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!!