I have had the good fortune to spend the past few weekends in the Texas Hill Country. I love the area where I live, but the rugged beauty of that area is just breath taking! Here, Ruby & I are taking a little break after a long & arduous trail ride in the park. 
I'm back home again & Missy, the escape artist, has met her match in my trailer. WB was trying to go visit some neighbors & she wouldn't stop following him. This was the best way to keep her around the house & out of the yard where she just loves, loves, loves to dig, dig, dig. I think she enjoyed her little ride down to the barn & then she was off & running again.
Back in the Hill Country again for a calf sorting & penning clinic. As you can see, my calves are very nervous & upset from their 3 hour ride in the trailer. The clinic was so much fun. I learned a lot & strengthened my riding relationship with Ruby. Now I want to work cows on horseback here so I can see if it was all just a fluke!
These pictures never do the colors justice, especially when using your phone camera, but what a glorious morning it was. I have pictures of the calf clinic coming & will post some of those when I get them. I'm looking forward to going back again in June for another clinic. The calves might have other ideas on that one, but they will get over it as their accommodations there are first class! Added bonus for them is that they get lots of hay, feed & range cubes while on their little calf vacation.
It is cold & windy here this morning & almost time to get layered up so I can get unpacked, de-poop the trailer & get all my gear stowed away. It will be a day full of laundry, feeding of animals & getting ready to get all the cows up on Wednesday for vaccinations & pregnancy testing. Fingers crossed - everyone is pregnant so that we have lots of sweet babies hitting the ground in the Spring!
Finally! We have some fall-like weather around here. I had to dig out jackets & hoodies so as to stay warm. How cold is it?? Feels like it's freezing, but only 50's & 60's. Oh yea, I am a true Texan! If the temperature dips below 80, it's time to bundle up in a sweater & build a fire!!
The above picture is a little reunion between Dog & Rusty. They haven't seen much of each other since Rusty left the yard this summer. Looks like a kiss, but actually, Dog is licking the milk off Rusty's face! Rusty is still a big pill, but he knows the breakfast lady (me) & comes dashing over. I'm in the process of cutting back on his milk since it's about time to wean him. Sniff, Sniff. My little baby is all growed up!
Hody has stolen one of Rusty's bottles. I told Hody that it was a little early to be hitting the bottle & he should seek help for his drinking problem, but he doesn't listen. You'd think he could hear just fine with those giant ears, but noooo! Stubborn ass!!
These are the newest residents of the ranch - Jingle (on left) & Belle. We adopted them last week from the Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society. Their foster mother received them on Christmas Eve thus they received their yuletide names. They are so cute & super sweet. Hard to believe that some idiot just dumped them on the side of the road to run wild & starve. Their foster mother, Angela, is a lovely lady who helped them trust people again. Now all they want is love & treats - well, treats & love only if they can't get treats! BEHS is a wonderful organization that rescues horses, mules & donkeys from abuse, neglect & starvation. If you can foster, donate or adopt, go check them out on-line or visit them at their upcoming Expo in Austin on October 20th.
Ah Ha! See, it is jacket weather out there. It's starting to warm up now, but it was cold enough that even Mopsy wanted her little coat on while riding in the Kubota. Dog is an old hand at bumming around with his dad, but Mopsy is new to the adventures & seems to love it. What can I say, we live in a bit of a zoo & I wouldn't have it any other way. Our lives wouldn't be nearly as full & warm & our clothes pet hair free!!
It's going to be another day of shred, shred, shred out in the pasture. That goat weed has got to go. The dove & rabbits aren't too happy with me, but the cows are going to love it once the rye grass starts sprouting. Of course, it won't sprout if I don't get finished shredding, disking & then planting!! Just waiting for some sunlight to go get started.
Happy Day to you!!
What a great summer we have had! We have been very fortunate to have had just enough rain to keep all the livestock grass fat this summer. Every time I want to complain that it is too hot, I just think about last summer & that thought just leaves my head completely. Soon, we will be taking all the bulls out of the pasture & setting them up in their bachelor pad until next Spring. They have been busy boys & we should have a good calving season next year because this summer wasn't so hard on all the ladies. These kids will be on their own come November & I hope to be able to make friends with them. I still can't get too close to them because their mothers are still quite protective!
Mr. Rusty is cleaning Dog's ear. They both seem to enjoy this little game. Rusty has graduated from the front yard & is out in the pasture with the Brahmans. I still have to feed him bottles of milk every day, but he is much happier knowing he is a cow. I think he was close to an identity crisis because he only had dogs to play with. He is a funny little guy & I sure will miss him when he goes to live with my sister this Fall. He will have a very good home with his brothers from other mothers though.
Honey & Donkey Hody are up to their usual antics - being pests! Soon, they will have 2 more donkeys to talk to as we are adopting another pair. They are very good at protecting the herd from coyotes & since we have two herds, we need to sets of donkeys. Fingers crossed, all goes well with the ranch inspection from the rescue group this weekend & we will have some new kids on the block.
This was a really cool experience. I don't know if Ruby felt the same way about it, but I know that she is much happier now that her teeth are all nice & even. It was time for a little dental checkup. I had never seen inside a horse's mouth or what their back teeth look like. Very interesting & Dr. Scrutch is quite the character.
Love this picture! Little one was having to stand still while mother washed his neck. So sweet!
Ruby the Helper! I was removing the upholstery from some chairs for refinishing & she just couldn't stand it. I told her that until she grew some thumbs, she wasn't being very helpful. She really just wanted to make sure there wasn't any food in that bucket & once satisfied there was none, she left. Can't wait to get my grandmother's table & chairs refinished. They are going to look so good & it will be nice to have family dinners at it again. We all have lots of good memories around that table.
Time to get moving - feed Rusty, feed horses, figure out how to hang this shade cloth on the east & west sides of the camper cover, deliver table & chairs to re-finisher & what ever else the day brings.
I know, I know - it's been a while since I've blogged. What can I say except that I've been busy. We have had quite a bit of rain this summer & it is just glorious! Last year, picture on left, I couldn't keep enough feed & hay out to keep my cows alive & healthy. This year, picture on right, I can't shred & weed spray fast enough to give the grass more growing room. I'll take the shred & weed spray problems over the other any day!
No calving year would be complete without a yard calf. In fact, we built a little shed in the yard for any babies who need it. This little guy is Rusty. His mommy was making water instead of milk so he was slowly starving. He's a greedy little piglet now & doing well. His new yard friend, Missy, is teaching him the finer points of digging a good hole. Missy is a temporary resident of ours as her mother is trying to sell her house in the city & Missy is quite the escape artist. No escape attempts here as she knows she gets breakfast & dinner, a couch & bed to lounge upon & all the digging her paws can handle. Plus a little rabbit chasing & playing with Rusty.
This scared the liver out of me! I had fed the horses late afternoon on a hot day. The barn was actually cool & had a nice cross breeze blowing through - very lovely. All the horses were a little sleepy, but Miss Estee took the cake on this one. At first I thought she was dead then realized that she was just sound asleep. So sound asleep that I couldn't get her to wake up! I poked on her & talked to her & all she would do is give me the "15 more minutes" look with half closed eyes & put her head back down. I can't blame her. It was a perfect napping day. She finally woke up & left the barn when she realized that she was alone in there.
I just love this picture! A friend took it with her phone right at dusk. This is a very special tree for us as it is our burying tree. All of our beloved pets are buried on the east side & Daddy installed a marker stone for Mom on the west side. All that loss makes you think that tree would be a sad place, but I see it & smile at all the lovely memories I have of my Mom & all those silly dogs. This picture is just perfect to me because it shows the beauty I see when ever I look at that single tree on top of the hill.
OK folks. Enough fooling around. I just need some daylight & back on the tractor I go to shred, shred, shred!! Have a wonderful weekend.
Meet Rusty my newest child in the yard. Dog is keeping him company & teaching him how to play chase. Rusty's mother was not producing milk & so now I am doing my best to get him to gain weight with as many bottles of milk as he will drink in a day. Dog really helped me out in that I never would have gotten close to him if Dog hadn't made friends first. Once Rusty saw that Dog let me touch him, Rusty let me get close enough to get him his first yard bottle of milk. Dog has been greatly rewarded for his remarkable assistance.
My cousins belong to a wagon that is part of the Saltgrass Trail and had their annual fund raiser at the ranch. This is Little Joe & his mother. That little donkey pulled that wagon all over the ranch & seemed to enjoy himself. Just amazing what such a little animal can do. I had to giggle because I kept thinking about the Clint Eastwood/Shirley McClain movie Two Mules for Sister Sara. I could just hear the theme music everytime I looked at that little donkey!
Not a great shot, but the best I could do of the entire group on the ride. We were taking a break because the team pullling the wagon needed a rest. They did have quite a load to pull in that wagon, it was a very warm day & I think they were a little out of shape too. We had a great ride with no horses or their riders having any difficulties along the trail.
Meet Camille. I picked her up this weekend from the vet. She belongs to a good friend of mine & Camille had a huge bone stuck at the bottom of her throat going in to her stomach. She had just been released from ICU & I was taking her to her mother. The updates are that she is going great at home. I'm so glad that I was my usual pushy self & that I practically dognapped her to get her to the best vet in the world. He definitely saved her life.
We woke up Sunday to rain, rain, rain - about 1 inch total, but the day cleared up & was lovely. In fact, it was quite warm & so we hit the tank to cool off. Usually the water is a little gross but since we dug all the tanks out this summer & it was full of fresh rain water, it was wonderful. If we can just keep up these rains we have had, it sure will be nice having a place to cool off this summer. Between Sunday & yesterday rains, we have had over 2 much needed inches!
