Name that thing...

Dear friends,

I had planned to write last night, but then there was a flashing lightning/thunder/rain storm that made our electricity go off for a while and messed up our Internet connection again, so I was not able to do so.

Do you all know what these blossoms are? Here's a hint:

*Tea made from these flowers supplies you with all of the B vitamins*



Yesterday was a very eventful day around our place. I only have pictures of our morning project though....

After Andrew & I had done the morning milking/chores, Dad (on his 4-wheeler), the boys (Andrew on his 4-wheeler and Jacob on his dirt bike) and I went up the road to move the cows to their next cell in the pasture. I used to help with this a lot more before I worked in town and miss it in a way. The pasture up North is very, um, wild. It feels like a whole different world when you get up to this part of the "Road". We rent about a thousand acres of pasture from our hunting friends, who helped us section it off into many different cells that we move the cows to every one to two weeks, depending on the size of the cell.

Here Dad is bringing the solar-powered electric fencer back to me (I had the Ram, so had more room to carry things than he or the boys did.) At this point, I turned the Ram (a very old, bouncy charger sort of thing) around and drove the long way around to the other side of the pasture where I was supposed to open the gates for the cows to move from one pasture to the next.


Once I got the one gate open and the other loosened so it would be ready to open when it was time for the cows to go through (there is a curving road inbetween the gates), I sat down on an old tire that was in the fence-line for some reason and took some pictures and enjoyed the beauty of the Lords' handy work....



(This beautiful lake is officially called "Stink lake", although I don't think it stinks any worse than any other lake does when it's been standing stagnant for a while!)



I zoomed way in to get this picture of the long line of cows coming:

The cattle had to cross this water in order to get to where they needed to be. The guys told me later that they didn't even hesitate, and just plunged in, swimming across, the calves included!

Andrew was able to make it to the other side in another, drier spot, as his 4-wheeler (also known as an ATV---All Terrain Vehicle!) can go through almost anything. Dad and Jacob, however, had to go out and around by way of the gravel road, the way I did, to come in from the front side. By the time they got to where I was...

...Andrew already had the cows up on the North side, ready to go through the gates.

There was one problem though... There were 2 calves together on the wrong side of a fence down South farther, one of them being Andrews and the other belonging to the rancher on the other side of the fence line. Sooooo, the guys spent at least half an hour getting the 2 separated and returning the one calf to the neighbors' herd and then getting Andrew's calf back with ours.

While I waited, I was able to get some fun pictures of our cows and calves, as they were right there by me for a while before they headed East to graze a while.

Here is Jacobs' big steer: He was a bottle calf a couple years ago. His horns grew back for some reason, which is why he didn't get sold with the others, as buyers do NOT like to buy animals with horns and will dock you tremendously. He is nearly large enough to be, well, slaughtered.

How does that saying go? "The grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side of the fence?" In this case, that's true. The cows like grazing in the corner where the gate is, so there is not much grass left there. The alfalfa/grass growing on the other side definitely looks more appetizing, to a cow or calf....

Here is one of my growing boys. :) He's so nice and stocky, isn't he?

~Snack time!~

"For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." Psalm 50:10

After the cows were moved and the fencer was set on the post, Jacob and I headed for home while Dad and Andrew stayed up a while longer to go around the fence.

Shortly after arriving home, we received a phone call from a friend, Mr. S. who said he was in Napoleon and on his way to Steele, and could he stop and visit us. Of course, the answer was "YES" and so he joined us for lunch. He talked some more to us about the John Birch Society and my parents signed up to be members now.... :)

We visited until 2:00, at which time Mr. S had to get going and we had to get our kitchen cleaned up as Mom was getting a new client (from Grand Forks!) at 3:00. While Mom did the health session, Dad was raking and baling the ditch hay and the boys and I headed out to our potato/carrot/onion patch in the field to do some major weed wacking! Andrew mowed inbetween the rows while Jacob and I weed wacked closer to the plants. Then, Andrew took over Jacobs' job; Jacob took over mine; and I headed in the house to work on some laundry. Later, Mom and I made apple crisp, tater tot casserole, and a delicious fruit salad (which the boys helped with too). Andrew and I separated cream, then he and Jacob did chores while Mom and I cleaned the house---QUICK! We had supper around 9:00, then had family prayer time and settled in for a long nights Summer storm, which resulted in nearly 2 inches of rain!

Well, it is time for family hymn singing time, so I'd best post this and go join the others. Mom's playing in my new Marty Goetz books currently. :)

Have a great Saturday, what's left of it, that is!