Saturday, January 22, 2011

Preg Testin' and Butchering

The other day, my husband's cousin asked him if he'd come and help him preg test some cows.  Of course he said he would help, even though it was a blizzard. Man these guys. The weather doesn't deter them!  As he was getting ready to leave I said, "Hey, I have an old pregnancy test in the drawer, if you want to use that."  He just rolled his eyes and gave me a weird look. I wonder why? Just tryin' to be helpful!

Then a few days later, I found out they had been down at the barn butchering a calf.  I guess the calf had some neurological disorder, so they thought this would be the best thing.  He and a couple other guys did it themselves.   They put some of the "specialties" on the tailgate of the pick-up.... like the heart and the liver and such.  But when they weren't looking, our dog snuck up and stole the heart!  They were pretty upset with him. But I'm sure he didn't care. He got to enjoy a pretty great treat.  Just like that old deer bone he found the other day and was chewing on....

So there you have it.  Two very fun chores that my husband got to participate in.....like their normal or something.

Gross.

I am saving you from any pictures at this time.  Yes, you are welcome.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Pure Country

So we turned the TV on last night, and of course, as most husbands do, mine ended up with remote control. He started flipping through the channels when he found the movie, "Pure Country."
He stopped to watch it for a while.
I was amused, as it's a little bit older, so I started talking about it.
Me:  So, would you like it if I wore Wranglers like that? Clear up to my ribs?
Him:  Nope. I don't like girls in Wranglers.
Me:  What?! But YOU wear Wranglers. Hah. That's so funny. You really don't like girls in them, huh?
Him:  Nope. Never have.
Me: Well sheesh. I don't like Wranglers at all, but I don't complain that you wear them. But still, you can't just say that it's okay for you to wear them and not for me. I think I'll go buy a pair now.
Him: No comment

A little while later I asked, "Honey, is this movie about a celebrity or something?"
Him: Have you never seen this before?!
Me: No
Him: It's about George Strait. That's him right there! I can't believe you didn't know that!
Me: That's hilarious. Sorry honey. I'll start working on my Country Celebrities...

Then a little while later there was this romantic part where they were dancing together and falling in love. I said, "Hun, why don't we stand up and dance with them. It's so romantic."
He just said, "You can't. Remember how you don't feel well?"
He's so romantic. Aren't cowboys supposed to be romantic? Does somebody have that rule-book somewhere that tells how all cowboys are romantic? I need that book to show him...So that we can ride off into the sunset together....

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Calving Records

Yesterday, I was watching my husband on the computer as he was entering in information about the calves from last year.  You see, every cow is tagged so they know which is which and what they need them for. So, when the momma cows have babies, that's all recorded too.  
Here is a sample for ya:

(*The real numbers have been changed to respect the privacy of the momma cows..)

I thought his comments were amusing. But I did have to ask him what a switch was. "Hun, what's a switch and why does that calf have one?"
He had to explain to me that his comment meant the calf had a white switch and that a switch is the end of it's tail. Very interesing.

Then I kind chuckled at him and said, "Hun, under 'sex' why are you putting in 'boy' and 'female'? Why don't you use 'male' instead of 'boy.'" ha ha ha hee hee.

Then he explained that it meant, "bull", not "boy."

Oh.

Well, then why don't you put an 'h' for "heifer" instead of "female."

His response? Cause that's just the way the do it.

Makes sense, right?

By the way, a cow already had a calf last week. That was a surprise birth.  They have no idea how it got pregnant so early last year.  Guess she got around.

Looks like we'll really get going again here soon, starting in February. It's calving season!

Loved this

The other day, this newspaper caught the corner of my eye.  Some of you may know that I am a doula, so you'll understand why I paused to look at this....

Aw, I love how the cows need time to adjust to new motherhood too.  The cool thing is that these expert ranchers say that it works best when you keep the calf and mother together. The worst thing to do is to separate them, or get in the way right after birth. Very interesting, eh? We could learn something from cows!
 Looks like I need to pay attention to my husband's ranch/cowboy magazines and newspapers. You should see the stack of them in our office. Guess it's time for me to go through them. Looks like I could be missing some good stuff!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

A Mouse in the House

Last night, as I was enjoying a conversation with my sister-in-law, she all of a sudden stopped and said, "Um, there is a mouse by your Christmas tree."

(Yes still have Christmas up at our house. I mean, it takes so long to put up, what's the rush?)

Anyway. Mice are definitely not welcome in my living room. So of course I yell to the cowboy that there is a mouse, and quickly, he grabs the cat to come and catch the mouse. That's the most logical solution, right?

But Moley didn't really understand what she was looking for. She just thought we were welcoming her the warm house to lounge around. I mean, what else does a 4-month-pregnant cat want to do? So she headed toward the stairs, which is for some reason, her favorite place to lay. (It must be the shag carpet.)

I went after her trying to explain that there was a treat in the other room, as I heard a loud pound and the husband say, "Dang, I'm good!"

I brought the cat back in and saw a dead mouse on the floor.

"Wow, did you kill him yourself?"

And he said, "Yep, with my bare hands. Well, with this flashlight."

I must say. It was pretty impressive. Kind of like a knight in shining armor killing the dragon for his princess... Okay, maybe not, but I was still impressed. I mean he is my knight in shining armor...or a t-shirt and lounge pants. However you want to describe him.

So we brought Moley over to the mouse, to which she immediately started playing with it. I ran to grab my camera and had to tell everyone to hold up so that I could get some pictures of this amazing moment. The cowboy still doesn't understand that I like to document everything with pictures, so he went a little too fast for me, but I was able to catch these shots.
IMG_7529

IMG_7530

Which right afterwards, I yelled in disgust at my toddler who tried to grab the mouse out of his dad's hand, cause he wanted to hold it too. So gross.

Oh, and where is the sister-in-law do you ask? She stayed in the other room. I don't know why.

Things are pretty eventful in a farm house, wouldn't you say? I mean, this was quite the excitement.

Stay tuned for more. Coming up next: Dog opens the front door at 2 AM and let's himself in while forgetting to close the door behind him in the middle of winter. You don't want to miss this story!