Drought Weather

 

 See the drifts??  Yes, on April 14 it snowed, horizontally, and measured up to no moisture in the rain gauge.  But, what snow stuck to the ground made puddles and proved to have some water in it.  We were very thankful for what we got.

 

 Sadly, our red bud trees were beginning to look wonderful when the snow came and the cold froze the buds. All the pretty parts fell to the ground and now leaves are sprouting out.  At least they were prettier than they were last year, when they didn't even bloom.

I always get a picture like this because I like the layers of trees.  Example: Red bud in front, pine tree in middle, and elm tree in back.  

 Here is another work of taxidermy I set my hand to.  Meet Molly May, my taxidermy parakeet.

 

 I figured the bird would be prettier if it had a touch of real life background to it, so I planted wheat around the base of the perch.  Now, I can say that I was the first one to cut wheat this year. 

 

 Here are the last kids to be born.  Sadly we have lost three kids total this year.  I now milk, with the help of my brother and sometimes Dad.







 





 

 If you look at the picture above this line you will see what kind of view we had on the morning of April 28, at 11:00.  Just below this line is the view we had that same day at 1:22 P.M.
The "clouds" at 1:22 are not rain clouds, though everyone wished they would have been, but was just dirt.

 

Here are two more views, just at different times of the day.

Taken at 11:00 A.M.

Taken at 1:22 P.M.

I wrote about the weather in my journal on the 29th and have decided to share parts of it with you. 

 

"All together, yesterday was anything but settled.  It was drizzly in the early morning, then came those spotty white clouds that are always fun to take photos of.  And then later in the day came one huge dust funnel, but last came a nasty dust storm.  We, at points, couldn't see the east round pen fence in front of our house.  And all that time the wind was puffing."

Excerpt from My Journal

 

The tumbleweeds haven't left and aren't even getting smaller.  The fences are once again filled to the highest wire with weeds.  The wind blows from the north one day, causing them (the tumbleweeds) to stack up on the fence.  Then the next day, it blows from the south, taking the tumbleweeds with it, only to blow in new ones on the other side of the fence.  The fences don't know what way to lean, and we don't know what to do to keep the weeds away.  So, what's a person to do?

 

My answer is just keep trusting God.  : )

 

"In You, O Lord, I put my trust." Psalm 71:1 part A



Branding

Today we went to our second branding this year.  Having gone to one yesterday, we are now very tired, worn out, and sore.

We got up around 6:15 yesterday morning and headed out after saddling the horses and getting ourselves ready.  The first bunch we branded went by really fast and we were off to gather two more bunches.  Once the pairs were gathered and sorted, we began to brand them.  Flankers held down the calves the ropers drug to them, the shots were given, the steers cut and implanted, ear tags were stuck in their ears, next came the brand, and then it was back to the group of calves in the corner.

We went on like that until dinner and after; moving to a different place once.  All the cowboys and cowgirls took a break and had a wonderful dinner provided by the couple in charge of the whole branding.  Afterwards, Dad, Big J., and I (along with others) were instructed to move a few herds of cattle to their pastures, thus, we didn't help with the real branding as much when dinner was finished.  But that was fine.  Our horses got a nice, almost 10 miles, walk pushing the pairs practically all over the county.  Okay, not quite...

There once was a possible problem, but because of intelligent cowboys and older horses, we were able to return one run away heifer back to her pasture.

We got home fairly late because after we finished branding, we had to check my goats.  Sadly, the goat which had only one kid lost it.  Now she needs nursed out by one of the other goat's kids, which we have to help with.  But, if any of you were wondering, Arendelle, the little baby we brought home to feed, is doing fine and is the kid that nurses the one who lost the baby.  My other nanny goat only had one a couple of days after the first ones.  Her bag (utter) is too large for her one baby to keep nursed out so we have to fight her to milk her out. 

But when we finished messing with the goats, we came home, ate supper around eight o'clock, and went to bed for yet another early morning.

Today, we got to sleep in! till 6:30 anyway.  We left the house at 7ish and headed out to the second branding.  Today we only had to work two bunches of calves, all of which were at the same set of pens.  The first bunch was gathered, so we started up right away.  This time Big J. and I flanked as a team for a while.  I gladly did that job.  I don't know how many we flanked but it was a bunch!  We traded partners every so often, not really on purpose but it worked out.  I flanked the most with my dad. 

One of the funny things of the day was when a young man tried (a couple of times) to flank an un-roped calf all by himself.  It was comical, but it only got better.  Dad and I decided we should try our hand at flanking an un-roped calf.  After a little tugging and pulling, the calf plopped down on to the sandy ground.  Everyone who saw it laughed and cheered us on.  But I personally think the best part was the young man's facial expression when he heard what happened and saw us sitting on the calf. 
He did try one last time on the last calf and succeeded, though now every one kidded that he should have asked for our help.

We headed in for dinner and what a great meal that was!  We talked a few moments afterwards, but folks filed out pretty quick to get back to their own work or house. 

On our way home, we again checked the goats, this time finding my one last nanny with her babies.  Triplet black and white ones!  So cute!  Sorry, no pictures yet.  But there is a pure black one while the others are black and white.  We are done kidding now for this year.

I hope you enjoyed this post.  : )

Sunrise taken 3-11-14.

        

Baby Critters

Well, two pairs of pigeons hatched two babies each this last week, but sadly I only have one left.  The others died for all different reasons.  The last survivor was "kicked out of the nest" so to speak and I am now its care taker. 

We went riding on the 4th and while doing so, I spotted a baby jackrabbit.  After dismounting and chasing it for a while, I successfully caught it.  It screamed like crazy for a long time, then calmed down.  When we got home we put it in my dog carrier, and named it Harley.  The cute thing is so fun to feed and watch as it runs about the house when permitted by everyone involved.

Then yesterday (Mon.) two of our goats had kids!  One had triplets and the other had only one.  One of the triplets wasn't drinking her milk and was quickly losing energy; we brought her to the house and shot a few syringes of her mother's milk down her throat.  In just a few hours, the little girl, Arendelle, was up and ready to nurse from a bottle!  That was so encouraging.  She roamed about our kitchen and drank half of her bottle of milk.  By evening, we knew that she could go back to her mom. 



Timber

Harley

Arendelle

 

But, what a sight, sound, and thought of having a pigeon, rabbit, and goat all staying in our house!  Oh, what fun it was though!  I went from one animal to the next, feeding each one.  Our family is great about letting all sorts of animals in the house.  I like that about them.    

Arendelle (middle) and her brothers

The other baby goat

Thank you for taking the time for reading and looking at my blog.  : )

April Fool's Day

Happy April Fool's Day everyone!  Are any of you in the mood for worms?  That's right, I made edible worms. 

A few weeks ago I told some of the "head women" of our church's pot luck dinners on Sunday my idea to have an April Fool themed meal.  They seemed to like the idea and we picked out the closest Sunday to April 1st.  So, on March 30th, whoever wanted to, brought something that looked sweet but wasn't or something that looked salty and wasn't.  We had "cup cakes" (really made out of meatloaf and frosted with mashed potatoes, the worms of course, and mini hamburgers made from vanilla wafers and frosting.  It was a great idea and a lot of fun.

 

I also put an upside-down cup full of water right in the middle of our counter.  It wasn't too surprising that no one wanted to clean it up.  (Finally Mom cleaned it up and the fun ended.)



 

We got a little trace of rain the other day; a wonderful air freshener.  Wow, it smelled so, so good!  And after the shower passed, we enjoyed a rainbow.

 

The red buds are blooming, there are green leaves appearing, green grass is poking out of the ground, the sagebrush is showing green/blue leaves, and the wild green onions are blooming.  It's a wonderful sight to see in the pastures a hint of green.  

 



 

 

The ants are out, as are the lizards, bugs, and birds such as curlews.

 

 

 

Yesterday we all went out to move our calves.  It was perfect weather, the horses worked well, the calves weren't too hard to gather, and it only took a couple hours.

 

Note the dark spot on my jeans.  That's how deep my leg went.

We rode through tamarisks and crossed the river a few times...while crossing the river one of those times, my dear horse decided she needed to splash around.  She laid down in the middle of the river!  My left boot filled with water, my pant leg was soaked, part of the saddle was wet, and of course my horse was dripping!  I quickly slapped Paradise on the neck, she stood, and I rode her at a trot to the shore.  It was quite comical afterwards.  We even got to literally pour water out of my boot.  Just making memories.  : )   

Spring at Last

Here on the ranch we've been keeping busy with fence work, cattle work, floor work, and more.

Just this week we've had two different floor people come out to our house and measure our living room/kitchen.  We may have finally found the floor we want; however, we are still thinking and considering all the options.  There are so many choices to choose from!

On the 19th we started taking down our once beautiful rail fence at the entrance of our ranch.  Like I said, it was pretty, but over years of wear and tear it has become a sorry sight.  We are going to replace it with barbed wire and cedar post.  We will add a couple gates also, along with an overhead.  I think it will be a prettier sight when finished. 

Yesterday we all went out to sort last year's calves from their mamas.  All the cattle gathered themselves for us, so all we had to do was hold them, and gently push the moms, bulls, and two year olds through one gate, while the young calves went in a different gate.  (We sorted them to wean the calves from the moms.)  It was a little tricky at times because a few of the cows/calves wanted to go back to the river or down the fence.  So the three of us kids had to be patient with our horses, listen to what Dad and Mom both told us, and watch the cattle.  I have to say at times it was frustrating, but we stuck it out and got them sorted within a few hours.  And we ended the day with pizza once more.

Well, I don't know about you, but I am really glad spring is here!  Nicer weather has arrived, though it still has a mind of its own.  We have been in the 60's now, with wind of course, but no moisture yet.  The grass is desperately trying to green up and grow, but the cold ground and not much moisture is holding it back.  Sadly I've already seen a couple grasshoppers this year.  We have seen a live snake already and the ants are out working.  It's so appealing to the eyes!

My pigeons are sitting, but I have doubts of the eggs hatching because of the cooler weather and freezing nights.  Hopefully we will be able to go help at some brandings soon, our goats should be kidding before too long, and it will be green.  Hello, Spring!  : )   

Here on the ranch...

I've been thinking about a blog post for a while now, but no ideas have hit me.  It's hard to write when not inspired by something or someone, but I have heard and read that a person shouldn't wait for the perfect moment, instead just write.  I suppose that's what I need to do about my blog.

I have gotten into the mood for taxidermy once again and have now done two mice.  Victor (named after the mouse trap he's in) was my first mouse ever to do, and I learned a bit to improve my skills while working with him.  Lethargic (named after the word meaning tired or without energy) was my second one.  He is larger and was a tad bit easier to do.  When shopping at an antique mall near by, I found a tiny brass bed and since I already had the mouse, I bought the bed for it to sleep in.  I thought both Victor and Lethargic turned out pretty nice, considering they are mice, anyway.

Victor

Lethargic

We had some snow/sleet last week and very cold weather, but it's been in the 50's since then.  Now it's cold once again and damp.  It's nice to live in a place with all four seasons!  Personally, I am really ready for spring.  I miss the green grass, red buds on our two red bud trees, the planting of gardens, and wild flowers.  After a winter of cold weather and snow, it'll be nice to go outside without layers of clothes.  I am sure our ranch life will get more exciting to read about when we start doing more cattle work.

Here's a pretty picture to end with.  It was taken in September.  : )

 

The Tumblin' Tumbleweed

The tumbleweeds have returned!  Not that they really left, though.  Yeah, it's messy when it comes to fences and such.  Some fence post are leaning in the weight of the weeds.  But there's really nothing we can do.  Sadly. 
Some people think, "Fire?"  And the answer to that question is a huge "No."  It would get rid of the weeds, yes, but also burn up the whole country while doing it.  The weeds burn in seconds and a huge amount of heat is let out, but if the wind happened to pick up, the burning tumbleweeds would lite everything they touched, and as dry as it is, everything would burn. 
So, I guess we will just live with them for a while and be awaiting their departure.  Whenever that might come.  

Dad said that from a distance these pesky weeds look like stone fences.  And they do.

We were out checking our cattle the other day and I took a few photos; partly for our own sake and to put on the blog, so I hope you enjoy seeing our livelihood.  

An oil rig near by had a leak in their water hose and these photos show you what happened when the water sprayed everywhere on one cold night.  The consistence of the frozen water resembled man made snow.  Fairly interesting I thought.  And it made pretty pictures.  : )