Happy Mooooooonday!

Remember these cute little guys? And the green grass, blue water and sunshine... 

Well, they aren't so little anymore!  And the grass is no longer green and the blue water is frozen.  They are also a little dirtier thanks the crazy winter we have been having.  One day the ground has snow or ice and the next it melts and makes a big mess.  And cows love the muddy mess!

Thanks for stopping by!

Branding Season Started

Couldn't get in the fields this weekend, so they decided it was a great time to brand and run the calves through. 

Be afraid!  Hubby with a needle

All the new little babies got their shots and brands.  A few got tags and some got banded. 

I don't think this little guy like it much!

If you don't know what banding is, I will try to put it politely.  The bully calves that won't be kept for breeding purposes get their man-hood taken.  This can be done by cutting or banding.  My parents cut, my in-laws band.  It's a matter of preferences in most cases.  When they are banded, a tight, little elastic band is secured around their, ahh-hems.  Not sure which I prefer, either ones gotta be painful.  Poor little guys!

Anyway, life goes on and the guys proceeded at their tasks.  At the in-laws, this is usually an event filled with plenty of our friends and beverages and food and some wives there for moral support.

Part of the branding crew

And yes, at both farms, we use the shuttles and cradles.  Lazy? Easier?  I don't know.  But neither of us have horses and enough people (or calves) to waste the energy on roping the little guys and wrestling with them.

Good snag brother!

To start the process, all the calves are sorted from their mama's and pushed into the corals.  Two or three guys are in charge of pushing a group of the calves to the holding pen so they can be pushed through the shuttles easier. 

These guys are waiting their turn

Brother M and another friend pushed the calves through the "alleyway" into the shuttle

After the calves are all worked, they are moved back to the pasture with their mama's.  This is always a fun time and because I was part of the fiasco, I didn't get any pictures.  This may be were MORE beverages were consumed.  People on 4-wheelers or driving the Ranger or in the tractor with a bale of hay to get them movin' and beverages.  Yes, I know, we are all about safety around here!

After all the fun is done, the food that the woman prepared (myself included!) is set out for the hungry, tired, dirty, stinky guys to eat.  Which then turns into a night of cards and more beverages.  I may have joined in more on this activity!

And no, those cans are NOT all mine.  I just happened to be sitting by the can pile.

Over all, a productive day!  A little drizzle and sleet and no sun. 
I was in charge of keeping these 4 little guys that decided to sneak through the one fence that is a little larger then others.  I lost the same one 3 times! The first time, secretly, I wanted to see if it would really go through.  The second and third time, he was faster then me!

Enjoy the planting season and the thought of a nice Spring!

Rancher in the Making! Not by choice, though

So hubby and I are currently the proud parents of 7 little black and white bullies, who have all oddly stolen my heart!  How can they not, they have the cutest faces and the funniest "expressions." 

Last night, since hubby was so sweet to stop and pick up steaks and fill the propane tank to grill up supper for my friend and I, I thought I would go out and feed the babies myself. 

We have been trying to get little Eddie off the bottle and on the pail like the rest of his brothers.  No one was having success with Eddie.  So I thought, since I'm on my own, I will try, just TRY to get this little, timid guy to drink out of the pail.
So, like usual, I got the pail ready and set it in the pen.  I let him suck on my fingers (I like when they do that) and tried to bring his head to the pail. 
            No luck...
        So I brought the pail to his nose, but he wouldn't put it in.  He just kept pullin' his head away, like usual.

I wasn't giving up this time and I wasn't going to get frustrated, either.  One more attempt, and Holy Smokes, he stuck his nose full force into the pail of milk!  I set the pail down and pulled my finger out of his mouth slowly and stepped away. 
At this time, my father-in-law was in the barn helpin' me give them feed, and I said, "See, easy as that!" 
I think he was a little shocked, because we have all tried this method for the last week and I, little old, somewhat farm girl, Dani, did it!

PROOF!

           Yup....
                   I got Eddie to eat like the big kids!
                         Maybe now they will all stop pickin' on him!  Poor guy, he's easily spooked and timid still.


On another note: 
Hubby grilled up some great tasting steaks and awesome cheesy, seasoned potatoes for my bestest friend in the whole world! It was great to see Jay and have some much needed girl talk.  Life seems to stop when I get to hang out with her.  Never a dull or crabby-ass moment with her.

Can't seem to find a picture of us sober.  Is that bad?

It's funny, I think the closer you live to someone, the less you see them.  When Jay lived 10 miles away, I saw her MAYBE once a month.  Now she lives about 75 miles from me, and I definitely NEVER see her.  Haven't even seen her place and it's been about a year since she moved there.  HORRIBLE friend!

             But it was GREAT to see her and catch up.  It's kinda tough to call and talk when she lives the life of a full time nurse with a rotating shift!

Enjoy the weekend and hopefully the sun will come out so I can plant my flowers.  And possibly a day of working cattle at the in-laws! Might be an exciting weekend (with a headache ending!).

Meet Spaz

Meet Spaz.  When you are feeding him and pull the bottle out of his mouth, he starts "wagging" his tail and "spazing" out.  I enjoy watching it, so it may have taken longer to feed him last night!  Then, when I was feeding Charlie, he tried to get between the pen and the wall to eat Charlie's bottle.  Crazy calf! 

I wish I knew if this was Marvin or Cliff though. 

Oh well, for now I will call him Spaz.

I'm beginning to think that because of inflation, color costs too much and that's why my world is still white!!  Need sunshine and flowers and wheat fields and blue skies ASAP! 

My new shoes are getting made for not taking them on walks.  Sorry, I'm not dedicated enough to walk in this weather.

(Try to) Enjoy the rest of the week.  Easter will be here soon and hopefully the white goes away with it!

New Baby {calves}

Had to make him suck my hand so he would sit still for the camera

This is Charlie.  I've only fed him once, but I also nicknamed him Slowey.  Hubby fed the other two babies in less time then it took for Charlie to eat.  Slow!  And he tried to headbutt me.  I lived, he lived.  But tonight, if he tries it again, I'm gonna have to show him who's boss!  J thinks I need to stand over top of Charlie with his head between my legs so he knows I'm in charge...but I'm only 5'1, explain to me how that's going to work!

I will post pictures of the other babies soon.  They are all named...I only got to name Charlie.  J named the first one Norman (who I wrote about a few days ago).  The other two are Cliff and Marvin.  Now that we used two random names, hubby thinks we need 2 more calves to finish out our "Cheers" crew, Sam and Woody. 

On top of these 3 special additions, we had snow again over the weekend.  Expecting another 2-8 inches tonight.  Yes, that's a large spread, but one site says 2-5" and another meteorologist says 6-8".  Who knows, we may not get anything, which would be fine with me. 

Enjoy the green grass in your worlds, because mine is white right now.