A fun afternoon in the snow

What ranch kids (and dad's) spend the afternoon doing after all the work is done? They tie an inner-tube to the quad and have their daddy pull them around the driveway in front of the house of course!

They had a blast, then it was inside to warm up with some hot apple cider.

I'm linking up with Fresh from the Farm and her Photo Friday linky party. Stop by for a visit and some great pictures.

Wordless Wednesday

For Wordless Wednesday this week I'm showcasing my oldest daughters photography. All these pictures she took around the ranch.

Love the view from this one

This one is my favorite

Good job Bibble! You may just end up with a camera for Christmas after all. Will help keep mine from disappearing all the time.

A quick update

Well the steers are all sold, other then the ones we are keeping to put in the freezer, the heifers are weaned and turned out with the cows and the bulls are in their winter pasture. That means that the "slow" season is upon us and that translates to hunting in this house. As I type this the hubby is out on his opening morning hunt for a deer and we are getting everything ready for our oldest daughters first deer hunt in a week and a half. Me I'm just waiting for duck and goose season later in the fall.
I have been keeping busy canning spaghetti sauce, salsa, pinto beans and pork and beans. Nothing I love more than putting up my own food to use through the winter. The weather is turning more and more to fall, with the nights getting cooler and the oak trees starting to turn. This next week will be a trip around the ranch looking for acorns to gather and the start of the search for the perfect Christmas tree. I know that it is still October, but if we start now we can all agree on one before Christmas is here!
Well I'm off for the day, oldest has a birthday party for a friend in town and I'm working on a baby blanket and bag for a friend who is expecting a baby soon.
I have also not forgotten the "after" pictures for the living room re-arrange. I did get the furniture moved and the fireplace partially done, just need to get my curtains up and then I will post pictures. Until then here are some pictures from when we sorted all the calves off back in September (I know I'm behind!)

Getting everyone set on what goes into each pen.

One of our heifers

Some more calves and some of the cows

The young man in this picture is one of our missionaries, Elder Totten that came out to help. This was all new for him as he is from Minnesota, but he jumped right in.

The steer calf in the middle did not want to be sorted so he decided to go hang out with the big boys.

The young man on the left is the other missionary Elder Huntsaker, but he was much more at home as he is from Utah and his uncle has a ranch and he grew up around cows.

All our girls, not happy about their babies being some where else!

Work almost done for the day and just in time for the weather to move in!

Elder Huntsaker helping to work the gates around the squeeze-shoot

Even Elder Totten got in on the action

Letting the last of the cow out.

Wishing everyone a great weekend and stop by Pinke Post on Monday to see my guest post and recipe for Venison Stew.

Gather and Branding with Pictures

Here are some of the pictures from the gathers this year both spring and for branding this last week.

This is from the spring gather when we sorted off the heifers and put the bulls with the herd

Here come the girls

My Char cow and her baby. This will be the last year we have her since she is around 12 years old

Hey what are you looking at?

Making friends

The hubby and Bibble loading a momma and baby

This is from the start of our branding last Saturday.

First customer of the day and the hubby making sure that everyone knows their jobs

Cousin Rick getting another calf for the guys to work

Our oldest runs all the shots and one ground crew while either the hubby or my father in law runs the other

Gotta get things right, so the "boss" does it

The hubby finally gets a chance to rope a few.

Our last calf of the day.

Had a great time branding this year, for once we had plenty of help. There were 4 generations here that day as the hubby's grandmother was able to come out and enjoy the day, my dad and the hubby's dad were both here and Bibble more than pulled her share of the work. Three cousins and one wife were able to come out along with a few friends to lend a hand.
I did not get a chance to get as many close up pictures like I normally do as I was keeping Granny company on the other side of the fence out of the way and then finishing up the lunch for everyone. Ended the day with more calves branded then we thought we had, which is always a good thing. Still have about 30 cows left to drop their calves so we will have to brand again around the end of July, but that time will just be the hubby, Bibble and myself. I am always glad when branding is over as the week leading up to it are longer than normal and busy. Also nice to have an idea how many calves you are going to sell in October since that is the only paycheck you get for the year.
Next week will find me working all the apples that I'm getting on Sunday. Looking to put some away for pies and cobblers and others will go to apple butter and apple sauce. Also going to make some pie crust and get that frozen so when I want to make a pie all is ready for me!