Author: wyranchwife

Here We Go!

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Calving season is now winding down. We only have 40 or so left and calving will be done. As everything in life, when one thing ends another begins and we enter into branding and AI time. 


There is one other thing that happens during branding and summer and that is fence fixing. Out here fences run longer than the town gossips mouth. As cows are moved to different pastures, the fences need to be run around and fixed. Antelope, deer, elk and pipeliners all leave the fence in a mess. Therefore as you drive and walk around the fence staples need put back into posts, wires need spliced back together, and new posts need driven. 

This takes time and perseverance. A half a day here and a whole day there get it done hopefully before the cows are moved in. 


Yesterday was a great day to do just that. We have been fixing fence for a few days to prepare a pasture for after we brand. Then it was off to spay heifers at Lance Creek. This time of year is the beginning of busy cow work until things slow down the end of July and then hunting begins in August. 
Have a great day. 

Preparing for a Winter Storm

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Most people prepare for a snowstorm by going to the grocery store and stacking firewood. We all know it’s important to have food, water, and heat. However for a rancher or farmer it becomes a lot more complicated.
My husband watches the weather daily. When the storm is predicted weeks out he begins watching to see how it’s changing, how much snow is predicted, and the temperatures. All of these things factor in how we will prepare the cows and ourselves for the storm. 

If you are farmer or rancher, you know all of the things that are contained in this article. If you’re not then these things maybe things you were not aware of that farmers and ranchers have to do to ensure that all the cattle are safe and protected as best they can be in a severe storm. 

One thing that changes is the condition of your cattle. If you are calving you’re going to treat a storm differently then if you’re not calving. This last storm we were beginning to calve. We already had multiple calves on the ground and many more close to being born. This places more importance on getting everything ready before the storm hits. 

  
This last storm was predicted to hit on Tuesday evening. Therefore our work began on Easter Sunday. Yes, when many of you are getting in your Easter finery to go to church and enjoy the day with family, my husband and my daughter were on horseback working cattle. I had knee surgery and therefore I am little help currently. So we had to utilize when the kids were home to get cow work done. 

When cows are close to calving we sort them into pastures closer to the house so that if there is a situation where they need help we can readily get them into the clinic or into a barn. This is called working off the heavies. A heavy is essentially a cow that is showing signs that birth is getting close. We look for things like their bag is filling with milk and their bottom(putting it tactfully) is loose and relaxed. Most important  JJ knows almost all the cows but the ones that have come up from the other ranch, so he remembers how they looked before they calve. He remembers this one doesn’t show much milk but she will calve early, or this one has a bag but her bag will be  huge like a milk cow before she calves. There are a few other signs that enable us to work them off from the others that have awhile to go. 

After they worked them on Sunday, we moved the ones that were close to calving into the shed pasture and the other larger bunch was in the meadow. Both of these places have shelters that we can put the ones that we really think are going to calve in the next few days inside so that their calf has a higher chance of surviving the expected storm. 

Monday was a day of preparing the shelters getting everything where it needed to be. Feeding all the cows that were turned out, extra good so everything was fed and moved closer to a draw, so they can get down on Tuesday and have some protection. 

  
Tuesday morning was a rush of getting things done. The storm was expected to hit by midnight so everything had to be in its place ready to go. The barns needed to have hay so that the cattle had food during this 12 to 24 hour period. If he it did turn into a blizzard then we would more than likely would not be turning anything out.  Therefore everything had to be in place because we would not be able to get tractors over in a blizzard. 

We set up panels in front of the openface shed.   We could put the 38 head that we worked on Sunday inside. Two head had already calved Tuesday afternoon so they were moved into a stall hopefully they would stay inside and not escape out into the blizzard. 

On the other side of the creek we had the large bunch of cattle and we worked those again to sort off the heavies that we thought would calve that night or the next day. 
  
We spreadout hay and got everything ready. At dusk we ran everything into the barn everything was in place to hopefully survive the storm.
Throughout the night JJ went over and check the cows in the barn to see if any  needed to be put in the stalls or if anything has calved outside. 

The storm came it wasn’t as bad as expected the kids were out of school, but it wasn’t the blizzard that was called for. However everything was well protected we didn’t lose any calves and the cows were well cared for during the storm.   

The weather is now in the 50s-upper 60s and the cows and calves are doing great. 

  

At Last… Gas!

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When my husband and I were looking at homes and picking out appliances I was asked gas or electric.  Well I had never really been around a gas stove so I went with what I knew electric. Isn’t that what most of us would do?

I mean I watched my mom cook on an electric flat top. I watched my grandmother cook on an electric stove. So that must be the norm. 

Let me date myself a little. This was in 1997. Before major cooking shows on foodnetwork appeared on my satellite dish. To be frank we didn’t have satellite so I didn’t even watch those shows. I knew who Julia Child was, but I had never really watched one of her shows. At this point in my life I cooked mostly what I learned from mom and from foods in high school. I just didn’t see that many people using gas until I began to watch food network. 

As the years tickled by I became aware of the popularity of a gas range. The usefulness of a convection oven. I began to desire them both. However my stove of 17 years was working fine and there was no upcoming need for me to upgrade in the near future. At least I thought. 

When I cook pulled pork in the oven using the Pioneer Woman’s recipe, it never fails. There is going to be a problem. I don’t know why. There just is. Usually no biggie. It boils over every time.  

When the fire starts in the bottom of the oven. I try not to panic. I of course always remember baking soda is for grease fire. Or was that baking powder. Or was it salt. By this point I have a fairly large white hill that should put out the fire. However it’s changing. Somehow the element got bent has burnt completely into. The fire is now looking like a welders arc and it is coming out of the element. I am trapping it under a mound of well, all white matter. Let’s just say we are now moving into destruction of stove mode. My hubby is now on the scene helping to throw more white stuff at this point baking soda onto the arc. We have unplugged but the damage is not fixable. 

I’m devastated.  I mean I was cooking. It was done but I need to brown it. Looks like I’m getting a new stove.

  Yes, you guessed it I’m going to upgrade to gas. Well this is on Sunday and I am having knee surgery on Thursday. We pick one out in Casper which is 1.5 hours away. Then go back to pick it up on Wednesday. Who knew that stores don’t keep ovens in stock? We buy all the gas parts and JJ assures me while I’m bedridden  on Thursday and Friday he will get this bad boy in. 

  
I’m home from surgery on Thursday. JJ and my son work to get this hooked up. I can hear commotion but I am incapable of movement out of my bed. 

They get it all in place. I hobble in to take a gander and it’s perfect. I can’t wait to cook. However I can not be on my feet very long. 

I get to listen as JJ and the kids begin to contemplate what to cook. He is going to cooks on my new stove. He is the first one. I’m so mad and jealous. Life just is not fair sometimes. I hear the sounds of excitement and ooh dad. They cook 2 pizzas at once in the convection oven. Works like a charm. I’m drifting off to sleep and dreaming of what I will cook. 

It has been almost two weeks and I absolutely love it. It cooks like a dream. The convection is wonderful. I plan to cook two pans of cookies tomorrow at the same time just to try it out further. If I had known I would have set that other stove on fire purposely. Just kidding!

  
Is it crazy to be that excited about a stove? Yeah I think so. 

Don’t Worry He Only Reads the Funnies

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Recently my mailbox was knocked off its hinges. The mailman let me know that he would not leave my mail until it was fixed and I would need to pick it up in town. 

Well we gathered up the welder and water in the sprayer. Gotta have water so that I can extinguish any fires. The grass is really dry and it would not be a good time to have a fire. 

After it was all fixed. We were no closer to figuring out how it was knocked over. We assumed someone hit it. But there really were not any tracks. 

My neighbor happened to be driving by and snapped a picture of the offender in action. 

  
As you can see he had my mail on the ground. Luckily I have an awesome neighbor and she put it all into my daughters car. This mailbox is 4 miles from my house and I am known to let it go for a few weeks before I pick it up. I just never go that way. 

Hopefully he had his fill of itching on my mailbox and my mail will now be slobber free. 

The Baable Sheep Pattern

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Last fall I found the Shetland Wool Week Newsletter that contained the Baable Hat pattern. It is the loveliest little hat ever. I just love knitting it.  I mean really who doesn’t love a hat with sheep on it. 

    
I even made one with border collies on it. Then shipped it to Sweden. 

This pattern became the most requested item that I make. I have made more than I care to think about and still have several to get done for friends who have requested them. 

If you have not made this pattern it is a must to do soon. It knits up super fast and is cute no matter what color way you choose. The imagination is the limit. Just search it on google and you can see hundreds of examples. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/baa-ble-hat
The hardest thing I was asked to make was a pair of mittens with the pattern. Considering I had never done mittens before it was outside my comfort zone. However it did push me to make my husband a pair of mittens in the basic pattern. Then I forged ahead. 

  
I think they turned out pretty darn cute. 

From A Movie To The Plate

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I love a good movie. I love a movie even more if it includes Meryl Streep. Just love her. How can you go wrong with one of her movies?

 I have watched her in the movie It’s Complicated more times than I can count. I just love it. Her and Alec Baldwin are hilarious together. Now if you haven’t seen it rent it ASAP. I even have it downloaded on my phone so I can watch it if I get bored on a plane or car ride or I just want to watch it in bed at night. I know I’m weird. But sometimes, okay most of the time, JJ is watching some awful show upstairs and Loganne is downstairs. There really is no other option. So I watch a movie and knit. What’s more fun than that!

  

Now in this movie she is a brilliant cook. This is what draws me to this movie besides the humor aspect. I just love movies about cooking. 

 I have wanted to make the Croque Monseir ever since I saw her cook it. I had no idea what it was,  I just knew it came out of the oven smothered in cheese. 
  
Basically it is a fancy ham and cheese sandwich that you will hug yourself after making!!! I found a recipe by Ina Garten. It includes a cheese sauce that will allow you to make about 6 sandwiches. Maybe even one or two more. Trust me you will want to!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/croque-monsieur-recipe.html

Give this recipe a try soon. You will thank me. 
  
I added roasted Parmesan and garlic potatoes. 
Enjoy!

Finally Something For the Hubby

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I made my first pair of mittens. He has been asking for about a year for me to make them. I finally attempted and got them done. 

I traveled along to take some cows to the sale barn. I figured the 4 hour drive was a perfect excuse to sit and knit. I was right. I finished the second one before we got home. 

They turned out better than I thought. They are extra big because he wanted to wear them over his gloves. 

   
   

Well What Else to Do

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We ended up not going in to town today. Therefore no grocery shopping for me. I am currently completely out of milk, bread, juice, and a couple other essentials.

Needless to say my son takes his lunch everyday and it is always the same. So what else am I to do, but bake bread. It turned out wonderful.

It just came out of the oven at 9pm and along with it brought my son out of bed for just a taste. Well several slices later and teeth are brushed again and hopefully sleep will find him soon.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6788/amish-white-bread/