This was first posted November 1, 2009.
Another day of cow work…What are we? Ranchers? Oh…yeah…The cows we fought to put in the Ritchie pasture last night were gathered this morning.
<Daniel and Vernon are both visible – if you squint – in this photo> Dally was chosen for the long-ish day of work. Elsa locked with her puppies…or she’d follow…all day…and ignore the little ones. Lucas in the kennel…so he could howl mournfully as we left. How he HATES to be left behind! The cows finally got the message and just plodded right along…“warp speed” as Vernon said…Well, warp speed for cows!
<There’s Dally on the left side of the icy pond… I just called her off that cow> Again…Dally was top-notch at her game! I took a note from Trudy Viklund and barely would whisper a “Left” or a “swwis”…and OFF she’d be! At one point I whispered “Left, Dally”…and she zoomed out…tucked in the corner…and returned just as quiet as could be. Daniel said…and I must admit this made my day…“That was almost professional looking!” Made me laugh…. Made me SMILE! Another story from the day…. The Ritchie pasture is infamous for “porcupine eggs”…. Those heavy-duty cockleburs that HURT! They grow thick in the bottoms that in the spring and after heavy rains are filled with runoff. They are the rust colored plants in this photo…
They stick to Boomer horribly…My ESs not as bad…but still…I had sent Dally with a “swwwis” to a laggard cow…OFF she ZOOMED… She FLEW over a small ditch…and suddenly…hit the brakes…layed down…and started chewing some porcupine eggs off of her legs! I went “swwiiis!”and she looked up…seemingly surprised…remembered her job…and finished getting the cow back in the bunch! OH! I LAUGHED! About fell out of my saddle! What a nut.
Daniel and I agreed… Days like today…in the 60’s…no wind…good trailing cows…good working dogs…. We are Living the Dream! Yesterday, we had classified it as a Nightmare…
Above is my favorite photo of the day…. A great shot for an OOPE photo if I do say so myself! We have reached our destination…and are turning the cows through the gate. Another job done! We snacked on jerky and Milky Ways and apples on the way home…. And even managed to weigh the heifers before dark! Barely…. We finished the day with a crockpot supper and warm chocolate cake…Yup…Living the Dream…
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What a wonderful day to look back on. Great photos.
Our family favorite was cholocate cake and watermelon eaten on the beach. Takes me back to when life was simple. Thanks, Carol
a good day indeed, and reading chocolate cake made my flash back to my youth and mom’s chocolate cake, some times with no frosting, instead put some home canned peaches on it, the peach juice soaked in the cake, so good! Thanks for making my day! and thanks for sharing your day!