Long day, short night

Couldn’t sleep last night. I’d start to drift off and some stupid thing would rattle my cage in my brain. Finally got up and watched a stupid old western movie. Sure didn’t want to get up when the alarm went off this morning. Did my chores and ran down to see if I had left the tank on down south and fix some fence a guy ran thru’ the other day. Windmill was froze up, the other tanks were about dry so I figured I must have shut them off and just forgot. After I discovered the pump rod was froze on the windmill I drove back to turn on the tank over farther west. Turned it on and didn’t seem like it was doing much, but it’s a long ways from the well so decided I’d just check it this afternoon. Came home and ate a bite and putted around on the computer. Tried to take a nap but got a call and that woke me up enough to say the Hell with it. Drove back down south and checked and no water. Drove over to the well and something ain’t working on it now, tho; it was earlier. Came home, called my well guy and he has the flu. Sounds like it’s probably just the box and I probably could fix it, but I am a pure coward when it comes to electricity. I hate to change the batteries in my flash light! I will call another guy this evening and see if we can get it fixed as I’d like to kick some cows back down on all that left over grass.

Been working in the leather shop the rest of the afternoon. ‘Bout got the project whipped. I will post a picture (if I can remember to take one of it) after Christmas. Wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s Christmas surprise!

I got some phone calls this afternoon and tried to run down a guy to come make the pellet stove work, and a part for it, just in case that is the problem. Sure wish we’d have gotten a different stove. This one sticks inside the fireplace and it’s a pure pain to work on! Can’t get much response for the company or the guy who sold it to Cindy. Dammit!

Another one

Beautiful day. Little breeze out of the southwest. Gramma and the little boys went with me to feed and then we ran the horses in and I caught Mijo and rode up west and brought the cows in. took all 3 dogs along and they worked well. Some how Buck has gotten a pretty bad cut in the skin on his flank. Doesn’t look like stitches would work to good and it hasn’t slowed him down too much. After we got the cows in, the dogs kept after them ’til we got them all penned in a smaller corral and then me and Mijo let them out or by, depending if it was a cow we wanted to keep in or not. Cows worked smooth and easy. Got that done, so we penned the bunch out in the hog pasture with the calves into the big corral and let them stand until later. I put Mijo up and went to the house for dinner. Swiss steak with all the fixin’s. I took a nap with Gus and then afterwards I went out and sorted all the calves off from the new cows and kept them in and let the cows back out in the hog pasture. Chance hadn’t gotten here yet so i went ahead and started branding the cows that needed it. About half way an old cow went down and wouldn’t get up and I had to get the loader to pop the head catch.

he still wouldn’t get up and out. I was pretty perplexed as to what to do and had about decided to use the chain and the tractor to drag her out when Chance got there. We dis assembled one side of the chute and had to work pretty hard to get her out even then! Finally got her out and she couldn’t walk. Must have pinched some nerves or her front end was asleep or something. She finally got up and tottered off.

In the process of freeing her two cow in the chute coming up to the squeeze chute escaped so I helped Chance get the others in the chute, stepped on Mijo and went and got the other two in. We got them done, and all put back out, fed some hay for tomorrow and sorted the heifer calves off to Bangs vaccinate tomorrow. The old cow who went down was traveling well. So all turned out okay. I am off to a meeting tomorrow after we get the calves done.

Chance and Hope stuck around until about 7 and headed back. Hope left some of the tiny little cakes she and her sister had made and sold most of yesterday. They are so cute and taste great too! Yeah, just what I need, more tempting, fattening food!

Glorious!

Day here today! We had gotten an inch or two of white fluffy snow, but it’s mostly gone after today with temps up to or exceeding 40! Makes me remember why I like this country! There was a huge full ‘ol moon last night and all that white snow. If it had been warmer and the NFR wasn’t on, I’d have hooked up the team for a moonlit ride. Cindy brought Sam and Gus home with her as Hope had a deal with her baking and cool cakes she makes, so they are staying here for the time. Chance and Hope will come out tomorrow as we have a little cow work to do with some of their cows. Supposed to be pretty nice tomorrow also. the boys and I hooked up the team and fed hay then hauled some bean up west to the cows and they drug along in back on the calf sled. Only spilled them once! They sure enjoyed it. They told their mom they had to come out to “help” me! 😉

Glad someone is watching out for the old geezer.

Now we are off to Mass and then back for the final round of the NFR. Cody Taton, a local guy originally, is the saddle bronc riding director and gets to pick the broncs that go to the finals. Man, has he done a great job. In the eliminator round, bothy nights, only 4 guys made qualified rides. That is almost unheard of. I’ve been staying up and dvd’ing the saddle bronc’s and watching the dogging and team roping. Haven’t paid too much attention to the rest, tho’ once in awhile I watch a bull ride or two. We have some local people down there and it’s fun to see them do well. Especially Chuck Schmidt who is an ice young feller and it’s his first trip there. He’s won one round and placed in enough others to have made a pretty good pay check. Sutton’s have a horse named “The Chuckulator” who is supposed to be named after him and he’s a great bronc. Another local, Tom Miller is one of the judges.

Chad Ferley hasn’t drawing the best horses and got bucked off last night. But he is still pretty high in the standings, but don’t look like he has a chance to win it for the year. His father passed away suddenly about the time this was starting 9 days ago. So I am sure that is on his mind.

Jesse Bail has had some tuff luck, but won some money also.

And that dang Jesse Wright from over on the line of Utah and Wyoming is a bronc riding son of a gun! Man, that kid can fit a ride! There are 7 boys in that family I hear and 5 were traveling to rodeo’s this year. Good luck to all of them folks down there in Vegas. Sure glad I can watch it on TV. Thank GAC, you guys are doing a great job.

Where to get more

Of DW Grothe’s poetry. (You know, the guy who wrote the Christmas poem I posted on here the other day)

Just drop him a line at

D W Grothe

Box 144

Bainville, Montana 59212

And he will sell you a book or two, I am sure. Or just got to Cowboypoetry.com and do a search or look under the headings. Cowboypoetry.com is the official site of cowboy poetry on the web and a great place with updates and a great source to find old and new poems.

Christmas

I have a good friend who is one of the best poets/singer/songwriters out there. he always goes to so much effort to send out his version of a Christmas card, every year. Hand written out with art work. I got this years the other day and asked if I could share it. I think it’s one of the best ever written. Way to go D Dub!

Christmas (A Poem)

When the hectic rush of summer
dwindles off and fall is on,
after harvest, after weaning,
after calves are shipped and gone,
and once again the hunter strides
across the skies from dust ’til dawn…
Christmas comes to mind.

Shifting snows soft cover stubble
in the chilling late November,
and in the day what once rode high
is now a lowly, waning ember
fading fast. We wend our way
through the deepening December…
As Christmas comes to mind.

Yet, through it all you know the need,
the need for rest, the need for night,
as bales roll and straw is spread
in this bleak and frost-shot sight.
When winter chores come slow and sure
awaiting the approaching light…
Christmas comes to mind.

For what is Christmas, but a flame
that the darkness cannot sway.
Like a love that never left
but simply hid itself away,
to be found among the shadows,
keeping promise of the day…
Christmas.

© 2011, DW Groethe

Dead Horse Theory

I got this in an email from a friend. Very observant and  explains many things well.

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that:

 

When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, your best strategy is to dismount.

However, in our government more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:

1. Buying a stronger (and more expensive) whip.

2. Changing riders.

3. Appointing a committee to study the horse.

4. Arranging trips to other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses.

5. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

6. Reclassifying the dead horse as living-impaired.

7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase efficiency.

9. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase dead horse’s performance.

10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse’s performance.

11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some live horses.

12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.

And of course….

13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

 

 

If you don’t understand the stupidity in this reasoning, you probably are happy with the way our tax money is being spent….and that would make you part of the problem..

Busy

Had a neighbor drop over this morning to have me look at a saddle. Unfortunately, it was going to cost more to fix it than the saddle was worth and they could jury rig it up and make it get by for awhile.

Then Cedric, they guy I did the leather work on for the camera for, stopped in to drop off a picture. He stayed for dinner and then we went out and tried to get some shots of the horses in the corrals with the camera.

Then, about the time we were getting done, here came another neighbor with a load of cows. Cedric took some pictures of him with his truck then we went in the house where it was warmer and had coffee and some cherry roll that Cindy had made. I am waiting for the tractor to warm up to go give the cows a bale.

While working on a leather project for a lady yesterday I did a boo boo and so needed more leather, so we ran to Rapid to get some and do some Christmas shopping.

It was a great night at the Finals for us last night as all the South Dakota saddle bronc riders got a check. Poor ol’ Cody DeMoss with his busted shoulder tried to ride one but couldn’t quit get it done. I’ve heard a few remark they thought he was kind of stuck on himself. Might be so, but he can dang sure ride and he’s gritty! And that dang Jesse Wright is a bronc ridin’ son of a gun! Spurred plumb over the mane on his saddle bronc and won his third round! Boy, that guy can ride too. Great boncs and riders down there this year! Hats off to Red Lemmel and the ones responsible for the bronc there!

Pretty nice day today. Lite south breeze and almost up to thirty. Supposed to blow tomorrow tho’ with a slight chance of snow.