calf catcher and nab some babies! (tehehe that sounds terrible but it's mildly true). This machine is like a cage that hooks up to a four wheeler. It's got spit gates that open on the front and all you do it pull a rope to get them to lock open. To close them you just step on a pedal. Neither require you to get off of the four wheeler. So basically I toodle around until I see an untagged calf. Then, ideally you drive up to it with the gate open, then shut them quick before the cow can get too excited and try to joint the calf in the little cage. But, it doesn't work like that every time. These cows know what's going on when they see the catcher and they all send out this baby call...but usually I can catch them in a few minutes. Sometimes I hop off the four wheeler and drag them to the catcher if the cow isn't too mean. It all depends. But, nonetheless the thing works awesome and it a great safe way to tag calves. Some cows really don't appreciate it but at least then you know who's calf it is. Filling syringes and filling out the tags takes a few minutes so tagging each calf takes time. I record them all in a book and then let them go. Once in a while I see a calf we need to bring in, so then I grab the calf trailer. It's pretty cool too. Basically, it's got two U shaped irons covered with rubber. You pick up the calf and hang it in the trailer by it's belly. It's a quick and easy way to bring a cow and calf in at once. Of course, I have had some troubles (how could anything just go smoothly with me) sometimes the dang tagger doesn't work the best and I get tags stuck half in ears which I fix of course, but I always feel bad for the calf. One time I got way out to the far end of the pasture and realized I had no gas in the four wheeler, then I had to decided wheather it was worth the embarrasment of driving back for gas, or risking it and running out. I drove back...it was running out as I pulled up to the shed- good choice. But, no major catastrophies on the tagging and herd health checks thus far.

I can't go into too many detail because I've been working there a week and I need to go to bed. But basically after I tag I will do some odds and ends jobs. Sometimes I move bales (of course I almost always break one) other times I check cows that are already out on grass with older calves, sometimes I fix fence- it all depends. In the later afternoon/evening I do feedlot chores. This takes the average person three hours...right now it takes me five or six hours. I will say though, that it's only beacause I am tryhing to be careful and have never had to use a loader that much in my life! I run an JD :( 7800. Yes, it's green but it's really quite nice for chores (That's really hard to say by the way). I mix rations for three lots of cattle and two more rations for the cows in the calving pastures. This usually results in 6 or 8 rations depending upon how the hay is ground and how much the feed wagon can handle. If you overfill it...you shear pins. I have already done that once because they ground hay and no one mentioned that it was finer and I couldn't put the usual 4,000lbs in. But aside from it taking forever I am starting to get the hang of chores and am hoping that things start going faster for me so I can get home earlier at night.

Today was a little rough though. First I checked cows and tagged calves. I ddin't come until noon but it was still a full day of work. When I was tagging I had some troubles with the dumb tagging needle again- it's that new kind of tag that is all one piece and has the point on itself. The dumb needle on the tagger moves sometimes and I think that's where the problem begins. So after I got done tagging I hooked up to an old wagon and started movign some hay. It's been taking us forever to bring hay to the cows so we thought hauling a few at a time to teh gate would help. Well I think I ended up defating the purpose. The hay wagon hasn't been used in a long time and it appears that it is designed for the old smaller bales. So, I could only fit three on it. After two loads I quite. In fact, within those two loads I managed to drop and break a bale of stalks...in the middle of the driveway. I eventually got it on the trailer but that's pretty hard to cover up...believe me. I tried to scoop up my mistake but instead just spread it all over the yard! ahh! Then, after I gave up on bales I started doing chores since it takes me so long. It was about 5pm. At about 5:45 I was actually feeding at the bunks and noticed a cow out. Once in a hwile this happens becaus they jump the four-wheeler ramps...but no there were multiple cows out. As it turns out, I left the gate open. We actually do that often because this gate is at an end of the pasture that is mostly mudd right now and it's heavily travelled. But instead of leaving it alone like always the cows just let themselves out. I bet by the time I jumped out of the tractor and got to the road on a four wheeler, there were 20-30 cows out on the road. As i'm trying to chase them in frantically to any gate I can see, half of them head to the highway and the other half the gate. Then a few others are eating the feedlot ration I just fed from the bunks. Bascially there were cows going in a gagillion directions. I finally got most of them in a contained area when Ellie, the dog (bless her heart) tried to take a cow to me...not away from me! She chased the cow to the highway. So now, I'm in the ditch of the highway tryhing to chase a cow back. The dog is in the middle of the road, I'm flyhing on a four wheeler that has minmal brakes (which I never noticed until I tried to go from 40mph to a stop) and this cow is still going the wrong way. After loosing my hat, and frantically chasing cows for 15 minutes i got them all back in. Then found the hat and hopped back into the tractor. It didn't take long, and the cows were back out again. I didn't even get the next load mixed before a bunch of them figured out you could jump the four wheeler ramp (which ruins it by the way). So, I get off the tractor again and chase cows back again. By this time Chad and his brother were around unloading corn and mowing so they probably got a pretty good show. I finally got back to chores and Chad blocked the four wheeler gate. It wasn't long before I found myself feeding the wrong ration to the wrong heifers. I think ti was just one of those days. So I call Chad to figure out what to do and he says don't worry about it now. Go get a four wheeler and help me bring this cow up. Well, as easy as that sounds, I actually had to air up two tires on this four wheeler. I'm not sure if it was the pile of steel posts Chad hit yesterday that did the tires in, or if it was my late night trip to shut a gate in the dark, but nontheless I had to clean the mudd off of the tires and air them up. Then get all the gates ready and by the that time he was getting close with the cow who had a breeched looking hoof handing out the back. Then comes the fun part, pulling. We managed to pull this breeched calf and got it out alive. It's funny how things work. Chad was trying to explain why we hung the calf upside down and blah blah blah. I just smiled and did what he said even though I knew most of what he was explaing. But then, I started sticking straw up the calf's nose to make it sneeze and get some more fluid out of it's lungs. I think he was a little surprized. It was rather funny. So we ended up with a monstrous red bull calf who is doing well. I told Chad that it' always boys that cause trouble- then he replied that women always start it...but he was standing right being this cow that we just pulled monstroul breeched bull calf out of at the time. Boy, he's luck she didn't know what he said! We then checked one more cow who had already had her calf before we got there...good deal. Then I got back to chores. I finally got everyhting done by about 10:45 and headed home.

Everyday is a new learning experience. Yay for trial and error. I've really been enjoying my jobs. At this point it's a bit high stress, but I like it anyway. I think I better get to bed so that i can be awake to tag babies in the mornig! Thanks for reading:)

Saddle up and Move out

It took a while to get the internet up and all settled.

I left off on my last day at the ranch.
We got up for early chores at 5:30 and got everything fed and ready for the day. We finally got some more milk replacer so there weren't so many cranky calves around too. I caught my horse and started saddling up with Ross when Lee showed up. We kept on getting ready and in the mean time Delbert showed up with Angie and Dante too. I don't think they were real awake...haha he just let them off at the house and soon enough Adrienne was outside. We were joking that today hopefully we wouldn't keep Angie in the house the whole time and could get her back home by noon!

We got all set up and Delbert, Lee, Ross, Adrienne, and I loaded our horses as Mike was showing up with the Ranger and we took off for the south end of the pasture close to home. We found most of the steers on the south end and pushed them back to the north. As wild as these colored steers seemed, it actually worked really well because a couple of them decided to follow the Ranger for cake. Merle came out with the four wheeler and helped too, but we didn't have too much trouble getting them in and into the corral. Once we did the brand inspector was there so we ran them through and counted. There wasn't really any sorting to do, so once we got them counted and inspected we stood around and ate rolls and chatted for a while until the trucks got there. During this time, of course lots of bs was shared...Adrienne and I started playing with the kittens and Delbert had made some comment about the cats being as prolific as the Allen housing...now that's bad. But, you can't even pretend it's not funny. After a while all the cats where lining up at our feet trying to beg for rolls...this got even funnier becasue he accused the of waiting in line for their commods. ....o the things that you hear on the rez- lol!

Once the trucks arrived, we went back to business. Adrienne and I were still messing around and tried to chuck a paddle at Delbert but it turned into an epic failiure as we watched it hit the side of the alley and make all sorts of noise...drawing all attention to us as we just laughed and walked away. But eventually, we actually bucked down and workd and started in loading. It really didn't take long and we had three trucks loaded.

I was about ready to unsaddle Nelly, when it was decided that we were going to go out and help round up Fannings bulls. These woudl be the cattle that Delbert runs near Merle's. I was game, so we gave Mike some time to saddle up Tanner, and then took off to chase after some white bulls (not hard to find!). Everyone was worried that i should get going- I just laughed, and said I would put off school as long as possible even if it was down to the last minute! We took off and dropped off a group of riders in each pasture. Adrienne, Delbert and I ended up in the second pasture with me and we were able to come up with three bulls. When we entered the pasture I was sending a text message and wasn't paying attention to where we were going because everyone was giving me a hard time about texting boys or some dumb thing like that. So, for whatever reason I got totally turned around and didn't even know it! I asked Adrienne why in the world she was pushing that bull west, and she was like- haha I'm not...I'm going east. She later told me she wondered if she was back with Dean again- going the wrong was all the time! lol...burn! Anyway, they rode the fences and I just pushed them on down the trail to the next pasture where the rest of our riders were. By the time we reached the end of our long, narrow pasture, we had three bulls and one cow that we needed to sort. We met up with the others who had some bulls as well, but as it turns out we missed one somewhere. Debert said not to worry, they woudl find him eventually- so we just moved what we had home. That was pretty easy moving, those bulls never fought or gave us much trouble at all. It was pretty impressive- apparently a few of them were show bulls and the others were older bulls so I'm sure that helped, on top of the fact that they were Charolais.

On the way home we also saw a grey steer we were concerned about from moving the steers in the other day. He looked like he was getting around well, and would be easy to move home in a few days- so that was a plus. Once we got the bulls back home, we unsaddled and Jason (the owner) was there shortly to load them up and move them home.

Once we got that taken care of Delbert picked up Angie and Dante (who ended up at home longer than planned again- but at least not all day!) and Mike and Lee went out with them to have some pizza in town. I was going to go but I decided to stay back and eat left over spaghetti with Merle, Adrienne, Ross, and Rylee. There was a ton of spaghetti left over that Jonni gave us from the postponed fire meeting last Tuesday! So, we ate that up and I played with Rylee for a while until I decided that I had better go home and finish packing up. It took me a couple hours or so to get things all packed up and cleaned. I seriously had my car as full as it woudl go...Bart took the last cupholder and that was about as much as it could hold. It was weighted down and I could just barely see out the back window...I swear I really don't have that much stuff but it seems to accumulate when you move around every few months. I wanted to take out the trash when I went so I had to put in on the trunk like a hillbilly...it was pretty entertaining- I even had to stop once to put it back on the back! haha- but I got there and sent some groceries over with ADrienne and Merle and dropped off my trash. I stopped in and said goodbye to Adrienne and Rylee, and then went out and put some gas in my car because someone told me to stop being stubborn and just take a little gas (much to my disliking). Then, talked to Merle for a while and said goodbye for the summer. :(

As I was driving away it was hard not to look back and smile at such a great summer. It's pretty well impossible to write down on paper how I feel about my experiences from this summer or my experiences at the ranch every. I have learned more there than anyone could ever pay me for. Not to mention the second family that i seem to have acquired and mooch off of way too often! I can't thank those people enough, or be at all regretful of the time I have spent there. It means so much to know that you have a place to go and learn still be welcome to learn and have fun!

My drive home was long, but I spent a lot of time on the phone catching up with people and planning things for work fo rthe next couple days, so it wasn't so bad. I ended up meeting up with a good friend of mine who was in Texas for the summer. She was driving with her dad just ten miles ahead of me on the interstate so we stopped in Mitchell and ate at Culvers. When I pulled in and got out there there was a car next to me already amazed at my weighted down car, but then I went to get out and grabbed my fish in his cup insted of my billfold and took a few steps before I realized it! hahaha...but I turned around and fixed the issue and gave those people a good laugh. I finally pulled into Brookings around 10:45 or 11ish. Jennifer walked from her house acrosss the alley and helped me get my boxes in as my sister was being interviewed by the census people in the living room...ugh census- but that whole federal law thing seems to be a good incentive to follow through! haha

Once I got my boxes in I helped a few friends do teh same thing at their place, talked with Virginia, and went to bed on my couch. It looked much more inviting than my bed full of stuff.

Since, I have been going non stop with move in, work, and trying to plan a training session that will be held on monday for a mentor program I am starting on campus. My water heater was leaking one day, and that was replaced- just my luck. But, at least it's fixed now. At some point I would appreciate some sleep, but this move in week is always like this. We are making posters and organizing like crazy- but eventually when Monday passes, I think things will slow down a bit before classes start getting tough.

I am trying to take it a little easier this semester so I can have a life- 17 credits, two jobs and lots of activities, but I think I can still cut back- we'll see. I hope to update my blog once a week or so but I can't make promises because I don't know.

What I do know was that I had another amazing summer that was well worth the work! :) I am unsure of next summer because I have my own place to get up and running, but we'll see. I hope to frequent back at the ranch this fall and spring- after all, I couldn't fit my saddle so they know I'll be back! We'll see how often it works out. Here's to another great summer out west! Thanks for reading :)

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow."" -Mary Anne Radmacher

'Steer'in towards school

For being one of my last posts, this won't be too exciting- but I can't make up any stories to tell you that would ever top the things I have already gotten into this summer.

I got up and met everyone for chores this morning. Merle had started a little early before I got there because Delbert was coming. Ross and I finished chores and grabbed horses and saddle up. Delbert was there shortly after we caught our horses and we hooked up to his trailer (it has three gates rather then two). We loaded our three horses and Merle's four wheeler up.

First stop, south of the place to put a run away steer in. Merle just happened to see him out this morning. We got over there, found him, and Delbert and I were working him towards the gate when he just decided to hop the fence. Delbert's commetn: graceful as an elk. haha- he didn't break any wires to we'll have to give him that.

After we got him back in we loaded back up and took a trip over to Risse's big pasture. You have to drive quite a ways to get over there, but once we did, it didn't take long. We stopped at the well Delbert last saw the steer at, and unloaded there. We took the horses one way and Merle went the ohter. Within a couple minutes he was calling Delbert telling us he had already found the steer. Well...that didn't take long- this is why four wheelers can be so handy.

As we were riding over there I asked Delbert where the corrals were from here- he said: "right here" as he pointed to his rope in hand. Ahh...yes, this might be much better than going the two miles to the corrals to load the sucker up. So, we come up on him and tried to keep him moving north since the wind was so crazy so Delbert could throw a loop. He missed him the first time (i don't think the wind helped at all) and then the steer cheap shotted him. It took about 200 yards and he played out. Just stopped and basically walked into the rope! haha...I could really use that against Debert if I wanted, but it would do not good since I couldn't swing a rope if my life depended on it! ...but i wanna learn.

So, he got him roped and Merle brought the trailer over to load him. He wouldn't jumped right in if Delbert's horse woulda on the first try. But, that didn't work so we finally got the horse in and he drug the steer right with him. Then did some rearranging and got the steer in one compartment, the 3 horses in the other, and the four wheeler at teh back. That worked pretty nice. When we got him we dropped the little fart off with the rest of em right out the side door of the trailer and headed home. We unloaded and let the horses out. Delbert and Merle switched tailers around while I brout a few things of Merle's in the house that I had stashed away at my house all summer. Then, I sat around playing with Rylee for a while and decided that i had better go home and pack.

When I got here I thought it would be a good time for a nap, so I layed down at about 11 with intentions of getting up at 11:30. yeah, like that ever works. 12:30 rolls around and I finally get up and start moving. I spent my entire afternoon basically packing. Boy, it sure wasn't fun. I don't really have that much stuff considering I live in a house by myself, but it's a very very tight fit in my car. I really didn't feel that good today for whatever reason, so the packing was a little slow, but I got most everything boxed up.

I think Merle strung some salt this afternoon and Ross went home after we chased the steer this morning, so we weren't extremely productive. O well, you have to have those days once in a while. I would have liked to mow my lawn, but that wasn't gunna happen from the start. It was way too hot and unbelieveably windy to even want to have grass clippings all over my face in the 100 degree heat. Besides, it took all afternoon and evening to pack and clean.

I took another nap this afternoon cuz I felt like crap. Then did chores, and came home and put most of my stuff in my car. I've decided that my saddle isn't going to fit. But on second thought, that isn't the worst thing ever cuz I"m guessing it will smell after the morning's ride. I'll be back to use it before I would need it at home anyway, so it's not really that big of a deal.

So, most of it is packed up and I have the house pretty clean. Just a few last minute things need to be put in the car and cleaned up. I may need to pick up my mail as well- or I could just skip that part and hope I don't get anything. It's hard to believe the summer is already over! I don't wanna go hit the books at school- not even a little. It will be nice to see my friends, but I'm not excited to become stressed to the max over stupid schoolwork. I know this coming week will be awful with work training and all sorts of preparations for a training I am holding for students involved in a mentor program that I started as the Ag Bio Advocate for the college this year.

Anyway, this has been an amazing summer, once again. Live and learn is probably the best way to put in in few words.

I will write tomorrow when I get back if I have internet and report if I make it in one piece without blowing a tire because my poor car is so weighted down!

"There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day." -Alexander Woollcott

Burning Hot

ughhhh...I'm ready for bed.

Another very interesting day. This morning I woke up and was making my pop tart breakfast and headed out the door when the phone rang. Harv was letting me know where he was at on his way down and mentioned that Merle would be back around 7:30 or so. I don't know if I missed the memo or if Merle just didn't say anything or what, but he went up in a plane around 6ish this morning looking for steers. It was a super cub of a guy in town, whos buddy took him up and they flew for an hour or so.

That's something to wake up to- let me tell ya. I know they have done this before, but I just hadn't ever thought of doing that to find steers. So, I headed down to the corrals and did chores with Ross. We were just saddling up our horses when Harv pulled in. We got everything ready to go and found out that Merle was close, so we just waited a bit for him, hooked up and loaded and headed out. Merle reported that he only saw one steer in the corner of Scott's 560, so we decided to look for it after our hunt for the first two we knew of. He made a comment about the steer not looking really good and I asked how close they were able to get. He said that you might have been able to grab the ear tag... I decided that I didn't know if I really wanted to fly with them or not! The pilot is also a crop duster so they flew really low I guess!

We needed two steers out of Delberts pastures. We saw one on our way in and needed to find another and move them home together. Of course, the steer wasn't in the same place where they saw him yesterday so we all split up and rode the pasture. After a while, Harv flagged me down and told me that Merle was coming with the steers. Right about then he came over the hill with the whole group of cows and the steer. We got him cut off with a cow, but she wouldn't stay so we had to fight him to the gate. In typical yearling fashion, we got him to the gate and he shyed and tried to run back on us. If it wasn't for Merle's fourwheeler to push on him I don't think we woudl have ever gotten him back with our horses. But, we did and sent him towards the other steer in the next pasture.

We gave them a break for a bit and then sorted the yearlings off and headed home. You always try to walk and slow them down as best you can, but not with these. One wanted to run the whole way so they both did. It took all you had not to run up on them because they would just move faster. So, needless to say it didn't take long to get home because I spent most of the time catching up with them! We got them home and up into the pasture on the creek. Merle stopped at home and grabbed teh trailer and we loaded our three horses and his four wheeler and headed to the 560 where he thought he saw the steer in the corner. We looped around that pasture while he rode the back quarter and found nothing. The little fart must have jumped the fence to the west and gone back. So, we loaded up and went home. But, somewhere along the line Risse's called and said that there was still one steer left in their pasture. This is the big (8,000 is acres?) pasture that Ross and I went to find when we loaded up those 12 steers. So...I think I know what tomorrow morning with hold.

Anywho, we came back home, ate dinner, and then went up to unload some barrels of Crystalyx that Harv brought down. After we got that done, I went to help Ross with some oats that he needed sacked and Merle and Harv went out to take a picture of some cows with a lick tub. I thought it was rather entertaining- would have like to watch them set out the perfectly clean tub in the grass and seen which cow ran to it the fastest for a picture! But, after we got all that done, Harv headed out and Merle told me to go home and take a nap and pack if I needed to.

So, I went home and just after I layed down Merle called and mentioned that we forgot the milk replacer (we ran out and Pee Wee is hungry!) in town. He said he felt really bad but if I could go get it that would be great. I didn't mind at all- they were out stringing salt and we really needed it. So, I exnayed the nap and went and got the milk replacer. I headed back home with it and just as I sat down to make some phone calls the pager went off...

I could understand the "Attention Martin Fire" and the word "Hisle". Well, that means it's close. I called Merle right away and got the numbers for people tha twould have heard the page loud and clear. After we made phone calls and got back ahold of each other we figured out that it was a fire near Hisle. Well, Hisle is just up the road so I got in my gear, grabbed the truck and took off north. I radioed us in to dispatch on the way there and tried to listen to their really bad directions to the place at teh same time. When I met Merle he quick put his gear on there on the road, and we left Adrienne adn Rylee with the pickup to head home. So, we take off for the smoke (which is a long ways off from Hisle). We went all the way north to the highway and then back west towards the Weaver place (if that means anything to you). We are going west headed to a driveway that we think is right when we meet the Interior trucks headed the other way. So, we turn around and follow them. Not one minute later we meet them headed back the opposite direction again! So, we turn around again and go back to where we originally were headed. From there, we had a rancher (I think the oldest Weaver) lead us up into the timbers of the badlands. It was quite the trail. In fact the tender trucks that came later had to park way down at the bottom of the hill because they would never make the crick crossing or the hill climbs up there. We finally got there and were really the first set of trucks. I think there was one rancher with a pickup tank there and maybe one other personally owned fire rig. So, we got to giong. It wasn't as big as it looked, but it sure could have burned if it wanted. Merle left me with the truck and headed down in there with a McCloud. I stayed back and made sure there wasn't any back burning and put out hot spots. At one point, I decided the spot I was at was pretty well covered so I rolled up my hose and turned the truck around to watch what else was going on. Just as I did that, Merle showed up. So we took off for the other end of the fire and started wetting down teh edges and putting out hotspots. This was quite the trail to get around. I was surprized we were able to get teh trucks as close as we did.

At one point, when we were rolling up the hose I managed to push the button that rolls the reel too long and sprayed Merle in the eyes with high velocity water. That was brilliant, and I'm sure it felt great on the eyes. Since I hadn't had anything happen to me today or done anything really dumb yet, that was it. I felt really really bad- but what do you do. We ended up there for another hour or so until we ran out of water. Some "firegod" who thought he was in charge of the show basically told us to go home- so we did. We left the other Martin trucks (who had not been there long because they came another route at first and had a tender tuck break down) . We left them to mop up with teh explorers and we filled our truck at the bottom of the hill and headed home. It ended up only being about a 25-30 acre fire, but it was on some rough turf and it did jump in one spot where there was no connection of burn fuel.

I love to fight fire. It's not a good thing- perhaps I like it too much. But, definitly not something I woudl wanna do everyday of my life. Those people are tough. We got out of there and headed home. Wrote down all our records and fueled the truck up for the next fire. It wouldn't take much for that fire to flare back up, so I may be out again before morning. I really woudl like some sleep, but we'll see- a fire is a fire! ...and the other night we did skp another one bale fire. they paged three times- on the third time I almost called Merle, but chickened out. Why should we drive all the way to Martin and west to watch one bale burn when most of the fire fighters live in town? That was my theory anyway.

But, Im in now- probably not going to get a lot of packing done. More interested in showering and going to bed. I won't have much more for blog posts so you all will have to find a new source of daily entertainment! haha...it's so sad that my life is that entertaining!

But, so be it. I don't wanna go to school! Nooooo! ...o well, that's life.

"Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" -New Testament, James 3: 5

Leaps and Bounds

Hm- another day.

I got up on time this morning, grabbed a pop tart and headed out the door. After chores the first stop was the steer pasture. I saddled up Bowdie and Ross grabbed Joe and Merle grabbed his trusty red horse with the black nose (aka Honda) and we loaded up. Adrienne road with us out to the psture and then her and Rylee went back home with teh pickup and trailer.

We started in on the hunt because we were pretty sure there still had to be steers in that pasture- one for sure, but more werwe possible. Well, once Ross and I got going through the righ let down and met up with Merle we had two steers to chase right off the bat. This is one of those deals where it takes two pepole, so we took off with them and Merle kept on riding the pasture. We couldn't look much because one of out steers was a totaly pain in the butt. We did eventually get them across the pasture and where they belonged with the others, but much effort was put into it. Bowdie was about to kill me or make me laugh or maybe both today. He, more so than the other horses, like to leap across things instead of get his toes wet or step in a low spot. When I have time, I make him walk and not leap, but when were in a hurry he just does it. So, I felt like a regular hunter jumper and was laughing at the things he would try jumping at a full out lope. Needelss, to say it was dooable, just a little hard on the back.

Once we got out two obnoxious steers to the gate Merle called and said he was way back with a steer...yep just one. -that can be the worst with yearlings. So, we head back to meet up with him and just before we came over the hill Merle had lost sight of the steer. This only lasted just a second and the sucker was gone. We looked and looked for him, and coudln't find anything. We fainlly decdied we must have lost him for goof and if we did find him we would ahve a heck of a time getting him back now.

So, we weaved aroudn the pasture on our way home, and just happend to ride by the little fart. He had jumped the fence and well, heck yes we'll take hime home! So we drug some cows along and got him out the gate with teh other steers. It worked pretty good. At least we found 3 this morning- much better than none.

We got home and went in for dinner - still working on the sloppy joes, but where getting them taken care of. After dinner, Ross headed home and I took off for Gordon with Dean's old ranch pickup. First, I had to jump start it because the CB radio had been on without it being started in so long that it ran her down. BUt, we got the back end cleaned out and I headed for town. I needed to pick up a board for the tailgate hole adn get the tailgate fixed. First, I stopped at the body shop that is always ofpen, and no one was there. i was n't sure if I should leave it or not, so I jsut kept it with me. Then, I ran down to the Ace Hardware and got a better back board cut for the pickup. Once I got all that done I headed for Gordon. I got there and all went well.

I weighed, got laoded right away, got some salt to hold down the tarp, and headed back. I had to stop for some ice cream of course, and then hit the road. O, I almost forgot, while I was in Gordon I ran into Sue and MaryKay two ro three times and then ended up following them home. I laughed and asked if we always needed to drive this far to get together!

Once I got back home, I started in unloading corn. This is quite the taks because you have to get teh augar down out of the ceiling and then get it in the pickup and through the hole in the bulding. I was very resourceful with some twine and barrels to stand on- but I got it done. After I finished checked my phone that had a message from Adrienne saying that I didn't need to unload it- they would help later. Oops...too late. It's done now so who cares?

I got it unloaded adn did chores adn headed for home. We realized that we are out of milk replacer tonight and will have to get some tomorrow somewhere in town. ...oops, I totally didn't think to grab any in Gordon today either. I laughed cuz I have to chase those calves that get milk in some nights. And now tongiht, when there is no milk, they bellar and carry on. O, they'll survive!

After I got home I started packing and talking to friends on a Friday. I will have to really pack some more stuff tomorrow though. It's hard to believe I have just a couple days left:(

Chadron

Today shouldn't be too hard to write about.
For whatever reason I woke up to my alarm that had been going off for quite a while, which put me late for chores. But, I didn't seem to miss much and was still able to help finish things off. I told Merle not to tell the boss that I was late!

As soon as we finished chores we loaded up the four wheelers and some elk meat and I took off for home to change clothes quick. Next stop Chadron, NE. While at home the phone rang twice, then as I was running out the door I had to stop and talk to the harvesters that were in the front yard loading up to take off for North Dakota. So, I had a late start to begin with, but I finally got going. I went through Martin, and came just over the hill to the south of town to find that they were moving a building...not just any building, but a church. I was pretty much boxed in and there was nowhere to go so I just sat there for a while, watching them lift up powerlines to get the building through without hitting them.

After a while, they eventually let my line of cars through and I got going. Now, I knew I was late, but thought it wouldn't be more than a half hour. I got all the way down to Rushville when I heard this crash, bang, boom, on the pickup. I was looking in my mirrors trying to figure out what in the world happened, when I realized that the antenna for the CB on the roof was hanging by the cord on the back window. I got out and got that put back on where it belongs and got back ont he raod. Just a few more miles down the road constrcution starts...then I hit a spot with a pilot car. At this point, I decided I had better get ahold of these people. So, I called Merle and told him what the deal was and got their number from him. Then, i called this place and told them that I would be over an hour late because I got stuck behind a moving church and a pilot car. ...who's gunna believe that!?

I finally got there at about 10:15 or so for a 9/9:30 apt. When I stepped out of the one ton, long box, ext cab pickup pulling the stock trailer I think the guy about peed his pants. It was hillarious- I was trying not to laugh! They asked me what all this was about the church and I straight up told them I got stuck behind a church, no joke. They all laughed and probably still didn't believe me! So, I got the four wheelers dropped off and unhooked the trailer in the back lot then went to cruise Chadron. I soon realized that there isn't much to cruise there...

I started at walmart and got some school supplies and other junk that I will need when school gets going. Then, I ran across the street to Bomgaars (The old Merchantile) and tried to kill some time and spend a few dollars. That didn't work too well either but I did purchase a really cute barn picture frame out of the deal. By this time, I was able to meet up with a friend of Merle's who wanted some elk meat. We moved it to her cooler and off I was again. I had already grabbed breakfast at McDonalds so I took Merle's friend, Dayles advice and went to a coffee shop downtown that had internet access. I was able to find a municipal lot to park teh pickup in and then went in and sat and worked on school things all afeternoon on my computer.

It was nice to get some of that stuff done, bit it was also time to go home. At about four I went back to the shop and they jsut finished the last one. I loaded them up and off I went towards home. I managed to make it there without any road blocks this time.

When I got home I helped merle finish chores and wetn out and rode the alfalfa field across the road to get the neighbors cows off of it...

After we chased them out Merle headed out to go check claves and I unhooked the other trailer they used today for the horses and took my pickup home. I got a lot done for myself today but there is still more to go and lots to get done ont the ranch.

It sounds like it took 2hrs to find the horses this morninig and when he (Ross) did finally give up and let someone else look-they miraculously appeared. Adrienne and him did some riding for two steers that were supposed to be there in Delbert's pastures, but they had no luck. This afternoon Merle and Adrienne went to Interior to get more pellots...yay because we've been out for a while.

Now, I'm home and ready for bed. So just a rondom comment. I have caller ID on my land line and a friend from Missouri was trying to call me tonight. Every time he called it would show up as a different number from Florida and when I answered no one was there or I was there in an echo. He finally got through once and it had a 5 second delay and finally just hung up on us. What in the world? Either his phone or mine is losing it mentally.

But, weird phone calls aside, I must get some sleep.

"Sometimes the best cowboys...are cowgirls." -saw it on a sign in bomgaars

4 wheellin'

Another busy day. We decided to start the day with a bit more of yesterday!

After getting chores done, Ross and Merle and I fueled up and got the four wheelers ready for an excursion. Yesterday Merle beat up his four wheeler pretty bad, but none the less he was bound and determined to use it anyway. So, we spent some time changing the tire and taking the box off the back before we left. Then, checked oil on all the four wheelers and loaded them up in the horse trailer. Adrienne and Rylee came along on the trip out to drop us off. We went out by the big unit to start and rode a lot of Delbert and Scott's pastures to see what we could scrounge up for steers because we are for sure still missing a bunch of about 20 or so.

The hunt was on, we found four steers in the second pasture we rode and ended up taking them home to the long narrow pasture and combining them with six we already had there. We got those ten back in with the others which really helped our numbers but didn't solve the question of just where all of them went to. We rode a bit more before dinner and I came acoss a few fun things. We shoved a bunch of the neighbor's cattle back into their pasture through a gate they tore down (we think) that is not next to the fenceline we put these steers in, with hope that they would stay there until Monday. In the process of doing that, I managed to find a gate between that pasture and Deblert's pasture totally gone. Both posts were busted. When the three of us met up later and put a couple of his cows back through it we just moved the wires from the broken posts on to the ones that were stationary there. For now, it will kinda defeat the purpose of a gate, but it will hold them out! After getting that little project done, we gave in and headed home. Four for the morning is much better than none, and really, we got 10 back in so horray for us.

After we got in and went up for dinner and ate some pizza and fair cake with the ice cream I picked up the other day. I went to get it out of my freezer this morning to find that I had put in in there upside down. So, it's like way overful and sticky on the outside and to top it all off...it's maple nut. It looks like vanilla from the outside but does not taste like it...oops. I ate it anyway! So, after experienceing Maple Nut ice cream for the first time I got up and took on the afternoon.

Merle decided to go and string salt and look at Dick's for some more calf pellets since we're out. While they were gone doing that, I was helping Ross get teh chisel ready for some bottoms down south. First, I took off this tire that has been low and was ready to take it in to get fixed because that's waht Ross wanted done, but by the time it was all said and done I just put it back on and decided to take it in another day. We needed to get something done- so we'll do it after he uses it. We moved one sweep over and did a few little maintenance things while greasing it and cleaning it off. Then, he pulled up to the shed to wash windows and get air in that flat tire. Well, that bad news was that we had already pinned the whole deal up so I had to do some serious climing to get to the tire. I bet it was entertining to watch- but I"ll have you know as of 2pm that tire had air in it!

After what seemed like forever, we got him going and I went grabbed a four wheeler to get ready to check wells. I stopped by home and got my water jug and tarp strapped it in really good, although it still came out a time or two it didin't break anyway! I took off and of course, the first well I got to was running over. Since I took a four wheeler, I have no tools and for some dumb reason brought neither salt and mineral or prairie dog poinson. I like to get more than one thing done when I got that far from home but it was looking liek I wouldn't even get the well fixed. I figured out the problem and had only one way to fix it without a wrench. I tried my pocket knife plier but they wouldn't cut it. So, I just shut off teh elcectricity and told the cows to drink it down while I checked the others. The other two were working good- I did take som time to clean moss out, but other than that I lucked out conisdering all the lightning we have had. When I go tback to the first welll again they had drank what seemed like hardly anything. So, I bailed some water out and then sat there while they drank more. After a while I tinkered around with it enough and got enough water out of the darn thing that it started working agian. Hooray for miriales! At least I got something accomplished because i didn't deserve to after bringing no tools! After I got that done I headed for home.

Just as I was pulling up I saw a harvesting semi come out of the driveway via the autogate. There was another one coming jusst as I got to the gate, After getting that all set an dond with I deicded tht it was probablyfor the best that they heded out anyway. They have been parked here for quite a while, but must have finally found some wheat to harvest out north somewhere. In that short amount of time I was home I grabbed some water for me an salt and tools for the next well. Then, I took off for Chief Bears and checked the wells there.It's always better to check than to assume~ tha's for sure. They looked good, so I turned aroudn and came home to do chores. Merle had an apt tnoight so Ijust put all the feed out and finsished chores first off.
The calves thought they were jsut starving. But, I get thme all fed and then life was much better. After chores I hopped back on the four wheeler and wetn tot check heavy cows. This took forever cuz I was short one cow and i looked and loked for her until I finally saw her on my way back with a brand new calf. Yey, for calves but it sucks wehen they hide with them! Eventually I made it home and am not ready for bed.

I was just noticing the ranom streaks of bruuses on tmy lgs from all the tree branches in the timber reserve. But, I now have a bruise on the insided of both knees...my gues is that some horses had me holdin on tight and I don't even renember ti. ...or I got to roundy with the foru wheeler. Guess we'll never know- I just thought it was dkinda funny.

Well, I finally got in an dnow I"m sleep=typing. We'll catch you all later!

Steering the ship

What a day.

For starters, last night got really interesting. After I finished my blogs I checked my email quick and realized that I had forgotten to fill out a shortish application for an FFA position I was nominated for on teh national level. It said it was due by Monday the 17th...well since there is no such date Idecided that I had better get it done! Long story short- I didn't get to bed until 1:40 and then woke up just after 5. That's just great for a day like today...

I went down and started chores just before 5:30 and was able to get everything set up and moved for the day in time to saddle my horse and be ready when everyone else showed up. Delbert, Mike, Lee, Mickaela, and Delbert's hired man Michael came out. That made a crew of 9 for the morning. First off, we loaded up and moved the yearlings on the crick right on home. It really wasn't that difficult because Mike had the Ranger and just led them in with cake again. Once we got them into the corrals the sorting began. We didn't have any get back on us so this part wasn't too difficult. I guess there were quite a few of us there and a lot of people more skilled than I, so Mickaela and I got sent to get Delbert's pickup out of the pasture and bring it back home. We took off and grabbed it. After Mickaela opened that gate she rode on the running board of the pickup down to the trailer- it was hillarious...at one point she thought she saw a rattle snake and about glued herself to the window...haha! O the little things we get into. So, we grabbed his pickup and brought it home. I parked it up by the shed because there were already two pickups and trailers down below and we needed four trucks in there at a time. I later got told not to park it there becasue they thought it was still in the pasture...o my gosh, I parked it in a slightly different spot! lol

After we got back from that we felt pretty useless because they would let us help since there was enough help so we went and checked the fall calvers. We each took a four wheeler and ran down sunflowers the whole way- if you have never done this you must try, it's cheap entertainment. We didn't find any newbies so we came back home and watched them sort the last few. Then we were going to go eat rolls and Delbert was picking on Mickaela and I about not saying anything when the rolls came out...he was just sure we were starving. lol Well, we didn't get a chance to eat them because Merle decided to do a second count first. So, we moved steers aroudn and counted into groups again and then all at once the trucks showed up early. This was perfect because we had them all sorted out and ready to go way early. So...we loaded the first four trucks up. I ran a hot shot up the alley so my job wasn't too hard, but still needs to be done. Mickaela and I were just happy to have a function. After getting those loads of black steers out, we finally ate our rolls...that was pretty entertaining. We're sitting there eating them and someone makes a comment about the inbred cats- Delbert finds a way to relate it to the Allen housing. O, you can't miss a beat when he's around! lol

Since the brand and health inspectors couldn't come until later and the trucks for the second load out weren't planned to come out until 12:30 or so we decided to go in for an early dinner. Sloppy Joes were on teh menu and they sure tasted good with some fair cake to follow (we are going to eat that cake forever!). I sat next to Angie's son Dante (she babysat for the day) and it was quite entertining. He was certain that having the BBQ on his plate tasted wayyyy different than the stuff on the bun. Gotta love kids. We all chowed down and then almost ran out of ice cream becasue I forgot to bring the stuff down that I picked up yesterday afternoon. But, we snuck by! As we were just sitting there talking and killing time someone looked out the window and noticed that he brand inspectors pickup was there. We didn't know how long he had been there but I sure saw a bunch of guys fly out the door in a hurry! I stayed back and got the kitchen cleaned up and then went out to check things out. They were all just sitting aroudn talking because there wasn't much else to do until the trucks came. All at once we decided that since there was a crew there we were going to round up the other colored steers this afternoon as well. So, I grabbed a horse for me and a horse for Mike and started saddling so they woudl be ready after we loaded. As we were catchign horses Delbert hollered over to me to catch a horse for Mike too. The whole time I was so confused because I was thinking of Mike his hired help who already had a horse saddled. When Adrienne and then later Merle asked me why I had two saddled I told them one was for Mike and I didn't know why. Well, good grief we are all so dence or something today- it was for Mike Hicks, he wasn't going to take the Ranger out to these steers and wanted to go horseback instead. So as we are all looking at teh younger Mike's horse trying to figure out what's wrong with it and being all confused we were all off. I just got a kick out of that!

We got the second group of trucks loaded up pretty easily. No major problems or escapees. After the last truck took off we all decided we should saddle up and head out. We crammed seven horses in the trailer and took off for the big unit. The goal was to fish the steers that had gotten loose in there out and them move the whole crew from their original pasture on duck creek up and out all the way home to be shipped out the 23rd. Well, by the time we got to the pasture i realized that there was no way I could do this and get down to Jonni's on time to pick up all the food for teh firemen's meeting at 7 and have it ready. So, very reluctantly, I left Nelly in the trailer and rode back with Merle as the others went and rode the unit. We got just about to the Hisle road when Carol (MVFD secretary) calls and says they want to cancell the meeting because some of the officers can't make it. Seriously?! ugh. So Jonni and I say it's ok and the food she had made will ahve to be frozen or eaten before next Tuesday. So, aside from being annoyed about that, now I can't even ride my hoses cuz we're so far away. When we got back I unsaddled her and turned her out and then hopped on a four wheeler adn Merle and I headed out for the pasture. He took Adrienne's four wheeler with teh new basket thing for the dogs. He filled it up with cake to see if it woudl work as steer bait at all. We made out way out there slowly but surely as to try and not spill all the cake out. We went all the way to the far gate to start with. There was one yealing there that had jumped the fence after they have moved them back into this pasture. Merle quick kicks me off of my four wheeler and sticks me witht teh slow one. So, I got to pretty much follow him and this steer around as he fought it and fought it. Eventually it went in and he took off after it to make sure it was moving int he right direction. At this piont the others have moved the yearling they foudn in the unit (about 30 or so) into duck creek. But, Mike (Delbert's help) was missing. After staring off into the hills i saw him way way out there. I know that Merle had in mind that I would go and get him but I wan't goingt o take all that time to go way outt there so I just shut the gate and didn't lock it- hope that he saw me and left. I met up with the rest of the bunch and followed with them a while until we caem to a stopping point where we needed to wait for the others to bring steers in. Delbert had told me to sit on top of the hill and wait to make sure they don't loop around. So, I sat and watched them while waiting for the others to show up behind the hill. Before much else could happen Delbert was back and watned to tade the four wheeler for his horse. Ok, whatever- I hopped on his horse and he took teh four wheeler. I had to laugh becaue I knew the cake was now a lost cause and sure enough when he came back it had all bounced out- either that or he found some mightly hungry steers! We waited there until Delbert and Merle showed back up again with a few yealings and then took off for home. Delbert's horse was out of gas before I got him and so was everyone elses so it seemed long and hot. But, we got them all teh way to one of the last gates when they spooked at a horse sneaking through the gate with them and split and went all which ways. In the end, we only lost one out of the deal and that's becuase he had his mind made up and and I was out of horse power to catch up to him. Lee and I crossed the creek and tried to cahse him back but he eventually said that had better quit adn just leve him because we were out of horse. You know it's bad when cowboy admits that the horse is done for the day...but they sure were. So, we turned around and took teh short cut home. The rest of the bunch showed up shortly after and Merle come limping his four wheeler down the hill. He deicded that he better be able to ride horse soon because he was way too hard on it today and broke the frame on a washout, got a flat tire and a steer tore the fender all apart....not to mention that we have been pull starting it for a couple weeks now too. It's got an apt in Chadron sometime this week!

We all sat around adn talked and decided we were gald to get that done. We will probably have to ride that pasture again to grab a few that we left, but we didn't do half bad. I guess they had to choke one down this morning and get pretty hard with those calves at teh beginning, but that's how it goes with yealings. At teh end of the day we coudn't change it anyway. So, we all had a pop and went home to do our own thing. i put things back together at the corrals and am jsut now thinking that I never roped the paneling upt hat the truckers move when we load out cattle. This may mean that there will be loose bucket calves inteh morning...guess we'll see! I did chores and put teh little chickens away for the night adn home I went.

I havne't been this tire sinece who knows when. This time I'm off to bed.

Grease and Gates

Whew, finally caught up a little bit.

Today was intersting with some rain here and there. After doing chores and laughing at teh half a watermelon that I brought down for the chickens to peck on left over from our explosion.

After chores, I grabbed Nelly and Adrienne, Ross, and I saddled up and Merle gave us a ride to the long, narrow psture alon g the road and off we went. The goal was to move all the black steers we had in there to the creek with the res tof them. We found them all alright but then had a heck of a time sorting the five non blacks out of there. Withe some time, we eventually got the five sorted off and sent the others on down the hill to find their buddies. We went back home and I started in on new projects. Ross and I took off with his pickup to get the chisel and move it. In the process it rained off and on which made the trail extremely annoying to travel, but we made due. We got him all pinned up and then I took off. i met Merle and Adrienne at our turnoff so they each took a pickup and I stayed home and chekced fall calvers.

I didn't find any new calves or suspicious looking cows either. So, I headed home and fired up the 560 and pulled it in the shed before I got toally soaked. I cleaned straw out of it till dinner, then went in and ate some grilled cheese and tomato soup! The best thing ever. I talked to Jonni on the phone while I was in. Last weedenk she roller her four wheeler while four wheelin' in the hills. So, now she's laid up with all sorts of tight and torn muscles. Her and I were supposed to do the meal for the fire deparment meeting tomorrow night so Ic alled her to find out what I needed to take over and she said nothing she was still doing it! Ok...sounds good to me, I just grabbed ice cream and garlic bread at teh store later.

After dinner I headed back out and worked on cleaning out eh square baler in the shed. Adrienne and Merle came up with Rylee Jo and she sure helped us out. They were working on some gate hinges that needed fixing before tomorrow and Rylee was being cranky so I tried to pacify her for a while while mommy was welding away. She eventually fell asleep and they finished up the gate hinge. While they were putting it back on I cleaned up my huge pile of straw and shuffled tractors around- then went and helped them finish up with the gates. I did chores quick after that and then got ready to head for town to get groceries.

It looked like we got it all set pretty good for the morning. Ross came home on the tractor just as I was getting ready to go his way so I stopped and picked him up and took him back to his pikcup on the other side of town. First, though, I stopped by the grocery store and fire hall to drop off stuff. Then, took him to his pickup and came home. I've been doing laundry and typing since. Now, I'm off to bed for an early load out morning tomorrow. Good night!

Bales of Fun...

Sunday.

I got up a little early and Mary and I went down to Merle's to try and load up my chair that i have had in that house since last summer. Since there was extra room in the car, it made sense to just haul it home and my microwave as well. So, we got down there and managed to fit it out the door and into the Explorer. I don't know if she was able to see anything on her way home, but I'm pretty sure the chair made it- haha.

After I laoded her up we said goodbye and I went to work and she went back home to pack and leave. We had such a good time- who woulda guessed! We will have to get together again to discuss movies while they are happening and shoot at random things...

But, it was back to work for me. I went down and helped with chores and saddled up Bodie, and off we went with Delbert for another day in the timber reserve. The goal today was just to get what was left. We figured about 8ish or so, so we new it was slim pickings. There were considerably less of us so we took different, bigger areas of the pasture and started the hunt. We were able to cram four horses up front in the trailer and the four wheeler in the back so Merle zipped around just as fast or faster than we did.

I took a ridge between teh creeks and rode it south zig zaggin the whole way. I never did find anything, just ran into Ross once and didn't meet up with anyone else until Delbert came down a draw towards the end of teh hunt with three steers. That was all we could come up with but we figured that was way better than none, and it coudl be all tha tis left in that pasture. Miraculously, we were able to get the three back home all the way to the electric well at the very last gate they have to go through and they were aftraid of the dumb thing. That was quite the fight and I wondered if we would loose therm there when we were so close! But, we didn't and they eventually crossed through it and went on home whwere they belonged with the others. After we got them in it was still before noon so we were pretty impressed with that. Ross took off right away because he wasn't feeling good and the rest of us headed in for dinner. I helped Adrienne get things ready and then we at soem yummy food. And had the turtle (turle made of cake and green frosting) part of the beach cake I bought at the auction for desert- it was excellent, but then again, I looove cake so you never know!

After dinner Merle and Delbert set out on a quest to find one yearling that was supposed to be in with a neighbors cattle. Low and behold they did find one in that huge pasture and got him corraled up and loaded to our pasture. Meanwhile, Adrienne's mom babysat while we hauled down some oats and I moved some feed. Adrienne dove into town when her mom did and left her pickup at the rodeo grounds so there was a good spot to sit tonight. I kept on working on tings at home and decided to bale stack. She stayed in town with her mom and the baby until Merle came and got her for the rodeo later. I ended up stacking all afternoon until I was almost late the rodeo but I got them all stacked and made the rodeo in time to boot. We did end up with three vehicales there, but oh well. I got in the door just as they were starting and found them in the pickup and had a seat. Adrienne and I went to the concession stand to load up and came back with all sorts of good stuff. All in all it was a good right for rodeo- the show was pretty good and the weather was pretty nice as well. Most of the time those two were tryhing to set me up with a cowboy that kept on coming over to the people next to us. They came home last ngiht from the rodeo saying his name and how we would work just perfectly...then he shows up! good grief Charlie Brown. lol

But, I snuck out alive and unseen and was once again, "that girl" that no on really knows haha. When I finally got backed out of my parking spot and off the grounds I stopped by and dropped off my rented DVD and off I went down the road to home.

Another busy, but fun day!

FRUITloops

Yes, Yes, I know I'm behind. No offense to you but I would rather get sleep when neccesarry than spend and hour writing in this thing. Yes, it's nice to read later and apparently the ridiculous happenings of my life are funny most times- but often times it sucks to write when you're tired. The last two nights I was just really tired and didn't think I could keep my eyes open long enough to do this- haha! So back to Saturday.

I got up early and tried to make it down to do chores a tid bit early, but by the time I got there Merle had already started. I had to stop at the house and deliver the famous beach cake and price sheet to Adrienne. Then, today was the day to round up steer in the timber reserve pasture. I helped finished chores with Ross and then grabbed a horse. Merle happened to be catching them while I was finishing chores and asked me which one I wanted...I said whatever he coudl catch! (I wasn't all that awake and didn't care at that particular moment.) Well, he caught Tanner, and in the end I'm quite glad of that:)

We had some extra help lined up to round up a lot of steers in a big pasture. Makayla (a girl about my age) came and rode Nelly, and Delbert came with his horse. We met Mike and Laura and there kids at the pasture. Once, we all got saddle up and ready to go we loaded up the ponies and took off for the pasture. On the way down Hisle road we had to stop and back up to kill a rattle snake. Sometimes I get such a kick out of what a person will stop doing to kill a rattlesnake. I'm not saying it's not worth it, just saying that sometimes it's hillarious.

So anyway, we made our way to the pasture and Dustin and Brady came in right behind us with their trailer. Mike and Laura rode over in the little Ranger thing they have. It's like a fourwheeler on steroids with a bed. So, he puts cake (a type of tasty cattle feed- kinda like candy) in the bed and then strings it out in front of them and it will basically lead the herd around. After we all met up we split off in our own directions. Merle went home and came back with a four wheeler as the rest of us got started. I started down on teh creek. I think I actaully rode the same spot last year so it was pretty familiar territory.

It seemed that all the steers (or most of them anyway) we down on the north end (Where we started). That's always kinda annoying because then you have to push them all the way to the south the whole ride through. I came in contact iwth several different groups that I pushe dup the draw ahead of me. Then, I met up with Mike on the Ranger a few times and devised a plan for steers we were chsing. At one point I sent a bunch with Ross and then found them an hour os so later...they had gotten away from him but have no fear...they did the same thing to me. As I looked over the hill at one point when I came up out of the creek I could see proably 100 head with Mike and Delbert. The next time I looked...they were gone. Delbert and I met down at teh creek and he told me that they went all the way back to the north fenceline...so off we went. We found them all way back where we started and took them up another draw. As we went we just kept on picking up more steers. It worked out pretty good minus teh jungle we had to climb through. We got off several times just to get through the trees and brush. With all the storms this past year and the growth the trees have gotten ridiculous.

We managed to get them there without too much trouble, just a lot of zigging and zaggin through the trees. At one point, something caught my eye behind me and it was steers running into the draw behind us. They were of course headed the wrong way and Delbert was up ahead so I jus tleft the 150 or so I was following and ran all Tanner was good for backwards to catch up with theses steers that showed up. Shortly after I turned them towards the others, Merle showed up on the four wheeler. He was able to get them down there but couldn't climb the steep hills to get up to the top and around with the 4 wheeler. But, we got em. Then, once we got up on top with them, I sat and babysat the group of about 200 or so while the rest of teh clan brought their steers our way.

We all eneded up meeting up pretty well and were able to head on home. The cattle drive home was not very difficult at all considering it was yearlings. We just mozied right along with no major issues. Merle went ahead with the four wheeler and cleared out cattle in our way and I just hung out at the back. I was talking to Brady for a while about his arm. He broke it at rodeo bible camp riding a bull last week or maybe it was two weeks ago... either way- its in a full arm cast now and here he is riding. He told me the trick was to take three advil before you go out! lol, gotta love it. The kid must be pretty tough cuz I'm sure it hurts.

We got em all home and put out on the creek just in time for dinner. Adrienne and I had a good laugh because when we got close to home and headed through one of those gates in the yard Merle told us they could get them from there- we could go work on dinner if we wanted. Adrienne had some funny comment about men and their food- sad but true. So, we unsaddled our horses, took the trees worth of sticks and pine needeles out from under our saddles and saddle pads out and headed in. Theresa (or mother Theresa as Adrienne calls her) was there babysitting Miss Rylee Jo and they were qutie content and helped us with the dinner.

We all ate some dang good crock pot steak and then everyone split off and went their own way. merle gave the boys and their horses a ride back to their trailer that was still up in the pasture and Mike and Laura headed home. Delbert took off for his place too, so that left me standing around trying to motivate myself to figure out what to do next. Well, Merle told me to go home and see my company and take a nap. That, I can do! So, I dinked around with a few things and then headed for the house. I knew that Mary was interested in Wounded Knee and I was interested in going back as well. So, I came home to see if she wanted to go. As I came in, she was sitting at the table cleaning her gun. lol...gotta love that.

I showered quick and she put the gun back together and off we went to Wounded Knee. We stopped in town first and decided to rent a movie. I have only been to the movie rental place in town once- it's really sketchy and it's in the laundrymat. So, there we are, looking through these movies that have no rhyme or reason to the way they are set on the shelves. I kinda wanted to see Thunderheart, but when I asked the lady she was like..."if it's on the shelf we have it, if not, we don't. I think that's one that has been stolen a few times so I'm pretty sure we don't have it." O good grief, so we just grabbed a movie, The Kite Runner, becasue I knew it was a good book and then took off. I think it cost me an entire dollar and thrity three cents...o big spender. We got back in the car and headed for the Wounded Knee site. Mary got some cool pictures along the way and we didn't have any trouble finding it. When we got there I kinda made some comment about the fact that there will probably be people from teh housing close by just hanging around. Sure enough, there were a bunch of younger people there sitting on the step. First, this girl tried to sell us jewelry, we politely declined. We took a look around and checked out some of the older sites that had stories behind them. It's not only a sad place in general, but the fact that the grass is overgrown and there isn't much upkeep at all to the cemetary in general is pretty sad as well. But, I guess that's jsut how it is. As we were wandering around this same girl from eariler starts following us around. This time, she catches us and asks for a donation for school clothes. I told her I didn't carry cash (not a lie) and Mary didn't have any either (also true). She kinda put on her sad face and I was kinda waiting for her to tel us who to make a check out to when Mary goes..."Well, our tax dollars." ...and turns around. Now, I don't know how everone feels about this, but in this case it was sooo perfect. It was obvious that money would never make it towards any school clothes yet I'm still paying taxes so this girl can buy her cigaretts and sit around at a cemetary begging for money. Frustrating. Anyhow, after taking a look and finding out that the visitor center is closed to fix a hole in the roof (I thought it was the same story as the last time I was there a year ago but whatever) we headed out. We stopped really illegally a few times to take some pictures on the way home that should sturn out pertty good. Once we got back to town we headed straight for the fairgrounds for some free food! I had some excellent beef and pork and baked beans for free just like the rest of the town. Mary and I were giggling because I'm already the odd one out and here I am bringing in people that no one knows. lol- I bet they were wondering what the heck was going on. But, it was really a lot of fun to sit and listen to the local talent, and be entertained by people and thier kids.

After teh food I kinda was thinking about going to thr rodeo but I didn't know if Merle and AD were there and I wasn't sure that I wanted to miss what was about to happen at home. Ok, so the firemen feed watermelon at the end of the food line and there are always left overs. Thsi year there were twelve and I saw Chriss selling them to people and we both had this genius plan. How much fun would it be to shoot at the watermelon!!!! So, we don't have two bucks- so I stole one for half price and gave him a buck after some bartering and off we went with a watermelon that was doomed from teh start!

The ride home was ridiculous because we were all excited about shooting the watermelon the whole time. I opted to skip the rodeo for the night because we had other plans and I wasn't sure I would ahve anyone to sit with or a ride. So, home we went. We grabbed our guns and headed out back. I videoed the whole occasion so if I can ever figure out how to do that on the blog I will cuz it's hillarious.

Mary practiced shooting so much when she was here that she only had 8 rounds left after like 250 she started with! haha...watch out world. So we set the watermelon on end with the tomato on top. She shot them at close range and o my gosh it was funny. The first shot put a hole in the melon and made it basically bleed. Then, she tried shooting the dead tomato setting on top and nailed it. Then, she shot the melon again and it exploded into pieces! It might sound lame but it was sooo hillarious. She said it was something she always wanted to do but never really had a place to do it- now she does! lol I got out the .22 later and shot at some pieces of the watermelon at long range and had a good time with that too. But, all good and funny things must come to an end so we wrapped up the fruit shooting and headed in. Probably the best alternative to teh rodeo ever= haha.

When we got in we popped in our movie, the Kite Runner. It was really good, and I highly suggest it. You will have to read a lot though, beware of that. After the movie I was sooo tired that I jsut went to bed. I found out later that Merle and Adrienne were at teh rodeo but i didn't feel that bad for not going because we got to shoot watermelon in teh back yard! We highly considered buying two but decied one was enough to keep us entertained, and it sure was!

Anyway, it was a super day and was pretty hillarious along the way.

Pancakes, Logs, and Lemon Cakes!

This week has been eventful and today didn't change that at all.

I got up at about 4:25 and drug my butt to town. We set up chairs and such and got things all set out and ready to go for the pancake feed to start at six. Once again, I was nominated the batter mixer woman. Hahaha...it's quite the job. We use a cordless drill with a paint mixer bit on the end of it and mix up the batter in five gallon pails. I think I went though about 12 or so bags of pancake mix which would be about 48 gallons of pancakes. Ya know...just a few. I got batter all over once again, but managed to keep it wiped up most of the time. Since I know most everyone on the fire department now, it was like one bs fest all morning. They would pick on me and I would shove it right back. Merle stayed home and did chores and started cutting some wood this morning so I had to fend for myself. I almost (came really really close) got one guy to drink a cup of syrup- but he wouldn't man up and do it! That was just one of many things that we had going on back there. Chris (the chief) brought one of his sons and we made him the pancake runner from the kitchen to the roaster. It was hillarious, we named him Cookie and Dave (The pancake griller) would yell "Cookie order up!" and he would show up with oven mitts on that could fit over his head. Super funny and cute. So anyway, by the end I was super tired and I stayed and washed dishes and cleaned up until about ten. By that time they were making the beans for the BBQ tomorrow. That's quite the project- 6 roasters full of beans, molasses, brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, and liquid smoke...pretty much amazing. I told them I had to go and help the same cause...just in another way.

So, I took off from there and stopped by Jay's to pick up some loader pins and rake springs and then went home. When I got here Merle had already cut down a dead tree and was just starting to cut it up. I ran inside adn changed clothes and out I went. We were cutting up the wood and loading it on the chain mover for the BBQ pitt. The meat sits there overnight and simmers- yum. Hence, why I said I was goign home to help the same cause. We got the tree loaded up and looked at the mover and it seriously looked like we had done hardly anything. It was a huge tree but didn't supply us with much so we decided to go down to the post pile and load up old posts. Uusally he would cut down more little trees but we only had a couple hours before they needed the wood in town so we just used the posts- they should burn just fine.

We got half the posts loaded and went in for dinner. I ran home and talked to Mary and ate some leftovers- then headed back out. After loading the rest of the pile so that the chain mover was full enough we strapped the load down and moved back to where the original tree was. I grabbed a tractor and moved the big tree trunk onto the mover and added a couple other logs that we couldn't lift alone. Then, Merle took off. I shoved what was left of our project into the creek and then was ordered to go home and take a nap- so I did. And it was good. Mary went out back and practiced with her pistol on some bales. She said it was a blast- funny thing is I don't think I ever woke up to anything so I must have slept liek a rock. After I did get up though I went down and did chores. It was about my turn- I got out of the last three times worth!

After chores Merle called and let me know that I missed a fire call! boo! I told him that he stunk and of course he just rubbed it in more and said he knew I would say that. It was just a shed on fire in town adn they got it out right away- I must have turned the pager down and then slept through it going off- that's always good....:s

So, after chores I came home and tried to put some Malathion on my flowers becuase enough grasshoppers are back that they are starting to eat them again. It's really funny because they always eat the light colored purple ones but not the dark colored purple ones. Random. So, then I ran in and showered and headed off to town. Mary opted to stay and I don't blame her.

So, I'm headed to town to check out the cake auction and the exhibits at teh fair. Merle calls me on the way there and asks if I will bid on this one kid's cake. I said ok, no problem, I'll call you when he's up. Well, that was interesting. I think there were like 55 cakes total and they ranged in price from 75 dollars to 625 dollars! I had to wait quite a while for this little guys cake but when he came up he was so darn cute that the cake went for like 325 or something crazy liek that! I bid on a couple more for him and finally got one for 175. It's a lemon beach cake and it's super cute. Afterward, I got in the wrong line twice and made the check out wrong but I finally go the darn thing payed for and then had to have a ltitle girl help me find the cake because I didn't even get to look at it while it was selling. I could hardly hear Merle on the phone and the auctioneer was hard to understand through teh microphone. But, we finally found it so I grabbed it and stopped by the fire hall to get some chairs for dinner tomorrow and then headed home.

When I got home I opened the door and looked at the cute turtle on the cake to find that he was totally dismantled! I did some reconstructive surgery and he now once again looks like a turtle and is just a tish worse for the wear! I bet he still tastes good though:)

But, now I'm home and I'm tired and going to bed. Tomorrow is the big steer round up- will be very challenging I think but hopefully we find a bunch of em.

Good night!