“It’s the most glorious work you can do that nobody ever sees,” from Yellowstone. 

I am sure I did not quote that correctly, it has been a while since I was in English class.

Monday we woke up to freezing fog, but the kids did not have school, teacher in service day, so we did not have to worry about them driving in it. Monday was my actual birthday, again, thank you everyone for all of the birthday wishes. I had a work meeting in Othello, we were going to go out to the Brunswick for lunch after, it was closed, so we went over to Checos, closed, went to Ironworks, I guess the third time is the charm, finally found something open. Mom made apple fritters and we had left over desserts from Sunday. So we had lots of desserts again on Monday. Ben made steak for dinner, it was a great day.

Tuesday Toni and the dogs checked cows. Murtaugh likes to jump in and help her. Jaxsen had a game which was supposed to start at 4. Toni was running on time, which Dad considers late, so Dad was sitting in the drivers seat of Toni’s car when Toni got ready to go. So Dad drove Toni and Jaxsen to the game. It was Connell vs Connell and the first game for the school league.  Jax made some plays. He is getting better. The kids did chores, they helped with horse and then cow chores.  The weather is still really foggy and gray.

Wednesday we had freezing fog again. The fog was not as thick as it has been, so I think people forgot it could still be freezing, there were two cars in the ditch on my way to work. Toni had a mediation all day on Wednesday, so Anna checked cows before she left, Zora, Jaxsen’s old show heifer, had just calved so she asked dad to go back and check to make sure she didn’t have twins. She had moved and it took him a while to find her, but no twins. The three older kids went and helped Ben with cow chores after they got done with horse chores. I took Jaxsen home with me when I got home, after eating some lemon poppyseed muffins that mom had made, they were so good. Toni was waiting for us when we got there.  Toni’s case did not settle.

                Thursday morning was nice, crisp and clear.  No new calves, but checking actually went ok with the lack of fog.  Toni testified on behalf of the WCA in support of the Stock Water Bill.  There were 21 people testifying on the bill, most in favor. It is a really good bill that helps support ag, but it probably won’t make it into law.  Because the weather was good on Thursday we started planning out the new fence between circles 7 and 8. Dad called around and got the no climb horse fence bought. Now we just need to go get it and start putting posts in. The ground is still frozen, so we really can’t do much until it thaws.  Jaxsen had basketball in Mesa, so Dad and Toni went to that game as well, the team played really well.

Friday mom made jelly filled donuts, they were really good. Toni bought a couple of new office chairs on the Musser Brothers Estate auction website. Some pretty cool leather ones. They were only $100 each.  Marlo came and helped do chores. We are still working on Hottie’s leg every night. Marlo thought it looked like the sarcoid is smaller.  Anna went to watch her friend Brandi’s basketball game, and then her friend Josie came home with her and spent the night.

Saturday Anna and I took T021 to Connell to get semen tested and brand inspected. Ben and Kaine went out got the Braford cow in, she always jumps out to calve down by the lake. The Meachams went to Tri Cities for a basketball tournament. After Anna and I got back we went out and got new pictures of the bulls. Next Anna went and caught her horse and we moved the steers and heifers around so the Spokane steers will be easier to catch. Then Kaine and I went and did the horse chores and Ben and Anna did the cow chores. Mom made more filled donuts, we had lemon custard filled donuts, cream filled donuts with chocolate on top, cream filled donuts with mint chocolate on top.

Sunday the men and boys all went hunting. Last weekend of hunting season for the year.  Toni, Anna and I loaded T021 when his new owners showed up. We chatted with them for awhile. We hadn’t met them before, but we knew lots of people in common with them. The ag world is small. Then we went and checked the cows and made a list of the heavy cows. Then Anna and I had lunch and Anna went out and caught her steers. I worked on some office work were I could watch her out the window. Then men got back and had a quick lunch and then went up to clean ducks. Mar and his cousin showed up and got the last two pigs. Toni went out and checked the mares and gave them mineral.  Then we did regular chores, moved some mares around, talked about what needs to be done. 

                With February around the corner, optimism is rising. We are nearing the end of calving season, bull buyers are showing up to look at the bulls we have for sale, and foaling is right around the corner. Like every year, we are so excited to see what we get for foals.  We have some maiden mares that may be the early foalers. We aren’t placing bets yet on who is going to be first, but we are starting to see some mares bagging up.

And we are excited to watch Anna on WA Grown, Kade and Natalie were also interviewed at Spokane, so we are looking forward to see who all gets on the show. It airs tonight at 7 on Facebook, and later in the week on TV.