Karbon Kounty Moos

Calving is about half through. I’m afraid that the second half will not have the pace of the first. It hasn’t been without problems, but we’re getting it done. Fortunately, the cows do most of the work. We need to keep everyone fed, watered, dry and healthy.

Yesterday morning, I took a quick drive to the post office in Belfry. I was dressed halfway decent - which means clean. Jeans, long sleeve tee shirt, zip sweatshirt, and boots. Did I mention it was over 60 degrees? Eat your heart out East Coast!

There were two trucks being loaded with hay when I got back to the place, so I went through the cows. I was thrilled to see that the heifer who has looked like she was ready to calve for over a week finally had her calf. Until I saw that she was beating the daylights out of it. Not good. I went to the lot and told my husband. He was loading out the semis, so he’d be a while.

I went back to the corral, kicked the knuckleheaded heifer out, brought her to the barn and locked her in the maternity pen. I went back for the calf. It was a nice tall heifer calf, but since mama wasn’t taking care of business - she was soaking wet. I rolled up my sleeves, got her up and tried to get her to move. She wasn’t convinced. I got behind her, and pushed all the way to the barn.

When I returned to the lot, one of the truckers asked me if I’d been riding. My pants were filthy from the crotch to the knees. I had washed my hands off as best as I could in the ice cold self waterer, but my arms were grimy and yellow. Once the trucks were loaded, we went back to put the calf on the reluctant mama. At least the calf was smart and knew what to do. Which is a lot more than I can say for the mother. So they’re penned separately.

When we got back to the house, all of my clothes went in the washer. We usually wear coveralls to protect our clothes. I’m not fond of them, since I’m low to the ground and I don’t appreciate any more bulk. I prefer to wear nylon pants over my jeans. They’re light, easy to wash, keep me clean unless I’m into something really wet and messy, plus - I have better mobility. Getting dressed and undressed around here is a great time consumer.

The rest of the day was routine - feeding, bedding down, and working with the problem mamas. We got in late, just before 7 PM, and I got supper started. I had just parked myself in my recliner with a glass of wine. My husband was in his recliner, talking to a friend in Wyoming. A second later, Ty slammed into the table next to me. The glass of wine (I think I may have had a sip) flew up and down, right into me and the recliner. I ran to get a towel - a burgundy one - to mop up the chair. Then I grabbed a robe, and went to the basement to throw everything in the washer. Only my socks were dry.

Ty did the same thing a few nights ago. Except that time, the glass ended up on the floor. Right on the lovely brown shag rug that’s been in the house since the groovy sixties. Which isn’t quite as hideous as the Peter Max inspired carpet in the kitchen.

That is getting expensive…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2005 at 10:02 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.