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.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, March 12, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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!!!
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!!!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
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