I'm back for another 'Day on the Ranch' post! This was a really funny day because, in all honesty, I was really hoping that something 'interesting' would happen... ha, um not a good idea!
The day started out just fine- except for a funky stomach-ache that I had. The boys and Dad took the tractor and started cleaning all the grease off of it. Our tractor has basically been 'pouring grease' from some leak, but it's so dirty on the outside (grease and dirt mix really well to make an awful mess) that they couldn't get to the engine very easily. So, while they were busy power-spraying all of that nasty stuff off, Becca and I took the feed truck and headed out to pasture. Our mission, which we chose to accept, was to get all the cows brought down to the house corrals in order to sort a few of them off. We needed to get the bulls out, and some other cows, which had jumped fence, back into their rightful pastures.
The cows came easily (they do so love the yummy goodness that comes from the feed truck!), and we soon had them all in the corrals. Unfortunately, two cows that we needed jumped the 'low spot' in the fence, and went right back out to pasture. This was dealt with fairly easily because one cow was tame enough to just go back in. The other, which wasn't our cow but one that had gotten into our pasture, was extremely skittish and timid. As soon as we starting walking towards it, that cow high-tailed it out to pasture as far away from us as possible.
Josh came out to help us sort the cows, and we got that done fairly quickly. We pushed the bulls to a different pasture, and then loaded the other cows that needed sorting into a trailer to haul them up to pasture. They are cows of some folks who are leasing land from us, and they got into the wrong pasture.
(To those who might have read this earlier, somehow the internet didn't save the rest of my post. So, here it is, and sorry about that!)
After sorting, Becca and Josh hauled the cows mentioned above back to the pasture they were supposed to be in, while Caleb and I worked on getting that skittish cow in. After multiple tries with no luck, I remembered that always works, or at least calms you down: Prayer. So, I began praying that the cow would go in. Sure enough, there it went. I forget that God helps us even with the smallest things. So, lesson learned! =D
Caleb and I then hauled our cows back up to their pasture. Poor things, they had walked a lot that day! On our way back, we met Josh and Becca, also coming back from their trip. They told us that we had a leak in a pipeline that needed to be fixed. So, we went home and started gathering thing to fix it. Some young men that we church with, Mitch and Wes, ended up coming by. While Becca ran into town to pick up a few things for Dad, we went up to the tank. Mitch came with us, and Wes stayed to help Dad.
Once we got up there, we found where the pipeline was and started digging. We also found out that frozen mud is VERY cold and VERY hard to dig through. So, while Mitch chipped away at it with the ax, Josh shoveled, and I scooped water out. Kneeling in the freezing mud was no picnic, neither was dipping your hands in icy cold water. However, the task was finished and we began to fix the pipe... Oops, forgot the saw. So, Mitch and Caleb headed home to get it while Josh and I finished 'cleaning' off the pipe from all the mud.
Mitch came back and said he had a very distressed passenger in the truck. I looked over, and there was the cat, sitting calmly as you please, looking out at the new world around him. I guess he had jumped up on the back and got caught up there when Mitch came back up. In any case, he didn't seem too distressed, and rode very calmly all the way home later on. And, he still hangs out around the vehicles, so obviously he wasn't too traumatized by his experience. ;-)
After we got the pipe cut with the saw, we went to get the spare piece and realized we were missing the rubber seal (or whatever it was... once the guys start talking technical stuff, I pretty much feel like Captain America talking to Iron Man or Bruce Banner). So, we had to go home again, only this time we all went. It was way too cold to stay out there! Once we got there, I stayed home and cleaned up while the guys went back out to finish fixing the pipe.
Later that evening, the rest of the crew cleaned up and Becca, Josh, and I headed into town to meet with a friend to go and see 'The Hobbit'. It was a very neat movie and I really enjoyed it. Although, I found out that I can be very expressive during the movie... ;-) Lots gasps and sighs of relief, I guess.
Today while checking tanks and feeding, we found out that the pipe was broken again, and something else wrong with an air valve further up. So, tomorrow's work is cut out for us, I suppose! ;-) However, it makes for fun days with lots of adventures.
