Overlook

Rust Colors

2010-03-16T03:53:00Z

Today was spent checking for newborn calves and vaccinating some of last year's heifers for various illnesses that cattle can get these days... BRSV, lepto, BVD, IBR, and PI3. Confused? Yeah, that's understandable. Basically it covers them for many viral infections that can mess with their pregnancies (though they aren't pregnant yet) or give them respiratory problems.

Somehow, I never managed to pull out my camera while vaccinating, but tomorrow we'll finish up the remainder of the heifers, so perhaps I'll remember then.

Later, as we needed to load up a cow and her calf into the horsetrailer...

I grabbed a couple of scenic shots.

In this one, the sun was getting low...

and the snow is fading away on top of the Big Horns.

The entire view seems dipped in a rusty red filter.

One of my favorite colors!

Bottle Baby

2010-03-15T04:25:00Z

Guess what I'm doing?

Wow.

Good guess.

We have a little bitty calf born to one of our heifers... He's super tiny and his momma doesn't have much for a bag (in other words - she might not be giving much milk) ... so we've decided to supplement his daily allowance.

There you are... come here!

I've got something for you...

Try it...

Today he was not overly interested...

... and he managed to spray milk all over his face instead.

Today... momma was better.

We don't know why he's so small...

and we're happy most of our calves aren't his size!

Compare him to this normal sized calf...

Six inches in height and 30 pounds or so!

That's why he's a bottle baby!

Nice, Kitty, Kitty

2010-03-14T04:24:00Z

Last year's entry about today's event was labeled "Herding Cats". In it, I elaborated how much moving baby calves was a painful, frustrating process which let me lose my temper and get disgusted at anything with Angus blood and 4 hooves. And a few other moving things...

Today's version was...

not like that at all!

Again we had to move the cows to their new feedground/calving area.

Again we had straggler mommas with ignorant babies...

Again we had to use low low low granny gear...

Again calves were unable to follow their mommas and took the wrong way...

Again Brandon had to lend a hand to correct a calf's journey...

But this time there was a calmness for 90% of the way...

Only a few head tried to lose themselves in the wrong direction...

The tail end moved along fairly quietly and fairly well... and Lucas was good at hanging back far from the pressure zone of the newborns and overprotective mommas.

50 feet from the last gate, one calf decided his momma has to be behind us back in the field and tried to be insistent at returning that direction. I was not about to chase one little bitty calf all the way back so I grabbed hold of his tail and hung on... trying to steer him and get forward motion in the proper direction at the same time. We simply spun a few circles until Brandon came to assist... and he simply picked up the calf. Gee. Why didn't I think of that technique? I turned over my four wheeler to Brandon and the captured calf...

A quick trip and the wayward calf was reunited with his mom and all was well. This year's version of "Herding Cats" turned into "Nice, Kitty, Kitty"...

I like this updated version MUCH better!

What is it Video

2010-03-12T15:26:00Z

Here it is!

The newest video of calving!

Beware... slime is involved.

A Calf is Born from Carol Greet on Vimeo.

What is it Winner

2010-03-12T04:50:00Z

The question I posed yesterday:

What is this?

Drumroll please....

Yup, calf hooves!

Sandy, sorry I about made you ill...

DK, putting on gloves never occurs to me... my hands are washable and I don't go farther in to contaminate her...

This heifer was very calm...

but the hooves seemed a little large...

so I had my library book...

and read in the sunshine while she worked on birthing this bigger calf.

One of her various positions placed her at my back with just the 2x8s separating us...

I couldn't resist...

I reached through the boards...

and I felt the hooves move with my finger.

It is such a wonderful process.

The yellow colored ends of the hooves are just for the birth process... they are soft and therefore don't hurt momma from inside.

So long as the yellowish bottoms are facing downwards, that is, towards the mom's hooves, the calf isn't breech. If it was breech the yellow would be on top, because the back hooves would be coming first.

Tomorrow I'll upload the video.

Laura, Robin, Kris H, Marg, Kris, Ginny, Della, and Alice... congratulations! (Marilyn... I took your first answer... which was wrong, sorry)

Della's name was picked out of the hat... YOU WIN!

Send your mailing address to tanasi_1701 at yahoo dot com and I'll get your rustic reward in the mail!

I enjoyed this little competition, I might just have to do it again...

but make it a little more difficult!

Wordless Wednesday - "Guess What"

2010-03-11T01:13:00Z

Wordless Wednesday for this week is a riddle...

And a fairly easy one...

What is this?

Answer in my comment section, and I'll draw one winner from the correct answers and send you a memento of Wyoming...

a small rustic reminder that I exist out here!

Good luck!

Twisted

2010-03-10T04:37:00Z

In case you've wondered...

Yes, calving season is cruising along.

We have calved all but 9 of our heifers... so we still are doing our evening, 2 am, and early morning checks. Last week our cows started calving as well. We do not check them in the night, but do try to keep a close eye on them. Vernon will usually drive his 4 wheeler through the different bunches, counting, seeing if any are missing and possibly hiding in the brush calving. Most cows will try to go off by themselves during this time. Dogs will den, cows will be alone in a protected area.

Yesterday he saw a cow with signs she was about to calve... she was alone... and had the unmistakable kink in her tail. That was before lunch. He checked after lunch. No progress. He checked her later... still no progress. That's rather unusual. He quietly trailed her into the corral, and came and got me.

We put her in the chute and Vernon slid his hand in a long vet "sleeve" or plastic glove that extends clear to his shoulder. Upon investigation, he had to reach *way* up inside her and then his hand began to turn. That's not good... It signals a twisted uterus. There was no way that calf could be born. Twisting can happen if a cow falls down on the ice just at the right moment and the uterus can flip... but we haven't had much ice this year. Sometimes *poop* just happens.

Plan B. Vernon loads her in the horse trailer and I drive her to the vet in Worland. It is an hour's drive, and we simply had to hope that the calf wasn't dead from stress.

We arrive and begin the c-section process. This is a good ol' cow... and she stands patiently in the chute, munching on corn, unconcerned.

Soon she is shaved and prepped and has anesthetic injected along the incision site.

The scalpel appears and I lay down my camera... ready to aid the Good Doctor should he need it.

Within minutes...

Son of a gun... the little heifer's alive!

How cool is that?

No big deal... says the cow as she continues to munch on her corn.

A twisted uterus can have quite a different outcome... this one was a happy ending.

Fossil Cliffhanger... part two

2010-03-09T05:36:00Z

Fossils are prolific in Wyoming.

This place is heaven if you like fossil fish...

Then there's mucho dinosaurs in the Big Horn Basin...

Even in my front driveway are these... thousands of white seashells imbedded in a matrix.

And my friend Shreve over at Daily Coyote makes extra bucks selling belemnites!

But for now...

these are the fossils I'm excited about.

Small...

Incomplete...

Hardly unique.

But they were my dad's...

And sometime in the future...

they will be part of a decorative feature in my remodeled bathroom.

So say I.

And for those of you with bigger wallets than me...

go here...

drool...

and tell them I sent you...

perhaps there's a reference fee/reward for sending them new customers...

I'll take mine in fossil fish, please!

Fossil Cliffhanger

2010-03-08T05:47:00Z

Keeping an eye out... is Lucas...

I've been on a kick lately...

One of the things I received from my Mom's house was my Dad's small collection of fish fossils from the Green River formation in southwest Wyoming. It is way spiffy!

The wheels started turning...

and soon I have a plan for my bathroom at the Mills place.

Fossils are cool...

and my Dad's collection is small...

so I'm on the lookout for more!

Wyoming is full of fossils...

pictures to follow tomorrow.

Donchya just love cliffhangers?

Gettin' the Job Done

2010-03-07T05:36:00Z

We went to a bull sale in Riverton today. Bull sales have their multiple appeals... and I've written about them before, here and here.

How'd we manage to get away from calving? Well, the boys came home from school for the weekend, specifically to cover for us. They are GOOD men!

I'm always interested in the people as well as the bulls. I try to be observant. Which guys are buckaroos from Nevada or Oregon? Those with the flat top hats. Which guy is going to top the sale with his $13,000 bid? Not the one I expected! In fact, I've decided I'm pretty bad at people observation!

There was also a stockdog clinic in Riverton this weekend. Well, Pavillion, just outside of Riverton. I didn't figure I would be able to go since we are calving, but I would have been tempted to go out and watch for a couple of hours. Of course, it is much more important that we get good bulls than improve my dog handling skills... But my thoughts were with Elvin Kopp and the stockdog clinic sponsored by Hope Dennis.

To make up for it...

Here's my dogs' outrun and lift the other day.

Elsa's better at the outrun... She leads the way.

She is faster than Lucas!

"These heifers, right?"

Old green tag didn't want to go to the shed... and put up some resistance.

But it was 2 to 1... old green tag lost her battle!

It's not pretty technique according to "trial rules".

It gets the job done.

Me happy!

Mud

2010-03-06T03:38:00Z

I really think the Q & A yesterday went quite well...

Please give me leave to touch on a few other comments...

Sara... the plight of the family farm/ranch being passed down to the next generation is insane. I'm not much for sharing politics on this blog, but Congress better address this *fast* as next year, estate tax reverts to 55%. In other words, chances are your kids probably don't have half of the value of your land sitting around to pay off the stupid government's taxes if you suddenly die. Their choice is to broker a loan or sell off part of the land to keep the rest. Tell me how this is fair... that you work all your life and the government gets half of it when you die. <big sigh>

Laura... I'm *so glad* I didn't hurt your feelings by picking on your question! To answer your new comment... I wrote an entry about STUPID people here. That's the main complaint... shutting gates! There are more... but perhaps I'll save those for another time!

Alice... don't worry... I'll have another Q & A in the future!

Now...

Mud.

The old joke goes that Wyoming has four seasons... winter, mud, dust, and fire.

Guess which one we're in?

This is my road.

When I was in town last week, the UPS man came into the same building I was... and told me he knew I was in there... he recognized the mud on my Durango.

Sometimes you think you're well dressed for your trip to town... then look down and see either 1) Mud all over your nice shoes 2) a line of mud on the back of your calves from exiting said muddy Durango.

OK, I may be a touch grouchy... when I look at my laundry... or my floors in my house... or my car... but really... honestly... mud can be fun!

See, it's too muddy to actually *work* in your yard, or go hiking... so take the time to drain those puddles! I was one of those kids thrilled to make boats from leaves and sail them down the gutter while I was growing up... Any kids ever *play* in gutters these days? Since my kids never had gutters... we'd come out on those first few 50 degree days and drain puddles!

Like so. Build dams. Irrigation ditches.

Use what you have at hand... sagebrush for a dam foundation. Rocks to blast through ice! You having fun yet?

Wow! Look at it roaring across and off of my road! Wheee!

I dare you. I double dog dare you. Go play in the mud... stand in the sun and enjoy the change of seasons... it'll be dust before you know it!

Questions and Answers

2010-03-05T02:48:00Z

Wow... I am SO HAPPY some of you sent in questions!

I had this *great fear* that no one would ask anything and I'd be twiddling my thumbs or having to cruise eBay for entertainment tonight!

So, first off, thanks to you who gave me some inspiration...

Let's go!

(The bar) Love it, love it .. so creative,unique, meaningful and beautiful! I'm interested in how you put the arrowhead and other things into the wood and end up making it even and smooth? Sandy G.

The one photo shows Vernon using his router... We cut down into the bar just enough to sink them down so that they were level... Then we used an epoxy coating called Envirotex Lite. A little tricky to use, and nerve wracking cause we'd never done it before. We did end up with drips on the side, but you reach a point you can't wipe it anymore, it gets too sticky, and though we left it with no drips on the side, it did continue to drip... but, hey, that just proves we did it and we are NOT professionals!

The place you call "the Mills place" where all the beautiful wood work is done.... is that your house? Sara

Yes. And no. We purchased the Mills place a few years back, so yes, we're buying it! However, we don't live there yet... We gave the people a few years to move all their stuff... You think you have household belongings... try a house, multiple shops, barns, equipment, etc., etc. Then we are remodeling it... and just manage to work on it during the winter... There's no rush to move there, so we aren't rushing!

Have you made any progress on your studio? Kris

Alas, poor Studio... no. My plan... was to ask for a full day's work from my kids and husband for Christmas... get some windows in, finish some chinking, some electrical wiring. Then my mother got sick... and here it is March and I haven't even walked out there in 3 months. Maybe Mother's Day??? Hey... I did get a cool .22 for Christmas though. Come to think of it, I haven't even shot it yet...

Myth or true.... I was once told that a cow that gives birth to twins will often abandon one of them? Also, that twins being one male one female are often sterile? Katt

Well, cows are like people... a few can handle twins, some don't even want the one they have! We try to take a twin off and give it another mother if we have another cow that lost a calf. They usually do much better that way... True. If twins are one of each sex, they cannot reproduce... usually good for a laugh when the vet is preg testing and gets a puzzled look on his face... If the twins are both heifers or both bulls, they are fine to go...

I almost forgot (but remembered while I was out doing chores)! What happened to the rest of the pups? How are Dally's ribs? Kris

Ooohhh... OK... Sadie went to future son-in-law in Kaycee, Wy. Devon went to Montana. Liberty went to Minnesota. Patriot Blue went clear to North Carolina! Chisum went to South Dakota. Bogie went to Washington. Dillon went to Wisconsin. Toffee is in Arizona. Sprite went to Idaho. I'm occasionally working on my website with updates... new names, new adventures! Dally has recovered, though she still has the bare spot where the hair was ripped out! She was very sore for a week, and couldn't even bark... but she's okey dokey.

What fascinated me about Dally was that she was nursing Elsa's pups and she actually produced milk! I had no idea that dogs could physically do that when they had never been pregnant. I was curious if you plan to breed Dally now that Elsa is fixed, or are you taking a break from puppies? (Personally I hope you don't because they are so darned cute to read about!) Sarah

My vet had never seen it happen in real life either... but she's done it twice now! Yes, Dally will hopefully be bred next spring. I plan on getting her hips checked and finding an unrelated male will be tough... well, one that's close anyway! But that's my plan.

Calving:

You seem to have a lot of bull calves. Is this coincidence on the blof or are there really a preponderance of boys?

Laura, I split your question up here... Uhm... it really does work out 50/50, we might have a line of heifers or bulls, but at the end it is pretty evenly balanced. You might be looking at the pictures and are noticing the umbilical cord area...

Morbid questions: what happens to the calves that don't make it?

We do have a dead animal pit. My dogs and coyotes and carrion birds love it.

Ranch:

How big is your ranch? What advice would you give to people who wanted to adopt a more rural lifestyle, though perhaps not launch themselves into a full-fledged ranch like yours? I am wanting (once school is done and all) to buy some land and have chickens and a few cows to raise for beef.

-Laura

Hmmm. OK. I'm going to take this opportunity to educate people on Western Manners, and Laura, I'm not meaning to pick on you! BUT... it happens often... and I'll take my tiny soapbox for a split second. I have had this happen many many MANY times. People do want to know this and I understand totally because it is something people can relate to... When you ask ranchers either 1) "How many acres do you own?" or 2) "How many cows do you have?" it is equivalent to walking up to some stranger in town and saying "How much money do you make in a year?" Now, I know people aren't trying to be rude, but many ranchers, especially the older ones, DO see it that way. You don't ask someone you don't know how many houses, cars, RVs, and boats they own, or trips to the Bahamas they can afford. If you DO ask a rancher/farmer that question, you'll often get a vague answer... "enough", "too many!" or "more than you" if you persist with your questioning! Please keep in mind, an acre of Wyoming prairie is far different than an acre of Kentucky bluegrass! OK, Laura, I thank you for giving me that opportunity. I know you are curious and I'm off my soapbox. Let me answer you this way... we're average-sized for the state of Wyoming!

Your second part of your question is a good one. SAVE. EVERY. PENNY. Check land prices in your area. When you've given yourself CPR and picked yourself up off the floor... breathe. Investigate the rules in various subdivisions... some allow cows, no pigs, contained chickens, no free ranging chickens, horses, no goats. There are ways to be more "rural"... raising container gardens... using chicken tractors... canning fresh veggies from the farmer's market... sharing ownership in milk cows or buying quarters or halves of beef from the butchers. Purchasing even small acreages can be a challenge in certain parts of the country... if you have a good paying job, keep it and be a weekend warrior until payments are low... or work really hard and try to find a rundown farm you could basically rebuild from scratch. Many, many ranch and farm kids... the ones that have the knowledge of cattle and irrigation and farm machinery and crops... can't get into the business because land prices are too high and inheritance taxes are insane. That should worry every person in America that eats... but it doesn't. Whoa. I'm stopping now.

When did you buy the ranch? Do the doggies sleep outside? I hope you haven't forgotten about your wonderful tipi for the coming nicer weather.
I really enjoy your blog! Marilyn

Marilyn, we celebrated our centennial of ranching last year! Yes, the dogs sleep outside. Well... the girls do. They can't sleep through the night inside, so we kick them out so they don't wake us up at 3 am to pee. Boomer sleeps inside because he's stupid and barks at shadows. Lucas is inside most of the time, except summer when it is too hot in here! My tipi needs some repairing, but I will put it up next summer again!

You use A.I. is that only on the heifers? I remember you going to a bull sale, is that for the cows? How many bulls do you have per head of cows? Ginny

Yes, we only AI our heifers. The cows are all natural. Let's see... I think we run about 1 bull for 20-25 cows? I think. Hmmmm. Numbers. I'm really bad with numbers. I'm guessing that's it. And, hey, there's another bull sale Saturday. I might go along. Maybe I'll confirm that!

Thanks everyone... the questions were great... and if I could have figured out why sometimes I could change font colors and other times I couldn't... this Q & A would have been perfect!

Wordless Wednesday - "Going, Going, Gone"

2010-03-03T20:38:00Z

Here's my Wordless Wednesday entry for today...

The ice on the Nowood River disappears...

February 25, 2010...

March 2, 2010

Please send any questions you have for me to the comments section...

I'll answer them tomorrow!

Great Reward

2010-03-03T04:08:00Z

Last night we had our largest calf we've had in the heifers... a whopping 100 pounder!

That's like having an 11 pound baby for us.

For your first baby.

Big.

Ugh.

Ouch.

But... that's why we check them... to be there when they need help.

So, I go over to the calving shed... see the size of the hooves... and know she'll need a hand. Calves are born with their front hooves leading the way with their head laying on top. Think diver. You can also tell easily if they are being born breech because the hooves will be upside down. Luckily, this calf was in the correct position.

We've assisted a few heifers... but this one would need the cavalry. Time to get the chains *and* puller.

On the left are the handles which snag on to the chains to provide grip. Remember, you're trying to pull a slimy newborn... you need grip! The chain on the right is like a choke chain collar but about four feet long. The chain is looped over the calf's hooves... high up above the dewclaw... so as not to injure him. Ready? Pull.

If you aren't making progress... time to get the big guns.

This is the puller. The straps go over her spine and basically don't do much if she's lying down! The silver metal part goes against her butt below the calf. Notice the round section in the middle of it.

This is the puller part! Think car jack. Sooooo... how many of you are EXTREMELY grateful for *not* being a cow, right about now???? Yup. Set the end of the "jack" part into the round metal hole. Hook the chain on to the puller. Now. Jack.

What you are doing is actually cranking the calf out of the cow. Sounds brutal I know. However, if you don't get the calf out fast enough... it'll die. No time to be shy.

Besides... after all your work... you get a great reward.

Now...

I'm opening this up for a great Q & A Session.

What do you want to know about calving... or the ranch... or me... or my dogs... or the weather... or wildlife?

Leave me a question in the comments section... and Thursday... I'll answer them.

The Bar Part Two

2010-03-02T05:29:00Z

Forgive my slimy hands... we just returned from calving a *big* bull calf... so I'm a tad late in posting. I'll write about it soon... and for the record... I do NOT have slime on my hands still. I washed it off. Twice. Honest. Slimy keyboard = not appealing.

So...

Back to THE BAR.

We added some artifacts...

Historical...

(OLD RUSTY horseshoe)

Prehistoric...

(Vernon's only complete arrowhead he has ever found... we shall not delve into my archeological background and discuss flintknapping skills, chert vs. flint, corner-notching, or the fact that now it is frozen and you can't *touch* it, you can't feel its power and history, and I would have NEVER done this with any point I found... but the major factor here is... it ain't mine!)

This idea I *really liked*.

(The knots all gained some brass. .243 and .270... FYI... Most people would call this the bottom of a rifle bullet... but the bullet is the part that comes out of the shell and hurts you... the brass holds the gunpowder that propels the bullet. Brass can be reloaded and reused many times. And yes, I shoot the .243! OK, I'm a redneck and I think it was a cool addition!)

We also pulled in a few of my favorite "girlie" things...

Hearts...

(Because our hearts will always be on this ranch...)

Buffalo...

(Because we should honor the ones who come before...)

Feathers...

(Because they speak to me... and we need the touch of nature to lighten our souls)

Stars...

(To embrace the unknown and the future...)

Vernon added his bling...

and then I added mine...

(While fancy furniture makers can fill cracks with real turquoise chips... I took my pocketknife to worm tracks, cleaned them out, crushed some turquoise glass beads and glued them in place!)

We then painted a THICK layer of that clear poly coating over it and voila!

Not overdone with junk, but just a touch or two of who we are...

You like?

The Bar

2010-03-01T04:31:00Z

Another afternoon of painting up at the Mills place... priming and painting two coats on everything is VERY time consuming... plus I try to caulk anything that a boxelder bug can crawl through... and each window rattles like a chime when tapped, so I caulk around them as well...

I have various boxes of my mother's life now stacked along the edges of mine... a crystal bowl, crystal wine glasses, vases, kitchen utensils and pans, books, crafts, and photos. I have my "vintage" bedroom set in my living room, plus Mediterranean style tables and a garden bench I built for her.

I unpack a box and try to find a home for its contents. My house isn't together yet either, so it's a temporary home at best. I chug away at it, nevertheless. Someday...

But somewhere in that discombobulated brain of mine, I recall that I was supposed to show you my bar. THE BAR.

The wood was cut in the sawmill on our place, although it belongs to G. and D. My boys were thrilled to learn how to do that...

Sawmill from Carol Greet on Vimeo.

It sat for months until we were ready to install it... then we decided to get fancy.

First we had to do what ranchers are driven to do to many of their belongings.

We branded it.

The brand is A Bar A. Nope, doesn't mean a thing to us... it came with the ranch when we bought it 100 years ago.

Then Vernon decided to inlay some "decorations". I'll show you those pictures tomorrow!

This was a great project... one everyone can treasure for a LONG time!

Spring Calves

2010-02-28T05:16:00Z

Victoria, Matt, Jazz, and little Sadie Lady visited for a couple of days...

Daniel came home...

Warm weather snuck in the back door...

Forty six calves have appeared out of our sixty three heifers...

Enjoy!

Darkness, Rah!

2010-02-27T05:14:00Z

"I am a lineman for the county...

and I drive the main roads...

searching in the sun for another overload."

I couldn't help it... the song just sprang into my mind after seeing this.

HUH? What did you say? What's *that* got to do with *this*?

Well... I know where Vernon is headed.

I know that on the ranch you just don't run for the ladder when you need it.

Especially if a tractor is handy...

"I hear you singing in the wire...

I can hear you through the whine..."

And the Wichita Lineman...

is still on the line."

"Boopboopbeeboobooboobooboo..."

Whatever.

You'll be happy to know the light works fine.

And we're over halfway done with our heifers.

And we can see them black cows in the darkness now...

Rah!

Part of the Circle

2010-02-26T05:34:00Z

Each day lengthens slowly... the sun's warmth is strengthened.

Winter is eaten away by spring.

Though snow may fall... it also melts.

Though one life passes... another is born.

The glorious blue skies fade each night to twinkling blackness which greys and slips again into an azure morning.

The moon fades its way from bloated fullness to fingernail clipping, disappears, and comes back again.

Out here, perhaps, we notice the seasons, the weather, the continuation of life and death and life, the moon, the land, the animals... just a bit more than the average city dweller.

We gain strength from it... to know we are a part of the circle.

We can smile a quiet smile.

We can have a twinkle in our eye.

Our rough hands can grip and hold and caress and even, when needed, let go.

Round and round.

Every day.

Round and round.

Wordless Wednesday - "Both Branches"

2010-02-25T03:03:00Z

Trying to get back into the swing of things...

Remember Wordless Wednesday?

Yup, going back there... though I'm never TOTALLY wordless... I believe in titles for my photos!

"If what I say resonates with you, it is merely because we are both branches on the same tree."

-- W.B. Yeats