Congratulations to Number Three!

She FINALLY calved!!!

You did a fine job girl...she had this cute lil' one all by herself! It's interesting that this calf came out with the Jersey color tone instead of the red Hereford like the other two calves. But, she was a nice small calf...perfect for Number Three's first calf.

She's just a cutie!

Her breeding is a bit of a conglomeration; half polled Hereford, quarter Chiangus, eighth Angus and eighth Jersey.

I guess this position gives her more stability as Number Three continues to clean her up.

It sure doesn't take them long to get up and rompin' around! This is a pretty cute video!

So, we're done calving for this year. We'll be getting the bull in fairly soon...and expect to have five calves next year!

When Thoughts Come True

How many times have you ever thought of something that could happen...and then it does?

Feeding the herd this mornin', I tripped while pushing the wheelbarrow, fell forward and landed with my lower teeth on the rim of the metal wheelbarrow. Tripped over a damn rock...which I have done too many times to remember~and always thought "what if?"

One tooth is broke in half and a couple others are loose...split my lip of course, and I look like I was in a fight...and lost.

Off to the dentist...hope they can fix me up.

It can only get better from here today.
One of my favorite views...clouds and blue sky over the rim rock.

Post Number 701...But Who's Counting...

No posts for two weeks...here anyhow...but I have been posting my Photo A Day HERE. I have to confess that it's not easy for me to have two blogs going.

My Man and I took a day trip a few weekends ago to the south end of Harney County to visit my Ol' Man Toby...and his family. He and the kids are doing fantastic!!!

Monte riding Toby with his pup in chase. The beautiful Pueblo Mountains are in the distance. I wish I could have grown up like these kids...they're amazing!

Our route took us from Princeton to Diamond and then Frenchglen. This photo is taken at the top of P Hill above Frenchglen. The Malhuer Wildlife Refuge lies below. The scorched trees are from the devastating Miller Homestead wildfire from last summer...but look at the beautiful green grass coming up!

The land will recover from the fire...the juniper trees are a noxious weed that suck up 30 gallons of water a day taking moisture that is needed for the grasses to grow and sustain cattle, wildlife, and wild horses.

We traveled the length of the Catlow Valley seeing nothing but cows and wildlife. I saw a small herd of Big Horn sheep but couldn't get a photo. Hart Mountain is in the distance.

We arrived at Fields which is just a few miles from the Nevada border. It's beautiful, rugged, and desolate. I think I could live there! Steens Mountain in the distance.

After our visit, we headed back north to home via the Alvord Desert...a huge alkali desert running for miles along the east base of the Steens Mountain.

As with any trip...it's good to go, but just as good to get back home!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Cat Nap

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Rurality Blog Hop #8

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday Bloggers

Celebrate National Agriculture Day!

March 19 is National Agriculture Day..."so what" you say?

What Is Ag Day All About? (from the agday.org website)
Ag Day is about recognizing - and celebrating - the contribution of agriculture in our everyday lives. The National Ag Day program encourages every American to:

• Understand how food and fiber products are produced.
• Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy.
• Appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.

My Man and I contribute just a tiny bit to the agriculture industry, but we are proud to produce a quality product so you can have good, safe food on your table!

We do a lot of this...

(usually from May through early September)

...to grow as much of this as we can...

(three cuttings June, July and September)

...most of which is trucked off to Willamette Valley dairies...

(200 tons)

...so you can go to your local grocery store and buy milk, butter, and cheese!

What alfalfa we grow that isn't good enough for dairy cows, we feed to our own cows to raise a few of these...

(Early Girl - a 2013 calf)

...who, when old enough and fed right, will be available to you at your local grocery store.
Beef - That's what's for dinner!

Just think of all of the food products that are available to you in one place...at your local grocery store...those products didn't get there by chance or by magic. A lot of sweat, joy, heartbreak and tears goes into each of those products by farmers and ranchers all across our nation...and the world.

You gotta watch Ranching Awesome!!



And you can't forget Farmer Style!!




Say THANK YOU to a farmer or rancher today...celebrate with us National Agriculture Day!

Spring Horse/Ranch Keeping

Last weekend I got all the horses wormed on Saturday, and they got their annual vaccination on Sunday. It's nice to get that out of the way. They'll still need to get their West Nile vaccination, but I'll wait until the weather warms up.

Colt had some saddle fit issues last year. I took my saddle to a local maker and he tore it apart to see what might be causing the white marks that Colt had gotten on his back. Well, there were a few things wrong with it's original construction, but he was able to correct them. But the major thing is that the saddle is just too wide for Colt's narrow body shape.

A friend of mine has a vintage/antique Visalia Stock Saddle Company saddle for sale (interesting history in that link), and I'm trying it on Colt to see if it fits him. The stirrup leathers have been replaced as well as the strings and the horn wrap too. The fenders are pretty warn also, but it actually seems to fit him...and it was a comfortable ride for me too!

I'm going to take Colt and the Visalia saddle to the local saddle maker to have him check it out and see how much repair the saddle needs and the cost...it may be better to just have another saddle made with a narrow tree. But, it's kind of a neat ol' saddle, and I bet it has a lot of stories to tell! It was probably built before I was born...strange to sit in and think about that~

Visalia Saddle

Yesterday we were blessed with another newborn calf...and another heifer too. We'd prefer bull calves because they will weigh more at weaning time and bring more money, but I'd prefer a healthy calf than no calf at all!

This lil' girl is a Hereford/Jersey/Angus cross.
I think that's why she's a much lighter red color than Early Girl.

Speaking of the "one month early" thing...my error...these calves are born right on schedule. I can't seem to get my May and June dates correct!

OK...you pick a caption for this photo...I think the look on Annabelle's face is priceless!

My Man's been working REALLY hard to get the cow corrals up...and he's almost there! With Number Three being a first year heifer, we needed a place to keep her close to the barn. We also needed the corrals for working and sorting the cows when vaccination and weaning time comes around. Basically all that's left is to put up the gates.

My Man is pulling nails from the used poles we got...it was a really cost-affective deal!
LOL...there's Stetson in the background givin' him moral support!

We'll be able to get Number Three corralled this afternoon. She doesn't look like she's going to calve real soon, but that's the funny thing about heifers...they don't show signs like a mature cow does. She could very well need assistance (from us) to get her calf born safely into this world, and we'll be checking on her frequently through out the day and night. My Man put a good light up on the outside of the barn too!

We don't have any green plants sprouting out of the ground yet, but we have new calves, and spring's just 'round the corner!!! Yeah!

Back & Forth, Up & Down, North to South

The seasons go by quickly...it seems like we just moved Rancher Dan's cows north to Princeton for the winter, and now we're already moving them south to Diamond to calve!

Day One:

The temperature was in the teens, but the sun was shining, and the wind kept itself to a minimum. We started early so we could get the cows across the desert before the ground surface got greasy and hard to travel on.

Four new calves were born that night, so we had to cut them out and leave them behind. Many of the cows looked like they were ready to pop any moment! Today's trip is about 14 miles.

Starting out across the desert...the sage brush sea.

The cows were moving out really good...they kept up a steady pace and stayed on track most of the time. Their internal GPS was pretty much on target!

Looking back at where we came...between the two buttes.

There were spots of snow under the sage brush and ice covered the water holes. But by the time we reached the county road, the ground had started to thaw out and it was mucky.

Counting cows through the gate...the numbers are all recorded in the Red Book.

I was bundled up from head to toe...including insulated bib overalls, wool railroad cap and hooded sweatshirt...I didn't look like much, but I stayed relatively warm. We started the cows out at about 8 AM and arrived at the half way point around 3 PM.

On the county road...we walked our horses to keep our ol' bones movin'! This is the view from Colt's eye.

Rastus got to help some when a few cows would decide they needed to veer off track...and he did a very good job...I was proud of him since he's been off all winter with just a few practice days on our cows. When we got onto the county road, there's a fence on both sides, so there wasn't much need for his help. But Rastus was content to just be there.

The cows are lined out for over a mile.

Rancher Dan's wife showed up with refreshments and food. Even though it was cold, the beer I had tasted pretty good! We waited for the sandwiches until we got to the destination...too cold to take my gloves off!

My two good boys.

Everyone arrived safely and the cows went straight for the hay that had been laid out for them...except for one cow who went straight to the fence line, stopped in the corner and burst her water...the first of how many calves for that night?

Tomorrow...day two~

Participating in:
Rurality Blog Hop #4

Wordless Wednesday ~ Boing!

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Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday Bloggers

Rurality Blog Hop

Day Dreaming...Branding Season

Yes, I've been day dreaming...sparked by baby calves.

A lot of the ranches around here are starting to get calves on the ground...it's an exciting time. I saw many on my drive to town yesterday. So far the weather's been holding pretty good. A lot of ranchers won't start calving until March (like us); it's a personal preference...decisions made by past experience usually, or maybe tradition.

January and February can be pretty harsh in SE Oregon, and loosing calves to bad weather is terrible...if you only have a few head, it's easy to keep an eye on everyone. But many ranches have hundreds or even thousands of cows to calve out, which makes it very difficult to make sure every calf gets up to nurse for that first time.

I dug through my archives from last year's brandings for this photo. Since I was usually holding a rope instead of a camera last year, I don't have near the number of photos I've had in year's past.

But, I'm ready to hold the rope again...it's an addiction ;~)

A steady ranch horse holds a calf at the fire for vaccinations, branding and castration.

My Man found this video the other night...it's always fun to find something that hits close to home. The photographer is from our area, JoAnna Lamb, and she's got some awesome photos of the Great Basin Buckaroos (and Buckaretts!) hard at work doing what they do best.

And the music is by Dave Stamey...who I can listen to all day long. The song is the perfect accompaniment to JoAnna's photos. I think you'll enjoy~

I'm joining Madge Bloom's new meme: