Dennisranch

‘Nuther one

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — Still wet behind the ears

Found this one this evening. While looking for the twins, this ol’ rip took her calf and headed out about a quarter of a mile, because I got to close. Heck, I couldn’t even get close enough to get a good picture and I zoomed in after I downloaded the picture. Had to go back and find the twin and haul him in with his mother. Wind is supposed to howl tomorrow and some rain. At this time of the year I don’t trust the weatherman too much so moved all but this cow in the picture and another cow who calved yesterday, in to the buildings behind a windbreak. The two out in the pasture are behind a tree shelterbelt and have pretty good protection. Slight bit dampish out there this afternoon and evening. April showers!

Morning rounds

Busy

I caught Beaver this morning and me and him and Bob and Shadow got all the bovines in the corral. About that time, Delbert showed up, so we put most in the back alley and started putting about 5 or 6 head into the alley leading into the working chute. I’d spray them down with de-licer/de-wormer and then turn them out and Delbert would open the gate and we’d run some more in, etc. until we got them all done. then we drove over to Punkin Center to eat some lunch. After dinner I went out and caught got back on Beaver, rode up west and got them horses in, then caught Pilgrim and rode up west to check creek crossings and fences. I need to do some work on all of them. Then when I got back I caught Ron and Roz and pulled off their hind shoes. As I was about done, another neighbor from the west of me showed up and we drove out and looked at the cows, as I was pretty sure I had one of his. I do and will return her when it is handy. We also found my red horned cow with twins and two cows of Chances who each had a calf. Guess I should have worked them earlier, if that was all it was going to take to get them going! 😉

So we are offically calving. Not sure yet what I will do with the exrta twin, but Darrel said if I have the luck he has had with them twins they had this year, one would probably die and I wouldn’t need to worry about it!

Don’t tell Cindy! She will want to pull one off and make a dang bucket calf out of it!

All thought, that might not be all bad, if I sent it up to Chance and Hope for them little boys to raise! 🙂

Course then to keep things fair I’d have to send one to Tate and Kass for their boys and I don’t think they are zoned for bucket calves, where they live!!

After I got done feeding I caught up Crackerjack, trimmed his feet and worked with him in the round pen and even rode him around a little. The young man I sent him to last spring/summer sure got him sacked out good. He never turned a hair!

Sure was a nice day. Got up to 60 or better and we are getting a gentle rain with some thunder.

Jill

Got word last night that a friend of mine passed away. We had met thru’ my ad for saddle making in the Cowboy magazine. She had a horse who was giving her a hard time and she wondered if the saddle might be the problem. After some phone calls and long conversations, the upshot of it was she came here to the ranch with the horse and we checked out her saddle and the horse and tried a couple of my saddles on the mare. I told her I thought it was just the horse, but she wanted me to build her a saddle anyway. So I did. The next spring she drove here from where she lived in Indiana to visit friends and relatives and spent a day with me and went with along to a neighbors branding and had a great time.

She was such a good hand and so full of life, but on her way home, blacked out while driving down the road. The friend riding with her in the pickup grabbed the wheel and steered the pickup to a safe stop. When she got home they did tests and found a tumor. There was an operation and chemo and radiation, which she really didn’t want. As she told me, “I am not afraid of dying, but I don’t want to be a vegetable.”

She regained most of her motor function, but had difficulty forming the words she wanted to say. It was so sad to see someone who had so much life get to this position and she hated it, but her husband decided for her to do the treatment. Now she has passed on to a better place.

Jill, lots of us will miss your wit and wisdom and zest for life. Rest in peace, my friend.

Way cool!

Guess who called me tonight?

Jeffro!

Good to visit with you Jeffro.

For those who don’t know, Jeffro drives truck and posts a blog. I read him often and it’s always nice to hear the voice behind the blog. Sure hope we get to meet face to face in the near future. Nice guy doing a hard job. Gob bless the knights of the road!

Hers a link to his blog. Check it out. http://crazedpw.blogspot.com/

Putted around this morning, working on some music and then picked up old plastic baler twine and stuffed it into old salt sacks. I was afraid to burn as the wind was supposed to come up. And then Dean, Brad and Rick stopped in about noon. Had a good, but short visit.

After I got done with my feeding today, I hooked on to my small horse disc and hooked a section of harrow to it and went out and disc’d on the old cow patties and left over hay out east of the house where they were pretty thick and deep. Sure did the team good! But they got sweated up and tired and I didn’t want to sore their shoulders so stopped before I was done, but have plans of doing more the next few days. Wish I had some help so I could hook the fillies on with them. Maybe when my niece Crystal gets here she will help me. She is supposed to fly in on Sunday.

I worked on a saddle I am replacing the rigging in too.

I also called and made an appointment to get me ears checked. I know I need hearing aids and tried one some years back and hated it, but these newer ones are much better and not as expensive as they used to be. Maybe I will be able to quit saying, “What?” all the time.

4/4/11

Still windy, but not quite as hard. Chilly last night but got up to 50 this noon or so.

I loaded up Lena, the filly and took her up to Brad for another 30 days of riding. Then came home, unhooked the trailer and loaded Gramma up and we went to Punkin Center and got a couple new tires put on the rims for Purple. Getting time that it would be handy to be able to drive him around again. Not so easy with two flat tires. I think them older tires could probably have been patched to hold air, but they were pretty badly weather checked. We ate out at the Bull Creek Cafe while we waited for them to fix the tires. Then home and putted around and did chores.

Cindy made some home made chicken and noodles and some fresh bread and we ran some up to a neighbor who is not feeling well and having a tuff time of it.

I have a saddle to work on for another neighbor that hopefully I can get done tomorrow. As good as the mud is drying up, I really ought to get them Halflinger fillies going better and get some of them coming 3 year old fillies in and get to putting miles on them. We are supposed to start getting calves with in the week, but so far none look to be bagging up. Probably waiting for some snow or such! 😉

Windy

I could use that same word for most posts seems like. Almost always windy here. Oh well, that is what made it cattle country.

Just back from Mass. Fr Marcin has done a great job in getting people to come to Mass and we have several young couples with young children there now almost every weekend. It’s sue good to see and hear them youngsters at church.

Tate and Kass came out Friday night and stayed for the weekend. They have Kass’s niece Kia living with them. A sixteen year old girl sure helps Kass with the kids.

In a couple weeks or less, niece from Switzerland, Crystal, is flying over to spend 5 weeks. I am looking forward to it. I haven’t seen her mother in years, except in photographs. Her mother Bridgette, is my youngest sister. She was not raised with us, but grew up in Switzerland. She did come over and stay for about a year when Cindy and I were engaged and courting. She was here for the wedding and then had to go back that spring, if I remember right. Crystal has never been here to the US before. She is a motorcycle mechanic and my older brother Van has a motorcycle and is in to them, so they will have fun together. Also my older sister Renae who lives in Arizona is saying she will come up, to meet Crystal and visit us all. She hasn’t been here in years also. She was raised in a different family and we didn’t find each other until we all grew up.

UPDATE On the way home from church, Tate and Kass decided to go “sight seeing” down south. They got into a spot that was a lot softer than they realized and buried their little SUV. So Tate came to get me while I was posting this entry on here. It’s a good thing we had a great big spool of one inch nylon rope that Tate brought home with him from Missouri years back. Hooked on with my Dodge and had to bounce it a few times, but got them free. I don’t have much for tires with tread on Teddy and it’s really soft, so we got lucky. I should have went and got the team to pull him out, but they are not in the barn and the family was anxiously awaiting us inside the vehicle. Oh well, live and learn.

more phunny photo’s

Addy Bear

Hope stopped in with the kids last night and spent the night. Me and all 4 boys went out for a spell this morning until we got cold hands from snow balls and a snow man. Well, more of a snow monkey really. When I came in Addy was setting here in front of me so I took some shots to prepare her for her life as a model or starlet. 😉

Why you, I oughtaaaa…

Melting…

the snow is melting!

Took the team out and fed today, early, so I could meet up with Ken this afternoon and work on the songs. After me and Gabe and Lige got done feeding hay we hooked on to the wagon to haul some bean out with the calf sled hooked on the back of the wagon. They enjoyed that. Took a little tour thru’ the pasture to make sure all the cows came to feed and give the boys a longer sled ride. We went pretty fast, but not fast enough for Gabe. He’s a speed demon and sure thought we ought to be able to go as fast as I had when I pulled them around behind Beaver! I tried to explain that teams like mine are not supposed to go faster than a trot. I did manage to spill them once on some snow I had piled up in the yard. They thought that was great fun! Boy are their parents in for some fun as they get older! 🙂

Supposed to get up to the 40’s tomorrow and 50’s the next day with a pretty fair wind so the snow should be pretty much gone by tomorrow night. And then we have mud! MUD! Woohoo!