The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

Spring Has Sprung

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Last year it seemed that Ms. Winter hung on forever.  And when it finally let got Ms. Summer jumped right in and we didn’t have too many days to spend with Ms. Spring.  This year we have!  We have had those perfect cool and crisp mornings that warm up just enough to not worry about getting too hot (or sunburned!)  We didn’t have too many April showers but enough that we are green.  The Rancher spent some busy days doing his spring farm work planting grain and alfalfa (correction, I was just reminded that we haven’t put in the alfalfa yet… but will soon).  The sprinklers are rolled out and turned on.  We have the new spring chicks and the plum tree is beginning to get its leaves.  Yes boys and girls, this year spring is in full swing. 

The Rancher’s Sister

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It’s probably not too hard to imagine that I am a rancher’s sister (and a rancher’s daughter, just to throw that out there).  I grew up on a ranch and ALWAYS loved that lifestyle, so much that I always told my dad that I would marry a cowboy (doesn’t that sound so romantic?!).  To clarify, that meant a rancher cowboy not a rodeo cowboy, although I found both in The Rancher.  
Ok, side note over…  I went to visit my brother, let’s call him The Lemhi Rancher (yep, you guessed it, he lives in Lemhi!).  We were having a family gathering so the kids and I loaded up the covered wagon (aka the Tahoe), kissed The Rancher goodbye and hit the road.  The Rancher had to sit this one out because they turning the cows out onto the spring range.  Can I get a woot (that the cows are out, not that I went without The Rancher)?  
Even though we live on our own ranch and see the horses, cows, 4-wheelers, and ect. daily we always have such a great time at The Lemhi Ranchers ranch.  And he does have one thing that we don’t have… BUFFALO.  
About 4 years ago the owner decided that he wanted to add buffalo to the ranch.  Nope, they didn’t get rid of the cows…  Now they have a cattle cow-calf operation and a buffalo cow-calf operation.  As soon as The Lemhi Rancher gets done calving out the cows it is about time to calve out the buffalo.  The nature of the buffalo (can you say wild?!) changes how they do it all, in fact calving is so hands off that all they can really do is keep a good watch and monitor what’s happening.
We always like to spin through the buffalo.  This trip was a little different since they are in the middle of calving so there were tons of new babies jumping around.  Most days I will tell you that I find the buffalo to be ugly but there are times that they a sort of rugged beauty and their power is quite awe-inspiring.
And in the barn they had a special treat for us- a baby buffalo!  We walked out one night and helped The Lemhi Rancher feed the little guy.  

So even though this isn’t something happening on our ranch, it’s still fun to share some other ranching fun!

A Refreshing Rain

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Our little valley, like most of the area, is really suffering for rain.  We are just bone dry due to such little snow for winter 2011/2012 and only a few inches of rain last summer.  This last winter we were blessed with the snow we needed but if we don’t continue to get water we will be in trouble again.  The Rancher watches the weather man every night to see if the rain will come.  Every night he prays so earnestly that we will have some moisture. 

A look at the clouds coming in from my front porch

And I think that he has bombarded heaven enough that little by little we are getting some moisture.  In fact you can see that the fields are turning green and the rain clouds are rolling in.  Its amazing, I never thought I would love rain as much as I do being a rancher’s wife.  I do admit that I do have some selfish reasons for wanting rain- maybe if it rains enough, The Rancher will slow down for a day that I can see him! 

Checking Water

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Something you really should grasp about Locomotive is that it is a wide open desert range.  In fact, lets consult the thesaurus to really get a feel for it…  DESERT: desolate – deserted – empty – wild – barren – dull.  Yes I think that sums it all up!  Actually I am afraid to admit it into the blogosphere (because once anything is on the internet it is there forever!) but it does have a unique beauty that has really, REALLY, really grown on me.  That doesn’t mean I love it, but the emptiness is somewhat peaceful. 

Ok, I got way off track… It is desert which means that there is NO water unless you make it happen, by either hauling water or digging a well.  With the number of cows and the thousands of acres they went with the latter.  This also means that it needs to be checked often to be sure that there are no malfunction because no water= bad news.  If The Rancher doesn’t have plans to stay to Locomotive all day we will ride out there with him. The actual checking of the water isn’t that interesting, but it is always fun to go for a ride and look for a good picture. 

Heifer Haul-out

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While the cows calve out in Locomotive (north of the Salt Lake), the heifers stay at the ranch to calve.  Because they are first time mommas we like to be close for if when they need help.  Once their calves are old enough we load up a semi-full and head for Locomotive.  Here’s some fun trivia for you… the reason it is called Locomotive is because this is where the Transcontinental Railroad ran.  The tracks are gone but the path is still around.  The Rancher tells me that there are still some telephone poles (or something that ran with it) but I can’t point them out…  Someday I will get some pictures out there!  (Road trip, anyone?)Anyway, here are some pictures from hauling the heifers out.

Wide open spaces in Locomotive
Check out The Rancher!  Sporting the HOT scruffy look
The Rancher’s boy- an ever faithful sidekick, ALWAYS willing to help

Where we unload there isn’t a loading chute or corrals which means we get to bring along our own

Some one set down the hot shot… Better watch out!

Dusted Out

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 We tried to brand on a windy day.. and I don’t recommend it.  Ok, lets start over, I really shouldn’t see “we” tried to brand because when I looked out the window… and what did I see? popcorn popping I saw crazy wind and opted out of being on the branding crew.  We showed up in time for lunch and stayed just long enough to know I made the right choice to be the rancher’s wife (take care of The Rancher’s kids… and laundry) and not the rancher wife (eating dust with the rest of ’em).

 In fact, when I did venture out of the truck I spent most of the time watching from the horse trailer.

 It ended up being so dusty that they had to quit early.  The cowboys couldn’t catch anything, and when they did it was a hard knowing which brand to put on.  Even once they figured that out they had to be careful to make sure it was just the calf that got branded and not the crew!  On top of that the cows trashed the fence- its pretty hard to brand when the cattle don’t show up…

 There were some blue skies, so long as you weren’t trying to find them through the dust…

Check out The Rancher!  He was so covered in dirt!  All of the sudden he was tanner and had a thicker goatee… And are those flowers growing from the dirt in his ears?!  Maybe not, but we sure went through the Q-tips that night when The Rancher was cleaning up…  Actually, you wanna hear something terrible and funny at the same time?  Just when The Rancher got home, the power went out because of the CRAZY wind!  When he needed a shower most, he couldn’t.  But then our fabulous neighbors offered their shower to us.  You may be asking why they had power and we didn’t… Well, not only are they fabulous, but also brilliant because they have a generator hooked up to their house.  Lesson learned- we need a generator! 

April = Branding

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April is SUCH a busy month for us and it mostly surrounds itself around branding.  I have learned not to schedule anything on the weekends because The Rancher already has them booked full.  Our cows calve out on the desert north of the Salt Lake which means that rather than branding on the ranch we brand on the range.  We load up the truck with food, toys for The Rancher’s Boy and coats and blankets enough for all of Mother Nature’s mood swings and then hit the road.  Most of the time I am in the thick of it helping however I can, but since The Rancher’s Girl is still so little (5 months!) I get to spend more time on the sidelines this year (that just means more pictures!).

Welcome to the Ranch!

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As a good Rancher Wife I am happy to welcome you to the ranch!  I love sharing what we have with others.  I feel that my family is so blessed to live in the country and to live the ranching lifestyle.  I love to get out on the ranch with my husband whenever I can, and usually I am bringing my kids and toting my camera.  For a while I have been wondering what to do with my pictures- all they have been doing is sitting on my computer.  Then inspiration came…  make a blog just for them!  So I have…  I am dedicating this blog for a place to talk about our awesome lifestyle, share my pictures and maybe help people to see what a family ranch that works to feed the country is really like!

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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