Monday on the farm

  

   This is an entry from my daily journal. I am posting it a couple of days late, but I have been too busy to find the time to do it until this morning. I hope this will remind others to be grateful for all of their daily blessings... even when the day seems to be going bad you can still find some reason to thank the LORD. 

   GOD never promised us life would always be easy; GOD only promised us HE would never leave us. If we take the time and look for HIM our days will be brighter and our life will be more joyful... even when life is going wrong GOD can brighten your day if you will allow it to happen by looking for HIM!

January 19, 2015

   Well I haven't been writing in my daily journal for a few days. I just couldn't find any reason or desire to write. The end of the week was just about as productive as the start of the week had been for me, so I just had nothing worth writing. I did enjoy a nice weekend though. The weather has finally warmed up, but the clouds hung around a lot longer than I wanted them. Today was absolutely perfect. It was about 70 degrees with no wind and it was sunny too. I had made plans for a big day to start my week, but it wasn't looking good when I got up. It was cloudy and I was very down about that. I needed to see some sunshine. The sun finally did come out and my day improved drastically.

  My plan for Monday was to work the cattle and I did that after the sun came out. The cows all came in and only one refused to go into the lot. Brindle can be a bit stubborn about that and she was in that mood today. That was fine for me though. I didn't need to work her today, so I was satisfied with what I got up. The cows actually worked very well. I messed up on a few of the ear tags. I got them tagged, but I think I missed the numbers a few times. The cattle were all very calm and easy to handle. I know some of them more by the way they act than the way they look and they all acted the same today! Once I got all of the cows worked and the calves I wanted to wean sorted out I loaded them up and moved them. They loaded up easy too.

   I dropped them off and got ready to load the big heifers and the bull I needed to move. That was when things started to get interesting. These are all among my youngest cattle and they haven't been loaded or worked very much. It started off fine. They all went into the trailer, but the bull stopped near the front and they didn't have room to get all of them in. I finally let them all out and tried again. This time the bull refused to let any of them in the trailer at all! I always move the bulls alone and he didn't want any company! I just gave up and just hauled him down to put in the lot until I got back with the heifers. I went back and tried to load the heifers. That was when everything fell apart. The heifers balked about loading and there were too many for me to be able to reach the gate and start closing it and force them in.  I finally got them started and was trying to get the gate swung around when one of them went nuts and started bucking and kicking at the gate. She knocked it out of my hands and it hit me in the face. My nose was pouring blood and my eyes were watering, but I got three in the trailer. I shut them in the front and tried to load the last three. After several tries one of the heifers earned a ride to the sale in the morning. She was fighting at me and acting completely crazy, so I just left her there. I put the last two in the back of the trailer and went on down with them. Once I had them at the other place I ran them all in the chute and worked them along with the bull. They weren't happy about it, but they were fairly calm and it wasn't too bad. When I was done with them I put out hay and called it a day. I will take the other heifer  to the sale in the morning. Sis was with me when I got hit and thinks my nose is broke. I don't think it is, but I will have a black eye.

  In spite of all of that I had a very good day. I will be a bit stiff and sore in the morning. A calf kicked my right arm and hand. My nose and eye will look bad tomorrow, but I am happy. I got all the cattle worked and sorted out. Even more important; I am still smiling and happy. I didn't ever completely lose my temper either. Oh I got mad when I got hurt, but I never lost my temper. It was mostly my fault anyway. Keeping control of my temper is a good thing for me. The Lord answered my prayers for help and strength today. This could have been a terrible day, but thanks to my Lord it was a great day. I may get up stiff and sore, but I intend to get up with a smile and praise my Lord. Thanks for the great day Lord, see you again in the morning!