October 20
Last week we moved the cows to the lower back field to join the heifers They can all graze there a few weeks. We checked the temporary fence around the deep gully — to make sure it was still secure enough to keep cows out of that gully. It’s so deep and narrow that if a cow fell into it she would never get out. Hopefully we can get a truckload of rocks hauled across the field this winter when the ground is frozen, to dump at the base of the hill so Michael can fill that chasm with his mini excavator.
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Andrea spent several days preparing food for the celebration of life for baby Ammarie, which was held at the Sacajawea Center Oct. 14 — the day she would have been six months old. Samantha took time off from work and classes in Twin Falls and was here a few days. Many friends helped; some brought food and Emily helped Dani prepare the slide show. David and Rosina Yoder and kids (our Amish neighbours up the creek) sang hymns and David gave the opening prayer. Andrea and I told about our special memories of that baby girl, and Dani read the life story she’d written. My brother gave the closing prayer, then dinner and visiting. The hall was packed with people who came to support Dani in this time of loss and grief and to honour the memory of a child whose life was abruptly snuffed in a tragic way.
On Monday Andrea and Lynn drove to Tower Creek to locate water for folks who need a well. That afternoon the old crab-apple tree above my hay shed split and half of it broke off and fell down. That tree is the last of four that were here when we moved onto the place in 1967; they were planted in the late 1800s. That 130-year-old tree was loaded with apples and limbs were sagging low. We thought a bear might have been in it, causing it to finally crack and break.
Yesterday Andrea and Lynn drove to Dillon, Montana, to locate water for two wells. Coming home after dark, two deer bounded across the road in front of them. The buck — chasing a doe — smashed into the front of the pickup, broke the grill, dented the hood and fender, but didn’t damage the headlights, so they were able to drive home.
October 29
Last Saturday Andrea and Lynn went to Kirtley Creek to locate another water source for a well. That evening we had Nick here for supper, and Andrea and Christopher joined us.
The next day Jim sawed up the fallen-down portion of the old crab apple tree and hauled off everything except some of the useable wood. Nick filled his water barrels at our hydrant. While he was here he swept out leaves that collected in the valley of our roof, and used a flashlight to look down the chimney to see if it needed to be cleaned. It’s still good, from when he cleaned it last winter.
Andrea and I are trying to select the bulls we might bid on in the Pharo Cattle Company sale in Montana, checking information on them and their videos that were taken this summer. We need a list of at least 20 we’d bid on; there will be high demand for the ones with guaranteed calving ease, good dispositions, mothers with good udders, and other traits.
Tuesday Lynn had for his appointment at the clinic for an echocardiogram on his heart. He’s still doing pretty well but needs another checkup later.
Our weather changed — colder and snowing. Andrea and I strung out an extension cord from the barn and plugged in the tank heater for the heifers’ water. She checked all our ditches again to make sure they are securely shut off at the creek so we won’t get ice flows across our fields.
November 6
We checked the cows and they were still doing OK and grazing through the snow. The weather moderated this week and they continued to graze.
Lynn took our pickup to the auto shop to be fixed; insurance will pay for damage from the deer running into the front end. We bought parts for new brakes, and Charlie will do that job for us.
The past few days have been warmer, thawing during the day, and the snow melted. We’ve been diligently working on fall projects we need to accomplish before the ground is solidly frozen.
Andrea, Dani, Emily, Christopher and Charlie went to Twin Falls for few days and stayed with Sam. Andrea went to one of Sam’s EMT classes and talked to the class about her experiences as a burn survivor. They celebrated Dani’s birthday there. Christopher got to see a real train. He loves making tracks for his toy trains but had never seen a real one.
While they were gone I worked on several projects, putting tin and dirt along the outer wall of our bathroom where there’s still an air leak that tends to freeze our water pipes. I spent a few hours on a couple days shoveling sod out of the ditch that goes by the calving barn (so it can carry more water in spring runoff and won’t flood the barn) and put the sod and dirt in low spots along the front of the barn. Snow coming off the barn roof piles up in front of the barn, and if snow is deep in the pen by the barn, water runs into the barn when it melts. Having a berm in front will deflect that runoff.
Andrea got home from Twin Falls last night and today helped me move the cows from the lower backfield. They came running and followed her four-wheeler through the barnyard past the bull corrals and up to the swamp pasture and big field by her house. If that feed doesn’t snow under, it should last about 45 days before we have to feed hay.
We took off Dottie’s shoes this afternoon and trimmed her feet.
November 14
While weather was still nice, we took off Willow’s shoes, trimmed her feet, and trimmed Ed’s feet. Andrea took down the fence we put around the gully chasm on the hill above the lower backfield two years ago, so we can hopefully fill in the gully this winter. She got all the step-in posts out easily, and most of the steel posts, and rolled up the wire and netting. Some of the steel posts were difficult to pull by hand; she borrowed Michael’s post puller for those.
Lynn was able to start the big tractor one afternoon while it was warm and we didn’t have to plug it in. He put power service in it for winter, and brought it around to the shop and air compressor to inflate a low tire — then parked it closer to the barn so we can plug it in on cold winter mornings when we’re feeding hay.
Andrea put a hot wire around her house and yard, but lets the cows in there for a few hours every morning (while she’s around to supervise and make sure they don’t rub on vehicles or damage anything) to clean up weeds and tall grass before winter. Saturday morning when I did chores I discovered two of the neighbour’s horses had been here all night, roaming around our barnyard, fighting with our horses over the fence, eating on the haystacks by Shiloh, going up past the bull pen, wandering down to the lower back field, etc. I saw them coming back up the lane from that field and shut some gates, opened the gate into the main corral, then hurried down through the little bulls’ pen to get below them before they could run down to the lower field. I was able to herd them into the corral so they could be collected.
I thought that episode would be the end of it, but next morning, they were back again, and brought a buddy. There were three of them eating on our alfalfa bales. From the looks of the big holes they ate out of multiple bales (on all three stacks) and numerous poop piles, they’d been eating there all night! We’ll have to leave our driveway gate shut (an inconvenience for all the people who drive in and out to get to Andrea’s house as well as ours) but it will keep roaming livestock out.
Sunday morning Andrea helped me fix the makeshift feeder in the main corral — that we created last winter for the big bulls when the bull corral was being rebuilt. We’d tied poles up with twines, and it worked, but we want it to be a permanent feeder. She used her chain saw to cut off the extra length of one pole and we screwed them to the fence. The bull we buy will live in that corral so we wanted the feeder improved.
Today we’re making our final list on the bulls we might bid on at the sale.
