We have several cow calf pairs that have been living in the barn. As Spring progresses and the pastures regrow, it is be time to get them out into the fields. This is always somewhat of a problem as the calves are not familiar with fences. Typically, you have to stay nearby and have sort of a rodeo event catching calves and putting them back in until they catch on.

Saturday, we moved two cows and calves into a small pasture next to the barn where they could be by themselves. The cows naturally started eating the grass and the calves made no moves toward the fence. That made for a pleasant day.

We went over to Verne's and brought his herd bull over to our place so he could let his cattle out to pasture. Verne is an AI technician. He breeds both his and my cattle with AI. As a result our calves have superior genetics since we have purchased semen from a variety of top line bulls. Our bulls are only used for cleanup work. The rest of the time they stay in the bullpen sort of like being a relief pitcher in baseball.

He told me a story while I was there. After visiting one of his customer's barns, he had to walk up to the house. He followed the path through the lawn. The grass in the path was extremely green near the barn becoming less so as he got nearer to the house and then blending into the rest of the lawn near the house. You could readily see the value of manure as a fertilizer. Walking up from the barn, the wet grass and snow would tend to clean your boots pretty well by the time you got home.

Jim had his Senior Prom so he had to take off early to get ready. He and his date came by the house for photos before they left for an enjoyable evening.

Sunday, we took Mary out for Mother's Day. We had an excellent meal at a very nice restaurant on a lake. She left early Monday to fly to Florida to accompany her mother on her drive back North.

The good weather continued so we are right into planting. It has been very dry so I have set the seed drill to put the beans in a little deeper than usual to be sure of soil moisture. Our oats have appeared and everything looks fine. It is raining as I write this and it looks unsettled through Monday. We have lots of time to get the beans in so I am not worried. yet.

This afternoon, we have to deliver three cows to the western part of the state. It is about a two and a half hour ride. We have two of the three in the pen and the third is in the pasture. Hopefully, we will get them loaded with no difficulty.

One of our summer neighbors is in the process of having a well drilled. This is always a nervous time wondering whether you are going to hit water and if it will be of good quality. In our area there are lots of wells that produce salt water if you go too deep.

This should be a one or two day event but some well drillers tend to drag out the process by not regularly appearing. There was a locally famous incidence of this. Some years ago a man was building a new home and needed a well. He didn't want to start the house until he knew he would have water.

The driller would come and go and after several days there was little progress. The owner discovered that the driller liked to shoot clay pigeons. He went and bought a hand operated device that would throw out the clay targets. He told the driller that if he would keep drilling he would periodically throw some targets for him. The driller really liked the idea and so periodically the sound of drilling would stop and change to the sound of a shotgun. The well was drilled in short order.

The driller eventually decided to pan for gold in Alaska. For several years he would work here in the winter and pan in the summer. Needless to say his drilling business suffered. I never did hear whether he found any gold.