The months of August and September in Review
Highlights from the life of the Oil-Rubbing Ranch-Wife
August and September FLEW by!We were so busy. . . . here are some of the things we worked on and enjoyed during the months of August and September:
Pioneer & Little Buckaroo Rodeo Parade
Dad got to hitch up his team and his freshly painted Freight Wagon and drive them through town. It was probably the highlight of his year. Very neat.
Visit to the Zoo.
Family Parties and Reunions.
Canoeing trips--along the river that runs by our house and through our pastures.
Burning Ditch.
The weather was rainy so it worked out perfectly--other than I had to stand by the propane torch with a ready match because everything was wet enough not to stay burning!
Hauling Hay.
This Peterbilt semi is way nicer to drive than the Mack truck below. No air conditioning, but the nice soft summer breeze kept things cool.
You'd think this old piecer white Mack truck couldn't pull the big hay train, but alas it did quite well. I opted for the Peterbilt truck (above) with a working Jake Brake, though, since we had a few steep hills to maneuver.
Ranch Rodeos and Ropings.
Checking cows in the hills.
Rain in August caused quite the havoc with the grain farmers. In this area we all commented how we hadn't seen such crazy rain in August as to prevent the harvesting and make standing fields of wheat and barley turn black with mold and sprouting. It was wild. So the price of wheat will increase--this whole Snake River Valley was affected, and there's a ton of wheat that comes out of this valley. Much of it is feed wheat now, but I still see some piles of wheat in fields that couldn't even be sold as feed wheat. What a waste, and the poor small farmers were hurt the worst.
Canning fruits and veggies from the garden.
School starting.
Our one camping trip to the lakes north of Island Park where we stayed for 4 days (that's a miracle for us that we could get away that long!!!) and we fished, canoed, biked, and hiked, and ate a ton of delicious camp food. It was a glorious camping trip.
Corn Harvest.
We grow a few pivots of corn to be chopped and fed to the yearling calves to fatten them up. This is a more cost effective way to grow cattle than to feed them straight hay.
Don't even get me started about corn, GMO, and all that junk. I may not fully agree with this particular ranching practice, but as a whole, our ranch really does try to do things right, safe, and holistic. Come up with some good organic natural cheap and viable corn or cheaper feed alternative that's not GMO and that's still cost effective and we'll gladly jump on board.
Our fields were some of the last to be chopped due to the frost that affected everyone else but didn't seem to get our corn. Now, though, we are dealing with rain again. It's not hurting the corn-----yet, but it makes the field and the yard too muddy for the semis. They are almost done--even as I type this I hear the semis and packing tractor hard at work.
---I'll have to share the link here from the youtube video of the corn harvesting with the packing tractor, it's apparently too big for google to handle, lol.
Fall roundup is happening now, for the next two months as we move the cattle from the high hills of summer range to our private fields midway down the mountain. There will be daily riding, gathering, sorting, and sandwiches. Bummer for us, the rain and our extra pickup is still getting fixed, so we've been hindered from riding with the cowboys. (I'm NOT missing the sandwiches though!)
So we end the months of August and September. A little sadness as I wonder where the warm weather went to. Nevertheless, we got in all the playing and outdoor work we could while the weather was tolerable. And here comes the colder part of fall.
Until next time, work hard and enjoy life.
Cheers from the ranch.
Charlotte
The Oil-Rubbing Ranch-Wife
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