Cow Camp and Sunday Fun Day!

I'm starting to get the heebie jeebies.  Sitting around the house all day doing chores is not my cup of tea.  Here's one more day at the Cow Camp back before roads were built.  As you can see, even the little kids were packed in along with all our food.

Just down the hill to the left was the stream where we got water.  That was one of my jobs, carrying the metal bucket down to be filled and hauled back UP the steep hill.  It was kept on the wooden table inside the cabin, along with a dipper for a nice cool drink.  If you wanted to wash your hands, you went BACK to the creek.

There were no clean clothes to be worn, but at least once a week, we had to jump in the freezing cold creek for a bath and a hair wash.  Gosh that was teeth chattering COLD!!!

The creek ran through the meadow and down the hill, about 3 feet wide and maybe 2 feet deep.  It also held the best native trout you've ever tasted.  To this day it amazes me that we had fresh fish every day from such a tiny stream.  That's where I learned how to catch and clean a trout.  Sadly now, there are no fish left.  Not one.

You can also see on the horse to the left, that we were always prepared for anything, like any good cowboy.  That's a rifle for "just in case", and most carried a handgun.  I remember missing a small buck one day, but hitting several rattlesnakes.  There were ALWAYS rattlesnakes.  Skinning those to be fried up for dinner was not fun AT ALL.   To this day, it surprises me that us kids survived and NO ONE got snake bit. 

Though we had a couple of dogs, they were not allowed to go.  Obviously, too many snakes.  I admit, they were a lot tougher than this kid.  Sweet potatoes are good for puppies ... or so they tell me.  Since I had half of one for dinner, I thought I would share.  Cooper seemed to love it.  That's weird, he never eats anything like this.

And apparently there's a good reason, because 30 minutes later, it all came back up.  So much for healthy dog food!!

On with the day ... it was time to put on my Plumbers hat.  I've done this before ... and in fact, I think it was this same one I changed out.  Now you see it ......

Now you don't.  It's not hard to do, just unscrew the piece on the bottom and it lifts right out, letting water stream out the hole to the floor.  I was prepared this time, with a bowl that almost overflowed.  Note to self ... next time get a bigger bowl.  

Too bad everything nowadays is made of plastic.  I'm sure this one won't last much longer than the other one.  I tightened the plastic nut on the bottom, then hooked up the water line, again with a plastic nut.  Okay ... here goes ... turn the water on very slowly.  

No water came streaming out, but I left a towel on the floor just in case.  An hour later I checked it and sure enough, it was leaking a tiny bit.  I was afraid to tighten the nut too much for fear it would break.  A tad bit more and another hour later, it wasn't dripping.  Hopefully it's seated and will no longer be a problem.  I tested it a couple of times and it worked perfectly!  Maybe I should go into business.

Next up ... a new toilet seat.  Same here, it's all plastic, even the bolts.  This is the THIRD one I've replaced.  This time I got a Kohler seat.  Although still very lightweight plastic (which to me means cheap), the hinge is made differently and will be a breeze to clean.  To make it even better, it actually had METAL bolts!  Woohoo!  It's the little things.  

With all that done, I took off my plumbers hat and headed for the couch to watch the finals of the Red Bluff Rodeo.  Sadly my favorite guys are in a slump, but watching 8 and 9 year old kids hanging on to wild ponies, then jumping on their backs for a 2 second ride made up for it.  When you're a ranch kid, you're TOUGH!!

It's good to know the lifestyle continues and hardy stock still rides the countryside instead of sitting on the couch all day playing video games.  Well at least SOME of us don't spend all day on the couch!!

Thanks for stopping by.  If you need a plumber ... give me a call!!!  But not faucets ... I'm not doing that faucet.  I'm calling in a REAL plumber!!