DECEMBER 24 – We had cold weather last week, nearly down to zero and then it warmed up a little. We bought a couple more protein tubs for the cows and Jim helped unload them up in the field by Andrea’s house. We are hoping to not have to feed hay to our main bunch of cows until after Christmas and the protein helped encourage them to keep grazing and go up on the hill where there is still some grass that isn’t snowed under.
Last Wednesday it actually got up to 30 degrees in the afternoon. Lynn and I took a little bale to the young cows on his 4-wheeler. Dani left Christopher here on her way to work and picked him up that night on her way home.
Granddaughter Heather in Canada sent a photo of Joseph and little James sledding and it looked like they were having a great time.
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| Canadian boys sledding |
Thursday morning it snowed and Dani came down and helped us untarp one of the big round bales in the stackyard and Lynn took it up to the field with the tractor, for the young cows. Dani took them a bucket of loose salt and mineral. Then we hauled a ladder around to the stackyard to make it easier the next time we have to get the tarp off a top bale. While she was here she carried several sacks of pellets into the house from the shed across the driveway, for Lynn’s pellet stove. On cold nights we usually have that stove going as well as the wood stove in the kitchen. That afternoon it snowed again.
Andrea drove home from California on Friday. The roads were fairly good, considering the new snow, and she got here before midnight. She brought home a saddle that she and Stan bought for Dani for Christmas, and the next morning Emily brought it down here so we could hide it at our house until Christmas.
On Sunday Andrea put up a temporary electric fence down around her driveway, with a “gate” across a flatter spot so it will be easier for people to stop and open and shut it. The real gate is across a steeper part of the driveway and it’s hard for vehicles to stop there and get going again without spinning out on the ice. This will make it easier to keep a gate closed so the cows can’t keep going up into her yard. It was a little difficult to put the step-in posts in a few places (frozen ground) but it wasn’t as frozen in some of the areas covered with deep snow and she was able to keep the fence standing up.
Monday was warm and rainy and foggy, and the rain made everything even more slippery, then it was very windy that night and blew one tarp mostly off my stack of hay next to Sprout’s pen. It also blew the little trampoline in Andrea’s yard clear over the fence and down into the field.
I wasn’t going to send out Christmas letters this year (too busy trying to meet article deadlines that I hadn’t taken time to write one) but as we received more and more cards and letters from extended family and friends, I realized I’d better write one and at least send out a few, so people wouldn’t wonder if we’d died of COVID!
So I wrote a letter of sorts and yesterday when Lynn went to town to get a couple more tubs of protein for the cows, he had some copies made. I also took time to draw horses on a bunch of white T-shirts (my traditional “grandma” gift for everyone in the family –personalized T-shirts).
The new edition of my book Storey’s Guide to Training Horses has just come out, and the publisher sent me a few copies. It’s a nice update, and the illustrations for this one are in color. I took photos of the new edition.
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| new book |
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| new book back cover |
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| reprint |
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| back cover |
Today was cold again (only 6 degrees this morning, with a high of 22 degrees). The tractor barely started at noon, even after being plugged in all night), and we took a big round bale up to the young cows in the field above the house. Dani helped me move their feeder to a new location. At this point these are the only cows we are feeding hay (except I’m giving the weaned heifers a little of my horse hay every morning, to encourage them to get going and graze in the snow; they still have a lot of good pasture left if it doesn’t snow clear under). The older cows are still grazing on the hill behind Andrea’s house.
Michael stopped by on his way to town and dropped up some gifts and a big plate of cookies that Carolyn made, and we gave him our gifts for him and Carolyn and Nick (who will be spending Christmas with them). My brother Rocky stopped by also and we exchanged gifts, and I took a picture of him with his “Santa” beard.
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| brother Rocky & his beard |
JANUARY 3 – Christmas day I started sending out more cards and letters, and finished the series of articles for Bovine Med’s new website. We broke ice on the creek for the cows. Nick stopped by for a visit here, while he was spending the day with his parents. It was great to get a chance to see him.
Granddaughter Heather in Canada sent photos that were taken that day of their little family.
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| Heather, Gregory and boys |
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| young James |
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| James and Joseph |
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| Joseph and his new winter hat |
We didn’t celebrate Christmas until Sunday when Stan and all of Andrea’s kids could come out to her house. Stan drove back from California on Saturday, getting here at 9:30 that evening. Andrea spent that day cleaning house and getting a turkey ready to cook for Sunday. Dani came down and carried more sacks of pellets into our house for Lynn’s pellet stove. We took advantage of it being a little warmer (so the feed truck would start) and drove it over here by the house so it can be plugged in on cold mornings, in case we needed to start feeding hay to the cows.
That evening I finished wrapping gifts for Andrea’s kids, and made a huge box (duct taping two big boxes together) to wrap up the saddle for Dani.
Sunday morning was cold and I did chores early and fed the heifers extra hay (taking some of my horse hay out to the field with the calf sled) and broke ice for the little bull. Sam and her friend Colter stopped by on their way to Andrea’s house, and picked up the big box with the saddle in it, and some of the other gifts to take up there. Soon after, Charlie and one of his best friends came, too.
After breakfast Lynn and I went up to Andrea’s house (and took our part of the pot-luck meal) and watched everyone open presents. I took photos of Christopher checking out his stocking from Santa and opening his presents, sitting on the little couch with Stan.
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| Christopher & Stan |
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| Christopher opening presents |
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| Dani opening the big box |
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| Dani's new saddle |
He had great fun until the girls put him on Dani’s new saddle with it held up like it was on a horse, and he slipped and fell on the floor. Andrea tried to grab him as he fell but wasn’t quick enough. He banged the back of his head a bit, but seemed to be ok, and after a bit of comfort with his bottle he rejoined the fun.
Christopher entertained himself for awhile climbing into the box the saddle had been wrapped in, and hiding in the box.
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| Christopher playing in the box |
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| hiding in the box |
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| kids & their friends |
That night was colder, down to 3 below zero. Emily left early the next morning, to take one of the patients at the care center to Idaho Falls for his doctor appointment. Stan and Andrea went to town to do all the town errands. Monday night it was 3 below zero again.
Andrea, Dani and Emily were all a little sick for a couple of days. Our wood-box was empty and Dani had planned to fill it for us, so Lynn and I filled it ourselves—just more trips with less wood! We’re not as strong as we used to be.
We plugged in the tractor that night, and the next day Lynn and I took a little bale (some of my horse hay) to the young cows above the house because they were out of hay in their feeder. We moved the feeder to a new location (pulled it with the 4-wheeler) and then took a feeder to the field below the lane, for the weaned heifers. Andrea and Stan came down that afternoon and helped us get a big bale of second cutting alfalfa for the weaned heifers (the first time we’ve fed them alfalfa hay this winter) and a bale of grass-alfalfa for the young cows to put in their feeder, and a big bale on the feed truck—and one little grass bale. We fed the cows for the first time this winter, giving them about 1/3 of the big bale and the little grass bale.
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| feeding the cows |
When we finished and parked the truck, we put a tarp around the rest of the bale on the feed truck to keep the deer out of it.
The young heifers were so full after eating on the alfalfa for only an hour that we were afraid they might bloat, so we put deer netting around the feeder to keep them out of it. This alfalfa is really rich and fine and they could easily eat too much and bloat. They need to adjust to it gradually. The next morning we unwrapped their feeder and let them eat on it again for about 1 ½ hours and wrapped it up again, and let them have it for another 1 ½ hours in the evening and warped it up again for night.
After feeding the cows that day, one of the rear tires on the old feed truck went flat as we were putting on another little bale for the next morning (to feed in addition to the last of the big bale). Fortunately it didn’t go flat while we were up in the field! Those tires are very old and weather-checked and it was just a matter of time that they would give out. So Stan and Andrea went to town and got two new tires before the tire place closed early for New Year’s Eve. Luckily it happened when it did, or we would not have been able to get new tires until after the holiday weekend!
New Year’s day was bitterly cold again. I unwrapped the heifers’ feeder at chore time and let them eat on it for a while; their rumen bacteria are adjusting to the higher protein level and lush alfalfa but we are still being cautious.
Stan cleaned off the battery terminals in the tractor and we waited until the warmest part of the day (23 degrees in late afternoon) to try to start it. It is sluggish starting on cold days even when it has been plugged in all night. It did start, and we were able to load another big bale on the feed truck, and also took a bale of straw up to the cows to put along the brush for them to bed on.
Yesterday was a little warmer. I opened up the heifers’ feeder and let them have it fulltime; we seem to be past the critical period for bloating them. Their water tank (with tank heater) was really dirty; we hadn’t cleaned it since we started using it for them this fall/winter. So I emptied it with a bucket, squirted out the crud that accumulated on the sides and bottom, and filled it up again with clean water.
After we fed the cows, Stan and Andrea went to town, and Dani went to work. When Em went to work she left Christopher here with us and he entertained us while I cleared all the piles off our dining room table and cooked a big supper. He and Lynn watched a movie while I did chores. Dani picked him up after work, and then Nick came by to eat supper with us and play Tripoli. He loves that game –from when we used to play it with him and his sister and his folks many years ago. It was fun to do it again.
Today was the warmest it’s been for a long time—up to 40 degrees. By afternoon it got windy and a fast blizzard blew through. We were glad we were done feeding the cows before the weather changed.
JANUARY 14 – Last Monday a week ago it snowed; the cows were happy to have some straw bedding in the protection of brush along the bottom of the field that serves as a natural windbreak.
…and took photos of the cows enjoying the hay.
Then we took the feed truck back to the stack yard to load another big bale on it with the tractor, to be ready to feed again the next morning.
Stan helped us feed the cows for several days and I took photos one day as he and Andrea were unrolling the hay off the big round bale.
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| Andrea & Stan feeding cows |
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| cows eating hay |
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| ready to reload the truck |
Dani was staying overnight last week with a couple of friends, and one of the sisters was having an emotionally bad time. Dani realized that the girl had been in the bathroom too long and went in to check on her and found that she’d tried to commit suicide, cutting herself. Dani and the sister called 911 and got her to the hospital in time, and now she’s having counseling. This was pretty tough on Dani. Kids today have a lot of challenges—more than our older generation had to face at their age.
The next day Emily didn’t have to work and she took Dani to town to do something fun together and help bolster her spirits.
Andrea and Stan loaded our little old 4-wheeler (“little red”) into his pickup to take back with him to California to see if he can fix it. It’s been a great machine but it is 25 years old and has had hard use and has some worn-out parts, so Stan wants to try to get it running again. He left last Wednesday to go back to California, since he had a doctor’s appointment on Friday.
That afternoon Michael stopped by and we hiked around a few of our old falling-down fences for him to measure. He and his fencing crew will come in a couple of weeks and start rebuilding the fence along the old lane below the old milk barn (that pole fence was built 40-plus years ago and the posts and poles are rotting), and the pen below the calving barn, and the top end of the horse pasture.
Last Friday was almost down to zero again, and I must not have drained my hose adequately the day before when I watered the heifers and two horses. I carried a bucket of water to Shiloh, watered Sprout with a short hose, and didn’t water the heifers until afternoon (they still had enough water in their tank to be able to reach it). Even though the temperature didn’t get up to 30 degrees, it was a sunny day, and after the sun had been shining on that hose for several hours the little bit of ice in it thawed enough for me to use it again. These little episodes are good reminders to be more slow and careful when draining the hose in future!
Andrea helps me feed the cows every day; I drive the truck and she unrolls hay off the big bale and feeds a couple little bales. With the little bales to fill in, one big bale lasts 3 or 4 days. On Saturday it was time to load the truck again, but she helped Lynn put more oil (and hydraulic oil) in the tractor first, and we also put more gas in the feed truck. The gas gauge hasn’t worked for years so we just go by a certain number of days’ feeding (about 3 weeks) and gas it up again—and mark it on the calendar so we know when to do it again. We don’t want to run out of gas up in the middle of the field.
The next day I had trouble starting the feed truck. The old keyhole is getting gunked up and it’s hard to make it work. When we got done feeding we put WD-40 in the keyhole and that helped. The truck is a 1973 model and it sometimes needs a little TLC to keep going.
We had several cold nights, nearly down to zero, which meant breaking ice at the water holes for the cows (along the creek) and for the little bull in the back pen. A spring runs through there but the channel freezes over if it gets very cold. The water holes at the creek are getting very slippery and treacherous for the cows so Lynn got some sand when he was in town on Monday, and Jim helped him bag it when he got home. The next day Andrea took sand up to both water holes (the young cows on this side of the creek, and to the older cows’ water hole in the swamp pasture on the other side) and sprinkled sand on the steep approaches so the cows won’t be afraid to go down to the creek.
Tuesday after we fed, Andrea helped me load a lot of little bales from the stackyard while the truck was empty, and we hauled them around to replenish the stack by the calving pen—where we grab a couple bales every day to go with what we feed off the big bale. We got the tractor started and took hay to the young cows and loaded the feed truck again. About that time it started to snow and snowed all afternoon.
Dani worked all day that day at the motel where she helps clean rooms and make beds. We’d just finished chores and supper when she called to tell us that Sam had an accident on the river road out toward their dad’s place. With the new snow, the roads were slick, and on one of those icy corners her truck started to slide and it was about to go into the river. She got it turned back the other way but with the slippery conditions it kept sliding and crashed into the rock wall on the other side. The impact tore off the front bumper—the fancy bumper she’d created and welded on, for her senior project, and bent it around. It totaled the pickup, but the bumper took much of the impact and maybe kept her from being hurt worse. She had bruises from her seat-belt and possibly a broken wrist and/or thumb. Her friend Colter was driving his pickup behind her, convoying, and he was able to call 911 and the ambulance came out to take her to the ER.
Lynn went up to babysit Christopher so Andrea could go into town and to the hospital to see Sam. They did an EKG to make sure her heart wasn’t bruised, and some other tests and eventually released her to go home to her dad’s house—and will have to check her hand and wrist again later after the swelling goes down. She’s very lucky she didn’t go into the river, and we are glad she wasn’t hurt any worse. Yesterday she felt well enough to go to school, so hopefully she will heal quickly.
We took photos of her smashed truck (that was towed to her dad’s auto shop) and torn-off bumper. The bumper was in the back of the truck.
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| Sam's smashed truck |
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| smashed bumper in the back of her truck |
Our weather changed dramatically; after such cold weather we had a warm night that night and strong winds yesterday—and rain. The wind and rain made it difficult to feed the cows.
The wind was blowing so hard when we finished feeding that it was almost impossible to put the tarp over the hay that was still on the truck – it was blowing us all around like the sail on a sailboat.
Today wasn’t quite as windy, but the temperature dropped dramatically this morning and we are back to breaking ice on the water holes.
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