We are up and working on this unfriendly morning. So darn cold the horses were shivering when I fed them, but all the cats were still sassy! The coffee must have been decaf today because it did not work.
I suspect this will be the last year for such foolishness as changing the clock to make more time for playing! Our kids didn't seem to mind the dark for getting on the school bus or need anything about the change. Maybe city kids and golf players really did achieve great feats because of it.
We cleaned out the chicken coop this morning before lunch. The remaining hens are laying a few eggs now because my close relative is bringing them warm water and adding some Karo syrup to it. She feeds the highest price chicken feed she can find and goes to a hardware store instead of the feed store. Go figure, I think eggs cost us around $12 an egg. But the coop is all clean and ready for some additions. I know there will be additions.
Our pile of manure continues to grow taller and wider. I have hinted about spreading it pretty often but no takers. I am thinking about cleaning the horse stalls clear down to the dirt and spreading the stuff then instead of piling it. Some folks figure that manure is free, but those fellers haven't bought feed.
Our baby grandson is not liking this cold weather a bit. He gets wrapped up and dressed like a mummy and still gets too cold riding in the truck with his dad. I took him to count cows this morning, and he was pretty happy to be in a warm truck and looking at the cows. He sure likes the feeding and watching as the cows line up for a bite. His mother takes him to my close relative for a visit and maybe a quick nap after the ride. She says he goes to sleep because he is exhausted by the excitement of the cattle. I hope he continues to love it!
Church was very well attended on Sunday as it was too cold to hunt or fish. Lots of fellers were with families, and it was a pretty full building. We talked about lots of things in Sunday School, with Easter coming up soon. I sat back and listened as I know nothing about the mentioned plastic eggs stuffed with candy. Plastic eggs, and kids thinking it is for Easter -- how time changes! The Easter Bunny always gave real dyed eggs, and chocolate treats were in a nest when our babies were babies. That Easter Bunny must have had an accident!
We turned in the unbred cows to a pasture with the bull. The story goes that, if not for some reason stated by the close relative who keeps books and memories, they will go to town as soon as I am vaguely assured they are with calf. We ended up with seven of them, some open, some with severe calving, and a lost live calf. Pretty good average this year, and I am so thankful both boys have mastered, well, sort of, the artificial insemination technique. The forethought of AI is a wonderful tool, and I cannot own one of those high-dollar -- real high-dollar -- bulls! We are welcome to use their semen, and what a deal that is for improving your herd! The last three years have certainly proved the policy to me, cutting years off the improvement process.
Lessons learned today are apt to be forgotten. Sleep-deprived cowboys are almost worth a quarter, and their boss wanted a nap this afternoon. I struggled to keep on shoveling manure; I had to prove to the boys I could do it, and I would have had a heart attack had my heart not been so big! We finished, and I called a stop to everything. I needed to go home!
We are ahead on chores as of now, but the time will come soon when much time and effort will be demanded to keep the banker in business. This is the between time from winter to spring, and it ain't nice!
Keep the coffee can; it won't be long before you need it full of worms for a mess of perch! Always remember the Alamo!
Bill is the pen name used by the Gravette-area author of this weekly column. Opinions expressed are those of the author.