<center><div class="serendipity_imageComment_center" style="width: 640px"><div class="serendipity_imageComment_img"><a href='http://www.sarpysam.net/gallery/Cow-Pixs/gather05082006?full=1'><img width='640' height='427' border='0' hspace='5' src='http://www.sarpysam.net/gallery/albums/Cow-Pixs/gather05082006.sized.jpg' alt='' /></a></div><div class="serendipity_imageComment_txt">Gathering the last of the pairs and the drys. The drys are going to market. There are fewer than normal for me so it was a pretty good year last year with an easy calving season. Taken 5/8/2006.</div></div></center><br />n<br />nAbout a month ago I talked about kicking the <a href="http://nowherethoughts.net/sarpysam/archives/1697-The-Last-One.html">last of the pairs</a> out to pasture. I then kicked everything that didn't have a calf on it into another pasture to get them off the alfalfa fields. There was some that could calve yet in the bunch along with stuff that was dry or lost calves. I wanted the dry stuff to gain some weight and the heavy ones to calves before I sent them to market. It worked.<br />n<br />nI gained another almost 30 calves and have a semi load of nice fat drys on the market for sale. Things are going great and the big branding is coming up soon. Now if I could just get a good feel for the new hired man everything would be great. While gathering this bunch of cattle he got bucked off his horse twice and this horse has never once bucked since I've had him. We will see.<br />n<br />n<b>It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final. Roger Babson </b>