3 Beautiful Girls!

*For some reason this post did not post when it was scheduled right after Easter, so I am posting it now.*

3 Beautiful Girls!

I got to share my Easter weekend with 3 Beautiful girls.  I am lucky enough to have 3 beautiful girls in my life.  

Even when they have me yelling at them, I am thankful for the 3 beautiful girls in my life.  Actually, I have 4 beautiful girls in my life, but there are only 3 pictured below.  The 4 Beautiful Girls in my life are my nieces Timber Ann and Hailey Jean, and my babies Tally Marie and Tenley Canova.  I am lucky to have 2 beautiful nieces in my life.  And am blessed to have my 2 little miracle babies in my life also.  Oh, and so he doesn't feel left out, I have one handsome nephew, who is also my godson, Mr. Parker Shane.

Tally Marie and Timber Ann

Beautiful.

I know you want to pinch her cheeks!

Timber, Tally and Tenley

So pretty!

From the Top of the Hill

Here are a couple of random pictures I took from the top of the hill while I was out checking cows.  I apologize, as the pictures aren't the greatest.  It was cold and dreary and I just snapped quickly.  

Looking down into the corrals.

Our house is behind the grain bins!

Tagging

Tagging Calves.  That seems to be what our evenings consist of these days.  There are several reasons we tag  choose to tag our calves.  One reason is for identification purposes.  Our cows are tagged with yellow tags, Doug's (husband's partner) are tagged with green, T's are tagged with purple.  Soon, my few blue tags cows will be changed to yellow, as our neighbor has blue tags in his cows, and it will be easier to keep track.  This also helps ensure that each calf gets the correct brand at branding time.

 The calves each get an ear tag with the same number as their mother.  This is done to easily keep track of pairs when working or moving th cow herd.  If a calf has to be brought in and doctored, it makes it simple to go gather the calves mother and bring her in also. 

Tagging also helps us when it come to picking and keeping our replacement heifers. It allows to look at the heifer calf, check her tag number and then look back in our records to see how her mother performed and worked in our herd.  

Crazy Cowgirl

T had to wear her chinks the other night while we were out tagging calves, because 'Daddy had his cowboy things on."  She was quite cool, and she informed us she was a 'rooting tooting cowboy'.  What a hoot!!

Posing for mom.

Telling us a tale about being a rooting tooting cowboy that lives in the pasture and rides horse.

I think that's the face of 'No dad, you do it like this."

Makes me quite happy my daughter is soaking up all there is to know about ranching and farming.

She was pointing to the 'catfish' she caught with her fishing pole (whip).  According to her it was a 'big mamajama catfish'.  One has to love and admire the imagination of this little girl.

13

Last Wednesday, Ol' Blue Tage #13 calved!  She had a good looking bull calf.  That's two for two for me!  I showed you pictures of Ol' Blue #14, so of course I had to share pictures of #13's baby.  

So with #14 & #13 calved out, that just leaves, #11 & #12.  I am still hoping for a bull calf out of #11, as she goes back to New Design bull, and we (my dad and I) have kept some bull calves out of her and sold and used on our herd.  We shall see.  I was also hoping for some heifer calves out of these few mama's for some replacements.  But as long as I get 4 live calves I shall be happy.

April 14th, 2011

These pictures were taken about 7:30 pm on tonight, April 14, 2011.  And its still snowing!

Will It Never End?

I now dub thee 'The Longest Winter Ever'.

Today's date is April 14th, 2011 and it's snowing out.  Right now, as I type there are snowflakes falling from the sky.  And by the looks of the sky to the west, Mother Nature isn't messing around.

In fact, the National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for our area, with areas of blowing snow.  We can expect upwards to 3 to 5 inches of snow.  And the with the way the wind is blowing and the big flakes falling, one could expect the driving visibility to be poor.

Some more straw was laid out for the cows and calves, everything has been fed.  So I guess we just get to sit back and see what Ol' Mother Nature is going to drop this time.  I think I may go pour myself a drink and then get ready to check heifers.

Stay warm, and if you see Mother Nature, slap her upside the head for me.

Dirtwork with Daddy

Slowly the amount of mud in our yard is getting less and less.  And with the disappearance of the mud, big old ruts appear.  So the other night, D fired up the little tractor and him and T did a little dirt work in our driveway.  There is still water and mud standing, so he couldn't get it all the way, but he didn't get quite a few ruts knocked down.  T was having a grand time on the tractor.

Fred Rides Again

Last weekend my niece came to visit.  Not so much to see her auntie, but to see and ride Fred.  She loves ol' Fred about as much as T does!!  I wonder if Fred knows just how lucky he is?  Since we have had such a long winter, and spring is slow to arrive, this was the first time Fred had been caught this year.  He really didn't look too impressed to me! But he sure did make two little blonde girls quite happy!

Playing in the mud as Dad and Uncle are getting Fred ready.

I think Fred maybe a 100 pounds lighter with all that hair on the ground.

Hailey patiently waiting for Uncle to get Fred saddled.

2 Cuties on a Horse.

And they are off!!

Just riding around!

This is just the first of many rides on Fred for the year!  I hope ol' Fred is up for it.  We pampered him all winter with the best of hay and lots of grain.  Unfortunately Fred is getting old on us, but he is still sound and eager to go.  I hope to keep him around for a couple of more years, but however long Fred gives us, I hope he knows what a big part of our family he is and how much he is loved.

Cows

I like cows.  I like taking pictures of cows.  You may call me crazy, but I have been accused of worse!  I snapped these real quick the other night as we were out tagging some calves.