Monday, 11 July – Sunny, WINDY, High of 73°
We both work-camped today. I worked in the office and Dave did the maintenance shift. Our friend and neighbor Linda called and said that our other neighbor, Shari, had asked her to feed a calf in the evening as Shari would be working in town.
The calf, Patrick, was a twin. Unfortunately, his mother did not accept that she had twins and abandoned him, nursing and taking the larger calf but disowning this little guy. Shari has been bottle feeding the guy morning and night to help him grow into a big healthy steer. Linda thought it would be fun for us to go help feed him and we agreed.
Something we always say here is, “Never a dull moment on Stagecoach Springs!” Patrick, although he was hungry, was really afraid of us new smelling city people and decided he did not really want to eat. Linda knew just what to do….she tailed him, Dave grabbed him around the brisket, and I forced the milk bottle into his little mouth. One taste and he decided we weren’t so bad. He sucked down the whole bottle and wanted more. He started hitting me with his head like he would do to his mama to get more milk.
Thanks Linda for showing us a really sweet part of rural living. Dave and I really loved Patrick the orphan and seriously considered bringing him back to the camper…..now that would be an interesting living arrangement!
July 14, 2016 at 8:25 PM
You guys are truly pioneers now. You must make sure you have the trilogy of Robert Duvall in your DVD library: Lonesome Dove Open Range Broken Trail Great Flicks. Especially Broken Trail. True story, which I recently looked up the family History and they are still raising horses, in an area close to you all. Ask Cowboy Dave. Great history here, check it out and watch the movie with a cold “Keystone”
“OBTW” Cow Pies are great for a shower scrub…Trust me 🐃. 😎
Sent from my iPad
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July 15, 2016 at 7:24 AM
Hey Murph,
Thanks for the comments. We’ve seen Lonesome Dove but we will definitely look up the other two. There is a ton of history out here including some remaining stagecoach ruts through the National Forest just west of our property. We’ll be sure to leave that cowpie shower scrub in the guest bathroom for you when you come see us. OBTW “We don’t rent pigs.”
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July 16, 2016 at 7:45 AM
Curious to know where Patrick the orphan got his name. You could probably make a million naming cattle after people and sending them certificates of authentication with photos of their cow/steer. I’m convinced anything can be sold after the new Pokemon game app craze.
And for the record, cowpies make better frisbees than loofahs, as long as the are dry all the way through. Otherwise they can make messy bracelets! Get along little doggies indeed…
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July 16, 2016 at 2:06 PM
Hey Scott…Patrick was named by some young kids (possibly her Grandkids?) that visited Shari shortly after he was born. I don’t know if he was named after anyone in particular.
Naming cows after people may work better for dairy cows who may last a little longer….names I might consider when we start keeping beef cows are more along the lines of Chuck, T-bone, Big Mac and Patty!
I agree that people will pay for anything these days…this Pokémon thing eludes me too…
Love ya, thanks for reading, brother!
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