The Second Half Of Sunday...

The front was moving in and we had to grab our jackets.

The nice thing about being sent to the house was I found a crew.

Many of our tornado and ice storm downed cedars were used for posts.

The extended crew follows the fence line, working.

Hubby in the lead, son-in-law, Luke, and daughter, Melissa all working on the main crew.  Back at the house, Maria was doing nurse homework and laundry, Zander was playing with Marcy, Bev was cleaning my house and Andrew was helping her.  On the hill, the younger crew moved faster and left me time for photos.

Stretching that last length on the bottom wire

Melissa and her dad make a good team.

Melissa and me...exhausted

Thanks to the surprise extended crew, I got to go on an adventure with Jake. To Luke, Melissa, and Andrew, thank you,until you are better paid.  This two day sprint could not have been done without all your help.  Just two more runs down that suicide hill and we will be ready to move those cattle.

A Farmer's Life

Some time, no matter how hard you try, work lasts until after dark.  You keep working and what you get done tonight will give you a head start on tomorrow.

The conditions are dry.  The cattle's pasture is thinning so we are  preparing to move them to greener pastures.  A job that began Saturday has continued into this night.  Tomorrow, if the Lord's willing and the creeks don't rise, we will be opening the gates to cattle paradise, lush, tender, delectable grazing.

Will Rogers said, Behind every successful farmer there is a wife who works in town.  We both work so we do our farm improvements when we find the opportunity.  Tonight we tried to finish but it was not meant to be.

Even with the tractor and mule lights,

we knew we would not finish this night.

You have to love farming.  It is not a easy task  Work is done, no matter the weather and animals need care every day, not just when you feel like it. The love of farming has to course through your veins or you will not succeed.

I tried to help as much as I could taking pictures but that wasn't enough.  I was the gofer...you know, go for this, go for that, hammer a few steeples, hold a wire.   I do that well although I did not find the wire cutters in the dark, that will have to wait for daylight.

So tomorrow we will continue after our paying jobs are done for the day.  Our love of farming, our sense of accomplishment, our love of the animals will over come the tiredness and we will finish.

The Cows Are Out!!!

Trees and limbs have been on fences since the ice. We have been working but there was a lot of damage.


This morning the cows were out, heading up the road. Horses usually scope things out and make a plan. Cows are not so conniving. They follow their nose and they follow the leader. The leader decided to follow her nose up the road.

Thanks to our glorious American Border Collies and surprise help from our Jack/Rat Terrier, they were rounded pretty quickly.

Maggie is a heeler.

Lil, the short-haired is a head girl.
Squiggy is a barker and chaser but he was right on their tails...no fear. One well placed kick can kill a dog. Lil got one kick but she is fine. These two ladies herded and held these cows in a bunch while my wonderful hubby fixed the fence


I am sure you are asking, where were you? I was on the back side of the camera, plus I was hubby's gofer...go fer this, go fer that.

Thank you, Maggie, Lil and Squiggy for making our job a lot easier.

Picking Spanish Needles...

while I bless them. I'm sure all of you know them. Those tall plants with the pretty flowers that the butterflies and bees just love. Also known as Black Jack, Farmer's Friend, and Hairy Beggarsticks. The scientific name Bidens pilosa does not make it any more fun to pick off your pants, shirt, socks, coat and sometimes your underwear.

Well, since I was griping, you know me, I had to do research! I actually found a site where people want seeds of this plant. I wish I had their phone number. I would give them all they can pick!

It is also used as a cooked green. Stop, listen to me, DO NOT PLANT SPANISH NEEDLES!!! They grow where ever they get a toe hold. They survive along fences very well. Walking down the fence row, I looked like a porcupine with mange! I felt like a pin cushion, a needle magnet, and a drug addict all at the same time.

You must not call this plant a wildflower and nurture it. It is a weed, rip it out by the roots! Burn it! Do not let one seed go to the ground!

We finished one section of fence, pierced as we were. Den pushed up some fallen trees(the reason for the fence damage) cut a couple off the fence. We are still cleaning up from the tornado in early spring (F4). Straightened, stretched and hammered, one side is finished.

...and you thought I was gonna gripe about snow!!

The Weekend...

is made for relaxing after a long week of work...not exactly. After hubby and I work all week serving Joe and Jill Public, we should relax. Yes, we sure did!

My grandson had a ball game. Somewhere in this pile is Andrew. We won! One more game and the season is over. Hurray!

Returned from the game to relax. Yes, correct again! Beverly, Marcy and I loaded an entire pickup truck of walnuts. We piled brush, trimmed and burned. We dug and planted.

While we were doing this my hubby cooked a wonderful Gelbvieh roast.

We are going to get the farm done, one inch at time, if it takes thirty years.

Next relaxing weekend project was extending the pasture for the cattle.

This is hubby after we worked all day on driving posts, stringing wires, and cutting brush. Then the cows were too slow-witted to find the hole we cut! We called, we shook the feed sack, we tried to show them the hole but no....There has been a solid fence there for a year and there still was a solid fence in their eyes. Den finally dragged the feed trough over and they got the hint.

They may not be smart enough to read but they finally found the grass. I forgive them because their meat is so delicious.

Next weekend we are going to relax! RIGHT!!!!