Guest Post with Fairchild Farmgirl

I was recently asked by fellow blogger and ag mom to write a funny tale of something that happened to me as a ranch wife and about how crazy our lives can be sometimes. The story that ended up being the one is of when I broke my finger bottle feeding a calf. Yes that is right I broke a bone feeding a calf a bottle! You can read that story by visiting Farichild Farmgirl's blog.

That is not the only time that life has gotten crazy around here. Here are a few more examples:

Life on a ranch can be crazy busy at time and just plain crazy at others. I have learned this the hard way over the last 5 years that I have been a rancher’s wife. I did not grow up on a ranch; my dad was in the military. Sure it was in Texas so I was around horses and cows and always dreamed of being a rancher’s wife. The reality however is very different from the dream, but better.

So how crazy does it get? Well when I was still working in town at the local high school the hubby called one late spring afternoon to tell me to get home, there was a wild fire moving to the bottom end of the ranch that had all of our cattle in the pasture. I’m still not sure if I told anyone why I was running out of the office in the middle of the day! I’m pretty sure I hollered, something about fire, cattle, the hubby and I have to go! Good thing about living in a small town, they are pretty forgiving on things like that.

Two years ago now, the girls and I were getting ready to head to town for a small concert at a local church when the hubby called and said to bring a bottle and towels to the pasture below the house. I knew then that we had a baby whose momma either didn’t make it or was not able to get up and we needed to take care of it until she was able. Well needless to say there went the concert, I had a calf living in my kitchen and living room for 2 weeks and then in the back yard for 3 months. That calf, Dot, is now a 2 year old heifer and will still follow me where ever I go and I can call her by name across a pasture and she will run to me!

Here is Dot just a few hours old in the kitchen

Now here she is at a year old. Still loves to be petted any chance she gets

 

As to the just plain crazy, well between me getting bucked off horses, breaking a finger bottle feeding a calf, getting chased by pigs, wild dogs, broken water lines, cows breaking down fences the night before branding and the morning of shipping, things can and will get a little crazy on a ranch. But if it didn’t then it wouldn’t be fun. 

The funny part is a I was writing this the other day the phone rang and it was the hubby. He and our oldest were riding the pasture and moving the cows to water when he found a calf we had been looking for since the momma had died a few days before. I was just finishing up so I could go to town, run some errands and make my lunch appointment for my business. So the little one and I loaded up in the truck and off to the pasture we went to bring the baby back to the house. Got the baby home, in the pen and all set up, cleaned up and off to town we went. You just never know what your day will bring on a ranch.

The Month I'm ready to forget

There are just some days or weeks that you can't wait until they are over. I'm ready for this month to be over. It stared out okay, lots of babies coming and that is always a good thing on a ranch.
Then one of our first time momma's lost her calf. It was still born and that momma just could not understand that even though she licked her calf dry, nosed it to get up and spent hours trying it just was not going to get up. The hubby finally went down there and got the calf and momma. When he got there you could just see that momma looking at him and her baby asking him why won't mine get up like the others. We hate seeing the ones that just try for all they are worth to get a baby to make it loose the little ones. One thing we do know is that when she does have her next calf she will be a good momma.
Then as if that was not bad enough, the hubby went down to feed one afternoon and our youngest miniature pony had died. We are not sure what happened as he was not even a year old, but sometime during the day he had passed away. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was to tell her that Gizmo was dead. Made it even harder when the hubby said he would have rather it been his favorite horse Tom, than to have to see our youngest loose her pony.
Then today a calf that we had been trying to save lost her fight. We found her on Saturday morning when we went to put out feed. The momma had left her and she was nothing but skin and bones and covered with fleas. We got her home, bathed in dog flea shampoo, dried off, brushed and some milk in her. She was doing okay, we were able to find the momma on Sunday so we put them in a pen together to see if the momma would feed the little one. Went okay for Sunday afternoon, but the cow would not eat any hay and so she stopped making milk. Then she started running over the little one. Got the momma out of there, but it was too late by then. Our poor little Chance, as we named her, just didn't have enough strength left to fight. We were trying to get her to eat this morning when she passed on. Was hard for the little one, first time she had been there when one of the animals had died. The girls picked a nice spot under a tree, wrapped Chance in a sheet and buried her.

I am ready for this month to be over. I know these are things that happen on a ranch, but it does not make them any easier to live with or through. We try so hard, take care of our "girls" as we call the herd, so it hurts to see the little ones not make it. Two in one year is a very rare thing for us so that makes it even harder. Some years we don't loose a one and those are the best years. Then situations happen that you have no control over and you loose one, it was still born, bad weather or the like. There are somethings you can't control. I just hate the ones that you think you can control what happens but no matter how hard you try or how much you pray, the outcome is not the one you want.

So I am glad that this month is almost over. We are praying that April brings not only a better month, but rain too since we are already having to haul water.

Our daily life

Well everyone is going about their business for the day. The hubby is off for the day and the girls are cleaning the house. I'm getting ready for a run to town and then back for school work and some sewing.

The baby calves are coming along nicely, mommas keep having them everyday. Not sure what we are up to now, last I heard over 25 already, about a quarter of the way through for the year.

Our winter here has been some where else this year. Worried about the spring and summer and how much water we will have already. Been so mild here that I'm already thinking about planting some cool weather veggies like lettuce, spinach, broccoli and the like. The hubby says go ahead, maybe that will make the winter come around finally! It is already almost 60 here and not even 10am! I like the mild winter for the cows and calves, just as long as the rains come in the spring and summer!

Well we are off for another day in our lives, this time of year means calves, calves and more calves.

2012 Babies

Here are some pictures of our new babies. Went out to help the hubby feed this morning and took the camera along to get some great pictures. We have 15 on the ground right now with more on the way.

This afternoon found us looking for bulls. Found a couple young bulls now just still need two more older bulls to fill out all our bulls for the herd.

Also got a crib set finished and mailed to the customer, who I am happy to say loves it and was kind enough to send me pictures of the crib set all put together.

I have also been working on wild rags, diaper bags and changing pads for some customers. Just wish we would get some snow, just not too much at a time because of all the babies.

A bowl of hot chili for a cold day

It is finally starting to look and feel like winter here at the ranch. We have gotten snow the past four days and the ground is covered in the white stuff, not a lot, but enough.

This is the view out the window of my sewing room. Love being able to see the snow.

It has me in the mind to make a big pot of chili. So I'm going to share my new favorite chili recipe. I have been making chili for years now, always the same recipe and the same ingredients. There was nothing wrong with it, it was a good chili. It is just with one simple addition the chili that I have been making all these years is so much better. So what is that simple ingredient? Masa also known as corn flour, yes the same stuff that is used to make tamales. It gives the chili a wonderful thickness and the added flavor is amazing. Now I can not take credit for this idea, that credit belongs to fellow blogger and foodie, Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman and her Simple Perfect Chili

I add chopped onions and bell peppers to the pan when I'm cooking the meat, but other than that I did not make any changes to the recipe. So pull out a pot and fix you up some yummy chili to enjoy!

What I have been doing

Since it is Friday I thought I would let everyone have a little peek into what I have been working on for my store and some of the ideas that will be showing up soon.

Here is an eReader, iPad or laptop cover. You can pick a different material to fit just for you.

Different print inside

A wonderful warm and soft afghan in teal and cream

Blue, cream and brown stripped scarf

Shells and stripes scarf

A fun set for teens

I love this material and it is being made into a crib set, this will be the material for the crib skirt

This is the material for the crib bumper

This one for a crib sheet

Another crib sheet

So this is just a few of the items that I have been busy making, stop by My Twisted Stitches to see everything that I have available.

Now things on the ranch have not stopped either, I even have new baby chicks! One of my chickens has been very confused by the warm winter weather she sat on her eggs and hatched two babies!

Here they are! She finally let them out long enough for me to get some pictures

Then it was back under momma to get warm

One last glimpse!

Momma in the sun

Well I hope that everyone is well and have a great weekend!

New Year, new cookbooks, new recipes

Well we are almost two weeks into the new year and we are cranking right along here on the ranch. I love this time of year partially because everything is covered in snow and it feels like winter. This year no such luck. We have gotten 3 good snow storms for a total of about a foot of snow and it is all gone already. We have been in the 50's for highs and that is very unusual. The cows are enjoying it but if the weather doesn't chance soon they won't be enjoying the weather come spring and summer.

My big excitement is my new cookbooks I ordered after Christmas. I love new cookbooks, nothing better than looking through them and finding new recipes to make and discovering new favorites. So what cookbooks did I order? Here they are and they are great cookbooks with wonderful recipes, photography and great stories to go with the food.

This is so far my favorite of the new cookbooks. There are a ton of great recipes that any cowboy would love or kids and non-cowboys for that matter!

This cookbook is the product of two mom's trying to find and fix food for busy families. The ingredients are basic but the flavor in the cooking is anything but.

Again a great cowboy cookbook. Trying to find new and creative ways to fix a freezer full of beef requires a variety of cookbooks and this one looks to provide new and tasty beef recipes.

I love old recipes but sometimes the ingredients are hard to find in today's grocery stores. This cookbook takes the recipes that the pioneer's brought with them and updates them for today. I have to admit I bought this one solely based on the fact that it had a recipe for salt water taffy. I am happy to say that there are numerous recipes marked ready to be made in the next few weeks other than taffy.

My next cookbook purchase will come in March and I can't wait for it, but I guess I will have to since it doesn't come out until then!

So until then I will be busy cooking up a storm with my new recipes in hand. I will be sure to share some of the recipes, but these cookbooks are well worth having in your own kitchen.