Here Kitty Kitty Kitty!

The wildlife guy was here last month setting up game/trail cameras looking for predators. He placed 3 cameras at the north end of the ranch where there is a lot of trees along the creek.
He came a few weeks ago to check the cameras. There was a lot of deer, coyotes, turkeys, phesents, quail, huns and a raccoon with a bob tail. But I got REALLY excited when I saw BOBCATS!
I got so excited, I went and bought me a game camera! I set it up along the creek by the house. I wanna check it every 5 minuets! HA! But, I'll wait patiently.

Here's a couple videos of the bobcat.

 

What a beautiful creature! I can't wait to see what I find on my camera....

 

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Is it springtime yet?

The past week here we have had gorgeous weather. Its been muddy due to the inch of rain we had. But the frost is outta the ground so all that rain went in! The temps have been in the mid to upper 40's. with lows in the mid 30's! The only draw back is we still have hay to get home! But its been too muddy! We got a load of small bales for the barn today and tomorrow we will pluck away at the big stack.
Today was foggy and they are saying that the temps could reach the 50's by the weekend! Say whhhaaatttt??

Last nights sunset. Looking west outta the barnyard. Mud puddles! :)

Cows coming into feed this morning. We moved them into their calving pasture.

Here comes the fog. It was sunny!

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And so it begings

As we headed to the feed ground to feed the big bunch of cows, I see a cow in the distance walking towards us with her back humped up, tail sticking out and walking like she  had something stuck in her butt! I hollered at Cameron. We have an issues! OMG Its NERDLY!!! My 11 year old bottle baby!!!!! Adrenalin and panic set in. I drove that feed truck like I stole it! LOL! Taking into account that Cameron was on the back hanging on for dear life, barking driving orders at me and flinging hay like it was on fire!
He dropped me off with Nerdly so I could sit with her, while he buzzed back to the barn, got the trailer and loaded her up.
Got to the barn, got her in the pulling pen, got an arm in her. PHEWWW! A live baby. But, its upside down. Grab the feet and give him a turn. With the help of Nerdly, we got him turned over. Gave him a tug and swoosh! A teeny tiny little bull calf!! YEA!!!!!
Mom and baby doing good.

Here he is. He had some meconium on his face. But none in his mouth or lungs.

Where's the faucet!?

Have you seen it?

 
Maybe I'll try some hay.

 

Gettin' closer!

Cows on the feed ground. As I was waiting for Cameron to get back.

And so it begins. I do believe in the old wives tale, 2 weeks prior to calving and 2 weeks after the due date is when you'll have most of the issues. Today is 2 weeks prior.

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A bit of cowgirl truth

If you are going to be the woman on the ranch, here are the top 10 "facts" you need to know!
                            Original author is Julie Carter, Cowgirl Sass & Savvy.

1. Always load your horse last in the trailer so it is the first one
unloaded. By the time he's got his horse unloaded, you will have
your cinch pulled and be mounted up ready to go - lessening the
chance of him riding off without you with your horse trying to
follow while you are still trying to get your foot in the stirrup.

2. Never - and I repeat never - ever believe the phrase "We'll be
right back," when he has asked you to help him do something out on the ranch. The echoing words, "this will only take a little while" have filtered through generations of ranch wives and still today should invoke sincere distrust in the woman who hears them.

3. Always know there is NO romantic intention when he pleadingly asks you to take a ride in the pickup with him around the ranch while he checks waters and looks at cattle. What that sweet request really means is he wants someone to open and close the gates.

4. He will always expect you to quickly be able to find one stray in a four-section brush-covered pasture, but he will never be able to find the mayonnaise jar in four-square feet of refrigerator.

5. Count every head of everything you see - cattle especially, but
sometimes horses, deer, quail or whatever moves. Count it in the gate, out the gate or on the horizon. The first time you don't count is when he will have expected that you did. That blank eyelash-batting look you give him when he asks "How many?" will not be acceptable.

6. Know that you will never be able to ride a horse or drive a pickup to suit him. Given the choice of jobs, choose throwing the feed off the back of the pickup. If he is on the back and you are driving, the opportunity for constant criticism of speed, ability and your eyesight will be utilized to the full extent. "How in the *@*# could you NOT see that hole?"

7. Never let yourself be on foot in the alley when he is sorting cattle horseback. When he has shoved 20 head of running, bucking, kicking yearlings at you and then hollers "Hold 'em, hold 'em" at the top of his lungs, don't think that you really can do it without loss of life or limb. Contrary to what he will lead you to believe, walking back to the house is always an option that has been used throughout time.

8. Don't expect him to correctly close the snap-on tops on the plastic refrigerator containers, but know he will expect you to always close every gate. His reasoning, the cows will get out; the food will not.

9. Always praise him when he helps in the kitchen - the very same way he does when you help with the ranch work - or not.

10. Know that when you step out of the house you move from the "wife" department to "hired hand" status. Although the word "hired" indicates there will be a paycheck that you will never see, rest assured you will have job security. The price is just right. And most of the time you will be "the best help he has" even if it is because you are the ONLY help he has.

This is awesome and so true! HAHA!
I love my being my cowboys "hired hand". Or is he MY "hired hand"? hmmmm!  :)

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Sortin' cows

Today we got all the cows in and sorted them into two groups. We sort them by age and body condition. We do tag our granny cows with a green ear tag for easy identification. A granny cow being an older cow with either no teeth or very few. As the old guy says, she mighta voted for Regan!
We put all the grannies and the three year olds together and anyone else that might need more groceries. This group is know as the cane & crutches.
The weather was cold, damp and snowy. Perfect, except the mud with ice underneath. Slow going. Cameron and I sorted on horses. We put borrium on the horses shoes. Kinda like cleats. Less likely to slip and slide. I sorted them outta the gate and Cameron followed them to their appropriate holding pens. It went really smooth. I LOVE my pony! He is awesome. He doesn't look at the cows, so they will flow single file right by him. I just have to nudge him and he will dive in to cut one back. Awesome!

Bringing 'em in with the feed truck. Cameron driving. pppfffft. with the heater! HA!

HAHAHA! You're what? cold? Love this look.

Me following them up while being frozen! Do I look cold? Nope, warm and toasty! :)

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Christmas in the Country Reveal

I got the little orange card in the mailbox ( which is 3 miles from home) saying I had a package at the post office. I headed into town excited to see who my secret santa was. First thing I saw was a package wrapped in Camo paper! Awesome! My secret Santa was Jenny from Central Illinois. She sent me the sweetest letter describing herself and her family. What a busy gal! Check out her blog http://themagicfarmhouse.com/. She is also the executive director of AgChat Foundation. Check it out http://agchat.org/.

The gal I sent goodies too was Jamie over at http://unchartedrhoade.blogspot.com/.

Here are my goodies.

A RedNeck mason jar guzzler and an AgChat mug....I'll be using these daily now that calving season is just a few weeks away. :)

Locally grown popcorn and cowgirl boot hangers...Cuz, I can never have too many boot! :)

And this right on the money sign! I think my Mom even warned him! HAHA! Love it!

Thank you Jenny!

Duck Duck Goose!

There are tens of thousands of ducks right out the back door on the meadows behind our house. The creek into a small lake then out the other side. There is also a warm spring that runs into the lake. Or as we call it, the reserve. When everything else  freezes up, here they come. The reserve is a nice sanctuary for a lot of wild life.

These pictures don't do justice for how many ducks there were. And the noise when they all took off!

                                                                           Ducks.

                                                                            Geese.

                                                Tonights sunset. It was so red and gorgeous!

                                                                 Thanks for stopping by.