The Idaho Rancher's Wife

The Ranch From the Wife's Perspective

2U Branding… Doing it Carter Style

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I love branding season!  I love to help, I love to take pictures, I love the company, I love the food… I love it all!  When we ran out of branding days for our ranch and the association, I invited myself down the road to our friend’s branding.

The Carters have a small herd that they run mostly because they love the life.  They have other work but at the end of the day they always come back to ranching.  Its important to them to raise their 4 boys learning how to work and connecting with the heritage that runs deep in this valley.

Its been great to become better friends with this family.  The Rancher went to high with Cowboy Cody Carter and has some great (maybe not entirely always appropriate) memories with him.  They have moved on from high school rodeo to real ranch cowboys, making a living to provide with their families.

…. That all sounds kinda mushy… Maybe it is when you think about it, but really its awesome and fun.  And that is exactly the kind of day we had out with the Carter crew to their branding.  They had cowboys that could rope and… some that weren’t so great.  They had cowboys that didn’t hardly say a word and others that didn’t ever stop (seriously, the guy never closed his mouth- the proof is in the pictures!).  There were a few injuries throughout the day but all in all, a successful day branding!

More Branding….

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I lied… I told you a while ago that it was the last of the association branding…

Oooops!

Found some more!  They are from the LONG weekend we had at Locomotive, so no wonder I lost them.  I mean, there is so much to keep track of and I’m such a blonde that its totally possible that I would make a mistake and forget to post pictures.

So here you go!

A New House

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Big things are happening, folks! BIG THINGS! I (and The Rancher of course) am building a new house! It has always been a dream to build my own home and this summer we are making it a reality.  I’ve wanted to share my news with you for so long but I wanted to make sure it was really happening. I mean, how rough would it be to make that kind of announcement and then be devastated by reality?! Heartbreaking, I’m sure. 
Like any house building project it’s been simple. No big things to mull over. No learning curve to overcome.  
Ya right! It’s been crazy prep work that we’ve done over the last year. But honestly, the toughest decision has been the “where” of it all. A place that gives us a nice view, our own space and definitely on the same side of the old highway as where dad works (because yes, my kids have scooted their little bodies across the road by themselves!).  We found a treasure of a place when The Rancher had the idea to build where another old, old, OLD house stood. It had trees, the view, the yard and most importantly, it’s in the right side of the road. 
When we finally realized this was the summer to build it meant we had to get to work making a place for a house. The old house (commonly called The Broken House by my kids because it really was old and broken) hadn’t been used for more than storage in 30 years. I would say nobody lived in it, but that’s not entirely accurate- there was a a few happy families of rats and mice and all sorts of other yucky creepy creatures.
It had been our plan to keep and remodel a lot of the existing house but unfortunately we could see it just wasn’t sound. With my luck I would have put in my pretty new cabinets and shiny new appliances and they would all go crashing down if we left the old structure. So we had our work cut out for us. The whole house had to come down to the bare basement. My vote was to just take a match to it. Or push it all in with a bulldozer. All very fast and certainly effective. But being the smart man that he is, The Rancher wanted take it apart more carefully to save every thing that was good.  We were able to save all the good lumber in the floor and walls along with the outside walls. We actually just lifted the roof off (ok, more truthfully, we made the roof cave in) and cut the outside walls down to use later. Where, I don’t know but there are done walls ready to make some kind of shed…
The demoition part of our project began at the first of January. I’ve never been so delighted and so satisfied to punch a whole in the wall. I’ve also never been sore like i was after swinging a sledge hammer like that for so many days! It took months to take down walls, clean it up and move on to the next room to do it all over again. But all the sudden the house was gone and we were digging for the foundation!
Ironically we had to put things on hold for a couple of weeks at the beginning of Msy. I say it’s ironic because there was too much rain that it slowed us to a stop. I NEVER would have thought we would have rain like that for so many days. It was so hard to not cuss the rain because we have needed it so badly for so long! I didn’t dare tell the man upstairs that his answer to our prayers came at an inconvenient time… 
Eventually the storm clouds parted and my floor was laid!  And then I blinked and the walls were up!  It’s been incredible to watch it unfold right in front of me. I am so happy, so excited and so (happily) stressed. 
And unfortunately that is why my little blog has been somewhat neglected. I’m just pulled in so many ways and throwing a house in the middle of it all didn’t help! But maybe I can appease myself by sharing it with you here. You want to hear about how a rancher’s wife puts a house up, right? I’m sure there are life lessons being learned that are worth someone reading about!
The old house… Taken as The Rancher took the porch roof off. 

The upstairs completely gutted. At this point we took out the windows, the final studs and then began taking the outside walls down.

No windows or doors…

Goodbye old house!

We borrowed a track hoe from some great neighbors to do the work. And I have to say that being able to operate this is a serious talent!

The walls are going down!

A last look from the inside.

The roof fell in…

And no more house!

Footings- the first new construction!

Pouring the foundation walls…

The floor system in (and beautiful green EVERYWHERE!)

The first wall up. 

The best little helpers… They have loved every bit of this!

More walls

Beautiful progress!

The Last of the Association Branding

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How about a little different post?  Still lots of pictures but instead of a wind up with some sort of an interesting story, lets do a commentary.  A running commentary to let you know what I was seeing when I took each picture. 

Ready?

Riding in the herd…

Brothers…  The little brother was pestering the older brother, the older brother took down the younger brother and commenced the Chinese torcher tap.  Nothing but true love there!

The Ranch Boss just had his 87th birthday and refuses to stop.  He may slow a little, but he is determined to never quit.

I just thought this blaze was funny… Like, bummer birth mark or something…

You find cowboy style and personality everywhere.  Some cowboys go simple and some like bling everywhere, even by their horses slobbery mouth.

When I got up close I realized that he had his name on his spurs- AWESOME! And he has some cool red top boots peeking out.  That’s like cowboy lingerie, right there!

Horses on the range- its a beautiful site.

There isn’t a better place for kids to be than out in the middle of nowhere branding.

The Rancher’s Sidekick always has to be in the middle of it all.  At the point in the day he had proclaimed it his job to stand on the leg so it wouldn’t move.  Don’t know that we needed it but I’m glad that he found a job he could rock.

The saddle- a cowboy spends many long hours in this seat…  It better be just to his liking!

Just a boy giving shots, but once again…  its a great place for a growing boy to be.

Dragging calves in…


Sure glad he has a cap on that…  Sometimes people get unintentional vaccinations

Thank goodness for back pockets because when your hands get full there is always a place to hang your tagger and your clips.

We always load up toy for the kids.  In fact I think there ends up being a whole sand pile worth of toys out there!

And then sometimes they end up hauling more than just dirt.  The Rancher’s Sidekick started gathering up discarded nuts and taking them to the dogs.  I’m glad that was all he was doing with them…

The Rancher’s uncle…  I’ve known him for quite a while and he has ALWAYS had the mustache.  The length of the handle bars has varied over the years but it is truly his signature!

I know he wasn’t really posing, but I tease that everyone is so used to striking a pose for me that it is just second nature to stand picture ready!

How many boys does it take get a calf down?  Lots… and still the calf will give ’em a run for their money!

It got dusty… no surprise.  And it looked cool.

Gathering the herd in for the after lunch branding.  Taking a pit stop at the watering hole…

Rancher Sr. doing what he does best.  He has become such a great friend.  I love having him for a father-in-law.

When you ride next to me you are going to have your picture taken.  And I love them even if you aren’t looking at the camera!

Cowboys make beautiful photographs… I love my job!

Cows scattered across the range- this is why we bring so many cowboys.  And this was only one small corner of our beautiful world.  I love having wide open spaces for an office!

Boys in the dirt… need I say more?

We could see a storm moving over the mountains and it was a stunning backdrop. 


Love the dramatics of the sky.  Having a non dusty windy day was incredible!

A look at the scene from herd side…

One of my favorite cowboys. 

Every week there are a few new faces around to help and enjoy the cowboy lifestyle.

A different perspective…  But appropriately, looking up to a cowboy

Cute.  I love cute calves!  Especially the baldy calves.

Drug by the heels.  If only he knew what was going to happen to him.

Sisters make the best friends.

Her parents had better be ready for this beauty to grow up.  Check out those eyes!

A little saddle bling with your brand on it can never be a bad thing.

Just taking a minute to visit with a friend.  Kids and horses were meant to be together. 

Any guesses what this coffee can is for? Oh, just to gather nuts in…  Calf nuts…

Should we be concerned that there are no adults in this picture?

J4…  When the ropers bring in a calf they shout out what brand to put on it- Rocking-A, AE, J4 , Bar over the hip, K+… and many more

When you pester the big boys they just might decide to hog tie you.  While I was taking this picture I could hear them saying (in more colorful language) that they unfortunately didn’t have enough rope to finish the job on this growing boy… It was his lucky day, that’s for sure!

Chaps- a functional and fashionable part of the cowboy wardrobe…

Checking out the herd…

This girl will show you how its done!

Following the rope back to the cowboy- my cowboy in this shot…

Looking for the unbranded babies…


A little war paint for a tough day of work!

Camping out on the Range to Catching Horses

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We brand nearly every weekend of April, and sometimes that even runs into May.  With so many cattle spread so far across the range it takes several different days to gather up the cattle to get the work done.  The weekend we did so many calves at the ranch and then again at our private ground in Locomotive we still had the association branding to do the following day (Saturday).  Instead of driving back and forth so much we decided to just camp out.

We were full of adventurous expectations of shooting guns, riding bikes, and other exciting stuff (ok… so I can’t remember all of the ideas we had but I know they were awesome!) but after two full days of branding we were pooped out.  That really meant all we had energy for was to sit and do nothing.  Everyone was pretty ok with that… Except there was one thing we all HAD to do.  Because although we were camping and roughing it, we did have one admit request of The Cattlewoman- we had to shower!  I don’t blame her for not wanting a bunch of stinky cowboys and cowgirls in her trailer so we obliged.  And with so many to shower that pretty well filled our day.  We showered.  We ate.  We slept.  We talked.  It was great fun!

There was a teensy bit of excitement when some of the guys thought they should go hunting for the big rat in old shack.  Doesn’t shooting at a rat in a dark shack in the dark of the night sound exciting to you.  Mind you that the shack would have fallen down at any time if they hit it in just the right spot… Boys…

The following morning we woke to a wonderful surprise- no wind!  That might not sound like such a big deal, but we had been hammered with the wind for days.  For just a moment we were able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise without any wind.

The Rancher Princess and I followed The Rancher out to catch horses for the days work.  The horses weren’t really cooperating… they ran and ran and RAN!  Not the way The Rancher wanted to start his day but it made for a fun little photo shoot for me.

Eliason Branding 2015 Day 2

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I love rainy days!  For so many reasons… Of course because we need the rain- we need the rain SO badly.  But I love the rain because then we slow down a bit and I have time to go through the HUNDREDS of pictures that are calling to me.  So… without any further time… here are some long overdue pictures.  Pictures from our second day of branding.

There’s a funny story that goes along with this day…

Since we were branding out on the range and camping out that night we had a lot to take out and a lot of rigs hauling it all.  We all eventually make it and get to starting.  The early comers had already started gathering the cattle in so the late arrivers started pulling out the equipments.  We think, “everything looks good…”  We have half the cows we usually have to do, all day to do them, and lots of good help.  This should be a great day!

The herd comes in, the cows go back out and we get the fire started.  The Rancher and Rancher Sr. start pulling out all the stuff that they carry around and need for each calf.  They sharpen their knives, I fill their syringes, they grab their taggers and tags… No tags!  We had no tags!  (actually we had like 22, maybe- but still not enough!)  Kinda an important part of the day! 

We just kinda twiddled our thumbs about it and got started anyway.  But uh… no tags, fellas!  Eventually we decided that we would tag all that we could and kick them back out to the mommas.  Then we branded, vaccinated, castrated, marked- did EVERYTHING except the tags, to the rest of the calves.  We held them all until had more tags, which only happened because The Ranch Boss had graciously volunteered to drive home to grab tags to save the day!

The cowboys didn’t mind too much that we had a kink in our day.  It meant that we weren’t pushing too hard, which gave them a chance to do a little extra fun roping.  They pulled out their fancy big loops once in a while and headed and heeled a satisfying amount.  We got the work done, ate some good grub and marked another day down in the books!

 Click “read more” below to see more photos!

Eliason Branding 2015 Day 1

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This last week I had the scariest thing happen… I thought I lost my external hard drive!  It stores all of my photos and if it was gone I was gonna be in big trouble.  And heartbroken.  Mostly heartbroken. 

But I found it!!  This means I can finally share the many MANY more pictures I have.

Today’s tale and pictures to post- our branding!

With having so many cows at home to calve, we had so many calves to brand here on the ranch.  We made a weekend of it, inviting cowboys and cowgirls out to help.  Day one consisted of all the calves on the ranch- two heifer groups and 3 cow groups.  The nice about when we did these was that they had already been tagged, castrated and given one shot.  We sailed through these calves!  For most of the day I was giving shots on my own and I could barely keep up!  It also meant that there wasn’t a lot of down time to take pictures.  So not a lot of day one… Mostly a shot here and there between groups, set up, clean up…  But stay tuned for day two!

Click the “read more” link below to view the complete post…

Becoming a Real Cowgirl

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Ever since I married my cowboy I have wanted to rope.  I grew up riding and working cattle, but we never got into roping.  We were more on the cutting end of the cowboying.  In fact, I still get cranky when I see a cowboy miss a good cut or turn because he was looking for a better shot to throw his rope.  However, I do want to be a real cowgirl and learn to rope.

Over the last couple of years I’ve taken a swing or two with a rope at a dummy- some really intesnse cowgirl stuff.  But more recently my husband and his brothers have taken it upon themselves to finally get this roping thing down.  They have taken me out on some of their less intense branding days, where there wasn’t too much to get down that I could either slow down or get in the way.  Actually that’s not true… I know not to try roping on the busy crazy days because I want to get home before dark or we run out of fire!

It was all good and fun but I wasn’t really figuring it out…  Until just a few weeks ago!

I was honestly ready to give up and say that I just didn’t have it in me to be a roper.  But The Rancher brought me along to one more branding.  He gave me the experienced horse that would take his time (maybe he is slightly lazy…), put on my brand new saddle and I strapped on my new spurs.  I had everything I needed to rock this branding.  Oh wait- I didn’t have a rope!

We show up to our good friends where we were roping.  There were 160 calves to brand and we were ready to get going.  The Rancher just grabbed some old rope out of the trailer and we headed out.  And I was terrible.  I couldn’t hardly even keep my coils straight, couldn’t swing the rope to save my life, and missed every calf I tried for.  For as many times I threw that rope I should have caught one by accident, even snagged one as it walked over my loop… but I didn’t.

I was ready to turn in and promote myself to the ground crew when one of the cowboys rode up to me, took my rope and traded it for his.  He said there was no way in … that I could catch with that thing!  He rode off and I figured I oughtta give it one more go, just to humor him.  And guess what happened- I caught!

The very first loop I threw caught a calf!  I just about forgot to dally because I was so surprised and so elated.  I got my horse turned to the fire and drug my first calf in, get congrats and hoorays from everyone along the way- you would have thought I had just won the lottery for as excited as we were!  They slid off my rope and I was out for another calf.  I had to try again to make sure it wasn’t just luck, although I was sure that my friend must have rubbed a bit of luck on it.  But as I kept going at it I kept catching.  It was like I was really figuring it out!  There was one time I had my arm up just right, rolling my wrist just right, and threw my rope just right.  The rope landed right in front of those back feet just like it was supposed to.  I was so excited that I totally forgot to pull my slack and actually catch the calf before he stepped back out…

I went home that day floating on clouds.  I wasn’t a perfect roper or the best roper, but that day I finally became a roper.  Now that I have my own saddle (because one day The Rancher said, “We need to get you your own saddle” and no good cowgirl says no to that!) some sweet new spurs and my own new rope (full of calf catching luck) I am on my way to being a real cowgirl.

*** I don’t have any picture roping that day, but I do have a few from a few weeks later taken by my sister in law, The Montana Girl.***

Fishing for Bales

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I realized my blogging/photography life has someone of a conundrum.  When there isn’t a lot going on, I have post after post of feeding cows, the cute babies, and nothing terribly eye catching or exciting.  But then we are busy as ever, I have HUNDREDS of photos to edit, tons of stories to tell and no time to sit down and tell them…  So I am sitting down at the computer ready to tell you a story, pump out some photos and carving out some time for my blogging life.

This winter/spring has been different for us.  Very different.  First of all, we didn’t have winter… We had a flurry every so often but we never had the cold-for-days, snowed-in, stranded-for-days winter that we usually (ok, maybe not all that dramatic, but still… no winter).  But it was also different for all of the cows calving at home.  So many more to feed, keep an eye on, and tag.  So many more cuties around!

We are experiencing a new “difference” lately.  We are hauling down hay and feeding in Locomotive.  With the lack of feed and the lack of rain, there just isn’t enough feed for what we need. The nutrition of our cows is super important so we trek down south with hay and get ’em what we need.

For a while we were taking down just a couple of bales at a time.  But that was getting long and slow…  So we figured we would load the semi and flat bed up and take a few loads out.  It wasn’t all too irregular of an occurence- people haul hay all the time.  Nothing to tell the blogging world about, right?  That’s true, until it was time to unload.

You see, we don’t have a tractor down in Locomotive.  Unloading hay minus a tractor means that we get to be creative.  It didn’t occur to me that we were missing a KEY part of this job.  Its not like they can dump themselves and we can’t really push them all off.  So… What’s a rancher to do?  How about fish them off?

The Rancher apparently knew EXACTLY what he was doing not bringing a tractor down.  I never doubt that he knows what he is doing, but to me there were no clear solutions  He always says I lack faith in him… I just tell him that I just wait to be dazzled by his brilliance!  So he brought a big ol’ hook and rope to pull all the bales off.  In reality it was pretty simple.  The Ranch Boss was in the truck, pulling the bales off.  The Rancher would do the fishing, hooking and catching the bale, and I was the go between running the hook from the bales on the ground to The Rancher.  When we had so many pulled down that we couldn’t any more, we just pulled the semi up and went at it again.  So easy!  So much so that we did it again and I brought my camera to show you.

We get to be a little creative in this life.  The Rancher lives for twine, duct tape, and his save-your-life drawer of nuts and bolts.  Life tries to throw a kink in your plan, but we my guys around, we always have some new brilliant way to make it.  Like fishing for bales!

Association Branding- Day 1

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We ad our first glorious day of branding our BLM cows with the association over the weekend.  It was pleasantly a typical day with no surprises.  The wind blew, the food was great, we all returned home covered in dust and we got a lot of branding done. 

In between giving calves shots (because that is my specialty) I had some time to take some other awesome shots!  (I guess I really am specializing in one thing!)  There were some fun moments for me to capture- like a pair of pants that just didn’t last the day and are beyond repair!  Of course my little boy always has his rope in hand ready to attempt to rope a calf. 

I even had a new memory to capture…  There were a few boys with a grocery sack they passed back in forth throughout the day as they were collecting all of the testicles.  Why?  I dunno… Maybe to give to their dog or cook up for themselves.  But I wonder if they kept them…  Cowboy E kindly fried up a rocky mountain oyster for them.  They weren’t impressed with the taste… AT ALL!  In fact I think one boy said that it was absolutely awful. 

Then there were the classic moments to capture…  I always find a face or two grimacing at the stink of the singed hair or carefully placed quick the calf just gave.  The cowboys always turn out to be photogenic and ready for a photo shoot.

Brandings have to be some of my favorite ranch life moments to take.  There are the cows, the calves, the horses, the cowboys, the newbies, the oldies, the cooks…  So much to enjoy.  And now that I’ve rambled enough you really can enjoy!

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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