"Ring, ring, your cows...

....are out in my field, eating corn."   :(   I was just kneading some bread dough when I got this call from Steve (a kind-of neighbor---meaning he lives 5 miles away).   My dad was hauling grain; my mom was in Bismarck; my brothers were making hay.  So, I was the only one left to do something about the problem.  I covered the bread dough with a clean dishtowel; called my dad to tell him what had happened; and headed outside to see what I could drive up there.  The guys had the regular field/fencing pickup with most of the fencing supplies, but I did find a couple fence stretchers, pliers and gloves, then took Andrew's Ford pickup. 

When I got up to the field (which is right across from the pasture the cows were supposed to be in), Steve already had the cows/calves/bulls out of the corn, but they were just standing there and not going through the gate.  It took some yelling and wagging a corn-stalk in the air to get them to budge finally.  After quickly reassembling the wire-gate, Steve said there were more calves up the road further.  I took him back to his farm so he could get his 4-wheeler, then we went back and up North to find the missing animals.  There were 5 calves in a neighbor's pasture, so I blocked them from going up the road further and Steve chased them out of that pasture.  There was also a cow stuck in the slough lake.  Yes, she was really stuck!  I hopped on the 4-wheeler with Steve so we could get the calves out of the wheat field where they'd run, but by the time we got to them, they'd gone in the slough also and swam across to the stuck cow.  Steve took me  back to the pickup and went around the water the other way to get to the cow.  He drove in the water a little ways to scare her out (she was several feet in from the bank), but she was just too tired or stubborn or stuck to get out.   So, we left her and took the calves back to the main herd. 

Steve had called another neighbor (the one that owns the pasture we went into to get the calves out) and that neighbor said there were cows out even further up the road.  Ohhhhh no!  We went up the road a couple miles until we came to the dozen or so cows.  I could tell right away that they were not our cows (we don't have Herefords and the black/white face cow was different from ours too, as were the 2 bulls).  More people came at this point, including one man on another 4-wheeler.   They chased the cows across a hayfield to an old corral where the cattle could be contained and have water to drink until the owners could come get them (they'd traveled several miles). 

After giving Steve a ride back from his farm to his tractor and mower (and thanking him so much for his help!), I went in search of the broken fence.  I found it.   I didn't have enough tools and supplies along to fix it, plus by this time, I knew I should head home in case I had to do the chores by myself.   I did quickly tie up the wires going into that part of the pasture so the cows would not go back out again...  

I walked in the kitchen and saw my bread dough growing over the edge of the counter!  After shaping the loaves and rolling out a pizza crust, I washed up the milking buckets and bottles and was just going to head outside when the boys drove in.  :)   

Jacob and I did the chores then while my dad and Andrew went up to pull the cow out of the mud.  It sounds like it took some doing but thankfully she was alright and able to walk well when they finally did get her out (they said their rope kept breaking, so they had to drive in along side of her and slap her until she lunged forward and got out).  Oh the adventures of farm life!  Tomorrow will be an early morning of fence-fixing....

"Thank you, Lord, for neighbors!"