this past weekend was once again spent at the ranch. when it's so nice and warm and dry out, it's hard to justify staying in town. however, all the things i've been putting off until it gets cold and nasty are once again put off another weekend.
the above photo is sam, a hunter from texas, on the black horse, and sister melissa on her horse dixie while we were moving a few cows from south of the highway back onto the association on the north side. saturday morning scott, sam, melissa and i loaded up after breakfast and we finished this task up pretty quick, as the cows were feeling good and moved along really well.
there weren't many cows, just a few with their calves that bob had pastured on a blm lease for the summer. i took lucy once again to help out, and she had a lot of fun with the cows, who would come out of the herd to take her, which only made her feel more important when she went after them to chase them back into the bunch.
the heifer calf that scott gave me last spring wasn't in the bunch we moved, but she was in the pasture into which we moved them, so i trotted over there to take a look at her - i haven't seen her all summer. she's the red one in front, and she's growing good, as are all the calves, and she looks nice. next weekend we'll gather the pasture, bringing them all into the corrals for weaning. some will go to the sale barn in riverton the following week, and the heifers will go to a friend's feedlot for the winter. the cows usually also leave the association for winter pasture, but i'm not sure what the plan is for them this year.
since both melissa and i rode our old mares that morning, i had scott take a photo of us together. these are the two girls we received for christmas in 1994, and they're still going strong. we've come a long way from the pine forests and red clay of georgia, where they both came from as two-year-olds. they will be 18 years old this spring.
i'm a little concerned about april heading into winter, as she's a little thin. she was thin going into winter two years ago, and had a tough time catching up. being out on range all summer and fall, she hasn't got the condition on her that i put on her last fall at the stables. since she's in foal - or at least i'm pretty sure she is - i'm even more concerned, and if it decides to come in and storm and be a snowy winter, i'll bring her back into galles stables to keep a closer eye on her. my other one, jazz, on the other hand, is quite rotund. i don't ever have to worry about her at all.
sunday morning melissa and i headed out again with our horses. scott dropped us off in one of the mountain pastures and we went and found a bull, moved him to another pasture and rode back to the house. i took foxy with us, along with lucy and melissa's two dogs, and that was the longest trip she'd been on. there were several water opportunities, and she did just fine. the ride back to the house was quite a distance, but it was such a nice morning it didn't really matter.
after loading up and heading into town to deliver my horses and clean the office i went to the house to clean up before scott and i went to meet the whole martinez clan and the texas hunters at a mexican restaurant here in town for dinner. another full weekend! and it was good to be back at the house, after being gone since last wednesday morning.
tonight scott and i plan on going to get our wood stove for the front room. scott has drafted friend eddy to help us carry it into the house, in exchange for dinner. then, we'll have to hook up the stovepipe and go get the firewood from trav's place, maybe later this week, and we'll be in business! i'm very excited for having a wood stove in the house. it will be so cozy when it starts to snow and i have the christmas lights up on the eves and on the front porch. :-)
i think i might even be winning scott over to the christmas spirit, as last night he mentioned where he thought the christmas tree should go. he grew up with a father who would only let decorations go up two days before christmas, as long as they were taken down the day after, so i count his thoughts on the christmas tree as a big step in the right direction!
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