The Canadian 4th of July, a holiday for most folks, not so much for the cowboys in the world. Cows need cowboys everyday, except most Sundays, when God himself helps take care of them.
Today we cleaned up the field that we moved the other day then moved these 400 pairs, just the 2 of us and the dogs, Blue (of course), Roxy, and this time Glynnis. Her first time and she was pretty enthusiastic. It made up for the mistakes she made. All in all it went very smooth.
Until Glynnis laid down in this puddle and didn’t want to get out after we were done and everyone else was loaded to go home. I had to wade in there, pick her up and put her in the back of the truck. Needless to say I got a little mucky. She must have been pretty hot.
Tell me what you think: doesn’t it seem like a gate is a little too tight when you can only open and close it with the fence stretcher?
These are heads off a couple of kinds of grasses that are prevalent here. The first is called Needle and Thread (I call it spear grass because when it dries you can pull the seed with the awn or tail out and throw them at each other and they will stick in you or your clothes). It causes lots of grief with long haired collies getting caught in their hair coat, that’s why we like short haired dogs. The second is June Grass that I have never seen as tall as this year.
In this picture you can see the June Grass on the stem. In the background is Kentucky Blue Grass that grows more in wet years like this. The blue small plants are sage and if you make the picture bigger you can see the small brown seed heads or an upland sedge.
Grass is an important part of cattle raising, in fact it’s actually the grass we harvest, the cattle just help us do that. We spend a lot of time thinking how best to take care of the grass, me and mother nature 🙂
Fireworks in town tonight. I think we get to go watch. Happy 1st of July!
oh come on, how could you not resist such a sweetheart in the mud :)… If it were me, I might have joined in with her… haha! ok maybe I'd have been more like you… and annoyed I had to drag her out :)… haha And hey, the fence stretcher, means no one will get in there real easy!
I went out last night and took "grass" pic's. I'm not looking forward to all that speargrass and dogs in the same sentence in another week when it cures.
The sage in your photo looks like wormwood sage; if it is you can add it to your list of medicinal wild plants. Dry it and crush it up to use as a dewormer for horses and dogs. A teaspoon a day for 8 days for horses, less for dogs. Most horses will eat it right out of your hand. I had some hay from Okotoks one year that had a lot of wormwood in it, the horses were sleek and shiny all winter with no evidence of worms.
Enjoy the festivities tonight ! We have a had few gates like that , no fun at all! My dog is abad for laying in puddles to cool off ,but he is usually all too happy to come out and get me covered in mud too. Yours must have been one pooped pup!
Happy First to you! :)I remember spear grass, too! They've had it somewhere I have lived.Either Michigan, Nebraska, or more likely, perhaps, in Alaska. :)Have a good weekend!
I know about cowboys and holidays. My parents very rarely get to come for holidays cause my dad has to work. Gotta check those cattle. And we rarely go anywhere for more than a day or two because of all the animals. Just can't leave the place unattended.The mud puddle looked like a pretty good place to be! She must have worked hard.We have some needle grass at our lease. Ugh, it's a pain. My yorkie walked thru it ONCE. He's not allowed to go unless he's got his summer do. It took forever to pick it out!