Ranch visit

I hadn't been to see my parents in a while, so last Thursday after picking M up from class, I took the dogs and drove up there. M stayed home to do homework and have some "guy time" with our roommate . My mom already had a few things planned that she wanted/needed to do, so right when I got there, we loaded up my pony Clover to take him to the vet. For the past year, he's had some bumps on his nose that we've had to get cut off, and they seem to have gone away, but he since has developed a lump under his jaw the size of my fist. We are hoping its just his lymph nodes and not cancer. The vet wasn't in, but had left instructions to drop him off and he'd look at him the next day. Next up on the agenda was to shave my mom's two indoor cats, to cut down on shedding and to keep them cool. I also shaved Buddy's paws, since they just trap dirt.

Friday we got up and drove to Sherman so my mom could go to the fabric store. We didn't find what she was looking for, but I did get some yarn that I needed to finish J's baby blanket. On the way back we decided to call the vet to check on Clover. He said he had been unable to reach us at the house, so he called my dad's cell phone. It turns out it was cancer, and after talking to my dad, they decided to put him down there (originally, my mom and I had wanted to take him home, have my dad put him down, so the ranch would be his final resting place, but the logistics weren't working with us). It was a sad day, but we kinda knew it was coming.

Saturday my mom went to work, and my dad woke me up early to help him pen some calves to sell. After sorting thru the cattle, we loaded up the trailer with 10 good-sized calves, mostly steers, but a couple of heifers too. He ended up getting $600+ per calf (which was pretty good). That evening, when it started cooling down, I helped him drive the hay trailer to the horse lot so he could take the hay back to the barn.

Sunday I slept until about 9:30 (which was the latest I slept the whole time I was there) and after breakfast, I helped my dad haul hay from jimmys meadow. This time, we had borrowed the neighbor's hay trailer, which held 6 bales, and then hooked our trailer behind it, so a total of 10 bales could be hauled at once. I felt like I was driving a train! I managed to leave about noon and got back home at around 4:30. Overall, a relaxing long weekend with my parents (and the dogs had fun too!)