a cold weekend

I'm hoping the above photo will convey the chill that was in the air Sunday morning as we worked the Camps' cows and calves at the Association corrals.

We gathered them up out of one of the small meadow pastures and brought them up to the corrals, and my face froze. Then my legs got cold, and then my fingers, and then my toes. And I even had long johns, jeans and chinks, six layers on my upper body, two layers of gloves - one wool, and my new riding snow packs that I picked up on Saturday. Sometimes it's just cold!

I helped push the cows and calves up the alley on my horse, Lad, who belongs to Bob, and then dismounted to help with finishing up the sorting work. That sure helped my toes, and later in the day the sun did come out, the cold wind quit and the snow went away.

There's me in my new boots! I had to borrow a pair of spurs from Scott, because mine aren't wide enough for the insulated boots.

After the steer calves were loaded we went down to the house for a chili lunch and then set about loading the two bull calves from the horse corral. Well, that didn't work so well, because the one of Scott's is pretty skittish, and he jumped clear over Lucy, who was standing between Bob and I. He went by at eye level to me, and being jumped over upset Lucy, so she turned to chase him, and he went right through the corral fence. Popped both top boards clean off the posts, and he proceeded to lead the other bull and a steer calf out the other open gate and up the driveway. That was Lucy's good deed for the day.

Scott and Trav hopped on their horses and got ahead of them to open more gates and steer the calves in the direction of the corrals, which are up the hill a little ways from the house, and it ended up not being too big of a disaster. Lucy did get locked in the horse trailer before I headed up to help work the calves, though.

Vaccinating and branding didn't take long, and soon after Scott and I headed back into town.

The previous day Link and I had the house all to ourselves, and we really enjoyed the wood stove. Out of curiosity for how hot I could get the house, I kept adding to the wood stove until it was 90 degrees. :-) That was a little warm, but about 80 was just perfect. I walked around in my bare feet and tank top drinking coffee while I watched the snowflakes fall outside.

This is what it looked like out my front window. My poor pumpkins were trying their best to look like Thanksgiving, but were coming across as more Christmas.

It was still pretty warm out, so the snow didn't stick on the streets very long, but it did stick on the sidewalks, and Scott was kind enough to shovel last night when we got back into town. As you can see, there are still stubborn leaves on the trees. We really need to rake the yard one more time, if we're going to be perfect homeowners. Maybe we'll settle for 'good' homeowners, though, and let the last of the leaves go. Especially now that they're all wet and snowy and gross.

So while it was all white and snowy outside, this is what it looked like inside. It was so hot in there, that Scott's peanut butter M&Ms were melted, and the butter I had on the counter was super-soft. :-)

For the most part, Link acted like he loved how hot the house was, even going over to lie by the stove in his usual spot. But, I think in this picture he was saying: Did we really have to add that last log?

And then he got so desperate that he went to lie on the cool bathroom tile for a little while. :-) It's a good thing Scott and Lucy weren't home. They never would have stood for it.

That weird orange and red thing on the floor is a half-shredded rope toy for the dogs. There are always toys in various stages of destruction around the house these days, and the dogs have been banned from stuffed toys. Cotton animal guts sure do make a mess in a hurry.

And there's the proof. :-) But, the best part is, all it took to keep the house warm and toasty was a few pieces of firewood. Our antique gas-powered furnace would never get to that temperature, and would burn $100 in gas trying.

That, and the wood smoke smells so much better when I leave the house.

So here's my little house, covered in snow. I'd say I'm still in the process of settling in, but it's getting more and more homey all the time. That's the rear end of "Snowflake," Scott's little white truck, parked out front. He had taken the girls out to the ranch first thing in the morning with his black truck.