This is my soapbox....be prepared for me to be stepping on it frequently

I haven't been posting much about my opinions lately.

This is my SoapBox

I will be stepping up onto my soapbox HERE on my blog.  In more ways than one.

As usual, I try to think before I speak, but it IS my blog & I will say what I want.  I do have several posts in draft for me to tone down. : )

Hang on to your saddlehorn, we're going for a run.

GreenRanchingMom

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)

Nothing to report

Well, our life is boring....
Feed Cows
Check Cows and Heifers
Feed Calves
ooo a different thing - Gather Eggs
Check cows (listen to them screaming at you the entire time to "FEEEEDDD MEEEE")
call the house yelling "we got feet" (meaning that a set of calf's feet are sticking out of a heifer's hooey)
Then you repeat the above list
"Yeah, another calf ! It's a HEIFER!" (this is our first 26T2 out of a registered Angus cow, so it'll be a very exciting halfbood)
Then you keep repeating the above list over, and over, and over. Remembering the midnight heifer checks, just incase. And even if we don't PLAN on a Midnight heifer check. My body doesn't remember this, and wakes me up anyway. And Squeak is liking to wake up at 2:30 or 3. Just as I'm getting back to sleep really good.

On another front, I think I'm finally ready to take the homeschooling/unschooling plunge! I really have to meet up with the Iowa group this Thursday on "park" day. J doesn't have school, so she'll get to tag along and maybe meet some friends. They didn't have shool on Friday, and so we "did school" on Friday.

You will really be amazed by the things that my girls want to learn (and did) about.
Context - how and where you say something matters, and what you were saying before makes a difference too.
Spine, and types of muscular and skeletal structures. Cartilage structures too.
I was totally suprised by what they wanted to learn about, and happy that I could discuss these things in detail. We even used a puppy demonstrator or two, to show the different structures, and how they are the same or different for different species.
We learned and discussed all the different species on our farm too. I have two that we didn't research to find. Chickens and they wanted to know Goats. Ladies help! What is their proper species name? (like bovine, canine, equine)

Now, I just have to find out who I need to contact, so that we are "allowed" to homeschool/unschool. But, I think I can do this!!

The Wreck and a 7-UPdate

Well, some of y'all were wishing for a 7-UPdate so here is a total horsey update.

The last couple of weekends have been BEAUTIFUL! Two weekends ago, we were going to pour some concrete pads for atutomatic water-ers (seems redundandt spelling, oh well).

So, since it was about 50 or 60 degrees, Squeak was napping in the truck, and we saddled up some horses for the girls. J rode Kenneth, my first pony, who is 14.1 and 25 years old. We saddled up Ozzie for A, and asked them to keep it at a walk, since it was mud on top of frozen ground, and still slick. Honey and I got started, and I needed to tote 80lb bags of quick crete about 40 feet to the first waterer.

Well, we had a horse and a calf sled, sooo. I decided that it was time for the girls to start to learn to use a rope and drag things. Started out with A, and Ozzie (did I mention the warm SPRING weather, and how well the horses were feeling, and Oz is only 5, and was started as a 3yo?). Just used an old lead rope for the girls to drag with, so they wouldn't have much tail, and no rope burns. I dallied up for her on Oz, and started leading her. The sled is RED and PLASTIC, and apparently a little scary. He twitched his ears, and turned a little, but he got into it and just drug it away. I had loaded about 400 lbs on the sled. I was trying to teach A to just let go of her dally, when she got in a tough spot and Oz would jump or turn hard. She got the hang of it and was having fun. J (5 year old) got to drag the empty sled back to the pile. Kenneth wouldn't spook for anything. And I seem to remember pulling my sister on a sled at a full run when we were kids off of Kenneth (SOOO FUN!!!)

I also had the kids practicing (sp) steak race. In other words, I passed them the trash from the bags, and had them put it in the trash can. (What, kids aren't my personal slaves??? The gotta learn these things somehow, and I gotta keep em busy!) We kept up with 3 or 4 rounds of dragging and (daddy was really nervous about a fresh horse that we hadn't warmed up) finished that waterer.

We decided to finish the other waterer, and loaded the truck with all of the supplies, since this one was over some icy ground. The kids were out in the pasture close to us now, and since the ground was good we let them trot around while we were working.

Then, they decided they felt good. The kids were both turning to come back to us side by side, and Oz wanted to stretch. He crowhopped 3 times, and A lost it. She held on for the first two and just couldn't keep her seat during the crowhops at a lope. My baby got bucked off. (well she fell off, but we're not telling her)

J was crying, A was crying, Ozzie was confused and sad (cause he was upset A was hurt), Daddy and I were relatively calm. Dusted her off, and she seemed ok. She decided to get back on, and walk around. YEAH!! I went in the barn to get another bag. When I came back out, A told me that she was OFFICIALLY a Cowgirl! Cause she got bucked off!

WOW! That one hit me hard! My b.a.b.y. is not my baby any more. She is a big COWgirl. Oh, the fun things I have to learn as a Momma. The end of an era! We all know it is going to happen, but when your baby grows up it is still a hard thing!

Now for the 7-UPdate. Since we've been calving, our stud, Koda, has been getting moved around alot. The night before he had been locked in the barn behind 7-UP's tiny pen. Koda decided he wanted 7-UP's premium alfalfa, and unhooked the chain latch, and helped himself. Not a big deal really, except we had taken off 7-UP's wrap to let his leg air out for the night, and now he was in a BIG (only 20x18, but big for a little shetland with a broke leg) pen. Well, he was feeling good! When he realised he was going to get caught, he started running. YUP, RUNNING, on his broken leg!! YEAH!! Well, kinda, but he felt comfortable putting weight on it and even stretched it out a little with a couple of good bucks. We caught the little fart (yes it took two of us). And Honey helped me put his boot back on, and his leg felt good. Didn't feel any movement and no pain for him when I felt the break area!

WOW!!! Thank you EVERYONE who helped with advice and encouragement to at least try to heal his leg. We put his boot back on and will keep it on for another month or so.

Life and Death on the Ranch

Wednesday morning brought two suprises. One Great, one not so great. First, we had a heifer that suprised us with a 50 pound Gigolo Joe Bull Calf. Yup, just one. No twin. This calf is so tiny and CUTE!! It was pretty cold, so we made a makeshift blanket for him. We took an old pair of Honey's sweat pants, and cut the leg off. We cut a hole for the legs to come out. and the end covered up his ears pretty well, to keep them from freezing.

I have to modify this "slinky" cause it keeps dropping down over his eyes, and honey cut the cuff, so I can't just cut eye holes. See how fresh he is, with his bright red umbilical cord! She really calved him easy!

You can see, he got up right away and nursed. He should be a GREAT CALVING EASE bull! So excited to get all these new calves on the ground to market them!!

Then, the other side of life on the ranch. We had a dead spring born heifer. Honey noticed she was a little bloated the night before. I went into the pen, and couldn't pick her out of the line-up that was eating. We decided that we were going to wait and see if she would go down on her own. If she was bloated in the AM, we would tube her with some oil. Well, no need to tube her. She died. That part sucks, an 800 pound heifer, dead. Her gut was probably twisted, since she died so quick, and didn't look that bloated 8 hours before. She was fine at the midnight check too.

Ahh, the realities of life on the Ranch. Both the wonders of life, and the realities of death.

I think I'm going to take Pony Girl's lead and make a Blogging Schedule. That way, I'll try to post on a regular basis about different aspects of Life, and Life on the Ranch. If you want to learn more, or hear more funny stories, just drop me a comment. I love em!

Why God says it's not nice to scare your wife.

Here is the other small story I promised you from our cattle moving on Sunday.

Everytime we hauled a load of cows home, I was running to get the gate. Not a big deal except the gate is about 100 yards from the front of the truck when it is backed up to the corral.

Everything was going well and we were on our 2nd or 3rd trip. We'd loaded the trailer with pretty big cows and the bull this trip, so we were pretty heavy. Beau was shutting the trailer gate and I went up ahead to get the pasture gate. Apparently, Beau was faster this time, and I was getting slower.

I could hear the Dodge (diesel) behind me and I thought I was walking to the left of his path. I didn't get out of the way and didn't look behind me.

Beau came RIGHT up behind me and honked the horn!! I jumped! Well, jumped is an understatement! I jumped in the air and my hands went out and my heart was in my throat. I got out of the way and sat down to slow down my heart.

Beau had to stop the truck, because he was laughing so hard!!

I finally got up and hopped on the running board of the truck, to ride to the gate. Then it happened... He couldn't get the truck going. He was stuck!!!! I laughed and told Beau that God says it's not nice to scare your wife.

We moved the white truck in front and hooked up a tow strap. It broke. We retied it and It broke again. I laughed and told Beau that God says it's really not nice to scare your wife.

We didn't have a chain with us, so we checked on our loaded cattle and then went to the house to get a chain. We got back to the pasture and hooked up the white truck and pulled. The chain broke! I laughed and told Beau that God says it's really, really not nice to scare your wife.

We looked at the cows on our load and decided that they were mostly tame (read this as "pets") cows and we could unload them and get them back in easily. We unloaded the back two gates and off the cows went.

I then hopped in the dodge and rocked it a little and was able to back up to the corral again. And we were in luck! The tame cows had made a loop and were back in the corral eating a bucket of corn we had left in there. Hot Digity!! We loaded them back up and off we went.

But, I did remind Beau that "God says it is really, really not nice to scare your wife!!"

We were almost to the house again, and I could laugh with him and say it nice while I was laughing. Because it had to be funny, me jumping out of my skin with my arms and legs flailing in the air!

But it still isn't nice to scare your wife, even if she scares easily and is quite hillarious when she gets scared.

By the way, as I am writing this I have tears running down my face and I am laughing at myself.
But, It still isn't nice to scare your wife! Believe me, God told Beau it isn't.
: )) Shanen