The Cow's Get Out

It's 7:32 p.m. We were sitting down to eat supper around 6pm when we noticed, as we gazed out the french doors that there were black cows in the neighboring field. Strange? Yes indeed, considering he only has brown and white cows and we have black. "Uh-oh," said Mike. "I think our cows are out." (all four of them plus a baby) We hurried to finish supper while also checking several times through the binoculars for identifying factors to insure us that these were indeed our cows. All counts pointed that they were. We hopped in the Expedition and drove up the road and then down the road, checking our pasture view from the road. Sure enough, no cows to be seen in our field. But there were those pretty black ones, in the lovely lush green field adjoining our overgrown, yet to be mowed field. Yup. To be certain. They were our cows. Mike jumped on the four wheeler with a bucket of grain in hand and zoomed out into the overgrown grass shoots that nearly covered the ATV. He circled around the creek bed and came around to the other side of it calling and whistling and shaking that bucket of luring grain. He saw where they had gotten out. A very large tree had split in two and fell onto the separating fence. Must be during the last storm. Maybe the one we had last night that blew through at 2:30 a.m. causing us to have a very tiny visitor in our bed for the remainder of the night. ;)
The cows came. The kids and I watched from our lookout perch high in second story of the play set. We cheered. And then the baby cow ran back across. Mike hollered and chased and back it came. And then the cows just stood there. Stubborn as can be. All they wanted was to get back across that fence to the other side. Finally I had the bright idea to grab a bucket of grain on my end and start whistling and calling them back towards us.  It finally worked and Mike came corraling them back towards us swooping and zooming around on the 4-wheeler. Arriving back at the gate we swung it open through the tall grass and he came flying up the hill passed us. We struggled to pull the gate back shut and latched and Mike meanwhile went to the barn to collect his chain saw, chain, tractor, and fence connectors and wire. And another bucket of grain! He dad came over in his pickup so he could drive out into the field with it and hopefully block off the hole in the fence so the cows wouldn't get back through again! The kids of course had to go with so they all climbed into the back seat of grandpa's truck and buckled in for the bumpy ride out into the field. I stayed back to open and close the gate. ;) Just as Mike was making his way out into the field with the tractor what does he see but the cows, all back at that hole in the fence again. I don't think I've ever seen a tractor go so fast! Certainly that tractor never has flown so quickly before! He flew around the spring and shouted and hollered at those cows and made it just in time to keep them from going through. And then my cell phone rang. "Sarah? I need you to open that little electric box by the gate and unplug the electric. There may be bees, hornets, spiders, who knows what in there so kind of pop it open and then jump back." Oh great...... bees. Just what I don't like. I'm going to admit it right here and now. I'm terrified of bees. Absolutely hate them. So I pop open the box and sure enough. There's a wasp nest with this bee looking at me. I'm serious y'all. He was looking at me. Every way I turned, it turned. And when I cautiously edged my hand towards the electric plug it moved and sort of jumped towards me. Argh. I didn't know what to do. So I ran up to the garage, got a can of wasp killer and a stick. I shot that wasp killer and the bees went dropping and crawling off. I waited a moment and then took the stick and pried that plug out of the socket. No way was I gonna physically touch it. Haha! With that job taken care of I made my way up to the house and decided this all made a very great story and I really ought to open my laptop and write about it. Right now of course! So now it's 7:49. A storm is brewing. The sky is turning black and I am hoping to goodness the thunder and lightning hold off til Mike's done with the fence mending!