Last weekend, Farmer Paul got a rare weekend to himself and I was left to manage the homestead.  All was well until, when I arrived home with the kids, there were two messages on the phone from neighbours that a cow was on the loose and it was one of ours!  Panicked at the thought of the cow causing havoc on the roads, I hastily rounded up the kids first and bundled everyone into the van to catch the cow. Unfortunately, haste does make waste, and as soon as I prepared to roar down the driveway to save the day, we were stopped in our tracks.  The keys for the van and incidentally to the house, were locked in the well-secured house.  Cold, sitting in the dark, without my cell phone, and my husband away, I now had a greater problem than cows – it was us stranded now.  After checking all windows and doors, we grimly determined that a break in would be necessary.  Without sharing too many details, suffice it to say that a spry 40 pound five year old saved the day as she squeezed through spaces no one my size would ever dare go and got the front door open for her very relieved family. After we drove up and down the roads to make sure our cow was not going to cause harm, we returned home, content that the cow was in our hay field, and not roaming Concession 7.  Given the lack of moonlight, I decided we would wait till morning to face the round up.


 The next morning, my nine year old son Jonathan and I donned our boots, our mitts, and a bucket of grain, determined to catch us a cow!  After calling Farmer Paul for info on where the gate opened, and trying to patiently accept his long list of do’s and don’t for cow herding, we opened the gate and prepared for action.  Now our renegade cow was actually a very quiet Charlais blonde, found sitting peacefully on one side of the pasture fence while the other grey cow sat on the other side, like two grannies waiting for tea.  First, we tried to lure the girl down the field with some oats and peas and barley, but since the cow just didn’t know us like they know Farmer Paul, she kept moving further from the pasture gate.  Grimly I decided that a vehicle was needed.  Unfortunately, as fate would have it, my nephew had brought the farm van keys home so that left our farm delivery truck as our only viable set of wheels.   Firmly positioning my son at the open gate, I charged him, “Do not let the grey cow out! “ and went to get the lorry.

Now I didn’t ask him, but I bet it was the sight of me charging into the hay field with the delivery van  that sealed my neighbor’s decision to help with the Great Cow herding.  I had only driven up the field once unsuccessfully before he arrived on his John Deere Gator ( a glorified gold cart designed for farmer field use) and  kindly asked, “Would you like some help?)  Much relieved, I willingly agreed that help was most necessary.  Then, as I tried to exit the hay field, I suddenly realized that bringing a delivery truck into the field is much easier than getting it out!  As I started working through my options (CAA, tow, call that Farmer again) most kindly, my neighbor suggested I reverse out of the field, since from the spinning tires, it was obvious driving forward was not going to do the trick!

With great help from heaven I am sure ( I can almost picture those poor angels huffing and puffing to get that truck up and out!), and the kindness of Mr. Jones, I got the delivery van out of the field while he got the cow back into our pasture!  As I went to tie up the gate and secure the rails which the cow had jumped over into the Jones’ yard, I thanked our neighbor profusely for his kindness and his Gator.  Farmer Paul and I have spent some long hours herding cows in the past, and that cow was in the pasture after two minutes with that Gator. 

Guess what is on my Christmas Wish List?