I was settled in yesterday morning, coffee in hand, still in pj's, ready to build a fire when Bruce called with the news that we were supposed to get from 5 - 7 inches of snow and could I help clean cattle yards.
RATS! No lazing around, instead I donned my clothes, quickly fed the horses and went over to mount my trusty Mustang skid loader. My job was to clean the three bay loafing pens and even though I've done it for 20 years, I still duck when driving the skid loader inside, it seem so low.
My manure pile grows as I drag the dirty bedding out and push it into the alley.
Bruce is cleaning another yard, he drives by with a Big Load.
My pile grows as I finish with the third pen.
The challenge is to get this big bale of corn bedding into the yard and bed the pens without the cows coming in to 'help.'
Oh, Oh, Busted!
Luckily the cows were not overly hungry and left me alone.....
....I rolled out the bedding....
....and filled each pen. You would think the cows would appreciate a nice clean bed, wouldn't you?
But N-O-O-O-O, it takes an average of 2.7 seconds for the first cow to make a big, sloppy, smelly deposit. You would think they could do that outside.
Bruce brought more corn stalk bales in for the feeders.
My job is to cut and pull off the net wrap...
...before he dumps them in the feeder, this one was very fluffy and covered me with dust and shucks. I quickly covered my camera to protect it but my coat was not so lucky and I sneezed the rest of the day.
The girls weren't all that thrilled about getting corn stalks for dinner.
Sorry, 46.
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| "Corn stalks? Seriously??" Well, the weatherman was right on, the snow started Saturday about 1 PM, continued all night and the wind kicked up, filling all the cattle yards and bunks with snow. So I was called into duty again this morning, me and my trusty Mustang pushed a lot of snow. Mollie and Murphy are not fazed by the snow and cold, to them it's a great day. |
Murphy is intently watching for rabbits.
There has to be some rabbits in here somewhere!
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| "I'm on a trail, Murphy, stick with me!" After all the cold and exercise, a nap felt good, then we had our own little Superbowl party with Sliders, potato skins, a veggie tray and a couple of brewskies with the fireplace doing it's thing in the background. |
After the cold and exercise, food and booze, I'm not sure we will make it though the Superbowl but I can always watch the commercials tomorrow on the internet.
That and the food is the only reason I do Superbowl.
What did you have for your party?
Hi Julie, I loved this post, very interesting for this farm girl who is NOT a farm girl!! as I've said many times....I always thought those round hay bales would be extremely heavy, not realizing that they dry out as they sit. Still, it looked like the tractor would be tipped over as Bruce brought the bales in!! Great dog pix too, aren't they a handsome breed?! We had homemade pizza while watching the game, I've been trying to find the best crust (bought or homemade) and I guess I'm still on the look - finally have the sauce down (Trader Joe's!) but the dough remains to be seen to please both Tom and me!! Your meal spread looked esp. enticing with the fire in the background. lots of drifts in 'rabbit gardens'?? Love ya, CG
ReplyDeleteI need Murphy for a couple of days......the rabbit population is out of control over here. I watched the game with a cup of tea and crackers.....not very American I guess.
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