Today is the 9th annual National Day of the Cowboy. Fully recognized as a permanent day of celebration in seven states, with more coming on board, NDOC has growing support. It’s a heritage I’m proud to celebrate… and while I didn’t do too much “cowboy” activity TODAY, let’s have fun with it anyway! I’ll share…
We Have Elk! Video
Turn up your volume. Turns out, you HEAR the elk tons more than you see them! I knew they were there in the trees… and I could see flitting patches of warm brown fur between the trees, much better than my camera could. The call between cows and their calves is haunting, and desperate, and…
We Have ELK!
Last night the decision was made to move our cows. They are up in our high mountain pasture, which, unfortunately, has a fair amount of larkspur in it. Tall purple larkspur, while a somewhat attractive wildflower, is also highly toxic to cattle. It also must taste ok, because they’ll eat it! The older it is…
Artistic Wool Felting
Progress in the studio: The last sheet is in place, though not screwed down. Or up. Depending on your perspective. Yes, I plan to paint this side just like the other, but I was more concerned about using the lift than painting. Hopefully, a few minutes of attaching it, then it’s off to the other…
Ranchwork
I spent almost a half an hour trying to shove a piece of OSB onto two weak lightweight sawhorses before I got totally disgusted and just leaned it against the bottom logs and sawed out the hole for my light switch. I think I said a Bad Word. But when I finally raised it to…
I Did It Myself
I spent the day in my studio… listening to Willa Cather’s O Pioneers! and repeatedly raising an OSB sheet to my ceiling. Since the walls are neither straight nor square, I had to continually trim more and more from the edges, of course, lifting/cranking/sawing/cursing/hammering/shoving it back into place each time. It took six tries, but…
Today’s Mix
Company left after lunch, and it’s back to the quiet house. Dally is doing better. The vet was leaning towards musculoskeletal problems rather than heat stress… some old hide probably got a good shot in, unknown to me! Stupid cows. I posted a video from the other day on my Red Dirt Facebook page, and…
Brown, Black, White
Brown Horse in black and white… Full day… still have a kitchen to clean up… so I’m going to neglect you! Thanks for all the well wishes for Dally. She’s moving better and faster. She still is sore and has a little wobble to her hips, but much better! Thanks for your concern!
It’s HOT Out There
We rode out 2 miles in the cool of the morning, and Dally drank from a few puddles. The cows came well, and back at home, we crossed the creek. Another bit and we crossed the creek again. Up the hill and down the highway… slowly, letting the herd graze and eat their fill. We…
Fragments
The morning came to me in fragments. The tell tale dust rising above the tall sagebrush was a simple clue that cows were walking through it. Brown Horse stepped on crusted dried mud, or crispy and crunchy sagebrush, or a spray of fine dust sifted at every hoof print, depending on our location. Birdsong welcomed…