Living on a farm, I have come to realize your day never goes as planned or expected. Today was one of those days…
Being a mom of three, with another little one on the way, my days are typically busy and crazy anyway. Throw living on a farm in the mix and you have a very exciting life.
The evening began fairly calm. I picked up my kids after work and asked my niece and nephew to join in on an evening craft. We had our playtime outside because the weather was too perfect to stay inside and craft! So, while the kids played – I took the opportunity to dig up the old stepping stones in our front yard and pulled up the rotting wood that was once a framed flower bed.
The waning light finally drove us inside for a late supper. On the menu ..fried chicken (New Norm Farm chicken) (Umm, yes please!). So, the chicken is breaded; the oil is hot we are ready to start frying. Now, you remember how I said that living on a farm your days never go as expected…
Just then I heard my mother-in-law from our mud room; yell “Kassy, the cows are out.”
So much for about to start frying. I turned the stove eye off and yelled back…”Let me wash my hands!”
I met her in the mudroom. And she was a sight. Her sweatshirt, lounge pants, and what I believe to be her once clean, mud free, favorite pair of…flip-flops were perfect for hanging out at the house. Not so much for chasing cows. I can barely make out the outline of her toes between the mud. She proceeded to explain that the cows got out, and Emily, my sister-in-law, is outside with them.
I put on my tennis shoes (Sorry Shape-ups; you will be good as new after you have been through the wash) and my jacket; grab a flashlight and head out the door.
I heard Emily “talking” to the cows in “animal talk”. Ya’ know, “Knick, Knick, Knick! Here T-bone.” as I rounded the corner.
Two out of the three cows were standing in front of our barn – while Emily, her zebra print rain boots sunk 2-3 inches in mud – stood inside the pasture where they should be, unsuccessfully trying to coax them through the gate. Can cows look amused?
As I walked towards T-bone (one of the more stubborn-headed steers you will ever deal with) and he ran in the opposite direction that I wanted him to go. So, I tried to cut him back, but nope, in the other opposite direction he goes. And the other cow, Steak-eyes, followed right behind T-bone. Because, ya’ know, T-bone’s stubbornness is contagious.
I told Emily that I was going to go get a bucket and some feed. Bucket? In the wellhouse. Check. Feed? Inside the barn. Locked. No key. Hmmm… cat food it is! I scooped out a cup of cat food, enough to shake in the bucket to make sound, and back to the cows I go.
So, after a few minutes of shaking and banging on the bucket, T bone decided to check out what is in there making that noise and started to walk towards me. He was almost to the gate but stopped. (Again, did I mention he is stubborn) Luckily Steak-eyes is not…and he came running..If cows could talk, he would have been saying “Foooood! I hear Fooood! I’m certain that is fooood! Last one to the bucket is a rotten egg!”
So, now 2-3 inches deep in a slippery, smelly mix of mud and cow poop…(Yeah, two washes for the tennis shoes). I walked the cows around to the far pasture, dropped the bucket and began walking back to Emily. I snickered as I watch T-bone stick his head in the bucket and pull it back out…That’s right, T-Bone, enjoying your cat food? Mu-ha-ha-ha!
Together Emily & I got the gate shut and tied. Emily joked, “Who says we are not farmers?”
We walked to the other side of the fence where the cows originally got out and it looks like they have snapped the rope and pushed the gate down.(Yep, definately a T-bone move). So, I tied the rope around the tree, all the while enjoying the sound of T-bone mooing at me. Cow translation- “What do you think I am a cat? Do I look like a cat to you? See if I come to you again? Shmuh.”
What can I say, this evening was a cow’s meow. 🙂
By: Kassy
