Monday was Jaxsen’s first basketball game since Hawaii, he had to get enough practices in to play. Toni said he was in the top three in scoring and they won by one point. Great job. Ben is home until 2025, he cleaned up some around the place, hauled some of the silage out to the yearling heifers, filled up the garbage cans, etc. Toni said of the three foals, one was really easy, one was medium, one is giant so you cannot pull him around so he went on the donkey. The donkeys were being a hole and she could only catch one donkey, so I guess it is good she only needed one donkey. Mom, dad and Skip took Susie to Moses Lake to get her hair clipped, and went out to lunch and got groceries.
At work on Tuesday it was foggy, but Ben sent me some snaps of the calves, and it looks sunny at home. It was dark when I left, but was not foggy when I left or when I got to work. Grumpy, Kade’s show heifer from a few years ago calved. She still looks Grumpy. Toni texted me a pony saddle bundle from Teskeys- we don’t have any children that ride ponies so not sure what she is wanting. I think she wants to adopt a child. Not a baby, a child. Toni took Kaine, Kade and Jaxsen to the steer of merit program on Tuesday night. It was clear over in Richland, and started during Hanford rush hour. It is great the program is back on, but it would be nice if it were in Connell, since it is only for the Connell Show. Benton Franklin Fair is refusing to participate. A steer we raised made the criteria and a steer we found for a kid was in the top end. ALL kids get money for going so totally worth it. Prior to leaving Toni worked on the three foals, Sarge was put on the donkey again. He is just super big. Peaches and Buzzy both were able to be led around on day 2. Peaches is soft enough she leads really well. Lots of flex, softness, but also lots of attitude. Buzzy is just a solid super sweet colt.
Ben and dad took a load of heifers to Moses Lake sale yard, we had a lot more heifers than bulls this year so we picked a handful to take in when we bangs vaccinated. Toni helped Ben load and the wild b about knocked Ben down but loaded fine the second round. She didn’t video it because the mud was deep and she was wondering if she was going to have to run in to help him up. Luckily he was holding on to the gate so did some gymnastics but didn’t go down. All the other heifers are decently docile. They sold really well and we are thankful to our buyer. He had been out to the place and viewed the heifers prior to the sale. Then they went into Moses Lake and bought a panel and water trough for the pen we are making for Bell. Also a pallet of tubs for the broodmares. Double N Ranch Supply had everything ready for them. Then went to get Dad his gun safe he had bought. So a very productive trip. Wednesday morning I went to Spokane early to spend the rest of the work week there for a water conference. The calving is really picking up, with the AI cows starting to calve. We are getting a couple each day right now. Toni tied the three foals up, they all did great.
I think Toni said Jaxsen had basketball games Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, so Thursday was his last one of the week. He has been playing great. He is very tall, lots of rebounds, assists, and shots taken. Toni took the three foals out for a walk about on Thursday. She is done using May the donkey so May went back out. Even though Sarge is huge, he is good minded. And he likes Toni so leads really well now that he knows what is expected. All three tie, lead, and are getting exposed to stuff. Specifically dogs. Toni went and stayed with Grandma Thursday night.
On Friday I came home from Spokane around noon. I went out with Ben to tag the calves, Friday the AI cows really started calving and we had 8 calves on Friday. We had to get 530 and 639 in, 530 did not want her bull calf, she wanted 639’s heifer calf. Marlo came to help do chores. It was good for the foals to be exposed to a new person. It didn’t go as well as Toni thought it would. Stranger danger. We got some pics of Sarge and Peaches. Marlo took Buzzy around. Then we put in the panel Dad and Ben got to finish up the Bell pen. Now we just need straw and to move Bell into the pen. We have all the stand alone panels up and have reconfigured that pen. It is really nice and looks good.
Toni went to Colville for the Steven’s County cattlemen’s annual meeting on Saturday, so she left mid-morning. She took Reno (the puppy) up with her to give to Jeff. We had been keeping Reno for Jeff until someone could meet him with her. Toni had a good turnout and spoke for hours on the challenges facing Ag. Then she went to dinner with a family friend and stayed up in Colville due to road conditions. We had 9 calves Saturday, so we kept tagging, we finished the fence on the far side of the New Valley, so we called the cows to the fresh stalks. Kade and I did chores, Kaine was snowmobiling, Anna stayed at U of I for the weekend to study for finals and Jaxsen was sick.
Our 2nd Youth foal left Sunday morning, Skippy went to Rowan, and Skippy is now Scout, because she actually already had a Skip with similar breeding. Kind of funny. Mom thought that was pretty slim odds. Then back to calving, tagging and trying to keep all of the cows with the right calves. We almost got mom’s Hereford Princess in, her water bag broke and 30 min later we were setting gates to get her in and she calved. Kade tied up his Spokane steer. Kaine got home, and we loaded up big bales to take down to mom and dads. Kaine and Kade put out big bales. Toni and I started getting cockle burs out of the yearlings, then Kade helped us finish when we got done. We started moving horses around because we need to split the weaning colts from the fillies. Big bales went out, yearlings went out into the big pasture, Joss was moved into her own pen, and Copper got put in with Mirage. Lots of changes! It was fully dark by the time we got all that done so we didn’t get new foals in. That will have to wait a day. And we didn’t get the colts moved. But lots of progress.
December always reminds me of the Coat of Many Colors by Dolly Parton. Our mom made many of our clothes growing up, but that made us feel special. Mom actually made a coat for herself using patches cut out of old jeans that were worn out and she still has that coat. December is always a month that brings wonderful family filled memories and stories. On the horse side of things, we have coats of many colors- we have foals in almost every color. The pens of foals are stunningly beautiful with all of the pretty babies. Lots of options to fill that request for anyone that wants a foal under the tree! Come see us to really make someone happy with their gift.
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