The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

Hey From the ICA!

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I’m writing to you from the snow-capped mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho!  Actually, they are more like snow dusted but it sounds more exciting the other way…  But I am sitting here waiting for my baby to fall asleep and thought I would take a minute to come talk to you!

Every year we take off this week to be a part of the Idaho Cattle Association’s annual convention.  It’s partly because it’s the closest thing we get to a work trip but also because it is a terrific place for a cattle producer to get a little extra help. Here’s why…  ICA is an organization created to support cattle ranchers at the grass roots level and take action wherever and however it is needed.  Ranchers are busy keeping up with all the problems at home- fencing, feeding, calving, haying, ect., that they don’t have time to face the big picture ranching problems- fighting public lands issues, water rights, endangered species stuff, ect…

A few years ago, the government was attempting to regulate what work kids could do on the ranch.  They were claiming that kids were too young to operate tools, machinery and work with animals.  Yes, it may be surprising at how young our kids do start working on the ranch but when they are totally immersed in the lifestyle, its actually more of a challenge to keep them from helping!  My seven year old son BEGS to help chase cows and rides a horse for hours.  My four year old daughter stood by the chute for hours loading the tagger for her dad because SHE wanted to.  Kids learn by watching, so naturally, ranch kids learn quickly how to do the work that they see happening all around them. 

It was organizations like ICA that were able to stop the regulations from actually becoming reality.  They knew what we needed as ranchers and, more importantly, they knew what to do.  They have the contacts, the research, the lobbyists, the time and the knowhow. 

The ICA not only advocates for ranchers against those that try to tear down the industry, but they do a lot to promote beef and keep ranchers up to date with the best minds, technology, and resources to keep ranching efficient and up to the demands we face.

Aside from getting a little vacation and a little knowledge, this year we have a few different reasons to be here.  One- The Rancher has been asked to be on the ICA board to represent our area.  He is a little nervous but also excited for the opportunity for a little growth.  The second reason we really needed to be here is that I get to present on my blog and you!

Did your jaw just drop?

Ya mine did too when I was first.  Before I knew it, I answered yes and then I thought, “Um… do they know who I am?  Do they know how little I really know about this?”  But none the less, I am here ready to present tomorrow and pray that it all goes well. 

I’ll be sure to update you when I am done…  Wish me LUCK!

The Calves Have Shipped- RELIEF

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Guess what, Friends?  The calves are SHIPPED!  You can’t deny that THAT day is one, if not the very best days on the ranch.  The year’s work has finally paid off and you can see the results of your labors.  You don’t have the stressful responsibility of keeping the calves healthy and alive.  Things just turn calm and slow and I love it!

You would think that the slow down and relief would be mostly for The Rancher, but I too am relieved for when the calves on are gone. 

I’ll you why…

Because without fail, EVERY year, there are calves out.  And not only are they getting out, but they get out when there are no ranchers around to put them back in.  We have been back to the ranch several years now and I don’t think that there is a single weaning season that we have gone through without a few calves sneaking out.

In some regards, I’ll take any chance to earn some Rancher’s Wife Stripes and have The Rancher owe me for dropping everything and helping out.  But dropping everything just isn’t a convenient thing when you are a busy mom.  Plus, the stress of putting the calf in the wrong place or just NOT getting a calf in at all makes me wonder if the Rancher’s Wife Stripes are even worth it!

This year was no different, of course.  You would think that I would have learned by now to not schedule anything on the days that the guys are gone.  That way I would be ready for the break out and have the time to put the sneaky buggers back in.  But I haven’t. 

Just a few weeks ago, I had a project that needed done and I had a tiny window of time between getting kids’ homework done and getting dinner going.  I’m outside, minding my own business, trying to keep The Cowboy Kid off of the busy road in front of our house, and getting some work done when I see a handful of calves walking through my garden!  Lucky for them, I had pulled everything out of there that I was planning to use.  If the peas had still been growing, those calves would have been in big trouble…

So I scoop up my baby and we start them back to the pasture.  The trouble with putting calves back in, especially around the ranch yard is that you never know where they are going to go and what is going to pop and get them.   We have chased in circles around the homes or through the equipment sheds.  The dogs have come to help only to chase them in the wrong direction.  This time they actually head back to the field ok, but just as we were getting to the gate, the chickens jumped out. 

This presented a problem in a couple of ways.  One, it meant that the chickens were out, probably my least favorite critter to get back in.  Second, it sent my already flighty and skiddish calves busting through the gate.  They were hung up on it and in it and scurrying around it and I was sure we were going to have a wreck.  When all was said and done,  the gate was the only one worse for wear.  There is a big ol’ bow in it and it doesn’t swing exactly right….  But The Rancher can deal with that.  I did put his calves in, after all.

2017 Calf Crop from The Idaho Ranchers Wife 2017 Calf Crop from The Idaho Ranchers Wife

2017 Calf Crop from The Idaho Rancher's Wife

2017 Calf Crop from The Idaho Ranchers Wife

2017 Calf Crop from The Idaho Ranchers Wife

That wasn’t the only day that the calves put a kink in my day.  The week before we shipped calves was pretty packed for me.  Which means that nearly every moment is scheduled and that I only have spare minutes to clean up the baby’s spilled milk, not put The Rancher’s calves away. 

That day I had planned to get yard work done- the lawn mowed and leaves cleaned up, the flower beds cleaned up and bulbs planted.  I’m cruising around the yard, thinking I was totally on top of the day, when I spot a calf out across the road.  Then another.  And then a whole pile of others…  I’m pretty sure I rolled my eyes and cursed The Rancher under my breath but I parked my mower and jumped on the 4 wheeler to get the calves.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that it only took a couple of minutes to get them back in.  No catastrophes!  I closed the gate and headed back to work.  It wasn’t but a few minutes when I saw another handful of calves.  I went through the same routine of rolling my eyes, really cursing The Rancher, getting the calves in, and heading back to work.  Even before I got back on the mower, I could see a few more calves out and I knew that wherever they were crawling out from wouldn’t wait until the guys were home to fix it. 

Being the great ranch wife that I am (HA!) and for my own sanities sake, I headed to the shop for tools, wire, and staples.  After driving the fence the kids and I found a calf sized hole that the escapees had been breaching all morning and got to work.  I would love to say that I just snapped out a beautifully fixed fence but that wasn’t the case.  When the calves had broken the fence, they had broken a pole and loosened the wires. I’m sure The Rancher would have just replaced the pole altogether, but that was beyond what I was willing to do.  A little patch job was going to have to be good enough.  After about 5 trips of getting the right stuff, we had finally finished our crude attempt at fixing the fence.  I knew it would hold but it certainly wasn’t the prettiest job… But it was done and the calves were in.

At least until my next busy day!

You can see how I am just as relieved as the guys that the calves are gone!  Maybe this momma can get a little bit of work done around here… Probably not, but we are gonna give it a try!

He’s got this supervising thing down- sitting down on the job with a cinnamon roll in hand!

The last bunch headed to load in the semi!

If this picture had sound, you would here a lot of “HUP! HUP! HUP!” from this little cowboy!

5 semi’s loaded down with steers and heifers headed to their knew home.

A Letter to a Sandwich

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When you have three kids and your husband is gone a lot and returns home tired to the bone and just falls asleep, you tend to not get much adult interaction.  And when that happens, you tend to start having conversations with yourself.  And when that time is prolonged for a few weeks, the conversations with yourself in your head turn  sideways.  All of the sudden you think, “Man if I have to make one more sandwich…!  Boy, I’d tell that sandwich…!  I’d tell it….!”

Suddenly you have a letter written to a sandwich, that doesn’t exist, and if it did, it did nothing to you to deserve such retribution.  And that letter would go something like this:

Dear Sandwich,

We are back to our annual hot-and-heavy-relationship again.  I must say that as the days drag on, I find you less and less desirable.  Getting together every once in a while is manageable, but lately you have been coming around WAY too much.  Lets face it, you have nothing new to offer.  When you whittle it down, you are just two slices of bread with a piece or two of meat and cheese in the middle with a little mayo slathered on to provide a little lubrication for the trip down.

Sure, you could be a bit more.  A little fluff can really go a long way.  In fact, I enjoy a little tomato and lettuce on my sandwich.  Heck, I’ll even take some pepper or cucumber to make things a little interesting.  But that’s only when its fancy-sandwich-day at home.  Sorry to tell you, but a fancy sandwich doesn’t fly out on the range.  A juicy tomato turns a sandwich sitting in lunch box in the back of the truck soggy REAL fast.  And limp lettuce is even less appealing!  Knowing that adding the extras in an attempt to change things up is all just wasted effort and  just makes you even less alluring.

I know that if we get creative things could be a little exotic with some tuna.  But The Rancher is a land creature and can only take so much tuna.  And we could get the creative juices flowing and pull out some spicy mustard and add a little zip or zing to it.  Heck, The Rancher even gets creative out on the range when he tries to pep you up with a few chips to give you a little crunch.  But even with all the creativity, you are still just two slices of bread with a piece or two of meat and cheese in the middle with a little mayo slathered on to provide a little lubrication for the trip down.

What I am trying to say is that I am done with you.  I am tired of all your fixin’s taking up so much space in my fridge.  I’m tired of looking for ways to mix it up.  I’m tired of making you and then seeing you come home when you just weren’t worth eating.  Lets go back to the days of only getting together once in while.  A man needs a man lunch that will stick to his sides for these long days.  Sorry, but a sandwich day after day isn’t going to cut it.  I’m severing ties and turning to cold pizza for now.  Go find some other lunch box to fill…

Sincerely (tired of fixing and eating you!),

The Rancher’s Wife

Counting Our Blessings, One Fat Cow at a Time

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Our Monday morning drive to check water- oh how I love it. When else do I get to sit and ride with kids constrained (I mean buckled, of course) and just take pictures. I hate those days when something comes up and we don’t get to go. Like all January…

Finally I got my turn to trip around Locomotive with my main man and small peeps. I came to a few conclusions- Locomotive is prettier with snow, we don’t have a lot of feed, and our cows are fat. Somehow the last two parts of that don’t seem to go together but it’s what’s happening down south. The few, but saving fall rains have done the good we needed to give our cows the nourishment for the winter. It may be dry and we still need rain, lots of rain, but we are counting our blessings. We have fat, healthy, pregnant cows- a wonderful beginning to our new year!

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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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