Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Bringing Cows Home

We needed to bring the cows home and we were looking at a couple of days to do so. It was beautiful weather last week and we could see that it was going to change so we needed to get them home. We knew we were going to short handed Saturday since I had Relief Society Super Saturday and Luke was still sick, Chris would not bring Lukie out in weather all day. So we had to bring them home on Tuesday. At first we were not too worried cause the weather didn't look too bad, but sometime Saturday evening they changed the forecast. The were forecasting an Artic blast and we would go from 50 degrees to mid-teens with a north wind. So in a nut shell, it was going to be horrible.
 
 Tuesday morning we woke up and it was howling outside and so cold. We bundled up the best we could and headed out. It was bitterly cold and we knew it would be colder up at the cabin. But as we were driving we said a little pray and asked that the sun would break through and warm up the earth and that we would be protected from the wind. 
 
 
When we arrived into the valley, we could see that the cloud coverage was breaking up and that there was no wind. Our prayers had been answered. We worked for an hour getting things set up and had our first bunch of cows out rather quickly, and as they were driving the trailer down the hill, John hit a rock with one of the tire and it instantly blew. All of the weight from the cows and the cold, the tire had no chance of not rupturing. So the journey begins... We always have issues.
 
So while John got the tire fixed and the cows unloaded we came back up and finished sorting out the calves from the rest of the herd. The weather was still bitterly cold but we did what we could to stay warm.
 
Chuck and Chris sorting the calves

Lukie and Aunt Meagan all bundled up. I need to get him some snow pants and boots.


Looking for the small little beasts.
 
 As Chris and Chuck got finished, we received word that John was on his way back even though the mechanic said he should replace another tire that was damaged when he hit the rock, but he figured that the calves would be lighter and he wouldn't have an issue. Well he was wrong. The tire lost its tread as Chuck was driving down. Luckily he was able to deliver the load and meet the mechanic at Hilltop to fix the other tire. 

With all of the issues, at least our view was gorgeous.
What do you do when you are waiting for the truck and trailer, you get snuggles with Grandpa and take pictures of the crew.
 




Unfortunately, depending how you look at the situation Chris had to drive down to SLC for a delivery, so we headed for home. While the Chuck, Meagan, John and Cheryl worked through the night bringing them home. Chris went to SLC and Luke and I warmed up by building a fire and enjoying the warmth of the house.
Chris made it home around 11:30 and that was about the time the cow crew made their final delivery. It was a long cold day for everyone. Started the morning at 8 am and finished at midnight. Meagan said that when they were loading the last of the cows the temps were -9. Brrrrr...

PS. According to the weather stations. Our area broke or shattered the record lows. The record was 13 in 1950 and we got down to 2. Yeah, old man winter bullied his way through.

1 comment:

Val said...

Sheesh! What an effort! Glad at least it was successful and no one got hurt! Love ya.