Midnight Ride to the E.R.

I knew that Cowboy wasn't waking me up at 4:30 am to visit about my day.  This time of year I don't get to see Cowboy much, he's night calving so when he's in the house during the day- he sleeps.

Nope at 4:30 am the conversation will start like this: "Can You Come Help Me?"  Which can mean one of two things:
1) I need help outside with a cow calving
2) I'm bleeding

Unfortunately for me it was #2 last night.

Cowboy had went out to night check around 3:30 am and was helping a new mom 'with the finer points of motherhood' as he put it. Somehow in the process of holding the calf up close to her for it to nurse she showed him.  He got kicked in the head and tore his lip open.

Now a conversation I've had many times in my tenure with Cowboy is the "Should I go to the Emergency Room?" Which usually means if we are having that conversation the answer is YES! But second and third opinions are always welcomed.

Cowboy had woke me up for that opinion.  Now something you need to know about me is that I don't like blood.  Up until I met Cowboy I had only been to the emergency room once in my life- and it was to take some people who wreaked a pickup down the road from the ranch.  In the first two years I was dating Cowboy I went to the emergency room 3 times! Once right before we got married (that's another post).

Although I don't like blood I can usually hold myself together until we make it to the Emergency Room. Each time I have taken him in the staff and Doctor always ask me if I'm ok before tending to him! I must be a sight because he is the one usually bleeding.

It only took one glance with sleep still in my eyes at the cut for me to know an Emergency Room visit was his next stop.  We're so fortunate in our little community on the prairie to have an amazing hospital with staff that stitched him right up! He was in and out in a little over an hour.

He was home and dressed to go back outside to try again with the new mother before 6 am.  No rest for the tired or hurt when baby calves need to eat.

Let's hope that's our only visit to the E.R. this calving season. But, I fear we are just getting started...

August Was For Australia

August was the month that My Cowboy and I were visited by our Australian friends. As we've traveled in Australia the past year we have always said to people if you get to the states we would love to host you.  Who knew they would actually take us up on it! Let's face it South Dakota is not on the beaten path. Just by pure coincidence, the ones wanting to come see us, all wanted to come in August.

We should have known some crazy Aussies would make the journey.  The one thing we learned while traveling in Australia is that many of the Aussie's have seen more of the states then most Americans.

David with my dad

David Maconochie is a great friend we met on our last trip down under.  David and his family run Hopkins River Beef in Victoria.  David had won the Young Feedlot producer award and was given a trip to America to tour feedlots. It just so happened he picked the exact time I was planning a feedlot tour for my job so he was able to influence lots of South Dakotan's with his Aussie views.  David's blog, Aussie Beef Boy details his trip to America and his views of the beef industry.

David and I spent a memorable trip driving across Kansas and he even made it up to South Dakota to do a little R&R in the before moving on. There are so many memorable things about David's trip that we continue to laugh and can't wait to see him again.

While out on the road David and I were able to meet up with two very special friends.  Angus Street & Elly Daley. Angus and Elly served as our tour guides while in Australia and we love them. They were both mixing business with pleasure on their US trip and were unable to get up to South Dakota to spend time at the Hadrick place but were able to meet up for supper in Denver one night. You may notice that My Cowboy was not in the picture.  He was home working while I was out having fun.

Angus, Me, Elly, and David

August finished out with our last visit from Ray & Leah Vella. Ray is a Nuffield scholar and is spent 6 weeks in North America learning more about land and farm management. Ray has a great blog about his travels and life in Australia.

We had visited Ray & Leah at their place in Queensland on our last trip. We were able to spend a short day with them and their wonderful family at their house.  These crabs are from the ocean that their land touches. They were amazing! Leah and I hit it off right away.  I really admire her for the rural life she leads and homeschooling her oldest child while balancing the two younger children.  Leah has to homeschool her son because of how far they live from town.

Vella's had been on the road for almost a month when they arrived in South Dakota. We were so excited that they were able to spend a few days with us.  I paraded Leah through the schools for show and tell and Ray helped install a new fence at the feedlot. It was great to catch up with them and look forward to the time when we can get back to their place and spend some time.

Me, Leah, Ray, My Cowboy

So, to all our Aussie friends that have not been here- the spare room is ready! Fall is coming on- so you might want to wait until spring it's a much better experience when it's not cold. Can't wait to see you!

Morgan, Teigen's 4-H Show Heifer is a mom! 

That was big news at our house. We all had been waiting very patiently for this baby to arrive. Morgan had been staying in the barn and being fed 'special' feed and being treated very well in her last days of pregnancy. We almost were at hour by hour updates from all the family members who were dropping in to check on her. Finally the day arrived and after the kids got home from school we headed to the barn as a family to see the new addition.  For all you wondering it was a- BOY! Teigen was excited and Miss O "knew it was a boy" she claims.

Morgan is a good mom. There is nothing like hearing a cow talk to her calf with their low sounds they make. I love to listen to that and it always makes me smile. It amazes me how a cow instantly knows that she is responsible for taking care of her baby and goes to work getting them cleaned and stands waiting for the calf to get up and take their first drink of milk.

Within the first day a calf is born on the ranch we tag them, give them a shot-a vaccine for common diseases that calves may be exposed to and monitor both mom and baby to make sure that they are ok. Teigen wanted to be a part of all the details when it came to Morgan.  Here he is putting the number on the calf tag. You can see his little sister paying close attention to detail. She can't wait for this to be her someday! When it came down to it- we all agree that dad should be the one to put the tag in the calf's ear and give the shot. We sorted Morgan off from the calf, into another pen where she could still see the calf and in less then 15 seconds the old pro had it done and mom and baby were reunited. We all thought it was cute how the new baby looked with his new clean ear tag.

I think Morgan the mom is going to have some new lessons for Teigen to learn and I'm excited to see how those unfold- I'll keep you posted.

Going to the Big Town

Prairie life has it’s benefits. I can only see one house from mine and they are related to me. That is a benefit because no one drives by and looks in my windows.  Which is good because I have not found the right window treatments for my new house so I’ve saved money by not hurrying up and buying some. Another example I had 8 errands to run today in our little town. I dropped my car off to get the oil changed and only had to walk 4 blocks and I went to the bank, quilt shop, pharmacy, Extension Office, church, and school- I love that.  But the one down side to living on the prairie is the lack of shopping diversity.  Don’t get me wrong, we’ve got excellent shopping in my small town, the quilt shop, pharmacy (which has a good wine selection), and Uniquely Yours that has clothes, toys, amazing home decorations and everything else- plus tanning in the back, and what those places don’t have the Hardware store does. But, with Christmas coming getting to a ‘big’ town to ogle at all the exciting shiny stuff is a must. I do a lot internet shopping but sometimes you just need to touch stuff before you buy it. 

This weekend we are headed to the ‘big’ town of Sioux Falls, SD. It is the largest town in our state with a population of 150,000.  This ‘big’ town has it all and I can’t wait to do a lot of looking at all the cool store displays and get some serious Christmas shopping done!  Now the thing about ranchers is we seldom leave the cattle to just have fun and this weekend the only reason I get to go to the big town is because our annual Farm Bureau meeting is Friday & Saturday. So, my shopping will have to be furious and pointed. Which means I have come with a list and a map to make the most out of my driving time too. 

P.S. I have to say a huge Thank You to my friend Heather AKA Porkmom for taking me shopping this fall when I got to visit her in Indianapolis. It was an amazing treat for me to get to shop with a friend and all the fun the two women can have in a store.

Building A Blog- What's my Recipe?

As I launch my blog I'm thinking about the recipe I will follow.  The main ingredient I have in my blog is family.  I'm the mother of 3 growing children, Teigen, Olivia & Reese.  Although they are young we are busy with school, 4-H, and church.  I'm also married to my best friend, my cowboy.  My cowboy and I raise cattle & crops on the prairie.  We love where we live and appreciate the lifestyle we are raising our children in.
My recipe also includes my job beyond being a mom & wife. I have many 'paying' jobs that I will continue to share. I'm also an entrepreneur,  my cowboy & I have developed a business that we continue to build with all the challenges and joys of working with your spouse!
I also have a full cup of travel, I'm fortunate to have a job that gets me out of the tri-county area on a regular basis.  Add another cup of community. I'm involved as a 4-H & youth group leader and see those continuing to develop and keeping me running more.
Throw in a big dash of rural life on the prairie. I have to drive 65 miles to get to a town with shopping.  I'm an hour from WalMart, Starbucks and McDonalds.  This rural living makes me have to plan ahead for lots of things since my small town does not have many of the features most are use to having.
That's my recipe for my blog.  I look forward to connecting with people about the joys of my rural lifestyle.