Preparations for branding tomorrow have hit their full stride.

The shop is cleaned and ready for weary, hungry workers.

The firewood is chopped ready for the branding fire.

The pop is chilled and water jugs filled for thirsty cowboys.

All vaccinations, paint sticks, sorting sticks, brands, needles, syringes, LA200, sulfa pills, lost eartag replacements, camera batteries, and various miscellany are prepared.

The guys are out gathering the pasture and placing the 100+ pairs next to the corral for an early start tomorrow morning.  We make sure they stay there and laugh… one year we were going to gather the pasture in the morning, and brand in the afternoon.  Everyone showed up to help, but the cows had escaped the pasture and headed to our higher mesa pasture.  Greets held a branding and no cows showed up…

It wasn’t funny at the time… they sure didn’t want to go back down as they’d just gone up and it was a fight and everyone was pretty cranky by the time it was all over… so keep your fingers crossed they are still there tomorrow!

While the guys are cowboying… I’m cooking.

I LOVE  to cook.

I’m another Pioneer Woman.

Watch cooking shows all day long.

Choke.

Gag.

OK.

I cannot tell a lie.

I HATE cooking.

yecch.

But it is my role, so I do it.

The brownies are done.

Potato salad is being made (before I took a break to do this!)

Peach cobbler smells terrific.

Strawberry rhubarb cobbler is in the oven.

Roasts were cooked days ago.

Salads are left.  I’ll start them when I quit this.

Organization is left… until tonight when I get most of it loaded in my Durango.

I cook for 30 people… 20 or so might show… our next branding is the bigger one…

but that’s 2 weeks away and I don’t want to think about it right now.

Please.