My journey through life on South Dakota Ranch
That this is true!
Source: Uploaded by user via Angela on Pinterest
I found this saying on Pinterest and I have to say, I’ve heard the buzz and what not about this site; but I dared not give in, because well, I feared it might become an addiction. And frankly, it will. I’ll have to be careful. The good news is, I can do it from my iPhone in the car, so I’ll be sure to have fun on my upcoming road trips!
Now, go have a great Thursday. I know I will!
I mentioned, Sunday, that I got to take some photographs of a couple cute kids. We’ve already seen one of them- Annabelle and her mare Tequila. But this time, we added her little brother to the mix, and I have to say- he’s got to be one of the most photogenic little boys ever. And he’s fun to be around.
I should say, I’m glad I’m not their mom and have to choose through the photos to pick the ones I want, because honestly, I had a hard time narrowing it down too. There are so many great photos that either I’m getting better as a photographer, or these kids are just uber photogenic, or both, I suppose. That’s a possibility too!
Without further ado, enjoy these shots. I know I enjoyed taking them!
Happy Hump Day and Happy Trails!
Yesterday evening, as I was out doing chores I caught the saddle horses goofing off. The sun was just shining out of some clouds and it dusk was upon us. I didn’t have the big camera with me, so the cell phone photos will have to suffice. They turned out pretty good for being taken with a point and shoot camera.
And then this morning, I awoke to this:
To me a sunset is more than just a beautiful sky. It’s the end of a day. It’s a chance to reflect on what you did that day. Were you were the best person you could have been? Did you accomplish what you wanted to do? Can you rest knowing you did all you could do to be your best that day?
The sun rising, well it’s more of the same. It may be beautiful, with its pinks and purples, but if you really think about what it symbolizes- the awakening of the earth and the animals from their slumber, it’s a chance to start over. No two sunrises and sunsets are ever the same, just like our days shouldn’t be either. We should always strive to be better and more beautiful.
I will now leave you with some of my favorite lyrics from Fiddler on the Roof.
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears
Happy Trails!
Blue skies, sunshine and warm temps (for you Texas folks, that means it was about 35 here- and maybe 42 in the sun), called me out into the great outdoors for some photography on Sunday. I could not have asked for a better day. In fact, I have been kind of half-way waiting to take pictures of the snow covered ground (Devon!) until the lighting was good and it wasn’t a mass of gray outside- which it has been for what seems like forever.
With nary a breeze it made for a nice walk down the hill to Granny’s house, where I knew a piece of apple pie awaited me. It’s still the Holidays for us through the 9th this year, so don’t judge me for eating pie at breakfast!
Here’s some of the shots I took on the way down.
Sparkly
Looking across the dam at the saddle horses who seem to be just kickin’ it.
The dam- you can see the dried up reeds.
And as I got closer to Granny’s house, I was greeted by our misfit crew of barking dogs, that weren’t sure exactly what someone was doing walking around outside.
From left to right: Higgins, Crystal and MJ.
Jake, Higgins, Crystal and MJ.
MJ is so cute!
Here’s what I found as I walked around down by the corrals and the hay stacks:
Windbreak fence:
More snowy sparkles:
A chisel:
Jake being a handsome dog:
Hay bales:
Windbreak fence casting a shadow:
WDX Nukem, one of the studs:
Nuke loves attention, so as soon as he sees someone he usually makes a point to come see you so you can rub on him!
I hope you enjoyed the tour around the corrals, through the snow! I certainly enjoyed the weather! And there’s more photos of my ride to come! So stay tuned!
One.
Word.
To encompass the entire year of 2010.
Growth.
I chose the word growth to encompass 2010 because I believe I grew exponentially this year. I grew in maturity as an individual, in strength and confidence as a woman, and in leaps and bounds in regards to my horsemanship skills. Is my life a journey? Yes. Is horsemanship one of the most important journeys to my life? Absolutely. Through the experience gained this year in my relationships with friends and family and My Cowboy I have learned the importance of doing, not saying; showing through example and being consistent. I work very hard to be consistent for my horses, doing the same thing for the people I love isn’t too far to reach.
I hope that when I look back on 2011, I can again add growth to my words; but more so than that I’d like 2011 to be perfect. And since I control my own world, that’s entirely possible.
What word describes 2010 for you? I’d love to hear from you.
XO
In a perfect world we’d get a new pickup every 4-6 years- or at 100 thousand miles instead of driving the ones we have into the ground. But in the scheme of things that doesn’t matter.
In a perfect world, I’d have a bigger house that had a split bed-room layout, a real master suite, with a closet that’s bigger than a postage stamp and a bathroom that is big enough for two. But in the scheme of things, it’s not important.
In a perfect world, we’d have a 150×200 foot barn to ride in. All. Glorious. Year. Long! The grass would never be short; save for winter, and we’d have rain every month as needed. But in the scheme of things, we can get by with our 40X100 barn and make do with the weather patterns that Mother Nature Gives us.
In a perfect world, the horse market wouldn’t be in the tank. It’d be back to 2005 levels and we’d see a decent return on our investment in these colts of ours. But we’re still alive and eating, so in the scheme of things, we’ll survive.
While those things may not be ‘perfect’, my world and my life, certainly is.
I am able to get up everyday and do what I want to do that day. I can go ride a horse, start a colt, make jewelry, play the guitar, pack up the camera to take pictures, hang out with my chickens, or cook amazing things for someone who’ll enjoy them. In the scheme of things, I’m so blessed, and I do my best to not take that for granted.
I have a man that adores me and would do anything for me, a family that loves me, we live in some of the prettiest country known to this land, and I have the ability to choose how happy I am going to be each day. I can look at the negatives in my life, or I can focus on the positives, and that makes my life perfect! I have everything I need and most of what I want.
This Spin on Perfection is brought to you by Jen, at Sprite’s Keeper. I suggest if you want to see more spins on utopia, that you head over there, post haste!
Have a great weekend, y’all!
Last weekend some dear friends of ours came to the ranch to visit. They chose to spend their 16th wedding anniversary with us and allowed me to take their portraits! It’s been well over 10 years since they’ve had their photos taken, and I was so lucky to be who they chose to do them! Honestly they’re some of the nicest folks you could ever hope to meet and we’re lucky to call them friends.
Enjoy the love!
Of course we had to include Tucker, their dog. He didn’t want to be left out.
I just love a formal dress on the prairie. There’s something so romantic about it!
One of my favorites!
He said something funny! And I was quick enough to catch it!
Such a man!
Tucker:
Have a great weekend, everyone!
I’m going to do this again this year- because it worked so well for me last year, and I had so much fun in the process. Here’s how it works: I will list one thing each day this month that I’m thankful for. They aren’t necessarily in any particular order. It’s just whatever I found myself thinking of that day; in fact there might be more than one thing I’m thankful for. And instead of writing a new post everyday about what I’m thankful for- I’ll just keep updating this one.
1. I’m thankful for Zach, aka My Cowboy, The Cowboy. He loves me even if I’m covered in horse hair; or when I cry because I lost another hen; or when I say something silly; or when I haven’t put mascara on in a week (which by the way has NEVER happened. I’m just sayin’). I’m glad he picked me as his soul-mate for life.
2. I’m thankful for such an awesome family. Not just my own family, but Zach’s family as well. Better people you will not find anywhere.
3. Today I shipped calves for the neighbors, and I have to say that I’m very thankful that I can get up in the morning, saddle a horse, ride across a pasture and spend my day doing exactly what I want to do. Every. Single. Day.
4. I am thankful for my health. And as such, I should enjoy every day that I am granted with good health, to the best of my ability.
5. I’m thankful that I’m not left to keep house all by myself. I know that this might go hand in hand with #1 above, but honestly, how fortunate am I that I can come in from being gone last night (to Lakota class no less) to find that Zach has the kitchen cleaned and laundry put away? Yes, I am grateful beyond words for this!
And more on this- I’m thankful that there are people in this world that want to preserve the heritage and culture of Native Americans. I am exceptionally grateful that I am able to attend classes to learn to speak the language and preserve this part of heritage that is the place where I now reside. We’ll talk more on this later!
6. I am thankful for all my friends. Friends that are there if you haven’t talked to them in ages; or friends that are there if you just talked to them 5 minutes ago.
7. Horses. I could go on forever about this one but suffice it to say, I’m thankful to the Creator for giving us this magnificent beast. I love their eccentricities, their honesty, their faithfulness and their willingness to please you. I hope to never take them for-granted.
8. Today I was thankful for the sunshine and almost 70 degree temperatures that have graced us most of fall. It’s not often that it’s this nice, this late into the year here in the frozen north, but this year has been kind to us so far, and I LOVE it!
9. Change. Today it wasn’t warm outside- in fact a norther blew in this afternoon and you could see the cold in the air, but you know what, the Creator knew that we bored easily, and so gave us change. Change is good when it comes to the weather and paint colors!
10. I am thankful that I’m at a place in my life where I can be the best me I am able to be. I’m at a place where my creativity is nurtured, and loved and admired and encouraged. I feel like my growth as an individual is really taking shape!
11. I’m thankful that I live where I do- In America.
12. I’m super-extra-duper grateful for our newest appliance- the DISHWASHER! Oh how it makes my time in the kitchen all that more wonderful!
13. Today, I’m thankful for all the mistakes I have made in my life. Without those I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I wouldn’t be as wise and those lessons that don’t kill you, only make you stronger.
14. Dogs. As I type this, I am surrounded by 4 dogs, that normally live outside. But tonight, they’re pretty sure they belong in the house. There’s nothing quite like dogs!
15. I am thankful to be asked to share about my life as it involves agriculture: check out the guest post I was asked to write!/
16. I love that my mother had me involved in so many things and encouraged me to take my interests and run with them. It makes my life more interesting and for that I am thankful!
17. Today I am thankful for Facebook. And before anyone laughs, there’s a story here. But I can’t tell it now.
18. I am thankful to be in a community of ranchers that will re-arrange their schedules and drop what they are doing to come help us when we’re short-handed. Good people are a blessing.
19. While I stood outside yesterday helping to preg check cattle, in what was less than a lovely day outside, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I am to have the ability to work outside, play with cattle and horses and otherwise work my tail off. Yes, I’m thankful that I am able to work hard, and enjoy what I do.
20. I’m thankful for central heat. Old Man Winter is gearing up, as evidenced by the colder temps. The high for Monday is a whopping 13 degrees!
21. My grandparents. They left a great legacy behind in their children- my aunts and uncles, and the family support system in place. More specifically I’m very thankful that my Grandma B had such a love for music. Thank you for instilling that love in your daughter, who instilled it in me.
22. This day I gave thanks for the fact that I don’t have to get up everyday and go to work. The weather conditions were, shall we say, less than desirable.
23. I am so thankful that Zach will wash clothes, clean the kitchen, and doesn’t complain about me making massive messes with jewelry and arts and crafts projects. And trust me, they’re everywhere. It looks like a few pheasants and a bead store threw up in our living room and kitchen. He just takes it all in stride and for that, I am eternally grateful!
24. I am thankful for Holidays!
25. I sat in bed this morning, as I was waking up, watching The Today Show. Which I never do- but I do love to wake up Thanksgiving Day and watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It’s one of my favorite things to do- even though I’m all grown up now! But while I sat there, hearing the Weather Man talk about how cold it was outside and looking at the snow outside the window, a story came on about St. Jude Children’s hospital. A little girl, who a year ago was given only weeks to live, was able to go to St. Jude and received a treatment that now has her cancer in remission. Call me emotional or call me sappy, but I sat there sobbing because the poor girl had already beat leukemia once in her life and she was so upset to get it again. So this morning I am thankful that there are Doctors and Scientists who dedicate their lives to finding a cure to cancer. Not only for the little girl on TV that I don’t know but for two of my friends that are fighting this disease right now. My friend Anne, who I have known since high school has been through chemo and radiation, and is undergoing stem cell treatments, but is on a break for the holidays, and my friend Hilary who I’ve known for even longer than I’ve known Anne. Thank you again to the Doctors who work to save people so that their families can be complete.
Enough sappiness from me- Let the festivities begin!
26. I am so thankful that I love to cook, and bake, because that makes Thanksgiving day that much better. Yesterday I had no choice but to be thankful for all the food that we had to eat- because honestly- there are those in the world who didn’t have food to eat and we had food to spare. How was your Thanksgiving Day feast?
27. I am thankful that I am a sane, rational person, who has a sane rational man with which to share her life.
28. I’m grateful for parents that raised me in a sane, rational way, who gave me responsibility as I earned it instead of being sporadic and inconsistent. And I’m glad to know they love me whether or not they agree with my decisions.
29. Family get-togethers!
30. As this is the last day of November, it ends my Thirty Days of Thanksgiving. I’ve enjoyed it very much, and am grateful for the chance to have done it, and that y’all joined me. I have also learned to say thank you in Lakota, and as such, I’ll share: philámaya ye.
Coming tomorrow, we’ll begin Reverb10. You may have noticed the button on the top right side of the blog- we’ll be looking back on 2010 and looking toward 2011. It will encompass the entire month of December. But don’t fear, there will still be regularly scheduled programming as well.
Wednesday the first snow of year flew. It started some time in the wee hours of the morning, and continued until about 3pm that day. It was a good day to stay inside, make jewelry, and get some work done on the computer. But that meant that Thursday there would be riding in the snow; along with colder temperatures.
I knew we were going to have to help our relative/friend/neighbor gather their pairs in the big pasture (about 8000-8500 acres) since they are shipping out today. I didn’t know what time we’d be heading out so I was relieved to discover that we weren’t heading out until noon on Thursday. That meant we’d get a chance to thaw out a bit, and I would have time that morning to get some house-work done.
But the best laid plans of mice and men…or of cowgirls and ranchers…
Just when I was settling in for a morning of peaceful cleaning; I heard from our hired-man. He was asking if I would saddle up and help him move bulls. Typically, we like to pull our bulls off the cows around Labor Day. I’m not sure what happened this year that kept us from that, but they’re still out with the cows and it’s more than time to bring them home.
So despite the fact that it was a balmy, sunny 18 degrees outside, I kind of couldn’t resist the thought of riding through a snow-filled pasture on a good horse to search for bulls. We were going to have to hurry if we were going to grab a few and still make it 18 miles up the road, with fresh mounts, by noon.
When I pulled my gray mare in from the corral where she’d just taken a drink, she was literally shaking she was so cold. But don’t worry- shivering is Mother Nature’s way of keeping our horses (and other animals) warm. She was very active that morning with a great cowboy walk and a long-trot meant to take you somewhere. We found six bulls and saw a golden eagle; and the world was sparkling, peaceful and quiet. I actually had my camera with me, but I was too layered up to take a photo of the eagle or much of anything else, save for a couple shots I took on the way home. Only 5 of the 6 bulls made the trip. The #9 bull is blind in his left eye, and he wouldn’t line out. So he’d run off back to the cows. I’d get him headed the right direction again; and find myself out of position for a split second; but that was all it took for him to run off. Again- in the wrong direction. I’ll have to make sure when I find him again, I don’t move him until I have help directly with me.
It was a mad rush to get something in our bellies, our horses unsaddled and changed; I say that, and really all I did was leave my mare in the barn. The hired man- Burt unsaddled her and caught this beautiful beast for me:
One of the ranch studs- WDX Nukem. Nuke’s one of my favorite horses to ride. Riding a stud is unlike any other ride you’ll ever take. They’re fearless; can go all day and have a spring in their step that most other horses lack. He’s sure footed and is about like sitting on a 50 gallon drum. He’s probably one of the cowiest horses on the place, which makes him extra fun.
The coolest thing about riding the big pasture is that you drive into it about 6.5 miles. And then everyone splits up and goes their separate ways, only meeting again in one of three places. We’ve all ridden the pasture several times (me the fewest of them all) but it’s pretty much the same drill every-time. Yesterday afternoon, for whatever reason, was one of the most peaceful times I’ve ever spent horseback.
The snow was glistening as it began to melt under the heat of the sun; I actually saw a frog, yes a frog, hopping around, albeit not very fast, through the snow. I’m sure he was cold. I could hear nothing- not a car, not a plane, not a boat, not a cow, not another person’s voice. Just the breeze rustling the grass that wasn’t covered by snow. It was almost as if you could hear the earth singing to you.
Times like those, are the times when I personally feel most connected to my Creator. Every part of life seems beautiful right then; Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. I may not understand sometimes, the senseless, depraved things that people do to one another; I may not understand why the happiest people often lose loved ones or why God chooses to take anyone’s soul before we believe it to be their time, but then I have a moment like I had yesterday- where I’m frozen in time; with sunshine on my face, a good horse under me, communing with the creation God gave us. And for that moment, all of mankind’s depravity, the injustice that is often life, is forgotten, while I revel in the fact that I am blessed to get to do what I do. I savor those moments. And you should too. Be still. Take time to listen and enjoy the quiet.
Life absolutely doesn’t get better.
Last week, on Wednesday if you’ll recall, I was all fired up. Fired up mainly because it’s fall, but more so because it was our shipping day. You see there’s really only one time a year that a rancher gets paid. Oh, we might sell the occasional old, dry (not bred) or crazy cow (and we had to sell one of those earlier this year. She just snapped); and we might sell a handful of mis-fit yearlings in the spring or fall, but for the most part, the payday is once a year when we ship.
Some people in this part of the world, gather their cattle, sort the mamas from the babies, put the babies on a truck and take them to the nearest sale barn and sell them that way. They take what they get for the calves that day. We, on the other hand, sell our calves via video auction early in the year. This year we sold them in July. This is the 4th consecutive year we’ve sold them through Superior Livestock Auction, and the good thing about doing it this way is that we can plan ahead, through the fall, for the following year, and if you don’t like the price you get in July, there’s an auction in August too! Plus you don’t have to pay to ship your calves to the sale barn- the purchaser of the calves pays to have them picked up. And sale barns tack on other charges that you don’t have via a video auction. Furthermore, it shows your cattle to more buyers than would ever be present at a South Dakota Sale Barn on sale day.
I’m pretty sure some of you are wondering, “how in the heck do you sell calves on a video auction?”
Never fear. I’ll tell you.
It works like this.
We have x number of steer calves to sell (castrated male calves), and x number of heifer calves to sell. The Cowboy will guesstimate what he thinks they will weigh when we set them up for delivery. The steers generally outweigh the heifers so we sell them weighing something different. For example, the steers will be listed weighing 515# for delievery Oct 20-30th. And the heifers might weigh 495# for delivery Oct 20th-30th. We really do like to ship around the 20th through the 30th of October, and so that will be the earliest and latest delivery dates listed on the Auction. Our Auction Rep will come to the ranch and film the calves so that everyone watching the video can see what they look like. At this point I’m sure that some of you are wondering, “why is it important what they weigh?”.
Never fear. I’ll tell you.
It works like this.
The lighter the calf the higher the price- or typically that’s how it works. And by that I mean typically your 4 weights (400-499lb calves), bring more than your 5 weights (500-599lb calves) on a per/lb basis and 6 weights bring less than 5 weights. For example- a 4 weight steer, this year, might have brought between $1.30- $1.41/lb. or $141.00/ 100 lbs. or $564 per calf. A 5 weight steer calf might have brought $1.31 to $1.38/lb or $131.00/100 lbs or $655/calf. Sometimes they bring something funky, like $1.3295 or $132.95/100 lbs. I always think it’s funny when they do that. But I’m easily amused. Cattle can also go for different prices based on where they are located in the country- even in the same weight category. Almost always, at least on the video auctions, it seems the cattle from, TX, OK, KS, NM and CO don’t usually bring as much as those from MT, SD or WY. It’s a difference in grass and weather and how they’re raised. I’m not saying that’s always true. It’s just an observation. We have great grass here; we believe it’s some of the best grass in the country.
Now, you’re probably wondering “how exactly do you weigh your calves”?
Never fear. I’ll tell you.
It works like this.
With each auction be it a sale barn or video auction, you give the buyer what is called “shrink”. Basically that boils down to the amount of pee and poo your calves will expel while on the truck. Typically it’s about 2%. That being said, the trucks go to a huge truck scale- empty. They are weighed. And the weight of the truck is saved. Once the truck is loaded, it returns to the scale, where it is weighed again. Then that weight is subtracted from the first weight giving you X. Each truck only holds so many calves, in this case we’ll say 100 calves. The new weight of the load, X, is divided by 100 giving you the weight per calf. Then the shrink is figured and that’s how you know if you made weight or not. And by that I mean, how close you came to having your calves weigh what you guesstimated at the beginning of the year. There isn’t a penalty to having them weigh less than you said they would weigh, except that you cost yourself money. If they were supposed to be 550# steers and they only ended up weighing 530# then more than likely, you cost yourself several cents per head as a 530# steer should bring slightly more than a 550# steer. Not always, but usually. You don’t usually get the weight right on- it’s about getting as close as you can and Zach is pretty darn good at that.
Always on shipping day, there are calves that don’t make the load- calves that say, were late calves for whatever reason, or calves that maybe had a mama that didn’t produce a lot of milk either because she’s an older, poorer doing cow, or because she’s just not cut out to raise a big baby. Those calves are culled and depending on the size, are either put back with the mother, or we sell them to someone else to put them on feed. There are also heifer calves that don’t make the load because we keep them as replacements. This year we kept about 65 of the middle of the road heifers, because we needed to put a lot of the best heifers on the truck to make weight. There’s nothing wrong with these- they just didn’t weigh quite as much as those we put on the truck. Of those, we’ll keep about 40, so 25 of those will go to sale barn soon. Replacement heifers are calves that we will raise and then breed. We’ll use them to replace some of our older cows. Not this year of course, because we can’t breed them yet, but in the future they’ll be used.
Shipping this year, took the better part of a day by the time you gather, sort, load, run to the scales, eat lunch at 4pm, and then count cows and heifer calves again. It is a day of hard work, but it’s also one of the best days of the year. There’s also work to be done a couple days after shipping- there are mama cows standing around bawling for their babies, and there are the runt babies that need paired back up with their moms and put into a different pasture (that was Thursday and Friday’s job), and then finally once we have all the other work done, the cows get kicked back into a different pasture away from the bawling heifers that are left in the corral. This particular day left us with two heifers in the corral who looked like this:
Why yes, those are porcupine quills in her nose!
But that’s a story for another time. And that, my friends, is how a rancher’s payday works. At least at this outfit.
