The grass is not always greener

First of all, I will lay it all out on the line...I HATE TO SWEAT!
Especially, when I'm sweating underneath my knees...that drives me nuts.

This distaste I have for sweating is one of the reasons I don't exercise much, the reason I prefer my hair short(which it's not right now!), the reason I would rather stay inside for lunchtime cafeteria duty with 40 Kindergartners than have recess duty during the beginning and the end of the year when it's 100 degrees outside, and the reason that I'm inside the house in the air conditioning right now instead of outside doing absolutely anything that might even make me sweat. Call me a wimp!!! I'm fine with that label.

I say all this to let you know what Mollie and I just had to endure. She has a show heifer. Tammy Wynette is her name! Don't ask!!!! She's a little crazy and has had to be drugged with a human psychotic drug on more than one occasion. She may be crazy, but she's smart!! She can figure out how to get out of the fence and out of the round metal corral! Wade and Wil have done everything they can do to keep her in the barbed wire out in the pasture. We finally put her back into the metal corral and she managed to break the panel apart and get out this morning. When Mollie and I got home she was in the field next door. You know the saying the grass is greener...well that's not the case here. She is much better off at home. Anyway, I walked down to her with a piece of pvc pipe and a bucket of feed. By the time I reached her the sweat problems had started. It's only because its 95 degrees and the humidity is about 400%! I tried to trick her into following me with the food. She wasn't having it. I then got behind her and walked her down the fence and turned her into our yard. She took off running and ended up at the gate. Good sign..I thought! Mollie poured out feed while I tried to fix the corral so I could put her into the stall with a door. That didn't happen. She came into the pasture and took off running. Picture this...I have on my denim city shorts, a cool sequined tank top, my turquoise and red necklace and Justin work boots. A might fine picture, if I say so myself. I thought at one point I had her cornered and on the way back to the corral. She thought otherwise and ran down the fence into the other side of the fence with the other cows. That's when I gave up. I did put my hair up before I came out, but I had sweat pouring down my neck, behind my KNEES, and on my forehead. Tammy Wynette is not worth me losing that much sweat. I just let her go. I'm sure right now she is over again checking if the grass is greener on the other side. Remember Tammy, it's not!!!

Sandy C

Old McCarter's Farm

I haven't written to much about what lives in the pasture behind the house. What we actually have is a small farm!! Several years ago Wil started showing heifers. (He actually started with a black steer, but after he almost trampled Wil at the county show, we decided he should try heifers.) Anyway, he started with a single Braford heifer (Braford: 3/8-5/8 split between a Brahma and Hereford) and that has now grown into 3 cows and 3 bull calves, the newest being born last Wednesday night.

Each cow has a name and a distinct personality. I know that sounds crazy but it's true. Pepper is the alpha female and Wil's first heifer. She is now to old to show and is now just a regular cow out in the pasture. She pushes all the other cows around, literally. She has an extremely unattractive bull calf named Shiloh. He really has a very ugly head. He will be sold as soon as he is old enough. Then there is Bessy. She was the second heifer Wil showed. She is fairly gentle and let's Pepper have run of the pasture. She also has a bull calf named Bruiser. We like him because he looks manly. He has a long face and is halter broken because Wil showed he and Bessy as a cow calf pair last show season. She also is to old to show and has been turned out into the pasture. Here are a couple of pictures.

Here is Bruiser at about 2 months. Wil is just playing with him.


Here he is today at about 11 months, too big to play with!

Wil's third heifer is named Padme. What can I say? The boy loves Star Wars. Anyway, she is called Paddy for short. Last Wednesday night, she had her first calf. We all watched with flashlights in hand as she lay in the "cottage" as Wil calls it, and had the calf. The cottage is actually a large horse stall that is attached to the round pen where the show heifers are kept and fed. This calf was another bull Wil has named Buster. Padme is my personal favorite. She never gets in a hurry and walks so slow in the show ring that we hope she is the last to come into the ring. If not, all the other kids with their heifers are held up because she strolls along like a queen. She also has been known to lose her way in the pasture. However, in competition Wil has done the best with her. He has finished second in his class in both San Antonio and Houston. She is starting her last show season and will be turned out as a cow in the summer.



Wil is very proud of Buster. He will show Padme and the calf as a cow calf pair at this years shows. Mollie will show the calf alongside Wil and Padme. He has been out working on halter breaking the calf already.



So...We will have a busy spring. Mollie also has a heifer, Tammy. She is young and this will be her first season to show. We also have 4 show pigs coming and 75 chickens to take care of until April. The kids will then show 12 of those at our county show.

Happy New year...from Old McCarter's Farm!

Sandy C