Doldrums

"A state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression." Ya, Maybe. Fighting it hard and do not want to dwell on it, but I am more than a little tired of heat and dried up land. So, what am I doing? Sewing, a little yard work (but that is depressing, too.), some cleaning, a little photography ( but that is not living up to expectations either, due to the weather,) reading, a little TV watching and too much snacking. I am better this morning because I have already done some cleaning, edited some pictures, watched a video on how to "quilt as you go." and now am working on my blog down in my sewing room where kind of a fun new project was begun yesterday.

Stay tuned and hopefully it will turn into something worth showing you.!

I did make some delicious chicken the other day as we had some supper guests. I will definitely be making it again! All you do, is take your chicken breasts, put them in a slow cooker with a packet of ranch dressing, a package of cream cheese and a can of cream of chicken soup and cook until ready to shred and serve over rice, noodles or mashed potatoes. So easy and the left overs are even good!

As I rode my four wheeler out in the pasture yesterday, I was remembering a day a few years ago, when I was out on my four wheeler and discovered that some of our yearling heifers were not where they were supposed to be. (For those of you who are non-ranchers, heifers are young cows, before they have ever had a calf.) They are somewhat like teenage kids: curious, mischievous, and naughty,) Well, it was a nice, cool, spring day and these gals were feeling their oats. We were supposed to have 16 in this one pasture. Eight of them were AWOL! It is kind of hard to herd heifers on the best of days, but when half of them are where they are supposed to be and the other half are out on an adventure, it is even harder, especially for a grandma on a four wheeler. I

I went to the gate where they needed to go through to get where they belonged, and of course, the other gals all came over to see what was going on. What to do? If I opened the gate, they would just join the other delinquents, and if I left it closed and went after the naughty ones, they would just go towards the fence and turn away. Well, I sat on my four wheeler and pondered. Many years ago, when Hanson as only about 10 years old, he informed me very seriously, "Mom, you just have to think like a cow!" Well, I put my cow brain in gear as I assessed the situation, As I sat there, I noticed that the delinquents were looking over at me (they were about a quarter mile away from me).

Cattle are pretty inquisitive creatures and I had learned that lesson over the years, so I started wondering how I could get them to just come to me. The "good" girls were right there staring at me and drooling on my four wheeler already! Well, I dug in my jacket pockets and found a couple of kleenexes, Yep, I am about to tell you how I rounded up heifers with kleenexes!

So, I started to wave the kleenexes over my head and holler. I got their attention! "Ok, I thought, how do I keep their attention and get them to come over here close enough to open the gate quickly and let them in with the others before they got out, too?" That's when I started my cow concert. I kept waving the kleenexes and I sang Christmas carols as loudly as I could. It took quite a few numbers, but they kept coming closer, wondering what the crazy lady was doing, and pretty soon, I quietly opened the gate, snuck out and shooed them in with the others. Mission accomplished! Not how a cowboy would do it, but I was pretty darned proud of myself!

Well, that's enough of BS (Bobby's Stuff) for today and I will keep on keeping on and hope you all do the same. TTFN