BBQ Bovine....

It started out like most any other day we need to get up before we want to, and be somewhere early. Nothing serious this day, just a 40 mile trip - but we had to be there by 8:30.

Yesterday (12 October) was also our 20th Anniversary.

That meant the cows had to be awakened - and found - about 6:15. Naturally, there was a slight foggy "haze" over parts of the pasture, to make things worse. Not to mention the slight rain we had during the night - and the fact that I left the pickup's driver's side window down....

Normally, I go out to the gate, call the cows by name, and they come sashaying in. Of course, this usually takes place when the sun is up. When it's dark, those cows like to hunker down in the tall grass and hide. They don't like to get up early, either - even IF food is involved.

On days like this, I like to take the pickup out into the pasture in order to use the headlights to find the cows quicker, and get them heading in to breakfast without needing to wander around the pasture with a flashlight.

So, I sat down on the soggy seat, and headed out to find those bovine.

I drove around the pasture TWICE, but nobody came into view. I figured them sneaky creatures zipped past me when I turned out of the gate, so I headed back in to see if my lovely wife had seen them.

Nope.

I took my flashlight, and toured the area behind and beside the barn, looking for brown "lumps" snoozing in the grass.

Nope.

They GOTTA be out in the pasture, so I headed toward the truck to take another tour. Mabel and Snowflake met me at the gate, wondering what all the fuss was about.

I found it odd that Snowflake was with Mabel, and not Daisy....

Well, I sent those two down to the barn so , at least, Mabel could be fed and milked, then headed out for another trip through the pasture. TWO cows had managed to hide there, so, the other three were just being stubborn, and HAD to be out there.

Nope.

Since the day before, I found Honey and KC had gotten through an open gate into the neighbor's pasture (have NO idea who left the gate open....), I figured I'd take a drive through HIS pasture- even though the gate was closed.

Nope.

This was beginning to drive us both nuts (I know - short drive). Those pesky bovine seemed to have vanished into thin air. I've seen a 900 pound cow hide behind 3 blades of grass before, but this was different, they were just GONE.

Nobody had called to tell us our cows were wandering the countryside, or terrorizing the neighborhood, so we figured they were either stolen or.....

In the neighbor's corn field.

So, I hops into my trusty pickup, and soak up a little more water with my jeans, then head out the driveway and down the hill to see if those "BBQ on the Hoof" had been naughty. Thankfully, I didn't spot any brown bodies, nor any damage.

Back to square one.

It was just starting to get a LITTLE light in the east, and we were able to see a little better. I was driving back up the hill from the corn field, when I turned my head to look down the fence line between our property, and the one next door.

THAT'S when I saw them - all huddled around a tree inside the paddock next to our driveway. Those pesky pasture rats had broken out of the pasture, then broken INTO this pen through a gate I had left open because nobody was supposed to be IN there. Thankfully, they decided to be good, and stay on our land. It turned out to be a good thing the gate was open - if it would have been closed, who knows where they might have gone.

"GET YOUR BEEFY BUTTS UP TO THE BARN"!, I yelled out of the pickup window, "IT'S OUR ANNIVERSARY, AND I WANT STEAK FOR SUPPER, SO GET A MOVE ON BEFORE I ASK FOR VOLUNTEERS!"

Nobody even MOVED...

I had to walk all the way out there and poke them before they mosied up the trail. Then I found the reason for the stubborness - the Pear tree we have in the pasture. Daisy would take one step, reach down to grab a windfall, take another step, reach down....repeat, repeat, repeat.

It took some doing, but we finally got them headed in the right direction. I headed out to spot where they broke out of jail, and to close some gates, while Deb started milking.

I was done with the gates, and back to about 50' of the barn when I heard my lovely wife laughing. When I entered the milk room, she told me that "Daisy must have filled up on pears, because she isn't eating her food at ALL"!

After a quick look, I remarked, "It sure looks like she's eaten it to me - there isn't any left..."

OOPS

If you want the cow to eat, you gotta GIVE her the food....

It had taken over an HOUR to find those wayward cows, and cut seriosly into our available time before we had to leave. It ended up that WE missed breakfast.

Those stupid cows made us go hungry - Breakfast Steak looks tastier every day.