Day 4 more and more

These are Babe's babies. This morning they discovered the joys of going "snorkeling" in the water pan. It's too bad this picture doesn't have audio!

We spent most of the morning running to Lett's Hardware to get the new belts for the bailer. Then Brian's dad arrived with another load of straw and I stole a minute for myself. I snuck off to the beauty shop for a shampoo, trim and style. The style part didn't last long since I immediately put on a hat when I got home. LOL

For lunch I tried my hand at grilling pork shoulder steaks with mesquite wood chips added to the coals. They were great with baked potatoes, and succotash on the side followed by cherry cheesecake. After lunch, I helped Brian load up the car. He and his daughter, Kacie, are going on a Daddy/Daughter road trip to Missouri this weekend. They will be interviewing our old friend Bud Nichol about his years of raising RW's. And they'll be going to check out some Soay sheep. Hopefully they'll come home with lots of video and pics. I tried to make it very clear that they are NOT to bring home a baby sheep in the back seat of the buick.

Once I kissed the DH goodbye, it was back to the never ending garage cleaning. I've already filled the dumpster. We've a rather large pile of yard sale items. There is a stack to go to the garden shed. A stack to go to the barn and a stack to go to the house. And there's a stack to go into the dumpster after they come to empty it again on Monday.

After I got overwhelmed by the garage, my niece and I went out to walk through the animals. We are expecting more calves and lambs any time now. We didn't find any new babies, but it was a good thing we went out. My mom's favorite White Park cow was down and couldn't get up!

It looked like she had laid down on a mound of hay, then when she got comfortable she rolled onto her side. When she did that she ended up with her feet up hill. It is difficult- if not down right impossible- for a cow to rise from that position. Heather and I pushed the poor old girl up onto her belly and went after hay and water for her. By the time we came back she was standing up, but not using her  right leg.

We didn't want the other cows pushing her around and we wanted to be sure she could take care of her calf and get to water without to much trouble, so we moved her slowly and painfully the 20 feet into the round pen. Then we caught her calf and put her in with her momma. Feed, hay and water came next. And now we wait. I'm hoping she will recover in the next day or so.

After that drama, I decided to tackle another adventure. Moving one of the chicken tractors to the grassy spot by the new barn. This has traditionally been Brian's job. He's better with the hydraulics on the tractor and the balancing act required to get the chicken tractor relocated. I used the tractor bucket to pick it up. Luck was with me and one of the cross pieces snagged on the bucket arm holding it fairly securely in place. I put the tractor in 4 wheel drive and hauled it to it's new location. There was one tense moment when I was trying to tip it off of the bucket so it would land risht side up and not squash me in the process, but it came out okay. Tomorrow I'll go over it and give it a spring "tune up". Then the hens come off my garden and the plants start going in!!

By the time I got done with that it was dark. Time for a shower, some leftovers and a glass of tea, and catching up on emails and my blog. Now all I'm waiting for is my good nite call from the DH.