Happy Gobble Gobble Y'all

Since I refuse to believe that I am aging daily, I must be having fun as time just flies by. My days on the ranch are fairly similar - feed horses, feed calves, feed cows, feed bulls, feed WB, feed dogs, feed calves again, feed WB again, feed dogs again & feed, the yard calves anyway, a few more times before calling it a day. Mixed in there is fixing broken pipes to water troughs, repairing squished hay rings, airing up the never ending flat tires on the tractor & doing my best not to track recycled grass into the house. And, I do love it all!!
Here is a picture of the handsome WB in front of one of the many helicopters he flew in the Army. I sent this picture to my sister for Veterans Day. She printed pictures of kids family members in the service & hung them on the wall in her library on Veterans Day. I thought that was a great idea & it is always nice to get a visual reminder of those who protect our freedoms with their lives & that we can take so easily for granted.
Here we have the Boys Breakfast Club. My sweet man Val is up front & Coalie is in the back. The little guy in the middle has no name yet as he may get to live elsewhere one day & be the proud father of cute little humpie babies. I currently have about 15 adult & adolescent bulls in that pasture. Although I can pet & scratch every one of them, the breakfast room is closed while plates are being served. Once that is done & Pepe out of the way, I open the gates & they clamour for position around the feed troughs. They could care less about me & getting scratches when food is on the table. Can't say as I blame them as their feed is rather tasty to them. At least we now have some grass on the ground since we have had almost 3 inches of rain since last month. Fingers crossed, all the rye grass we planted will sprout nicely & they will have some good grazing.

Here we have the Junior version of the breakfast club. Just a few of the little heifers we have this year. All the steer calves have been sold. WB informs me that after Thanksgiving we will be sorting off a few more of the smaller heifers & some of the little Brahman boys who aren't very friendly to sell. Fine with me - fewer mouths to feed over the winter. Some of these little ones are getting used to me & discovering that I don't just bring them feed but that scratches behind their ears, on their itchy horn buds & under their chins is very nice! Sometimes, I feel like the Pied Piper with the way they follow me around. Kinda fun & kinda creepy!!






















This little girl just cracked me up. I guess the hay is tastier up there & she is staking her claim on all of it!

Here Mr. Junior is eating his late night snack.  Such a sweet little guy.  He was hungry but very tired & didn't want to get up.  Yes, every one gets spoiled out here.  We just can't help ourselves!

Must get moving to get all animals fed, pack up the truck & head to my sister's house for Thanksgiving.  Very excited to see her & to spend some time just relaxing with my family.  I have so many things to be thankful for &, as always, my family is my most precious gift for which I am thankful to be included as a member.  I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Rual Does Not Equal Sedentary

Well hello hello. Every time I sit to blog, something keeps me from sitting long enough to upload pictures & typing! Things have been super busy at the ranch lately. Not sure what changed from the normal super busy, but I guess when you think your schedule is already full there is always a little room to squeak more in there. The last 2 weeks of September we spent inventorying all the cows & weaning calves. Not to worry, my BB calf is still hooked on me & can usually be found loitering in the carport. It's always the same, she wants to get in the yard to eat grass & get her rations of calf feed & milk. She actually noses the gate latch & tries to let herself in - it's too funny.
With the cattle work came flies, flies & more flies. In this picture, WB is spraying the commercial lot for flies. Not only does it make them more comfortable to not have those pests buzzing about them, but the flies bring worms with them & worms degrade the health of the animal. So spray away please!! They were even bothering me & I'm not sure if that was because I smelled like a cow or what, but I was ready to stand there & get sprayed too! Freaking little nasty pests!! Buzz off!!


This storm front looked promising for rain, but alas, it did not bring any. It did make for a nice picture, but that was it. We did get some rain the first part of October & those 2.5 inches really made a difference. The ground is green now instead of brown. The cows, horses & donkeys are loving it. We still feed them all every day & about once a week I put out hay for them.

This is such a sweet picture of mother & baby. I guess baby was feeling a little insecure & wanted a little lap time.












Here we have our newest family members. Two Basset hounds showed up at the back door one morning. A boy, Flopsy, & a girl, Mopsy. They are super sweet & I can't imagine that someone just threw them out on the road for dead. They are definitely in good hands now & are getting quite accustomed to lounging in our laps, in their fluffy beds or snuggled up on the furniture. Dog & Sugar don't mind one bit as they too know that life can be hard living on the streets & welcomed the new family members with open paws.






Yes. That is me getting a facial by #57. She does love to lick on me whether it is my legs, arms or face. She has no preference. She'll even eat on my hair if given the chance. Pretty soon, she & the rest of her herd will go out in the pasture with all the big girls as they will be old enough to breed this coming spring. I'll miss having this lot around to love on, but we have a whole new crop of calves just waiting for the same attention these girls have gotten.


Well, I'm off & running again. I'm going to try to work with the new pups on leashes. We'll see how that goes. I might end up tangled in a mess of rope getting licked to death!!!

It's A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Except for the part where it is still hot & dee-are-why, DRY! It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Why? Well for starters, we have been very fortunate to not have our property burned to a crisp by the fire Labor Day weekend. It was super scary & we are very thankful for the firefighters who did such a tremendous job & ultimately tamed that beast & a favorable wind that pushed the fire away from us. Said wind was not helpful at all to others & certainly made fighting the fire that much more difficult. The picture to the right is of a tree that the wind took out. I'm sure age & drought gave it a good start in weakening its trunk & the wind finished it off. None of the leaves went to waste & you can see an eager eater foraging for any green leaves that might be left. You can also see from the brown ground that the trees & weeds are the only green things we have on this place right now!
It is also cooling off a little. Kinda funny to consider it cooler when you aren't hitting the 100 degree temperature mark until well into the afternoon instead of by 10am. I'm gonna need a sweater if we ever hit 80! Dang that will be chilly. There is a small chance of rain soon, but I'll believe that when I'm outside soaking wet & not sweating. Otherwise.....
I love catching the calves doing their cattle guard grazing. There is always a little green grass under them & those little ones can still fit their noses through to get some of that tasty grass. Caught these kiddos while I was feeding the horses. Had to run them off shortly after this picture though because my little heifer girls were waiting for their breakfast.


Speaking off my heifer girls. I heard strange noises in the carport & found these two thieves in the night to be the culprits. Guess they wanted a bedtime snack & couldn't open the cookie jar since they don't have thumbs. I just gave them the can of range cubes since there weren't many left & it was mostly crumbs. Don't know what I'm going to do. I need to figure out some way to keep them out of the carport since Miss 48 has already put a nice dent in my rear fender. Rat fink cows!! What to do, what to do. I'll be kicking them out of their current pasture soon anyway as they will be graduating to join the big herd of commercial cattle. Come Spring, they'll get their chance at being mommies & I'll have a new crop of freshly weaned babies to get to know & spoil as rotten as these girls.

Here we have Dog grooming Miss BB. She was taking a little siesta while Dog fixed her hair for her. So cute to see them like this. BB is getting so big & I'm gonna miss that little varmint next month when I put her out in the pasture with the big girls as it will be time to wean her. I'll leave her out there long enough to break her 6 bottle a day habit & then bring her back into my young heifer herd. She's too young to hang out with the big girls anyway. They'll do nothing but teach her about boys, how to fuss & cuss & probably how to smoke & play bridge. Not all of that knowledge is helpful to young little ladies.
We will be working cattle within the next few weeks now that WB is done with his treatments for his back. I hope to keep him from doing too much when we work the cows, but there is only so much I can do. The physical exercise is good for him, but I don't want him to overdo & it's easy to forget that he's 80 when he can do 10+ times what most people his age can do. Getting all the cows worked is going to be quite the task, but it needs doing & that is also when I'll kick the BeeBs out of the yard.
OK - off to finish up laundry before figuring out a plan on what to make for dinner.

Who Wants to Go Swimming??

Yesterday was one of those days that seemed like it would never end. No complaints as I enjoyed every minute of it, but I was one exhausted cowgirl by the time I crawled into my bed.
7:30 - 11am
Feed large square bale of alfalfa to both big herds of cattle - mind you that means I'm on the back of a trailer pulling off the flakes one at a time, splitting them in half & kicking them to either side of the trailer
Climb in tractor & move one of the calf creep feeders & store an unused hay ring.
Cows are occupied with hay so back to the house & get the truck & dump 450 lbs of creep feed in the 2 creep feeders for the calves
Unload rest of feed in feed room
Feed horses & let them out. All 11 of them are coming up for breakfast instead of just the usual 8
Feed heifers
Feed BB
Feed BB's boyfriend. We'll call him Junior
Let BB & Junior in the yard so they can munch on the green grass in there.
Mix & deliver mineral to the 3 herds.
Put repaired Kubota tire in the shop.
Fill 8 gallons of water for the house (you can drink it, but our well water doesn't taste very good)
11 - 11:30
Eat lunch & watched an interesting show called Oddities. Appropriately named show. Watched some guy find a skeleton for a stage show & a lady who is a former mortician & now clothing designer try on scoliosis braces from the 1900s. Told you appropriately named show!
11:30-1:30
Get my goods together & off to town to get:
Donuts for WB
Gas in truck
More mineral from vet clinic
New gloves at Tractor Supply
Qtips for WB to use at the caboose - something to do with reloading ammo, not sure & didn't ask
Hook up to trailer & pick up Kubota from service repair
1:30 - 6
Back home & unloaded truck of purchases.
Offload Kubota
Drop trailer in back pasture
Switch to other Kubota
Put out 5 bales of hay in the tractor to the 3 herds.
Check on washing machine repair man
Toss 7 bales of hay from hay barn, load in Kubota & then toss in horse hay manger. Wish there was a better way, but you gotta move the hay 3 times!
Back to house to change clothes so I can go water trough diving
Get in said water trough & find out that the chain has broken on the float which is why the trough is over flowing.
Get chain & wire to fix float down at work shop
Back in the trough & fix the problem.
Evening
Shower &, oh yes, I did have a shower beer because there wasn't time to enjoy them separately
Friends arrive from Houston
Start dinner
Eat dinner
Finally go to bed at 11:30

Here's what made the whole day worth it. The baby bull in the pictures is #159. He came over to me & inspected all my tools prior to trough repair & tasted my hand. The rascal goosed me while I was bent over reattaching the float & scared the dickens out of me! Then, he decided to check out what it was like to get in the trough too. 2nd picture is him jumping backwards out of the trough. After his little swim, he came back over to me & tasted my whole hand & checked out my toes. I can't wait to get these calves away from their mommies & in the pasture next to the house. I'm ready for the next generation of babies to love on. All my other babies are big girls now & will be ready for motherhood next spring.

Hope everyone has a fun & safe Labor Day weekend.

May I Have More Please??

BB Calf is growing like a weed & wishes she had figured out this dog door thing before she got too big to fit through it! After morning & evening feedings, she pokes her head through the door to see if there is more to eat. Mind you know that she has had 1 1/2 gallons of milk & 4 cups of calf feed. She is a mess! I'm going to have to block the dog door after she eats because she's going to get her fool head stuck in the door & rip the dog door or the door itself cattywampus.
Still just dry as a bone in the desert out here. We, like most ranchers, are constantly looking for hay & trying to figure out how to feed the livestock in a cost effective manner without having to sell a majority of them. WB & I have a new strategy that we are going to try out after I do a bit of groundwork research tomorrow. If it works, it will get us through working the cattle within the next few weeks when we will likely sell a lot of calves & maybe some of our older mommas. It will be interesting for sure to see how it all pans out! I am one commercial cow down today anyway. Poor old momma just laid down & died. The vet says it was a combination of age, heat & lack of moisture content in her diet that got her. Got to have some moisture in the diet even though all the cattle have an ample supply of water from water troughs. I'd rather sell off than have any more die on me.
I wish it were cooler, but getting the bulls out of the pastures as well as the calves off these mommas can't wait any longer. At least I have until after Labor Day before I have to get working on it. Fortunately, I already have both herds in position to get them in the pens fairly easily. We'll see how that goes. Best laid plans of mice, men & ranchers!!
I am beat after an 18 hour day that included a 5 hour round trip drive into the big bad city. At least WB & I had a delicious late lunch which meant I didn't have to cook supper tonight! YAY for me!! Gotta get back in the game on that though as I will have company this weekend & need to have more than PB&Js to eat.
Time for this cowgirl to hit the hay as I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open & am hoping that my blog even makes a teensy bit of coherent sense. Better quit while I'm ahead or at least not aware of anything to the contrary!

Lazy Days of Summer My Hind Foot!!!

  Who ever coined that phrase must not have had a job!!  I have to admit that I am glad summer is coming to an end.  Maybe we'll see some cooler temperatures. I have heard tales of a miraculous event that happens where water falls from the sky.  Maybe I'll get to see that happen too.
  Busy days on the ranch keeping all the animals fed.  BB is still coming up twice a day for her feed laced bottles of milk & I now have a little bull calf who has figured out that food comes from this house & from me.  Those two spend quite a bit of time in my yard helping keep what grass I have mowed.  Dog loves having visitors in the yard, but doesn't quite understand why that little white dog with the funny ears won't play with him!
  My main goal these days is finding & buying hay.  I've been lucky with two loads of good hay & have a nice prospect that I am going to check out later today.  Fingers crossed, it will be good stuff & I can order 4 loads.  That should help out & keep me in hay until winter.  Fingers double crossed that it will rain & I can buy hay locally instead of from Louisiana or Kansas!
  Had a fun weekend with friends & should have a busy week this week before heading to Houston for the weekend.  Am off to visit my Mom.  It is important to actually get away from the ranch so that I can relax over the weekend instead of working through it.  No complaints though.  Hot & dry as it is, I still love being here & getting my day started every day.  We'll see if I do get to relax as my Mom usually has more than one project for me to help with.
  OK - time to get back to it before it is  800 degrees in the shade.

Bad Blogger

Jeez!!  These last two weeks have been a whirl wind, three circuses & a foot race all in one.  Thank goodness that even though it has been hotter than Hades during a heat wave, it was a great two weeks.

Two of my very dear friends entrusted me with their children for a week.  We went horseback riding, they drove the Kubotas around exploring, I think we shot every day, went to a single action shoot, visited Cabela's, swimming, set up a flag pole and of course, taking care all the numerous animals that require daily feeding & care.
This picture is from the SASS shoot.  Tyler's (L) alias is Blazing Bullets & Hunter's (R) alias is The Kid.  I wanted them to be The Kid & The Other Kid because I think that is funny.  But that is just me!!  :-) 

We had big ambitions for projects that week, but the flag pole was the one I wanted to make sure got done & so glad it did.  The boys had a grand time digging a hole, mixing the concrete & setting the whole thing up.  WB was & is happy with the results.  He's wanted a flag pole for some time.  I love the Come & Take It flag!  One of my favorite battle flags.
The chicken coop didn't get done, but at least I have the lumber & just need to get started.  It's so blooming hot by the time I get done with my morning duties that I can't get motivated to get started.  I'll think about it & maybe get started tomorrow.  Yeah, right Scarlett.  Tomorrow!  Uh huh.  We'll see about that!
It was a great week with the boys.  I think they really enjoyed themselves & are ready to come back again any time.  They especially loved their last night's supper because they could eat what ever they wanted.  Yes, they both had cake & ice cream!  Oh yes & a few squirts of Redi Whip directly in the mouth - only way to eat that stuff!!
Once the boys went home, it has just been the usual routines here - make sure all animals have food & water, water the yard, laundry, run to the grocery & feed stores, sneak in some visits with friends &, my personal favorite, naps.  This week is trying to nail down my hay deal, get air compressor fixed, get hydraulic hose on tractor fixed, make a run to Austin & Lord only knows what else will plop itself on my plate this week - it is only Monday. 
Bring it cuz I'm ready!!

Time Flies When you are Having Fun & Working Your Tail Off!!

As the saying goes, all work & no play makes you axe murder your family in a snowed in deserted hotel in the mountains. Oh wait!! It doesn't go that way!! Besides, too long & clumsy to coin that phrase. No worries about that anyway. Too busy with ranch duties & visiting friends to even bother to think about where the axe is located.
Let's see - just another busy week after the tequila tasting. Run the usual errands in town to the usual stores which usually are: grocery store, feed store, lumber yard & maybe Wal-Mart or Tractor Supply. Oh! And don't forget the Vet Clinic. Got the house & my room all ready to receive friends for the weekend last weekend. Pictured here is Dawn who has, obviously, made fast friends with Little Red. If she were small enough, I think Red would have crawled in Dawn's lap to take a little nap. So sweet!
Earlier that same morning, I killed this copper head. I was just walking through the yard & saw movement in my peripheral vision & there this guy was. No bueno since they are very poisonous & we've carried a vendetta against them ever since my sister got bit on her big toe when she was 5 - she still has the fang mark scars to prove it! So, I got the trusty snake killer which is an old putter. I managed to hold his head down & started to cut its head off, but my knife was a little dull & he managed to slip from the putter grip. Needless to say, he was a little mad that I tried to chop his head off. Instead, I had to putt him in the head then hold him down & then cut his head off. I also changed the blade on my knife! Those plastic hay strings dull the blades so fast!!

Brenda the Brindle had a cute little brindle baby. Brenda looks quite menacing with that set of horns she has, but she is one of our "eat from your hand" cows. I mean, I'm not going to try to pet her when we are in the pens together & she'd probably try to eat my lunch now that she has a calf, but she is a sweet girl as long as you have a range cube or two to share with her.

Another busy weekend & week ahead...Get ready for more company, go to cousin's for a birthday, take my CHL renewal class, pick up kids in Houston & get them back to the ranch. Going to be a fun week with those two boys here. On tap is to build a chicken coop, set a flag pole, horseback riding, a cowboy action shoot & lord only knows what else we'll find to do next week!! Those boys are going to be worn out by the time they head home. Can't wait!!! :-)

repost pictures

Not sure the pictures came through yesterday so here they are.

Playing Catch Up!

Busy busy days on & off the ranch. I hardly know where to being since I can't remember the last time I updated this blog! So, I'll just start with this month.
I had a great time at a natural spring for the July 4th holiday. It was hot outside & the water was 68 degrees which made the 100 degree weather quite tolerable. I look forward to visiting that spot again & maybe not on a holiday weekend so that it isn't quite so crowded.
While I was away, it rained at the ranch. This picture here looks lovely but those are WEEDS!! Sweet little purple flowers on the goat weed which is confused that it is spring time since it is blooming like crazy. WB keeps threatening to whip out the big weed sprayer for the tractor so that the grass has a chance at that ground water.
These two ponies were too cute the other day. A little mutual back scratching going on . The sorrel is named Boots & the paint is Blaze. Neither horse can be ridden due to hoof issues as well as age & are quite content to be pasture ornaments. It used to be hard to get them to come up to the barn at all, but they don't seem to mind getting a little breakfast horse kibble every morning! I guess food bridges all gaps even between species!
Here we have Sugar being thoroughly investigated by Pest's baby girl, Pestette. The young heifers are always very intrigued to know what Sugar is exactly & we were fortunate that only Pestette was around. There have been a few times that I have had to rescue Sugar from no less that 8 curious noses. For an 18 year old dog who had a stroke, she can move pretty quickly when those heifers start poking her with their noses!
WB gave me my grandfather's saddle bags a while back & since they are old, they needed some major repair work done. We know a wonderfully talented leather craftsman who basically rebuilt the saddle bags for me. I just got them back this past Saturday at the SASS shoot & could not wait to put them on my saddle which also belonged to my grandfather. Now to go for a ride & put some cold beverages & horse treats in those saddle bags! Last Saturday was an exciting day since I shot a clean match - no misses out of 50 pistol & 50 rifle targets. I did have to take a few extra shots with my shotgun a few times, but that only effects the time score as I had to reload & shoot at them again. Getting the saddle bags back from repair was nice enough & then to shoot a clean match was a real bonus for the day! Tired & worn out from the heat, WB & I made it home to a nice cool house.
This picture is from last night. My cousins have developed a tequila & premiered it to the market last night in Houston. Look for it - Izkali in Blanco, Reposado & Anejo. All are very delicious & can just be sipped straight from the glass. No salt or lime necessary! I'm here with my other cousins - Kelly, me, Elizabeth (my sister) & Kristin. Besides sampling all 3 tequilas, we tried 2 cocktails - the classic margarita & a paloma. All 4 of us agreed that the Paloma is our new favorite cocktail & we'll teach a bartender to make it if they don't already know! So tasty - Reposado tequila, Squirt grapefruit soda, a little fresh lime juice & maybe some Cointreau to taste. OMGosh!!! So yummy. We had to cut ourselves off since we had to drive home! Come on Pee Wee! Let's dance on the bar & sing the tequila song!!! I'd even wear your patent leather white platforms for that!
Back at the ranch today & reorganized from being away for a few days. Gotta get busy tomorrow with all the animals & preparing the house for company this weekend. Can't wait for them to get here!! We are going to have a super fun weekend!

Where's Granny Clampet When There's Vittles to be Cooked?

I guess the rain has all the critters stirred up as I have seen a few things I've never seen out here before - ever!
Here, we have a Lindeimer's Rat Snake eating a lizard. I guess his name is deceiving & the lizard thought it was being invited to lunch & not for lunch. I've seen these snakes plenty of times, but have never witnessed the capture & consumption of its prey. I certainly don't mind them eating mice, but would prefer they not eat too many of the bug eating lizards!
Last night, this baby raccoon wandered up to the house & climbed the tree next to the front carport. Not sure if he was sick, most likely, or just wandered away from its Momma. It literally hung out in the tree for about 30 minutes & then disappeared. Hopefully the little guy is OK & not sick, but hope he went quickly if he was sick.
Not much to report here other than the usual. All animals fed & hayed this morning. We played with the new generators for the camper. My A/C unit is louder than those generators - so quiet! The final fix was put on one of the water troughs out back & we almost have the one in the bull pasture up & running again. We'll finish that project tonight or first thing in the morning.
Sugar got a bath today & is currently snuggled in blankets & sound asleep. Being clean just wears out an old lady. In fact, watching her sleep has giving me an idea...maybe it is nap time!!

Busier Than a One Armed Paper Hanger

As usual, I have been sitting around on my duff clipping coupons & eating bon bons. What to do, what to do to fill the hours of the day.
HA!! If only that was the case!!

Busy - busy as usual. We have had lots of company out here at the ranch lately. A friend from high school & his son came to stay for a few days while his son attended a football day camp. Their schedule didn't mess up my normal routine too much other than preparing extra food for dinner & to the likes of an eater who's almost pickier than me!
Father's Day weekend was fun too. My sister, her husband & my brother were here for the weekend. We too had a great time together, but there just never seems to be enough time for my sister & me to do all the things we want to do together while she is here. This time, we didn't fight it & just went in to town to get pedicures. Very nice & quite relaxing.
A couple of days after that, my college roommate & her family arrived for a few days. Pictured here is me with her son & one of the love bug girls #53. She was smelling his feet & he was laughing his little head off - too cute. Lots of fun with them & we were all exhausted by the time they left to go home.

In celebration of a friend's 50th birthday, I got to see some other friends from high school. Hard to tell in this picture who works outside & who works in an office?? Hmmm - just can't imagine which is which. We had a great time visiting & have already made plans to get together for dinner & some margaritas soon. It is great to be home again & re-establishing all of my friendships from so long ago. It's as if these 20 some odd years have just flown by & we were sitting in English class just yesterday.
I had to take a picture of this BBQ pit. It is the most ginormous pit I have seen, live & in person, ever!! They did not fire up this monstrosity for the party but I would love a chance to sample some of the meaty deliciousness that you know would come out of a pit such as this. Yum Yum!

The usual tasks for me around here: feed BB, feed horses, feed little girls & put out hay for all the other cows. Laundry, laundry & more laundry after 2 busy weeks of company. The housekeeper is going to faint when she sees the mountain she has to fold & that is just WBs stuff. I folded all the extra laundry & am still working on getting all of mine done. So glad I don't have to fold all of it!!
Today is going to be a little easier - everyone is fed, the end of laundry is near & now to edge the yard I mowed yesterday. I'm hoping a few beers & a yummy burger with another friend is on tap for this afternoon!
Happy Weekend my Friends!

How Dry I Am

Nothing much to blog about these days.
  It's hot, dry & getting depressing out here.  Pretty much the same routine every morning - feed BB calf, feed horses & feed calves.  I have been rationing hay because we are getting low & it is becoming a scarce commodity around here.  We do have some bales coming from a local guy & some from north TX.  Still, it ain't cheap & I will continue to ration it out.  We need some bona fide rain dancers & we need rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.  A slow drizzle for about a month should get things started nicely!
  One of my dearest friends is coming for a visit with her family.  I haven't seen her in ages & so it will be good to see them.  We are going to work on the teenage group of girls tomorrow so they'll get to see us working them in the pens which is always fun for people who have never seen anything like that.  I have a few babies to ear tag & give them their shots.  Maybe we'll even get BB's stitches out & I'll be able to get a look at 39s baby who looks to have a similar umbilical hernia that BB had.
  We had a really nice Father's Day.  My sister, bro-in-law & brother were here.  WB took mercy on me & we all went out to dinner instead of me cooking.  I would have gladly done it anyway as I do enjoy the cooking part.  It's the cleanup that I don't ever want to do.  I'm a firm believer in the cook shouldn't have to do the dishes!  Another reason I prefer to cook!!
  Miss BB should be here any minute bawling her brains out for her breakfast.  I guess I better get a move on.  Happy Tuesday to you.

Cow Days of Summer

I know the saying is supposed to be dog days of summer, but we have way more cows than dogs!
It has been a usual busy week of keeping up after all the livestock & making sure everyone has feed, hay, mineral, water, etcetera, etcetera as the King of Siam would say. I should have put out hay yesterday, but I am rationing it out since we are getting low & I'm not sure when we'll get more. My hay guy is irrigating, but it could be a few more weeks before I get any new hay.
As you can see here, some of the girls have been reduced to eating the hay that hits the ground as there is little to no grass. Don't feel too sorry for these girls as they are the only ones who get fed real feed every day. Not a one of them is underweight, by any means!
Yesterday was busy getting the roof of the camper trailer scrubbed & sealed. We really need to get a cover over that thing. It has been hard to get any of those carport people to either come out here or really tell me exactly what I need to order & since those things aren't cheap, we haven't moved forward with the project. I guess eventually I will find the right vendor to assist me with spending a few thousand dollars since we need two carports/covers now! We also had a mouse move in to the camper so I put out a bunch of sticky traps & will have to bleach the place since my brother is staying out there this weekend. More cleaning than I had anticipated, but needs to be done & maybe the bleach smell will run off the rodent!
Miss BB is getting bigger & bigger. She was licking my leg in this picture. Feels so funny & makes me giggle. I am sneaking some feed into her milk hoping that helps fill her up a little more. She still hasn't quite figured out the whole grazing & chewing thing. Not really sure how you teach a cow how to do that! It would seem she would pick it up from other cows. Good thing she is cute because the girl ain't so smart!
Another busy day - feed animals, wash the outside of the camper, wrap Father's Day gifts, make a pie crust & start on dinner preparations since my Uncle is coming over for dinner. In fact, I better get it in gear & get going with the feeding of the animals so that it isn't crazy hot!
I hope all the fathers out there have a wonderful weekend & same for all the mothers who do double duty as fathers too.

It Ain't Even Summer Yet!

Just the usual going on out here - feed horses, yearlings & BB.  It has gotten so hot that doing anything from noon until about 6 is just unthinkable!  We need rain, rain, rain.  It won't be long until I am out of hay so I am rationing as best I can & checking water troughs every day to make sure all the livestock have plenty of access to water. 
So...that's all that is going on out on the ranch these days. 

Calves & Dogs

What a lovely day yesterday. I felt super lazy since all I did was ride Ruby with some horseback riding friends & their noble steeds, take a nap, do some laundry & make dinner. The riding was wonderful & Ruby definitely likes her new saddle pad since she doesn't protest being saddled like she used to, but the nap was the bestest part of yesterday!
Little (who isn't so little any more!) BB is trying to eat my shirt in this picture. I was headed off to work with the horses yesterday morning & BB was more interested in more food. I guess my shirt looked like it would be tasty. She is such a little pillbert, but is coming along with her manners. She doesn't totally try to knock me down before or after eating & I don't have to run an obstacle course to loose her in order to get back in the house after she eats. She's trying to figure out eating grass & hay, but hasn't quite mastered it yet. She was 1 month old this past Friday so she will, hopefully, figure it out soon!
Sugar really loved our nap yesterday. I slept from about 1 to 3 but little old lazy bones stayed in bed until about 5:30. I had to wake her up & take her outside to potty. Being super cute is just exhausting for her. Although...she wasn't super cute last night! She had me up at 2, 3 & 4 this morning. First two times was to go potty & the third time because she was thirsty. Guess it's a good thing I got a nap because I didn't get the best nights sleep.
Feed horses, big little girls, put out hay, muck horse stalls, hang fly traps in horse barn & make meatloaf (per WB's request since mashed potatoes must go with meatloaf) for dinner are on tap for today. Not sure what else the day will bring, but I'm know it will be interesting to see what heads my way.