Promised Picture Post!

 We spent most of the day Friday working with our cattle.  Thanks be to God's protection over us once again----we only got stepped on toes by the calves this time and nothing worse.  :)

 

In the morning, we had to get everyone in the corral, then sort some cows off that we are holding back to sell as cull cows as they're either old or open.  We had to run a bunch of calves through the chute too and gave them eartags.  A couple calves needed shots.  Then, we loaded up all the youngest calves that we thought the walk would be hard on and put them in the stock-trailer to haul up later. 

 

After a quick lunch, the guys got the 4-wheelers and a dirt bike going.  They rounded up the cows and calves, then opened a spot in the fence for them to get out and begin the 4-or-so mile trek up the road to the pasture.  My mom drove the pickup and trailer at the rear of the herd, just in case there were more calves that needed picking up (there was 1).  I drove ahead of them all as usual, trying to hold them back a bit, as a few of the cows just want to RUN up to their summer home!

 

 This was my view:

 

 Almost there...  (You can see Andrew on his dirt bike in this picture if you look closely.)

 Jacob almost lost the homemade fender on the red 4-wheeler...

 Dad driving through the gate----then he closed it....

 Finally there!  It started to rain at this point, which felt really nice...

 

One of my cute pairs!

 Look at ALL that grass!!!

 A tiny fawn jumped up right next to a calf in this pasture and the calf took off running away from the herd.  Jacob and I had to go after it with the 4-wheelers, as he was just running and running in the wrong direction.  I had hoped to see the little deer again, but he was lost in the grass by the time we returned with the runaway.

 I LOVE the contrast in colors between sky and grass at this time of the year!!!

The best part about moving the cows up to pasture is that we now have WATER in the house all day long again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   We can wash clothes; take showers; do dishes; water plants.....whenever we want to now.  HOORAY!  My mom went to town and bought pizza and ice cream to celebrate (and also because we were gone all day and didn't have food for the weekend and people like to eat.)

 

Here are a couple random pictures that I found on my phone:

 

The girls love swimming in their pool nowadays!!!  It's fun watching them splash.

 

 I rode along with my dad and Andrew one day to bring vehicles home from the field, then went with them down in the field a ways (to the place where my dad kept getting stuck) to pick up some tractor weights he'd taken off and left...

Friday evening, after we had our supper and finished chores, I went over to Lauretta's place as she and her sister, Josephine invited me to come over for a visit/sleepover.  :)  I'm so grateful to God for putting these friends in my life, as they're about the closest thing I have to real sisters! 

 

After staying up late into the night, we all slept in the next morning.  After eating a tasty breakfast, Josephine had to leave for work, but Lauretta and I went for a walk through the trees to try and find their horses.  Once we found them, Lauretta jumped on this one horse to round up the other one for me to ride.  :)



 

 She enjoys riding bare-back.  I'm not that brave, yet.

 

 The "Old grey mare" is a very nice horse!!!   Her name is "The Grey Mare", but she is pretty old, so I can't help thinking of that song when I see her.   She's the same horse I rode last Summer.   :)

 

I love how she holds her ears!  (She's an Arabian.)

 She's well trained and very considerate of her rider.  Lauretta said that when there is an experienced rider on this horse, she can tell and acts differently from when she has a beginner (like me) on her back.  She walked along and just went faster when I was comfortable enough to press my heels lightly to her sides.

 

What fun!   :)

 

 

Lauretta came with me to my house then and we joined the rest of my family for a quick bite to eat before all heading to Bismarck to enjoy a concert by the Booth Brothers!  I don't like the beat to some of their songs, but then again, I also really enjoyed many of their songs---especially the words!!!  Their sincere love for the Lord shows through their singing...

Here's a sample of their music:

As soon as we got back to the farm (Lauretta bought us ice cream bars on the way home for a treat!), Andrew took off to visit some friends of ours.  He's spending a few days with them.  I slept in a little this morning and when I awoke at 8:00, I had a sinking feeling as I remembered that Andrew wasn't here and somebody needed to milk his cow!  I jumped out of bed and got dressed hurriedly.  When I looked out the window, I saw my mom walking back from the barn with the milking supplies in hand!  Yay!  She and my dad did the morning chores.  :)

I went with Dad up to the pasture this morning to see how the cows are doing.  They seemed very content.  We bounced around the pasture for quite a while.

My dad and Andrew went on a crop-viewing (our own fields) tour for the rest of the morning.  They took my car, and then it got a flat tire, so they put the spare on and fixed the tire when they got home.

 

Mom and I cleaned up the kitchen and then I hauled all my dwarf fruit trees and assorted other houseplants out onto the deck for the summer, as I have faith that we are beyond freezing temps. finally!  We also sold several dozen eggs to a neighbor who came for that purpose.

This afternoon, my dad and Jacob got our garden ready for us!!!!!!  YAY!    They put on some farm-fertilizer (also known as cow manure) and worked it up with a vibra-shank.  Then, they put the big tiller attachment on Andrew's garden tractor and spent over an hour tilling.  While Jacob drove, my dad stood on the actual tiller so it would dig down deeper instead of skimming over the top.  It looks SO nice now. 

                  "Thank you SO VERY MUCH for all your time and hard work, fellas!!!!!!!"

 

Well, now you're all up to date again!  :)

 

 

HAPPY JUNE!

 

May the Lord bless and guide us all through this new month!