Posts
So this morning I was up early to let little Miss V out & then went back to bed. The phone rang a few times, but I knew it would not be for me! :o) I finally woke up mid-morning & lazily got ready for the day.
I researched a few more IPT Doctors in the States & Canada, but with little success. I did find one place in Arizona that sounded wonderful. So wonderful it costs $6500/wk & you need to attend for a minimum of 6 weeks! I mean, I know my life is priceless, but really, who has that kind of money when they have a serious illness?! I was reading about their philosophy & it said something along the lines of avoiding 'cooked foods, dairy, egg & meats'. Of course, I'm eating a toasted egg, mushroom & cheese sandwich as I read! Whoops! Guess I'll cancel that one for awhile!
I went out with Dad in the afternoon to tag some newborn calves. It was fun to remind myself that I used to be of assistance with things like this. Now, I'm not so sure, but at least I enjoyed myself! We separated the Mamas & babies from the other cows that didn't have calves & then Dad roped the calves, tagged them & weighed them. After we finished with that, they were loaded into the trailer & we took them out to the Cabbage Patch to be with the rest of the herd.
On the way out, Dad asked if I wanted to shoot some gophers. Now, before you have a hairy canary, these little rodents are SLIGHTLY over populated along side the road & when you are moving cattle via horse, the holes the gophers dig can be enough to take down a horse, break its leg & possibly worse with you on its back. I've never killed anything other than a gopher, unless you count that one little 6" fish I caught. I hadn't shot gophers for a LONG time, but I thought, ah, what the heck. Why not? So, I line up my sight & BANG! Wow! Got 'im! I hopped out of the truck & took Valentina over to see the aftermath. She sniffed a little bit, but wasn't too interested. I took a photo of the headless gopher. I'll put it last in the line of photos from today for those of you with weak stomachs & soft hearts.
Okay, so the next few shots, my aim sucked, but eventually I got the hang of it. We let the cows & calves out of the trailer & Dad caught & tagged another new one that had been born out at the Cabbage Patch last night.
We came back to the house & Dad made supper. The healthy options of the previous night weren't so apparent tonight, as he made burgers with sweet potato fries. I had some leftover eggplant/mushroom stuff & a burger. Dad doesn't know it, but I don't really like hamburgers, so when he wasn't looking, I slipped bite size pieces into Valentina's bowl. I think I only had three little bites & she got the rest. She loved it!
We were supposed to go over to Glen & Lynette's, our neighbours, but we ended up at the other neighbours, Bev & Blair's. We were only going to stay a short while & then head over to Glen & Lynette's. We left Bev & Blair's at 2325! Whoopsie! They have been good friends since the day our family moved to Maple Creek back in 1989! In fact, not so long ago, I was admiring Bev & her ability to sit down & have a conversation with an 11 year old (me) all the way through to 20 years later! And we can still have a great visit!
I'll be sure to stop in at Glen & Lynette's tomorrow before I go! So many visits, so little time! Tonight is my last night at 'home', tomorrow I'll make my way to Lethbridge and then home on Thursday. I'm pretty pooped & looking very forward to a solid night's sleep back in Bragg Creek!
See you back in Alberta tomorrow night!
Maria & Valentina,
xxxxxxxx
Calf #1 about to be weighed & tagged.
The doting Mom's
Piercings are fashionable in the cattle world too! :o)
Dad makes it look so easy.
Dad teaching Valentina Cowdog 101.
*****WARNING:OFFENSIVE PHOTO BELOW******
What's left of Mr. Gopher. It was my first shot! Don't mess with me! :o)
*****WARNING:OFFENSIVE PHOTO ABOVE*****
Valentina thinks she knows what to do now - 'Can I get out & help?'
Just another day.
Dad has good aim. Don't mess with him either!
And then there's the random boot we found in the middle of the pasture. It's not Dad's, so he figures it was baled up in the hay. Somewhere there's a 1/2 barefoot cowboy running around.
New Mom mothers up.
This little guy was so new, she was still wobbly on her feet!
Leaving the Cabbage Patch
Nothing like a big beautiful sky.
2 comments:
Two pictures that I love: The calf with the red ear tag with it's Mom, and the one of your Dad doing up the gate. Can't resist asking - did you see any Cabbage Patch Kids while you were out there ;) It's all I could think everytime I read the words "cabbage patch"! Janis
Brings back the memories, that's for sure! Gopher hunting at the farm, oh the fun. Thanks for sharing!
Post a Comment