Cleaning the stock tank

Saturday afternoon I cleaned the cattle's water tank.  It was starting to get dirty/slimy on the bottom as it hadn't been cleaned since Winter started.

The tank is so old that I don't trust removing the plug on the bottom, so once the water gets low I stand the tank up and tip the water out.  This is a cast iron tank so it is heavy and I get a work out.  I use the water hose and wire brush to clean the tank.

Refilling the tank with water.

Here Baby checked out the clean tank as I refilled it with water.

First pocket gopher

I trapped the first pocket gopher for 2013.  When I burnt the NE pasture on Tuesday I noticed a few fresh dirt mounds.  It has taken me since Tuesday to get this pocket gopher as it kept filling the trap with dirt.   I think the pocket gopher tried to fill the trap with dirt again but got his or her back part trapped in the wire.

One down.... how many more to go this year?

This photo shows that Daisy thinks of pocket gophers the same as I do.  Here she is going to the bathroom in a spot the pocket gopher had dug up.

Jailbreak

Today when Tammy and I came home from running errands uptown I discovered that all the cattle were together in the corral south of the barn.  Momma, a heifer and the two steers made a "jailbreak".

Baby and the rest of the cattle.

How did they get into this part of the corral?   They opened the gate. 

How the cattle opened the gate is they slid the handle back then pushed the gate open.  (Who says cattle are dumb?!)  And the handle is not the easiest to move.

Here is how the gate looks now.  I added the bungee cord.   The chain isn't long enough to wrap around the post and is there for decoration. Wait a minute!  Just now I realized how I can use the chain to secure the gate.   I can wrap the chain around the handle and gate and then 'lock' the chain in the notch - I don't need to wrap the chain around the post.

So Tammy and I had to separate the cattle.  This was easier said than done as Baby was closest to me and therefore the gate.  I wanted her (and one other cattle) to remain here.  I tried to herd Baby back but she would only back up a few steps at a time.   So I decided to herd the others and take a chance of Baby getting to the other side of the corral with the others.

Most of the other cattle would let me get close and not move so I moved to the two steers as they are still excitable and won't let me get close unless I am feeding them hay.  Tammy was standing by the gate ready to close it.  So the cattle would circle back around to the back of the corral.  Around and around we went.

I had Tammy move away from the gate and took my chances of closing the gate myself in time.  And I did it!  Baby and the one heifer lagged and I was able to get the gate closed before they could go through.

So everyone is back where they belong. 

I had been noticing that Momma's udder has been slowly been shrinking.  Now when I checked Momma her udder is small (empty).   Tammy and I were only gone two hours but that was enough for baby to drain the udder.  It has been three weeks since Baby and Momma were separated.  I guess over the next few days I'll see if Momma produces more milk.

Start of ditch burning

Open burning season started March 1.  Since there was only a light breeze on Tuesday I took time in the afternoon to do a little burning.  I burnt the ditch along the NE pasture and a few areas in the NE pasture.

The ditch...

The part of the NE pasture the horse used as their bathroom. Between all the horse manure and the dead long needles from the pine trees, this area needed burning.

Another area the horses used as a bathroom.  I burnt the spot areas of longer grass where they didn't eat near their poop.

Emptying trailer lot

For those who have visited me they often remember the trailer sales lot down the road.  The old lady who owned this lot used it mainly to store old decrepit trailers she must have taken in trade at this and her other trailer sales lot.  I think there were two to three dozen trailers and many of them have been there longer than I have been here.

The old lady died last December and the past few months the old trailers slowly have been taken away.  For quite a number of trailers work had to be done to install tires and other prep work for their movement. 

Formerly the left half of the photo was packed with old run down trailers.

The last half dozen old trailers along with the last new trailer for sale

Birthday flowers

Last week it was Tammy's birthday.  Her daughter Amber and her family sent Tammy these flowers via FedEx.

The flowers turned out well.  Initially the flowers didn't look promising as the flowers were all closed and were packed in the box upside down which bent a few stems.

Ultimate shopping extravaganza

Tammy held another one of her women's expos today - through they are now called: the Ultimate Shopping Extravaganza.

Instead of painting over the signs Tammy had a local business, Great Northern Printing & Sign Co., Inc., make banners to be placed over the signs.  They did a nice job with a quick turnaround.   Tammy got the graphic to them on Tuesday and they made ten banners by Friday afternoon.   I placed banners over three of the signs Friday night.  The A frame signs I had made for Tammy last year vary in sizes and I plan to trim and redo some of the boards to have a consistent size as all the banners are one size.

Daisy has her own blog

I decided to separate news and photos about Daisy into her own blog: http://tallpinescat.blogspot.com/

That way if you are not interested in Daisy you can ignore those posts, or if you are interested in Daisy's adventures you can subscribe to her blog.  To do this you can go to my blog and enter your email address in the "Follow by email" widget on the right side of the blog.   For those who got the post last night "Daisy in the hayfield", you are already subscribed.  If you don't want posts from Daisy's blog, let me know.

Momma and Baby's separation day 3

My effort to fix the fences the previous day has held.   All the cattle are where they are supposed to be and Momma and Baby are separated.

Momma's bag is full again now that Baby can't reach it to suck on it.  Momma is uncomfortable.  I thought the separation would be harder on Baby but Momma is having the harder time of it.

Momma and Baby's separation hickup

I suspected Baby may reach through the barb wire fence to reach Momma's milk bag.  Wednesday morning when I went to the corral I found just that.  Momma stood next to the barb wire fence so Baby could reach her.   By the time I returned with my camera Baby had climbed most way through the barb wire fence to better get at Momma's milk.    Momma was happy as her bag now wasn't so big.

I had stuff to do so I let the cattle be.  Separating Momma and Baby right now would not be easy.  I let Baby drink her fill.  It set back their separation by a day... but oh well.

Then later in the morning when I checked up on the cattle I found they had torn off one of the boards I used to keep them from climbing into the feeder. This is a board I had nailed on.  I guess I didn't use enough nails.

Then I looked over to the other side of the corral and found one of the 'mean' heifers in the hayfield!  What?!      She had broken the corral fence down enough to somehow get over the fence.  At least Momma did not join her.  In all my years I never had any cattle or horses go though this fence. There is always a first time I guess.

Momma and Baby were on the west and east side of the barn.  I opened the gate and Momma went into the north part of the corral.  Well... at least separating Momma and Baby again was easily accomplished.  While this was not how I initially had Momma and Baby separated I'm ok with Baby and one heifer on the south side of the corral and Momma and the rest of the cattle on the north side.

Now to get the other heifer back into the corral without Baby getting out.  I opened the small gate and waited while I watched Baby, who was watching Momma.  The heifer came to the gate but would not step though the gate and come back into the corral.

So I went outside the corral to herd her inside the corral.

The heifer still wouldn't go through the gate.  First she went one way past the gate until I cut her off.  Then she went back past the gate to the other side until I again cut her off.  This went on a half dozen times until she finally turned and passed through the gate.  She didn't want to return to the corral and knew I would close the gate once she passed though it.

Then I had to fix the fence so Baby couldn't climb through the barb wire part of the fence.  Fortunately I had some old snow fence I wasn't using.

Then I had to fix the broken corral fence.  She did a number on the fence.  She broke several small posts and really bent the top metal pipe.  Since the ground is still frozen I put a board and some t-posts against the fence to hold it up.

Then I wired the chain link fence to the metal pole.  Further down on the undisturbed part of the fence, to be on the safe side, I wired the chain link fence to the wood poles.

Plan for later this year: rebuild this fence.  Was it on the list of fence rebuilds for this year?  No.  Is it now?  Yes.

Now to see if my fixes keep the cattle where they belong and Momma and Baby stay separated.

Momma and Baby are separated

Baby is over 6 months old.  She still gets milk from Momma.  It is well time she is weaned from Momma.

Last year I had started to take down the barb wire fence separating the corral into two.  I plan on rebuilding this fence.  Hmmm... I need it done now.

Fortunately I have four corral panels I bought an an auction a couple years ago.   I used the panels to fill in the two sections of the fence I had taken down.

The cattle hung around the panels as I worked.  20 seconds long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jt-azeycQc


Then I had to fix the gate.   As you can see, when open, the gate is longer than the side of the barn.  Over the years the cattle and horses rubbed against the end of the gate and broke it - which was no big deal as I very rarely closed the gate.

Instead of fixing the metal gate now I decided to replace the gate with a sturdy metal gate.  I also added a small metal wire grid to one section of the wooden fence left of the gate.  That will prevent Baby from sticking her head through the fence to reach Momma's bag.  Now to watch to see if Baby sticks her head through the remaining barb wire fence to reach Momma.

I decided to let chance determine how Momma and Baby got separated.  Tuesday morning I found Momma and one 'mean girl' south of the barn, and north of the barn: Baby, one 'mean girl', and the two steers.  Perfect.  I am more concerned about how Baby will handle the loss of milk.  I prefer her to remain with the majority of the cattle and in the north part of the corral with the loafing shed for shelter.

To hold the hay I set out an old bathtub.  That didn't stop this heifer from stepping into the bathtub to eat the hay.

Baby in the north pasture looking as Momma moos.

Here are the cattle and the patched sections of the fence.

Here is a video of Momma and Baby mooing to one another.  2:12 long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZAXqegWlV0

By evening Momma's milk bag was very full and big and bothering her. She was mooing more for Baby than Baby mooing for Momma.  After dark whenever I called for Daisy to come inside the house Momma mooed back to me.

New Samsung refrigerator

My new refrigerator is finally here!   Monday I called to remind Lowes not to forget me once the refrigerators come off the boat to their warehouse.  Jerry at Lowes told me my refrigerator was already at the local Lowes store.  He had it scheduled for delivery on Friday.  Once I got off the phone Tammy wanted me to see if I could get the refrigerator earlier.  Especially as my current refrigerator is dying and starting to smell.

I called Jerry again, and while Lowes was booked with lots of deliveries this week, he moved me up to Wednesday.  Wednesday morning I called Lowes delivery to find out my delivery time but learned I wasn't on the schedule.  I talked to Jerry again and he promised I would get my refrigerator Wednesday between 1:30 pm and 3:30 pm.

Before 2 pm a U-haul truck drove up.  To get me on the schedule as promised Lowes rented a U-haul truck to deliver my refrigerator.  That's service.

The delivery guys had to take off my house door to get the refrigerator inside the house.  I had never taken the door off and I learned it was a solid and very heavy door.

My old refrigerator was a Whirlpool.  I don't know how old it was as neither the delivery guys or I could find a date on it.  I know it predates my dad as he always saved the warranty and instruction booklets on appliances he had bought.  I think the refrigerator is from the last major house remodel which was done in the mid-1960s.

The Whirlpool model was EAT 19PM.   I couldn't find any info on this model other than an advertisement from 1978.  That refrigerator was sold for $537.    I think this style of refrigerator is selling today for around the same price.

Here is where the old Whirlpool refrigerator once stood.  The area is too small - width and height - for the new refrigerator.  Once the kitchen & dining room remodel is done the refrigerator will go elsewhere along the wall.

For now I placed the refrigerator in one corner of the dining room.

Here are photos of my new Samsung refrigerator.  I bought is model:  RF260BEAESR.

Doesn't the LED lighting look cool?

While I am not big on getting extended warranties, I got one for this refrigerator.  Because:

1. there are no authorized Samsung service repairmen in Flathead Valley,
2. the refrigerator has electronics to control the refrigerator instead of dials.  Replacing this circuit board could be expensive,
3. the refrigerator has two compressors - one for the refrigerator and one for the freezer.

Right after we got the refrigerator and plugged it in Tammy went right to work taking the plastic wrap off everything.

I hit the "power cool" and "power freeze" buttons and it wasn't long before it was time to put food into the new freezer. Tammy was adamant she didn't want my "old" food in "her" new refrigerator.  She only wanted her food in her freezer.  My stuff was to go in the basement freezer.