Today

Please take a moment to honor the ultimate sacrifices made by our military men and women so that we may enjoy all our days.

We did get our friends calves branded yesterday.  Tally wrestled her first calf, and baby slept the day away in her stroller in the branding pen!  It was a good day of work, but also of visiting and catching up with friends.

My uncle is supposed to brand today, but we have had an inch of rain since last night, so I have my doubts if that will get done today.

We are trying to talk Big D into branding ours on Wednesday, as the sun is supposed to shine.  I shall keep you posted.

Enjoy your memorial day and don't forget to thank the military past and present.

To Brand or Not To Brand?

I hope to be spending my helping my good friends brand their calves.  In order to do that the weather man must be wrong and Mother Nature (after 9 months) will be in a good mood!

So hopefully all goes well and I will have some fun branding photos to share with you!

I Have Proof!!

I know I have mentioned a few times how much I love PW!!  It's true, ask my family and friends!  

I love her blog.  I love her recipes.  I love her cookbook.  Honestly I heart PW!  

Way back in March my good friend J and I traveled many miles to Great Falls to go to one of  PW's Book Signings.  It was so worth the miles.  I left my babies at home, but her son Colter John made the trek with us across the state of Montana.  It was the first road trip J and I have ever take together, and I can't wait until next week when we take the next; but that is another story.

Anyway, however you look at it I love PW.  I bought a few new cookbooks for her to sign.  No, I did not have her sign the cookbook I use, as it is falling apart.  Both Dana and I have used that cookbook so much it is falling apart.  

The pages don't even stay in anymore.

I wasn't kidding, its falling apart at the seam!

Falling out all over.  And you can't even see the stains from splatters from our cooking!

See the broken seam??  This is the first cake I have ever baked from scratch in my whole life!

OHHHH...cinnamon rolls.  To die for.  And so simple I can do it.  

Since Dana stayed home with the babies, and  he enjoyes PW's recipes as much as I do, I had Miss Ree sign a cookbook for my husband!

*the pictures aren't the best, as my four year old insisted on taking them.  Though she might have taken better ones than I would have!*

Kids and Horses

The girls and I spent a few days at my folks' house the other week.  We branded a few, rode some horse and hung out.  These pictures were taken the 14th of May, and it was cold!!  We branded on Friday the 13th, and it was cold.  We could see our breath as we were standing in the branding pen.  My dad snuck back up to the house and put his long johns on.  I was wishing might hard that I had packed a pair of my long johns.  

Despite the cold, the girls got to ride for a little bit.  They were froze when they got back to the house, but they had fun.  I didn't get any pictures, but they had the barrels set up behind the house, and were having fun 'running the barrels at the rodeo'.  

Miss Timber getting ready to ride Shambo.  Shambo is HER horse, just ask her.   Though her Papa will let her believe that, ol' Shambo is one of dad's good horses.  He uses him on the ranch, to rope off of and of course to keep his granddaughter horseback!

I love how Shambo lowers his head to let Timber do her reins.  He knows, and he takes care of her! 

Tally & Abe
Tyann & Streaker
Timber & Shambo

I might add that Tally's Auntie TyTy and Timbers mother TyTy is riding the oldest horse out of the three pictured.  Just thought I should share that fact!  Streaker is an uncle to my horses 6pack and Squirt I have talked about.  And according to Tally, he is a naughty (ie not a kids horse) and she can't ride him.

Streaker is not a kids horse, nor is he a Tana horse.  That horse has bucked me off several times, and tried to several more.  Him and I have a personality conflict, and I am ok with that.  If he has been ridden I can get away with roping out of the branding pen off of him, but that is about it.  When we lived out on the Powder River, we had to gather yearling out of the top pasture, which was 14 sections and had to trail down (another 4 miles) down to the Dippenvat pasture.  About 2 miles from our destination gate, Tyann wanted to switch horses with me.  While Tyann was riding him, he was stumbling as he was sleeping from being so tired.  But I got on and he had his ears back and was gonna buck me off.  I do believe that is the last time I have ridden him.  But that little story was off the subject, so lets get back to Kids and Horses.

We don't believe in ponies at our house!

And they are off!

April 2011

April 2011 came in like a lion and went out with a roar!!  What a storm we had April 29th & 30th!!  Given the circumstances, we should consider ourselves lucky, as we were just on the edge of the storm.  My friends 15 miles away thought I was full of @#$% when I was describing what I was seeing as I looked out my one window I could see out of!  We lost several calves, and a cow which always hurts, but producers to the west and south of us suffered bigger losses than we did.  

The wind and driving snow in the storm pushed cattle through fences, into damns, miles away from home and into coulees where they piled up and died.  Early Saturday morning we got a phone call from my uncle telling us his big herd had pushed threw his fence and were scattered along the county road.

We had several calves that we lost during the storm.  Dana had found one alive, and we brought him into the garage, and I warmed him up and worked on him for quite some time but he didn't survive.  We figured he must have gotten trampled and was hurt inside.

Tally, who is 4, received quite the education during this storm.  Her first lesson was learning how the storm had broken the power lines, and therefore her t.v. and the lights wouldn't turn on.  She also learned how to be quiet while mommy and daddy were busy discussing and weighing our option on what the best plan would be to take care of the cattle.  But probably the biggest lesson was learning that now matter how warm we make sick baby calves, and how much we pray they live, and how sad mom gets when she can't save the baby calf, baby calves can die.

Like I said above, we have to consider ourselves lucky.  We lost very few of our herd.  We had power back within a day.  And most importantly our family was safe through the whole wicked storm.  My one wish is that Mother Nature back off and send us and the rest of the country some nice weather.

Little Miss TC

I was messing around trying to catch a picture of Tenley smiling.  I finally caught a smile.

It Was Brought To My Attention

Awhile back I did a few blog posts about the horses that are standing out in my pasture.  On one particular post I told you all about 6pack, the baby in my herd.  I touched a little on how I have Squirt (the palamino in the first pictures on this post) who is a half brother to 6pack.  It was brought to my attention that I had forgotten to mention another half brother to my 6pack.  I searched high and low on my computer for a picture or two of 6packs other brother and finally found a couple I thought I would share with you.  

So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to Sheriff .  There are three reasons I can come up with on why I forgot about him.  1.  I always forget that Sheriff and 6pack share the same father.  2.  He's my sisters horse, and lives at her house, not mine.  3.  I don't ride Sheriff.

Roping at the BRBR in the Cave Hills of SDakota.

My sister, Taryn Jo, bought Sheriff as a colt from our neighbor down on the Powder River, and broke him as part of a college class.  Since she was a kid, I have often said that she has a special touch when it comes to training dogs and horses, and this horse is more proof for my theory.  So lets hope 6pack turns out as good as Sheriff, if not a little better!  

Going in for the heel shot.  Sheriff is also her breakaway horse.

Taryn and Sheriff leading Dad's rope horse Indain.  Timber warming up Dad's other rope horse Shambo.
*It was brought to my attention, that I don't know Taryn's horses at all.  She is leading her other horse Camo, not dads horse.*


Even though I can't seem to find the pictures, you have to know she uses Sheriff on the ranch for whatever needs to be done.  He really isn't scared of much, but he doesn't really care for kids.  Which is fine, since Taryn has none, and her nieces already have their own mounts!

Taryn & Sheriff, Timber & Shambo at the 2010 Days of '85 Parade in Ekalaka.

So now to close this post I shall ask Taryn Jo one question;  "Happy Dear?"  haha

Crazy Kids

Big Sister Tally was having fun playing 'dress up Tenley' the other day.  

  

Time Flies...

I knew it had been a little bit since I have had time to post, but I didn't realize it had been quite this long.  Sorry.  Things have been hectic around here.  Baby Tenley got sick with RSV and pneamonia and we have a two night stay in the hospital, followed up with a week of treatments at home.  Mother Nature is up to her same tricks, and its been quite the test on patience to try and get seeding done, calves worked and just about anything done outside.  I don't even have my garden in yet!  And since the weather was so icky, the girls and I loaded up and headed south to my parents for a few days.  It was so cold while I was at their house, that dad even snuck in the house the day we were branding and put his long johns on!!  That's right, on the 13th of May he was wearing his long johns.  And truth be told, I was wishing for a pair myself!

We are getting closer to being done seeded.  We are better off than alot of other farmers in the area.  Big D did go ahead and get the tractor and seeded stuck last night.  When he was explaining it to me there were a few cuss words used in his story!  I wish I would have gotten pictures.  They had to go down and get a tractor from his grandpa's house, and on they way back he had to go pull the hired man's tractor out which had gotten stuck while seeding, and then head back and pull his out.  There is never a dull moment around here!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

...hopping down the bunny trail!   The Easter Bunny found the girls, and the girls found their Easter baskets.  My niece, Timber, was here for Easter, and she was a little worried the Easter Bunny wouldn't find her here!  

Timber, Tally and Tenley

Timber checking out her basket

Tally checking out her basket.  FYI, my daughter hates clohtes.

OH!  A Ring pop!!

Look at all the loot!

Hope the Easter Bunny bought the right size!

E.B. left Tally a tackle box.  AND there were bobbers inside!

Timber and Tally helping Tenley with her basket.  

New Heifers

We bought a few new replacement heifers this spring, and I keep forgetting to take pictures of them.  Miss Tally bought 3 heifers of her own, and we bought 4.  Several have calved so far, and they have some nice looking calves at their sides.  Tally's Papa sent her some purple ear tags to put in her heifers and she is very anxious to get them put in!

6pack

Meet 6Pack.  The baby of my herd.  Actually she is in my herd, but truthfully she is my dad's horse.  But we like to share.  6Pack is the last of line.  Years ago, my grandpa had a buckskin quarter horse team named Ned and Nelly.  All his life grandpa wanted a buckskin saddle horse, so when Nelly came up lame and could no longer be put under harness and pull the wagon, he had her bred.  We got 4 colts out of Nelly; Whistler(buckskin), Streaker(buckskin), Dusty(palamino), and Elvira(buckskin).  I got some good and sad stories about these horses, but that's another post.  Several years ago I rode a horse for a guy and got paid and recieved a stud fee.  Dad and I bred Elvira and Squirt (#5 and palamino) was born.  The next year Dad and I took Elvira and had her bred by the neighbors stud and #6 was born.  Therefore we named her 6pack.   I didn't get to put any rides on her myself last summer as I was pregnant, but I can't wait to start riding her!  

Such a sweetie.

She is a duplicate of her uncles, just a little daintier and more feminine.

I can't wait to start riding her!  I have big hopes!

Doctoring Dingy

We gathered the horse herd the other week, as our horseshoer was coming to make their feet look pretty.  This in only the second time I have seen my horses since before Christmas.  We had a long hard snowy winter and the remuda got snowed in in the back pasture and we couldn't get to them.  So needless to say, the horses survived the winter on their own.  They came in a little skinny, but they don't look half bad.  On a normal year (less snow and no new baby and no surgery for me) the horses would have been gathered awhile ago and I would have long since been riding.  But, I couldn't so they weren't.  

Cody, the horseshoer, does an excellent job, and I am so thankful I have found him.  It has taken me 6 years to find a good horseshoer in this country.  He did find an abcess on Dingy's back hoof, so Tally and I had to do some doctoring.

Soaking her hoof in some epsom salt.

My trusty assistant patiently waiting to help.

All doctored up with a shiny new hoof! 

Yes, sir!  That there is duct tape on her hoof!!  

Alive and Well

Not being able to get to my horses for several months and not seeing them, I kept praying that my herd was surviving the winter alright.  My horses are not used to any pampering or extra care, but this winter was harder than most.  I was relieved when then finally decided to come in on their own and all of them were accounted for!