Happy New Year !

Happy New Year everyone ! Wishing you all the best in 2011, (indluding high calf prices).

One of my goals for 2011 is to do a better job of keeping this blog updated, and getting it out to more people. I think that may have been a goal I set in 2010 as well ... lol .. maybe this year it will be one I stick to. Jeff got me a new video camera for Christmas, so now we can post video's of things around here, and our sale cattle etc .... I will have fun with it I am sure.

We have been busy in Dec., getting caught up on things around here, after being gone so much in November. I think we may finally be getting there. We just have some cull cows to ship, but that will wait for a few weeks now.

Jeff and I are heading to the Denver Stock Show on the 11th of this month. I am really looking forward to it. The last time I was there, I was working for a Shorthorn breeder ... while it seems like it was not that long ago ... it must have been about 10 years since then ! Funny how time fly's ...

Jen

Supremacy Sale 2010

Thank you to Lohner Herefords for puchasing our 2010 Supremacy Sale entry JENRAN 592R MANDY 903W.

"Mandy" is a daughter of Churchill Rancher 592R, and is bred to a Harland son that we raised.

AGRIBTION

There has been so much going on in the last month ! ... but Agribtion is on my mind, as we just got home last night. It was reminiscent of how Agribion used to be .... with cold, snowy weather (which made for a long drive both ways). We only took 5 head to Regina, but on the whole, I felt that they represented our program really well.

While we did not come home with any banners this time, I did come away from it not just feeling good about the quality of our cattle ..... but I felt really grateful to all our friends who helped us out while we were there. I am truely thankful to the follwoing people who made our shows this fall so great: Jamie and John Lutz .... (without Jamie we would never have even been able to take our whole string to Edmonton), and who have been "good friends" and stall mates this fall. Marilyn, Brain, Bennet and Bobbi-Jo Foster .... for coming from Manitoba to help us, and have a visit. I was so proud of the kids for jumping in and helping, and showing in the showmanship on Saturday !. Brad and Scott ... who are so positive and supportive ... (and Brad did and awesome job showing for us !). Steve ... who with Jeff had the cattle looking the best we have ever had them (in my opinion) on show day ( ... and who also hauled our clipping chute home for us !).

and of course ... thanks to Jeff .. who worked so hard to get our cattle to where they needed to be this fall. And for all his encouragement on those days this last year when I wondered if all this work/expense on the "show cattle" would be worth it.

I also wanted to mention how happy I am for the Leachman family ( www.biggullyfarm.com ) for having Grand and then Supreme Champion bull !!!

Now I am off to get some rest ... and hopefully feel a bit better tomorrow ... lot's to be done around here since we have been away so much. Dad got stuck with some really bad weather while we were gone ... I am sure he is happy to have us home.

Will post an update on Farmfair soon ...

Hoping everyone had a safe trip home from Regina ...

Jen

Almost there ...

I simply find it hard to believe that it is already November !! Maybe it is because the weather has finally been so nice, and we can finally get some things done outside. The picture above was taken September 17, and is of our greenfeed. Haven't had much snow since then, but it sure hasn't felt like summer/fall either.

Only one more day at home, then we are off to Farmfair. Still a ton of things to get done, but we managed to get all of the other calves either weaned or sold. I felt a little better when I saw all those guys still combining out there, I am sure that they are thinking of everything they still need to get done too !

We are really happy with how the "show cattle" look this year. About a month ago we decided to take a 6 year old cow our this fall. She is actually doing pretty good, considering she had never seen a halter, hoping she settles in good once we get to Edmonton. We have a few less head going to Agribition ... but I am still wondering how the plan changed for just taking a "few" to taking 7-9. At the end of last year I swore that this year we were going to just "take it easy" ... I guess I have only myself to blame, as I am the one who kept bringing cattle into the "show pasture".

All this thinking about only having one more day at home has made me realize I had better get off this computer and get some things done.

Hope everyone had a good calf sale, and that your harvesting is all done !

Jen

Sneak a Peek

It's that time of year again ... when I am wondering why in the heck we thought we had time to take cattle to Farmfair and Agribition again !!! Don't get me wrong .. I am excited about the cattle we have going this year .... but let's not forget about all the other stuff that needs to get done around here in the next couple of weeks ! We are hoping to get our replacement calves weaned next weekend .. then sell the rest on Novemeber 2nd ... hoping that the market stays strong. It would be so nice for everyone if calf prices improved over the last number of years.

I thought I would give you all a little "peek" at a couple of head we are taking out this fall ... if you want to know what the rest of them looks like ... you'll just have to come see us in Edmonton or Regina .. and have a better look ! LOL !

Jen

Snow ... and a Road Trip ...

The weather here continues to be challenging ... even woke up to snow the other morning. Our greenfeed is looking rather sad, and flat !. I think we'll be able to get it put up ok, hoping that we will get a break from this wet weather and get it done maybe towards the end of the week.

I am off to Hirsche's dispersal sale for a couple of days. Sad to see such progressive breeders have a sale like this. The Horned Hereford breed will be missing one of it's best (if not THE best) promoters of our breed. I guess time will tell what their involvement in the breed will be in the future.

Jeff has been up there getting the sale cattle ready, for about the last month. He has somehow managed to clip every sale animal up there by himself. I am sure he will be ready for a bit of a break once the sale is over, just need to get him home for a few days so we can get our own done !!! LOL !

I am heading up tonight, and am going to stay in High River for both of the sale days. There is so much to be done here .. but I guess there always is ! At some point a person just has to drive away !. I have been through the catalog, narrowed my interests down to about 30 hfr. calves ! LOL ! Hoping to get a couple of hours to look through things in the morning.

Jen

Fall

I have to say that the weather the last couple of days has been really "dreary" ... perfect word for it. Grey, overcast, rainy .... and dang COLD !!!! Hard to get motivated to get much done outside. Managed to clean the coop for the "ladies" so they can go into winter with a nice clean house !

I am kind of sad that summer seems to be over ... ususally I like fall ... but this year it seems like we missed the sunshine totally ! I had shorts on for all of about half an hour this summer .. and the mesquito's were so bad I had to put my jeans back on after about half an hour !! LOL !

At least there is a bit of a break in the clouds this morning. Not sure what we will get up to today ... awfully muddy out there this morning. Thinking I will go pound some posts. We are going to try and add a little area on to our bull field for picturing cattle for our ad this fall. Hopefully it will be a good spot for us ... this running around over acres of land ... trying to get pic's had become a little hard to manage. If there is one thing that tests a relationship more than calving time .. it is "picture day " ... LOL ! Any of you who have done this will know exactly what I am talking about !

All this talk about picturing has made me realize how great it will be to have this little "spot" done for us to use this fall .... best finish my coffee and get my butt out the door or nothing will get done !

Jen