Kids & cows……

….don’t you just love ’em! LOL!

Got up this morning to discover that all our cows were out in the main pasture with the cows that we rent that pasture out to. Wouldn’t be a problem except that they do not want their Angus cows bred by Cinco – wouldn’t give them a good return on their money next year! How had they got out? About 2 weeks ago Michael had driven through the top gate, stopped, put his parking brake on, got out to shut the gate, turned around to see his truck rolling down the hill straight into the fence! You should see the shape of the T-post – quite incredible. It broke his steering column so his truck is now useless until he gets it fixed. He fixed the fence but unfortunately did not tie the gate up properly. What was so maddening was we sold the Dexter cows yesterday & have to deliver them on Thursday & as Richard & I were down there last night I said, “Let’s hope Cinco stays put for just two more days!” Oh hah! Should have known better.
Wasn’t too worried about it this morning as Charlie was missing so he was my top priority. Last night was the first night I had left him out with the others. Walked down the field the first time, found most of our cows but not Charlie & then imagine my surprise when I found a dead cow! Not one of ours so had to go get the neighbor. not sure how she died – she was only young but they are thinking that maybe she laid down & then couldn’t get back up as she was in a dip.

So then I go looking for Charlie again, find him & make him follow me all the way up. (Milk is a good bait.) Of course that was fine until we came to the mud. He didn’t want to go through that so I had to get muddy pulling him through.

By this time I was by myself as Richard had gone to court with Michael. Yes Michael got the summons yesterday to be in court this morning. A week before he got into the “mischief” in Havre he had got himself into some mischief here in Chinook so we were all expecting a summons at sometime but had been told that it would probably be just a misdemeanor. WRONG! He’s been charged with another felony & 2 misdemeanors. OUCH! Michael has been trying to talk to his lawyer since his last court date but has not been able to get through to him. When he called this morning the secretary refused to put him through saying that this guy was no longer his lawyer because he had been granted a public defender. This was the first Michael had heard about it & apparently the Public Defender had only just found out. (One less bill Michael will have to meet though.) Anyway Michael did meet the Public Defender this morning & Richard was also able to have a long chat with him which made him feel happier. This guy will be with him on both cases & warned us that this could drag out for months. SO his next court appearance here in Chinook is not until July 27th. In the meantime he has to get ready for the Havre court appearance on July 1st.

Fast forward to this evening & we have just spent 2 hours getting our cows back where they should be. Thankfully our neighbor came down to help us. Getting the girls back where they should be was no problem but Cinco had his eyes on one cow & one cow only & it wasn’t one of ours! Apparently her name is Antelope as she breaks fences & is quite the feisty one. It was hilarious to watch Cinco trotting after her. We finally got them into the top pasture & then had to figure a way how to separate them. We decided the best & safest way would be to get Cinco in the trailer ready for his journey so he could not escape anymore. We hooked up the trailer & Richard backed it into the corral & then opened the other gate so they would both go in. They did just that & then Antelope leaped into the trailer with Cinco hot on her tail. We shut him in the front part & then let Antelope out the back. Next job was to catch Lilly as she was eating hay in the other corral. Richard got her & so we now have two in the trailer & two out – Lilly’s calf & Rosie Lee. Rosie will be easy to catch but the calf will be a toad as that thing is WILD.

All this is a blessing though as we have loaded up the 2 hard ones with 36 hours to spare so no rush. We are leaving here on Thursday morning & heading out in the direction Of Glacier National Park. We are meeting the new owners on the other side & then plan on spending a couple days in Glacier. We have lived here 6 years & never been. Can you believe that? Always wanted to but just never made it. So all this is working out well. Looking forward to a break. Michael has to stay here, not allowed to travel that far so he will feed the animals. We’ll be back by Monday ready to start a new week. Chicks should start hatching next week. Penny is due the week after that & then Tulip is due July 4th so it’s going to be busy.
Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week,

Liz