Day 152 - No Guts, No Glory

*******WARNING: SOME IMAGES MAY BE EXTREMELY DISTURBING TO SOME VIEWERS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.*******


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,
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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.

Day 132 - Sushi - Dynamite Roll & Then I Roll Home...

Today was the final day of the road trip... 2700 kms later, Contemplate is still humming along! You go girl! 


I had a leisurely lie-in until about 0900, upon which, Roxy was already up & at it & busily getting formula ready for the 2 newest additions to the Ziola family... Batman & Robin, 2 calves needing to be bottle fed. We bundled up & headed outside to feed the little fellas. Oh dear! It's been a long time since I've been head bunted in the butt! I was giggling away & Batman really got me good! At one point I gave a little holler & I must be getting old, as it sounded just a little old lady who had just had a fright! After I had let Batman drain the bucket, he decided to go to town on my jacket, pants, & pretty much anything he could reach on me! I eventually gave him my thumb to suck & that kept him happy for a few minutes. 


Roxy was busy trying to coax Robin into a corner to give him his bottle. We eventually ended up with both calves in the corner, Robin getting a bottle, Batman having Roxy's other hand. 


After the calves were fed, we walked over to the horses & donkey, had a little scratch here & there, then we wandered down to look at the rest of the babies. Roxy has her favourites & as we walked through, she pointed them out to me. I'm always on the lookout for that one over protective Mama (picture me flying through the air, starfishing as I spin & land on a pile of giant rock solid frozen cow pies), but thank goodness their cattle are nice & gentle! Instead, I just tripped over the rock solid frozen cow pies! :o)


When we walked back towards the house, we noticed Batman & Robin had escaped. As soon as they saw Roxy, they were thinking of the bottle, so she led them back into the pen.


We ventured over to the barn to find some kitties, but they were hiding on us. We climbed up into the loft of the old barn & had a chat. It was amazing to sit there & imagine what had happened throughout the years in that barn. The stories & storms it had weathered. I love the old barns - they have so much more character than the tin ones they build today!


Back inside we quickly changed & headed for town. Roxy had to pick a few things up for Kevin & she wanted to take me to the only raw cafe in Red Deer. Sadly the cafe was closed today! This is the 2nd time this has happened to Roxy & I! I guess I am just meant to hold out a little longer! I'm sure it's worth the wait! We ended up going for sushi instead. It was delicious! We had another great chat while we sipped green tea, sitting cross legged on the cushions.


We chatted so long we nearly missed the one place we had to pick up something for Kevin! Luckily we made it there in time! Once we were back at Roxy's, I packed up & hit the road. I was anxious to get home after 9 days away. I stopped in Cochrane for a few groceries & made it home by 2200. Phew. I'm wiped!


I checked messages & 119 emails later... I was bummed to read I'd missed Robyn in Red Deer! She recently got married in Mexico & I was so excited to see her slideshow & photos! In any case, I'll have to make a special trip up to see her! She is gorgeous, so I can only imagine how stunning she will look in every single photo!!!


Home again, home again, jiggity-jig... Sleep well & here's to a semi-exciting blog now that the road trip is finito! 


Sleep well!
Maria & Valentina
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

A thumb is better than a head bunt in the butt!

Hungry fellers!

Batman & Robin

New kid on the block... Kinda looks like Donnie?

Robin settling for 2nd best!

Oh my... The donkey was braying & I thought someone was dying... What a noise! Quel bruit!

Buck's eye

Mamas, babies, & plenty of yep, you guessed it! Rock solid frozen cow pies!

Inside the old barn.

Hello Rainbow Roll!!! Yummy!