Feeding the cats

Do you guys remember milking time and all the barn cats that are wilder then a March hare become very friendly and line up just out of your reach for you to squirt milk into their mouths?  I used to feed them more milk then I took to the house.  I used to sneak a squirt too. I fed every little critter that came around.  My dad at first was not happy on my day that we hardly got any milk but he finally gave up and let me feed half of it to the cats.

I used to always bring stray half starved dogs home when I went riding to town too. He kept telling me to scare them away but I would tell him "I tired daddy, I yelled, I threw rocks and they still followed me"  I think I yelled if they go to far back and I think I threw the rocks ahead of me at dogs that wanted to attack them.

The moral of the story is: We always had lots of cats and dogs. I loved the farm.

Wax on wax off

I just waxed my Jeep yesterday and it brought back memories of when mom used to wax the floor before self shining wax.  She was smart, waxing day was fun, she put the wax on and when it was dry she had all the kids she could find put on socks and skate on the floor.  Oh what fun we had. We did not have a skating rink in our town so this was a highlight for us and we always looked forward to it. I am sure she enjoyed sitting on the chair shoved into the kitchen and watching us polish her floor while she got a well deserved break.

I think this attitude is what made me think of games for my kids to do work and them not know it...lol

Butchering chickens

My cousin from the city came to the farm one summer and was going to help mom butcher the chickens. Well if anyone has never butchered a chicken it is a sight to behold and not very fun.  I have not butchered chickens since I got old enough to say "no".

My mom gathered the roosters and the chopping block, my cousin grabbed the chicken and held it down and CHOP! Off came the head and blood squirted and my cousin yelled and let go of the chicken. Blood was flying, the chicken was flapping it its wings and running around. By accident everywhere Joe (not the real name) went the rooster went that direction.  As you know the running around doesn't last long but Joe was sure that the chicken was after him for holding him down for mom to chop his head off.  Joe never would even go outside after that on chicken killing days and had nightmares for ages about the chicken going to get him.

My last chickens I raised I gave all the roosters away when they got frying age to my friend with the understanding she caught them and took them when I was not home and killed them at her house. I decided years ago I would rather hunt animals with a camera. I know someone has to kill the animals but it is not going to be me. I will help butcher them but not kill them. I should be a vegetarian but afraid I still like meat

new saddle

My girlfriend got a new saddle. I was so jealous of her when we went riding and she was so proud that new saddle.  We got to the pond and waded our horses out into the pond until they were about knee deep. She did not want to go any deeper because of her new saddle. I was disappointed as we usually swam our horses around and had a gay time in the pond as we rode bareback.  I was thinking maybe it isn't so cool to have a new saddle if you can't do fun things any more because of it.

Her horse started pawing the water, well being young we did not know what was going to happen and I was thinking, see even the horse isn't happy, he wants to play too.

Well you horse people know what happened next, the pretty little palamino laid right down in the water with that girl and her new saddle and splashed around.  He finally got up and the horse, the rider and that pretty new saddle were wet and muddy and I was having a hard time not laughing as she sputtered and yelled.

Not sure if it was a lesson that you should not get prideful or I was just a bad girl and wished it on her but when she calmed down we both had a good laugh about it but it was the last time she took her pretty saddle when we went trail riding, she saved it for trips to town etc.

Birthday Party

One thing farm kids are is resourceful.  If they need something or need to fix something they can usually find a way.  Remember the old saying “where there is a will there is a way”, well this is one of those days.

My dad and mom were very hard working people, they worked hard jobs and then came home and worked the farm and still had the house and us kids to take care of. We always had food to eat but money was tight.  Mom had finally got the money that summer to paint the living room.

We always felt bad because us kids had birthdays and parties but dad and mom never did so my girlfriend and myself decided that we were going to make my dad a birthday party. His birthday was Sept. 1 so we had plenty of time since school was still out for the summer.  We could not figure out how to get decorations for the house and then decided to make chains like we did in school. We saved the Sunday funnies and cut them in strips and made a bunch of colorful chains. Then we cut cartoon characters out of his favorite like Bugs Bunny and Woody Wood Pecker and stored them away.

The day finally arrived and we got all our stuff together and then proceeded to bake him a cake. Well you can imagine what that kitchen looked like when we were done as frosting and cake batter were dropped here and there.

When dad left to go to town to get mom we pulled out our decorations and found we were out of tape. OH NO! Now what to do.. good ole resourcefulness we decided to make flour and water glue. We used our home made glue to glue those cartoons and chains all over the living room and I mean all over. Our house was a colorful delight to our little eyes.

We got the card table out and decorated it all up. I mean with flour and water you don’t have to be careful there is lots of it and you can just glue away as long as you have time. So there was moms good pinochle playing card table covered with homemade glued on cartoons with a saggy chocolate cake and her newly painted living room covered in colorful glued on funny paper chains waiting for them to open the door where we could yell surprise.

The door opened and we yelled surprise!  You should have seen their faces, they were surprised alright!  Their eyes bugged, their mouths flew open and mom even had tears in hers.  Yes we lived through it!  Never did have another surprise birthday party for them. Moms birthday was in November and she missed out on a party….lol

Broken tail bone

Most of my injuries growing up had to do with my horse. Mom told the doctor once maybe she should get rid of the horse and he said that I might get killed on my horse but if she got rid of him it would kill me for sure.  I was pretty strict with my kids on safety issues with their horses because my injuries were my stupidity not the horse as an example.

We lived about 12 miles from town and one of the big treats was if dad let me ride my horse to town. It was always fun when we got to town but the ride in was boring. The worst part about the trip though was the ride home again. My horse was tired and I was hot and tired.

The irrigation canal ran from town to our house and we used to wait until we got to the Hout’s house where it was right next to the road and then we would get our horse in the canal. It would be about to his belly there and it would cool the horse and us.

I almost always rode bareback so when we got in the canal we would play as the horse plugged along home eating grass on the side of the canal as he went.  It was fun to practice my trick riding then because when you fell off it did not hurt.  Hout’s live about 7 miles from our house.

I was practicing away and doing a lot of falling. Every you fell and crawled back on the horse the horse got wetter and wetter and slicker and slicker.

I was trying to do a backwards flip on him. I would stand on his rump and flip backwards landing where you are suppose to be riding even though I was backwards. I kept landing on his neck so I was getting as close to his tail as I could and WHOOPS my feet slide off and down I came with my tail bone connecting to his tail bone. OUCH! OUCH! Now that was pain.  I said some things you should not even say at my age let alone as a young teen. I tried to get back on my horse and no way could I set there, it was just to painful.

I slid back off my horse and tried to walk, OUCH, that hurt to bad too. Now what do I do? I finally got on my horse laying on my stomach across his back and rode home. Now that is the most uncomfortable way to ride ever invented but not near as painful as sitting on my rear.

My mom took me to the doctor and he said there was nothing he could do but it would heal.  Painful time of my life.  Years later my daughter and I were at elk camp and I went to run and jump on the running board of the pickup and my feet flew out on the icy running board and boom, there goes that tail bone, broke again. My daughter said in the comics when they had all those symbols she thought they were for cuss words but she learned that day that I made everyone of those sounds.  I also found out that riding in a pickup with a soft coat made into a circle is a lot better then riding a horse home and I was so glad because we were  50 miles from home that time.

Being Stuck

My ex loved the outdoors and his best friend did too. They decided we were going to take the pickup and boat and go to the lake about 70 miles away and go fishing.

Off we go, we get there and everything is a muddy mess and I mean muddy. My Ex starts backing the pickup and boat towards the lake. There is not boat launch and the water is low. The pickup gets stuck, we try our best to get it out and no such luck so they push the trailer and boat back enough to get the Bronco in there and hook it to the Bronco.  It is just a small 14’ fishing boat so it is not real heavy. They put the Bronco in 4x4 and start backwards again. About 20 feet further the Bronco gets stuck. They unhook the trailer, now mind you that the pickup is still stuck and now the Bronco is too. Instead of getting the pickup unstuck with the Bronco they just wanted to go fishing and decided they would do it later. Well later the Bronco is stuck…oh well they say, they unhook the boat trailer once again and start shoving it backwards by hand, sure enough the boat trailer gets stuck. I mean the water is so low that it is really deep mud and a lot like quicksand.  They go a little further and boom, suck, the boat trailer is stuck.

At this point I am sure they will stop and start getting things unstuck and give up on fishing. Nope not those two, they pick up the boat off the trailer and start carrying it to the water.

We finally get in the boat and off we go. We get out in the lake and the cold wind comes up. We also have my little 2 year old daughter with us and she is starting to get cold so they start rowing towards shore, the wind is blowing where this is a chore and a half and by now we have white caps that are splashing us as we go.  It is almost dark by the time we get to the shore.

The carry the boat clear up to where the mud is not so bad and go back to get the trailer unstuck.  They get the trailer unstuck and start on the Bronco.  Needless to say it was close to midnight before we got everything unstuck, we are cold, miserable, hungry as we did not bring enough food. This trip taught me a good lesson which I still follow to this day. If you are going to be away from the main road and during cold months you always will have extra food, sleeping bag, water, a light in the car at all times.

In my Jeep today, we have two sleeping bags, extra food, lots of water, a light at all times.  When I am going over the mountain in winter I take sleeping bags etc.  In summer I always carry lots of water and you know what. It has paid off many times.

Don't pull on your horses mouth

My girls and I went horse back riding one day and I rode the little horse that had been a stud for 5 years and had never been out of his corral his whole life. They rode him around a little in the corral but when they took him out he got excited so they put him back and never took him out again until we bought him. We used him as a stud for 2 years but he never threw any size. He was a small horse just over 14 hands and we had thought it was because of the treatment he had growing up as he came from an outstanding blood line. After he did not throw any size we gelded him and started riding him.

He loved to go on trail rides, he would go all day and be just as happy as when he left. The only problem with it was he was scared of everything. 

I always harped at my kids and 4-H kids that there is never any reason to jerk on a horses mouth, they can feel a fly land they don’t need you pulling on their bridle, it just hurts, put your finger against your gum and press and see how it hurts and think about it being steel and hitting hard.

We came to the creek and he had never seen a creek before.  He was dancing around and acting like an idiot. The nice thing about him was he did not know he was bigger and stronger then you so he did not know he could run off so he just danced around.  We were riding bareback which was our custom most of the time.

I kept working him closer and closer to the creek but he did not want to put his feet in there. I told the girls to ride their horses to the other side where he would want to cross over.

When they got to the other side he was really excited and would go right to the edge and then jump back. I continued to work with him and finally he decided he was going to smell it. He put his head down and smelled and quivered all over. He raised his head and looked at the other horses and put his nose back to the water and smelled it, then he put his nose in the water and splashed around. When he started splashing his whole body relaxed and you could feel the air go out of his lungs which usually means he relaxed so I relaxed and grinned.

That stupid horse jumped that creek with his nose still in the water!  My feet flew up in the air and I laid right down on that horses back with my feet reaching for the moon. I would have done a backwards somersault right off that horse except I hit the end of the reins.  We lit on the other side with my legs still up in the air and all my kids laughing their heads off and yelling “don’t pull on your horses mouth” “never make the bit hit your horses gums” “there is no reason to ever pull on their mouths”.  Well blast it I did not have time to do anything! If he had not moved so fast I would have gone off but it was over with so fast I did not have time to fall off.

The night of the almost divorce

Farm kids learn to do things early and they learn to use common sense. They know that in life you don’t always have things the way you want, you might be sick, you might be tired but the animals depend on you to feed them no matter what. If you cage an animal you have to take care of it 24/7 365 days a year no matter how tired, sick, sad, worried, depressed, scared you are the animals must be taken care of or they die and you will lose your farm.  There are no second chances as the animal is dead and you can’t afford to buy a new one. If you do buy a new one it is the same story or it will be dead. You forget the words, I can’t, I don’t want to, I don’t know how and you just figure out a way to do it.

This holds true even at a young age.  When the twins were born they were a handful, no sleep, going all the time to keep up with caring for them. My ex was a really hard sleeper, when he went to sleep nothing woke him up. Let me rephrase nothing but hunting season woke him up.

I went over to do my girlfriends perm and I did not want to take the babies with me because it is hard to just quit in the middle of a perm and with two babies and a 3 year old that is no less then 3 minutes cycles so I left them home with their dad.  This is how the story went.

I got the perm all in the hair and was in the waiting period I decided to call home and see how things were going. I called the house and I get this little voice “hello”

Me: Hi honey can I talk to dad?

3 year old daughter: “no he is asleep and I am busy” and she hangs up.

I call immediately back  “hello”

3 year old: “I can’t talk” and she hangs up again.

I call immediately back. “let me talk to dad right now”

3 year old “he is asleep and the babies are crying” and she hangs up

I fly out to the car and the 10 blocks to my house. There is my ex asleep in the recliner chair. Both babies are screaming bloody murder and my 3 year old is standing on a chair trying to heat a bottle with a broken bottle in the sink.  The babies had diapers changed if you can call it changed, the old ones were off and the new ones were kind of put on.

We had a bottle warmer that you put 1 tablespoon water in and it heats the bottle. She had filled it clear up and it got to hot she had dropped the bottle when she tried to test it. She was heating another bottle, testing it every couple of seconds where it would not get to hot.

I helped her finish the bottles and feed the babies and then I loaded all 3 of them up in the car and took them with me. I was so hoping that when he woke up he would be worried and I was not sure I was coming home.  Nope he woke up and figured I took the kids and did not even worry enough to call just started watching TV..The night I came close to a divorce…..

Ole Joe, the three legged dog

We had a dog when I was small that was black. I don’t know what breed he was, I think just a mixed mutt which a lot of times end up being the best. Anyway ole Joe decided he was dad’s dog. He always was with dad or in dad’s pickup

One time Joe disappeared and we looked everywhere for him. I got on my horse and went around to the neighbors asking them if they had seen Joe. I rode down through the canyons. My brother rode his bike around looking for Joe.  I was so sad and my dad was really upset. I was coming home from riding down Frog Springs when I noticed something moving in dad’s pickup, yep it was old Joe. I think he must have been going to the canal for water that was near. The pickup had broke down and dad left it at the corner of the 80 acres and him and Joe had walked home.  He must have been laying down when we had gone by before and no one thought about Joe walking a mile to get back to the pickup. So for two days he had lived in the pickup.

Later ole Joe disappeared again, we looked everywhere again, same story as before except no Joe and the pickup was home. We looked for a week and still no Joe, almost two weeks later mom said that the smell of something dead was getting stronger every day and it smelled like it came from under the house. Dad was sure it was ole Joe crawled under there and died. 

He got a flashlight and crawled under the house, yep there was ole Joe clear back in the littlest corner and he was alive but his leg was destroyed. Dad could not fit under the beams there to get to Joe and he would not come, he was very weak and half alive. Dad sent me under the house to get Joe since I was the smallest.

I got to ole Joe and he looked at me and I looked at his leg. It was gross! His leg was bloody, bones sticking out all over, pus leaking and maggots everywhere. I did not want to touch him but dad said if I did not pull him out he would die. I grabbed a hold of ole Joe and started dragging, he whimpered very soft and I started crying. Dad said “Linda you have to do it even if it hurts him”. I pulled again crying louder with each pull but I finally got ole Joe up close enough dad could get a hold of him. My dad had tears in his eyes too.

We got ole Joe out from under the house and dad took off in the pickup to the vets office. They took ole Joe’s leg off and part of his shoulder as gangrene had set in.  It healed great and ole Joe was a 3 legged dog for years and it did not even seem to slow him down. Some hunter had shot ole Joe in the leg.

Me I was sure it was the maggots that ate ole Joes leg off. 

The pig wallow

Pigs love to have a muddy spot to wallow in. They roll around and squirm and look like they are in 7th heaven. My friend and I were watching them one hot summer day and decided that looked like a good thing to do.

Luckily for us we did not share the pig wallow which would have been like me but we went and got a hose and made us a big muddy spot and proceeded to jump, roll and thrash around like a bunch of pigs.  I still remember how fun it was until my mom caught us. She did not seem to think it was as good of an idea as we did. We had fun while it lasted.