Much Needed Update

Life for Chris and I has been pretty busy. It seems like we get something under control and something else go skew-wampus, but I think that is how life is supposed to be lived. It provides growth, I think. Chris has been busy with the cows, and Easy Way. He had to spend some time keeping the meandering elk out of our hay, but they still managed to destroy some of the stacks and making us short on our supply. It doesn't help either, that we have had below average temperatures, delaying the greening and growing of the grass in the pastures. The past few Wednesdays he has been loading up some cows and taking them to the cow sale, to cut the cost of the hay. Did you know hay is about $200/ton. That is outrageous, and I am sure it will continue to climb with the cost of fuel going up. He sold about 24 which is a lot but we still have about 40 heifers and 20 are still expecting babies. The good thing though is, the cost of beef is up too. So the farm got a nice chunk of change, it helped buy another 33 ton of hay. Hopefully it will last until we take the herd to the mountains for summer grazing. I have been super busy with work and school. Can not wait until May 5. This will be my last final of this semester. I am burned out. I don't want to do anything. Don't want to go to work or school. I just want to sleep, and play in my yard and with my doggies. I want to be able to go outside and plant beautiful flowers and enjoy the beautiful Idaho sunsets and not have to worry about what homework or paper I have to prioritize for that night. My life is work, school, come home, do a load of laundry/housework, and homework, and sleep. But that is just barely sneaking into my routine. For the farm other running out of hay, it has been interesting. The cows seem to have had a hard time this winter. We have lost a momma cow (died in her sleep) and a few calves. We had to put one down on Wednesday and it made me sad. We tried to save its life but there was nothing we could do for him. He would have died a slow painful death, so it was good that we were able just to euthanize the poor little guy. I guess bad come with the good. Tonka (new blue heeler puppy) has adjusted well to life on the farm. He is still so small but has tripled his size. I think he was too small when we got him, even though he was old enough to be away from his momma. Baylee has taken him under her paw. I swear she thinks she is his momma. She has loved him from the moment he was brought home. Buddy loves him too, I can tell. He is so patient with him. He lets him play on him, jump on him and even bite his ears. I knew there was a reason I loved Golden Retrievers. They are so mild mannered and so so patient if it is will puppies or children.

Tonka out with me feeding the yearlings. He is so tiny,

My favorite part of feeding cows is sitting on the bales of hay and having my animals swarm me. It is so cute to see, but the dogs and the cats come out to help feed. It is a nightly ritual, except on Thursdays. I get home too late.

Baylee is so much like Buddy. She loves the mud. Only bad part is that she is so much lighter than he is and she looks super dirty. Almost time to take them in to have their spring bathes.

The other night Chris wouldn't be home until really late and the cows needed to be fed. So I went out and fed them. Here are a couple of pictures of the newest calves. This little guy looks like a Panda Bear. He is strong and so curious. He actually bolted down the pasture, under the barbwire fence and into a grove of trees on day, while we were feeding. I had to go down and chase him back in, never ever had to do that with a calf that was barely a day old. We will have to watch out for this little guy. He is full of mischief.

This little guy was born about an hour before I fed. He was still wet when I came out. He allowed me to come right up to him and pet him. I love it when they are this small. Now if we could just figure out a way to keep them like this. I might like cows again.

So that is an update on life so far. We can not wait to get spring here and start some of our house projects. We will be putting tile in our entry way. Pulling up the carpet in our family room to reveal the beautiful wood floors under. They will need to be refinished, but I can't wait. I hate the old faded carpet that is in there. I also want to redo my cabinets in both the kitchen and laundry room. We also have to fix a few fence posts in the yard. One which have been knocked down by the stupid cows. I can go on and on about what needs to be done. Just hope I can win the lottery so I can do everything I want to do. I will take pictures of before and after so I can see the progress and know that we accomplished it.