Breeding season...

Since the branding, we sorted off cows-calf pairs into breeding bunches.  Some of the cows were turned out with bulls (naturally) but some were kept back for AI (artificial insemination).  Every day since the sort, we have been on horseback, morning and night, to sort off the cow-calf pairs that are in heat.  In the picture above, Hubs is in the middle of the cow bunch sorting while the rest of us are holding the cows in a corner of the pasture.  When he brings a pair out, we help him ride them over to the other side of the pasture.

A. and Hubs are cutting out a cow and some calves.

S rides this pair out of the bunch.

Look at that sky!

Mornings are a beautiful time to be on top of a horse.

J. is holding the cows and calves on his side.

Good Ol' Pete.

 
I have been thinking lately about how summers around here seem like "camp."  We are in and out the door all day long.  We practically live outside all during the daylight hours.  Inside the house, the floors get really dirty from everyone traipsing in and out with boots that have been at the barn or in the hayfield.  I sweep it out and not too much longer I need to sweep it again.  We eat lots of sandwiches and barbecue on the grill, we slap mosquitoes and flies, and we sit in the lawn chairs at night when it's cool, enjoying a refreshing drink while the incense burns  to keep the bugs at bay.  It's really quite fun, but it is all temporary.  It won't last.  Summer days are fleeting in the northern prairies so we must drink in the honey of these summer moments while we can.

Why is it that summer goes by way too fast

and winter lasts too long?

The end.