Hauling Water

This is a chore that eats up alot of my time each summer. We have rented about 30 acres of pature for our cows. It does have a pond and a creek that runs through it but July is wickedly hot and dry here in Kansas. Ususally they both dry up or the shallow pond gets so muddy and stagnant that it is not much more than a mud puddle. The "girls" will still drink from to stay alive but it sure isn't good for them. Last year, it rained quite a bit and I didn't have to haul water and it spoiled me for this year. The kids and I haul about 150 gallons each trip and try to get one in each day.

As you can see, the girls are happy to see us. We check them everyday and usually take a little grain so encourage them to come when they hear the truck. This my daughter's 4-H project named, "Wilma". She is a Milking Shorthorn who is currently on vacation until she calves in early September. Then she will become a "house cow". This means she will be at home with us so that we can milk her. All total, we have three milk cows. Luckily for us, they all love to be momma and will nurse other calves as well. The two Shorthorns raised 5 calves last year and gave us all the milk we needed.



This is Betsy, Wilma's heifer calf from last year. Not all of our cows are this tame -- Thank GOODNESS! The milk cows pretty well mob us when we go into the pasture. It is hard to do any work in there because they think that we should spend our time petting and scratching them. When they get this big, they are pretty pushy if they don't get their way....We have a total of 14 cows and calves with a bull. Not a big herd but about all that we can handle right now. We are checking on them everyday now to monitor the water situation and because we are expecting four new calves any day.

This is a pretty slow job and I usually don't have this much help..... Everybody gets pretty silly, argues, and generally turn the trip into a three ring circus. I know that they don't come along just for my company. To get to this pasture, we have to drive right past the only little store for 14 miles in any direction. The kids all know that there is a pretty good chance that I'll stop and they can get a drink and a snack.

These were all pictures from yesterday's trip and even though it rained this morning, I'm pretty sure that I will still need to take water over.

After that, I'll spend a while in the garden and then I have a date in the kitchen with my pressure canners. I am determined to get the potatoes in the pantry. Guess that I better get to it........