by Texas Homesteader
Panic sat in when RancherMan came rushing into the house saying he found the pasture gate open and the two weaning heifers were missing.
We frantically searched the barn paddock and the south pasture, tree lines, creeks, etc. but they were nowhere to be found. Apparently they had nosed the chain enough to unlatch the gate. Then they simply walked down our driveway, out to the road and disappeared.
With our hearts pounding we jumped in the car and started down our county road, quickly looking in the open pastures as we drove along. As my head throbbed, visions of potential outcomes were going through my mind.
What if they went toward the highway? Or they got hit by a car? What if someone got hurt? Where do we even start to look? What if we can’t find them?
Checking With Our Neighbors
Our first stop was at a neighbor’s house that lies close to the 2-lane highway. He was outside working on his tractor equipment. So we pulled in & asked him if he had seen our calves. He had not.
But he offered to unload the equipment from his tractor and drive it through the thicker parts of the open pastures between our homes to see if the calves were perhaps in the trees or laying in the tall grass where we couldn’t see them from the road.
We thanked him and quickly sped off to continue our search, driving down nearby roads.
Calves Found!
After what seemed like hours of searching, a 4-wheeler driven by another distant neighbor came alongside us and he asked if we were out looking for a couple of heifers.
YEA! Thank goodness!
Apparently in a very short amount of time these two naughty calves had walked about a mile away to yet another neighbor’s house down another road. The young girl that lives at that house had called her father at work to tell him about the calves in their yard.
And her father thought perhaps they might belong to us. From work he tried to call RancherMan but in our haste to begin the search RancherMan had left his cellphone at home. So he called yet another neighbor to see if maybe he could catch us instead.
Helpful Neighbor
This third neighbor came to our rescue and used his 4-wheeler to help drive the calves from a short distance behind as RancherMan called them toward home… for a MILE!
Now folks that’s a long stressful time when you’re trying to push two young unpredictable heifers that find themselves out of their environment and are confused and uncertain.
Then he pulled his vehicle to the side of the road and stood at the ready to make sure he could cut them off quickly if they turned the wrong way & dashed toward the highway.
Our heifers aren’t of wild temperaments thank goodness. Although the whole ordeal went pretty smoothly and the heifers did as we asked them to, it was a stressful time indeed!
MAN it’s a good feeling to have great neighbors that’ve got your back! These three wonderful families banded together to help us in our time of need.
Although we don’t live in close proximity to each other, we look out for each other. We don’t hesitate to help each other when we can.
But I felt especially thankful for this neighbor with his 4-wheeler. He put aside his own heavy workload on this hot humid summer day so that he could help us.
A Sweet Thank-You Gift
I decided to bake up something sweet for this sweet man’s kind gesture and assistance! Of course my go-to decadent dessert is my fudgy brownies. So I baked a pan up for him & frosted them with my favorite chocolate frosting.
Now my mama always taught me that “presentation is three-fourths of the gift”. I didn’t want to just put these brownies in a plastic container and hand them over to him. Instead I really wanted something different for the presentation.
So my thoughts now turned to how I could properly present this sweet treat to our neighbor.
Purchase Price Not The Only Benefit
RancherMan & I had an appointment in town. So I asked him to stop by a resale store to see what I could find. Proceeds from this store go to help victims of domestic violence.
I like that I’m helping this worthy organization raise money by purchasing items from their store. So I shop there whenever I can.
Today I’m stopping in to look for a dish to use for pretty presentation for my gift of home-baked goodness. I ran across a darling square plate with scalloped edges & scrolled writing for $0.99. Perfect!
Gift Presented Beautifully
I brought that plate home, washed it up and then stacked some of these delicious brownies on it. I wrapped it to keep the brownies fresh. Then I tied it up with a jute ribbon for a more rustic look.
I love the way it turned out. And I think mama would be proud that I heeded her always-sage advice.
Since this plate was purchased specifically for this gift I told our neighbor there was no need to return the plate. Just refill it sometime down the road & pass it on to the next person.
I had a friend do the same thing for me when bringing food last year during my breast-cancer recovery. I thought it was a wonderful idea!
And by picking up this cute plate at the resale store I’ve purchased the perfect item without buying new. (which really speaks to my crunchy-green heart).
Plus I’ve also saved a little money, while at the same time contributing to a worthy cause.
My inexpensive yet sincere gift from the heart was well received by our neighbor. And that makes me feel great.
~TxH~
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Love the idea of picking up dish ware from a thrift shop when sharing a meal / dessert. Thanks for sharing with Simply Natural Saturdays.
…a tip shared by a very special friend of mine. I do that every time now. It’s especially helpful when taking food for a family who’s lost a loved one – there’s no worries about returning dishes. ~TxH~
You just brought back MANY memories from childhood when Daddy’s cows got out. It was an all too frequent occurrence for me as a kid because I was a bit afraid of them. I don’t know if Mama was afraid of them or not, but she armed herself with her trusty broom and shooed them right back into the fence. Somehow this usually sufficed until Daddy got home from work. It always happened while Daddy was at work of course.
Glad you found them easy enough. And YES what a blessing good neighbors are!
🙂 gwingal
LOL Nikki! Thankfully our cattle are all pretty used to us, we’re hands-on with them and walk through the herd every day checking on things. We’ve had some wilder ones that we bought and brought onto the ranch when we were adding stocker cattle to our program, I was definitely afraid of them! ~TxH~
Wow, what a great story! I love good neighbors, and I felt a little stressed just thinking about trying to get to heifers home. Thanks for sharing on the Homestead Blog Hop!
LOL – It was stressful, that’s for sure. But the end result was a warm fuzzy feeling toward all those that stepped up to help in our time of need. ~TxH~
Good neighbors are priceless! Glad your story had a happy ending.
I’m learning that more & more Jamie. ~TxH~
I’m glad you found your calves and what wonderful neighbors! I also love how you presented the thank you treats.
I recently had to go out of town at the last minute. I didn’t have time to have my mail stopped and was expecting packages for Christmas. My neighbors picked up my mail and packages. It’s good to have good neighbors.
…a good thing indeed Lisa! ~TxH~
Great story and neighbors can be such a blessing…. I’m glad yours were. 🙂
I’ve never lived anywhere like this place – where the community bands together & neighbors help each other. I’m so blessed to live in such a place… ~TxH~
I had to chuckle at this story because I’ve been on the receiving end of a similar escape when I lived on the farm. One day I came home for lunch, and saw something moving down by the lake. I took a closer look with binoculars and saw it was two cows who were stopping for a drink. I got on the phone and called a neighbor, who called around and found these two had walked over a mile to my place after someone left a gate open. They were able to round them up without incident. There was always something exciting happening on the farm, for sure! Like you I had great neighbors, and we all tried to look out for each other.
Good for you Dave for helping find the owner for those cows. There’s nothing like a group of good neighbors who look out for each other. ~TxH~
Such a great feeling when neighbors come to the rescue. Once we came home to find a German Shepherd puppy (1 yr old or so) in our yard. We had a German Shepherd a little older than that, but she was in the car with us. So we leashed it & walked around the neighborhood trying to find its house (there are many GSs in our neighborhood). As we stopped at homes we knew had a GS, they came out & said not ours but maybe so n so a few doors down. These people then walked around with us trying to find the owner. Turned out it was our neighbor’s on the corner from us. About a week later a man stopped in a car, he told my husband he lived a few streets away and saw the dog loose. He knew we had a GS so he loaded the dog in the car, drove to our house, picked up the dog and placed him over the fence into the yard and made sure the gate was locked. My husband told him it wasn’t our dog, thanked him anyway, and relayed that the dog lived on the corner.
What a great story. I love when people band together to help! ~TxH~
Great post, great neighbors, and great brownies 🙂 Thanks for sharing it all with us at Wake Up Wednesday, too!
Gotta love the neighbor thing. We never even knew our neighbors names that lived next door to us for years when we lived in the city. It seems there was just such a disconnect. I love living here and I adore our neighbors! ~TxH~
What a great story! You are blessed indeed to have such kind neighbors, but I’m sure you would have returned the favor. We have a thrift store similar to yours and that’s where I buy most of my clothes now. Glad you had a happy ending! Thanks for sharing your outdoor post on this week’s Maple Hill Hop!
Good neighbors are a blessing indeed Daisy. ~TxH~
Offering brownies as a reward? In that case, someone might jimmy the gate on purpose. 🙂
Glad the babies are o.k.
LOL Karen – good point!! ~TxH~
That story sure brings back memories. My late husband and I had cattle for a number of years, and our fence was always in need of repair somewhere. We were always fearful when cattle got out that they would get hit by a car in our semi-rural area. Glad your story had a happy ending!
Me too Debra, although it was a pretty stressful event for us! ~TxH~
There is nothing like having good neighbors! Glad you got your girls back! 🙂
-Lori
I agree Lori. When we lived in the big city we didn’t interact with our neighbors. They were lovely people, we just never really connected. (I didn’t even know their names and we lived there for years) Our only interactions with them were polite waves & small-talk from our front yards. Here it’s completely different for us and I love that! ~TxH~