Mid November cattle working

[Soapweed]

Hitting the high spots

Looking for cattle

Cows with replacement heifer calves

Coming down the trail

Waiting for the trucks

Hope he doesn't get cookie crumbs in his beard

Heifer calves waiting for a ride

Going up the loading chute

Soon it will be their turn

Counting them on

My dad

Checking out our progress

Preg checking the last bunch of cows for the year

Part of the crew showed up late

But they do their best cattle work from afar

Professional cat hauler

Peach writing down cow numbers and filling vaccine guns. She had double knee replacement just a week and a half previous.

Kosmo Kid running the chute

Archimedes howling at the moon

Nope. Turns out it was just a cat.

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Must have been a nice day working in tee shirts with short sleeves.

Calves looked good.

 

[PureCountry]

Great pics as usual Soap. Hope Peach is doing fine on the road to recovery. What kind of chute is that?

 

[Soapweed]

Great pics as usual Soap. Hope Peach is doing fine on the road to recovery. What kind of chute is that?

The chute is manufactured by Stronghold, of Clarion, Iowa. It is a manual chute except for a hydraulic squeeze
and a hydraulic head sweep. It seems to work pretty well, and is quiet because there's no motor running. :wink:

On this webpage, you can click to see a video of the chute as it works.

http://strongholdmfg.com/cattle1.html

 

[LazyWP]

You didn't tell about trying to count cows.

Great pictures and story.

 

[jigs]

Soap, I am curious, with your recovery, and Peach with her knees, you two are transitioning into a spot where you must rely on the younger generation to cover everything. I know that your kids are very capable in taking over and running things, but as it is more of a "forced" takeover than a timely transitional one, I am curious as to your perspective on it..... I only ask because we have a similar situation here, where a dad is laid up, and the boys are running the show while he barks orders and complains that " this is not how I would have done it' creating some hard feelings between the two generations.....

 

[Soapweed]

You didn't tell about trying to count cows.

Great pictures and story.

Being on a walker and more-or-less in everyone's way, I decided that the one thing I could probably do would be to count a bunch
of cows out the gate. Parking my walker along the fence where it wouldn't get trampled, I figured the big heavy steel gate would
support me. The cows wanted out and left in a hurry. They darn near pushed me and the gate over, and had that happened,
I wouldn't be sitting here typing this now. I'd either be dead or cluttering up some hospital somewhere. Fortunately I was able
to get the gate shut again after only six cows went out. I blundered back across the corral, and left the cow counting to better
mathematicians who are also handier on their feet. :wink:

I also forgot to point out LazyWP, who is the cowboy in the far back of this photo. He did a marvelous job keeping the cattle coming.
My picture taking ability is negligent, because I didn't get a better picture of him, and I didn't get a picture at all of our hard-working
neighbor who did the vaccinating on the far side of the chute where Peach is normally stationed. 'Tis my mistake, and I'm sorry.
This is an old man's way of saying, "My bad." :roll:

 

[Soapweed]

Soap, I am curious, with your recovery, and Peach with her knees, you two are transitioning into a spot where you must rely on the younger generation to cover everything. I know that your kids are very capable in taking over and running things, but as it is more of a "forced" takeover than a timely transitional one, I am curious as to your perspective on it..... I only ask because we have a similar situation here, where a dad is laid up, and the boys are running the show while he barks orders and complains that " this is not how I would have done it' creating some hard feelings between the two generations.....

Jigs, it is always hard making a transition of this nature. I was so entirely incapacitated while in the hospital, that I was entirely dependent on the decisions made by the Kosmo Kid. He kame through with flying kolors, so after getting back home it is nice to have him in charge. We discuss our itinerary every morning, but I try to give him plenty of leeway to make major decisions. He has done very well. Of course, there are some times when I'm riding along with him that he still wishes he'd have just left me home. :wink:

 

[katrina]

I think all transitions have bumps in the road. We were old when we went through the transition and now we are trying to make another to the boys. Somedays it's like herding cats. :lol: :lol:

 

[Big Swede]

The best thing a father can do for a son is letting go and let him take the reins and make his own mistakes. My parents selling the place to me is a transition step I intend to repeat in the near future. I was 21 when I bought my first section and my son just turned 21, so it's getting to be that time. Where did the time go?

 

[jigs]

Soap, I am curious, with your recovery, and Peach with her knees, you two are transitioning into a spot where you must rely on the younger generation to cover everything. I know that your kids are very capable in taking over and running things, but as it is more of a "forced" takeover than a timely transitional one, I am curious as to your perspective on it..... I only ask because we have a similar situation here, where a dad is laid up, and the boys are running the show while he barks orders and complains that " this is not how I would have done it' creating some hard feelings between the two generations.....

Jigs, it is always hard making a transition of this nature. I was so entirely incapacitated while in the hospital, that I was entirely dependent on the decisions made by the Kosmo Kid. He kame through with flying kolors, so after getting back home it is nice to have him in charge. We discuss our itinerary every morning, but I try to give him plenty of leeway to make major decisions. He has done very well. Of course, there are some times when I'm riding along with him that he still wishes he'd have just left me home. :wink:

it looks like he kept the place from falling apart while you were "on vacation".... I am sure you will handle it well.... it is a tough deal to let another run things... my father in law is 76, and his boys are in their 30's...they still do everything separately due to his stubbornness and bull headed views. it is sad to see. my boy who wants to farm is just 14, but I often tell him that I want "x" done by Tuesday...don't care how he achieves it, but do it..... use his judgment, and do what he thinks is right.

 

[Hayguy]

Mr. Soapweed, a while ago you mentioned that your hearing returned to near normal,what is the prognosis for your leg? is rehab/physio making progress?

Even though Kosmo is doing wonderfully, it must be still very difficult for you not being the man in charge as you were.

 

[Ho55]

It's a hard transition to make when the time comes for the next generation to take over. My Dad was very good in letting me take over. He made me buy everything which made me work harder, but let me make the decisions. He taught me well and let me learn from my mistakes, which in return made me a better rancher. I miss him terribly. He died a year after I bought him out. He at 61 and me at 30 being the only boy. I miss his help. And the one thing I miss the most is when he'd tell me I was doing a good job. It's hard not to butt heads. But it's harder when their gone.

 

[Faster horses]

I think attitude has a lot to do with everything....and I always admire Soapweeds attitude.

Ho55, that was a nice tribute to your dad.

 

[Soapweed]

My attitude and whole thought process got a bit shaky at one time this morning. The Kosmo Kid was in one Ranger, and I was in another.
We gathered 143 bred heifers from a distant pasture, and brought them closer to civilization. After we got them over the last hill and through
a gate, I kept the bunch going to put them through just one more gate onto a meadow, while the Kosmo Kid went on to move another little
bunch of odds and ends to a different location. I went ahead of the cattle to get that last gate open, and should have tried harder to carry it
around from the comfort and stability of the Ranger. There were tumbleweeds in the way, so I got out on foot to struggle and get the gate
open wide enough. Even then, I should have took my walker along. I used the gate stick to keep my balance and got the gate open.

Being about thirty feet from the Ranger, my next task was to try and keep my balance, taking small steps to get back. The wind was blowing hard
enough to almost knock me over, and progress was very slow and erratic. I knew if I ever fell down, things could get serious. Kosmo and I had
no further plans to be together for the rest of the day, and Peach was away with the new babies. Cell phone reception is non-existent at that
location. I haven't felt that helpless and alone since my freshman year of college, when I had to jump off the low diving board to pass the
swimming class. Going under twice, I managed to finally get my fingers on the cement at the edge of the pool. Even then, my instructor could
have thrown his suit coat aside and dove in to fish me out.

Prayer does work wonders. After praying hard for several minutes and making about two inches of progress per step, I finally had the secure feeling
of once again making contact with the Ranger. It's just best for me not to get too over confident, even though it seems like I am gradually getting
a bit stronger. Live and learn, and I guess all is well that ends well. :roll:

 

[Soapweed]

And then, to make matters worse, when I got back to the house my noon meal was a TV dinner. After warming it in the microwave, I put salt on the Salisbury steak, but couldn't apply pepper because the battery went dead in the pepper dispenser. Some days I wonder. :roll: :wink:

 

[jigs]

And then, to make matters worse, when I got back to the house my noon meal was a TV dinner. After warming it in the microwave, I put salt on the Salisbury steak, but couldn't apply pepper because the battery went dead in the pepper dispenser. Some days I wonder. :roll: :wink:

if you want, I can mail you one of the old style tip and shake pepper cans..... no batteries required. if gravity stops making it work, we have much bigger problems!

 

[George]

And then, to make matters worse, when I got back to the house my noon meal was a TV dinner. After warming it in the microwave, I put salt on the Salisbury steak, but couldn't apply pepper because the battery went dead in the pepper dispenser. Some days I wonder. :roll: :wink:

You should be at our school district - - - they hired a new nutritionist and she has banned salt and pepper from the school grounds!

And if you want dressing on your salad it will cost you $0.20

Some of the kids were bringing salt and pepper packets from home and were told that is grounds for expulsion!

I think this will blow up soon and she will need to look for employment elseware.

So now all peanut products, salt and pepper are banned and they have been getting milk on the expiration date as they can get a 25% discount and it is still "good for 5 days after the date on the carton"

So you will not need a pepper shaker here!

What will they ban next? When will we have enough and let them know they work for us?

 

[LazyWP]

All of you guys should have heard the discussions on whether a cow needed a new tag. :lol: Kosmo says, she's old, and late, we don't need a tag, she's going into the sell pen. Soap, naw, put a tag in her. Peach, keeps on making a tag with the Drimmel, finally says, do you want the tag or not. Kosmo, no, Soap yes. Peach hands Kosmo the tag and he puts it in.

Not all of them went that way, but it was fun to sit back and listen to the banter. I was never able to work with my father the way these guys do, and I am impressed.
At 1 time we had 4 generations out there!! That in itself is pretty amazing!!

 

[Faster horses]

All of you guys should have heard the discussions on whether a cow needed a new tag. :lol: Kosmo says, she's old, and late, we don't need a tag, she's going into the sell pen. Soap, naw, put a tag in her. Peach, keeps on making a tag with the Drimmel, finally says, do you want the tag or not. Kosmo, no, Soap yes. Peach hands Kosmo the tag and he puts it in.

Not all of them went that way, but it was fun to sit back and listen to the banter. I was never able to work with my father the way these guys do, and I am impressed.
At 1 time we had 4 generations out there!! That in itself is pretty amazing!!

I enjoyed your post, WP. It does sound pretty amazing. Nice they all work together so well--even with differing opinions. Nice. too, that you could give them a hand.