Got them sold

Shipped the yearling steers we pastured this summer, on Sunday., Had Cliff, Robert and Jim help. Good crew and it went smooth. Loaded them on trucks about 1:30. Fr Tyler came home Sunday night so he and I drove up to Faith and took a horse along that Keith is taking back home. We got there a little before noon, ate a bite and waited for the cattle to sell. And waited. then we waited some more. Seems like they came thru’ awful slow. Never sold until about 5:30. But they weighed what the buyers were paying the most for, a bit over 800 pounds, and they sold well. Keith was happy. When we got home, Cindy’s sister Cathy was here. they had been making new curtains for the kitchen. We started a fire and cooked up some steaks over the coals and visited until too late. Curtains are made from burlap and look good. Fit the old barn wood in the cabinets and counters. Eventually, this kitchen is going to look pretty cool. 🙂

Hot and some wind yesterday. Flies and heat were terrible in the sale barn.

I rode Mijo up west looking at cattle Saturday and he had a slight limp on Sunday, but I rode him anyway. He was not limping when we got done. Then yesterday when I ran them in to catch Keith’s horse, he was slightly limping. I checked his feet and legs and couldn’t find anything really wrong, but i guess he gets time off until he is moving sound and I will keep watching him.

Cooler

With some wind. Needed my vest this morning. Didn’t by later morning. After I got the horses in I worked on the loading chute. Rebuilt the piece in front that wiggles back and forth so that if a truck is a little crooked it still hits right and doesn’t leave a gap for a critter to stick a foot thru’. Also cut up an old rubber mat and nailed it on the front of the chute on both sides so there should little to no gap when truck backs up to the chute, on either side, up and down, if that makes any sense.

I sold a saddle I built last spring and the guy has such long legs I need to build new sweat fenders and stirrup leathers for him, so I stayed in the house until Sheridan Leather opened and ordered a hide from them, so it will be the same tannery leather. While waiting I built a set of reins for a neighbor and repaired a broken one he dropped off.

After lunch (and a siesta that was shortened by a phone call) I caught Pilgrim, saddled him up, hung a spade bit in his mouth along with the bosal and rode down south and shut gates to keep the cattle a bit closer for gathering on Sunday morning. We will sort off one owners and ship them for him. Pilgrim mouthed the bit for about a quarter mile and then just decided it was plumb okay. I had hung one in him before when I was riding him, before Chance took him. (and made him skinny, the reason he is back here, to fatten up a bit. He is much better looking now) I may not let him have this horse back! 🙂

Tonight I picked a few tomato’s and we had BLT’s, mine on pumpernickel bread. Mmmmm.

I also got to see the proofs for the artwork on my new CD. I can hardly wait. It looks awesome!

Goodbye, Kelvin

Later I will take Kelvin o the airport. We had a last breakfast of bacon, eggs and fresh tomato’s. Then we drove out to look at the pairs. While we were working the calves yesterdays the horses that were out in the pasture all came running up, in the wrong pasture, so this morning we drove out to see how they got there. Someone knocked a gate down and they came in to get a drink. Waterholes in these pastures are just mud holes now so they need to drink at the tank at the corrals. Calves appear to have survived their ordeal, but they are moving pretty slow. A few of the steer calves have some swollen bags, but nothing to worry about yet. I will check on them again tomorrow. Starting to warm a little with a nice breeze out of the northwest.

Here’s a few pictures from yesterday, Kelvin and I took with my camera.

A good day

Good friend, good hands. We got the calves all worked and had a great time doing it. It sure is nice living around here where you can call on these guys for help.

Afterwords Kelvin and I took the bulls back that we had leased and tonight I feasted on Rocky Mountain Oyster, tho’ Kelvin and Cindy didn’t partake… fools… 😉

Little wind and a lot tonight. Not too warm but warmer today. Wish I had watered the corral down as it was a bit dusty.

Tomorrow Kelvin flies home and I will wonder why my friend doesn’t come in and have eggs and bacon and fresh tomato’s for breakfast for me on Thursday morning….

Devil’s Tower

Another good one. Had Bill Cheney from down around Casper, Jim Hamilton from over by Decker, MT and Pat Meade from Iowa all come to sing and recite poems. Chance backed me up on his guitar with hot licks… Poor ol’ Bill had back surgery this spring and 5 days after he had a stroke. He had a nice couple who drove him up and he had to set and we’d hand him the mic, but he sure didn’t have any problems remembering his poems. Great guy! And the weather was beautiful again!
Afterwords the kids followed Kelvin and I to Spearfish and we met up with Cindy and had supper.

Today is Labor Day so we will labor to get ready to work the calves tomorrow.

We went to war

Kelvin rode the Beav and I rode Woody. We took along the Aussie whip and after we found the heifer I let her know just what a whip could do. She seemed somewhat impressed but still had to test us. She was in a pasture about 2 miles long by a mile wide and we used up a lot of it coming back, back and forth and circling trying to get back to the cattle she was visiting. But she ain’t near as fast and tuff as Woodrow! We had our gates all set and we went thru’ them fast! After she got into the next pasture, she jumped the fence and broke one strand of wire we need to go patch, tho’ there are no cattle in it right now. Then she went across my pasture and jumped that fence and broke a wire. Dirty rip!

Not terrible hot this morning. Warming up a little this afternoon.

By the way, the last two saddles I showed pictures of on here are for sale. I will sell them at a good price as both are slightly used. Contact me if interested.

Hotter than Hades!

Got up over 100 today. Kelvin and I rode down south to the next door neighboring pasture and failed in our attempt to bring back a strayed heifer. Dumb little rip wouldn’t drive lead or drag worth a darn. Perhaps with the right application of some braided kangaroo hide tomorrow we will change her mind and attitude.

We decided it was going to get too hot to do much else so we went to Rapid and went on a shopping trip. Money was left in that fair city and also in Spearfish where we went in search of banded collar shirts for Kelvin. I got a new chain on the chainsaw and left the old one for sharpening.

I got a pair of fairly cheap priced Ariat boots as Cindy has been after me forever to try a pair. We shall now see….

Artist Ride

Whew!!!

Kelvin and I went down to the Cheyenne River for the Artist Ride on Wednesday evening. Got our range tepee’s set up and an over head line between two tree’s to tie all the horses to. We took Pilgrim, Beaver, Mijo and Squirt, as Hope and Chance and children were coming down on Thursday evening after Gus got out of school.

Daylight Thursday morning we were up and going. We loaded up Beaver and Mijo and drove up on top to a big flat where all the models saddled up and rode back and forth at mostly, fast speed as the Artist sat on a flat bed being pulled by a pickup, keeping pace, so they could get good photo’s of running horses with Calvary, Indians, old time cowboys and a few modern cowboys. We also did a few different deals with individual artist riding up and down and around on the bluff overlooking the river. Around noon, the light was bad for the artist so we all headed back to camp. Kelvin and I unhooked from the trailer, left the horses fed and watered and rove into Wall and ate a bite, picked up some necessaries for the Boy’s from Illinois, camp ( 5 guys who come out ever year prepared to model anything from Revolutionary War soldiers on up to late date cowboys.) Mountain Man seems to be the one most artist pick to depict them in, maybe as they are very good at it, seeing as several if not all used to go to hunting camp in their buckskins and cut up and pack out the elk and deer. If their skins look real, it’s cuz’ they are! Good guys and many at the ride hang out at their campsite a lot, both artists and models alike. I mean a real lot! Great hosts, and I always try to contribute to the beer cooler and maybe a bottle of selected adult beverage! They get offended if their friend try to pay for some of the beer or food you eat or drink while setting in their camp, so I just get some and some ice and dump it in their cooler. So far, they haven’t stopped me from doing so.
Cindy got down to camp before Kelvin and I got back and was setting in out camp. Later on we set up the big wall tent for the kids. IN the late afternoon when the light gets good, we saddled up and ride to the river to set up different scenes and just try to come up with things that look real and western. the artist take photo’s and then pay the models in tips. We ride in and out of the river with and with out slickers and there are cowboys and Indians, cavalry, towns folk from days gone by and some wagons and teams and this year an ox cart pulled by some ox a 12 year old boy trained himself. Great job with them too and the artists really enjoyed them. We also move longhorn cattle around and up and down thru’ the river and also a herd of horses. Artist make suggestions and once in awhile an artist takes certain model or models off to do a private shoot, which is not open for the other artists to take photo’s of. We do this over and over in different settings and clothes for four days and nights, yes there are night scenes for saloons and bath houses and about anything else from the old west.
I got sick Saturday night as did Hope and Gus./ Not surer what we ate but it was bad. I haven’t been that sick for ages. No, it didn’t have anything to do with beer or other booze.
Got the Master CD in the mail while I was gone so will be getting the new CD done and ready to ship to any and all. I will keep everyone posted who might be interested in one.

Been warmish and dry tho’ a brief rain storm came thru’ camp the other night and two artists got some real good photos of real wet and wind blown cowboys.

Hope and Cindy mostly took the kids around, all dressed up and also with a bum lamb and them artists just ate that up! Cindy even had an old time dress made for her so she could fit in. Models and families pretty much are always dressed up in old time looking or authentic looking clothes from different time periods of the west. Artist mostly just wear street clothes. And no, she doesn’t want a picture of herself in the dress on this blog! Why, I don’t know….