A VERY bad day (caution pics)

24 hours of snow in Northern Cali

Have you ever had one of those days? You know those days that no matter what you know you are going to laugh because literally everything has gone wrong? Everything…..

Well welcome to this day! You will probably be laughing at it too once it’s done. Be sure to comment what else you think could of gone wrong. Hey why not? I think you should laugh about it too. We did.

The next day

It started out harmlessly enough. A rancher was coming to get two of our horses that we gave away as we are only riding 3 of them right now. As my husband says if we aren’t riding them then they become really expensive lawn mowers. It was bittersweet but I knew they were going to a new home. Our horses get on our trailer easy peasy. Apparently they did not like the new Ranchers trailer at all. It smelt different or they knew they were going away but they WOULD NOT GET ON THEIR TRAILER. Mind you it had already started snowing.

3 hours later. Yes you heard me right. THREE hours later we finally got them on the other trailer. What killed us the most if they would walk right on our trailer but no…..not theirs? At one point Foxy pulled back and got spooked so as she started going back, I let go of lead rope, and my finger slammed on trailer door. It hurt but my hands were so frozen by that time it didn’t matter. Ryan says I have the worst luck sometimes as I only had the lead rope for maybe 15 minutes. Thank God my hands were frozen as I didn’t bring gloves like normal. Why you ask? Because as I said before the horses get on our trailer so easy. Didn’t think this would be a problem.

So you had to be there to see it but finally we got them on. We don’t bully animals on. We take our time as we want them to not be afraid of trailering. I didn’t do much more past that as my finger was swelling and as I warmed up I felt the pain. It was broken. Ranchers said goodbye as we gave horses their last of treats from us. I knew they would be going to a good home.

Broken and Bruised. Got my Ring off though

After three hours of dumping snow we knew we would have to trailer the Bobcat Machine home. We needed it to work on our road at our ranch. Well the ranch we live on as Ryan runs three of them so we are always carting items from one to another.

We went to start the Bobcat and the battery was dead. Ryan looked at me while I was in the truck with our pregnant Shitzu dog Molly and just laughed. I said “Our luck” and we jumped it with the truck. Once the battery was charged we pulled the truck forward to put the Bobcat onto the hauling trailer. We hadn’t even put the Bobcat on when I saw Ryan throw his hands in the air. Their might have been a cuss word that came out under his breathe too. I asked what was wrong. He said the truck just broke a bearing. A bearing? I have no idea what that even meant. Well basically the part that holds the whole tire on broke. We had one go out back in April and apparently the other side decided to catch up.

even molly was over it

Ryan got back in truck. Said ok now what? How are we going to get a broken truck home in the snow and the Bobcat. Triple A to the rescue. They were going to be able to tow the truck. Just not the Bobcat which we really needed bec of the snow and the mud underneath had made our driveway almost impassible even though it had been redone several times before. Got to love weather and a mile long driveway off a 15 mile long dirt road to town. While we waited an hour in the truck for towing to come our good friend Noelle brought us sandwiches as we hasn’t eaten that day yet and it was 5pm. No one expected the day to be this long and the plan was to take our daughter to eat and to the movies that night since her brothers were out of town at a basketball weekend tournament.

So we have now….broken finger, 3 hours in the snow getting horses in, an hour long wait for triple A and still thinking on how we are going to get the Bobcat home.

Who has a two wheel drive Tow Truck

I am going to fast forward some. Tow truck driver showed up. Molly my dog and I got in the cab as I was going to show him how to get to our house. Ryan as crazy as he is but smart too because he knew we would really need the Bobcat at home now decided to drive it home. The Bobcat. Yes! He was going to make the twenty mile trip going 7mph because we needed it at the other ranch and without the truck….we would never get it home.

Did you read that? 7mph!!! For over 20 miles!! It was going to take him HOURS! He started to head off but in 20 seconds we had already passed him of course. I am going with the tow truck driver who told me that the tow truck was only 2 wheel drive. I may not know much about cars but I know that two wheel drive is NOT a good thing on a 15 mile dirt road covered in snow and it’s still snowing.

Fast forward….slipping and sliding and chaining up. We get to our ranch. He couldn’t even get up our driveway part of the hill as it was so bad. ¼ mile from our house. I said just leave the truck here which Ryan knew we would probably have to do. Tipped the guy and said drive safe. I walked the ¼ mile up the hill in the snow carrying my pregnant dog ha!

Even River was frozen

I text ryan as soon as I got home. He had only made it to our 15 mile dirt road. He said he was going 5mph but if he went backwards he could go 7mph. Then he joked with me about he didn’t think he should be texting me at such high speeds as texting and driving wasn’t okay. HA! I felt so bad for him. Hours in the Bobcat to get home. Truck not even all the way to our shops to be able to work on it and fix the problem. It was still snowing and it was going to be a long evening. I started ham, potatoes and broccoli so he would have a warm meal. I text him till he got to no service area. The boys even ended up passing him on the road when they came back from their weekend game to tell me where he was. I was instructed to not go get him unless it was 10pm because that meant he was stuck. The last text I got from him was “Our boys are sick and sound like old ladies that have smoked their whole lives….they just passed me….see you in an hour”

So broken finger, horses causing problems, waiting for AAA, 2 wheel drive tow truck, Bobcat and a 15 mile road and still snowing oh and all the boys came home sick. Is anyone laughing yet? I know we were.

We have gone through things in life that just make us laugh. It’s better than crying or getting mad. Might as well pack it all into one day rather than many right? Right!

Ryan did make it home safely, we reset my finger, we laughed, and we ended up warming up by fire with our sick kids and watching a movie at home. Tomorrow would be another day. Thank goodness Cassie had stayed at home thinking it was going to be a short trip to give up the horses. She helped by keeping fire going and by feeding all the animals on the ranch. It was one heck of a day. It’s over with now and we can laugh even more about it.

 

Jason Helping Ryan

Update: Josh and Jack were so sick next day that Jason helped Ryan get the truck up the hill. Thank God for that Bobcat over wise it never would have made it. The trucks in the shop. Ryan is getting the parts and will fix it this week. It snowed a foot the next day so we plowed our roads. Electricity and phone went down….HA! I told you! There is always more. We used that time to play board and card games.

What a fun game

 

Hey no more photos lol

Sometimes you just have to laugh. Have you ever had a day like this? I would love to hear about itJ

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(Caution Pics) Cushings Surgery

Deep Breathe! Deep Breathe! In just a couple days I am leaving from California to Texas to go and have my second pituitary surgery. Drat Tumor! This time its a little easier on my mind and my body because I have done this already once. I don't have the anxiety of the unknown this time.

In July 2014 I had my first pituitary surgery. They found two tumors and got all of it out. I was able to go into remission which was fantastic. 10 months later I had another tumor in a different spot on my pituitary.  Its a slow recovery process. I will be in the hospital for 4 days if all goes well. Then I will be able to fly back home on day 7. I am praying that I go into remission again. From all that I have read and learned your second surgery is 50/50 on that.

Some may think that its an easy surgery because you look pretty normal within a week. That's because its a Transsphenoidal Surgery and they go up your nose, through your scull to the pituitary that way. It definitely beats them opening up your head. This doesn't mean it isn't a brain surgery though. The doctors ARE going into your Brain.

Recovery can be very long. If surgery is successful you will feel like CRAP. This is something you actually want. It means your cortisol levels have dropped down to normal levels of normal ppl. With having high Cortisol it is affecting our bodies in so many ways. Not having it all the sudden is like a body going through drug withdrawal. Except this "drug" is actually a hormone that our bodies have been creating too much of.

My tumor is only 2mm by 3mm by 3mm. Small right? So why would it be a problem right? Well it reeks havoc like nobodies business on my body. I have lost hair, grown hair in weird places, gained weight, lost strength, have horrible insomnia, bruising, mood swings and the list goes on. All from this little tiny tumor. Most MRI don't even show them that's why you have to get a T3 Mri.

Well in less than a week I will be having this surgery. Like I said I have done it before. I still have some pictures from my first surgery so I will show you. I probably wont be blogging for a week or so as I wont want to be starring at a screen as much. I would super appreciate any good thoughts or prayers for remission and a fast recovery. I want to beat this....once and for all!

going into surgery

just out of surgery

3 days later husband being supportive

Camping Fun

What’s a great thing to do on your 15^th bday? Well, go camping of course! It’s not often that we are able to get away for a couple of days but we wanted Jason’s 15^th bday to be family and fun. I can’t believe my youngest is 15. As of today I have two 15 year olds, 16 and 17 year old. Man, that’s just craziness.

We had the best time. We remodeled the inside of our trailer, took a 8 man tent also, lots of food, fishing licenses and we were on our way. The days were hot and the nights were cold but it was fun!

It was really beautiful there and I recommend it. Since it was Jason’s bday everything was planned around what he loves. Steak for dinner, s’mores , lots of snacks and cupcakes for his bday. It was his bday weekend! We had a great time! Caught a lot of fish and did some funny pictures. Just to get away as a family is always something we enjoy. Can’t wait to go back!

I have to say it was funny because Ryan and I wanted to stay an extra day and the kids were like “no we have football or volleyball”. Then Jackson turned to us and said….”when did we become the parents and you guys are like the kids”. I laughed. No one wants to go back to real life I said haha!

Here are some pictures from our trip…can’t wait to see what Jason wants to do next year.

Coyotes killed my babies (Caution Pics)

 “Coyotes account for 65 percent of all cattle and calf losses to predators and 61 percent of sheep and lamb predation (ADHIS.usda.gov) Wildlife Services (a program within the USDA’s and Animal and Pant Health Inspection service). “

Quinny gotten by a coyote

We have four calves. They started out with rough lives either by the mother dying or not wanting them. One of them we bottle fed since birth. The other three we bottle fed when the mothers didn’t want them.

You can look at it the way of money. Each bottle fed calf is between 500-600 dollars and that’s only because they aren’t even weaned from their mothers and need supplements for months. So 600 times 4. Then you add all the grain and formula to each cow. We were feeding them 26 bottles a day. I went out in the morning and night when they were bigger. When I first got Minnie she was only a day old so we fed her every 3 hours around the clock. We give them all grain everyday which is 10 dollars a bag. I am sure you can see the numbers adding up here. Its an investment for sure. Especially when you are already feeding 4 teens but all their friends. These calves were for us to have for our family, produce more calves or help sell for college funds.

Quinny and Tulu before we left

Then there is me…..I love my animals. They are my babies. I talk to my calves. I pet them. I give them probably too much grain because they love it. I take a million pictures of them so I can see them grow. They think I am their mom. They run to me when they see or hear me. They follow me around the yard when I am doing other chores. They all have names….they are my babies. Yes I know they are calves but to me it like a family pet too. I have put a lot of time and energy so they are raised well and growing. They are gentle and all our nieces and nephews and friends kids can just walk up and pet them without being scared.

We went camping for two days. Came back to mayhem. We double checked that everything had been fed and watered while we were gone. Which they were. As I walked over to the normal spot and called for my cows they weren’t coming. I went over to check on the pigs and then a yard away I see this.

I cried immediately Quinny was gone…..called for Ryan. He said,”oh no coyotes” and we started to search for the others. All the kids had flashlights, driving quads as we searched and searched. The calves never stray far from the house.  We found Tulu hiding behind the hay bales. She was bit all around her neck, her face, her back leg and her ear was missing. She was alive! I don’t know how she stayed alive. My husband picked up this 100+ pound calf to get her into a horse stall so we could doctor her up, keep her from danger of anything trying to come back after her. She won’t be able to move much in there but we can doctor her up till she is better. We just prayed she made it through the night.

After 30 minutes we finally found RJ and Minnie. My panic subsided as I saw they were well. They had gone as far as I ever seen them go through hiding in a corner by the fences. They were our older bigger calves by 2 months.

I think the only reason the coyotes didn’t get Tulu after getting Quinny was because we have dogs that probably scared them away.  The dogs are always around the calves and we have never had any problems. The dogs usually keep the coyotes away. We have been hearing coyotes come closer and closer. They are definitely hungry if they are coming this close to our homestead. Our neighbors have been having big coyote problems too with their sheep. The coyotes went after the two youngest because they are weaker ones.

I am so sad. We have been doctoring Tulu and she is surviving thankfully. We have washed each wound, gave her antibiotics, sprayed all the wounds to keep flies away and so she will heal. We even are giving her electrolytes to keep her hydrated. She is getting better and I hope she is going to survive.

I know that coyotes have their place in the world but I personally don’t like them one bit. They don’t have a place around me, my kids or my animals. If they are brave enough to come up to the house that is not okay with me.

Here are some more facts so we can be educated on coyotes.

1.       Coyotes may only weigh 35 to 50 pounds but their jaws can exert more than 300 pounds of bite pressure.

2.       Veterinarian bills, lower rebreeding rates, and loss of weight gain are all part of the indirect costs suffered by herds that have been hunted by predators

3.       Coyotes kill $2- to $3 million dollars’ worth of livestock a year

4.       Coyotes are not eating the entire animal, they are just eating the prime parts and leaving the rest of the carcass to rot.

5.       They will eat the afterbirth right out of a cow that is calving. If hungry enough will eat the calf as its coming out. In most cases you lose the mother and the calf.

6.       Coyotes will lure domestic dogs out to them and kill.

7.       Coyotes kill for food, to teach pups and for fun.

We are taking precautions to help protect our animals. Please understand this is ranchers livelihoods and also to some of us our pets. These are the animals that you feed your children with. It’s a sad loss for everyone.  We are really saddened by the loss of Quinny and pray that Tulu makes it. Here is a picture of them right before we left for two days to go camping.

 

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