David! Can we just shoot him?!

The puppy brothers bring us endless amounts of entertainment.

Their newest trick:  running up to the loft, yet not knowing how to get back down.  Just like a kitten in a tree.

So they stand here and look at us and cry.

It is very cute.  Charlie, their big sister dog, goes up there and leads them back down.

***

Well.  It happened.

A child of mine turned 18.

My precious nieces, who love to bake, baked her this lovely red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

If you were to ask David what my “dream” birthday dessert would be, he would have not one clue.

But if you were to ask precious nieces (and I do ask them, because I hope they will help David out), they reply:

Brooke’s Best Bombshell Brownies topped with sliced fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

I cannot wait!

I hope David hires them to prepare it!  It will make turning 40 seem not so bad.

***

We need to talk about a steer.

This steer, in particular:

He is awful.

David likes to have all steers of a certain age and girth seperated off the main herd so they can be “finished off” with grain.  Don’t ask me why, I don’t make the rules.

Awful Steer jumped the corral as soon as David and the boys placed him there.

I don’t like Awful Steer.  He is wild.  Plus he has horns.

Awful Steer escaped the corral a few weeks ago and we have tried a few times, unsuccessfully, to reunite him again with the other steers who must be “finished off.”

We would go out there, try to sort him off the herd, he would run away, we would give up.

Repeat.

This weekend, David became bound and determined to get him in.  We tried yesterday a couple of times with just the boys and failed miserably.  We came inside, all gruff with each other, with wet pants and broken dreams.

Today, we involved the girls.  Plus Hadley’s friend, Lily.

Lily:  Mrs. Taylor.  Can I stay the night?

Me:  Sure.  But there will be none of this lazy sleeping until 9am business and everyone will help David corral a steer.

Lily:  Deal!

The whole ordeal took about an hour and a half.  To move one creature into one pen.  Awful Steer is just awful, so we had a plan to just try and get most of the herd into the corral and hope Awful Steer would follow.

We were all armed with sticks and large pieces of conduit.

We had to have a Come to Jesus meeting beforehand and I had to lay the ground rules.

And the most important rule:

“No one will call anyone an idiot when a cow gets by them.”

Not that anyone in this family would ever call anyone an idiot while working cattle.

David doesn’t like to listen to me.  And he should.  Because I am the brains of this marriage, I tell ya.  I have always advocated for the use of cell phones during cattle sorting, and he will hear none of it.  Instead, he chooses to yell and get too far away and no one can hear and then get frustrated.

As luck would have it, right off the bat, we failed miserably and sent all cattle running in the complete opposite direction.  I have no idea where everyone else was, but I stayed at my post.  Because I am obedient.  And then all the cows started coming back to the main area, but David was nowhere to be seen.  So I called him.  AND HE ANSWERED.  And I told him to come back.

It was Hadley and Lily.  They saved the day.  They caught the wayward cows and sent them back where they needed to be.  And I called David.  And no one yelled.  Happy endings.

We regrouped and David gave everyone a position.

Kate and I were together on one end.

Isn’t she cute?

And I would like everyone to know we rocked it and did not let any cows get past us.

Once we got all the cows in the corral, we had to sort again and get everyone out but Awful Steer and the bull.

This took a great deal of time, seeing as how Awful Steer wanted to kill each and everyone of us.

Me:  David!  Can we just shoot him?

David:  He’s not ready!  He needs to be finished up with grain!

Me:  All in favor of shooting this steer now and being done?

Kate, Hadley, Lily, HD, and LD:  AYE!

Stand down, Readers!  After dealing with Awful Steer for an hour and a half, you would vote for shooting him, too.

We got him and the bull sorted off and no one had to use a firearm.

Lily: Mrs. Taylor.  I love doing chores at your house.

Before I go, I shall leave you with this picture of a charolaise steer being “finished off.”

He is much chiller than Awful Steer.

Also, he has a rooster friend who hangs out on his back most of the day.

School starts back up tomorrow!  Ready or not!