Home on the range

Today is day off number two. The weather is again sunny, warming up and too nice to believe it's November. The sunset was from earlier this week but getting almost typical in the evenings. Ozzie the cat was playing and showing off in the old antique claw foot tub that serves a a water trough (when there's cows to pen up in the corral.)

Bambi is still off visiting her new friends. Joe said he'd load her up and bring her home next month when he rotates his own cows out to greener pastures. By then we'll have a baby calf on the way to look forward to and maybe Bambi will have had a good long visit with other cows. It's a good thing for her, being alone for so long with only a dog for company can't be healthy. I do miss my baby though.

And I will get to see my other baby one week from today! Yay! I'll be flying to Chicago and seeing Cassie graduate from Navy boot camp! It will be very exciting and so good to see her again. Her letters are sounding lighter and she seems much happier as the day draws near. Besides, from there she's off to Florida for schooling in Aviation Avionics. Hopefully it will be a good direction for future jobs but the being away from home part will be hard. For now I'm just looking forward to seeing her.

Amber and I are doing fine. She keeps things up and helps me so much. With working so much it's nice to have her help me tie up loose ends that I miss. She's always there to remind of things that need to be done and usually knows the best way to go about it. I'm so glad she moved back home.

Randall's been fairly quiet. I'm going with the "no news is good news" theory. At least he's not overseas. He and his wife are heading to my moms for Thanksgiving and I'm sure she'll take plenty of pictures.

Well, enough being lazy. Think I'll get out for a walk now that it's warmed up. Maybe even go see the cow...

Have a great day!

A nice walk

Got some awesome pictures on my walk yesterday. It was quiet and nice to get out on my day off and the weather couldn't have been better. There are three ponds on the property and this one has a layer of tiny little mossy like leaves on top. It was very nice catching the setting sun leaving shadows on everything. The full moon was rising to the east and maybe I'll get a few more posted before heading back to work. Days off are never long enough! Hope everyone has a great day!

Walk in the woods

Yesterday after work I decided it was time to get out and check on Bambi who is still visiting the neighbors herd. It's been very empty around here not seeing her stand by the fence mooing for "cow candy" (alfalfa pellets), or finding Darla nuzzling and grooming her at odd times of the day. So Darla and I went on a quest to go visit our baby.

The couldn't have been better for a walk. Warm and sunny, all the signs of Fall coming with a hint of summer not wanting to let go. Darla jumped and ran as soon as I said, "Let's go find Bambi!" Amazing how those words get her nose set to the ground, immediately looking for Bambi's scent as she leads the way. She needs no direction from me, already on the path to the fence that leads to Joe Flowers' place. She's in heaven when she goes walking with me. Right off spooking off a deer near the closest pond that ran too fast for me to get my camera out. The deer tracks show how busy they are, instinctively knowing this is a somewhat "safe" zone now that deer hunting season has started.

Rabbits and squirrels deftly run out of her reach as we press on to the fence, the breeze blowing leaves out of the trees like random spirits floating by, landing on and all around me. Climbing through the barb wire fence with the skill of a seasoned country girl we make our way down the trail, past Mr. Flowers pond. Out alone I'm wondering why I didn't think to bring my gun in case I ran into renegade hunters prowling the woods, but I have Darla. But a pitt bull is intimidating enough even if she's a big baby.

We walked over the last hill and saw cows, no Bambi at first but then there she was. Contentedly grazing in the middle of the herd. I called Bambi and her head jerked up looking at me right away. Darla ran towards her but stayed back a bit sensing the nervousness of the herd. Bambi seemed to think a little, then walked over to me, the rest of the herd protectively around her. I stayed near a fence post (small cover in case the other cows decided to show some aggressiveness to intruders) and she came right up to me, nuzzling her head against me enjoying getting scratched, hugged and loved just like always. Being every bit of 500 lbs (and fatter it seems since she's been visiting) it seems so odd for such a big animal to act like such a loving and gentle baby as if she were still small enough for me to bottle feed. We spent a little time nuzzling like that then I tried calling her as I walked back to my own pasture. She watched me go, turning to look at the other cows (she is the one on the left of the cows, black with white markings on her face) then looking back at me. The other cows surrounded her and she rubbed her head almost lovingly against one of the momma cows, which also nuzzled her back.

I have heard of elephant herds "elepahant-napping" a calf from a nearby elephant herd, as well as that herd rallying together to "elephant-nap" it back. This seems to be a completely willing runaway that has been adopted eagerly by the herd. It's going to be a tricky one "cow-napping" her back. Re-programming might even be involved. Surely with Darla's help, we'll remind her of where she really lives. But for the time being I've no choice but to let her stay a little while. She'll be pregnant for sure when she does come home.

So, Darla and I reluctantly walked back home alone. Watched a hawk fly in circles above, made my way back over the barbed wire fence, looked closely at the changing leaves, deer, raccoon and rabbit tracks. I thought about how this Thanksgiving will be my first Thanksgiving without the kids. Amber has politely invited me to her boyfriends families' Thanksgiving dinner but I'm not sure yet. Most likely I will though. The hardest part of a mom's job is to let your babies go off and do their own thing. How else do they grow?

Bambi's last ditch effort to stay off the leash was to try and out swim the ducks. She would have won had I not stopped her. But the chase is so much fun!

Well, off to work again. Rain is coming tonight and the firewood needs to be stocked up before i go. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!
Sandy

Updates

Well, until I get a little more comfortable with this place it might just look like random pictures floating around the page with no order whatsoever. That's okay, perhaps it will all fall together.

The last couple of weeks have been a little worrisome, waiting to hear from Cassie for the first time, which I did! Yay! First a letter then an unexpected phone call! The first couple of weeks were the hardest for her but she is past the hardest part with still a month to go until graduation. There was relief in her voice, hearing a voice from home was good medicine to keep her going. The harsh boot camp life was expected but living it so far from home is still a shock to the system. She said letters and pictures from home are what she needs and wants most right now. But the strength she's finding inside her right now, when she's young and strong, will be something she can draw on for any other hardship that comes her way for the rest of her life. I'm proud of her!

After all, there's much worse jobs one could have..like dressing up in a chicken suit! I salute the girl dressed up here! At least she's got a job and was a good sport letting me take her picture! A person doesn't see someone dressed up in a chicken suit every day!

The rest of the worries centered around Bambi. She decided to go right back to her new cow friends right away so old Roy Flowers is letting her hang out for a little while. More than likely she just needed to do what cows do and will settle down a bit when she gets pregnant. Today I'll go walking over there again, to make sure she hasn't forgotten her momma. If all else fails, Roy said he would load her on his trailer and bring her back. The corral at the barn can hold her for a few days until she forgets how to get back through that fence.

At least I got some nice walking done and a few pretty pictures. There was a misty rain falling and the caterpillar above is covered by droplets as well as this spider web here. The leaves are turning all sorts of golds and reds, probably won't last past tomorrows expected rain. Today will be almost warm and the sun will be out all day AND I have the weekend off! This weekend won't be wasted for sure!

Amber and I already got a good start yesterday getting out. We drove to Oklahoma City to a Greek Festival that was at the Greek Orthadox church. The dinner was excellant! Camaron (Amber's boyfriend) met us there and we ate, watched children do traditional Greek dancing, and resisted all the booths selling all sorts of things. Except for a a couple of cards and a nice chunk of feta cheese at one shop. It was fun and we left just as the getting off work crowd started pouring in.

Now it's time to get on with my weekend. I hope David's computer comes back to life soon. Computers really have their ways sometimes! It will all be good eventually though, no sense in sweating the small stuff. :) Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Sandy

"The Great Cow Caper" or "Romeo and Juliett Cows"

Well the last two days have been frightening worrying about my cow, Bambi. After a long last two weeks of working my first day off was a nice cup of coffee (and a cigarette) on the patio. That was yesterday morning and I found the main gate wide open, fresh tire tracks and no Bambi. But then again, no Bambi footy prints going out the gate either. The ground being soft from the ongoing drizzling rain would've had tell-tale signs of her roaming about if she did so.

There was also fresh tire tracks leaving the pasture (which the boys next door had come and gone a couple of days before, but surely they locked the gate behind them! They promised they had and Jason would have seen it open when he walked past it the day before!)

I immediately went out to look for Bambi, bringing Darla with me. She can usually find her right off when I tell her "Let's go find Bambi!" (That's her baby too!) Well, we walked and hiked and roamed the 80 acres, in the cold drizzling rain. Found fresh footprints (I mean hoofprints) and followed until the trail disappeared. Calling and calling..feet soaked, cold and wet, still no Bambi. I bottle fed her since her mom died a week after she was born. Her birthday is April 7, 2008, that's when I became her momma (Darla was Aunt Darla).

By the end of the day I had changed clothes 4 times, walked for miles, checked ravines, ponds, any muddy spot she could have gotten bogged down in, filed a "missing cow" report with the sheriff's department, called auction houses, checked for down fences all across these 80 acres. No sign of my baby. All I could think was that cattle rustlers got her. Oh yes! That's alive and thriving more than ever these days especially! A $500 cow (she's priceless by my standards!) would be worth the effort and it's easy to sell a cow with no proof of ownership!
When Jason got home he checked the fences again and found two places she could've gotten through. One was cut by hunters, the other place I've been meaning to fix better. Joe Flowers (shown above) very nice man that has fixed the fence in the past. I met up with him this morning and he said, "Oh yeah, your cow's just fine! She's with the herd and I fed her this morning." I started bawling finally knowing she was okay.
He took me on his "Gator" back to the herd, Darla running alongside us having a blast, and when I saw the herd there was Bambi just hanging out in the middle of them! I gave her a great big hug and scratching but she sure seemed to like being there more than seeing me. She and the herd did follow us back to the gate between our properties but when she realized she was alone again she mooed at them like you wouldn't believe! One of the mom's actually charged at me when I was trying to separate her from the herd! Guess they'd taken a liking to her!
All the roaming around I did, fighting mutant spiders through the woods, I saw three deer run off in the woods, a caterpillar surprisingly still out, cold freezing rain, really enjoyed myself actually...she was just where she wanted to be the whole time. She found company. She found her own kind and probably discovered she really wasn't a dog after all, or a people.

And, I suspect, she's discovered a boyfriend. And those can make an enormous difference on ones outlook on life.

Bambi walked home but, after eating her "candy" went back to the fence out there to look over the fence at what she's been missing all this time.

Now she knows what she's been missing and the future will never be the same.

Churkens

These long-necked lanky creatures are a cross breed of chickens and turkeys. They will lay awesome eggs and most likely will require a bigger pen when they grow up. For now they are third generation Gods... Hendini being "The Great One", young ducks being second, churkins (3rd), baby chicks (4th), and one other breed mixed in that almost looks like turtle doves... (that would be the last in the pecking order but it doesn't look like anyone is pecking out of domination so far.)

So now you've met the poultry class.

Egore was somewhere in the mix while being stuck in the cage in the shop. He was hunched over like the Hunchback of Notre Dame so I called him Egore. But when I let all the chicks into the Great Chicken Coop he has mingled in with the flock and either blended in or disappeared. Amber said, "Well, maybe he just stood up." Perhaps he was just claustrophobic and uncomfortable in a small cage and now feels free enough to stand up tall (like the big ducks) and stretched his wings, so to speak.

That's what I like to think anyway...

Young ducks

The new ducks, handmaids to the Great Hendini