What a Monday, at least the kids were home from school to help due to semester ending. I went to a meeting in Othello, and get a call from Toni and then a text to call her ASAP, I texted her back I was in a meeting. Kade took Stormy out on a snowy ride, and MC jumped the fence because he wanted to go too. He broke the wood fence in his attempt to go over it, because he is not bred to jump. Kade took Stormy around the corner and grabbed his rope off of the saddle. Toni and her client went out to assist, and someone called Anna and Kaine to come and help. MC was having fun so was not letting anyone catch him. They finally got him semi corned and roped, and it took Kade and Kaine to get him back to the round pen, since he was having a great time. So Toni and the kids took MC down to Tank’s pen and Tank up to her house to the pasture. MC is now in the stallion station area, so does not get to run around in the grass. During all of this, or maybe before, Sheena texted that Bellini was ready to come home. So Toni ran in and got her, and she was a pill to load with her one good eye and squished Toni. A quick reminder on Bellini, she lacerated her eyeball, but instead of taking the eyeball out, because we didn’t want that, Sheena did a grant onto the eyeball which we hope will save the eye and give Bellini some sight out of it. Kade and Jax fixed the fence while Toni ran to the vet. The steer guy showed up and got three steers. Anna and Toni went down and fed the mares in circle 5 since Ben got to start working 9 hr days on Monday. That night 140 and 957 calved. 957 calved in the snow, but luckily Ben was there right as it was born, and he grabbed the calf and ran to the straw with it, he ran to the straw because 957 is pretty watchy.
On Tuesday Billy from TLC in Othello came to harvest a custom beef. Toni talked to him while she was checking. She checked on the two calves from the night before, both are good. Dad went to Colville with a bull for Jeff Dawson, a repeat buyer and friend. It was a long and foggy trip. Tank was super happy to be at Toni’s house in a bigger pen. MC is not happy at all and won’t let Kade pet him. We got our check for King from Billings, which was really fast. The buyers are picking him up from Jordan Pace at the end of the week. They also would like to stand him. So if anyone around Burns wants to breed to him, that is where he will be. We can get you their contact info if you want it. Toni already wants to spend the King money on a new cow and is trying to get mom to agree. Haha. It is a Hereford cow so Mom and Dad will probably agree with her.
Wednesday was my birthday, and at the office you go and get your own birthday treat for the office, I guess that is so if people do not want to celebrate they don’t have to? That started before I worked here. I stopped by Daily Donuts in Pasco on my way to work. It was a good day, had Bone Fish for dinner, Daisy calved, Toni is calling Daisy’s calf Calf Kellie, I am not calling her that and Daisy is Annas. Mom stayed at Grandmas on Wednesday, so she could not make a dessert for my birthday so we decided to do that Thursday because grandma comes first. We also got some super cool Thank You cards that we had custom made for the kids to take to fairs. And Dad and Ben’s Christmas presents came, custom buckles from Sheridan Buckle for our Heritage Breeder award. The buckles are awesome. We now have buckles from Rowdy Rose and Sheridan Buckle. Both companies are exceptional if you need a buckle, saddle, custom jewelry, etc.
Thursday Toni had to take Jaxsen to the orthodontist, she gets to have both kids in braces at the same time. They were gone most of the day. Toni also bought a couch she is recovering, so they had to get that picked up, take it to the upholstery place, get groceries for my bday dinner, etc. Mom made Coconut rum pie on Thursday, it was really good. Toni stayed with grandma on Thursday so she dined and dashed. One of Kade’s show heifers, that Toni refers to as Grumpy, calved at my 10 o’clock check.
On Friday I got to check since I did not have work. I took some pics of the B2004 calves for Joe, since I was staying with grandma that night. Then mom and I went in for our hair cut and mine dyed. Traci came and picked up mom to go stay with grandma. I went home and worked after and then stayed with grandma that night. Marlo came and helped with chores and then went and helped Anna with cow chores. Toni went to a birthday party for a three year old small child that she claims. The parents let her claim her. Jaxsen went with her because he is friends with the older brother. Toni found another cow to buy on Friday and I had to tell her no. The cow has a bull calf at side, but it is a simangus.
Saturday morning it was raining and left everything a more muddy mess then it already was. Feeding is now a three person job, one person on the tractor pulling the pickup. We had someone out looking at yearlings on Saturday in the rain. All the yearlings did great, well behaved, came in easy, etc. They all acted like really well mannered coming yearlings so that was good, but you wonder what they are up to. One of the char heifers calved on Saturday, she had a cute bull. I guess she was waiting for Lane to be there (since he raises chars). We had the crew, so decided to put out straw at mom and dads. Kaine, with his fun teenager cool pick-up, got stuck in the mud. So to get him out, Ben came down with the tractor, and since we had the tractor, Kade and Kaine brought another pu with straw. Toni and I dove big Red with a full load of straw out in the pasture. It was so soft we got stuck continually and Ben would have to push us with the tractor, however, we got everyone bedded down and good dry stuff out to every pen. Uncle Skip came down on Saturday and we had my birthday party. Mom made millionaire pie, banana cream pie and apple pie. Toni made lasagna, Texas toast and salad, and 2 hors d’oeurves . We had a great dinner. Jax had a new game, kids against maturity, so we played a quick round of that before everyone took off.
Sunday we continued ranching in the mud. Feeding, tagging calves, putting out hay, etc. Kade took Electra (horse not cow) out for a ride and took Stormy along too. As every ranch teenager does, Kade has decided he wants to try to flip a horse this spring/summer. We did the same at his age. It gives a kid a way to make a little money, get more experience breaking horses, and something fun and challenging. We don’t have much in the older category so he is going to start the pretty little buckskin coming 2 year old Josslyn. He is also getting a started mare from Jeannie Riley, a cool black grade mare. We told Kaine he can also pick something out as well. All the kids can if they want. Kaine is pondering it. Anna likes to break horses she is going to keep, so that doesn’t work for her, but that is ok. Jaxsen likes to ride the couch, so he is not at a point in his life to really want to work on young horses yet, if ever. I had gotten some racks to hang halters up, so the boys helped us get those hung on the side of the saddle shed and we stared organizing halters. We have a bunch. A bunch of junky ones and some good ones too. It will be nice to have everything organized.
No matter which kid decides to work on the livestock, they will have plenty of supervision. Dad always had great words of wisdom when we were growing up and staring a new horse. Even now he likes to randomly throw out some saying that is so true that you can’t help but smile. Things like, “nothing replaces wet saddle blankets.” “Time to take a deep seat and a long rein.” “We didn’t do it that way in my day.” Our kids are pretty lucky to get to grow up the way we did with their grandparents right there giving advice from the other side of the fence.
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