Chicory, and Toby was in a mood

Patti knows flowers and she sent me an email that the flower I had posted about several days ago is Chicory.  https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/chicory

Chicory is a good example of an invasive species that remains sparsely scattered during early population establishment and then within a few short years shows up in masses everywhere.

Darn. It is such a pretty flower.  … I mean: weed.  Today I pulled up the two plants I found the other day, and the plant I found today when moving pipes.  I may have to spray in the future.  The plants already have a large root and I couldn't pull all of the root out with the plants.


This morning when I went out to move irrigation pipes Toby was restless.  He was walking the corral fence. The cattle were at the far end of the north pasture closer to the river. A short time later the electric lines going from the power pole by the garage over to the road went whipping.  The power pole is in the NE pasture by my garage.  The pole is anchored in the ground by a support cable.  Toby had walked by the cable, and being in a 'mood' didn't care that he hit the cable.  That must have moved the pole which then whipped the two power line wires.

Okay!  That's enough!  Time out!

When Toby walked back into the corral I carefully opened the gate to the corral south of the barn.  He walked through and I shut the gate before Mama and Diamond could come through the gate.  Toby spent the day in that corral.  I let him out in the evening when I moved irrigation pipes as one line would go right through that corral.

Toby went to join Mama and Diamond eating grass in the NE pasture.  The one irrigation line went through the corral to the west side of the NE pasture.  It was then I discovered the gate between the north and the NE pastures was bent.  The bottom of the gate on one side was bent up and the one end of the gate was cockeyed.  Toby, when he was in a mood in the morning, must have put his head under the gate and tried to bend it up and out.   I also found a large walk-through corral panel in the north pasture that I had leaned against the 'buffalo' fence next to the gate laying on the ground.  The gate - the strong HW brown metal - held.  The gate still works.  But now on my to-do list is to somehow bend the gate back in shape.  *sigh*

When I finished moving the irrigation pipes, and as I walked back to the corral, I wanted to check to see if the irrigation water made it all the way to the gate.  That would help keep Toby away if he got in a mood again the next morning.  I heard a loud noise at the buffalo fence and saw several calves run away from the fence.  Speckles and her calf was at  the north pasture side of the buffalo fence.  On the other side was Toby.  He had banged on the buffalo fence.  The fence held.  The cattle in the north pasture should have been all bred and no one in heat.  But Toby, having been away from them for a few days now, wanted to check them out.  And, no, the irrigation water didn't quite make it to the fence and gate.

Toby was standing among my stacks of boards and had to back up to get out.  Of course he knocked some of the boards over.  I opened the cockeyed gate to let Toby into the north pasture.  Mama, her calf, and Diamond were also here and wanted to get into the north pasture.  I was able to keep them in the NE pasture and let Toby out.  I did have to move quick with the gate as Mama's calf wanted to follow Toby.  I had to cut him off before he darted through the gate without getting Mama mad.

Of course in 24 hours or so Toby will be bellowing to get back with Mama and Diamond.  Diamond still hasn't had her calf.   Diamond is pregnant as all get-out and could calve any day now.   Maybe Diamond is having a bull calf as bull calves have a slightly longer gestation than heifer calves.  I can't wait for her to have her calf as then everyone can be altogether.

Pennycress, weed hay, the gift that keeps on giving.