Springtime On The Ranch

It appears that Mother Nature no longer likes Spring.  She took one giant step yesterday into summer.  It was a wonderful 80 degrees and I'm still wearing flannel shirts.  That 14' of snow in the mountains is going to start melting fast, so get your sand bags ready.

Here's a little tidbit ... apparently I didn't get the memo.  Almost the entire state of California has a reprieve on their taxes until October.  I couldn't believe my ears when I called my accountant to find he was on vacation for a week.  That's unheard of in the accounting world.  Not that you will earn a dime on the money between now and then, but at least you can concentrate on other things.  Woohoo!!

Here's another one of my kids in the back yard.  This is shorty ... she has had her tail damaged poor baby.  Not that it bothers her, since she's a fence walker just like the others.  What is fascinating here is that I tossed out a few pieces of leftover steak which she buried in the stall the night before.  Just like a dog burying a bone, she's going back to retrieve them tonight.  These guys fascinate me.

After a quick trip to town, things got down and dirty as I played with all these quilt pieces.  I'm already anxious to start the next one and it's not even half finished.

Gee ... only 24 more square to sew!!  There's that darn green again that they put in almost every precut fabric roll where you can't see it until it's too late .... you bought it!  Actually I think this will go nicely with the whorehouse couch!!

Back on the ranch ... when I tell people I was practically born on a horse, I show them this picture.  This is Pico ... my all time favorite guy.  That's my mom holding me, but by this age I had my own little saddle and rode him by myself.  Best horse ever!  To get on, I led him over to the 4 foot tall loading ramp and stepped right on.  As you can see, there was always a rope tied on our saddles for good reason.

One lovely spring day about this time of year, we were out checking the cattle on horseback.  If you've got young cows, you have to watch them like a hawk when that first calf is born.  You do whatever it takes to keep both the cow and calf alive.  There's a lot of money invested in each one.

We came upon a cow in trouble.  Pulling calves happened every year we had young cows.  I won't go into details because it's rather gory, but with me on the horse and dad on the ground, we tried to pull the calf using Pico.  It didn't work.  I rode back to the ranch and got the Jeep.  Again, no details, but we got the calf out and both survived the ordeal.  It was a good day.

There's no being squeamish or tentative when it comes to ranch life.  You just cowboy up and get the job done, no matter what it takes.  Go wash your hands in the canal.  You'll be fine!!

That corral in the background?  That's where that first mean old cow ran me over.  There were several more after that.  There's nothing like falling down in a corral that's had 50 head of cattle in it.  At least it was a soft, although stinky, landing!!

In the afternoon I got into trouble for not playing the ball game.  This Cooper kid can be pretty demanding.  He rolled his ball under the chair and can't get it out.  Mom ... MOM!!!!  I need help.  I tell him to show me where it is, which he does every time ... actually points to it with his nose.  I of course get down on my hands and knees and retrieve it for him.  It's okay ... it's what keep all my joints moving!!

Once again, it BINGO time!!  Oh boy!!  I'll be doing my best to come up with a suitable SMILE!!!