Karbon Kounty Moos

First of all, I’d like to give a great big hand to our truck drivers - who are also our friends and neighbors - Aaron, Jack and Lynn. You guys are the best! Thanks again and again and again… We got through another year without any injuries or fistfights.

With our equipment down, the beet piler down, and the heat closing the dump - it did give us some time to get our cattle in from the hills.

Last Saturday was a classic. The Sugar Beet Baron was riding my horse and I was jockeying the pickup and trailer, plus moving cattle on foot. Then hoofing it back to move the pickup again. At one point he had some pairs heading north on the west side of the creek. Now, Silvertip Creek isn’t a pleasant, babbling brook or a green rocky creek. It’s a boggy, stinking thing with few places to cross. The road is on the east side, but not close to the creek. Suddenly, I heard a bull bellowing. I called him and tried to convince him to head toward the cattle on the opposite side. No go, he was thirsty and headed down to drink. The light bulb went on. I drove the pickup through the gate, turned around and pulled through. I started unwiring the Powder River panels to take them down off the side of the trailer, but uh-oh here he comes. Hmm… I yanked the barbed wire gate up to the side of the trailer and wired it there.
Like that would really hold the bull.
I got behind him and asked nicely.
“I don’t think so, lady.”
“Oh come on.”
I found a few leaves of hay in the bed of the pickup and tossed them on the floor of the trailer
“No way.”
It took three tries and he only buffaloed me once.
“Gotcha!”
My husband crossed the creek in one of the good spots a few miles north - I walked down to meet him. He asked if I had seen the bull.
“Uh, yeah - he’s in the trailer.”
“Don’t worry about the panels, I’ll go back for them later.”
“Uh, I didn’t use them.”
“How the heck did you load him?”
“I wired the gate to the trailer, and asked nice.”
He gave me that look and said,
“Okay - it’s getting late you need to go get that pump.”

I unloaded the bull at home and now I’m driving to Billings to pick up a pump being delivered by an unknown girl from Great Falls. The rendevous place - the Olive Garden - between 5:30 & 6:00. You can’t make stuff like this up. I went in and explained this to the hostess, who looked like she could care less. Half of Yellowstone County and parts of the neighboring counties in MT & WY decided that this was the place to have supper. The lobby was packed, so I went outside - where there were maybe 80 more people waiting. After a few minutes, I went back inside, explained my quest again - and asked for a piece of paper. I made myself a sign:

Pump for Beet Digger - Please.
Thank You!

This caused more than a few chuckles and some conversation, but I never was approached by the mystery woman from Great Falls. Then I spotted a girl carrying a large cardboard box. “Is that my pump?” Seems that she had been inside eating. She had left the restaurant and never noticed me. Maybe I should have taped the sign to my head. Not only that, she had discussed the pump with the hostess both on the way in and out and was about to leave it in the lobby for me. The same hostess that I had spoken to three times. Aaargh. No matter, I got the pump. Drove home, avoiding the deer, accidents and the highway patrol.

The pump needed some adjustments, so I was back on the road to Miller’s Sunday morning. I had an incredible drive as the sun came up - I never saw a soul through the hills. I did find a pair, and sent them north. Miles of gravel until Frannie, Wyoming and then south on the highway for Lovell. A million thanks to Bill & Linda & the crew. We couldn’t have done it without you. There’s only an AM radio in the pickup and I tried to find any station that wasn’t playing something religious. I gave up and turned it off, enjoying the spiritual trip through the hills. On the way back I did listen to Lonnie Bell’s classic country. Which is not my favorite - but it fit. When I got back to the final cattle guard, my pair was waiting for me. So I opened the gate. Drove the adjusted pump to the field, went home to prepare lunchboxes, doctor the horse. I did get a couple of new halters from Double Diamond - they seem to be the best we’ve tried, making this job a bit easier. Next on to uncovering tomatoes, etc… Finally it was time to get back in the tractor.
And then I ended up looking at this little orange and white guy. My ice pack in the lunchbox was from Junior’s. My pastrami sandwich was good, but it wasn’t Katz’s. Sigh… now I’m hungry again.

It would be interesting to find a current photo of the same view.

I just happened upon this site - wow!

That link will take you to the Earth From Above Photos which you can search for by country.

Once there, be sure to go back to the menu.

An incredible place to explore - here’s a sampling:

Of course I found equine and bovine photos, too!

Bear Spirit Calls To You ~

*Wisdom

Animal Spirit Guides ~ Which One Calls To You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Hallelujah! We finished yesterday afternoon.
Now we can get back to normal.
Other than equipment breakdowns, things went smoothly.
We will now return to your irregularly scheduled blogcasting.

I’ve been playing parts runner, chasing cattle, running tractor and eating a lot of dust. I haven’t had time to sit and blog - and I miss it!
Soon, I hope… now I need to say “Goodnight.”

A Dude Larsen cartoon postcard

As of yesterday afternoon we’ve two trucks in the shop at Belfry. After we changed the tire - the brakes decided to act up. One truck for the field - not a promising situation. I headed out to the hills to see how far the cattle have drifted. Some are close to home, others haven’t moved very far. A few frantic mamas were running back out. They got so excited about moving, that they forgot their calves.

I came back to find that the digger is down. My husband is headed to Lovell. I have to take some time for this poor, neglected house.

Same as the other days… still working with two trucks. Then one went down with a flat, fortunately an outside dual. I won the Golden Knucklehead Award when I dropped the three point hitch on the PTO. Which is as bad as it sounds, maybe worse… I enjoy this field though, with its North/South rows. I noticed a couple of our cows coming home, so during a lull - we went up and brought them down into a pasture. I finally saw some of the ravens catching moles and mice. They dive bomb the rows and grab them up. I’ve never been able to catch this on film. They shut us off due to heat again. So I went out to the hills to bring some cows in. I got in after dark again. The girls are drifting towards home.

This Dude Larsen postcard has a poem on the back:

THAT NEW RANGE AHEAD

Life is fastly fading,
And as I near that Great Divide
I can see my dear old sweetheart
A riding by my side.
She is lovely, sweet and charming,
And as we ride along
She tells to me a story
And sings to me a song.
She tells me of that new range
Away up in the sky,
Where a stranger is always welcome,
Where you never say goodbye.
The song she sang was alluring,
And it came right from her heart;
“Twas, we shall live and love forever,
We never again shall part.

Why on earth did these people decide that raising sugar beets was a good idea?

Once the conveyor belt was installed, the topsaver was brought back to the field. Day Three’s digging started at about noon. We were going at a good pace. Then one of the trucks went down for the count. So we finished with two trucks. While I was cleaning the defoliator I noticed that it had a few parts that were shot and a few that were missing. So we cannibalized an older one - in the dark with every flashlight we own dying on us. We have to do everything the hard way.

Day Four started with the two trucks. We haven’t heard the prognosis on the other one yet. We were going along okay. Then they closed the beet dump due to the temperature. Heat, that is. We did finish the field and move all the equipment to the next one. I was able to come home and try to do some of things that I should be doing here. I did manage to get a couple done. But never enough.

Genealogy Link for the Day:

National Archives of Ireland