Working cows can be a rather challenging process and may bring out your (or my) inner dragon. Cattle have flight zones and they are similar to magnets with the same pole that repel. If you stand in front they go the opposite direction, our cattle always move away from you. This means you can not stand in the location that you want the cattle to go. Now throw into this mix "She Who Will Not Be Named" (pictured below) who in reality has many names, but for this article we will call her #144. We try our best to not let #144 know what is afoot; we do not look at her, we try not to act differently in anyway but she always knows and refuses to go where we want her to go. The entire family and any friends who are visiting are engaged as we attempt to pen #144. Needless to say my Mom and I have very definitive ideas on how best to get her in the pen and there are times when these views are opposing. As we attempt and fail to get her in the pen our inner dragons are released and many loud instructions are bandied about to each person who volunteered to help and threats of selling this cow are hurled at #144 as she laughs at us. The cattle working process began on Wednesday June 8th; this involved each cow being weighed, dewormed, vaccinated and the bull calves castrated, ect. Well after much work all the cattle were penned including #144 and about half the cattle were worked when a gate chain slipped and all the cattle escaped. NNOOOOOOO!!! That was a blow! So we regrouped on Saturday June 11th and restarted the process again, #144 did not disappoint as per her usual. After many attempts of capture thwarted and threats thrown at #144 again and again all the cattle were penned and the rest of the cattle working process went smoothly. All the things were accomplished and apologies were exchanged while our inner dragons were put back in their cages.
The next steer was dropped off at the processors on Monday. If you are in need of eggs or beef please drop by the clinic. On Monday I will bring in tomatoes, any peaches that are ready and Mom's famous homemade jams and jellies.
I have several names in mind for #144, none of which I intend to share. Thankfully her one daughter does not share her stellar disposition or intellect, as the case may be, and #144 continues to produce very beefy, strong, attractive bull calves that find their way into the grass fed beef program. Tomatoes are still producing, but the peaches are not pleased with the continuing temps in the 100's. The young man currently interning as summer help looks askance at me as I speak to the grape vines attempting to scale the pear trees, talk to the spiders in residence among the tomatoes and exhort the jalapenos to continue producing. Oh well, a summer in Texas and he w…