I'm Back

After a few weeks away from the ranch, I am back.  It was great to get away from the 12+ hour days, but I did miss this place & am glad to be home again.
While I was away, momma 238 got up & is walking with a bit of a limp, but she moves herself around.  Her udder dried up & so we still have BB in the yard & are feeding her 3 times a day.  We had 2 more calves while I was gone & both mothers & babies are doing well.
We did get a little rain & so the ranch looked nice & green when I got home.  It won't last though.  I'm already seeing that lovely green fade to brown.  It seemed like we were going to get a few sprinkles yesterday, but it was just windy, windy, windy. 
Today we are working cows.  Time to get more of the commercial herd who have babies off the front pastures & out back with the rest of the mothers & babies.  This is going to be a multi-day process as we want to pregnancy test all the commercial cattle that don't have babies on the ground.  If they aren't pregnant, they are getting off the feed payroll.  There might be one or two pardons from the auction barn, but if they aren't going to drop a next generation on the ground they are outta here.  That sounds so harsh, but there is only so much grass & hay isn't free. 
Once the cow work is done for the day, little BB is going to get to join the big little girl group.  She needs some cows to help her be more cowish.  They will teach her to eat hay & feed.  Poor thing is just starving all the time, but won't eat any calf pellets because she doesn't know what that's all about.  I will still have to bottle feed her & just hope that she won't be quite so ravenous.
OK - gotta make my who's a mother list for the pens today.
Maybe I'll get some pictures & will post them this afternoon while it's too stinking hot to do anything else or tomorrow.

Are You My Mother???

Here is little Miss BB & Dog. Dog is still trying to get her to play with him & neither of them quite understand what the problem is with that! Dog thinks she's a funny smelling dog with a poor play attitude. Miss BB is only 4 days old & she's still trying to figure out that the back of my leg is not her momma's udder. Perplexing is how I'm still the milk lady!
She's a hoot. When you go out in the yard & she sees you, she belts out an odd little beller & comes charging toward you with tail in the air using her slightly unbalanced run. I literally have to run away from her to get back in the house without her hot on my tail. This is no small feat as she can cover some ground quickly! No doubt we is a bit country out here, but we do draw the line at a healthy calf in the house. Had to qualify that as we have had plenty of very sick calves in the house.
This was the end scene of my busy day yesterday. Let's see if I can remember how it went...woke up, drank a cup of coffee, dressed & brushed & ran out the door to feed Miss BB, met the guy from the auction barn who picked up our cows for sale, mixed feed for horses, filled horse feeders, found horses & called them in for breakfast then shooed them back out of the barn, check on 238 momma who still hasn't gotten up & gave her fresh water, back to the house & made me some breakfast, spread fertilizer on the new yard, started watering the yard & then off to the tractor to spent the next few hours putting out hay (this took a while because the big girls destroyed one of the hay rings & it had to be replaced with a spare & I found a 5 1/2 foot, yep feet!, long snake skin hanging in one of the oak trees which was most likely from a Lindheimers rat snake), lunch with me Papa, did some laundry, started packing for my trip, fed Miss BB, watered the flowerbed plants, cleaned up calf poop off the front porch (ucko yucko!), go check on 238 momma again & see that 210 Jennifer had her baby & that she has mastitis in her front 2 quarters, feed the young girls & 238 momma, run to town for medicine for Jennifer, go pick up the auction check, pick up BBQ for dinner, back home & off to give 238 her shot to promote her healing & reduce swelling, filled 8 gallons of water for us then back to the house to have dinner, feed Dog, feed BB, clean up dishes, finish laundry, chat on the phone, shower & FINALLY....to bed!!
Dang, I think I want to go back to bed now just reading all that! After the last run of the day in the Kubota, this was our driveway. All the little girls (yeah, I know, they really aren't that little! yet compared to the big girls, they are) came running to see if we had more treats & were clamoring to get into the carport to visit Miss BB.
Today shouldn't be so bad - feed horses & keep up just in case I need Ruby to get Jennifer to the pens, doctor Jennifer's udder & check on her baby, finish packing, quick shower, meet girls for lunch, drive to Houston, pick up some something for my car from the car top place, wash my car & try to have all that done by the time Charlie gets off work at 5. Rather abitious schedule, but it wouldn't be a regular day for me if I didn't have 15 million things to do or directions to go in.

What a Week!!

I know this picture is a little risque, but the SLI didn't mind having her picture taken without her top. It's now been over a week since the new top was installed & it is great! So nice to have a good top on the car as well as having a stereo that works. My other one kicked the bucket since the ground wire was bad & it fried the deck. So...new stereo & new top. It's almost like I have a new car!! I can officially put the top down on it, but I'm still a little wary of leaving it down for too long as I want to make sure it stretches properly. I certainly don't want troubles in the future with it.
Momma 238 finally had her calf on Friday. Normal gestation is 9 months & I think this little girl hung around in there for an extra month. She's huge!! I'm worried about Momma as she still hasn't gotten up yet. I picked up some medicine for her on my way back to the ranch today. Kinda funny because it was get back to the ranch, change out of my cute dress & sandals into grubby jeans, t-shirt & work boots then get to work!
This is BB (Big Bertha). She has had 3 quarts of milk this evening. If I hear her bawling in the night, I guess I'll be up feeding her some more. Don't want to over feed her, but she shouldn't go hungry either. Momma 238 got her shots that will, hopefully, promote healing & make it so she can get up. Not sure how long we give her, but I guess she can have all the time she needs as long as predators aren't predating on her while she's alive!
Kinda hard to see, but the stick looking thing at the bottom of the picture is actually a Lindheimers rat snake. Peaceful little fellow & he curled up in a little hole above the foundation. I hope he catches lots of mice & gets to be super big so he can catch even bigger mice!!

Tomorrow is a busy day - meet the auction guy for our cow/calf pick up, fertilize & water yard, feed BB, give Momma her shots, feed horses, put out hay for the big girls, feed my little girls & maybe even go talk to the boys. I know they are getting restless in their pastures & are waiting Memorial Day weekend so they can start lining up their hot dates for the summer. Laundry, laundry & more laundry & then my day will be DONE!!

It's a Wednesday

No pictures of my little car as it is currently getting a new stereo installed.  The old one kicked the bucket.  Maybe the new one will be easier for me to figure out.  Too many unknown buttons on the last one.  Sometimes keeping it simple is best for me!
Sad day yesterday.  #33 is a first time mommy & she had her calf yesterday morning.  Poor little baby was itty bitty & it was sooo cold - 52 in May???  WTH???  Anyway, I scooped up baby who was freshly born & not moving much.  WB & I got him to the house & tried to warm him up by getting him dry & getting some warm milk in his tummy.  Didn't seem to be doing much good so I wrapped him up papoose style & shot in to LG.  Apparently, I can make it to the vet's office in less than 20 minutes!  We worked on the guy for 30+ minutes rubbing him with warm towels & blankets, pouring warm milk into his tummy & finally a hot bath in an effort to get his internal temperature raised.  Doc informed me that we were fighting a loosing battle.  I told Doc that I'd rather fight & loose than not fight at all.  Little baby pretty much died right there while I held him.  He started off on a tough road being born a month or so early & it was so cold yesterday.  Very sad & I had the duty to tell momma 33 what happened to her baby.  I don't think she understood me, but I felt better for giving her the news in person.
On to another brighter day today.  WB & I are off to Buda.  I have a feeling that WB is going to make it home with more than one new firearm.  That's ok because there is still plenty of space in the safe in my room!
Off to feed those sweet pesky horses & then get ready to go to Cabela's.  I just might find a thing or two or three or....for myself while we are there!  :-)

Whip & Ride

Austin County Trail Drivers Partnership had their fundraiser trail ride here at the ranch this weekend. I do believe it is the second time for the Van Wart Ranch to host & it sure was a lot of fun. The horses & trailers & campers & trucks & dogs &.....was a bit overwhelming, but all worth the chaos as everyone had a great time. On one hand, surprising & on the other hand, not surprising that when all the 75+ riders & all their gear moved out on Sunday, there was not one speck of trash on the ground. Not a napkin or cigarette butt or bottle cap - nada nada. The only evidence was a little fresh & some recycled hay. I'm sure there are others, but it has been my experience that people who enjoy trail riding are also very respectful of the land on which they ride. It makes you want to have them all here every weekend!!
The best part of the whole weekend was getting good saddle time on Ruby. I discovered that she is not going to be a major trail ride horse for me. As many times as she saw & heard the wagons, she could not get over her fear of them when they were behind her. I thought she was going to jump out of her skin at one point. Fortunately, I was able to pull us off to the side at a safe distance so she could watch the wagons go by. If she can keep an eye on all those noise makers, she is happy. Basically, that means we are always last on the trail. Doesn't matter to me unless the wind is blowing all the dust in our faces! That is the only time I don't like being in the very back!!

Fun pasture dance on Saturday night with a few of my local friends who came out to visit. Next thing I knew, it was midnight & I was turning into a pumpkin FAST! A short ride on Sunday & then back to Houston that night with Charlie in hopes that my car would be ready on Monday. All of my car stuff worked out as a Houston friend needed me to take him to an appointment & my car wasn't ready until lunch time. Appointment made, met with Charlie & lunch eaten; it was pick up the car & head back to the ranch. Actually, not a direct route as I had to drop my car off at the stereo place in LG. The stereo finally died completely on C during his trip home from NC. Hopefully, it will be a bad connection or two. If not, I am fully prepared to buy a new stereo.

Next photos I'll post will be of my little car with & without it's top!! The new top looks so good & reduces the road noise a little bit. My silver scooter will have gotten a nice spruce up & shouldn't need any more major stuff for a long time!!