This looks like summer downtime… but 5 minutes before we had pushed a bunch of cows 50 feet away and I had told them to stay in the yard and lay down… and this was their reaction. When people doubt that these dogs come with an “off switch” they need to see this photo and know…
Ahorseback
Daniel rides his Big Red Rooster horse to help sort off pairs. All my children have helped ride since they were about 5… and even riding double for short periods before that. One of my favorite pictures is Brandon in front of me on the saddle sound asleep while trailing on the mountain. We had those…
3 generations
John, Daniel, Vernon, Brandon Greet sorting pairs in the corner…yes, those leaning posts actually have wire on them and pass for “good enough” fence.
Spring trail
It is time FINALLY to turn the cows out to graze…and we’ve been doing exactly that the past three days. It is a time-consuming process. Step One is gathering the pasture they are in and often keeping them in a corner to work them where Step Two takes place. Pairing the cows and baby calves. If…
A Hike
We woke to a covering of snow after two days of 70 degrees. And, although moisture would be welcome, the storm only managed to spit out a pitiful .04 of liquid. And the wind had to partner with the storm, so when I and 4 dogs took a walk this breezy afternoon, I expected a…
Cuteness
Today is Tuesday… the day Lucas and I become reading partners to kids at Ten Sleep School. We have always listened to the 3rd/4th graders read, but today we were thrilled to have the kindergarten class as well! Yes, they can read…and they read one of my favorite authors, Dr. Seuss! Picture this: A little…
From brown to green
The past two days have been a radical change. Our warmest days had been from 45-50 degrees and the nights had remained very crisp and wintery. Yesterday we reached a high of 72 and today was 76. Seemingly overnight the grass has grown. It has struggled and fought to get a start, and now the…
Whoops
I knew I should have checked my spelling…it is Kalahari, not Kalihari… I will correct it! Lucas gave me a scare this morning. He didn’t meet me at the back door, he didn’t come when called, he wasn’t in sight. I took Dally’s breakfast to the kennel and locked her in and began my search. …
King of the Kalahari
I have, for the past three weeks, played “Shuffle the Dogs” while Elsa was in heat. Early morning I’d rotate who would help in the corral, the other would go into the kennel with Dally for the 3 hours that we feed in the morning. Dally is just at the age of wanting to follow…
Family Resemblance
Dally and Lucas survey the badlands scenery while the snow-capped Big Horn Mountains recline behind them.
Tour
Today was the first day we’ve managed to make it out into our “badlands” pastures. These are BLM lands where we run our cattle in conjunction with some other ranchers. We rotate between three pastures, using two a year, in the spring and fall. We will start moving some cattle out in a few weeks…finally…
It seems like forever…
Spring has continued to come to cowboy country…We are over 3/4 done with all our calving, but, yes, there is still one stupid heifer left we still check! Grrr… makes you wish for some oxytocin! The rest of the birds seem to have slipped in…we now hear sandhill cranes clacking in the morning, bluebirds flit…