farm living

Imagine my surprise when I looked out my kitchen window this morning and there were at least a dozen cows in my yard! Not our cows (we don't have cows and after today probably never will) but our neighbor's cows. They were supposed to be in the other 18 or so acres of land that we own, not the 1 acre that I live in. Panic struck as I realized the cows were heading for the road...the one that leads to Buckhannon, Weston, I-79, Pittsburgh...condos in the city....never mind...that's where I want to go...I'm sure the cows had other ideas. In any case, I called hubby to find out what to do. His bright idea was to 1) chase them back into the field with a broom, 2) start the 4-wheeler up and they'll come running or 3) pound on a 5-gallon bucket (they'll think it's feeding time). Guess which one of those options worked??? NONE OF THEM!!!! By then, the cows were down in the road almost to Route 20. I took matters into my own hands and I guess my Appalachain-American instincts kicked in. I jumped in my van and headed in their direction. Another vehicle had stopped, so I swung my van around the cows and got them heading in the other direction. They started down the road and headed to their original home. In the meantime, son was chasing a couple of strays through the woods using the broom method. At that point, Butchie, got involved and decided to be a cattle dog...he's not...he's a pekingnese/chihuahua mut! He took off through the field as fast as his little 6 inch legs would carry him. And daughter went chasing after him. By now, I'm driving down the road checking on the cows that ran ahead of me. They were in their owner's front yard. When they saw the rodeo van heading their way, they took off again. And again, I swung around them and corralled them into the field (I think I missed my calling). A coal truck had stopped and another vehicle. The girl in the other vehicle jumped out and shut the gate behind them. Now back to check on the kids, the dog and the other stray cows. Did I mention I had slipped on a cute little summer dress this morning???

I could hear the dog barking off in the distance and saw son chasing after him. I jumped on the 4-wheeler (in my cute little summer dress) to go help them. Before I took off, I noticed my brother-in-law had pulled in the drive-way. So, he jumped on the 4-wheeler to check on the kids and I went into the house to collapse. While all of this is going on, hubby is calling on the phone "checking on us". The fact that he was laughing his head off didn't help matters much.
Eventually, the kids and the dog showed up and brother-in-law shortly, thereafter. Daughter said she needed a tylenol and I said I needed a drink. She said she wasn't thirsty and I said I wasn't talking about water! It's been that kind of day!