Early Mornin's at the Rough String~Post #500

~No man can know the thoughts of a woman.~

~Martha Austin 1899~

Unbelievably to me...this is my 500th post! I had no idea how much enjoyment I would get out of blogging...or the number of wonderful people I would meet...or how much I had to say! I started in October of 2008 when a Dogster mom friend mentioned her blog (an awesome artist and her sidekick Rat Terrier Cloud)...I hadn't a clue what the word "blog" even meant!

Well, it didn't take long to figure it out and because of all of you it's been quite a ride!

I want to thank everyone for stoppin' by and reading about my snippets of life here at the Rough String, and I truly appreciate your comments! I will try harder to respond to your questions (I'm very bad at following up in that department and apologize). I've really enjoyed the photo aspect of blogging too...telling a story through photos...well, it's probably 'cause I'm a lil' more of a visual person.

But...


Really what I want to say is...

I'm glad you're along for the ride!!

Well, it's Friday again, and I've enjoyed posting the past few weeks with a couple of blog hops that focus on farming/country life living/ranching. One is Dandelion House (but her blog has disappeared...I hope she finds her way out of the internet black hole pretty soon), and the other is Farmchick's Farm Photo Friday ~ Link Party. Please visit her blog...good food recipes and farm life abound over there!

So...on with today's post!!

This mornin' before the sun came up, we woke to the wonderful sound of a tractor and the squeak of the rake. There was moisture in the air and the heavenly smell of alfalfa filled our home. Ahhhhh...life doesn't get much better than that!!  We hope to be stacking bales out of our field on Sunday!! Second cutting is gorgeous...beautifully green...those dairy cows are gonna LOVE it!

Hay Man Rudy's wife is at the helm...along with three dogs in the cab!
Now that's a Farm Girl!!!

As I make my way out of the house with a cup of coffee in hand, I enjoy the droning sound of the tractor and squeak of the rake at the end of each row, deeply breathe in the aroma (I'll need to remember these days when it's 0 degrees and the snow is blowin' sideways), and watch the sun come up over Hat Butte. The barn is the first stop...I let Colt out of his stall/run to graze on pasture for the day and clean up the manure.

Then I head for the garden. I know there's peas to be picked and hope they're not too ripe. I'm sure glad My Man and I worked so hard at expending the raised beds this past spring...I had room to spare for more plants...OK, next year I'll do that!

The new section of the garden has bush beans, zucchini, tomatoes
cabbage, bell peppers and hot peppers.

Oh good...the peas look like I'm not too late!

A basket full of peas with a cherry tomato on top!
I picked that one tomato before the birds ate it like they did the first few!

Walla Walla Sweet Onions...my best crop of them yet.
I have another section just like this one.
We're gonna have onions comin' outa our ears!

A volunteer onion from last year popped up,
and it has these beautiful seed buds on top...
guess I better pull that onion, it's ready to eat!

Yesterday was another yearly mornin' too...up at 4 AM to get Colt fed...myself fed...the dogs fed...get Colt saddled...Ty would be there by 6 AM to pick us up to help move cow/calf pairs.

Ahhhhhh....it sure felt good to be out movin' cows again!

These pairs are grazing on BLM allotments. They are rotated between three allotments so they don't over graze the land. So, we gather up everything from one field and trail them to the next one. Proper grazing management is essential for the continued healthy growth of grass for years to come. These allotments cover thousands of acres and gathering and trailing by horseback is the only way it can be done.

Colt loves his job!

As you can see by Colt's head gear, I'm still riding him in the two-rein, but am working more and more off the bit. He's doing well...I've got to have him straight up in the bridle by September...just a month away!

Colt 'n I have a lil' bunch moving west. Ty was off on our left pushing more
pairs up to us...our bunch kept getting growing.

One happy, cool Cow Dog! There are water troughs through out
the BLM allotments. They not only supply water to cattle but to
the native wildlife too...and occasionally a hot dog or two!

The view across the valley...Steens Mountain is on the horizon on the right.
Riddle Mountain begins with the rolling hills on the left.

We rode back to the ranch house and arrived by 1 PM...and it was plenty hot by then. Colt got unsaddled and put into a paddock with Ty's horse Cole for a good roll and some cool water. Then a tasty lunch and a cool drink ended another good day in the saddle.

Thanks for ridin' with me...have a great Friday and a fantastic fun-filled weekend!