Friday on the Ranch

Yesterday, Friday, January 25th, 2013, Mom went to town for groceries and clothes; she only got one skirt in clothing.  While she was gone, Dad took us kids out to move cattle.  They were located south of our house, but within riding distance, so we rode out to them.  Along with us, came our dogs, Belvadere and Tonzo.
  Before I tell you more, Dad helped (really he did it by himself) put a bridle on Paradise for the first time.  With that came the bit.  After sliding the bit into her mouth, she played with it with her tongue.  But soon later she was fine with the bit laying on top of her tongue in her mouth.  She turned quite well, too.
  Back to moving the heifers, which are female cattle who have not had calves.  We gathered up all the heifers and headed them north to their future home.  After we had gone a long ways and Paradise was going well, but then out of the blue, she started bucking!  I had no time to even think about what was happening when I hit the ground with my left side.
  I sat up real quick and tried as hard as possible to hold back the tears of pain.  My arm was aching from landing so hard, my tall-man finger on my left hand must have been bumped really bad, because it was tingling, and my left hip bone was hurting a little.  I was fine other than those few pains.
  My horse, Paradise, stood beside me grazing as though nothing had happened.  And so I have been bucked off yet again.  That makes 3 times of coming off of my horse.  I am just glad that she doesn't act like that all the time! 
  I got on her after sitting on the ground for a little bit, and we continued to move the heifers.  We pushed them to a gate on a hill north of our house.  Big J. with his horse, Bull's-eye, rode to our middle cattle guard, as we call it, and pushed 25 heifers to the herd we had just pushed to the gate on the hill.  I hope that makes sense. 
  After the two herds blended to one, we pushed them through the gate and tuned them west.  We pushed them in that direction for a while; through another gate and a ways after that.  We then followed a road which slightly turned to the north west and then to the north.  We pushed the cattle to and past a windmill and set of pens.  Then we turned them into a gate.  When all of them were through, we pushed them another few yards to the pasture that was their new home. 
  We then headed home to our house.  By then, it was getting chilly and we were ready to walk into our house and stand by the fire in the fire place.  We walked, trotted, and loped some bit of the way home.  And after putting the horses in the pasture and putting a log on the fire, we ended the outside work. 
  Mom got home after dark and we helped put up the groceries.  Then, Mom popped pop corn over the stove and we got glasses filled with ice and pop ready.  After we were all ready, we as a family went up stairs to our TV room and had our weekly Family Movie Night.  It ended a great day!  : )

Pretty Day on the Ranch

It's been a while since I have been on, as everyone can see... The ground is now brown again; the snow is gone.  But it was fun while it lasted.  And because Mr. Snowman was leaning, Big J. ended up knocking him over.
Today was one, very pretty day.  It was in the 50's, but a little jacket was nice.  There was only a little breeze.
So, we 3 kids made the best of it--after school, we 3 kids used our time wisely.  We went riding!  At first, when I was riding-well trying to ride- my horse, Paradise, I got pretty upset.  So we took a break.  After a while later, I saddled Paradise and went out to our pasture, along with Big J. and Little J.  Paradise surprised me by going quite well and doing what I told her to.  That really made my ride fun.  When we were coming back to the house, Paradise and I took a run.  When we went down a big  hole, Paradise went so fast that my stomach stayed up in the air!  But it was really fun!
Also, we are about done tearing out a hole in one of our bedroom walls.  We are putting in a door from the bedroom to the bathroom on the other side.  So, yes our house is quite dusty from the concrete blocks getting cut up.  It will be nice to have the door in and the dust out.
If you are wondering what has become of our kitchen floor.  We have taken a "break" from it.  Now we are walking on plain concrete with splotches of stains and things.  It's not real pretty, but I for one like it.  That really doesn't count though.  It's Mom and Dad's floor.
So, there's a little update from the ranch.  : )   

Mr. Snowman

Well, we haven't gotten much more snow, except a bit yesterday.  But there was still enough to sled.  The hills are marked with sled marks and paths.  It's been a lot of fun.  The whole family has participated in sledding.  If you live in the Oklahoma Panhandle, you know that we hardly ever get the right kind of snow to make snowmen.  Well, yesterday the snow was perfect for just that!  We 3 kids started with a little snow ball, but soon were rolling a huge snow ball around in the snow.  The base of the snowman was way too heavy to carry, so we pulled it on a sled to the right spot to sit.  The middle was too heavy for two people to pick up, so we rolled it up the base and to the top of it.  The head was just right for Little J. to put on.  Then we used rocks for the eyes, a real carrot for the nose, a twig snapped in two for the mouth, yucca sticks for the arms, plus an old cowboy hat, bandana, and gloves to add a touch of ranch life.  He was around 4 foot something tall.  He was the best snowman we have ever made!  But he leans to his left, making it look like he will fall over.  We had a lot of fun building Mr. Snowman. 

It's a New Year Already

Happy New Year's Eve!  Wow, it's already 2013...

Today, we woke up to snow!  We had about an inch to two inches; enough to go sledding, which did make our day.  This evening, the whole family went out and sledded on our hills right by the house.  The snow had gotten harder so the sledding was pretty fast, but fun.  When we came in, we started making carameled apples, but sadly, they didn't turn out right. ( cheap caramel )  So it goes, though.

We had a great, white Christmas, by the way.  Dad took us 3 kids out a few days before Christmas and we cut down a real tree!  Yep, we took a little bit of time to find the right one, then we cut it and put it in the pick up.  After driving a little ways, it fell out.  And again it fell out after we loaded it the 2nd time.  It was neat because we walked through snow to get it.  We were all glad that the tree wasn't any bigger, it barely fit in the house!  If you are wondering, it was 10 1/2 feet tall, 7 feet wide, and 5 feet deep.  Again I say--big!
We went out to my Dad's parent's house on the Sunday before Christmas, then to Mom's mother's house on Christmas Eve.  We were home on Christmas day.

So now that Christmas is passed, we will welcome the new year tomorrow.  We will also enjoy a revival beginning at our church.  Happy New Year!  : )     

Ranch Life Around Christmas

If you are looking at the pictures and wondering what in the world that is; it's Peanut Brittle.  The first I have ever made.  It turned out really tasty, just not pretty. 

Over the past few days I have been busy with the family.  We have been moving our cattle, which means we have been outside riding the horses in warm or cold weather, wind or still.  It's been good family time, good for the horses, especially our younger ones still in training.  Plus, it's good for the cattle, just to get them used to horses and people. 

We have been trying to buy something while Christmas shopping, but it hasn't worked out as planned.  It's hard to buy a gift for someone who says, "I don't care what you get me." and you can't find anything that would fit them.  So, our Christmas shopping hasn't been much fun.  Thankfully, I am about through.

We have had a little Christmas tree up since August, but recently we got to put up the big one. The inside of the house is all lit up in Christmas lights with Christmas music playing.  We got to put Christmas lights on our balcony for the first time.  It's pretty.  I would show you pictures, but they aren't good enough.  Sorry.  

Monday, we gathered up our cows and sorted 19 off to take to my uncle's wheat.  Paradise got a nice ride in.  I got to slide off of her left side, plus I got on her from the right side.  She is doing good for a young horse, though we still have a lot to learn.  Dad and Mom treated us to pizza that night.  And we did our cookie run.  (Every year at Christmastime, we as a family take home-made cookies to our neighbors. It's always fun.)  We got to see some good friends and talk for a while.  

Yes, we have been some what busy with school.  But that's nothing real exciting...

Yesterday, I was the first one down stairs, and as I looked out the window to the east, I saw a movement.  As I watched, Tonzo, my dog, come into sight with his tail tucked between his legs.  As I looked, a coyote came into view.  Then two others.  I thought of our chickens, who run freely about the ranch.  So, I ran up stairs and got Dad.  After getting a gun and shells, we walked outside.  We looked and to the north, and just across the road, a coyote stood over a deer rib cage.  After a second, he turned and ran off.  Dad and I trooped after him.  But when we reached the top of the hill he had gone over, the coyotes were nowhere to be seen.  It was disappointing, and odd.  They vanished!  Thankfully, they didn't get any chickens or Mom's whole deer that was hanging behind our pickup.  It was a fun way to start our day, though. 

On the odder side - I got to enjoy one of my pigeon's eggs today.  Pigeon egg?!  Yes, I have a female pigeon who has laid 41 eggs this year and we do eat them.  I got to hard boiled one and peel it.  After showing everyone in the family what a hard boiled pigeon looked and felt like, I ate it.  It was different... but good after getting under the rubber feeling part.  It felt like a bouncy ball.  It was a fun thing to try, though.  

Today, we did school and I finished for this week except for math.  I played with Big J. and Little J. quite a bit.  Also, we did get a skift of snow!  I am so glad.  Not near enough to sled, but still, it's a start.  It is still really windy now, but not snowing.  I wonder what it will look like tomorrow.

If I do not get back here and write a post before Christmas, may you all have a great Christmas day.  Merry Christmas!  : )    

December Already?!

Well, as you can see I haven't been on here for quite a while.  We had a great Thanksgiving with our great family, plus two extras, well three if you count dogs...  Anyway- it's already the Christmas month!  I can't believe it, though I have had a Christmas tree up and Christmas music since August.
I don't know about you, but I don't like this weather.  I mean it's nice, but not for December!  It has been nice to ride in it and work with the cattle.  Still, I would really like to have snow.  Anyone else agree?   

We have been doing quite a lot of cattle work lately.  We have weaned our calves and now they are on wheat.  Thankfully, they will stay there and that will give us more grass for our cows.  Sadly, though, there's not much grass because of the drought.  Going back and forth from the wheat, we got to see a spot where an air plane crashed.  It might have been a once-in-a-life-time thing to see it.  The pilot did walk away, thankfully.  Plus, on our way back from the wheat, we stopped and got ice cream as a treat.  

Just today Dad took us two older kids and drove our two long-horns to a pen.  There we loaded up one of them and took them to some different pens.  Then we sorted 4 cows and their calves in a different pasture; then took them to a set of pens.  We will sell them tomorrow.  It was a nice ride, but windy.  On our way home, it got colder; we were really glad that we didn't have any chores to do outside.  (We took our bottle calves to wheat also.)  For the rest of the day, we will be lazy and do about nothing.  It sounds good to just sit and relax.  : )     

Early Mornings With Daddy and Deer

Well, the rifle deer season is now going.  Since Saturday, the 17th, Dad has gotten me up in the six o'clock hour and taken me hunting.  We have had some good father/daughter time together as we hunt for deer.  It's been fun.  Finally, the day, which was today, came and I shot my 4th buck.  The day before (the 19th) I had a really nice buck sneak away before I got a shot, and that made me upset.  But thankfully, I got a chance to shoot another nice one today.  

As the story goes--Dad took me up north of our house and we stood on the side of a hill, looking for any deer that might cross our land in shooting range.  There were four does, female deer, on the horizon, too far to shoot of course.  So we waited.  Dad saw some deer walking down the fence to the south of us.  They, too were out of range but we did have two options.  1) Cutting them off and shooting one, but we would have to drive to the house, binocular around there, tie up our dogs, then take a hike out to a pasture south of the house, and wait to see where they were heading.  2) Stay put and see if any more deer would come out.  We took the number one option.  We loaded up our things and drove to the house.  There, Dad looked around while I put cats in our shop (they like to follow people and would have gotten in our way if we were going hunting) and tied up the dogs, who also would have followed.  After a while, we started our hike.  Before too very long, Dad stopped and looked back to our pond.  There was a deer, the one we were after.  I thought that if we were to sneak up, the deer would run away on to our friend's land and I would feel the same as the day before, but Dad must have thought different and we went to the pond.  Thankfully there are some dirt hills and that made it easier to sneak up instead of in plain sight.  As we were about to sit down, the buck ran into view.  I looked up and could just picture him running away and me not getting a shot.  We got seated as another one ran out.  Dad told me to shoot the last one, but he didn't stop until he was in a bush.  The first one did stop before jumping the fence and Dad told me to shoot him.  I took aim and fired the gun.  Dad said that I hit him, really I had no clue if I did or not.  He told me to shoot him again because the buck wasn't down yet.  I fired again and this time he ran off aways and jumped the fence.  The other deer watched for a while, but then left and never returned.  Instead of going right away to find the buck, Dad slowly texted Mom that we had gotten a buck.  Dad left the phone with me and he walked back to the house to get the pickup and I just sat there playing with a bug, a stick and some dirt.  Sounds fun doesn't it?!  Anyway, my uncle called and we talked a little bit.  Then a little over thirty minutes later, Dad pulled up with the pickup.  He called our friend and made sure that it was alright if we went on their land to get my buck.  Dad took his gun and we walked to the fence, climbed over the fence, and then looked for the buck.  Some birds had come to eat on the deer, so they helped us find him.  When he was in sight, Dad quickly stopped.  I looked around him and there was my buck, just looking at us and lying there, for sure alive!  Dad pulled up his gun and took aim and fired to end his life.  We looked again.  The buck looked at us and acted as though he had not been shot.  Dad aimed again and fired.  The deer this time was in pain, and was closer to death.  He laid back as though he was resting peacefully on a nice fall day.  We looked and could see that he was still breathing.  After a while, Dad went over and nudged him to see if he had died.  And the deer shook his head a little.  Then his tail.  Dad nudged him again and we could tell now that he was dead.  It took 4 shots!  All of my deer before only took one, but we got him and he is not in pain.  We took some pictures and then we loaded him up.  He was a 4x4, (he had four points on each antler).  He was a pretty nice size, too.  I am really happy.  And now maybe I will be able to sleep in tomorrow for a change.  : )