4 - 19 - 12: Hay, Tractors, and the Library

Today was just peachy. This morning, Devin taught me the morning chores for feeding the cows. The yearlings and two year old cows get a combination of alfalfa and hay. The difference between alfalfa and hay is that alfalfa is primarily green leaf, whereas hay is the grass blade and stem. The alfalfa is stored in the barn, next to the turkey pen, and the hay is stored in the manger, so every morning the bales of hay get dropped from the windows in the walls on the second story floor into a trough below for the cows, which I got to help with today. The mother cows and calves get regular bales of hay, which are piled onto a tractor and driven to each of three troughs. I got to help load the bales of hay onto the tractor, drive the tractor, and throw the bales of hay into the troughs. Good gorgonzola, I love puttering around in the tractor! They are marvelously ingenious inventions of motorized traversing. I even got to park the tractor in the shed when we were finished feeding the cows, and I didn't even break or crash into anything. I also got to help put water in the horse and cow water bins this morning, which consists of retrieving water from the creek (which goes directly through the property) in a bucket, carrying it to the bin, and pouring the water in up to the top of the bin.

After I finishing putting sawdust in the turkey pen, Mimi, Devin, and I went to the library (and wrote some hilarious Star Wars Mad Libs during the car ride), and I also went to the grocery store. An exciting thing about the Bonners Ferry library is that it has a resident bear. Apparently, he was sneaking onto some person's property to rummage through the garbage cans, so he ended up getting pelted with a pistol and turned into a pelt. He must have terrified the taxidermist! However, he seems to be serving as an effective warning to new library members to not keep books past their due dates.

We also went to the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge ranger station to find out how to get involved in bird bingo. Indeed, we even saw a blue heron flocking in the park! As it turns out, bird bingo is an exclusive activity in which only visitors to the park for the day get special privileges to participate. So, Devin, Emily, and I will have to go back to the Refuge one day soon and give the feathered friend eye spy a try. Smiley the cow escaped from the pasture this evening, so Devin lured her back into the field while I stood guard (that's the technical term for standing with one's arms at one's side at ninety degree angles like a tree) and Mimi closed the fence. Luckily, she is back with her buddies and everyone is safe.