More rambling

We had Hubby's grandson with us last week. RT is 7 years old (8 in two months as he is quick to point out).  He and his parents are "city" people, so this is always a huge experience for him when he stays with us.  (Please note that if Kari were dropped off in a city, she'd be just as awed because she is "country" kid, maybe even more so.)  Here, he can go outside and has a huge yard to play in.  He can get dirty by digging holes and making muck.  Because of the amount of rain we kept getting, he didn't get to plant his garden which was a disappointment for him.  He isn't tied to the television or his video games while here.  He moves! The only difficult part of the visit was his incessant chatter.  We aren't used to anyone talking nonstop! It did give me a valid reason to go see Kung Fu Panda. Cute movie.

We had to vaccinate cows and calves yesterday.  This is something we do ourselves rather than have the vet come out.  They, of course, knew something was up, so they were harder to get into the corral than normal.  Once there, the fun began.  Cows are big.  When you are in a small enclosed space with them, they become bigger.  If their babies are with them in this small enclosed space, they become monster size huge. My job (plus the neighbor who was helping) was to sort 4 cows out and start them down the chute where the first cow would be caught in the head gate and the other three pushed up behind her.  Hubby then would walk along the chute and give the shots.  Now, most cows don't want to be separ ated from their babies, and the babies definitely don't want to be split from mama.  It's impossible to explain to them that they will be reunited, so you have to give the image that you are not concerned about what they want.  Believe me, I try.  My brain may be saying, "Get between that cow and calf. She'll turn and get behind the chute gate," but my body is saying, "Ain't no way I'm doing that!" You'd think that after all these years, I'd be better, that my body would be trained to follow the edict of my brain. Nope, hasn't happened.  I finally convinced the neighbor that smaller groups in the chute corral would work better for me than packing it and then trying to sort.

My other job was to place an iron rod behind the last cow in the chute.  That way they couldn't back out. It's not a difficult thing to do.  You just can't be grossed out by bodily functions.  Cows do two things very efficiently.  They take in food, and they eliminate waste--all the time.  Get a cow agitated just a tad, and they do the latter a lot! After the iron rod is placed behind the cow, and she backs up, she does what any concerned cow would do--she poops all over it.  That iron rod was well lubricated.  I dropped it only once due to the slickness, but believe me, I hit the shower the second I walked in the door!  

Monday, I went with my other daughter to the college she will be attending this fall to register for classes and take a campus tour.  This is a big step for her. I was given a packet of suggested reading material to deal with a child leaving home.  Little did they know that we've already done that. She has been living "on her own" since the beginning of the year. This won't be a problem!

Later.