Time has a way of just passing when we don't even realize it. We get caught up in the day to day happenings and forget to pause and reflect. We don't think about the rest of the world going on when we just live in our little bubble.
We have internet now after not for 2 1/2 years. In that time I never once thought about other people's lives going at the pace mine was. I am shocked at the amount of marriages, kids, and other stuff that happened in other people's lives. The feeling of shock is also accompanied by remorse. Feelings of I should have been there for people, or if I had only know I could have helped, or I can't believe I missed this or that.
What follows is a strong desire to do something about it, but what? How in the middle of what feels like a chaotic life, do I pick up pieces that have been laid down for years? How do you get involved with people when they haven't heard hide nor hair of you? What can I do about things when I feel like I'm nearly drowning just trying to balance wife, mom, and homemaker?
Through everything, my prayer is peace and grace. More than anything, these are what I want to exhibit and share.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Day 6
One thing I am learning about ranches, is that you are always busy, busy, busy. And that is exactly how I would describe today. It started at three this morning when we had to get up and walk through about a hundred first-time heifers. This includes walking through the corrals, and looking for any heifers that are starting to calf. (You can tell if they are calving because they start with two hooves hanging out they're backside) It also was a good opportunity to walk our new puppy. Conager, or Copper, or whatever his name ends up being, is one smart puppy! Within two days, he has been kennel trained, housebroke, is sleeping through the nights, and half-understands sit, come, go, and stay.
From there we snagged about three more hours of sleep, and then begrudgingly rolled out of bed, grabbed some hot chocolate, and headed out the door for about two hours of driving around breaking ice. We came back, and I headed into the house to work on cleaning up. Before lunch, we went out into the corrals, caught horses and saddled them, which I am hopefully starting to get the hang of. Then we headed in for lunch. Busy day? Hold your horses!!!
After lunch (fried egg sandwiches with sausage), we headed out to our horses, saddled up and went to gather some cattle and calves out of the horse pasture. after getting them all into the corrals, we proceeded to sort the calves off of the cattle. We then sorted some tagged cattle that were already branded off. The rest off the cattle we put in a pen that led into the "snake" the snake is sort of a hallway off gates that lets you put one cow wide through at a time (holds maximum of four nose to tail). From there you let one cow at a time through the tail gate into the chute where it is held on the sides by the squeezer and it's head is held (along the neck) by the head gate. It holds them tight making it easier to brand them. It was my job to get the cattle into the snake and move them up to the chute.
After we finished branding the cattle, we then moved on to the calves. We sorted the older calves from the younger ones. The older ones had already been branded. Because there were only three of us (Clayton, myself, and Clayton's manager, John) we just penned the younger eleven calves. We then took them one by one and laid them (I don't remember the correct terminology) One person held the calves back feet, and someone else held the head and front feet. Calves may be cute, but man, they are strong and kick really hard!!! While the calf was down, if it was a heifer, we branded it, gave it a shot (not sure what of), and notched its right ear. Notching was a new experience for me. I'd read about it in books, but until you do it, you don't really get it, suffice it to say, you take a metal u-shaped cutting instrument, clamp it on the lower portion of the ear, squeeze it as hard as you can, and rip it away from the ear.
If the calf was a bull, we notched the left ear, and cut something off that made it a steer. (Yes it was a little disgusting). After all eleven were done, we turned them back in with the cattle and older calves.
Day over? Not yet! We then penned those cattle into a corral, and went out into the trap pasture. (Just Clayton and I for this one) We proceeded to herd the aforementioned first-time heifers that hadn't had a calf yet, up to the corrals and penned them in. We them let the aforementioned cattle and calves into the Trap pasture. One more detour to get a partially paralyzed heifer (who lost her calf on Sunday due to hip-lock), and then a few minor chores, spending a little time showing the puppy to John's wife (Brandee) and his two kids. Headed home, through a pizza in the oven, watched a Louis La-More video cuddled up with Clayton and the puppy on the couch and am now just chilling. So, I think I could say it has definitely been one adventuresome day! It definitely came with it's challenges, such as bruises (from calves kicking you especially) and accidents. But all in all it was a wonderful, crazy, busy, day on the ranch!!!
From there we snagged about three more hours of sleep, and then begrudgingly rolled out of bed, grabbed some hot chocolate, and headed out the door for about two hours of driving around breaking ice. We came back, and I headed into the house to work on cleaning up. Before lunch, we went out into the corrals, caught horses and saddled them, which I am hopefully starting to get the hang of. Then we headed in for lunch. Busy day? Hold your horses!!!
After lunch (fried egg sandwiches with sausage), we headed out to our horses, saddled up and went to gather some cattle and calves out of the horse pasture. after getting them all into the corrals, we proceeded to sort the calves off of the cattle. We then sorted some tagged cattle that were already branded off. The rest off the cattle we put in a pen that led into the "snake" the snake is sort of a hallway off gates that lets you put one cow wide through at a time (holds maximum of four nose to tail). From there you let one cow at a time through the tail gate into the chute where it is held on the sides by the squeezer and it's head is held (along the neck) by the head gate. It holds them tight making it easier to brand them. It was my job to get the cattle into the snake and move them up to the chute.
After we finished branding the cattle, we then moved on to the calves. We sorted the older calves from the younger ones. The older ones had already been branded. Because there were only three of us (Clayton, myself, and Clayton's manager, John) we just penned the younger eleven calves. We then took them one by one and laid them (I don't remember the correct terminology) One person held the calves back feet, and someone else held the head and front feet. Calves may be cute, but man, they are strong and kick really hard!!! While the calf was down, if it was a heifer, we branded it, gave it a shot (not sure what of), and notched its right ear. Notching was a new experience for me. I'd read about it in books, but until you do it, you don't really get it, suffice it to say, you take a metal u-shaped cutting instrument, clamp it on the lower portion of the ear, squeeze it as hard as you can, and rip it away from the ear.
If the calf was a bull, we notched the left ear, and cut something off that made it a steer. (Yes it was a little disgusting). After all eleven were done, we turned them back in with the cattle and older calves.
Day over? Not yet! We then penned those cattle into a corral, and went out into the trap pasture. (Just Clayton and I for this one) We proceeded to herd the aforementioned first-time heifers that hadn't had a calf yet, up to the corrals and penned them in. We them let the aforementioned cattle and calves into the Trap pasture. One more detour to get a partially paralyzed heifer (who lost her calf on Sunday due to hip-lock), and then a few minor chores, spending a little time showing the puppy to John's wife (Brandee) and his two kids. Headed home, through a pizza in the oven, watched a Louis La-More video cuddled up with Clayton and the puppy on the couch and am now just chilling. So, I think I could say it has definitely been one adventuresome day! It definitely came with it's challenges, such as bruises (from calves kicking you especially) and accidents. But all in all it was a wonderful, crazy, busy, day on the ranch!!!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Home on the ranch!
Day three of being on the ranch. I am learning so much. Being married is great, and is definitely proving to be a process to make us holy not just happy. It is so nice to look out and feel the freedom of the plains. The house is starting to feel more like a home every day. We will see how well I keep up with the blogging thing :)
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