Whew!

Well, we've been running at full speed around here! Our list from the last 3 days...

Farm Wife Friday, It was my turn. So this means that 2 girlfriends and their kids come to the house and clean, organize, clean, eat, paint, clean, and decorate!!! WOW!! Those girls can really work!! My living rooms are now partially decorated. Yes, I know that I've lived in this house for over a year... But, I have a fear of decorating, or hanging something wrong. So, I just don't do it. My last house was done by my Grandma, after she couldn't stand (a year of)bare walls.

I will even have pictures on my walls of MY family!! I have curtains (& they're hung!!)! And Abby brought a great desk that she CurbShopped. Crazy, 'cause its a great little antique desk. MamaP is fixing some pictures for me & putting them in a custom matted frame of our last name that I bought.

AMAZING!! (& Honey even liked the house, its more AMAZING!!!)

Then after the girls left, I got a phone call that I was late to take Freedom & Ultimate to be ultrasounded. So, we hooked & loaded & ran. It was only 7 miles away, but I detest being late. (nevermind, that Honey forgot to tell me about the appointment).

Saturday, we left the house at 8 after choring & set up a portable Corral at the pasture and drove all the cows to the corral. We sorted & hauled 3 loads of cows & 2 loads of calves home. Just Honey & I with all the munchkins in the truck. Then we did chores in the dark & had Squeak's 2nd birthday party.

Yup! Momma's sad! My little man is 2!!! No longer a baby!! As I type this he is running around the house chasing J.Cowgirl with a rope, while he is wearing nothing but a hat & diaper. TOOO CUTE! Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie, NIECE, & nephew came down & celebrated with us too. It was wonderful, even if we were sooo tired our eyelids were drooping.

Today, we rolled out of the house at 7 (after choring) and hauled 3 more loads home, then went to work feeding everything & watering. We sorted & weaned the calves & rolled out hay for 3 groups of cows. The calves are eating ok, & went to the hay right away. Winter has hit, so we have to check all the waterers & put in tank heaters in some tanks, & chores generally take twice as long.

But, I LOVE THIS LIFE!! It was a wonderfull weekend working side-by-side with my Honey and kids! Even though, we're all dog tired, it was great!!

Pasture Pictures

A week or so ago, we invited Diana to come take pictures while we moved cows. (She's designing a super fantastic website for us)

I didn't really tell her what to expect, other than, we were going to move cows.

When she was close, I asked her if she or her husband could drive a stick shift, & what type of vehicle they drove. Well, yes, her husband can drive a stick, & they brought the van. I told her we'd meet her in town & they could take the Jeep from there. Oh, but they could drive there she assured me. I apologised & explained that we would be driving through a mile of pasture before we even got to the place where we would ride to the cows.

So, her husband was excited that he would get to drive the Jeep (CJ-5 & he had one in High School). The followed us the 7 miles to the pasture & we explained (the basics) of what we were going to do & where they should drive & follow.

So Honey & I rode out about 100 acres with them following in the Jeep. We got them parked a little back from the eventual gate & we went to gather the cows. Honey went South & I went North. We grouped the cows from about a 130 acre piece. Great, we had a new calf. But Momma Cow wanted nothing to do with us putting the calf in the saddle with Honey. So she was a little slow moving with a still-wet calf. That's ok, we like to walk them if they're moving in the right direction.

Then the cows saw the Jeep! The headed straight for it. I didn't know if Diana & her husband would get nervous or upset. & Heaven forbid they honk the horn. We wouldn't get any pictures then, because they would have to go in front & lead the cows (honking) the rest of the way. But, I was able to get the cows off the Jeep and headed back towards the gate.

As usual with a group of cows once an old cow found the gate, she knew where she was going. Thank goodness, because we had added about 20 new cows, who didn't know the way.

We were able to keep the little calf going with his cow & eventually herded them to the gate. Honey hopped off his horse & tried to grab the little guy again & throw him in the saddle, but Momma-Cow wanted to eat his lunch rather than let him grab her calf. Koda jumped right in front of her without any nudging (Thank GOD for a great Cow-Horse!). So, the little guy got to wade across the creek on his own.

Below, you see the picture that I have always wanted. Us moving the cows up the hillside. The first time we moved cows up this hill, I thought it was BEAUTIFUL. And Diana captured it beautifully!

So, I hope you enjoyed our little cattle drive. I sure did! And once again THANK YOU DIANA for the beautiful pics. They will look great on our website (& on our wall)

I did it again

I have been a blogging perfectionist. SORRY!!

I had gotten so used to actually using pictures & posting 3x a week, that if I couldn't do it "perfectly" I didn't blog.

WELL, I'm done. Being a perfectionist that is.

I WILL figure out how to mobile blog.

I will blog without pictures.

AND, you'll probably get to see all of our springtime bussiness sometime during the winter.



So.....Right now everyone is STILL asleep (honey is @ his town job, bless his heart).

Yesterday, we went with 2 extra guys & moved cows from the hill top, to the center pasture. This means "over the hill and through the creek to center pasture we went" (sing it with the song people, think "grandmothers house we go")

I know, its funnier in MY head!

With the guys that we had helping and Honey we went through 2 CASES of beer. I know this might not seem like a ton for some, but our case had been in our fridge for 2 months! (we keep some for when other guys come to work cows) OH WELL, they had fun & didn't mind a girl driving the truck. (btw, I don't drink beer. I'm a whiskey girl)

Well, I'll try to post short snippets more often.

But, I do LOVE to TWEET. Click the above right hand corner and FOLLOW ME! We can tweet together.

One day this week, my tweet was the same as Pioneer Woman's. We both had Cow Poo in the wrong place!! (Mine was on the Playset, hers on the porch)

TTYL

The cows came home

Well, if you have read my first two blogs on Local Harvest you know that we have moved our Ranch this summer. Our new barn has been built for some time, and the corrals have been built for a month. Everyone around here kept asking what we were going to use that BIG barn for. We kept telling them for the calves and colts. They would look at us with a question and ask if we had any cows. You see we have not had ANY cattle on this farm except for the bulls (and they were only here for 1 month). None of our new Ringold County neighbors had ever seen us with any cattle at our homeplace. The cows have been at the rented pasture this summer.

As I told you on Friday, we moved the cows home this weekend. We did it!! All by ourselves. Beau had to work in town on Saturday, so we just got everything set up. We set up the portable corral at the pasture and fed the cows in the corral. This convinces them that this is a good place to be! ; )

Sunday morning bright and early we loaded up the kids, and the dogs and off we went. Our rented pasture is only 15 miles from the house, so it is a short trip. We arrived at the pasture, and made our plan. I would take the 4-wheeler out and around the pond to move the cows to Beau and he would "call" the cows into the corral. Well, he had more luck than I did. He locked up ~25 while I was still on the other side of the pond.

I made my sweep around the pond with the dogs close behind. The cows weren't happy about being woken up early and were slow to go to the corral. I managed to push in another 25 or so. Then it gets tricky! The last cows are ALWAYS the worst. They don't want to go in and the want to run and chase. We decided to haul a load home and bring the horse.

We are able to haul about 10 calves and 12 cows each trip. Made the trip and arrived back at the pasture with the horse. This time we switched, I was calling and Beau was pushing on Ozzie (the horse). We made a sweep and not one cow came in. We put the 4-wheeler away (I hate those things!) and tried again and cought 5 pairs. We were both severely frustrated and decided to haul some more cows home.

We made another 3 trips (I will tell you a funny story about one of theese trips later this week) and we got LUCKY! The crazy(mean, ornery and taking the rest far, far, away) cow was standing in the gateway. We were VERY sneaky and we finally got her locked up!!!! YEEE HAAA! Unfortunately it was dark and we were done for the night, but they were all locked up at the pasture and at the house.

I LOVE our new facilities @ home. We did not have to worry that the cows were going to go hunting for their calves and get out, we had easy fresh water and it was great! After a long day and another long one to go we could still sleep easy.

If you enjoy these types of stories, leave me a note and I'll keep them coming.
We did select some great beef calves that will be worked and weaned this coming weekend.

Please e-mail me to reserve your beef shares. I think we have 4 whole shares left, so please let me know and I can put your name on a calf. You can see our Local Harvest Listing at http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M24259

I will have that funny story from Sunday and the story of Monday later in the week.
Shanen : ))

Home on the Hilltop

Well, Yesterday sure was a long day!! But we moved 'em! The cows all circled the Jeep well and then followed me over one hill. Beau and Branden were on horses and helped move the stragglers along. They followed me down the hill and chased me thru the creek.

Then it happened!!! The Jeep Quit!! You see something "popped" when I put it in 4 Low (Four wheel drive, Low Gear) The creek is pretty deep and the bank out of it is very steep. I made it up part of the hill, and the cows are circling and beginning to stop and wander. UH OH!!!

So, I got out, grabbed a feed bag and took off running! I had to run, or get mobbed by a bunch of hungry cows that just want my feed! Did I mention the HILL???!!! This hill is very steep, probably a 45degree incline. I had to RUN 75 yards UP!!! But halfway up I couldn't, my lungs were on FIRE!! The cold air and this out of shape body did not get along. And remember, we are in a part of the pasture that is not grazed, so it is 2 ft deep tangled grass.

I finally made it to the top!!! Then I had to open the gate, before the cows got there...... Barbed wire gates and I do NOT get along. But my wonderful husband had just a twisted wire for me to open. YEAH!!!!

The cows were right on my tail and they went to the hilltop to talk with the other group already there. Beau and Branden went back down for one slowpoke. (We let her go slow, she is 14 and has had a great calf every year) WE did it with no problems!!

Then we did have to get the Jeep to the top of the hill and leave it there for another day!

Hope you enjoy my little RanchLife stories and yes, it is ok to laugh at this little girl enjoyin life on the Ranch.

I'll have the story of the afternoon's activities later, hopefully with some pictures.