My Kids Are Stronger Than Your Kids.

I don’t think Miss America is a very good mother.

There.

I said it.

She is never with her calf.  Yesterday, I went to check on them and found the calf laying in some brush.  She was probably about 150 feet away eating.  She didn’t even care that I walked up to him.  I checked again a few hours later and she was all the way at the house eating and the calf was in the same exact spot.

It is not very odd for the mamas to leave their babies and go and get a drink or a bite to eat.  But they usually employ a babysitter.

Cows are amazing, didn’t you know?  They babysit for each other and everything.

Well, Miss America didn’t even have a designated babysitter for Uncle Sam, who I think I will probably just call Sam.

So, I went and checked on him three times yesterday in all and he was in the same spot each time.  I decided to pet him and he let me and was very chill.  I was worried he wasn’t doing well or eating enough because I thought it was strange that he let me pet him and he wasn’t mooing or anything.  Out of nowhere he stood up, right under my legs, and I almost rode him, except he is so not big enough to ride.  And then he sauntered off.

But here is the photo I snapped of him before he left me:

Look at those eyes!

David is getting many large bales of hay.  I never see the guy anymore.

Me:  Alright.  How many more loads of hay are you needing to get?

David:  I think I am doing pretty good.

Me:  How many do you have left?

David:  Well from the guy who lives a bit farther away, I am buying 180 bales.  I can get 18 on a load.  I have gotten a couple loads.  From the guy who lives closer to us, I am buying 160 and I have gotten a couple loads.

Me:  Dude.  You will be getting hay until Labor Day.

The big bales are mucho large-o.  I think he said they weigh about 850 pounds each.  But these bales are much easier to manage because the farmer just loads them on his trailer with a machine and David or one of the boys can unload off the trailer with the Bobcat.  It takes a lot less muscle.

The small bales take a ton of muscle and are grueling.  Because they must be done without a machine.

Me:  I am making a decision.  No more small bales.  They are too hard on you and the boys.

David:  Nope.  What if the Bobcat breaks down?  I won’t be able to feed them.

Me:  Oh, pish posh.

So, last night, the Bobcat breaks down.  This is not rare and David is becoming very versed on Bobcat repair.  However, this breakdown has seemed to stump him.  In fact, I kind of think it has broken down multiple times over the past few days and he keeps trying to get it running again, only for it to break down again, and so on.

He got home from work a bit earlier than usual yesterday and worked on it, got it working, then left to get a load.  Got back and when they were unloading, it broke down.

Now, please remember, whenever the cows hear the Bobcat, they initiate the Cow Telephone System.  I spoke of that earlier.  So one cow sounds the alarm, and all other cows join in, and all cows come out of the woodwork, including Miss America who leaves Sam with no babysitter.

Because she is an unfit mother.

Then the Bobcat breaks down and yada yada yada, David is working on it and it starts and stops and starts and stops and the cows are basically flipping out.

David still wanted to get more hay, so he and the boys had to push the 850 pound bales off the trailer so he could go and get more.  So he got all the hay for the night and they pushed them off the trailer and Hadley brought him parts from town.  He was hoping to get it running after the parts were installed and feed the cows, who were oh so hungry.  Even though they eat all day.

It didn’t work.  Bobcat is still broke down.

Now, readers, we have a problem.  We need to feed them.  They are hungry and perturbed.  David is at work and the Bobcat is broke down in the driveway.

It is all up to me.

Except I don’t know how to do anything.  So, it is all up to the kids.  Kate was gone for her first day back to work after her surgery.  Hadley and the boys were home, but Hadley was going to leave in the late morning for work.  Hadley is freakishly strong so I knew she must be included.

So, we have many small bales, which weigh 60 pounds or so, but they are in the hay barn and the hay barn is not extremely accessible right now, on account of the 850 pound bales being pushed off a trailer in front of it.  We have a bulldozer, but it is currently at another location.

Here’s a bit of info on our personalities:

Me:  Not strong.  Not clever, but not completely idiotic and definitely showing improvement in that area.  Mostly worried about safety and feel like my role is to shush poor attitudes and name calling, and keep everyone alive.

Hadley:  Extremely strong, but gets easily irritated by HD’s attitude.  And if you worked with HD for any period of time, you would completely understand.

HD:  Second strongest, extremely gifted at running machinery, thinks just like David, is very clever, but knows he knows best and therefore makes everyone else feel inferior.  We are working on kindness.  Also, I tell him for every rude remark he owes me a whole dollar, and that usually nips it in the bud.

LD:  Strong, smart, but could not care less.  Would prefer to jump on hay bales with the puppy.  Like so:

Lest you are confused, he is walking on hay bales that were stacked before the Bobcat broke down.  If you look towards the right of the picture, you can see the hay bales that were pushed off.

So, HD started trying to push a hay bale with the four wheeler.  Hadley and I chucked a couple of small hay bales over the gate so the animals could start snacking.  It took many different tries and lots of muscles from HD, LD, and myself, but we started getting the big bales rolling towards the big gate.  Eventually HD figured out a good system and Hadley and he got the first big bale in:

While HD and Hadley were taking care of that, LD and I started discussing the beer grain situation.

David gets free beer grain and he had about 8 large trash cans full.  These are very heavy.  They were on our feed room porch, which is fairly low to the ground.

Usually, the boys shovel the beer grain into the Bobcat bucket and take the grain out to the bunk feeders.  But, alas.  The Bobcat is broken.

Another way we have done it is to load the trash cans into the four wheeler trailer, and tow it into the pen with the four wheeler and shovel it into the bunk feeder.  But, alas.  The four wheeler trailer is surrounded by heavy things that require the Bobcat to move so we can access it.  And, again.  The Bobcat is broken.

Me:  Why don’t you unhook the goose neck from the truck and back it up to the porch?

LD:  I could do that, but I think the truck is pretty high.  It will be hard to lift the barrels in.

Me:  Right.  Hmmm . . . then we will use the horse trailer.

LD:  Ok, I will get the truck.

Me:  No, just use my car so you don’t have to unhook the truck.

LD:  Seriously?

Me:  Seriously.

LD:  I don’t think it is strong enough.

Me:  It is.

(I do not actually know for sure.)

And yes, I have my middle school boys move vehicles around often.  Don’t you?

So, I go back to “helping” HD with the second big bale and LD goes off to hitch the horse trailer to my car.

In the far right, you can see LD driving my car to the horse trailer.  Also you can see our side door, which is now a lovely Sea Serpentish color.  I am not sure if I mentioned to you all that I found a great color for my house?

Next, Hadley, HD, and I go and join LD.  HD is the most skilled at all the things, so he backed the trailer up to the feed room porch.  We loaded the grain in the horse trailer.

HD and LD were discussing the situation as real men should.

LD:  I am not sure you are going to get this thing up over the hill.

HD:  I know, and it is raining a bit.  We might get stuck in the mud.

LD:  Yeah.  I don’t know.

HD:  Well, we have to try.  I will put her in tow mode and four wheel drive.

(I didn’t really know my car had tow mode.  But he did)

They got the trailer pulled in and filled the first feeder.  My job was to keep cows and horses away from them and take pictures.

HD took the trailer around to the next bunk feeder.

My kids are literal beasts.

Look at HD’s face as he tries to help lift the bottom of the barrel.

So, we did it.  We saved the day.

Next, HD and I decided we would go and check on Sam.  He was in a completely different area, so that is probably good news.  Once again, his mother was nowhere to be found and, once again, she did not hire a babysitter.

You would not believe how soft and precious baby calves are.

HD lifted the tail and we can confirm with 100% certainty that Sam is a boy.

Here is proof that the horses rule the show out there:

We have two bunk feeders.  The horses have claimed the one to the right and the cows all must try and share the one on the left.  When the horses tire of their feeder on the right, they will go and chase the cows away from the feeder on the left.  And the cows let them.  They let the horses be the boss of them.

Happy Thursday!