Blog Announcement

 

Blogging should be fun.

It should be something that not only the reader, but the writer enjoys as well. 

But when the time comes to create a post and the inspiration just isn't there, it becomes a frustrating chore.

Ranching is a wonderful lifestyle.  I've grown up surrounded by it all my life and I love it.  I like riding my own horse and helping work the cattle.  I like getting in and doing the manual labor of brandings and sorting.   I like living out in the middle of a pasture and having so much freedom because of that.  

Yet in this wonderful life, I find it hard to come up with weekly blog ideas. 

Maybe I was wrong in thinking a weekly post was a good idea.  Or maybe I was right in thinking a weekly post was a good idea.

Facts are facts, however.  I have a hard time thinking of, writing, taking pictures, and publishing my weekly posts. 

I look at other blogs for ideas and to see what they do and it seems they all have a main point or theme.  There are financial blogs, DIY blogs, blogs about how one person made it through losing a loved one, writing blogs, blogs about how someone adopted their child...

And then there's mine.

A blog with no real point or theme other than the vast--very vast--life of living on a ranch.  I have so many interests that it's hard to evenly show them to you.  I could have countless of blogs if I actually wrote about each one of my hobbies, lives, happenings...  Instead, in 2012 I started a blog which showed most of my interests all in one place. 

Now, that's not bad, per se, but it is unorganized and it leaves me wondering what I should choose to write about. 
 
I've been blogging without a break since October 2012.  And recently, I've posted every single week. 

What I'm getting at is I think it would be wise for me to take a break from the weekly posts.  Don't panic!  I never said I was ending this blog!

Honestly though, with my growing business, finishing school for the year, cattle work, and all that happens in life, I haven't really had the time to blog as I should.

I believe this will allow me more time to organize my thoughts and return with an idea of what I am doing. 

Also, I think if I stop the weekly posts, I can write entries when they hit me, thus they'll be longer and better (I hope so).  At the least, I won't have that deadline of every Thursday breathing down my neck, though I'm glad I had a schedule for a while.

So please understand where I'm coming from.  I want to make better, more meaningful posts, even if that means actually writing less posts. 

In conclusion, Happy Face Ranch's weekly posts are "going to pasture" (taking a break).

When will my next post be?  How often will I post?  I cannot answer those at this time as I don't even know.  But please check back every so often--I do have a couple of post ideas floating around which I'd like to show you sometime. 

So, until my next post, my kind readers!

~Savannah

 

 

Yesterday Morning

 

While walking the dogs yesterday morning, three mule deer jumped right out in front of us!  They were within fifty feet of the back of our house and were eating the blooming yucca plant pods.  I ran back inside, told Dad, grabbed my camera, and sneaked outside to get a few pictures.  The deer were quite calm and watched us for a few seconds, then went on their way. 

 

 

Yesterday morning was so pretty that I couldn't resist the outdoors calling to me after I finished letting the dogs out.  I ended up going with Dad to move the main cow herd and the few baby calves that are being born a tad earlier than most.  The girls were kind of stubborn and wouldn't move at the beginning.  We did finally get them in the new pasture and I think they were very thankful for new, green grass.

I think moving cattle on foot instead of horseback gives you a lot more time to look around, take in the beauty of the ranch, and enjoy the move in a different way.  And instead of looking down at the cattle, well, you look directly at them on the same level.

That morning, we got a long, refreshing walk in and it was a perfect start to the day.

  

 



Little J.'s Birthday

 

May 10th, 13 years ago, a little sister came into my life.  On this Tues., she awoke to balloons and streamers hanging from the kitchen ceiling.  We each told her happy birthday in our own way.  An aunt even surprised her by calling to inform her that her bedroom is going to get a makeover!  I personally can't wait until we start ripping wallpaper off, start painting, and totally redoing the room.  I also plan on doing a blog post about it.  Stay tuned.....

But also on Tues. we had a couple from our church come out to work on the horses hooves and teeth.  The husband removed some horse shoes, trimmed, and cleaned the hooves.  The wife did Little J.'s horse's teeth. 

The couple have been over before, but it was still interesting to watch them work.

My dear Paradise didn't do well when she was getting her hooves trimmed.  After circling, leaping forward, knocking stuff over, and nearly stepping on us, she had to have a drug to make her sleepy...  They finished her, however, and next time should be better.  Let's hope, anyway.

 
Another neat part of the evening was Little J. got to feel inside of her horse's mouth.  The silver device in his mouth prevents any biting. 

 
In the picture below, Tres, the horse, is getting his teeth helped.

 

 
We didn't eat supper until ten something that night, and needless to say, we were hungry!  But we got the horses fixed up for a while, and that is nice to have done. 

And Little J., I think all in all, had a good birthday.

 

Yesterday, we had a more real kind of party.  Our grandma came over and we had Little J.'s birthday meal of pork chops and all that goes with them.  We finished the meal with cake and ice cream, of course.  For another treat, we had a family movie night. 

 

Cattle Work



 





This week, we've been really busy with cattle work.  On Monday, we sorted the replacement heifers about to calve from the ones not about to.  Then we moved the ones close to calving to our branding pens, about three miles away.  At the pens, we sorted again and loaded two bulls and a heifer I called Italy into the trailer.  

 

After driving to another pasture, we gathered and sorted a different herd, taking some heifers and two cows to the pens. 

 

On Tuesday, Dad and Big J. headed to town to work their weekly job at the sale barn.  We sold the two bulls, two cows, and Italy that day.  (Because Italy wasn't going to calve, we sold her.)

 

Yesterday we all went and worked the heifers we moved to the branding pens.  They all got numbered tags, a year brand, and a shot.

When that was finished, we moved them and the main cow herd to a new pasture.  Before the sun set, we moved the heifer calves (the ones we weaned a while back) as well.

 

Since we've been so busy with actually living the ranch life, I haven't put much time into blogging.  Hope you understand. 

 

Italy, front and center