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September 26, 2011

24 Hours Near Heaven

We just spent 24 hours in the closest spot we can get to heaven without actually going there. HOME!

We drove ourselves all night and through the day, stopping in Billings for a few hours that I resented but were necessary. The truck has been sporting a lovely orange check engine light for the past week so we needed to get that checked out. Fortunately it turned out to be a broken wire causing communication issues for the truck computer. Easy quick fix once they had time to get to us. And then it we had two errands and a stop at Walmart for truck groceries (we were out of EVERYTHING in here) and then the last miles to home. We arrived at 10:00 on Saturday night.

I look forward to the day I get to go to heaven! It will be wonderful and God can take me there whenever He's ready. But for now, home feels pretty close to being there, and I'll enjoy every moment I get.

 During our 24 hours near heaven, we:

Slept in our bed for 6 whole hours! Which was not near enough! But it sure felt nice!

I washed 5 weeks worth of dirty laundry ,plus all the bedding, utilizing both our washer and my in-laws! It took the whole day, and both my and my mother-in-law, but I assure you, the interior of the truck smells much better now and we have a plentiful supply of clean things to wear!

Malcolm went with his dad to an auction in the morning, and of course they found treasures to bring home.

And then in the afternoon we all met down at the summer pasture to move the pairs that were there closer to the corrals so they could be worked today.


I didn't take the camera out with me on the 4wheeler b/c I'd taken my Nikon instead of my little Cannon Elph. So no cow moving pictures. Maybe next time. I also forgot to take along my allergy medicine, and so once again I'm suffering the effects that a large herd of cows stirring up dust and pollen seem to create for me. When will I learn?

Afterwards, we went into town to eat, and then home to throw our stuff in the truck and hit the road. We left the house at 10:00pm.  Call us pathetic, but we only made it to Wibeax before stopping. That's only about an hour and a half. Malcolm had already layed down and I was going to drive as far as I could before stopping. I didn't make it far. But I wasn't going to go any further and run the risk. I was just too tired. So we slept there a few hours and then finished the trip to Fargo early this morning.

Now we're unloaded and headed to reload a short trip to South Dakota, then we'll grab a load and go to California, where we're slotted to reload sunflowers and come back to Fargo, probably by Friday.

Amid all our rushed and hurried home activities, I did manage to squeeze in some hurried quality time with the horses. Lucky me, they were all standing together, even though they are in two different pastures, so I didn't have to travel to say hello to everyone. Malcolm's parent's had told us that Gemma had darkened up considerably, but WOW!

This is Gemma in August, about 6  weeks ago. She was just starting to show signs of turning color in a few places.
And this is Gemma yesterday! Talk about a difference! It was expected, but still amazing!
She is quite the character. Still finds me a little intimidating, but if I sit down or kneel, she's immediately over to me to visit and get a scratching, and she's slowly getting used to the tall version of me. Give her a break. She doesnsn't get to see me that often!
I discovered during this visit that she likes her belly scratched as much as the dogs do, and if you scratch her rump, she'll practically sit down in your lap from the pleasure of it!

With her standing so close, its easy to see all her markings, and she has some neat spots on her legs. She wears bracelets on both her front legs. I think they are cute!
While I was busy visiting with the girls...
...the boys were in a huddle on the other side of the fence trying to figure out how to get me and that bucket over closer to them.
I did go over and visit and handed out cookies, and discovered that all three of them had been rolling and rubbing their heads in something very sticky. It was not a pleasant petting session so I ended it early. And when they realized that was all they were getting, they finally got bored enough to go on about their business of the day.
 The fall colors are starting to make their appearance. I love this time of year!
 It was kind of hard to leave home after such a short visit. We weren't real pleased about it. But we've committed to staying out till the end of October. Calves ship on Halloween, and we'll stay out till time to go home to help with that and do some other things, and rest up for another round of trucking. It is so tempting sometimes to just throw in the towel and forget it all and go home permanently, but that's not realistic. Until the time comes when we can do so responsibly, these short breaks will have to do. And we'll take as many of them as we can get.
Anyone want to take a guess at what color Gemma is going to finish up as? Originally I said buckskin, but I'm leaning more towards Grulla for now. I guess only time will tell. What do you think?

13 comments:

thecrazysheeplady said...

I'm thinking grulla too, maybe with black outline around the color? Wouldn't that be pretty!

TexWisGirl said...

glad you got some home time and horse time - even if it was too short, i can only imagine how good it felt to get the laundry done!!! be safe!

SunnySD said...

Gorgeous markings - love the "jewelry"! It always amazes me how much their coats can change in such a short amount of time at that age.

Carol in Colorado said...

She is gorgeous no matter what color finally settles in. I could believe the different from one photo to the next with the color change.

Be safe out on the roads!

Danni said...

My goodness, your herd is gorgeous! Love the shot of the boys in the huddle - that made me giggle.

I know how good it felt for you guys to be home even if it was but for a short time. There's nothing like the feel of your own bed after you've been away!

So when malcolm's in back sleeping and you're up front driving by yourself, do you get any attitude from the other truckers? I am still so impressed that you drive that huge thing. I won't even drive our truck when it's pulling our tiny 24' trailer!!

small farm girl said...

Wow! She did change color!!!! I'm thinking grulla too. She is built nice too!

Michaele said...

Got to take those heavenly moments when you get them I guess. Must have felt good to start out again all clean. I must say - that photo with the three boys looking over the fence should be framed. It is beautiful. Seriously good!!

Shirley said...

After looking at these photos, I think Gemma may be a smokey black. What color was her sire? Wasn't he a palomino? Which would give the dilute gene needed for buckskin or smokey black. But buckskin is a dilute of bay, so she would need to have a bay horse in her not-too-distant ancestry.
She is the best color of all- cute!

Meagan said...

So glad you got to take a quick break (haha - you know a BREAK where you work the whole time on laundry and groceries, etc) at home! :-) I know you enjoyed every second... even the laundry part! ;-) Gemma is beautiful! Can't wait to meet her in person one day!

Louise said...

You have something to look forward too -- a home to come back to, that you love and cherish. And friends and family that you love, and that love you. It must be so hard to leave all of that, and go out on the road. But, you know, I bet that in the years to come, you will look back on that time on the road with pleasure. All of the places you have seen and the people you have met will live in your mind. What a lucky young woman you are.

MTWaggin said...

Big sigh! Am glad you got even a short time at home and amazingh how re-energizing that is! Gemma is going to be very pretty I love her pattern. Drive carefully and look forward to more tales!

Judy Johnson said...

Glad you got to spend some time at home!! Sure has been a pretty fall here hasn't it? Love your photos of your baby girl,she is turning color quickly!
We ship our calves on Oct. 28 from Medora. Maybe we will get to see you when you are home then!

Natural Remuda Equine Learning Center said...

I love your blog. It is so interesting and the photography is great. You report on an interesting job and on the spaces between the big towns. Keep up the good work.