The Nelson family wishes everyone a very safe, merry and wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. I am so happy to spend the holiday with my children.

Food for thought

I know this is way off topic in regards to "Club Calf Paradise" but I think it's timely and a topic that I find important and interesting. After all, it is my blog and that makes is pretty much my right to write about almost anything.

If you haven't noticed it seems to be Breast Cancer Awareness week...or month. It would be almost impossible to NOT notice that something is going on with breast cancer. There are little pink ribbons adorning just about everything you see...or eat for that matter. Everyone seems to have picked up the "cause" and is trying to raise money for something that has gotten out of control and that our insurance/health systems have failed to support as a whole. It is difficult to go into any venue and not find something relating to breast cancer. I even found a tool collection at the hardware store dedicated to breast cancer...ALL PINK! Every time I turn around I see someone walking down the street wearing breast cancer attire, shoes, socks, t-shirts, earings...you name it. Even bottled water has pink ribbons. Yesterday I popped a piece of pink gum in my mouth that had a pink ribbon painted on it. Yum-yum.

Don't misunderstand. I am a strong advocate of breast cancer awareness. I have had many friends that have suffered the pains of breast cancer and/or lost loved ones. I have even dealt with my own "lumps". I just wonder how all of the money that is being spent on items of support are being paid back to finding a cure? A fortune has to be paid by companies that desire to adorn their products with breast cancer awareness logos. How much of THAT money is being paid towards a cure? And then what about the millions of products that are sold in the name of breast cancer awareness...how much of that income is spent for breast cancer cures? I am just saying, we are so willing to buy anything with a pink ribbon on it without even knowing what portion of our money is actually going directly to find a cure.

I think that we don't spend enough time questioning things in our lives. We just take them for granted. That is probably why breast cancer has gotten so out of control. We just take it for granted...until WE get it or one of our loved ones is afflicted. For example, I question why all this breast cancer awareness stuff has to be in pink! You know, breast cancer isn't just about WOMEN. Men are part of the fun as well. I suppose pink, like orange at Nelson Cattle Company, is an attention-getter. I'll give them that.

So what about the ribbon? Really, a ribbon? I seems to me that if you want to get everyone's attention in regards to Breast Cancer that you would use something that would SERIOUSLY get some attention; perhaps something that was more related to the topic. Now I am not a marketing genious but I have noticed in the course of my lifetime that one...or two things...that seem to get everyone's attention are breasts. So don't you think it would be more noticeable and make more sense if all of those Breast Cancer awareness items had a breast on them rather than a cutesy pink ribbon? I know that would get MY husband's attention! Are we simply just afraid to walk down the street with a pink t-shirt with a giant breast on the front? That really wouldn't make sense if we are truly trying to make people more aware of breasts and the fight to save lives from breast cancer why are we afraid to be candid about it? I find that odd.

I do suppose it would not be as easy to pop a piece of gum into my mouth with the picture of a breast stamped on it. In turn that would probably cut into the revenue/sales of the candy industry and other retailers that are making a HUGE profit from selling/marketing Breast Cancer Awareness products in the name of a cure. Personally, I would like to send my donations directly to the scientists and labs that are actually doing the work to find a cure. Does anyone really know who that is? Hmmm...new marketing idea. A t-shirt with a lumpy breast embossed on the front the the name/number of the research institute to DIRECTLY send your donations for the cure.

For all of my "sistas" and "bros" out there that have been slapped in the face (pun intended) by this tragic disease I salute you and send you my hugs. There is no reason we shouldn't have a cure by now. So I guess in the meantime we all need to do whatever it takes to support finding a cure. Let's just not become sheep and always ask questions. It might make things go a little faster. In the meantime...I am going to keep eating my "boobie-gum"!

Point taken!

This girl is Rocking the Win!! Love that t-shirt.

Not to be outdone!

Avery's sister, Trista, was rockin' her own bling! Oooo, I LOVE competition! Go get his sista!!

Win Pictures

You know what happens when you buy a calf at Club Calf Paradise? We get to post win pictures on our Blog! LOL!! I thought this lended an interesting twist to the win picture story. Avery Bates from Monatana is pictured here with his winning bling. I think the buckles weigh more than the boy but he will certainly have a nice time putting them on his trophy wall. Not bad for a years worth of work! Congrats Bates family!!!

And so it ends

Another year in Paradise has drawn to a close and happily many families and cattle buyers have picked up their new purchases and are making plans for the coming year. It is always exciting to see where the calves go and follow what the new owners are doing with them. We had so many people visiting Paradise this year from all over the U.S. and Canada. We had buyers represented from coast to coast and several from two provinces in Canada. Texas, New Mexico and Montana were also represented as well as many states in between. I think that just goes to show that Club Calf Paradise has something to offer for everyone's needs.

In a nutshell I would have to say that this was one of the most relaxing years for our sale and I would have to attribute that to the wonderful support from all of our consignors and hired help. I will be posting some pictures because you have to see the incredible fire ring that the Bate's family hauled from Montana as a gift. It is the inside of a rock crusher and it is fascinating to say the least. What was really the icing on the gift was that they also hauled a load of giant rocks...BEAUTIFUL rocks...to stack around the ring and to also serve as seating. The entire gift was breathtaking and the gesture touched my heart. I will cherish it forever.

And what about the food?! I am officially starting a diet on Monday which will include a healthy exercise plan. I have NEVER eaten so well during a sale in my LIFE...with the exception of the Doug Steele sale feeding frenzies. It confounds me how Barry and Susie Maass manage to stay so tiny when they obviously enjoy feeding people so much. I am going to have to watch them for eating disorders! Susie's ham balls were a huge hit as well as her cranberry spread. OMG...they were KILLER!Karen Anderson showed up several times out of the blue to bring food for the "gang". And even if you hate blueberry muffins you would cross over for Karen's! They were incredible and the bag seemed to remain bottomless. Chris and Kareen...all I can say is that your "apple pie" warmed the cockles of my heart. Nothing like a belly full of apple pie to make one sleep like a baby! PLEASE please remember me when you make THAT again. Also love the Postal Express cookies. They don't call it Snail Mail for nothing!

Ryan Gotto...my husband will completely support me when I say that I love you! Please make your vacation plans for next year the same as this year. You are now in my will and we are officially working on the adoption papers which include your lovely wife (yeah, we really thought you were kidding) and your son. Don't EVER use me as a reference. I will LIE LIE LIE so nobody else can have you! I would trust you with the care of my cows and my dog ANY TIME. That is saying something. You will always have a place at Paradise.

So I will stop rambling for the moment. I am taking a brief sobatical (sp) with my kids and will be back with pictures and stories very soon. Keep in touch! Luv ya'll!

There is always help in Paradise

I can't believe how helpful everyone has been this year. Many of my consignors have turned out to lend a hand. I am blinded from time to time by the work and being focused so much on the job that I forget how much fun we really have during the sale. It shouldn't be hard to understand that everyone wants to be part of it. I caught my father at the end of our driveway today staking up our Club Calf Paradise sign which marks the entrance to the farm. I was happy to see that he liked chipping in as well.

The problem is that I am enjoying the company so much that I don't know what it's going to be like when the sale is over. I guess that is why I am always just a little melancholy when things come to a close at Paradise.In the meantime we will just soak up the fun and look forward with anticipation to seeing all of our old friends and meeting the new faces.

THANKS EVERYONE!!

Today in Paradise

The front finally pushed through and the weather has taken a turn for the FABULOUS! Cam S. and Ryan G. are busy rinsing the calves and getting them in their fancy pants for the weekend. Knock on wood but everyone has been very happy and healthy in the calf pens.

Bidding is off to a great start. Most of the calves are started already which is really exciting. I guess when the quality runs as deep as this set of calves it is not a surprise to see that people are happy and willing to get the bids rolling. I hope that if anyone has any questions you will feel free to give me a call. I would love to talk about the calves with you. There is nothing like a chat to help get yourself centered on what you would like to bid on.

Some people have asked about registration papers on some of the calves. Most of them can be registered but we didn't list them as a breed unless we had the application or actual papers in our hands. We thought that would eliminate any issues.

Hope you are all making plans to join us this weekend. We are anxious to see everyone.

Darby showing his stuff

I snapped this with my phone the other night while the Smith girls were having some fun with Darby. He was feeling a little left out being surrounded by all of these purple ribbon calves! I think this really made him feel better!

This is a picture of Lot #52 consigned by the Braun family. She is an HAA Sheriff daughter (Maine Tainer) and is the sweetest acting heifer on the place...and that is saying a LOT! This is a shot of her in front of the banner at the Iowa State Fair as a division winner. I can't believe how much she has come on even since this picture. The calves are truly enjoying the great weather and looking radical! Hope to see you all soon at Club Calf Paradise!!

All about the kids!

Oh, I know I sound like an old book but every year I am reminded that all of the hard work and effort is for the love of the kids. Maybe it's taken the passage of years and the wisdom or simply raising my own kids to finally get the "big picture" and to appreciate the picture as a piece of art. Whatever it is I just can't explain what a satisfying feeling I get seeing the families and the kids stop by to look for new calves. It is amazing to see the kids sort through the cattle and mark the ones they want to have for projects next year. Every kid is motivated by something different it seems.

I really felt all warm and fuzzy last night when the Smith family stopped by and the two smallest girls begged me to let them wash one of the calves. Seriously!? Two little squirts whining and begging me to rinse a calf! How do you say no to cute?

So parents, just a little thought to keep in your mind when you are at your first show next spring and stressed out of your minds because your kids are not listening to every word you say or sticking the calf quite the way you think it should be done...CHILL OUT!!!! Remember what this is all about...FAMILY, EDUCATION, and above all KIDS!!!

Oh...I couldn't stand it...here's a few more.

Throwing out the bait

I hold my breath every time the photographer comes because I worry so much that nothing will come out right. That never actually happens but nontheless I continue to worry. What I really never imagined was that things would run so smoothly and that pictures would turn out so well. The cattle were so cooperative and the crew was so helpful. I am thinking that we will have some "fun" pictures to offer pretty soon. I always think it is fun to have those behind the scenes shots. I particularly enjoyed the group of people that put their lawn chairs up and sat to watch as each calf was paraded out.

Make sure to check back tonight or tomorrow for all of the video and pictures! We'll have discount motel coupons as well as discount fuel coupons again this year. We look forward to seeing you all!

How to get Maximum Exposure!

Picture and video day is finally complete thanks to the GREAT help of friends and family. It is so wonderful to have people that truly enjoy this business enough to come help out with the most frustrating, exhausting and nerve wracking part of the club calf sale. Without them we could never pull this off. Several of our consignors were on hand including the Scotts (Jeff and Daryl), Kareen Vaught from Kansas, Nick Anderson and Cam Statelar from Nebraska. At one point we even had spectators sitting in lawn chairs sipping ice water and offering their thoughts! LOL. Thanks gang!!!

I actually thought that I was going to have to sit this one out when the "help" spooked up a 30 foot Anaconda and made it try to attack me in the pasture. O.K., so maybe I am exaggerating a tiny bit but you all know how I feel about snakes...even Garter snakes.

Mark Sneed with Maximum Exposure did a fabulous job as always. We certainly appreciate his patience with us. Eight hours in the sun tends to make us a little goofy and he was very supportive. The video looks great so far and we should have all of the pictures and video up and online by Sunday sometime.

We are anxious to see all of our old customers and meeting new families! Please stop by anytime. The calves are all available for viewing!

Floods, record heat wave and State Fair

What a great combination for a fun-filled week. Many of the roads to Des Moines were closed yesterday due to large amounts of rain...5 inches three nights in a row. The heat index is almost 110 and there is not a break until tomorrow when it is supposed to rain on these poor people again. It amazes me how it has had little effect on the attendance at the fair. People just learn to adapt and overcome. Such is the nature of farm folk. Even in this heat I still love the fair; seeing all of the old faces...like the old guy on the white mule directing traffic. God I love them.

I was happy to see Alan and Cam Stateler pull in with a load of feeder calves for the show. The have two of the fancy heifers that they are consigning to our sale. I don't know how they do it with juggling kids and cattle in this weather. Kids are so resilient. Their little boy said the most amazing thing that really caught my heart. He asked his mother, "Mommy, why did God make the sky so cool if he's going to put it so far away that we can't touch it?" He was serious! You have to love kids!!!

Hope to see some of your faces at the fair. It sounds like after friday things will be much better! Let's hope so.

Let us not forget!

As we plunge head-long into a much deserved Iowa heat wave I think we should remember that it was just a few short months ago that we were thinking the snow would never go away and that the movie Armageddon was possibly a work of non-fiction. I certainly prefer the heat...as long as I can take a long siesta during the middle of the day.

We have been working our tails off here at Club Calf Paradise trying to get everything ready for the sale before we head to the Iowa State Fair for a few days of "hospitality duty" during the Maine Anjou show. Brad and I are in charge of the booth and we certainly enjoy talking to all of our good friends and new aquaintances. As soon as we get home we will hit the ground running for the next three weeks, until the sale is over. It is exciting, exhausting, rewarding and ...in the end...a little sad. I can't wait to see everyone again though.

Enjoy the summer everyone. Before long the snow will be flying and we will be dreaming of sugarplums and new baby calves!

Team Work

I really enjoy the excitement that comes with getting things set up for the sale. I worked most of the day setting up the catch pens and the wash area for this years sale. The Smith kids helped rinse calves for me today so that I could work on this project but they all joined in at the end of the day. Brad even got involved and we convinced him that he would be the very best candidate to climb the ladder and drill holes for the shade anchors. Nick Anderson, one of our new consignors, was driving by and stopped to lend a hand as well. We had a fun time and finished the evening with a couple of pizza's on the picnic table at the bunk house.

Now I go to bed...exhausted. I only hope that I don't have any nightmares about quantum physics!

When you just don't want dreams to come true!

I had the great fun of helping Hayley pick up her books for college the other day. It was like traveling back in time as we walked around the shelves at the university book store looking for grossly over-priced books that would be used for a few short months and then sold back to the same store for pennies so they could smack a "used" sticker on it and sell it for almost the same new price. It really doesn't seem like that long ago that I was wandering aimlessly around those shelves looking for my own books.

I rounded a corner and had to control my laughter. It was at that moment that I was incredibly thankful that I wasn't in my daughter's shoes. I can say with a great degree of certainty that my recurring dream of going back to college and living the glam college life completly drained from my system permanantly. Standing before me...three rows high...was a pile of books like this. I'm just saying...

WHY I LOVE MY JOB By Juli Nelson

Last year I sold a very nice little Hereford X Heat Wave steer to a young boy that was just starting his show career. He and his family were searching for nice quiet calf for their son to show at the county fair; something that would be a good learning experience and competitive. Nic fell in love with "Eeyore" at first sight during our Labor Day pasture sale. It was a perfect match. We stayed in close contact, helped get them set up on a feed program and gave them some grooming and clipping lessons. It was a great feeling to see Nic lead Eeyore into the ring a the Crawford County Fair and walk out with a Reserve Champion County Raised Steer award. A lot of buttons were bursting that day. Not nearly as much as when I opened this card that the mailman delivered from Nic. (insert sniff)

Nap time at the O.K. Corral

I experience an excited/dread feeling every year when it's time for ultra-sounding cows and freeze branding heifers. I can't wait to see if my girls are bred to that exciting bull that I have put painful thought into choosing for each one of them. If you have ever had a year when you completely strike out during breeding season you can understand what that anticipation feels like. We used several bulls that had very high priced semen and that always makes me nervous. Combine that with the fact that I thought our heats were pretty quiet and that I never saw one come back around and you can imagine how worried I was that we were just missing heats and nothing was going to be A.I. bred.

With the exception of two cows that calved very late and are very short bred or open yet, ALL of the cows and heifers are A.I. bred. I was ecstatic as each cow shuffled through the chute and was pronounced bred to her A.I. date. Next spring we will have a nice selection of Monopoly, Heat Wave, Rocky Balboa, Who(the original), Grizzly, Uno Mas and Gigolo Joe babies running around the pasture. How exciting!

Freeze branding went terrific as well. All of the heifers are now wearing a puzzle piece on their front left shoulder. Any heifers that are going to stay in the herd are also wearing their herd number and "X" on thier left hip. Brad and I laughed when I ran one of the two smokey heifers into the chute. I honestly have no idea what will happen there but I am hoping that the hair will be whiter than the rest...if not then they have invisible brands. LOL.

It is now late afternoon and I have taken my second shower for the day...probably not my last...and I am going to finish up on the computer and go join Darby and my blanky for a nap before I crawl out to do chores. I feel like a huge stress has been lifted and I plan to spend the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying my family.

Where's my camera when I need it?

I was driving north west out of Denison yesterday afternoon to look at some calves and glanced in my rearview mirror to see a funnel dipping out of the clouds directly behind me. We had received almost two inches of rain in the morning but the bad weather had long passed. There were plenty of clouds but I was still wearing my sunglasses because the sun was shining through intermitently. It really didn't look like tornado weather...or what I thought seemed like tornado weather. I called my daughter to have her look at the radar but she didn't see anything. The funnel kept lowering and lifting and was really interesting to watch...in my rearview mirror! I told several people that I talked to after that about seeing a funnel and they all laughed at me. This morning I logged onto my weather site and found this storm report:

Local Storm Report


07/30/2010 0420 PM

2 miles W of Denison, Crawford County.

Funnel cloud, reported by Emergency Mngr.


Emergency manager and public reports of funnel cloud
dropping out of cumulus cloud.


I'm just saying....

I love the fair!!

The Crawford County Fair is going on this week. No matter how old I get I still enjoy going to the fair. The smell of funnel cakes, cotton candy, exhaust from the tractor pull and the pungent smell of the animals mixed with various other aromas of hair products used on the animals. Why is it that a brat from the Lutheran Church stand smothered in kraut and ketchup, eaten while walking around the varied industries building when it's 100 degrees out tastes so delicious? And what about those homemade pies the church ladies make? It almost makes me want to change religions!

Despite the heat and despite the rain I think that the fair went very well. I know that Nelson Cattle Company had a great year. The Welch family that just got started this year in 4-H purchased a very nice Heat Wave X Hereford steer from our Labor Day sale last year. "Eeyore" weighed 1322 at the fair. He place fourth overall in rate of gain and was the Reserve Champion County Raised Steer. Nic Welch did a very wonderful job of showing his first year and it was nice to see his parents and grandparents be so supportive and helpful. Nic has a lot to live up to next year! (I did tell him that I have a full brother to Eeyore on our sale this year! :)

The Staley family exhibited the Reserve Champion Cow/Calf Pair. They purchased the cow from us on our dispersal sale two years ago. Since then the cow has raised two fabulous Heat Wave calves and has most likely more than paid for herself. The steer calf this year was also the Grand Champion Feeder Steer at the fair. Congrats to the Staleys!!!

The Smith family (Makayla) exhibited the Grand Champion Cow/Calf pair. The bull calf is a Gigolo Joe son. The pair also went on to win Supreme Champion Breeding Female of the entire show! How exciting. Makayla also showed a Nelson 26T2 heifer she purchased from Nelson Cattle Company that also won her division and stood third overall. Congrats Makayla!! Dalton, her younger brother, exhibited a Heat Wave heifer that he bought on our Labor Day Sale. She was a division winner as well. Congrats Dalton!! What a great year. Best of luck at the Iowa State Fair.

I just had to add a picture of Makia Smith. (There are so many Smiths that I can hardly keep them straight)She was having such a great time with her lamb. She is also the main care-giver to "Baby Joe", Black Betty's calf. The kids do such a wonderful job and have a great work ethic. Their parents should be very proud of their hard work and determination.

When it's time to let go

I saw this apple picker in the back of someone's pickup the other day and it reminded me of that Swiffer commercial where they put the old mop out in the trash but it keeps trying to find its way back into the house. There is one thing I know for sure. I would hire the owner of this picker to work for me ANY DAY!!! Obviously that person was committed to his work; enough so that he became attached to this particular picker up until the point where you couldn't even use it to speer a watermelon! Even at the point where he realized that it no longer served its purpose he was not able to throw it on the burn pile to let nature take its course. I think we could all take a lesson in being conservative and less wastefull. I am a guilty as anyone for just running to the store when something breaks instead of trying to fix it. However, I think that there comes a time when you just have to let go and succomb to the fact that it's time to let go. There is obviously a point when efficiency is more important than being conservative.

Just dealing with the heat.

My sister, Kris and brother-in-law, Dan are visiting from Oregon this week. Dan always asks if there is anything that he can help me with so I promptly pulled an ace out of my hat and asked him if he would like to help me put up my 20x40 shade canopy for the calves. Of course he jumped at the offer not knowing at all what I was even talking about. Our spouses agreed to be our support crew and were supposed to meet up with us at the barn after we gathered our tools (ladder, climbing shoes and band-aids) It was a warm evening with little or no wind; perfect for putting up a giant tarp that could double as a wind sail. Dan and I looked like a couple of handicapped monkeys trying to bungie cord the tarp in place. We took turns cursing as the small elastic holders would sometimes snap us in the knuckles. Amazingly our support crew arrived just as we were finishing the task.

I tried to repay Dan with an evening at the bunkhouse sipping cool beverages, eating Iowa Strips on the grill and making liquid nitrogen ice cream. I think he forgives me. If he asks me again for something to do I think I will duct tape him to the mower!!

******
I don't think the calves knew what to do this morning when we turned them into thier new pen with fans and misters. They ran around like puppies even though it was already very hot. I think it felt twenty degrees cooler under the canopy. It is a wonderful place and much cooler and healthier than the barn.

And They're Off!!

Well, the heat has hit but that isn't slowing down the thrill of the cattle show. Today is the annual Darrell Nissen Memorial Steer show held at the Crawford County Fairgrounds in Denison, Iowa. Despite the VERY hot weather the turnout was fabulous. It is exciting to see some of the calves that are going to be consigned to our sale standing in the winners circle! Congratulations to the Smith Family and Nick Anderson/Anderson Show Cattle. They are bringing a fabulous offering that are already putting together some championships.

Pennies in the Doorway

Now I'm not much for "voodoo" but every now and then I scratch my head and wonder if some of that hocus pocus stuff really works. I always joke with my ET people that I wave dead chickens over my donors when I am giving shots and that is why we are always so successful with our flushes. I honestly think one of them believes me! Fact is, if I really thought it would help I would probably do it.

I heard a good one the other day though that beats waving a dead chicken all to heaven. Somebody told me to put six new pennies in a ziploc bag with a little water and hang one in the doorway of my barn...or anywhere in my barn. The story goes that the flies see the pannies in the bag and freak out because they think they are a predator. They fly away, never to return. You can't imagine how hard I laughed at that one. This guy hadn't even been drinking either!

I am always fighting flies at the bunkhouse. Even though I have a screened doorway they still find their way in or cover the screens like butter when the evening rolls around. I hate them and most of all I hate spraying toxic chemicals to detract the little boogers. OK, I know it's crazy, but it was such a tall tale that I just HAD to try it out. So I set about hanging penny laten water bags in the doorway and inside the bunkhouse. I am tough, I can take the ribbing and laughter from everyone that has stopped by. Funny enough though...I defy them to find a bothersome fly in the bunkhouse. Guess it beats a dead chicken!

Some things just say it all.

This was an item that was offered on the silent auction at the Junior National Maine Anjou show in Spencer, Iowa last week. I didn't have my glasses...:( so I couldn't read the authors names for whom I would love to give GREAT credit. I sometimes wonder how many people in the business really "get it"? That love of cattle is what really makes this business rock. I hope you will enjoy...and share it with your parents...or the parents of any kids you know that share your love for cattle.

Lots of happenings to catch up on

There has been a lot going on here over the past month so I haven't been very good about keeping up with my blog. The most exciting thing that has happened is that my daughter, Hayley, has finally returned from her year-long Rotary exchange in Bolivia. It was a wonderful experience for her and we owe it all to Rotary International. She kept an incredible journal and photo-journal of her experiences that she hopes to make into a book for her family.

Since Brad is currently serving on the board of the Iowa Maine Anjou Association we have both been busy with the Junior National show which was held in Spencer, Iowa just a week ago. Russ and Sue Salton deserve a round of applause for the immense work they put into planning the show. We spent a little over a week in Spencer setting up and helping with the show. I think it was an amazing success. Hayley actually spent the entire time volunteering to help during the show. She really isn't much "into" the cattle part of our operation but she loves the kids and the people. It was a great experience for her as well.

The week just before we left for Spencer was a little stressful as we discovered that we had a SERIOUS infestation of Army Worms in our front pasture where we hold our pasture sale. In less than 24 hours the worms had completely devoured every blade of grass and they were working their way across the road to the neighbors and also into my parents carefully groomed and watered yard. Our local Co-op was called to action and they were stunned at the amount of worms they found. They said that they had never seen anything like it. Our paved driveway was actually slimy with the stinking little boogers. The ground actually appeared to be moving. All I could do was spray a barrier around the perimeter and let them live out thier short life-cycle. I spent the week of Jr. Nationals wondering if our pasture would survive and get re-growth before our sale. The rain-gods obviously smiled on us and when we returned much of the brown mowed off pasture was once again finding its green and starting to grow.

The calves are doing great. I am especially excited about the calves out of our Gigolo Joe daughters. The Heat Wave steers are pouring on the power and seem to change every day. I find the Captain Morgan calves(two smokes and a black) out of a Maine cow to be very interesting. They are freaky fronted, sound, correct and super hairy. I had a small group on recips in another location and they were weaned VERY early. They are a little more green than most of my calves but are really coming along. I think there could be a real sleeper in that group. I have two Grizzley steers that are very interesting as well. They have a very soft look and are incredibly correct with lots of hair and eye appeal. I think they are the later maturing type but I love how they are looking now. If you are looking for some great Maine heifers you won't want to miss the offering we are going to have this year!

It's been raining raining and raining here and things are looking soggy but green. If any of your are bored please feel free to stop by and test drive our John Deere 850zero turn mower. It runs like greased lightening. I'll let you spend as much time on it as you like! LOL!

Here's a Whale Tale!

This Heat Wave bull/steer is out of a Saugahatchee X Maine cow that we kept to possible flush. She has raised some incredible Maine calves for us and this is her first club calf attempt. After this she is going to go into our donor pen! She is a WHALE and so is this calf. She laid down and shot him out without a thought and he hasn't stopped since. He can barely fit through the barn door AND he is sound!!!

Smooth Sailing on the Catwalk!

This sweet little dolly is out of Smooth Sailing and a Gigolo Joe X Sonny daughter. She actually goes back to a cow family that we referred to as "Big Cow" #86 in our herd. That Momma cow raised some great calves and the grand-daughters are proving to be every bit as maternal.

Labor Day Sale Calves

This is a Grizzly steer out of a Gigolo Joe X Irish Whiskey second calf female. This calf has the look AND the personality to make anyone a great show calf prospect. He will be selling on our Labor Day sale. You will just love his blaze face!

Turning things around

This is one of our newest Donors at Nelson Cattle Company. We are honored to be partners with Bruhn Farms: Al Bruhn and Family. Her farm name is "360". We named her this because she is the kind of female that will turn a program around...360 degrees!

We purchased her as a yearling heifer from the Doug Steele family. She is a daughter of Plainview Lutton E102 and Steele Miss Kymra Katy K006. In the year that we have owned her she has produced 12 calves and 28 grade one embryos! We will usually NEVER flush a virgin female but we opted to give it a shot and flushed her last spring to MEYER 734. That mating produced 12 grade one embryos which we put in fresh. Eleven of them stuck and we now have a small herd of Meyer X 360 blazed faces running around the pasture! We then let her cycle once and bred her back using SEXED Maximus semen. She settled the first time and produced a beautiful heifer calf.

We were so impressed with the quality of the calfcrop that we decided to flush her this spring to Heat Wave. That mating produced 28 grade one embryos with 8 unfertilized. We put a few in fresh and the others are being put in over a couple of different intervals. Needless to say we are incredibly excited about this flush and look forward to next spring. As of yet we haven't decided what to breed her to. We had better be making up our minds soon!!!

WHEN CELL PHONE RINGTONES ARE BAD: LESSON 1

When you are out in the heat, working on your hight voltage, stun-an-elephant electric fence it is NOT appropriate to carry your cell phone in your pants pocket on VIBRATE!!! I am just saying....

Things to remember today

As we all head out the door today to relax and enjoy the beautiful day let's pause for a moment and remember all that we hold dear and all of those people that we have been touched by in our lives and have given thier lives for us.

Let's also remember that life is to be enjoyed and that we need to take time to stop what we are doing and bask in the beauty of what we work so hard for. Do something special for yourself today but also do something special for somebody else. Step outside of your comfort zone and so something to help somebody. There are a lot of kids that are serving in the military overseas that are a little outside of their comfort zone doing something to help us. Let's do something kind to return the favor.

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day with warm thoughts from the Bunk House!

Tackle the big things first.

It's only taken about forty-some years to figure out but sometimes you CAN teach an old dog some new tricks. NOT that I'm old...I just feel that way some days. This week's stress curve has been interesting and taxing but the good news is that I DID learn something that I intend to use more often. I guess it's kind of like the old cliche about getting your "plate" too full. Now, I'm not one to waste a good plate- full of food. In fact, I don't usually put something on my plate unless I fully intend to eat it. So, when I get stressed out because my "plate is too full" I don't scrape anything off into the garbage. I simply eat the biggest thing on the plate first. It seems to clear space in a tremendous hurry.

So this week I decided to get my biggest stresses tackled. Stress #1: FAMILY-on MANY levels...mostly my children, their health and safety. Stress #2: Getting some of the sale calves broke to tie and clipped. Stress #3: Getting ad pictures of my favorite calves and an awesome picture of my favorite new Donor while she is still in milk production for the year. Stress #4: Mowers and anything with a motor...power-washer, weed-eater, fans--the current bane of my existence...may they burn in hell! (Just kidding) :) It was amazing how everything else became less stressful as I tackled each challenge. I can say that by weeks end I had plenty of room on my plate for a little dessert and I had no problem dishing it up today. After putting in cidrs, giving shots and painting cows, Brad and I went to the garden store and picked out tomatoes and hostas for a planting festival and afterwards we topped it off by setting up the hammock under the walnut tree at the bunk house. Well, actually the best part was the twenty-minute power nap we took while swinging in the breeze and listening to the birds argue about what we were doing. As weeks and "full plates" go this one was a feast.

Is it friday yet?

I love my life. All of it; the ups, the downs and the challenges of the entire experience. Keeping it all balanced is an art that can be painful. Today, however, I have had to move the fulcrom extremely far in one direction to keeps things in balance. My daughter, Hayley, is a million miles away in Bolivia and for the first time in almost a year I am feeling the distance in my gut. My "mother" instincts are in overdrive and this is one of those situations that I have absolutely no control of. It's only sixteen days until her plane delivers her back into my nest and it seems like an eternity. She has been very sick for almost two months with a respiratory illness and now her entire body is rebelling. She wants her mother, her REAL mother, and I can't do a thing. UGH!

Today is Spencer's 22nd birthday. I can't bake him a cake, I can't take him out to dinner. He has a wonderful girlfriend, lives a LONG way from home and has a life of his own including bills, debt and a weekly paycheck. He's officially "a man".

Darby has been at the animal hospital since 8:00 this morning. Something happened during the night and now he can only walk on three legs. He is obviously miserable and his pleading doggy eyes just begged me to stay there with him and keep him company. I worked all morning building fence in the pasture so that I can get the cows turned out...or so that I was forced to focus my mind on something else in my life.

It's now 3:00 and I have finished almost a mile of fence. I am hot, sun burned and tired. Still no word on Darby. I don't dare call again...I didn't realize how much I rely on him to fill that void of my "missing" children. I think I will dig out some comfort food, mashed potatoes, from the fridge and watch the latest recording of Cougar Town. Maybe that will kill a little time. You know that Chili's restaurant commercial about their baby back ribs? "I want my baby back, baby back, baby back......NOW!!!

So tonight I plan to keep the decision making simple. My brain has been taxed too much for a hot Monday and I think I should mother it a bit. I see Dairy QUeen on the horizon...and perhaps a special treat for Darby. Tomorrow is another day and with Darby back home I should be able to tackle the week. Sixteen days and counting..."I want my baby back, baby back...NOW!!!!"

ONLINE SEMEN SALE APRIL 6-7:BREEDERS WORLD

If you haven't had a chance to look at our offering and our consignors offering please take a moment and do so. There are some great offers and breeding season is upon us. We are offering 50 units of Monopoly and 30 units of Heat Wave 1 in small lots on Breeder's World. We also have some incredible consignments from several breeders.

Monopoly has been in huge demand due to the quality and consistancy of his calves and the fact that he is not producing semen at this time. Word is out that he most likely will not be producing semen in the future either. There is not much semen available because there simply is not much semen period. I am willing to part with some of my inventory so I am offering it to the public in this auction. This semen, as well as the Heat Wave 1 semen, has been carefully handled and is being stored at Nichols Cryogenetics in Ankeny, Iowa. It will be available for pickup or shipping, at the buyers expense, following the sale. We have had a problem in the past with semen that was never picked up. We do ask that you arrange for shipping in a timely manner.

If anyone has any questions about the semen please don't hesitate to call. This is the ONLY Monopoly and Heat Wave1 semen that I will be offering for sale. Please buy with confidence.

Calving in Paradise

I can't even begin to explain how wonderful it is to be calving less than 20 cows at NCC. After our dispersal sale my heart was torn at the thought of only having a small number of females left. We have purchased a couple of donor quality females to add to our remaining herd and I am also calving a few first-calvers that we raised and kept back. I can tell you right now that calving these elite young females is proving to be wonderful. First of all, almost every one is broke to tie or completely halter broke. Second of all they are all eye-candy and calving out beautiful cows is FAR more rewarding.

It seems like every year we have "barn" names for the calves when they were very young and there always seems to be a "Doink" in the bunch. That's the calf that everyone hides behind the barn whenever somebody comes to visit because he's got some goofy look that would embarrass even his own mother. Amazingly enough he's the one that never gets sick and usually thrives all the way to weaning when you load him up in the dark of night and slip him into the salebarn under an alias! THis year however, there is no Doink. I am hard pressed to pick my least favorite calf thus far. Calf for calf they are very interesting.

This is NOT a sales plug for Gigolo Joe but I have to say that I think I have found his calling. I kept back a few young heifers out of our best cows that were crossed with Heat Wave and Sun Seeker. I bred them to Gigolo Joe to see what kind of look they would have. I have to say that I am amazed at the style, bone, thickness and hair on these calves as well as the calving ease. Everyone of those calves is going to make it to our sale I believe. They have a fabulous look about them.

I am also excited about the calves out of the recips. All of my recips are calving at another location...thank GOD! We have around 30 recips that are carrying some interesting calves. There will be several full sibs to Hugh Herfner. A couple have already hit the ground and they are massively thick and easily better than Hugh. We also have several calves coming out of a daughter of Mona Lisa and sired by Captain Morgan. I think I am most excited about the Meyer 734 calves out of our PB Angus heifer, 360, a full sister to the Lut heifer that Steeles showed so successfully last summer. So far the calves are tremendous and almost all have blaze faces. The Maximus heifer calf that is her natural calf is a barn-burner.

Needless to say I am excited about the calves and I am looking forward to getting pictures up for everyone to enjoy. There is going to be lots of color in our pastures this spring, smokes, herefords, paints, blacks, WOW! I hope you will stop by if you are in the area. We have a lot going on this spring at the bunkhouse including semen sales. We are selling a full lineup of Lautner bull semen as well as our 26T2 and Gigolo Joe bulls. Sit around, chew the fat, have a cold one and enjoy the sunshine while I fill your tank with semen and/or nitrogen.

Rainy mornings and Cocoa Puffs

Some days are just a battle, more so than others. I guess the same holds true for some years as well. We all hope and assume that when we comment about how bad this year has been that next year will magically be better. How could it be as bad?

I had one of those years two years ago and ironically it was followed by another that was quite possibly worse. My daddy didn't raise a quitter but there were several times that I was close to throwing in the towel. I recall sitting on the step inside the barn one day with my head buried in my hands and sobbing uncontrollably. I was as close to beat as anyone could be. I couldn't take another second of dying calves, bad weather and exhaustion stacked up against all of the other things going on in my life. Something changed in me that day; something that changed me and made me a better person/a stronger person. I guess it was one of those life experiences that defines us a human beings. I look back on that time and that feeling very often. I will NEVER forget how I felt and what it did to me.

What that experience didn't do was break me. I made it into something positive and I think I am a better person for it. Today as I sit here at my desk on a gloomy cold rainy morning eating a bowl of Cocoa Puffs I am reminded of those times and what I took away from that experience. I have a good friend that is fighting the same battle that I fought a couple of years ago. My heart aches for her because I understand so well what she is going through, anguish, pain, frutstration, disappointment, anger, fear... and I hope that she will be able to get beyond this and find her soul. Times like these make me understand how precarious our lives are as far as what direction we go and how things in life truly do affect us. I know what kind of cloth she was cut from though. My money is on the girl. She reminds me of me.

Leap Year: Another year older; another year wiser

I love birthdays. I think I owe that all to my parents. Not the fact that I actually HAVE a birthday, that goes without saying. I owe them for making my birthdays something to look forward to. For them it has always been a celebration. It is never just another day in your life. Even now that I am married, my children are grown and I no longer am a child my mom makes me feel like a princess on my birthday. I don't know if they will ever understand how much I appreciate that they have done that for me.

It's a great feeling but it also reminds me that we ALL need to take time in our lives to have our special day. We need to take an entire day once in a while and fill every minute with things that we enjoy doing or be with those people that we enjoy being around. It's just good for the soul I suppose but it also helps me to keep things in perspective. If making my day so special makes me feel so wonderful then I need to take the time throughout my year to make somebody elses day special as well. It's not the big things, it's the funny note you can leave written in the snow on their car window, it's starting the neighbors car for them in the morning to let it warm up before they leave for work, it's telling a friend how nice they look in their jeans since they lost a few pounds, it's hugging your husband when he ruins the birthday cake frosting because he grabbed the powdered sugar container rather than the flour...it's as simple as warming somebody's heart.

I hope that I never have a birthday that I regret getting another year older. I understand that having a birthday every four years should ease that pain somewhat but I also want to be that person that greets every year with eager anticipation of what it will bring in my travels through life. I also hope that I have a LOT more birthdays which include my parents singing happy birthday to me; making me birthday goodies and wanting to spend the day with me. I regret that I haven't made their birthdays as special. It has taken 46 years for me to really figure out how much it really means to me. Maybe I can spend the next 46 making birthdays more special for others.

Never too cold for a photo op

It's a balmy ten degrees farenheit at the moment. I just finished my evening chores, cleaned two stalls in the barn and re-bedded them with fresh straw. Ginger the Jersey is in her stall with her calf and her newest adoption eating her nightly ration of grain and fresh hay with soft coffee house music playing in the background. The newest calf is outside with her momma and the rest of the calves. Even though she was in the barn all night last night the tip of one ear got a little frost bitten so now she is sporting a hood with only eye and a nose hole. Her ears are laying against her neck and then wrapped with duct tape (yellow) to keep everything in place. Of course most of the mommas think she is the subject of conversation but her own momma is keeping her well protected.

It has been calm all day. No new calves and although a few of the cows are due and/or overdue, I don't think anything is impending. For tonight I don't think I will lock anyone else up in the barn and will do my regular checks at 10 and 2:30. That seems to be working very well except that I really feel like a walking zombie at two in the morning with a head cold and trudging out in my pajamas under my coveralls to spotlight a bunch of sleeping bovines. It never fails that a deer will startle me as well. I am always careful to take my cell phone along in case I fall on the ice after getting freaked out by a wild critter or if one of the cows is in a dire position. I am not sure what good that would do since Brad sleeps like a bear and would probably not wake even if I did call. I suppose I could call 911 but I am not sure I could deal with the embarassment of having them find a middle-aged woman with bad bed hair wearing pajamas and pink coveralls lying on the ground with a 2-million candle power spotlight in her hands. That would classify as front page Denison newspaper photo op.

Just another day...in the life of snow.

It's been a long time since I have touched base on my blog. I guess the world is still spinning at its usual pace. It seems like almost everyone is exhausted in one way or another. Some are already calving and so goes the battle. Most however are just exhausted with the weather. It is relentless and even the old farts are admitting that this winter beat them all. Not too encouraging I guess.

Nelson Cattle Company is busy as usual. Mostly that means that I have been busy moving snow and keeping the few cows that we have here at the farm comfortable, fat and happy. I sold quite a few cows and then sent all of my replacements and recips to another facility in the fall. I only kept my donors and a handful of replacements here. I thought it was going to be a cake-walk until I realized that I had over-sold my stalk bales thanks to the weather. I think it is all worked out now but somewhere along the line about 60 head of deer decided to move in and are thinking that sharing our hay/stalk reserves are part of the deal. Darby takes greta pleasure in taking chase to any brave deer that ventures too close to the barns but when you wake up in the morning to a deer peering into your window I think it's easy to see that I am no longer in control. I guess that is how mother nature works.

I plan on keeping this more up to date from now on. Please stay in touch! There are LOTS of new things happening at NCC!!!

Testing testing

2010: Freezing