The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch from the Wife's Perspective

Holiday Recap

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Can you believe Christmas has come and gone?!  Seriously, it has blown past and here we are in a new year full of potential and promise.  I get all giddy inside with the idea of a clean slate and new beginnings.  But before I jump full swing into 2018, I want to take a moment to give 2017 a proper send off. 

I had full intentions of using the holiday down time to get ahead on the space.  I dreamed of a handful of stories and photos written and edited all ready and set to post.  But there came a point that I realized I didn’t really want that.  Or at least there was something else that I wanted more. 

I love you guys and want to give you my time, but there are some people that I love even more and they are my family.  I decided that more than anything I wanted to REALLY be present over the Christmas break to make memories.  I had made a mental Holiday Bucket-List and was ready to give it my all to do them all.  There were a few things that I didn’t get in, but I can’t complain because there was so much that we DID do.

My husband probably hates it, but I like to plan things out.  When I say that I like to plan things out, that doesn’t mean that I have every minute planned, but I like to plan out what I want to do and a good idea of when.  I get scared that if we fly by the seat of our pants too much we may miss out on opportunities of fun that we could have done had we been ready for it.  Hence the reason I make a bucket-list.

What was on my bucket-list?  I’m so glad that you asked!  Sledding.  I love to sled, especially with my kids so that was high on the list and, thankfully, we were blessed with enough snow to have a great time.  In fact, it was so good we went out sledding a couple of times and managed to pull the sleds behind the 4-wheeler and do a little down-hill sledding. 

Also high on the list was our Christmas movie and hot cocoa and donut party.  The Montana Girl and I like to party… a lot… so we come up with whatever we can to have some sort of a gathering and our cozy Christmas night was just right.  I may have been super sick with a head cold so I slept through a fair amount of the movie (that we didn’t even finish), but apparently the sickness and the medicine led to a magical night… at least that is how I remember it.

 On the list is always some sort of Christmas production and for the first year in a long time I was actually about to cross this one off!  I guess I could always consider my kids Christmas program for that one… hmm…  I missed out on White Christmas so this one is going back on for next year!

 Of course it isn’t the holidays without lots of baking.  The hard thing about his item is that if I bake, then I eat them and that just causes its own problems.  I found a solution to it this year- do the baking for our Church Christmas party!  I baked about 17 dozen cookies and I loved every minute of it and I think they did too since there was only a handful of cookies left at the end of the night!

 My mother-in-law started a new tradition years ago that always adds a splash of holiday cheer to our Christmas break- building gingerbread houses!  I went for a graham cracker house this year and I have to admit that it may now be my favorite!  It’s simple and small but when that’s all I had time for it was just PERFECT! 

The Rancher’s favorite tradition I always try to include is a little skeet shooting.  This year it was even more fun because I had my very own, brand new shot gun that The Rancher had given me for Christmas!  He knows the way to this girl’s heart… 

Of course it all wouldn’t be any fun without the people to spend it with.  The family nights of games, movies, and yummy food are always my favorite.  Nothing crazy or fancy, just all of us putting aside the things that are always demanding our attention and coming together to create memories.  We are a pretty lucky family.  Right now we all live close enough together that we have a lot of opportunities to get together and I love that! 

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, friends!  I truly hope that you had a great time so slow down and take the time to love the ones that are close to you.  There is no greater gift at the Holidays than the memories that will last a lifetime!

The Rancher’s Wife

PS- So I was all ready to post this when I realized that I forgot some pretty awesome stuff.  Cowboy Pete had a terrific idea to take a day to go skiing and of course we jumped at that idea.  Although… first ride up the mountain and The Ranch Princess says to me, “Too bad we can’t just ride the lift back down and not have to ski..”  WHAT!!? She didn’t even last one run before she wanted to be done.  She said that she loved skiing.  Really, I think she just loved the lodge.  Maybe next year.

Also… We hiked up the mountain and chopped down the lovliest trees over Thanksgiving in Montana.  And they have dried up and lost ALL their needles!  The saddest little Christmas tree I have ever seen.  Haha… Can you say fire hazard?

Fix up After Fire Season

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As you probably know, things on the cow front are pretty slow right now.  Super slow.  Which is good.  Good because I get to enjoy my husband a little bit more.  But also good for The Rancher to get some of the maintenance work done.  After the summer we had, Locomotive really needs a lot of maintenance.

Our summer was riddled with thunderstorms rolling through our private and allotted BLM ground.  The storms were popping with lightning and too many times that lightning turned to fires that swept across the range.  I got pretty good and recognizing when those moments were upon us.  The Rancher would get a call and you would hear things like, “Where did it hit?” and “Is there any wind?  Which direction is it moving?”  and “Who is there?”.  Then of course there was the, “We will be down there right away!”  At that point I just got some snacks and water and told him to be safe as he headed out the door.

The worst timing was when he got a call on the night of July 3.  We had been gone for the weekend to a family reunion.  We were tired from too much fun and too many miles sitting.  And to top off the terrible timing, my brother and his family were there visiting for the upcoming holiday.  So here comes a fire RIGHT on our land and The Rancher HAS to go.  By brother and his daughter had been hoping for some awesome ranch action so they pile in with all the cowboys and go along with them.  Not quite the action I was hoping to give them but you gotta roll with what ya got.  They loved watching them work the fire, even if they got home in the wee hours of the morning.  That sorta killed my plans for an early morning 4th of July 5K but it was still a great day!

We can only directly fight the fires if it is on our own land.  When that’s the case the boys load up the tractor and disc and head down.  We go around the fire itself and make a line to stop it from spreading any further.  By discing up the grass that fuels the fire we are able to make a barrier to keep it from moving on and eating up anymore of our feed.  But so many of the fires neighbored our land or were moving to our land that it was still prudent that we take the time to go down there and protect our land.  Instead of going around the fire itself, they disc around our land.  Doing this can totally head off the fire from causing any damage on our land.    Its amazing what a rancher in a tractor can do to stop a fire.

Sometimes there can be tension between ranchers and those responsible for putting the fire out on BLM ground.  We have the experience and know-how to get the fire out but we aren’t authorized to do it.  But we are motivated a little more than others to get moving and get the job done because its our livelihood.  Every bit of grass burnt up is feed we lose.  We can supplement the feed with hay either in Locomotive or by bringing the cows home.  But the greater loss is the time we lose feeding down there or not being able to keep the cows in Locomotive to calve out when we have to bring them home.  So you can see how things can be a little tense…

But that stuff is all in the past. Now is the clean up.  Those fires ripped right across the range taking out fences in any direction.  And of course it ate up all the feed, so there was work to be done planting seed for some spring grass.  The Rancher and Cowboy E spent a long week and then some getting things settled and back to the norm for the winter.  It was long and hard but its so satisfying to put the effort in to do a good job to put things right again.

I haven’t been down there myself since all the fires have happened so I asked The Rancher to get some snaps of what the land looks like now.  It is bare and black, but now we have new fences and new seeds planted and ready for a new season of growth.

From The Idaho Rancher's Wife From The Idaho Rancher's Wife From The Idaho Rancher's Wife From The Rancher's Wife From The Idaho Rancher's Wife From The Idaho Rancher's Wife

2018 Cowboy Calendar

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Ah!!  Oh my heavens friends… I’m in big trouble.  I haven’t told any of you here that my calendars are up for sale.  They arrived yesterday and I am so excited to ship them off to their new homes for the upcoming year.  I can’t believe I haven’t shared them with you.  You could have seen them on Facebook or Instagram because I posted them there but apparently I didn’t get my crap together and finish things up.  I’m gonna blame it on the fact that I was doing all of that after just getting my tonsils removed, so I was drugged up and not doing much except watching Christmas movies and sleeping.  Lots of sleeping.

But they are ready to go to your homes!  Because of my surgery and a few other things piling up at the end of this year, I cut back on how many I ordered, so if you want one, claim it QUICK!  As usual you can order by commenting on this post or emailing me directly.  The calendars are $12.50  ($15 with shipping) and if you are local, feel free to make arrangements for pickup to cut out on the shipping.

Here is a peek at a few of the pages!

Christmas for a Rancher

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I am a big fan of Christmas!  BIG FAN!  I love everything about it- the tree and ALL decorations, the gift wrapping, the baking, the music, the snow, the hot chocolate… ALL of it!  Except all the crazy shopping.  I do admit that my anxiety reaches an all time high when I am shopping and there are 12 other people looking over my shoulder trying to find tooth brushes too.  Ok, it was only 5, but still… CRAZY!

Shopping is especially stressful if I don’t know even what to get someone, especially The Rancher.  I can pick out Barbie’s and tractors with the best of the best.  I know my toys.  But I have those moments of total blank-ness (yep, made that word up… Merry Christmas!) when my blonde hair sinks deep in the midst of a brain fart and nothing comes to mind to put under the tree for my cowboy.  That’s when I wander the isles aimlessly hoping something will jump out at me to give him.

Obviously the smart thing to do is to ask him what he wants for Christmas.  I do.  And he doesn’t answer me.  Or he says, “I don’t need anything.  Spend it all on the kids.”  So sweet and noble, right?  But I know deep down inside that there is still a little boy inside that wants something exciting for Christmas too!  Should I resort to filling his stocking with tractors too?  I mean, there should be something besides socks in there, right?  Anyone else in this boat with me?

Actually, this year… I got a list.  Well, sort of a list.  It was a list of all things that he likes.  Not quite what I was hoping for but its definitely a start.  Ya know, for those moments that nothing comes to mind as I’m staring at the shelves with an empty cart.  (More likely when I am searching amazon with an empty cart and nothing coming to mind…) I thought I would share The List for any others that sometimes need a jump start for a cowboy.  This list is certainly not totally encompassing and lets be honest, shopping from this list could really empty out the penny jar.  But, in the case where a girl just doesn’t know what to get her cowboy, this might just get you through.

A cowboy hat– They can never have enough.  Ever.  Just when I think he is good, its time for a new one.  And there are so many kinds you can have and they need to have them ALL.

Horse tack-  Sometimes I feel bad getting him tack because that seems like work stuff.  I try to be a little more original than that.  So that’s when I get maybe a little fancier bit.  Make it seem like more than just ‘work stuff.’

Clothes-  The Rancher can go through work shirts and jeans like candy.  Barbed wire, pocket knives, oil stains, poop… It is all hard on his clothes and a wardrobe upgrade is always welcome.

Boots- He teases me about how many shoes I have, but does he really need so many boots?  Yes, he really does and there is always room for more!

Tools-  Whether it is a new Leatherman or knife or wrenches or whatever, more is certainly merrier.  Because tools get lost all. the. time!

Cowboy gear-  What cowboy doesn’t want a new pair of chaps or a new work coat or wild rag or gloves?  It may seem like a boring gift but they will put a smile on their face for sure!

Gun-  Guns and ammo are always good.  Yep.

Then there is always the list like- a new custom saddle, a new truck, a new trailer, a new horse…. the dreamer list.  If you can shop the dreamer list you have made their Christmas for sure!  I haven’t made that yep but someday… maybe…

Now that I have shared a few ideas to get you through some cowboy Christmas shopping, what are you getting your cowboys?  What do you want for Christmas? Merry Christmas, Friends!

Thankful for the Moments

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Happy Thanksgiving!  Wasn’t it a terrific day yesterday?  A day full of eating and family and eating and sleeping and eating and fun!  Actually, I don’t think I got an-after-lunch-nap but that’s ok.

I like my Thanksgivings best when its steeped in tradition and intentional.  We can eat a turkey any day and we can over-indulge whenever we want, but to be really be Thanksgiving, this day has to be more than that.

My mom has a tradition every Thanksgiving.  Its simple.  Its easy. But it helps me keep Thanksgiving more than just a day about eating. 

Every year my mom pulls out her hand drawn thankful turkey and carefully puts it on the wall.  To begin with he looks a little sad, so bare because he doesn’t have any feathers yet.  But as the days surrounding Thanksgiving pass, he is filled with colorful feathers inscribed with the blessings that we are most grateful for.  Some of them say “family.”  Some of them say “God.”  Some of them say “my blankie.”  And some of them even say, “my hot wife!”  They aren’t elaborate or fancy, but they are true, heartfelt things we are grateful for.

For this first time ever, I struggled to know what to write.  Not because I wasn’t grateful, but because I was so grateful for so many things I just didn’t know what to pick.  We have been blessed with a beautiful home in a place that we get do what we love to do.  We are constantly surrounded by good friends and family.  We have so many opportunities to learn, to serve, and to grow.  And while our year was so full, it was so full of blessings!  I just didn’t know what to write.

As I sat there trying to decide what to put on my empty thankful feather I began to think back through this year and all the things we had done and I began to realize that what I treasure most are the moments.  Those special moments you breath in deep because you know just how fleeting they can be.  Those moments you pause to take it all in so you can remember the sounds and smells that wrap around you.  Those moments that seem to make a place deep within your soul.

Those moments came as I stood with my kids as the heavy snowflakes drifted down from a peaceful winter storm while we were building a snowman.  They came as we worked in the garden, planting, weeding and watering lending to our eventual harvest.  It was in the quiet that I had those special moments when I rocked my growing baby before bed.  More came as we worked together as a family to fill our yard with new grass.  Some of those moments were spent late at night as we talked and laughed with our brothers and sisters. 

There are so many things in this life that I wish we could have or that I could give to my family.  We fill our lives with things or with moments and if I had to choose what my kids filled their lives with, it would be these moments.  More than anything, I hope that they hang on to them.  That they cherish them.  Because all of the things that they have will slip away, but these moments are for them to keep forever. 

There was no better thing for me to be thankful and to put on my feather than “the moments.”  What are you thankful for in this season of gratitude?  There are no wrong answers because being grateful is so much more important than what we are grateful for.  If you haven’t, take a minute and look through your life and find those things that bless your life. 

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends!

From a very grateful Rancher’s Wife

 

About me

About me

Hello! I'm Allison, The Rancher's Wife! There's nothing I love more than being out on the ranch with my husband and kids. Join me for a look at what goes on here at the ranch and the life being a rancher's wife!

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