Oofda, I sveat

as the Norsk lady said. 😉

Got up over 100 yesterday afternoon according to Cindy’s car thermometer. I saw on Facebook that last night was one of the “Summer Nights” events in Rapid City,m they have been doing on Thursday evenings. they block off a side street and bring in music and food and people stroll around and eat and visit and look and listen to it all. I have always wanted to go one time, since they started it, so when Cindy called yesterday to say she was about to head home after checking ion her Mom, I suggested I come in and pick her up and we attend. She was all for it, so we did. Tried to get another couple to go along but they were too busy. Had a great time and took Cindy shopping before hand and got her some clothes she wanted for her up coming birthday. I just plumb spoil that woman! 😉

We brought her car home and I drove her back in this morning and bought a few groceries and then came home. Been working on some broken planks in the corrals and got them patched up. Got one or two more in another spot and we should be all set to work cattle and ship this fall.

Then I remembered to dust the tomato’s with some white fly powder made for cattle. About the only thing we have ever found that works. you got to wash it off the tomato before you eat it, but shoot, I usually did that anyway! 🙂

Now I think it’s time for an AC cooled leather shop!

Gonna warm up a little

Supposed to get up in the 90’s today. Not much breeze today, but they are calling for the wind to blow tomorrow.

Cindy and I drove down to a Memorial service for the father of a friend, in Wall last night. Cindy hadn’t been there in awhile so she got to see some of her old working partners, from when she worked down there. On the way back, the car bumped and jumped, so I guess it’s time to run it over to the garage and jack it up and knock the dust off the insides of the rimes, which throws the wheels out of balance. As long as you stayed under 50 mph, it wasn’t bad. I suggested she could do that this morning, and then take it somewhere and have the rims cleaned out or she could drive my pickup and I’d do it. Seeing as my pickup is gone and her car is setting here, evidently she decided on the latter!

The things I do for that women! 😉

Friends

And damn fine ones at that, stopped in and spent yesterday. they are heading on this morning. So far on their trip, Darrel told me they had gone over 8,000 miles. We looked at a bunch of their pictures on the computer, which they had not gotten to see other than on the small screen on the camera. Wow! They have been to and seen some cool, places and things. Many of the same places Cindy and I would go to when we can afford the time and travel. Chance and Hope and kids came out for supper to see them and we had a nice evening.

I have another person who I have met thru’ the computer who is in this area working, who is going to come visit for a day, sounds like. he is a member of the ranch board that I have linked on the side. If he can’t make it over, I will drive closer to the Hills area where he is at, and at least we will share a meal and some conversation.

Then next week, another friend from the board, who I have visited with but never met face to face, is coming to stay for a week and spend some time here. Mike is a cool guy and I am looking forward to it. He will be here for the poetry gathering over at Devil’s Tower on the 4th. Several others from this wide area who are on the board are supposed to show up also. It’s so cool to get to shake hands with people you’ve only visited with on the interwebs!

I ordered a wall tent yesterday. I’ve always wanted one and Chance and Hope need something like that so they can go camp on the river during the Artist Ride, so it seemed like a good thing to do with my tip money. Besides, me and Darrel are talking about an elk/deer hunting trip in the fall of 2013. He has a nephew who has been deployed to the sandbox on several tours of duty and Darrel would like to take him to the mountains on a hunt. Darrel and I would just go along to pack him in and enjoy the country and company. Darrel found a pack saddle and he is taking some of the rigging from mine to fix it up.

We will also set up the tent for when we get larger groups of people stopping in. It is large enough to sleep quite a few and has a chimney hole, so I can build or get a small stove for it to warm it and even cook on.

And Miss Kitty finally got around to having kittens this past week, while I was gone. some blood spots and Cindy was having a fit. Finally found a dead kitten yesterday and this kept up with more dead kittens as the evening proceeded. this morning she has one dead on and two live ones, which is plenty of kittens for anyone! Now, to convince her to raise them, outside!

Artist Ride

Got home yesterday after dinner and a couple friends had gotten here shortly before me.We drove around and looked at some stuff and then Cindy got here, so we picked her up and headed out for some more looking around. Then they had to split.

I have been spending this morning trying to catch up on news and emails. I am flat wore out, but it’s a good feeling. Seen a lot of good friends and met some new ones. Probably the best Artist Ride I have ever been too. Several of the artists told me to pass the word to Chance they need him back down there. One told me that all the pictures he has ever painted of Chance are always the first to sell and they sell like hotcakes!

He couldn’t make it this year, with all the rain and trying to get hay put up on the ranch where he works. Hopefully next year they will go down for their family vacation. They need to find an affordable wall tent big enough for them and their 3 kids, so they can house them all and have a food set up to cook and camp. If anyone hears of something like that, please comment on here or email me at rdennis@gwtc.net. Yeah, I am talking to you Jim! 😉

I found out at least one of my friends who is at the Artist Ride reads this blog, but he is shy and doesn’t comment. Come on Jim! You can do it! Come on everyone, tell Jim he can do it! 🙂

I woke up about 2 am this morning to growling and thrashing and it wasn’t Cindy’s snoring either! Lightning was popping! So I looked out the windows to see if I had to go watch for fires, but it was pouring down rain good enough that I was sure it wasn’t going to be a problem.

I need to go get a horse and go check on cattle and also unload alkl my gear from the trailer.

Dang, I had fun this weekend. Just real mellow and some great conversation and lots of good people. Only ran across one dink the whole time and that was towards the end, yesterday just before I left. Me and a couple of the Artist were eating a bite and have a good conversation. They are from southern Texas and we got to talking about the drought and this and that and the talk wandered to climate change and we were talking about it, and the effects of mankind on this planet when this dipwad sat down and proceeded to tell us how it all works, according to him and and some other dipwads. Couldn’t get him to shut up, so finally told him, basically to stuff it and to lead by example and quit whining at those of us who were living “green” long before it was cool. Damn hypocrites, running around the world in fuel guzzling planes, telling the rest of us to conserve and quite using so much fuel! I w3as tired and cranky enough I decided I better just head for ho,me before one of us found ourselves setting on our ass, with a bruise in some part of their anatomy. Might of been me, but I sure don’t see why some bores seem to think they need to intrude on private conversations, just because they are taking place in a public place!

Well, we have some friends coming tomorrow, so I better get to work and go slog thru’ the mud!

And no, I didn’t take a single picture, tho’ I did receive a couple of very very nice prints from a couple of very very nice people! Stop in and I will show them to you sometime!

Dirt work

Took the tractor and loader and went up and drug a washed out ol’ culvert up out of the creek and moved it to the plum crossing and put it there. Probably still wash out,m but it’s in pretty shallow and I made the crossing a lot better. For now!

Then I ate an early lunch, gravy on left over biscuits and then took the loader down south and filled in a washed out hole on a dam. took awhile, but wish i had gotten it done last year. there would be more water in that dam now. There is also a tank there from a waterline and it was getting dug out around the edge, so I filled all that in and packed it down good. Even found some big rocks to put in alongside the tank.

After I got home I loaded up the old bar that has been setting in front of the house and hauled it out to the shed. (I hate to throw anything away. Cindy sez I’m a packrat!)

Then I ran the horses in and saddled up Woody and rode out and found the blind heifer, who is not quite so blind and moved her to where she had better access to good water and feed.

Came home and trimmed Pinky’s front feet and then called it a day. this evening I ran over to Starvin’ Marvin’s where I had left some boots to get half soled. He was working on the second pair when i got there so we had a good visit while he finished them up.

Supposed to go get my ear’s lowered ( as Dad called it when you got a haircut) in the morning and then got a gig tomorrow night in Spearfish. Then up early for the Artist ride on Friday. I will try and have everything loaded so all I will have to do Friday morning is get up, load my horse and go.

Last ride

For awhile anyway. Boys head home tomorrow so this evening we went out and they rode around and around in the corral. They swapped horses, Gabe rode Squirt and Lige rode Beaver. Both got along fine and Gabe even managed a sidepass, with a little help from Grampa.

We took the tractor up north and worked on a creek crossing this morning and this afternoon we took Gramma along and drove down south and turned on a tank for the cattle. The key was gone so I took one from home, but it wouldn’t fit so we had to drive over to another tank and rob one from it.

Then when we got home Gabe drove Purple top get the horses, but he ain’t very good at getting horses in with Purple, so we had to swap out and I drove and he rode along. I am a much better getter in of horses in Purple! Mostly cuz I can control the clutch and gas pedal and brake all at the same time, which my short legged grandson can not. Yet! Maybe someday…… Poor ol’ Lige had to cower in the back at his brothers scary hiccuppy driving!

I have trained on these two well as when asked “Who’s the man? ” they both reply, “Grampa”! I tell them that is really all they need to know, for now. I just love well trained children. 🙂

Sure gonna be quiet around here for a few days. That might just be a good thing. 😉