Time Flies!!

I was talking to a friend about how is it that we have a rural life, but are so crazy busy. Her response was that rural does not mean sleepy. How true that is!!

WB has been on the look for a 5th-wheel for a while now & we found it last weekend. It will be perfect for our SASS shoots as well as using it as extra guest space out here on the ranch. I'm also wanting to ride in the SaltGrass Trail Ride next year & this will be the perfect home away from home for that week. On Wednesday, we are going to go pick it up & bring it home. Very exciting!!
Between the snow & little bits of rain here & there, we finally have some green on the ground. Val & RV (Val on left & RV on right) are squaring off on each other. They are both Beta bulls & I guess still working out who is higher on the Beta scale! Funny in that I could hold out some range cubes & both of them would stop & politely wait their turns for treats. Those boys are quite silly!
WB surprised me with a new Trapper Model 1873 when I got home from Houston on Monday. I shot it on Tuesday & it is super sweet! Still need to have a little work done on the trigger pull & lighten up the action at bit, but other than that it is perfect! Can't wait to shoot it at a match, but that won't happen until April. We are missing the March match to shoot a demonstration at The Best Little Cowboy Gathering at the Fayette County Fairgrounds that weekend - March 12th if anyone is interested in coming out. Should be a lot of fun - chili cook off, BBQ cook off, music, western artists, horse clinics & more. I hope to get to enjoy some of it. WB is most excited about being able to walk around the gathering with his guns - unloaded, of course. But with guns none the less.
My sweet little Sugar dog had a stroke on Tuesday. I'm still worried about her, but she is improving thanks to my super wonderful Doc. He said he threw the kitchen sink of meds at her. I don't even care what the bill will be because it has all been worth it. She is improving a little more everyday. As long as she has some dignified quality of life, she ain't going no where!! I can't believe that she is 17 & I've had her for 15 of those years. Seems just like yesterday that she was having puppies in my car at a truck stop in Sealy - how redneck is that?!?!

Now, I'm off to go trap up the neighbor cow so he can take her home & then get Sugar to the vet for her last treatment. It is a beautiful crisp morning & I'm gonna go get me some of it.

Fun with Animals

It is Friday Eve & it is hard to believe the week has just flown by!
Beautiful weather this week. If it could only stay like this through October - now that would be super awesome. But, this is Texas & the thermometer will be hitting the 100's before we know it.

Dog is having a good time here stalking a little cotton tail. Bunny is hard to see, but he is under the cement mixer on the left side. It was funny. Dog was ever so slowly creeping forward & bunny could have cared less. Bun Bun knew he was a half hop away from a large escape hatch that Dog would never reach. Besides that, Dog is on a leash! Monday, Dog chased a jack rabbit for about half a mile. The rabbit was long gone, but Dog was still giving chase. He might have had a better shot at it if I hadn't already run him out to the east pasture at full speed. After his 2+ mile run, he was one pooped pup.
Monday, I had a great ride on Ruby with some of my horse back riding ladies. It is so wonderful to ride her. She has a smooth gait & is a sweetheart. Next time they come out, I hope to learn how to give Ruby the command to jump. We'll have to practice that one on the ground before I do that on her back, but I know we'll get it.
I LOVE this picture. Big boy Tracy is talking to one of the little boy calves. I can only imagine their conversation. Tracy is telling the young lad that he too will grow to be a big guy & have his own herd of ladies. It's a big job full of responsibility, but he'll do a great job. So cute!!! I couldn't quite catch it, but they were touching noses at one point. Sorry that I couldn't quite crop the heifer booties out of the shot without loosing the big size difference between Tracy & the calf.

We finally got all the Brahman calves weaned from their mothers yesterday. It must have been well past time because mommas aren't bellering for their babies & the babies aren't bellering for their mommas. I'm very happy about that because if they were hollering for each other, it would most likely be right outside my window!

We'll see how the day goes, fingers crossed, & I might take Ruby for a ride. Should be fun!

Bad Blogger!!

Been so busy during the day & night that there has been no time for blogging!! Definitely good as there is no worry I will get bored & I do get bored easily. Great week full of cows & calves & horses & the usual ranch stuff - cows knocking over fences, calves getting in to the bull & horse pasture, keeping count of all those calves (18 total so far!) & keeping everyone fed in this weather.
I got some good pictures of our snow from Friday. It was all gone by 3pm which was great! I got a good workout breaking the ice on all the water troughs at the first part of the week. Thankfully, everything is thawed out now so the troughs are full for this next freeze we are supposed to have tomorrow.
The mule & 2 ponies weren't all that happy about the snow. I did give them some extra food that day. All 3 of them are kind of wild & won't let anyone near them, but I managed to trap them up today so they will have good shelter tonight &, as added benefit, good eats in the morning. All the horses get pedicures on Thursday!!
We had a few calves get separated from their mommas today. I finally got to hold one of those super cute little fuzzy wuzzys. Of course, in all the excitement of being handled, the little guy peed on me! Oh well, he's only been on Earth for 2 days now & isn't too clear on the rules. It wasn't the time to discuss it as he was quite distressed. His momma is named the Queen of Mean so I'm really glad she was too busy eating alfalfa to realize that I was holding her baby! She'd have eaten my breakfast, lunch & dinner!!

Off to bed. Preparing for another super cold day. I have plenty of inside chores though. I need to clean my room & do a bunch of cooking - taco soup, spaghetti sauce, shepherds pie & maybe chili too. Love getting all that stuff made & in the freezer for those nights that don't have time nor the energy to cook dinner. Not like I can just order delivery out here!!
Hopefully, the weather clears up again soon as my waist line will not be able to handle too much hanging around indoors. Gotta get out & moving so I can work off that taco soup & spaghetti & shepherds pie!

BRRRR!!!

The "feels like" 8 degrees this morning felt more like -8!  Once I got my fifteen layers on, I headed out in to the cold.  The horses were happy to get in their stalls & munch on hay out of the wind.  The water troughs were all frozen over & so I took a shovel to all that ice to break it up.  Must say that was actually fun!  I'm worried that the pipes are all frozen because the troughs aren't refilling.  May have to do some maneuvering of the cows so that everyone can get to water.  Hopefully, fingers crossed!, they will fill tomorrow.  Guess we'll see how that goes.
Kind of a blah & stay indoors kind of day.
#180 did have a calf & it seemed to be doing well.  Was afraid I'd find a calfcicle this morning & we'd be having a funeral instead of excitement over a new arrival.  The Mexican Eagles are loving hanging around the calves though.  Lots to eat with those little guys around.  I tried to get a picture, but it didn't turn out.  Will have to get a real camera (instead of my cell phone camera) out tomorrow to see if I can get a shot of them.
We are up to 15 calves now & we'll see if there are more tomorrow!