Life's moments

 How in the world are we half way through June?  Seriously!  Time flies when life happens :)  We have had some wonderful moments this month and others that I wish I could erase.  But, that is life.  It's happy, funny, sad and wonderful. 
We have officially become a part of the Shoesole Group which you can read more about here.  Since it was our first tour we had to try to cram a lot of info and scenery into one day.  It was great to show people what we've done and what we hope to do to keep improving on things here. 
Wee Boy got to listen in on the sounds of nature because a film crew was along on the tour.  They are documenting beaver activity and getting some stories from people who have beaver in their part of the world.   

 We were given the go-ahead to maintain some projects we'd been wondering about...

 ...and we got to showcase an area that had been overrun by brush, but, because we had fed cows there during the winter, some of the brush was beat down and grass came back. 

 We toured the burn and were pleased with the reaction from those who had seen it immediately after.  The plants look good even though we've had a couple of dry growing seasons. 
As a whole, the tour was a great success and we got to visit with some great people for two days.  It's becoming my favorite activity of the year.   I am grateful that we are a part of it. 

 The horrible news and the day I'd love to take back, happened two nights ago.  I lost my little dog, Hagen after a too short life that made a huge impact.  She was special to me for many reasons.  She was a gift to me from my best friend which makes it all the more difficult to lose her.  I still don't have the words to express how I feel.  It's hard to let an animal into your life, knowing that someday they will leave it after becoming a friend.  We can't lose them and have heartbreak if we don't own them.  There is a very empty void around here without Hagen to herd the chickens, play with the cats and annoy the big dogs.  My truck is lonelier and the yard isn't as fun. 

There are many moments in this life that remind us that we are human...that remind us that what we have to overcome is small in comparison to many things...But, through it all, we have to learn how to ask and look for what we were meant to learn in each experience.
I'm still working on that...

Cows go marching two by two...

 It's that time again!  The cows are up the mountain!  It took some creative thinking and some help from our friends at the neighboring ranch.  When Husband and I came out here, one of the selling points was that we could handle what needed to be done without hiring help.  And for about 90% of the tasks, it's true.  But this pasture has one direct route that we have access to and it didn't take long to realize, two people can't make it happen.  The first year our cows went up, they had no idea where they were going and it took us and 7 others a full day of pushing and prodding and hollering to get them up the hill. 

 Last fall they followed Husband up without any riders following, because the cows had been weaned from their calves and all they cared about was eating.  There are three things that will make a cow go pretty much anywhere:  water, food and a calf.  This spring we planned ahead a little (sort of) and knew we would put a truck loaded with hay, in front of them to get them headed up. 
The first trip was made on very short notice.  We were loaded up and headed for a meeting in town, when Husband discovered that the cows were thinking pretty hard about taking fences apart to get to the meadow.  He made phone calls and within an hour or so, 4 of our friends showed up. 
I drove in front of the cows while those on horse back kept the calves coming along. 
We made the trip with the bulk of the herd in a little over an hour.

 We regrouped over the next couple of days, made a plan with the neighbors again and headed up with the last of the cows, calves and bulls. 

They ended up passing me at the top and motored away to find some mountain grass.  So the hard part is over for another season.  The interesting part will be gathering them again and counting heifers.  They like to travel and may visit the farthest corners they can reach.  But, their calves will come in grass fat and happy.

And of course, in other news, I have one chick :)  The hen still has two more eggs to hatch so we shall see...
Happy Memorial Day!!

Did you learn anything?

It's time, once again, to start figuring out how we are going to get the cows up the switchback.  This fall, we took dry cows up and they followed the truck

They went up really well because they didn't have calves to worry about.  This spring though, is a different story.  Not only do they have calves to worry about, but the river is also high from the runoff. 
Some of the older calves have figured out how to bail in and swim across, but the calves that are only a couple of weeks old aren't any where near making that attempt. 
We're moving them in stages from one field to another to make sure we get everybody out of the willows and paired up.  And we have to give it time to let the young calves get a bit bigger and bolder.

We have one bridge that leads across the river to the road that goes up the switchback.  Yesterday I drove the feed truck across while Husband followed on his horse and brought the cows to the bridge.  They slowly worked their way across.  Well, about 20 of them did anyway.  The rest ran into the willows up river and swam across anyway. 
The good news is, they made it across the river.
This morning (and this is where my "did you learn anything" comment applies) there were about 20 pair in the original field and we needed to get them into the main herd.  We took them the long way, which didn't involve the river, because they had the newest calves with them. 
As we left the yard, Husband on his horse and Wee Boy and I on the quad, the sun was out and it was warm.  I gave a brief thought to grabbing a sweater for each of us....and then I let it go.
My job was to open gates and help clear the willows into the next meadow.  We made the majority of the trip with great success and when we were in the last legs of clearing the willows, the clouds rolled in and it started to rain.  I was already wet from crossing the creek a couple of times.  And there might have been one instance when I attempted to clear a ditch on foot and my foot got stuck in the mud making my knee land in the water and pulling my shoe off.  That might have happened...
So, when the rain started to fall, my teeth started to chatter.  If you've ever driven a quad in cold weather, you are also aware that it doesn't take long for cold, wet fingers to start to turn into numb, nonfunctioning popsicles.  I'm not whining, this is just how it was.
Wee Boy had a vest on and remained cheerful throughout.  At one point, I pulled the quad into a stand of willows to use them as shelter from the cold drops that were running in tiny rivers down my back.  That worked quite well until Husband hollered and I had to go back and find a lone cow that crossed the river ahead of him. 
By the time we met up, my lips were blue and I was shivering.  Husband offered me his horse and said if I rode back, I'd warm up...Hmmmm, a walk back to the barn or 4th gear on the quad. 
"No thank you.  I'll drive back."
It took me all afternoon to warm up again.  The whole time I was huddled under my blanket, drinking coffee, I was thinking how sometimes, we have to do something dumb, so we remember why we are never going to do that again.
Or does that kind of stuff just happen to me? :)

Spring Preparations

 We go through this insane cycle every spring.  Husband starts thinking about all the things that have to be done before.  Before what?  I don't know, but he starts stressing and planning and pacing and asking and doing, all at once.  We have to irigatebrandcalvesvaccinatecowsdragmeadowsfixfencegetcowsoutgetwateron right now.
It all happens when it needs to happen, but there's always that first few days of May that make him just a little bit insane. 
The picture of him and Tim by the rock has absolutely nothing to do with anything other than, they thought they could roll it down the hill...the rock is still there. 

 We hauled dirt to some ditches and paths where water has been escaping since the beginning of time.  If were going to have another dry summer, he wants to take full advantage of every drop of water.

 I drove the old dump truck and that is the biggest steering wheel I think I have ever seen in my life...

 We dropped boards in the diversion and watched the water take off. 

 Husband always has to stand in the ditch and make sure random twigs, branches and other assorted debris doesn't plug the pipes.  Plugged pipes are bad ;)

 Run water, run!!!

 Wee Boy tells me the other day that I can saddle his horse for him while he's driving the tractor.  Little does he know how happy it makes me to see him on the tractor.  I'll saddle his horse forever if he'll take my place on the tractor. 

Precious face, isn't it? 
I smell rain somewhere today.  It hasn't hit us yet, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.  Have a great daY!!!

Spring springing

What a painful experience getting pictures to load.  Man!  It's taken two days now.  I blame the wind and HughesNet :)
Anyway, we've been traipsing around the mountain permit where the cows are supposed to go this summer.  We (as in Husband) fixed fence in a couple of places and we explored springs and checked grass growth. 
I finally spotted the first wild flower growing out among the rocks.

You have to try pretty hard to see it, but that is a lion track.  I headed up the draw at one of the springs to see what I could see.  I took a couple steps beyond the pond and found that. 
You know that creepy feeling you get on the back of your neck when you feel like something is watching you?  I instantly got that  feeling and my curiosity about what was up ahead was gone in a flash. 

We hiked to the first layer of rocks you can see to fix a gap fence.   It doesn't look all that steep from here, but on the way up, Wee Boy was crawling and I was walking behind him to assist.  On the way down, Husband's dog, Mary, was using us as a brace. 

But what a view, eh?

Can you see where we left the truck?  It's there, I promise.

This guy came up over the hill while we were driving around.  He would come toward us, stop and watch and then take a few more steps.  He wasn't too concerned about us being there.  To give you an idea of how close he was, that picture was taken on my iPhone out the driver's side window with no zoom.  Cool, right?

The springs are flowing and recharging the ground after such a dry winter last year.  Things are looking better and the grass is growing.  As much as I am ready for warm weather, I have to admit that we need more snow.  But, we'll take what we get and make changes and adjustments as needed. 
Onward!

The reason we were late.

 We headed out to feed yesterday morning, knowing that we had just the right amount of time to get the cows fed and head down the road for our 10 AM meeting. 
I looked across the meadow and spotted a cow tipped over, obviously dead, and said, "what the heck is that?" 
Husband pointed the truck in the cow's direction.  There was obviously nothing we could do, but we wanted to see who it was and why she tipped over and died.
One should note that driving a 1-ton pickup, loaded with 25 bales of hay across a wet meadow, is not a good idea.  Not at all...

 We were so intent on making it across the field that Husband didn't pay attention to where we were driving and we wound up in the swampiest part of the meadow that we could find.  Which is how things usually work when you want to be somewhere.

I stood next to the truck to keep the bales from being pulled off by the cows.  Husband headed across the meadow toward the house to get the backhoe.  I figured it would be 30 or 45 minutes before he got back so I settled in to entertain myself with my job as guard of the hay.

 This cow had no problems eating around me.  She wasn't snotty, but she didn't think I was very scary either.  I need to work on that...

The calves thought we made an interesting addition to their day.  Wee Boy opened his door at this point and said "oh dang it!" and closed the door again.  I guess he wanted to be on time...

Husband rounded the corner of the meadow much sooner than I thought he would.  We both forgot that the backhoe was in that area anyway because of ditch work he'd been doing.  Lucky for us...

We finished feeding in record time, identified the cow and made it to the meeting.  We were 20 minutes late, but we made it.  That's what counts right?
I am learning that as long as cows are involved, there is no such thing as "on time."

An explanantion

Man.  I have been catching some grief about the length between posts.  And I am sorry for that.  There are two reasons...
1.  I've had a hard time with creativity and things have happened that seem to be similar to what I posted last year.  I'll try to get more creative ;)
2.  You've heard it said that behind every successful rancher, is a wife who works in town. While that isn't entirely true, that is the joke that makes the rounds.
When Husband and I moved out here, I left behind a teaching job.  I looked in to the possibility of teaching online, but the deeper we dove into the workings of this place, the sooner it became evident that I needed to be able to help Husband at a moment's notice.  Online teaching wouldn't allow that. 
For the first year we made it all work on one income.  But, that's hard to do with a family to feed and unexpected expenses that can come up.  I started researching options for work from home.  What I found right away is that every shyster  out there has an "opportunity" for you to work from home. 
To make a long story short, I have found my second passion could be turned into a career opportunity from the comfort of the office on days like today, when it's snowing, blowing and 31F. 
Anyway, I have taken my love of exercise and helping people realize their potential and partnered with Beachbody as an independent coach.  Some of you have found the link on the right side of the page that takes you to my "web site in progress."   I also have a Facebook Page where I post tips and answer questions on a daily basis.  I work with people to help them find a love of exercise and healthy eating and can also help them get started with their own coaching business if they are interested. 

I share this with you because you've been wondering where the heck I've been.  Now you know.  :)  And I'll be there for a while.  I am very happy to say that the two things I love most in this world, ranch life and health and fitness, are the two things that I am involved with every day.  I'd love to have you visit in both places and I appreciate your support. 

On that note, I will add that this spring weather I told you about before has definitely been wintry.  I know that doesn't make sense, but it is what it is.  Since the first day of spring, we have looked outside each morning to find snow on the ground.  I took the WeeBoy to preschool on Thursday and traveled on a road that was a sheet of ice.  One semi had flipped his trailer over, on the side of the road.  We had to sit in traffic for an hour because of another 3 car/semi wreck on a narrow part of the highway.  It was not a good day to be out and about, but we made it to and from, safely. 
Today we've cycled from snow to sun to snow, off and on all day.  And of course, the wind came with it.  Usually we expect a dozen cows to calve in weather like this, but they have done the opposite.  There has been one new calf in three days.  Perhaps they are smarter than we thought.
I'm battling a cold and the boys are going stir crazy. 
Dear Mother Nature,
You did see on the calendar that spring has begun, yes?  We would love to have some 60F days without wind.  Go ahead and throw in one day per week with a nice, warm, gentle rain.
Thanks in advance...
Ruby :)