That's My Story, and I'm Sticking To It!

True confessions: We probably didn't need to take a 4-wheeler ride through the Ninnescah pasture. When we got to the pasture to round up the mama cows, they were hanging out in the lot by the old hunting cabin. (We had already rounded up their babies and taken them back to the farm for the winter.)

It looked like they were all there, but it's tough to count them when they're milling around in a bigger lot. That's our story, and we're sticking to it. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a point to Randy and me taking a morning 4-wheeler ride in the pasture. 

And if we hadn't done that, we would have missed the beauty of a fall day in Kansas.

Even though the grasses were more brown than green, there was still beauty in the landscape as the sun streamed through the trees and danced across the surface of the Ninnescah River. 

As usual, I couldn't resist pausing to take pictures along the way.

We rode through the pasture, looking for cattle hiding in the trees near the river banks.

My riding companion may have questioned my scouting abilities, since I was equally interested in the scenery.  (We all have our roles, don't you think?)

I saw the well-worn cattle paths, where the mama cows and the babies trekked to get drinks of clear, cool water this summer.

Some of the trees had already shed their leaves and others had lost their vibrancy, but there was still beauty as we drove in the pasture grasses.

 We bounced across the grate that marks the dam over the river as we headed back to the corrals.

And while we didn't find any stragglers during our ride, it was time well spent.

 (Jake might not agree, since he was up in the lot waiting on us!)

Once we got back to the lot, we moved the cows into the south lot and around the old hunting cabin. The cabin and a fence form a lane through which we move the cattle into progressively smaller areas.

Since we had sorted off their calves during our first trip to the Ninnescah, we didn't have to do any sorting. We loaded the mama cows into trailers to make the trek back to the farm.

As the nursery rhyme goes, home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Next up:  A visit with the vet for our "ladies in waiting."