Author Archives: Country Mom

City Girl from Farm Country Moves to the Ranch

Posted on by
1

I grew up in one of the largest South Dakota communities on the east side of the state, or East River as South Dakotans say. Agriculture east of the Missouri River in South Dakota consists mostly of growing crops with some livestock production done primarily to supplement income.

My family moved to the country, just a few miles outside of town, the summer before I started ninth grade. But we didn’t choose country life for agricultural purposes. My father is a diesel mechanic, and he wanted to build a large shop for his work. The only animals we ever had were my mom’s Shih-Tzu and a few outside cats, and the closest thing my dad did to farming was to plant and tend a shelter belt of trees around our place.

Uncles, aunts and cousins, however, exposed me to farming as I was growing up. There were cows to milk, sheep to shear, corn to combine, and hay to bale. I spent weeks visiting these relatives during my summer vacations from school. I remember the farm talk, and I remember some of the actual activities. But overall my actual experiences were fairly limited.

My experiences are still limited, but I am learning more about country life and ranching all the time. It certainly is a lifestyle choice as much as it is a career.

Meet Calf “Red 100”

Posted on by
Reply

meetcalfred100Sports Girls shot this photo for me as we were leaving my in-laws place yesterday morning. It seems they are using red tags on the calves again this year. (See my previous post entitled, “How to Tell One Cow From Another.”)

Handsome Hubby’s family calves in February, so this little calf is probably about 2 months old.

February is a bit early for calving in South Dakota, but our family was sure thankful to be done calving by the time all the winter storms hit later in March. My father-in-law said all he had time for during those blizzards was to feed. He wouldn’t have had time or been able to get around well enough to check and sort cows who were about to calve.

The calves learned to stick close to their mothers during these storms, and thankfully it was never really that cold. So all faired well.

They were busy branding, castrating, vaccinating, etc. But I think they are about done, and I didn’t get any pictures of any of that (probably for the best). Maybe next year.

Speaking of next year, it’s almost time to start the cycle over again. The bulls get let out into the cow pasture May 1.

Duh … Let There Be Light!

Posted on by
1

When I told my sister on our recent visit that I loved the light inside of her new dryer, she looked at me kind of funny. “My old dryer had a light in it, too,” she said. “I’ll bet yours does, too. You probably just need to change the bulb.”

I have had my Maytag dryer for almost 15 years – since the year before Sports Girl was born. It’s served me well, but I don’t ever remember there being a light inside of it. But when I was doing my next load of laundry back at home, I checked it out.

Sure enough – I noticed a night-light sized bulb just inside the door at the top. I had to stoop over and look up to see it, but it was there. And by chance, I happened to have a replacement bulb just the right size – I had them on hand for use in the night light in Busy Toddler’s room.

So I replaced the bulb, and voila! I now have a light that comes on whenever I open my dryer door! It’s not quite as bright, but it works on the same principle as the light in my refrigerator, except I’m not embarrassed by how dirty it is inside of my dryer – which is a definite bonus.

On a similar note, a friend recently told me about her latest “Duh” moment.

“Do you know how to tell what side the gas tank is on from inside the vehicle?” she asked. I didn’t.

“There’s a rather large arrow by the gas gauge that points to it,” she explained. “Someone just pointed that out to me today. I never noticed it before.”

I checked the next time I got into my vehicle – the one I’ve owned for more than two years and have driven for 50,000 miles. And there it was – an arrow pointing towards the driver’s side, which is where the gas tank is filled.

There’s probably been a similar arrow on the gas gauge of every vehicle I’ve driven for the whole 23 years I’ve had my license. Had I known, I wouldn’t have ever had to open my driver’s side door and hang out to peer at the rear of my vehicle. I know I have done this more than once over the years to confirm the presence of the gas tank or lack thereof before pulling up to the pump.

I wish there could have been some solace for me in our mutual lack of awareness on this gas tank arrow, but I wonder … does she know there’s a light inside of her dryer? I’m afraid to ask.

How to Tell One Cow From Another

Posted on by
1

In my previous post I mention “Purple 44.” This is the method Handsome Hubby’s family uses to identify beef cattle.

Each year a different colored ear tag is used for that year’s crop, and each calf is labeled with the same number as his or her mother. So if Purple 44 had had a calf, it may have had a blue or yellow ear tag, but it would have also had the number 44 on it.

I wish I had understood this about 10 years ago. On one rare occasion, I was on horseback up in the woods helping check the cattle. For some reason and I honestly can’t remember what it was (although it probably had something to do with pairing up a cow and a calf), we were looking for the cow “Red 39.” I’m unsure of the exact number of the cow, and it’s really not relevant, but the color was definitely red.

At the time the cattle herd was mostly black, but there were some red ones intermingled. I checked every red cow I came across, but none had the number we were looking for on its ear tag. Actually, no one found the cow, and we gave up after much searching.

It wasn’t until after the horses were loaded into the trailer and we were seated in the cab of the pickup headed down the hill that somehow I came to realize we were looking for the cow with the red ear tag; the cow itself wasn’t necessarily red. In fact, odds were that she was black.

I hoped that I hadn’t been the one to miss the cow on our search that day. But now that the years have passed, I can laugh at my ignorance of ranch ways.

We Ate Purple 44 Tonight

Posted on by
Reply

I made a nice pot roast from the crock pot for supper tonight — complete with carrots, celery, onions and seasonings. As we were enjoying the savory meat, I informed everyone that we were eating Purple 44. In other words, we were eating the cow with the purple ear tag emblazed with the number 44.

We had looked this cow in the eye – more than once – but no one was upset about eating her. In fact, Sports Girl thought it was great.

Purple 44 actually spent most of last summer in the corrals just over the hill from our house. She ended up not calving or else she lost her calf last spring, and so she was being fattened to be butchered along with two steers Sports Girl has selected to “finish” and show in the county fair for 4-H. Handsome Hubby and Sports Girl provided the cow and two steers with thousands of pounds of corn and alfalfa hay – one five-gallon bucket and pitch-fork full at a time.

Unfortunately the steers never did get halter broke and weren’t tame enough to show. Handsome Hubby and Sports Girl attempted to get close to the steers, but Purple 44 actually seemed to interfere with the process. She must have been the “alpha cow” in the herd, if there is such a thing with beef cattle.

As the week of the fair eminently loomed, Sports Girl’s aunt came to help try to halter the steers one day. All the activity that ensued resulted in the ornery cow bashing through the panels that surrounded her pen and running off into the next field.

Purple 44 was missing for quite some time. In the fall a neighbor found her amongst their herd; the family brand on her left hip showed to whom she belonged. After this she was kept in a corral at the home ranch to be finished again, and then she was taken to the meat shop in February. We picked half of her up in three boxes a few weeks ago and now she’s in our freezer.

She doesn’t provide the most tender meat, and it is strange to know which critter we are actually eating. But at least no one’s too upset to stomach the meat.

The steers ended up in someone else’s freezer. We had spent too much money buying feed for them, and we needed to recoup some of our expenses. Besides, their meat was much too tender; we simply couldn’t enjoy such a guilty pleasure. I keep telling myself that a smart business owner never keeps his best products for himself.

So now I’ll be spending the next six months trying to tenderize the wild cow meat, and we can think of her ornery behavior every time we eat beef!

Nissan Pathfinder Falls Short, But What’s the Alternative?

Posted on by
3

I drive a Nissan Pathfinder, which is considered a mid-sized sport utility vehicle or SUV.

But I don’t drive an SUV just because it’s cool and I’m a soccer mom (although it is, and I am). I drive an SUV because I drive six miles on gravel roundtrip each time I leave my home, and we thought it would work best for our country lifestyle

The Pathfinder features four-wheel drive power and control. It also has plenty of clearance between the ground and the bottom of the vehicle. Lastly, it is constructed on a frame much like a pickup truck, so it should be better equipped to withstand the gravel roads than a car or minivan, for example.

We haven’t been completely satisfied with our Pathfinder, however. We’ve had some mechanical problems with the Pathfinder, which I’m sure I’ll address at another time. But our biggest complaint has been size; the Pathfinder isn’t nearly as spacious as we would like. Yet we’re hesitant to commit to something larger like a GMC Yukon or a Chevrolet Suburban. These vehicles come with a much higher sticker price in the first place, and then they consume even more fuel. What if the price of gas went back up to the $4 or even $3 per gallon range? I wouldn’t want to be filling one of those tanks, always wondering if there’s a whole in the bottom.

We looked briefly at buying one of the new crossover models on the market. But let’s be honest. Isn’t “crossover” just a new way to say “station wagon”?

I actually loved the Dodge Grand Caravan that I drove for almost eight years before we got the Pathfinder. But you almost can’t even get an all-wheel drive van anymore as manufacturers are focusing more on seats that fold up and disappear and other convenience configurations. And even if you could, there are still the clearance and unibody (lack of a true frame) construction issues.

So what’s a family of five who lives in the country to do? We’re hoping to drive this vehicle for at least another year and then decide. Perhaps a new and exciting vehicle model will come along. Or perhaps the nation’s energy crisis will be solved. We can always hope, right?

Feet of Snow + 40˚ Temps = Muddy Country Roads

Posted on by
2
The vehicle was so muddy that I didn't even have to blur out my license plate on this photo before posting it!

The vehicle was so muddy that I didn't even have to blur out my license plate on this photo before posting it!

The feet of snow we have piled around has started to melt with our 40-degree temperatures and sunny skies the last few days. The result? So far, just lots of mud!

And much of the mud was becoming attached to my vehicle – literally! I struggled all this week to overcome my urge to wash my Nissan Pathfinder. It would be like shoveling when it’s still snowing, I rationalized to myself.

But today I finally broke down and drove the car through the wash. My reasons were many including safety, image and practicality. Regarding safety, I couldn’t see a thing out my back window. And my image was on the line as I was planning to make some business stops. And finally, I thought it might make some practical sense to remove the mud before it got so thick that I could no longer get the vehicle through the garage door!

Look at all of the mud accumulated on my tire, wheel well and running board.

Look at all of the mud accumulated on my tire, wheel well and running board.

The mud hasn’t completely dried up, so I am driving slowly on the mucky three miles of gravel leading to our even-muddier quarter-mile driveway. But at least I can see out the back window – for another day or two, anyway!

Little Lamb Lost

Posted on by
1

If you watched the videos and did the math from yesterday’s post on our five lambs, you might have figured out that we have four ewes, but I only mentioned three of them lambing.

All four ewes actually did lamb. Unfortunately, the last one lambed at the start of the first blizzard two weeks ago, and her lamb did not survive. It was our first sheep loss since Sports Girls first started showing in 4-H almost six years ago. And while that’s a respectable survival rate, it didn’t make the loss any easier for us.

Handsome Hubby said the ewe, Cocoa, was acting strangely when he went out to feed the sheep at 7:30 a.m. But by the time Sports Girl went to check her again later that morning, she had given birth and the lamb was dead. It was Cocoa’s first lamb, so we really don’t know if she experienced any complications giving birth or if the lamb died as a result of exposure to the cold, snowy weather.

Sports Girl said Cocoa was nudging at her dead baby; that’s how she knew the lamb was there under a light dusting of freshly fallen snow. Sports Girl carried the lamb up to the house, but it was already cold to the touch and certainly wasn’t savable. It was heart breaking to watch Cocoa continue to sniff all around her pen for most of the day looking for her baby. She was new to this lambing stuff, but she knew things hadn’t worked out right.

Sports Girl said she felt a little guilty about not checking on Cocoa sooner, and I even felt guilty over not telling her to check on the ewe sooner. Who knows if it would have made a difference, but I’m sure next year we’ll all be more attentive when the sheep are due to lamb

And while I didn’t actually see Sports Girl cry, I think she probably did shed a few tears over losing the lamb. It’s certainly reasonable to think a 13-year-old girl would be affected by such a close encounter with death. I know I would have been at her age – it was actually still difficult for me at 38!

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep (& White, Too!)

Posted on by
Reply

We have had five baby lambs by three of our ewes this spring – two sets of twins and one singlet. One set of twins is all white, while the other set of twins and the singlet are black-faced lambs. They are as cute as can be and are growing as fast as Aunt Myrtle’s mustache!

Here is some video footage of both sets of twins, which were born on Saturday, Feb. 28. They are only a couple days old here.

Four of the lambs are whethers (males) and one, a white lamb, is a ewe (female). Sports Girl and Horse Lover are now feeding, worming, docking, neutering, vaccinating and taming the lambs – with the help of their dad, of course – all in preparation to show them at our county fair in August.

I’ll keep you posted …

Oh, Snow! And More Snow!

Posted on by
2
This is the scene outside my east door. I don’t think we’ll be using that picnic table for a few weeks anyway.

This is the scene outside my east door. I don’t think we’ll be using that picnic table for a few weeks anyway.

We have officially weathered our fourth blizzard of this winter season (and the third in less than two weeks)! At least this one hit on the weekend and no school or work was missed.

These last three blizzards brought us more than four feet of snow in two weeks – but thankfully some of it melted in between.

Take a look at these big piles of snow down the middle of the streets in town after the last blizzard. Views are pretty obstructed at the intersections!

Take a look at these big piles of snow down the middle of the streets in town after the last blizzard. Views are pretty obstructed at the intersections!

I think the folks in town are having a harder time with all of this snow than those of us out in the country – at least as far as cleanup is concerned. Even after hauling some of the previously fallen snow away, they are still running out places to put it all. With piles of snow taller than most vehicles running down the entire center of some city side streets, driving in town can leave a person feeling a bit like a mouse moving through a maze!

I haven’t been to town since Thursday morning, and Busy Toddler hasn’t been there since last weekend. She spent Wednesday and Thursday at Grandma’s House – which is just a few miles away – and that’s been her only trip out of the house this week!

Now Busy Toddler is getting a serious case of cabin fever. She actually went out with Dad on the sled yesterday afternoon to help feed critters – she just needed to get out of the house!