The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective
My holiday spirit has taken over my rancher’s wife spirit because I am praying for snow. You might wonder what- wanting snow has go do with being a good ranch wife… so I’ll tell you.
Actually its rather simple- when it snows it covers the feed. If the animals can’t find feed they get hungry. Therefore, we have to start feeding hay, something The Rancher really doesn’t like to do.
So I’m being a little naughty and hoping for more snow. Let the winter fun begin!
I think that I have gotten myself way in over my head, but let’s face it… that’s how I roll. I just jump in and go with my motto “Fake it ’til you make it!” My latest jump is to make a calendar using my Rancher’s Wife photos.
Every year I look for a calendar that is more than a fat advertisement. I want something worth hanging on my wall. With so many fun pictures about the ranch I figured I ought to make one myself. So I did. And I think it turned out pretty good. Here are a few pictures and if you want to see more, check this out. If it fancies you, let me know and I can send one your way. I don’t know cost yet but I’m going for not very much.
My parents always said that raising a family on a ranch made it easy to teach life lessons. There were lessons of hard work, responsibility and then the fruit of ones labors. Of course it also made it easy to talk about the birds and the bees.
But not all of the lessons to learn from the ranch are easy. For the first time I was on the mom end of one of those hard lessons. My son’s puppy was ran over and it was my unfortunate opportunity to tell him and explain that he wouldn’t be coming home. It took a while to set in and when it did he would tell me that he didn’t want him dead or that now he needed a new puppy.
This really is one of my favorite times of year. I’m not entirely sure why but there is something about the chill in the air, the anticipation of this holiday season and celebrating with friends and family. It comes after the push of the fall work- weaning, sorting, hauling, selling, vaccinating, preg checking… (did I miss anything?!). There is also the farming to do and some fencing and then the winter prep. But all of this is coming as a result of a good calf crop and a blessed harvest.
Isn’t it wonderful how inspired the first Thanksgiving-ers (I made that up) were to set a day aside to give thanks for their blessings after the harvest season. Actually that really is how the story goes; the pilgrims had been devastated with sickness and starvation as they reached America. They may not have made it had a few Native Americans put aside any differences and taught them skills to survive the new land. It was after their first corn harvest that their leader declared that they all share in a celebration of fasting and thanksgiving.
There have been other distinguishable times in our country’s history that leaders proclaimed it a time of fasting and thanksgiving, primarily after or in the midst of great trials. In fact it was during the Civil War that President Lincoln officially declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.
I love looking into the history of this holiday, to see what was intended for this holiday. It was quite religious, so much so that they fasted rather than feasted. I hope that I, personally, haven’t strayed from its heritage. No, I didn’t fast but I hope that my thanksgiving was honorable. Of course we are able to add our own traditions to help it be more meaningful for each of us, but are we still celebrating and cherishing our blessings as we should?
So after another great year of blessings, a healthy family, a good harvest, and a home full of love and happiness, I want to give thanks to family, to the legacy we live, and mostly to a loving Father in Heaven.
I wish I had a dollar for every time The Rancher says, “Well everything is done for a while until we have to do the ______.” Like he says that we are done moving cows except for the bunch that needs moving in a week. Or the bailing is done, but there is the field that was just cut that will need bailed in a few days. I appreciate that he is trying to make me feel good that things are slowing down but I have learned better.
Lately we have heard the preg checking is done. Yes, for the forest cows. But then there was the weekend of preg checking the BLM cows. And then the strays that come in need checked. And the other bunch of strays. And the other other bunch. And now it was time the first calf heifers that had been out to pasture near Blackfoot for the fall.
The Rancher called me in one fine afternoon, asking for some help to get the heifers pregged up that night because the weatherman was calling for snow. For some reason they didn’t want to work cows in the yucky cold and wind. I always come running when The Rancher asks for help, mostly because I don’t want him to think he can do anything with out me (ok really I just love to help and I don’t want him to stop asking). Usually I end up giving shots at the front but this time I got to run the back. And I did a great job, if I do say so myself. It didn’t leave much time for pictures but I snapped a few before the night was over.
I think that we are really done with the preg checking. Unless some other ornery cows come from who knows where… But until then, we are done!
With the time change dusk came upon us and the moon lit the way. I zoomed in to get a picture and this is what we got. It wasn’t really this dark, but it turned out kinda fun.
So I got a little ahead of myself, which means that I didn’t share the pictures from feeding the calves one night. So even though the calves are long gone, I am enjoying another look at them.
The calves go out on the old alfalfa when they are first weaned. Between their ravenous eating and the freezing temperatures, alfalfa stops growing. Once the feed is eaten down we load up the old two ton with some bails and pitch it out to them.
On this fine occasion it is Rancher Sr. and Cowboy Pete with the pitch forks.
I love DIY projects, LOVE them. The Rancher does too, maybe not the ones I enlist him to do, but he des non the less. He likes the manly ones that come with bigger or more dangerous tools. I mean what is a welder if not a really hyped up glue gun, right? 🙂
But seriously, isn’t that really a integral part of being a rancher. These cowboy need to be able switch between whatever jobs the day calls for- truck driver, irrigator, welder, tractor operator, horse trainer, nurse maid… You get the idea, they gotta do it all. They are DIY-ers.
This is the feed truck with arms to lift the bails. Do you see how my creative husband has fanagled it to lift the troughs? I find funny, but boy it is works darn good.
Are you laughing at the title? Because what is the predictable Idaho weather? Ok, the wind, I will give you that. But everyday you can predict sun, clouds, wind, hot, cold, and most likely some sort of a storm and you would be right. We get them all nearly everyday.
Even on pay day. It started it a cold windy morning, then the sun came out, turning up the heat a bit. But it didn’t last long before the nasty sort of clouds came rolling in with some crazy snow flurries. Of course it was as we were loading the last semi of calves and finished as the last were loaded on the truck. Gotta love our Idaho weather.
I told you that we sold our calves, but I didn’t get to share everything from our day. Like that it took 5 semis to haul out all of those calves. Oh boy it took a while. Good thing we had some good help-the other Curlew Valley Cowboys. I think that they come to socialize and eat the cinnamon rolls, but we will take advantage of them being out on the ranch.
Last Monday we had a big day at the ranch. Its the day that we work all the other 364 days… yep it was sale day.
And really it couldn’t have gone much better. Our calf crop this year was really good, weighing in heavier than last year. After weaning, when it seems that we have the most sickness and loss, we had a lot of good growth. Having a great summer and fall with these calves makes this pay day so much sweeter.
Its almost an emotional day because it is a day that we have worked so hard for, for so long. We have camped out on the desert in the midst of feet of snow to keep alive through the winter. We have spent long days branding and marking calves. We have spent even LONGER days in the hot dusty sun moving the herd. Then there were more long days with the weaning. We have said some very earnest prayers for these calves to be healthy and to grow well.
Now we feel the relief, the success, the tiredness, and the drive to gear up for another year.
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!
