Welcome to JKs Rough String Ranch

Welcome to the Rough String, and thanks for stoppin' by!! Grab a hot cup of coffee and sit a spell!
10/22/18 You will see a name change on the blog. Lots of things have changed in my life in the past few years, and I feel compelled to share my story.

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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

The Look and Feel of Indian Summer

~I'll shoot any man who looks at me wrong,
or make love to any man who looks at me right.~
~Ellen Banks 1886~

Are we really into fall? Sometimes I still feel like I'm waiting for summer to get here!!! OK...I'll take the late Indian Summer...it's been so pleasant. But the house was 59 degrees this mornin' so I fired up the wood stove...ahhhh it feels sooooo good!



Mr. Augustus McCrae
Mr. Augustus McCrae


Gus is back into training after a month off...we have so much to do. But I'm proud of the lil' man getting right back into the swing of things without any fuss. He's got promise!


Dialin' in the Shot
Here mom...I'll help you dial in the shot!

I'm out in the pasture playing with the camera and Cowboy comes over and plops right in front of me...he doesn't make any bones about wanting some attention!



How Many Legs?
Playin' with the early mornin' sun...who's legs are who's?!?




Warmin' in the Sun
The wood pile has been swarming with these dragon flies. They sit comatose, warming themselves in the sunshine. The aroma rising from the juniper wood as it dries is heavenly.




Garden's End
My now ugly garden.


We've covered the garden a couple of weeks ago when it got down to freezing a few times. Then the temps came back up again. Now, it's freezing almost every night. The cabbage heads and onions sure turned out nice this year as well as the tomatoes. I cut the tomato plants at the base and put them in the green house (with all the green tomatoes still attached). The tomatoes are slowly ripening!



Keepin' an Eye on You
The owls are still keeping and eye on us. The babies are nowhere to be seen. They must have struck out on their own.


Last Friday I helped our friends down in the Diamond Valley gather up cows. The calves had already been weaned off and they were just waiting for the guy to come out and preg check the cows. They checked them on Saturday. Then the cows get trailed about 25 miles from Diamond to Princeton. It took two days, Sunday and Monday.

Fall Colors in Diamond Valley
This ol' homestead is one of my favorites in the Diamond Valley. The fall colors are showing their best.


You wouldn't believe the goofy tourists...seeing a cattle drive is such a big deal to them and everybody's got to take pictures. This one lady drove through the herd (like she's supposed to) then she stops the car in the middle of the road and is taking pics as we're trying to push the cows up the road. Of course the cows don't want to go, because she's sitting in the middle of the road blocking their way...we finally get the cows past her...and she drives through the herd one more time...thankfully she drove on...*rolling eyes here*!!!


Trailin' the Cows Toward Dry Lake
Moving the cows north...Dry Lake is on the horizon.

A lot of the way is following the county road, but eventually we cut cross country, across BLM grazing allotments, to reach their winter pastures.


Countin' at the Gate
Double checkin' the head count as the cows go through the gate. My Man got to ride on Monday!


It's amazing how the cows know the way. We only had to nudge them a couple of times to adjust their line of travel. In the photo above you can see the two buttes. Their winter pastures are on a ranch that lies between them. It's probably 5 miles across.



Heifers on the Pivot
The young heifers get to graze on the green grass under the pivot. Steens Mountain is way off in the distance.


Needless to say, it was an enjoyable two day of riding. The weather was perfect. When we help bring them back to the home ranch in February, it's going to be a lil' bit on the cool side!

14 comments:

  1. Looks like a great ride. The scenery is awesome! And Gus looks great. Love the shot through Cowboy's ears.

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  2. I would sell my soul for what you have there! All that and more.

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  3. You've been busy. Our furnace war is over, it came on, on it's own when the house got down to 38*F.

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  4. I would have to take a picture myself, but I would of stayed out of the way ;) Yes, I would rather be doing that this time of year rather than in February! Looks like fantastic weather!

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  5. I'm with Lisa... I've seen cows, hell I've had the pleasure of feeding / caring for cows... but never seen a cattle drive. I'd have to stop in the middle and take pictures!

    You do know city folk PAY to do what you do for VACATIONS !

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  6. What a fantastic post! The pics are superb my friend, the owl shot is magnificient as is the shadow and the one of cowboy...:-)))

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  7. I know what you mean about the tourists. Once, just crossing the highway with our small herd, I saw two cameras and a video camera.

    We're still having great weather here also.

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  8. Beautiful scenery! I'd love to be on a real cattle drive some day... maybe in a next life.
    I'll just keep dreaming about it, and follow your blog!
    Great photos!!!
    :)
    Michaela

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  9. I just love everything about this post. Your photos are fantastic and the storyline is great. I would love to go on cattle drive some day.

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  10. That looks like fun, ive never gone on a two day trail, would be fun and the weather looks fantastic!
    That shot through cowboys ears is great, another ear shot:)

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  11. I thoroughly enjoyed this post! Loved the shot "through the dog's ears." LOL That would've been funny for you to "take a picture" of the lady "taking a picture" of the cows. :)

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  12. Excellent post Karen, great shots but then yours always are.That Gus is one handsome boy.

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  13. These photos are lovely. Your youngster is looking fine. Didn't you just get back from a Mike Bridges clinic? Cough it up sister!

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  14. I agree, what happened at the Clinic??? What a great post, awesome country - you're a lucky cowgal.

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