Middle / north pasture gates and fence work

Back in the end of May and beginning of June (when Blogger was not forwarding posts in emails), and before all my crises in June and July, I added several gates to, and rebuilt a section of, the fence that separates the north and middle pastures.  Crises aside, I have completed a long term improvement project this year.

There was only one gate in that fence, and that gate was on the east side of the pasture.  There were no gates elsewhere, especially the west side near the river.  The fence was a three strand barb wire fence and I could step over the fence, but more gates were needed.

First I had to rebuild the end of the fence.  The fence formerly ended on a high river bank where the barb wire was wrapped around a tree.  The tree died and last year broke off.  Enough of the tree remained standing to anchor the old fence.  The fence line also bent to go to the tree.  Eventually the rest of the tree stump will rot and fall over.  So I put two railroad ties in the ground as posts to anchor the end of the new fence and removed the small bend in the fence

New anchor fence and old fence.

Once the anchor fence was built I had to pause as the cattle needed to be rotated into the middle pasture.  Once the cattle were rotated back into the south pasture I continued with the fence.

Length of fence rebuild: from left to right of photo.

I installed a 12 foot gate I had bought on Craiglist last year.  The bottom of the gate has an extra rail.  Before I bought the gate the previous owners had left the gate sit in horse manure and the bottom (now second to the bottom) rail was rusted out.  I had my neighbor Curtis weld a pipe I had to make a strong bottom rail.

I rebuilt the fence from the gate to my anchor railroad ties.  I upgraded the fence from three (and in a couple short sections - four) strands of barb wire to six strands.

Once I completed that work I rebuilt some of the fence going east.  I wanted to rebuild the fence past the apple tree.  Each Fall Buddy the bull would break the top wire of the three strand fence and hop over the fence into the north pasture so he could eat the apples that had fallen on that side of the fence.  While I no longer have Buddy I don't want Toby the new bull to learn this habit.

Apple tree

Out past the trees, about at the point where I decided to end (for now) the fence rebuild, I decided to add another gate.  I had a galvanized metal 10 foot gate I had no plans for.  At times, I cross this section of fence and therefore this would be a good spot for a gate.

While the holes for the one gate and anchor end of the fence were easy to dig in the soft dirt in the trees (other than adjusting for a tree root or two), the railroad tie holes for this second gate were another story.  I was back digging in rocky and gravel territory.  I only dug holes for three posts and two of the holes were a lot of work breaking loose, with a metal bar, the rock and gravel in the ground.  A 45 minute job per hole.

Ground beef sold

I sold all my ground beef.  I kept the beef tenderloins for myself.  I could have sold a bit more as I was 11 pounds short for the last request.  People were buying more after tasting and liking what they first bought.  Friends of friends wanted some ground beef.  Donna and Jan were great help in networking their friends and finding buyers for me.

Because I thought I would have more trouble selling 700 or so pounds of ground beef I painted over one of Tammy's old "Womens Expo Today" signs.  I planned on painting "Ground Beef For Sale" and setting the sign by the road.  All the beef sold before I could paint the words.

Wednesday I changed the injured cow's bandage by myself.  Donna is recovering from having one knee replaced this week.  The cow's leg is still healing.  A bit more "goo" than last time, but still it looks like healing is continuing.  (I forgot to take a photo.)   The cow defecated once again after I wrapped the white bandage and before I could wrap the outer layer.  I cleaned the white bandage best as I could of the manure splatters.

The cow still limps bad.  I suspect that even if she heals she will have a bad limp.  Most likely hamburger next year after her potential calf is weaned.


Apple season has started.  Something is up this year as many apple trees do not have apples.  None of my trees have apples and a number of friend's trees also do not.  Must be because of global warming.  I still have a few neighbor's trees I do get apples from.  All the pear trees are loaded.  My pear tree has the most pears ever and some branches are bent way down from the weight.

Bicycle lawn ornament and irrigation

At the Monday auction I got a bicycle lawn ornament.   Once I saw the lawn ornament in person I knew I had to have it.  It is made of solid metal, not tin.   While the wheels turn, it is not a wind ornament.

I am nearing the end of irrigating.  This evening I reached the road and finished the south side of irrigating.  I have a few days left on the north side.  Because I have a few shortened lines due to going around the house, I made three lines from the two lines (and by adding a few extra pieces of pipe.)

Because the north line will continue east, I moved the current north line to the east of the three lines.  The middle line is "new" pipes.  Because the south line will eventually be stored west in the pasture, the west line of the three lines is nine of the fifteen south line pipes.   Therefore more carrying of pipes than usual.    And the extra carrying now will reduce future carrying of pipes through wet irrigated fields.

I expected this evening irrigation pipe move to take a little longer than the usual almost two hour move; but it took way longer.  New pipe configuration meant adjusting some of the hook and latches.  The smoky skies meant the three quarters moon was more orange and didn't shine much light.  By the time I was moving the third line it had gotten dark.  That slowed me down.  I'll see in the morning how straight my third line is.  And because one sprinkler ended up right against a fence I had to replace the 40 foot pipe with a 30 foot pipe.  I hadn't used this pipe before and the hook and latch had trouble working with the next pipe.  Once the water was flowing, with a flashlight in the dark I found the two pipes were partially separated and leaking badly.  Before long hardly any water would be thrown from the sprinklers.  Twice I had to pop off the last pipe to release pressure so I could try to re-hook the pipe.

I had a few extra pipes than normal so in the morning I'll see how far the sprinklers are throwing the water.

All told it took me almost four hours to set the pipes tonight, for a total of six hours spent today moving pipes.  I have two more days left and I'll be done for the year and I'll be so glad.

Earlier this week I learned I can get a second cutting of my first year alfalfa field.  When getting cost quotes from the two seed dealers this Spring I asked about first year alfalfa.  No fall grazing by the cattle until the ground freezes as the cattle will pull some of the alfalfa root-and-all out of the ground.  Weeds.  The first year yield will be lower than average.  And no second cutting.

But my go-to guy Chris said earlier this year I could get a second cutting.  The internet did not counsel against a second cutting.  And finally Jorden from the local ag extension office said they did second cuttings and it was ok to do so.

And most of my alfalfa has gotten tall and thick.  I am having trouble finding the pocket gopher dirt mounds in the hayfield.

So change of plans.  I plan now to cut the field again.  Ideally I would have the field cut and drying right now as the weather is dry and the temperatures in the afternoon warm.  But I am not done irrigating due to a late start from all the problems with the first cut.   What about next week?  A big weather pattern change.  The end of dry and warm weather and it is forecast to be cool and wet.

Always a challenge to get anything done.  So, we'll see if I can get a second cutting this year.  Everyone says to do a last alfalfa cutting at least four weeks before a hard freeze to give time for the alfalfa plants to do a little re-growth to better prepare the roots for next Spring.  Time is not my friend right now.

Rodeo at the Fair

Friday and Saturday nights Donna and I attended the rodeo at the Flathead Fair.  Donna likes the bull riders and I like the Indian races.

Funnel cakes - which I remember from the North Dakota and Minnesota fairs - was very popular with the rodeo attendees and I think that was the most common food item people were carrying.   Friday night a couple ladies sitting next to us shared some of their funnel cake with us.  I thought it was good but Donna said she didn't like it.

The rodeo clown was the same guy from the past few years.  Most of his jokes and his routine we have heard multiple times.

Indian race

Here is a 14 second video of the Indian race when the riders transfer horses: https://youtu.be/DRWV01atblE

This guy was more entertaining that the rodeo clown.  He hammed it up and danced and tried to engage the rodeo clown for the longest time.   This good ol' Montana boy seemed to be pretty happy... and probably drunk.

Cow leg wound update 2

I changed the cow's bandage again today.  Bandage number 4.  Her wound continues to look better.  She seems to be stepping on that foot a little more.

She defecated twice before going into the loading chute and head gate.  She defecated twice more standing there.  Once after I took the old bandage off.  So I had to get a pail of water and clean manure off her wound.  And off my pants leg hit by the splattering.

Avoiding the manure while wrapping her leg was a challenge

This afternoon I talked with  another rancher I know who has lots of cattle.  He also has a cow who badly cut her leg.  He suspects some tendons were also cut.  His solution was to see if the cow makes it.  He did remove the maggots from the wound.  The maggots didn't return and the wound appears to be healing. He suspects removing the dead flesh is why the maggots didn't return.

He has had cattle with lumpy jaws ("Sometime they can live a long time.").  This year he had a four day old calf who was injured and lost sight in one eye.  She spent three weeks, twice a day, either bottle feeding the calf or teaching and helping it drink from its mother before the calf made it.  And his mature bull got a twisted penis ("Like a corkscrew").  Fortunately he had a younger backup bull he could use to breed the cows.

So he wasn't entirely sympathetic to all my cattle problems this year.

Bison Range visit

On the way to see Phillip Phillips in concert in Sandpoint, Idaho last Saturday, Donna and I took a side trip to visit the National Bison Range in Montana.

Here is a map of the Bison Range. (https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/NBR%20Tearsheet%20Page%201%20and%202%20testfixed%20FINAL.pdf)

We saw most of the Bison in the area between points 2 and 3 on the map.

It took a little under two hours to drive the loop through the Bison Range.

Lots of fires in western Montana.  I was surprised the sign didn't say the danger was extreme.  The temperature was 100 degrees as we drove through the Bison Range.

The Bison Range has animals other than just Bison.

Bison in their "wallow" area where they take dust baths to keep the insects and flies off of them.

Unlike the idiots in Yellowstone National Park, we stayed in the car the entire time and waited for the bison to move off the road before continuing on.

The bull

From area 4 on the map, looking back down on area 3 where we saw most of the bison.

From area 6 on the map looking down an east to the Mission Mountains.  Normally one has a great view of the Mission Mountains.  With all the smoke ad the haze from the heat - no view today.

On the map, near Antelope Ridge  (area 7)

Here is a 40 second video of the Bison bull grunting:  https://youtu.be/2lI9hzSpYDI

Cow leg wound update

Last Sunday I changed the cow's bandage.   Again she did well and stood still while I re-bandaged her leg.

I think her wound looks better.

Phillip Phillips concert in Sandpoint

I think I'm recovered from my concert trip on  Saturday.  I had to go for a 24 mile bicycle ride on Sunday to get reset and energized.


Donna really likes Phillip Phillips.  I never watched American Idol so I didn't know he won season 11.  For my birthday I got a ticket to a Phillip Phillips concert in Sandpoint, Idaho on August 11 - last Saturday night.

Sandpoint is about three and a half hours away through the mountains.

We left around 11 am.  First we visited the Bison Range (which I'll write about in a another post later.)  We got to Sandpoint after 4 pm Idaho time (5 pm Montana time).  As we hadn't eaten since breakfast we were starved.  We came across Dub's Drive-In restaurant and ate there.  (https://www.yelp.com/biz/dubs-drive-in-sandpoint)   Good food but busy.

Donna thought since Sandpoint was a small town she didn't need to study or print the town map and where the concert was taking place.  At over 7,300 people we needed a map.  Donna asked some teenagers in the booth next to us for directions.  They looked it up on their smartphone and pointed us in the right direction.  But still we had trouble.  I asked a guy outside a gas station and his directions got us there.

The teenage girls hadn't heard of Phillip Phillips.  They asked Donna if he was young?  Yes.  They asked if he was cute?  Again Donna told them yes.

The gates opened at 6 pm and the concert started at 7:30 pm.  Seating was first come - first served.  We were there 45 minutes before the gates opened and there was already a long line.  Donna has a bad knee (knee replacement surgery for her is next week) and can't stand for a long period.  I asked a festival volunteer if there were accommodations for handicap people and the answer was yes.

We went to the handicap line. They were already letting the handicapped people inside the grounds. While I am not handicapped they let me in with Donna.

We had two hours before the concert started.  Earlier I had planned to catch up on my sleep during the drive.  But Donna wasn't feeling well so I ended up doing all the driving.  We were sitting on benches in the grandstand so I wasn't able to fully sleep.  While I am a night owl, I only made it to Thompson Falls, MT - about an hour and a half drive, or 86 miles - before I started to get sleepy.  Donna, a morning person, was wide awake and ended up driving the rest of the way back to Kalispell.   We got back to Kalispell about 3:15 am.

The concert was Phillip Phillips and Gavin DeGraw as co-headliners.   Phillip Phillips performed first, which turned to be good for us.   While the other concert goers seemed to be enjoying DeGraw's music, to me it was too loud and his songs were not that appealing.  Especially as we had a long drive home.  I lasted three songs and Donna another three.

The hour and a half concert by Phillip Phillips was good.

Leaving Sandpoint roads were splitting everywhere.  I thought I had taken the right split to get us back to Montana via Hwy 200.  Miles passed and cars dwindled away.  No highway signs. Just darkness and a twisty road.  Finally - after what seemed to be at least 20 miles - I saw a highway sign.  We were on the right highway.

I took a short video of one of Phillip's songs at the concert.  But I suspect YouTube would complain about copyright issues, so I'll skip uploading the video.

Heading back

After moving the irrigation pipes twice a day, yesterday I reached the west end of the pastures.  Tonight I started the journey back to the beginning.  The grass is liking the water as it is staying green; and the grass that had begun to turn brown is greening back up.

Pipes are not at the end as this photo was taken a few days ago.

Yesterday morning as I moved irrigation pipes I heard the corral panels around the weed hay rattle.  One cow was trying to lift up one panel on the west side but the panel being wired to the steel fence post was stopping her.   Which cow?  Yes, of course... the problem child, Maria.

One other cow was standing nearby giving encouragement to Maria.

"You go girl!"

"You can do it!"

"Keep lifting."

"Come on now... a little harder."

Which cow was that?   Of course it was Panda.   The other trouble maker.   The rest of the cows were resting or getting ready to rest.  The calves were playing in the river, or on the island.  Yelling, I ran and chased Maria and Panda away from the corral panels.  One other cow nearby thought I lost my mind and she started to call for her calf to stop playing in the river and come to her.  The calf answered back, "But Mom... I'm having fun with my friends."

"Yes, but the rancher has gone nuts."

Back and forth they called and answered each other.

I moved some pipes to throw water towards the weed hay.  Several bales got wet (and smell even worse), and water pooled nearby.  No cattle messed with the weed hay panels today.


With a high temperature of 95 degrees today, I bicycled 30 miles in the morning after moving irrigation pipes, and then caught up on my sleep in the afternoon.

Cow leg wound

Today I cut off the bandage from the cow's leg wound.  Still looks yucky and smells.

From last Friday

Wednesday morning, August 8

I'd like to think the cow is a little better, but that may be wishful thinking.  She still struggles to walk.


I re-wrapped the wound to keep the flies off it as they immediately came when I removed the old bandage.  I made cutouts for the dewclaws.  I need to replace the bandage every four to five days.

While the cow is usually easy to work with, I put the cow in the headgate to hold her in place.  She stood and didn't move her foot as I worked.  I did have to avoid several instances when she defecated.

Hay, irrigation, hamburger and bicycle

Today I finished my hay gathering for the year.  I finally found time to get some small square hay bales from Wyatt.  They can be useful, especially when I am feeding them to the injured cow and calves.  I couldn't wait much longer as his hay is selling fast.

I got 80 bales over three pickup loads.  The first load was 39 bales but I found it harder to unload the top bale into the barn as the bale was higher than the barn door.  The other loads were 31 bales and 10 bales.  I tried to get the bales hauled and stacked in the barn before the temperature got hot and I ran out of energy.  I had room in the barn for more bales but Wyatt wanted to make sure his 'horse ladies' had enough hay.

39 bales

Less than 10% of my pastures have trees.  But it seems that each time at least one irrigation line has a tree or tree stump where the line should go.  Today when I skirted a tree the sprinkler was located right next to the tree.  I had to swap a 40 foot section with a 20 foot section to move the sprinkler location.

Tonight the calves and heifers were at it again.  They kept tipping the long line over at I tried to move pipes.  I set the sprinklers upright and after I got another pipe I found the line tipped over again.  One time they waited until I was about to insert another piece of pipe.  After one or two times it gets old fast and they did this for a dozen or so pieces of pipe.  So lots of yelling by me before long.

The cow with the bad leg is still limping bad.  The bull calls out multiple times a day for his cows.  His cows ignore him now that they got what they wanted from him.


This morning I called my meat processor with the amount of 93% lean versus 85% lean.   He informed me I had two more trays (about 100 pounds) of hamburger from the first cow.  A rack of trays holds seven trays and I had nine trays.  His workers overlooked the two extra trays in the freezer when I picked up the hamburger.  In a week I will have another cow of hamburger and now I have an additional 100 pounds to sell.  I am drowning in hamburger.


The Monday auction had a bicycle I was interested as a second bicycle.  I went and checked it out and made sure everything worked.  I really liked the bicycle.  The problem: the frame size appeared to be one size too small.  There are adjustments that can be made, but until I rode the bicycle after the adjustments I wouldn't know if they would work.    The bicycle sold for $230.  If the frame fit I would have paid that or more as the bicycle was worth it.  But that was too much for a bicycle that may not fit right.

It has been three days since my last crisis.  The longest period in over a month.  Maybe things are settling down.

Another vet visit

Dr. Hutter, the vet, said to cut off the cow's bandage by the end of the week.  This morning after moving the irrigation pipes I did so.  Cow 60 mostly stood still while I did so and I didn't have to put her in the head gate.  Her leg is still swollen; she doesn't stand on her heel; and the wound looked nasty.

So I called the vet's office.  I was told Dr. Hutter would call me back.   Several hours later at noon I decided time was running out and I would bring the cow in to the vet's office.  I called for an appointment and was told they forgot Dr. Hutter had the day off.  And they never called to let me know.   I made an appointment for the other vet to see the cow.

He cleaned the wound and checked it.  While, yes, the tendons were not severed, the tendon's sheaths were torn and ruptured.  The prognosis: not good.  In the past week I have turned two cows into hamburger.  I can't do a third.  And there is no opening in the schedule until January.  And even if there was an earlier opening I would have to wait three weeks due to the anti-biotic injection last week.

The worst: the cow dies from the infection.   The best: the cow lives but is lame.

To help fight the infection there is a stronger, more costly anti-biotic ($99).   The vet didn't push it as the prognosis is not good but Donna felt the cow should have it.  So I got it since about the only option I have is to try to save the cow.

To help keep the wound clean I got a half dozen bandages and wraps.  They will have to be changed every 4 to 5 days.

So, we'll see.

What a nightmare.


The other news is that Tobey is getting pretty independent now that all the cows are bred.  August 1 he bred the last cow, cow 40 who had kept cow 20 company and who was scheduled to be sold at auction this Fall. With cow 60 in such bad shape cow 40 got a reprieve.  And I get stuck with a late early May calf.

This morning Tobey was missing again.  All the cows and calves were laying just outside of the corral.  I found Tobey at the far end of the pasture by the river.

Eventually he made his way back to the cows.  He started to get annoyed if I herded him too fast.

I don't have time to spend a half hour each day looking for him if he isn't going to spend time with the cows.  (With Buddy this was not a problem.)   And if Tobey gets too independent he may cross the low river and go on a road trip looking for more cows.

So... back into the corral for him.  Except once he got back to the cows outside of the corral Tobey didn't want to go into the corral.  He wanted to check out all the cows (and some calves) to see if they needed his services.  Losing his virginity and all the attention from the cows had gone to his head.  He wants sex all the time now.

An hour later he wandered back near the corral and I got him inside.  He insisted cow 60 stand up so he could check her.  So I put him in the south corral and cow 60 and the two calves in the main corral.  In the south corral for Tobey I got a large hay bale as he will be spending all his time there. I imagine tomorrow Tobey will start mooing and moaning about how he misses being with the cows.

For cow 60 and the calves I put the long wooden feeder back together for their hay.  And since the boards are not wet and swollen I had a two and a half inch gap in the floor.  I had to cut a board to fit for now.

So.  Hassles all around.  I use the south corral to wean the calves but that is out now that Tobey lives there now.


The calf with the missing mother, calf 120, has pretty much lost her voice from all her calling for her mother.

The Summer of tragedy, heartbreak and loss here at the ranch rolls on.  I am beyond frustrated and annoyed.  The year is a total loss.

Irrigation and missing bull

This morning when I went out to move the irrigation pipes I found half of the northern line partially tipped over.  Apparently the cattle messed with the pipes before I restarted the irrigation pump. So the water thrown by these pipes were not going far.  This evening the cattle were back at it.  In the time it took for me to walk from moving the last pipe in the line to turning the water on for the line the cattle tipped the line over.  Almost all of the pipes were tipped over.  I got wet as I had to tip each individual sprinkler back upright.

The calf whose mother is being made into hamburger is still calling for her mother.  Her voice is pretty horse.  I think the cow and other calf are annoyed by her calling and calling.

After I moved the sprinkler lines in the morning I checked on the cattle.  As I moved the northern line eight cattle were grazing in the middle of the pasture.  I didn't see any of the other cattle.  I walked to the trees near the river and found all the calves and most of the rest of the cattle relaxing in the shade under the trees.  By now the grazing cattle came to rest also.  However the bull was missing.

I scanned the north pasture.  No sign of the bull.

I walked through part of the middle pasture.  No sign of the bull.

I walked through part of the south pasture.  No sign of the bull.

The river level is low.  I checked along the river and looked at the other bank for signs the grass was smashed down.  Nothing.  I looked at the gravel bars for signs of hoofprints.  Nothing.

I spent about 45 minutes looking for the bull.  All cattle were laying down now and probably so was he.  He could be laying under a tree in the shade and I would have trouble finding him.  I decided to go back to the house and look later when the cattle are up and grazing again.  As I approached the corral I saw the bull laying in a lower area next to the corral fence in the shade.  He was keeping the injured cow and the two calves company.  He must have used ninja moves as he wasn't there when I was moving irrigation pipes nearby.

Crisis averted.

Crises resolution

I worked through the latest crises.

In the morning I asked my neighbor Curtis if he could test the voltage on my pump's circuit breaker to see if the problem is with the circuit breaker or the pump.  The circuit breaker was fine.  But between the circuit breaker and the pump is a contact or starter mechanism.  Voltage went into the contact/starter but did not come out of it.  At least the problem was not with the pump.

I called the electrical company who did the electrical work a few years ago when I re-did the wiring.  The old guy, Gene, - who must be pushing 90 - had done the estimate and remembered me and my pump and electric box - which was amazing.  He told me there was a reset button and did I push it?

Huh?

So I went and looked the electrical box over and under dust, dirt and spiderwebs I found two reset buttons.  Pushing them worked.  I had power.

Gene said a few other irrigation systems locally had a similar problem the past week.  My electricity is 3-phase and he thought it is possible the electrical current fluctuated and potentially briefly was 2-phase or single-phase.  To prevent pump motor damage contacts are broken.

And later talking with my neighbor Wyatt, who used to work at the local lumber mill; he said for some of their 3-phase equipment, contacts would break due to heat and they would have to be reset.

Now, I never had this problem before.  I have my pump and electrical box inside a shed which is ventilated.  Other years I left the shed door open also.  This year I haven't as the cattle are in that pasture.

Anyway, I was back to irrigating without spending $$$.   In the evening as I was moving irrigation sprinkler lines the pump quit again.   Same thing.   Once I moved the lines and hit the reset button, I was able to start the pump back up.

I hope this doesn't become a "thing".  The temperature this afternoon was 93 degrees.  Fortunately weather forecast is for cooler temperatures in the lower 80s.


More bad/good news.  For the cow with the lumpy jaw I have a resolution.  I spoke with Evan, who hauls cattle and works part-time for the auction.  He said I would be able to sell the lumpy jaw cow, but as the buyers would dock for anything and everything, I most likely would get more for the cow if I turned her into hamburger.

I asked the meat processor I used about his schedule.  He is now booked up to January.  But as luck would have it, someone just canceled.  If I could bring my cow in today he would be able to process my cow.  So I hauled the cow to the processor as it wasn't hard to get the cow into the corral and loaded into my stock trailer.  Having just cleaned the trailer Monday I now had to clean it all over again.

I left the cow's calf out with the herd.  She would be too busy playing with the other calves to notice her mom was gone.  By evening when I was moving irrigation pipes the calf finally realized her mother was missing.  She was wandering around the pasture looking and calling for her mother.  Before the calf got a wild hair and decided to look in places outside the ranch, I opened the corral and she ran in looking for her mother.  I put the calf in with the injured leg cow and her calf.  The other calf was overjoyed at having her friend back with her as she has been sad watching her friends run around the pasture while she was stuck in the corral with her mother.    The calf whose mother is gone was in no mood to play.  Even now she is still calling out for her mother.


All my hamburger is gone.  I either sold it or gave it away to friends.  I actually could have sold more.  Well, in a few weeks I will have more hamburger.

More crises

It doesn't stop.

I got a call from Vandevanters, the meat processer, that the hamburger was ready from my cow.  I still had my stock trailer hooked to my pickup and the pickup bed half full of wood.  I unhooked the trailer, and while waiting at Vandevanters, moved some of the wood to the back of the pickup to make room for the boxes of hamburger.

90 degree heat so I had to get the frozen 1 pound packages immediately home to the freezer.  I first dropped off hamburger several people said they wanted, and then filled my freezer.

I put what didn't fit in my freezer in Jan's freezer as she had extra room.  I have more hamburger than I expected as they said I had about 450 pounds of hamburger, 100 more pounds than I anticipated.

85% lean.

So.  Now to sell it.


During the time I picked up the hamburger my irrigation quit.  After filling my freezer I ran out to make sure the pump wasn't still running.  It wasn't.   Once I had all the hamburger settled for the night I went back to examine the pump.   No power.  I called the electric company and their tests from the office indicated voltage to my meter.  I tried turning off and then back on their switch, and also checked my circuit breaker was on, and still nothing.  So tomorrow it looks like I will have to hire an electrician.

My bad luck never ends and I get nothing done.