The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

Momma-Cow Turned Momma Bear

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Before we moved to the family ranch, we worked our way through college at few different ranches.  Of course nothing compares to working your OWN ground or your OWN cows, but we still had some great times and some great memories on the operations we were a part of.  Once in a while a story comes to mind from those days and we have a little fun reliving those good times.  Every year when calving season comes along, there is one story that always comes up.  One of those remember-whens that you actually don’t want to remember.

Any rancher will tell you that a momma cow can instantly turn momma bear real fast.  A cow that seems perfectly harmless suddenly becomes anything but as soon as you lay hands on her baby.  And really, who can blame her?  I think that sometimes I turn into a momma bear when I have sweet little babies, and they aren’t even getting tagged!

But… Even if I do relate to them, sorta, that doesn’t mean they need to eat my husband for lunch!

Actually this story was before we were married.  Even before we were dating.  I was in the midst of my sophomore year of college and my only sanity was heading up to my brother’s near Salmon, Idaho.  He had my horse, cows, and a population of about 50 and it called to me after long hard days of school and work and SO many people.  Ironically, I didn’t have a car (probably a good thing or I would have spent all of the money I didn’t have driving up there all the time) and I had to convince friends and roommates that we should take a trip up to the ranch to have a little R&R.

It was on one of these weekends that I met The Rancher.  He was doing his internship up there, partially in an effort to avoid the school work and people like I was.  Truth be told, I had no interest in him at first.  I had sworn off boys because they just caused frustration and heart ache.  Cows and horses, on the other hand, only caused frustration. I was determined to take advantage of the little time I had on the ranch and soak in as much fresh air and get as much poop on my boots as possible.  To that end, I got brave, and asked The Rancher if I could ride along with him to check cows on his late night watch.  Being the player he was at the time (haha…) he shyly agreed and I hopped in the truck.

For the most part, it was uneventful.  There was a calf or two born.  We tagged them, gave them shots, wrote it all down and moved on.  It was cold and bumpy but it was fun.  We went out checking for a few nights and it was all the same every night.  Until we found one of those momma-bear momma cows.

This brilliant momma, had decided to have her calf in the snow.  Something not all that conducive to life if you were just born and wet and cold.  We had been checking around the different fields and found this cow exactly where she shouldn’t have been.  Labor does strange things and apparently with her, it made her want to climb through a few fences and birth in the privacy found in the wheel-line stock pile.  Not knowing that she was calving or had just had a calf, we drove over to get her back in where she was supposed to be.

The Rancher hopped the barbed wire fence, figuring it would only take just a minute to get the cow back in her field.  That’s when he saw the baby and plans changed.  Getting the two of them back was totally on the back burner and keeping the calf alive was all that mattered.  The momma was loving on him, but he had yet to get up and out of the snow.  So being the nice guy that he was, The Rancher grabbed a leg and started dragging the calf out of the snow.

It only took a second for that cow to turn momma-bear.  For all she knew, someone was messing with her baby and she wasn’t going to have any of that. 

Now put yourself in my shoes, or rather my seat.  Here I was, sitting in the front seat of an old, beat up ranch truck, riding around with a kid I hardly knew.  He was across a barbed wire fence, through drifts of snow and there was a momma cow about ready to have him for a midnight snack. 

What was a girl to do? 

It was dark and the only light was from the poor headlights (calling the headlights as poor was a compliment!), and he was far enough away I really couldn’t see well enough to know what was happening, just that things were getting a little (or a lot!) intense over there.  But, was he ok and wouldn’t need any help?  Or was he only seconds away from broken bones and smashed insides?  Was there even anything in the truck that I could use to help him?  Should I risk life and limb for this kid?  I could see myself jumping out of the truck, slipping a time or two as I trudged through the snow, getting tangled up in the wire fence as I tried to cross it in the dark and finally make it to him only to find everything ok and totally unworth my efforts.  Or I would do something embarrassing like fall on my face in the snow or rip my pants on the barbed wire…

So I just sat there.

Heroic, I know.  But before I made a move, I wanted to know what that cow had in mind.  It didn’t take long for her to prove that she meant business.  She took off straight for The Rancher, covering the 10 yards between them in seconds.  At this point all I could do was pray.  Pray that he got out of there in time.  Pray that she changed her mind.  Pray that even if she did get him, it wouldn’t be too bad.  Pray that he wouldn’t need mouth to mouth…

It must of worked because just as she was about to him, a snow drift popped up in front of her and she dropped to her knees.  It was the few seconds The Rancher needed to get clear of the calf, sail over the fence, and finally take a breath!

And then, to be terribly honest, I don’t remember much that happened next.  I know we had other cows and fields to check and so I’m sure we just moved on with the night.  The Rancher might have been a little more weary and a little more spry in case any other mommas had a little bit of momma-bear in them.

Reliving that story every year always brings new things to light, like how The Rancher was actually grateful for the chance to look so brave and he was a little sad that I didn’t need to give him a little mouth to mouth…  I, on the other, hand, am just glad that he managed to survive that night so we could have our life together now.  Do any of you have a good momma-bear story?

Its All About a Bunch of Bull

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Bull sale season is coming to a close.  It ends just as fast as it comes.  I kind of have a love hate relationship with Bull Sale season.  I love it when I get a chance to go, but I hate it when I get left behind.  And unfortunately, with all of my other OTHER responsibilities, it happens more than I’d like.  But I usually try to send a child or two if that’s the case (hahaha… hehehe…).  My mother-in-law and I were having a great conversation the other night, talking about all the pros and woes of being a rancher’s wife during Bull Sale Season.  I’m sure that we aren’t the only ones that have noticed the ups and downs that come Bull Sale Season.  In fact, I’m sure that we have it easy compared the wives of the ranchers PUTTING ON the sale.

I’ve actually had the pleasure of both sides of the sale- the selling and the buying.  Growing up I loved the prep work of a sale.  Trimming everything, photographing them all, sprucing up the sale barn, staying home from school on sale day…  Yep, it was a kids dream.  But I’m sure as the wife to a rancher, my mom didn’t think it was quite so awesome.  When I imagine her at that time of the year, one word comes to mind- STRESSED!

Even though I am on the buying side of the bull sale now, I still love it.  There is such an energy at a cattle auction!  The combination of the noisy crowd, the feisty bulls, the auctioneer’s ramble, and the anticipation of when to put in your bid gives the air a little extra zing.  You can’t help but love it, right?!

While the debate of whether Bull Sale Season is an actual thing is still being decided, I have unofficially dubbed March, plus or minus a few weeks, as such.  If you were to come look at our bull-sale-calendar, you might mistake it for a bingo card for as many days as have been scribbled on.  In fact you might even think we were going for Black Out!  And while there may be so many to go to, you can be sure that every one will be different and every one will be good.

The obvious upside to having so many days out to a bull sale is that I get a free pass on fixing lunch for those days.  While we can always expect the sale to be great, we KNOW the meal will be even greater!  In fact, it may be so good and we come home so full, that I might not even have to make dinner (actually that’s never happened, but every time I’m hopeful!).  Is it bad to admit that I have even asked for a recipe or two after watching my family down their lunch?  I figure its a great compliment!

Once you get to the sale and have a chance to look around, you realize that ranchers can actually dress up and they are a pretty darn good looking crowd.  You spend so much time seeing them in shirts torn up from the barbed wire or pants covered in what looks like tractor oil and grease (and maybe even something else you can’t even recognize!), or boots smeared in mud and manure and stinking even worse than they look, that you forget how good looking a rancher can be.  And I think they will take any chance to get out of their grubby clothes too!  Maybe that’s why we hit up so many sales….  Hmmm….

I’ve decided that there is an art to bidding.  You don’t want to jump in too soon, because that just might take the price right out of your budget.  But you don’t want to get in the action too late because then you might be out altogether before you even got in.  Unless you can manage the sneak attack and steal the show with a last second bid.  Then there is the whole other ballgame of bidding online.  That one really makes me nervous… What if the connection goes out all of the sudden or what if it takes a second longer to register the bid or what if …. something else could go wrong, I’m sure! 
Whatever way you bid, you gotta have a game plan!

Usually we go to a sale with a budget in mind and a number of how many bulls we need to buy.  I always figure that once we spend the money or we get all the bulls we need, we will head home.  But the truth of the matter is, a bull sale is a rancher’s social hour.  Believe it or not, ranchers to like to gab!  They all hurry up to buy their bulls and then hustle over to the cookie table to chat away the rest of the sale.

At the heart of every bull sale is their bull magazine. You can ALWAYS know it is Bull Sale Season by the stack of magazines on the desk.  I wonder if the mail man gets tired of filling the mail box up with them?  We’ve seen a few ranches that REALLY want you to come, so they send 2 or 3 magazines to be sure you get a good look at what they’ve got.  It makes things easier for The Rancher when there are more, though.  He can leave one on the kitchen table to read while he eats, one on the night stand to have his final look before he goes to sleep, and one in the bathroom where he does his best thinking.  For some ranches, they send out the whole sale lineup.  They figure then you can come to the sale knowing exactly what you want to go home with.  For other ranches it is more like a ranch-and-family-year book.  They try pulling at your heart strings a bit with those sweet smiling grandbabies.  Then there are the ranches that just send their own type of save-the-date card and figure its gonna save them a lot of work if you just grab the magazine as you walk through the bulls. 

But without those magazines, a rancher would be lost keeping everyone and everything straight.  Besides the fancy names and photos, they are full of the info any rancher needs to get a good buy.  Its those EPDs.  If anyone ever thought that rancher wasn’t an educated guy, he should try his hand at EPDs…  I’m slowing starting to gather what scores are good birth weights, weaning weights, milking and futures.  I have no idea how they figured them, but I believe them.

Well,  Bull Sale Season… its been real, its been fun, and no we are done.  Its just a little more than a month away until the real fun starts and we see just how good of a buy we made!  Until next year… (Maybe the season will be official then and we can have an opening day celebration!)

PS-  I think the life of a bull is rough… Seriously, who else has a job of pleasure that only has to work a few months of the year and then is literally put out to pasture for the rest of the year?!  And to have pasture like we did last spring…  Yum…

Favorite Winter Weather Gear

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If you had to have super-hot weather or super cold weather, which would you choose?  I go for the cold.  My theory (along with probably thousands of others!) is that you can always add layers in the cold but in the hot, eventually, you can’t take anymore off.  Thankfully, I don’t have to choose one of the other and I get to have both the hot and the cold.  And I’m even more thankful I get mostly warm….

I’d say that I can (usually) handle whatever kind of cold comes our way if I have enough of the right kind of layers.  It probably isn’t gear for Antarctic kind of cold, but since I’m not going there any time soon (or ever), I think I’m set.  I’m that kind of girl that so long as I’m not freezing, I can do whatever needs to be done.  So we pull out our cold weather gear and get to work.

So without any further interruptions, distractions, or whatever else, here is, from one rancher’s wife to another (or anyone else that is interested to know), my top 5 things that helped us survive the cold of winter.

1.  Our Muck Boots… These boots are a serious staple at our house, year round.  But they are an absolute necessity during the winter.  Let me give you the highlights of this boot: water tight, insulated, great tread, and NO LACES!  I love these boots for myself but I really love these for the kids because they can put them on and tucked into their snow pants without momma’s help. And they are great for those long weeks when the snow is melting and we are sloshing through the mud.

2.  A good wool hat WITH ear flaps…  When I was a kid, I always laughed about the look of a wool cap.  All I ever saw was Elmer Fudd.  But with my cute Stormy Kromer hat, function has totally met fashion.  And although looking good out on the ranch for those cows that are really into that is top priority, more importantly, I now have an awesome hat for a super warm noggin to make it through the cold winter days!  The Rancher isn’t so concerned about looking good as he heads out (because looking good comes so naturally to him) but he totally agrees with me that a wool cap is the way to make it through the winter. His only stipulation is that it has to have some good long flaps to pull down over his ears.

3.  Our Carhartt… everything!  We wear so much Carhartt because it is good stuff.  We have coats, jackets, and even wool socks!  They definitely win first place.  A blue ribbon. A gold star.  But seriously, they do an amazing job for keeping the cold at bay.  Then they last all season long, and the next and the next!  I have been wearing some of my favorite winter weather pieces for years! (Not that I have had the same pair of socks on for years, just that I have been using them for years.  You know what I mean, right?)  I’m all about a product that can do its job well, not once, but for a good, long haul.

4.  Good ol’ long johns…  The old time cowboys had it right when they wore their long underwear all winter long. They are like a snugly winter coat. It’s that all our critters need, so it sounds like a good plan to me!  I don’t have a favorite brand.  I’m simple like that.  They just need to fit in my jeans and keep me moving!

5.  Insulated leather gloves… Every year we pull out the insulated leather gloves I am always amazed at how well they can keep ya warm.  When winter hits I’m ready to put on the heavy-duty, snowman building, all-day-sledding, hill-climbing-snowmobiling, sort of gloves.  Then The Rancher grabs his trusty insulated leather gloves and I know we are already good to go.  Now if only they make them for teeny tiny hands…

There are lots of other winter favorites like our wild rags, vests, snow pants and many more cluttering my mudroom.  But when it really comes down to it, this handful was our everyday-go-to winter gear and so long as we had them, we were good to go.  What helped you make it through the winter? Anything that isn’t found in the mud room?   

Battling the Winter Blues One Blessing at a Time

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I love winter.  I really do.  I think I’ve told you that… lots of times.  You are probably tired of me talking about it. 

But its been sorta hard.

I love it, but its hard.

With so much snow all at once, that meant there were days and days of dealing with it.  Pushing snow in the stack yard to get to the hay, pushing snow in the field to feed the hay, pushing snow around the ranch just to get around… and then pushing snow for our neighbors that really couldn’t handle it without a tractor. 

God bless that rancher of mine and his tough, sweet heart because he spent nearly a whole day plowing snow for everyone in the valley just because he could when there were so many other things that needed to get done!  He’s good man.

Back to the snow…  You get my point that there has been lot of work because of the snow.  Aside for the physical fatigue of dealing with it, I feel like we have been emotionally fatigued as well.  Maybe its just me, but I feel drained.  Super drained. 

I think I have the winter blues…

And I don’t like it.

I’m a happy person.  I’m the glass half full kind of girl.

So to battle my bit of winter blues, I’m going to count my blessings.  Ready?

Actually, I have to tell you something else first…  When I came home from my first year of college I thought I had died.  I was happy to be home and happy to be back working on the ranch, but in some ways my life was over.  None of my friends were around, our little town of 300 people had nothing going on and I was sure that I wasn’t going to survive the summer.  Dramatics of a 19 year old girl, I’m sure…  So I decided that the only thing I could change was my attitude.  And I decided that the best way to change my attitude was to be thankful.  From then on, everyday I was determined to find one thing to be thankful for and I was going to write it down and make a collage out of it.

It worked, friends.  By the end of the summer, I had this huge piece of paper with so many things that I was thankful for and it was beautiful and inspiring.  And I was happy.

So when I’m starting to feel down, I try to be thankful.  Because when I’m feeling down, epecially about myself, I start making a different list.  Something like an I-suck list… You know, the ones of “I can’t keep up with the laundry” and “the house is always a mess and I can’t keep up with it” and “I’m so behind on this project” and “I just burnt the 12th piece of toast this morning”… Those kind of lists can happen without us even knowing it and they can really beat us up. 

So here goes!

1.  Messes… Yep.  It means that my kids have been busy playing and growing and being creative.  And that is a mom-win.

2.  Snuggles, especially from my older babies that are not babies anymore.

3.  Propane.  We ran out last week so I couldn’t have a hot shower before bed.  Now it is full again and I’m thankful!

4.  Snow… rain… MOISTURE!  Our livelihood depends on it and although it makes life hard sometimes, we need it.

5.  Cows.  They make me laugh.  They are cute.  They are tasty. 

6.  My bed.  My warm, snuggly bed.  Its like a magic reset button.

7.  Exercising.  Its almost as magical as my bed for a good reset, but it takes a lot more work.  But really, exercising keeps my body strong and healthy so I can enjoy so much more of life!

8.  My home.  Its still not finished.  I have tape over the stairs that has been there for 18 months.  But it is mine and I LOVE it.

9.  Snow clothes.  We couldn’t have made it the last few months without them.  They have kept us warm and dry and saved my washer a lot of dirty clothes!

10.  Hot chocolate.  This is almost its own food group at my house.  My kids drink it every morning.  And I almost love it as much as them.

11.  MY CAMERA!  I love photography and the different perspective it has helped me look at life.  Especially when I have had to stay on the sidelines- something I don’t do well!

12.  My kids.  Of course!  They are messy and crazy and busy, but they are also sweet and helpful and kind.  I watch them and in so many ways I wish I was more like them. 

13.  School.  I know that everyone has there own opinions about school for their kids but I am so thankful for the little school I get to send my son to.  He has learned so much that I couldn’t have taught him from home.  No, its not perfect.  There are issues.  But when I see his growth, I’m so thankful that I can send my little boy to school.

14.  The gator… Silly, I know, but its the best way our family of 5 plus 5 dogs can get around the ranch together.  And it is a much smoother ride than any 4 wheeler.

15.  Soup.  Nothing is better than a warm bowl of soup at the end of the day.  Or in the middle of the day.  I think I could even handle soup to start the day.

16.  Me.  I am thankful for me.  My determination, my endurance, my emotional side…  (it keeps things in perspective, right?), my body and how it can nurture my family.  I’m hard on myself a lot, but that’s because I have high expectations of myself.

17.  Me bed.  Oh… I already said that… Still thankful! Do-over…  My boots!  I have worn the tread off of my favorite boots.  There are holes and cracks but they are my favorites.  They have walked a lot of miles and gotten a lot of work done.

18.  Music.  I turn on tunes everyday.  And all sorts of kinds.  It has a way to drive and inspire me. 

19.  Books.  I don’t have a lot of time to read these days.  But it is an escape to adventure and excitement without ever having to pack my bags or leave my cozy bed.

20.  My husband… My good, hard working, giving husband.  He does so much for so many.  And he loves me for being me.  That right there is something so worth being thankful for.

21.  Home made bread… it goes great with soup (haha).  The smell of bread baking in the oven in the smell of comfort and home. 

22. God.  I’m a religious person.  I believe in a higher power and that without it, I don’t know where I’d be today.  He inspires me, He comforts me, He guides me and He loves me.

23.  Good friends.  Everyone needs a support system and I am so thankful for mine.  Especially when you live so far from civilization, each other is all you have.  And having friends that have farming/ranching husbands is an added blessing because they get it.  They know what I’m going through.

24.  Technology.  Its actually a curse and a blessing.  But today I’m going call it a blessing.  It helps me pursue my passions.  It helps me stay connected with old friends and far away family. 

25.  Winter…. Yes, I’m so thankful for winter.  It is beautiful.  There is a sort of renewal and cleansing that comes from the snow and cold. 

I could go on.  There are a lot of things to be thankful for!  We take for granted so many of the luxuries we have and taking the time to remember them is good for the soul.  What are you thankful for today?

A Good Winter Day Sorting Cows

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Last week sorted cows in Locomotive.  Scratch that… It was actually like SEVERAL weeks ago that we sorted.  In fact, its been long enough ago that we sorted, that the snow has melted and we have mixed the cows back up.  I had a twinge of hurt when they mixed up the cows again.  Because I feel that we just did the work of getting them unmixed up… Oh the work we do…

That day of sorting had a lot of emotions running through it.  There were those overwhelming feelings of just being totally exhausted from the added work with dealing with the snow.  There was the tension of not knowing how the day was going to go, if it was going to go at all.  Then there was the final relief and thankfulness of finally getting the work done. 

You can imagine we slept well that night.

I’ll admit, I had my own doubts about how the day was going to go down.  They had never had to sort all those cows there.  They never had so much snow to work the cows in.  I was afraid for the worst- cows not cooperating, horses slipping on the ice, and cowboys coming home hurt and discouraged.

That is always my fear.  Because I have seen it.

When I was a little girl, I saw the hard days that my dad had.  There was the day that he couldn’t take his own boots off because of the 4wheeler accident.  There were the days that he came in exhausted from no sleep trying to keep calves alive in the cold.  There were the days he couldn’t keep the equipment running to get the hay done before the storms rolled through.

But there is one day that comes to mind above all the rest as being hard for my ranching dad.

It had been a long winter.  The calving was over and breeding season was in full swing.  Doing the spring work in the still winter conditions was getting long and tiresome.  Eventually there was a break and the thaw finally came.  It only took a few days for things to change.  The frost thawed, the ground dried and suddenly it was hard again.

He was bringing in a heifer to AI.  He saddled up his horse and headed out as he did every time.  Now let me tell you a little about his horse.  She had a long, long ugly nose.  And that was about the only bad thing about her.  Ok, not really… everyone horse has her issues.  But this girl was good.  She could cut a cow as good as any other.  Once she knew what cow she was bringing in, you just let her do the work.  She could drop her back end and change directions in a second.  If you didn’t hang on she would move right out from under you (and I know that from personal experience!).  She loved the work and worked hard.

 The heifer my dad and his partner were bringing in was a little feisty.  No surprise and really, no big deal.  And for my dad, it was even a little fun.  Like most cowboys, he enjoyed the rush of the ride.  But then the heifer cut back and Whitney, his horse, went to spin.  And then she went down.

In those couple of days that the weather changed, my dad was busy.  Are you surprised?  He is a rancher, they are always busy.  Busy enough that he hadn’t had a chance to take of the cleats on his horse.

When she turned back, those cleats dug into the ground, and she spun, but her leg didn’t.  And it broke.

My dad knew instantly that it was bad.  So bad.  He was right.

He called the vet and he was able to come in and help Whitney.  They were able to set and cast the broken leg.  But she would never chase a cow again.  It was devastating.  

My dad says that every cowboy gets one good horse and one good dog.  She was his.

Ya know, despite the great days we have on the ranch and in this life, there are some really hard days.  We take risks.  We work in sometimes dangerous conditions.  We work with animals that can do a lot of damage.  And when those bad days come we just have to take it in stride.

My dad couldn’t put his partner down that day.  He just couldn’t lose her.  She meant to much for him.  So he decided to turn her into a brood mare.  Now her babies are on the ranch, doing the same work their momma did. 

Thankfully, our day sorting on the range had a good ending.  A great ending.  The work went well and the cowboys came home safe.  Not everyday turns out so well and we are grateful for the good days.  Its the good days that keep us going when we have those hard days.
  

Monday Musing and Frosty Pictures

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Mondays are for musings.  You look back over the weekend or figure out what’s happening ahead in the week.  You plan. You schedule.  Sometimes you give yourself a pep talk.  But it all happens on Mondays. 

So here I am musing.

We went to Montana to visit my parents over the weekend.  It was refreshing and exhausting all at the same time.  My mom works for a small k-8 school and they had their ski day, so we trekked up there late Thursday night to join in the fun.  We had the whole spectrum of weather that day- icy rain, sleet, massive flakes, blue sky and fog.  There was a point we decided to bite the bullet and invest in some goggles for everyone and that was the turning point of the day.  Its amazing how much more fun skiing is when you can see and your eyes aren’t being pelted with ice!   

There were high school boys and girls basketball games going on while we were there so we spent Saturday night cheering on the Drummond Trojans.  It may have been the third game I have gone to watch since graduating 11 years ago.  It was like I never left but at the same time I felt so old.  There were kids playing ball that weren’t even in kindergarten when I was in high school!.  I only knew 2 of the kids on the boys team.  Yikes… I am getting old…  But at the same time, I still call my kindergarten teacher Mrs. Verlanic and my science teacher Mr. Schindler so I guess I don’t feel all too old.

Remember how I married a cowboy that doesn’t talk?  That made for a super long drive home.  It really was the fastest we have ever made the drive (we didn’t speed, just didn’t have to stop 12 times for the kids…) but it seemed so long.  He seriously said only a handful of words.  Anybody want to come hang out with me so I can have someone to talk to?

And to make the drive last even longer, my kids are to the stage that they ask the dreaded question- “are we there yet?”/”how long until we are there?!”/”how much longer?”  And I think that they eat more when we are in the car than the entire week before.  I can never pack enough treats.  I’m afraid its only going to get worse when my son becomes a teenager… Yikes!  

Its Valentines this week… Yay… Actually, for the first time in a long time I will actually get to see my valentine.  Really I should only say I SHOULD get to see my valentine.  We might sneak in a kiss or two between taking care of the kids and cows, but who needs February 14 to say I love you when there are 364 other days, right? I’m sure a batch of his favorite cookie dough and an early bed time will make for just the V-day he wants!   

So I posted last week about how we were buried to our eye balls with snow.  And then just like that the snow shut off and the sun came out and everything has started to melt!  Its not gone or even close to being gone by ANY means, but there is significantly less.  Its like Mother Nature is trying to discredit me.  I say its crazy and snowy and she brings out the sunshine.  If I said it was a beautiful-blue-sky-kinda-day, I’m sure we would get socked in with the fog for days…  So I’m going to post the last of my snowy pictures and hope that the temps stay up.  The heifer hill is slowly drying out to calve on so its helping The Rancher, right?

Speaking of calving… We had 1.  Soon enough we will be swamped with babies and I am so excited! Last year I was too busy swooning over my own new babe that I didn’t soak in the babies outside as much so this year I will have to make up for it.  But the fact that we are calving does mean my baby is almost a year old and I just can’t believe it.  I’m crying inside.  It just happens too fast!

Have I mused enough for you?  There is still plenty going on up here, but I will stop for your sakes.  I’ll just muse to myself…

Happy Monday!
The RW 

Oh ya… We sold the calves!

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Seasons on the ranch go by so fast.  One minute we are calving and trying to keep babies warm and alive and then before you know it, we are selling them.  And then you sell them, and you forget to put it on your blog to say “HAPPY DAY!”.  It may not seem like a big day, but those few hours on that frosty November morning are what we work for all year long.

So I am taking the opportunity now to celebrate selling and shipping calves.  Hooray!  It was such a s muddy, messy day because it had been raining and raining.  The downside to the rain and subsequent mud- sloshing and sliding around it poop and goop up to your eyeballs!  The upside- probably a few extra wet and dirty pounds on the calves!

Shipping cows isn’t all that hard, but sort of time consuming.  When you have hundreds of calve to weigh, you can see how that will take some time.  Let me walk you how that day goes…

First, it starts before that day.  A week or so before, we sort the steers from the heifers and pull out any of the sick, lame, or small calves (hopefully not too many of these!).  Up to this point we just keep them together to feed them.  While we are sorting the heifers, we pull off the ones that we want to keep for replacements somewhere around 100 depending on the year.

So on shipping morning, we start with the steers. We bring the herd into the corral and move them back to the scales.  We weigh them 10 at a time to get an average weight.  Can you imagine if we had to weigh them one by one?  We would be there all day.  After we weigh all the steers we look at the herd average and see what that compares to what we contracted them at.  Obviously, we want to hit the weight we contracted at because too light means a smaller check.  Too big usually isn’t a problem. 

After the steers are done, we do the same with all the heifers.

Once everything is weighed, counted to the number we contracted at (we have more calves than what we contract…), and the broker is happy with what we have, we load them up.  It takes someone with a masters degree in math to figure out the loading.  Not really, but it does take some time to figure out how many calves at what weight can fit in each section depending on which truck they are loading.  Glad that’s not my job.  Once all five (or sometimes six!) trucks are loaded they head out.

And then we stand there and listen to the silence. 
And then heave a sigh of relief for having the calves gone.
And then shout HOORAY!
And then we check the mail…

Then we go back to work because the job is never done.  Every year we have the same day of shipping calves with the same guys, the same routine, and then same cinnamon rolls.  And its a great day.  The day we work all year for and the day that lets us keep working for the next year.

Happy (belated) Sale Day, friends!

Feeding Frosty Cows

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Did you read the title and let your eyes roll back because its another post about feeding cows?  It is that time of year, ya know…  But don’t worry.  I knew you would be tired of the same (awesome) ramblings of feeding hungry cows with my crazy crew.

So I did a little something different.  For your benefit and mine.

Since I had The Rancher corner, I though I would take the opportunity to do a little Q&A with him.  Its good for you because its something new for you to read.  And you get to know him a little better, and everyone wants to know The Rancher a little better.  The upside for me, is that I have an intentional conversation with an adult.  Being the CEO of this ranch house full of little people can be lacking with adult conversation.  Oh, that’s starting to show?  Oops!

So for the next few hours, in between me jumping out of the tractor to open and close gates and cut the wrap off of the bales, and juggling the baby and big sister, I asked him some stimulating questions.

Here goes…

About that Super Bowl…
Me:  So what do you think about the Super Bowl coming up?  It’s this Sunday, right?(I’m super up to date with what’s happening in the world right now…HA!)

Him:  Well… (long pause)… Since I’m so into football… It should be good.  But you know me… I’m really just in it for the commercials and food.  And the commercials haven’t been that good lately, so I’m really just there for the food.

Me:  Right… So what food should we have?

Him:  I dunno.  Something good.  (This is the conversation we have every day when I ask him what he wants for dinner.  He’s so much help…)

“We feed cows…”
Me:  So tell me about feeding cows.

Him:  We feed cows.

Me: … Yes… I know that.  How much?  How much have you already fed this year?  How long will this feed last?

Him:  Well, we have fed at least that stack… We figure that we have enough hay to feed 20 bales of hay for 40 days.

Me: Oh… That’s not enough, is it?

Him:  Nope.  Having to feed cows in Locomotive has thrown a wrench in things this year.

Me:  So we feed 5 bales to the cows on the pivot pasture, 6 to the cows at the feed yard, 1 to the bulls, and 1 to the horses, old cows, and whatever is in the corral by the barn… and 5 to Locomotive.  So… I guess we need to buy more hay…

Him:  Yep…

Ranch faves
Me: So, what is your favorite thing to do on the ranch?

Him:  I dunno…(its his favorite phrase…)

Me:  Well, what is your least favorite thing to do?

Him:  Feed cows.

Me: Oh. (Hmmm, do you not like it because that is like all you are doing right now?)  So what is your next least favorite thing to do?

Him:  Fix fence.

Me:  Oh. (That one actually surprised me… I thought he liked it more.)  And then what is your next least favorite thing?

Him:  Changing water.

Me:  What’s the next?

Him:  Checking water.

Me:  You don’t like the things that you have to do over and over again, do you?  You wouldn’t make a good mom.  That’s kinda all I do.   So what’s your next least favorite thing?

Him:  I dunno… I guess I like all the rest just fine.  But it all depends on the day.

Me:  Yes, moving cows when the sun is shining and the cows are moving good is a way better day than a blizzard when you are working cows through the chute.

Him: (Nod… Silence… conversation… OVER)

Baby driver
Me:  He (the baby) is in his favorite place- at the steering wheel.  That makes you the coolest dad for letting him be there.

Him:  Yep… (he’s big on words…)

Me:  Aren’t you glad we have him?

Him:  Yep.  I guess we will keep him.

Me: Are you ready for the next one?

Him: (silence… stink eye…)  NOPE. (silence… conversation over…)

You can see that riding with The Rancher is GREAT conversation.  To his credit, he is sick (currently fevering and sleeping on the couch) and since talking when he is feeling great gives limited conversation, I really should expect less when he is feeling crappy.  But even sick, he’s still great, don’t ya think?!

Until next time, Friends!

Priorities

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Preg checking.  It isn’t glamorous, it isn’t picturesque but it certainly is exciting and entertaining.  Not the actual preg checking itself… that is somewhat boring and redundant.  We make the day entertaining and exciting any way we can, which most often includes some kind of razzing about somebody everybody.

On this fine fall day, we were working the cattle we run on the forest ground.  It is a considerably smaller herd of cows than the group we do out to Black Pine.  Don’t get me wrong, with three different ranches pooling cows together, there was still a lot to do, but we were able to slow things down a bit.

And slowing things down for a bit was kinda nice. I’m sure that the guy that got put on the fence a few times didn’t think it was a take-it-easy kind of preg checking day. Or the guy that was doing the preg checking…  There’s nothing nice or easy going IN the OUT end of a cow! 

Every rancher will tell that there is more work to be done than there are hours of the day.  Even if the cows are settled and the haying is done and the water looks good, there is fence that could use fixing and equipment could do with servicing.  There comes a point that you have to decide just how hard you want to push yourself.  You could work a neck break pace and get a lot of work done, but that leads straight to burnout and once you hit burnout you hate your job.  And where this is more than a job, its a lifestyle, we can’t afford to reach the burnout stage.

So what do you do to avoid burnout?  I don’t know that we have totally found the answer to this question.  Unfortunately there are those days and weeks that you have no choice but to push hard.  But even though we don’t have the complete solution, I will tell you that there is one thing we always keep in mind and that is our priorities.

There are a lot of things that are important to our family and our ranch.  Obviously, as far as the ranch goes, the cows have gotta be happy.  Its hard to swallow that hundreds of other girls get my cowboy’s attention over me, until you take into consideration that they are cows.  Then its all good.  Beyond the ranch, our priorities are God, family, and community because without God we are nothing, with out family none of it is worth it, and its all so much better with good friends and neighbors.

Our priorities have to be family priorities with a common goal because on the long days where my husband is nearly non existent and I am being both mom and dad, it can get overwhelming.  If I didn’t have the ranch’s success as one of my priorities I’m pretty positive in would be a real cranky wife being put second.  And knowing The Rancher’s priorities include taking care of his family helps me to know that he is doing everything he can to make it back home as fast as he can.

So on this day of preg checking, we certainly had getting the work done as our top priority.  But enjoying our time working together with our family and friends was a close second.  And because it was, it was a fun day even if it was spent at the back end of a cow.   
        

2017 Cowboy Calendar

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I don’t know what kind of terrific mood I was in this fall, but I was DETERMINED to get my calendar up and going way earlier this year.  And I did!  It was a good thing that I did since it took a while to get the proofing and shipping and what-not done.

But…

No more waiting!  The calendars are here at my house waiting to send them to you!!  If you are interested you can either email me directly at theidahorancherswife@gmail.com or you can find it on my etsy shop online HERE.

Here is a little taste of the photos featured in this year’s calendar!

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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