Buying the Bull

This is the story of what happened yesterday. No recipe.....I didn't cook a thing. No "how to" make something or plant something. Nothing like that took place yesterday either.
But, what I can share with you is how a very nervous farm wife had the responsibility, for the first time ever, of going to a livestock auction and buying the new herd sire for the farm.
Oh, I've been going to livestock auctions since I was a little girl. And once, shortly after my husband and I were married, I got a little carried away at a longhorn sale and bought a cow (my first time to ever bid on something and my competitive streak kicked in......I just HAD to win). She turned out to be extremely mean and we quickly took her to our local sale barn and took a financial loss.
So, with that as the only bidding / buying experience under my belt, and close to zero confidence, I went to a Charolais bull sale yesterday. My husband really wanted a bull from this sale, and of course, it was when he was working out of state.  I will admit, the confidence and trust that he placed in me was quite impressive.
And, to be perfectly honest, I was not totally alone. We have a young man who helps us out on the farm, part time. He went along too and I greatly value his opinion. I also had the help and guidance of a gentleman who works for the Noble Foundation Integrity Beef Program.  His help was invaluable. He had done a lot of research and background work on each and every bull in the sale (there were 85). He also walked with us through the pens, prior to the sale, and discussed the positives and negatives of the bulls he felt would fit our program.
But, at sale time, the decision was ultimately up to me as to which bulls I would bid on and how much I was willing to spend. That's when my legs started shaking. Seriously. And they shook all the way from lot #1 to lot #17. After lot #17 sold, I was breathing a sigh of relief. Because I was the new proud owner! I also bid on lot #12 but he got out of our price range. (And it took a lot of self control to stop bidding....my competitive streak kicked in again and I really wanted to WIN!)
We will be picking up our new bull this Thursday after my husband gets home. I'm excited to have my husband's final stamp of approval once he sees the bull in person. From the picture in the sale catalog, my husband is very pleased with his farm wife's bull buying skills!