December 26
Last week I added a short pole to the little bulls’ feeder to divide the space where one of the upright bars is missing, so they can’t climb into it. I went to the dentist late that afternoon to have a broken tooth prepped for a crown and the dentist put a temporary cap on it. This is the last of four major tooth repairs in the past few months, so now I will be able to chew again!
Lynn did town errands while I was at the dentist and it was dark when we headed home. It started snowing hard; we had three inches of new snow by the time we got to our driveway. Visibility was poor and Lynn nearly ran off the road a couple of times coming up the creek.
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Last Friday was cold (-20 C), but the cows were still grazing on the hill behind Andrea’s house and eating the field grass that isn’t quite snowed under yet. Andrea took them two more protein blocks.
The next day was a little warmer, and after being plugged in all night, the tractor started, so Lynn took another big alfalfa bale to the young heifers and a big bale of straw to put along the brush for the cows to have more bedding. In this cold weather they also eat some of it, as long as they have enough protein.
That morning about 60 antelope came barging through the fence by Andrea’s house, and crashed through the hot wire at the edge of her driveway (knocking it down in a few places) and ran down through the cows. They milled around a while, then went out through the fence on the other side. It’s been a long time since we’ve had that many antelope here, and rarely in winter; we’re not sure where these came from.
Sunday was cold again and Andrea helped me pound ice out of all the horse tubs when I did chores, and broke ice in water holes at the creek for the cows. They’ve now eaten almost all the tall grass around her house and along her driveway, so the next day we started feeding them a little hay, and by Wednesday were giving them a full feed.
Thursday was -25 C and windy, which made it miserable feeding cows. That afternoon I made gifts for family members (drawing horses and cartoons on white T-shirts); we were celebrating Christmas a couple days early at Andrea’s house since Friday was the only day she’d be able to have all her kids home.
That day the cold water faucet in our bathroom sink froze. We always let it drip during cold nights because the outside wall in the bathroom isn’t insulated and those pipes freeze if the water isn’t running. At least that drain won’t freeze, so we can let those faucets drip. But we didn’t let it drip during the day and the cold water was frozen by late afternoon.
We had a nice dinner at Andrea’s house and it was fun to see everyone. Sam and her boyfriend were here from Twin Falls. Christopher took the gifts around to everyone to be opened. Someone would read the tag for him and he’d take it to the right person.
Saturday Andrea went to town to mail a bunch of belated Christmas letters for me, and went to visit Cope and Terrie and gave them a card and letter from us.
Christmas day was warmer (almost up 0 C by afternoon) and our bathroom sink cold water finally thawed out. Dani and Roger stopped by to have us guess whether their baby will be a boy or a girl. It’s a girl! The baby is due at the end of our calving season, about April 26.
January 5
We had a couple days of warm weather — the warmest all winter — and the snow settled, especially after a little rain last Tuesday. The snow was soft and slushy and it was difficult to get up and down Andrea’s driveway. Roger and Dani went somewhere in his little car and were driving back home with a friend that evening, and the car spun out several times. The first time, when Roger tried to back down to get another run at it, the car went off the driveway, down a bank and into the lower swamp field, and he had to roar it through the frozen humpy bumps to get back to the driveway. After several tries, he finally got the little car up to Andrea’s house.
That day we lost our dear friend and veterinarian, Dr. Cope. He had done fairly well up until then — even going out to several ranches to preg check cows (reading the ultrasound screen from his wheelchair) during the two weeks before Christmas. But that Wednesday morning he had no feeling in his arms; they were immobile and he was having trouble communicating. Friends and a nurse came to help Terrie, and he was given medication to keep him comfortable.
They tried to make his last hours pleasant, and he was conscious enough to hear what they were saying. He smiled a few times, then peacefully slipped away. That man will be greatly missed — by hundreds of friends and thousands of acquaintances around the country — and especially the ranchers he served for 44 years as their veterinarian.
I started interviewing a few people who knew him well, to write a final tribute to this great man. My brother Rockwell did the New Year’s Eve program on the radio — something Cope had done for 36 years. For this year, to honour Cope, Rocky interspersed tidbits about Cope — his life and various interesting things about him — with the six hours of music requests.
Today I finished the tribute to Cope that will be published in the Farm & Ranch section of our regional paper.
January 14
Last Friday Andrea drove her truck to Idaho Falls (roads were too bad to take her car) and took Dani and Roger to an appointment. Dani needed to get signed up for Medicaid assistance for her and the coming baby. Roger doesn’t have a job and they don’t have a home since the house they were renting in town burned. Until they can find something, they are living at Andrea’s house and Dani is working part-time in the kitchen at Discovery Care Center.
These past few days have been uneventful — just feeding cows every day, loading hay, giving the little bulls more bedding, and regular chores — but we had four inches of new snow on Wednesday. With the warmer weather I did two loads of washing; the drain (in the back room) won’t freeze up at these temperatures. My old washing machine still works, except it no longer fills automatically. I put buckets of hot water into it from the nearby sink, and use a hose for the cold water, from the indoor faucet next to the old wood stove. It still beats doing the wash by hand. Maybe in the spring I’ll be able to afford a new washer. First I had to pay for getting my teeth fixed! I’m not sure which will wear out first — our old bodies or our old machinery.
January 23
Last Sunday Andrea took Christopher to visit Bob and Jane and he had fun sitting on Bob’s lap and riding around with him in his wheelchair.
Monday I drew lines on the aerial photo maps that Michael left here for us, for places we need new fences and some old ones rebuilt, so he can estimate whether he needs to get more materials for our projects.
Wednesday morning he brought his skid steer to plow snow in the hold pen to create a parking area for the fence crew, and clear snow away from areas where they will be starting the fence projects.
The next two days Nick and Matt started sawing out trees for what will be another grazing pen below the pen cleared last year when they built a new fence. Michael brought his mini excavator to tear out big patches of brush. They are burning the brush and this will make room for growing a lot more grass.
Thursday was Emily’s 25th birthday. Her boyfriend AJ took her out to dinner but surprised her by having his parents and grandfather there, and Andrea. At the end of dinner he proposed to Emily and gave her a ring. It was a very special occasion and we are delighted that we’ll have AJ as a son-in-law and Christopher will have a good daddy.
