This and That

There hasn't been too much excitement on the ranch lately. Snow, some rain, and one sunny day in the middle of it all. Brian has been putting up snow fence this week in the Tuscarora Mountains on the far end of the ranch. The snow fence really isn't for snow, but it goes up every spring, and comes down every fall, so the snow doesn't destroy it in the winter. It still is in pretty bad shape though and needs lots of help. Yesterday it rained most of the day at Squaw, but Brian was in snow flurries most of the day. He didn't have more than about 30 feet of visibility.

I ended up going into town in Winnemucca yesterday with Ricarda and her 2 kids. I'm putting up a picture of the truck just because it was clean, and just one round trip from squaw to lower clover, on a rainy day, made it super muddy. I think I need to washthe truck today. (or maybe it will rain again and wash it for me).

The most interesting thing for me this week has been in the kitchen. Monday night Brian said, "you know what I haven't had in a while, is chocolate covered doughnuts with str

awberry filling". So I felt obliged to accept the challenge. If you can

have "healthy" doughnuts, these were them. I haven't made doughnuts since I was about 12, and I had to fudge on a bunch of the ingredients. The only flour I keep around is our fresh ground hard red winter wheat, so yes, they were whole wheat doughnuts; made with organic flour, organic skim milk, organic shortening, and since I don't have white sugar, honey. They were fried in organic sunflower oil and filled with my mom's homemade strawberry freezer jam. The chocolate topping was melted semi-sweet chocolate chips, thinned with organic skim milk. And yes, they were very good. I was pretty proud of myself. Although, the ones left by Tuesday night weren't as good, they really needed to be eaten fresh.

Last night, Brian did it again. Since I had gone to town, he asked if I brought him back anything special, like peanut butter cups (his favorite candy). He was so disappointed to find out that I hadn't, so I tried making some. I had no recipe, so this was really "winging it". Fortunately I had just roasted some peanuts and made fresh organic peanut butter on Monday. I added a little salt and honey for the filling, shaped them, then covered them with melted dark chocolate, again thinned with a little organic skim milk, and put them in the freezer for 20 minutes. Oh, yum! Again, if you can have healthy peanut butter cups, these were them. No added preservatives, chemicals, stabilizers, etc...... What Brian didn't eat last night he's taking in his lunch today.

There are a few interesting blogs brewing about old mine shafts, an old cabin, the aspens in the mountains, and more on the "town" of Midas. I just need pictures, and fuller stories to make it worth the read......

Oh yes, and this week I was introduced to Rocky Mountain Oysters. I didn't try them, and have no intention to. Just watched others eat them. Completely gross. If you don't know what they are, google them.

Cowboy Up

Its time to move the cows. It really doesn't matter that its snowing sideways. In case you ever wondered where the term "cowboy up" came from, this might be it.

This is Brian and Casper, this morning. Once they got back in

around 11:30, Brian said Casper was not really interested in cowboying up this morning. Every time Brian tried to get him to turn into the wind, Casper would either completely stop, or turn his back end into the wind. Stubborn horse! I think they eventually came to an agreement though, and got the job done. (Casper won't be confused anymore about who the boss is.)

Ranch History and the Mines

As with most things, it takes time, good listening skills and a little putting 2 and 2 together to get the whole picture. I think I've got most of the picture here of the history and present state of the Ranch, but this may be a long post, so hang in there.

In the late 1800's, Upper and Lower Clover were started as one ranch, and Squaw Valley was a separate ranch. There are still some old homestead sites around, but I don't have photos yet. There is a huge old ranch building down at lower clover, high pitched roof line, wood everywhere inside and out, that looks to be built sometime around the early to mid 1900's. It has cooks quarters, a bunkhouse, and a ranch managers dwelling all in one building. It has been empty for quite some time but later this summer I will be working on cleaning it up a bit, and hopes for restoring it are in the works. Some time in the mid 1900's, Squaw Valley and Upper and Lower Clover were all combined into one ranch, and owned by a large ranching family who still owns the Spanish Ranch (some of you may have heard of it) one valley over from us.

In 1995, that family sold the ranch to Barrick Mines. Here is an excerpt from the Barrick Mines corporate home page with their take on the ranch between 1995 and now:

Barrick owns the Squaw Valley Ranch near the Goldstrike mine in north-central Nevada. The 153,000 hectare ranch consists of both Barrick-owned property and grazing rights on U.S. federal lands. After purchasing the ranch in 1995 the Company leased the ranch back to its original owner. However eight years later, after expiration of the lease, Barrick turned its attention to the environmental health of the land and developed an innovative approach to the stewardship of this property. A baseline study of streams and vegetation was completed, Lahontan trout habitat and sage grouse leks (strutting and mating grounds) identified, and a plan for habitat enhancement developed. The management plan involved a three-pronged approach:

• Changes to water distribution, including improvements to irrigation systems and increased water conservation measures
• Changes to grazing to provide for rest and recovery of overgrazed lands
• Protection of riparian areas and other sensitive habitats

This plan is supported by a variety of partners, including:

• The community of Midas
• Northeastern Nevada Stewardship Group
• Trout Unlimited
• Nevada Bighorns Unlimited
• U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
• Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW)

Performance monitoring is an important part of the management plan. After two years, change is already evident, including the appearance of healthy willows along the riparian areas of streams, providing much needed shade and bank stability, and an increase in sage grouse populations on monitored leks. Managed grazing has improved the overall productivity of the property.

Unfortunately, a lightning-caused range fire burned nearly 40,500 hectares on the ranch allotment in July 2005. The fire destroyed mule deer and sage grouse habitat, as well as riparian vegetation along a number of streams.

Cooperation with government and non-government organizations led to the development of a habitat recovery and fire protection plan for the ranch. The BLM, NDOW, Barrick and the Reno, Nevada and Midas Bighorns Unlimited groups developed a comprehensive plan to seed fire-damaged lands with sagebrush (the key plant for sage grouse production and winter survival).

In addition, Barrick will also seed “green strips” with non-native, non-invasive species which will remain green well into summer and serve as fire breaks to reduce the magnitude of seasonal fires in the area. These species are palatable to wildlife and will add diversity to the area without encroaching on native plant communities.

(back to me) The original owners that leased the ranch back from Barrick in 1995 left in 2003. The ranch sat unused for a few years, and Jesse and Ricarda, who manage it now have been here for 4 years. They were specifically chosen to be a part of the ranch restoration because they were willing to look at ranching from a new more sustainable perspective, and do things a little differently than traditional ranching. The consultant who originally did some of the work for Barrick, is now one of the background partners in the Ranch. He does not live here, but still visits frequently and is involved in the planning and land management.

Since the ranch sits in the middle of the Mine's land, Barrick maintains most of the dirt roads. We see a lot of traffic going up and down the valley in the morning and mid afternoon as the mines shuttle employees in vans and large tour buses from Golconda and Winnemucca. The mines run 24/7, and we are told provide a very solid living wage. The unemployment rate in this county is significantly less than the rest of the state because of the mining operations.

Additionally we have learned that there are about 1500 wild/feral horses on the property. The BLM will start a large scale round up right after the 4th of July weekend to keep the population under control. The horses will go to auction.

All in all, the more we learn, the more we really like this ranch and the way it operates. I have no pictures of the mines, so these are just a few random pictures.

Knuckle meets the cows

It was incredibly uneventful.

If you've been reading, you know that we have been trying to keep Knuckle away from

the cows. We weren't sure how she would react, and we didn't want her to bark and chase, and cause a stampede, but not be smart enough to get out of the way so she didn't get hurt. She met them briefly in the corrals last week, but that is a bit of a controlled situation. Out in the field is completely different.

Yesterday afternoon we went in the truck out to fix a section of fence along one of the irrigation canals. While Brian was messing with the fence, Knuck and I were playing

fetch with the stick into the canal. ( I was really trying to get her a good bath, and that's the easiest way to do it.)

After about 15 minutes, a group of 20 or so cows came to the farside of the canal, I believe with the intention of crossing it. We were right near a road, and I was pretty nervous. Knuckle however, was not in the least bit interested. She just wanted me to keep throwing the stick, so I did. As the stick got closer and closer to the cows, her response to the cows remained constant-nothing.

The cows stood on the waters edge watching for at least 10 minutes, some getting a drink now and then. None tried to cross with that crazy dog swimming all over in front of them. Eventually they just walked away.

When we were done fixing the fence, and ready to load up we wanted knuckle in the back of the truck since she was soaking wet. She is currently the only dog, of about 8 of them here on the ranch, that ever rides in the cab of the truck. We used all the energy we could to motivate her to "load up" onto the flat bed. She just wasn't interested. Finally Brian had to lift her (pic).

I've also included a picture of some wild horses Brian got yesterday. This group was a little far away, so the cropped enlarged version is a bit fuzzy. We will keep trying to get a better photo. We did see two wild burrows yesterday, close up right next to the road, but somehow they just aren't the same.

Wild Horses

Yesterday, while Brian was way up in the divide between the ranch and the Owyhee desert fixing fences, he came across 4 different groups of wild horses. One of the groups had 34 horses in it. Most of them, when he got very close in the quad, would run the other way. However, in one of the groups there was a black horse with a white star on his forehead that stood his ground firm face to face with Brian while the rest ran off. Brian was about 20 feet from him before he finally turned and went the other way. Brian spent much of the day fixing fences that the horses had destroyed.

Sometime this summer, the BLM will do a wild horse round up, similar to what they do around Burns in Eastern Oregon, and bring some of the horses in for auction. They do this to keep the population of wild horses under control.

I wish we had pictures, but Brian didn't take the camera with him yesterday (among all the other tools and fence paraphernalia he had strapped to the quad). So I'll put up a few

random pictures of some cool birds we've seen. With the flood irrigation we use, it makes much of the fields around the house like a wetland, and we hear and see hundreds of birds everyday, many that I have never seen before. Brian said he's seen more doves here

than he as ever seen elsewhere.

Whistle trained cows

It makes sense that you can train cows, but I wouldn't have guessed it before yesterday. (this picture is sunrise, about 5:15 am)

We have about 2400 yearlings that have been here all winter. They were down at white house, along the Humboldt River during the winter grazing. The fields are obviously not as full of fresh grass in the winter so the yearlings diet is supplemented with alfalfa cakes. When the alfalfa cakes were being distributed by truck or quad through the fields, whoever was driving was also blowing a whistle almost constantly. So, the cows came to associate the sound of the blowing whistle with coming towards the vehicle and getting alfalfa cakes.

Now that there is plenty of green grass, the yearlings aren't getting the supplements anymore, but the whistle association is very convenient. Especially when you are trying to get that many cows, spread out over a field of hundreds of acres to gather and go through a 14 foot opening in a fence into the next field.

Yesterday, we started about 7 am (it was Sunday) with 4 people on horseback and Jesse and little Maura (15 months), and myself in a rhino 4 wheeler. The picture has big Maura, her sister Ricarda, Brian, and Ricarda and Maura's dad Dick.

Jesse and I went first, riding out to the lower rock field where this group yearlings were. We opened the gate and started driving down the dirt rode that leads from this field to the next one ready for the yearlings, lower timothy. As we drove along, Jesse blew his whistle. The further we went, the more cows started following us (see photo). I would guess it took as about 30 minutes to drive through the field, blowing the whistle, and gathering the cows attention as we progressed. The team on horses basically pulled up the rear. Their job was to split up and go after the cows that weren't responding, or were too far away to hear the whistle. Iwas suprised at how well the whole operation worked. Cows aren't that smart either.....once you get the attention of one or two cows in the group and they start moving towards you, the rest of the group follows. It was a big group.

Once we got to the gate going into lower timothy, we opened it and drove through and the cows just kept on coming. It took almost 40 minutes for that many cows to move through the gate and for the guys on horseback to bring in the stragglers. As they went through the gate, it gave us a chance to look for any that may need doctoring. We found two that were limping a bit, one that needed attention. Dick roped it, and while it was roped on the ground, Jesse gave it some antibiotics to help it heal. Any yearling that gets doctored we mark their hide with a "paint pen"

so we know the next time we see them that they were already treated.

The yearlings will be in lower timothy for two days, just barely skimming the top of the grass, then will move again on Tuesday. Jesse told me the neighbors think they are pretty weird for using a whistle to herd the cows, but it works. This ranch is doing a handful of things out of the norm. Moving the cows so frequently is one of them. If the cows are only in a field for a short time, the grass grows back so much faster and the cows are getting rich fresh green tips all the time instead of eating down to the dirt (in which case is takes the grass a long time to come back). So many of our strategies with the cows are to keep them calm, keep them eating, and keep them moving. The goal is to have them gain

as much weight as possible on just grazing.

Brian is out fixing more fence today, I'm planning to work in the garden, and maybe make the trek to the mailbox. I'm hoping for sunny day. It always makes my mind more sane!

Moving Gravel and Flood Irrigation

Saturday, we moved gravel. It wasn't without purpose though. We run cattle on about 370,000 acres. 300,000 of those acres are leased from the BLM and we will use those mostly in the summer months only. 70,000 acres are deeded, and run up the middle of the valley, surrounding the 3 main homesites of lower clover, upper clover, and squaw. There is a fourth homesite, whitehouse, that is only used in the winter and it is at the base of the valley, 90 miles from the upper most point. I don't know much about it yet, haven't been there yet, so I'll have to tell you more about it later.

Of the 70,000 acres, most of it has controlled irrigation, and it seems like about 1/2 of it is here at squaw. Firman is our irrigation guy. He has control of the water flow from a reservoir higher up the valley. The reservoir feeds a series of canals, which feed a series of ditches running into the different fields or allotments we will be moving the yearlings through for the next few mo

nths. When Firman wants to "water" a field, he blocks the ditch off in various places with temporary dams made of irrigation tarps, wood and rock stabilizers, etc. The ditch overflows, flooding the field around it. He may move the dam several times in a day, so a good chunk of his time may be spent driving around from field to field, controlling the water flow. He waters the fields ahead of the cattle so they will be full of fresh alfalfa and grass when the cows get there.

One of the canals in one of the fields that has a dam with a culvert and a metal plate that raises and lowers to control the water flow needs repairs. Unfortunately, as you can see in the picture, the water just washed out the dirt on both sides of the culvert and is not "controlled".

This is where the gravel comes in. At some point in the future, there will be a project to dig out this whole area, and re-secure the culvert with fresh gravel.

About 1 mile from the ranch proper (where we live and where the barns are) is a gravel pit shared with the mines. (I'll talk about the mines another day). We drove the dump truck up to the gravel pit, loaded gravel, and took it about 2.5 miles out into the field where the repairs are needed. Not that exciting really, but I

took picture anyways. Apparently

the cows thought it was exciting though. They lined up along the fence and watched like that had never seen anything like it.

While we were out, we also came across a few cow skulls. Probably nothing noteworthy to most, but we have a plan, so we brought them home with us. The day before we left our property in Christmas Valley to head down to Nevada, we found a coyote skull on our property and Brian wired it to the post of the brand new gate he had just built. It is kind of neat, but very small and you can't hardly see it from the road. The next time we are there though, we'll add these two skulls, one on each side. It will be a good way to make a connection between these two extensions of our life.

We also received one final load of yearlings yesterday and Brian did a little bit of each of the roles, branding, vaccinating, and running the squeeze shoot. It actually got into the the upper 70's. It was a beautiful day. We finished the day off with a few fence repairs on the 4 wheeler, then watched 2 episodes of Bonanza on DVD before lights out. I had never seen a full episode

of Bonanza before. I don't think I really have any comments on it.

In the kitchen

Most days, I'm here at the trailer,passing the time. I am able to "clean house" every day (it takes about 10 minutes). I am also re- reading C.S. Lewis's "The Great Divorce". I plan to start the Chronicles of Narnia after that. Every day I check in on my garden plants that are still all in pots. The nights are way to cold for these little guys to go outside so far. Sometimes I walk to the mailbox, a 6.8 mile round trip. But if I'm not doing any of those things, not hanging laundry, and not out building fence with Brian, chances are I'm in the kitchen.

Lindsey and I made cheese last week. It is very similar to mozzarella, but has a distinctive milky smell and taste. The cow is eating mostly alfalfa right now, so that effects how strong her milk is. Lindsey had purchased rennet by mail order (necessary for making cheese) and the process was pretty enjoyable.

I've also made wheat thins for the first time, and they turned out super good. Almost identical to the store bought ones, but without any chemicals or preservatives. Additional items on my creations list: fig newtons, chocolate chip cookie bars, granola, roasted peanuts (for peanut butter), bread, pizza, mini calzones for Brian's lunches...that may be it, other than the typical dinner meals. I enjoy cooking, and we get all the free beef we can use.
I'm putting together a meal and supplies list for our camping trip later this summer. There will be 3-4 of us camping way up the valley for about a week to move the cows around up there, and I will be the "camp cook". I"m looking forward to it.

Last night, Holli, the Holstein dairy cow, was out in the front yard. Here is a pic of her and knuckle introducing themselves.

All in a days work

Yesterday was anything but typical, but at the same time, maybe the unexpected is to be expected.
Brian left about 5:30 am on horseback with Jesse to herd some of the new yearlings into a field further up the valley. Those of you that know horses will find his experience amusing. He was riding Casper, known to be a fairly agreeable horse, but doesn't get ridden very often, and never ridden before by Brian. After saddling up and heading out, Brian says that horse did everything he asked him to do only after arguing with him and trying to do the exact opposite. All morning, as they were heading away from the barns, Casper just didn't cooperate. For Brian, after years of being the guy on the jobsite who knew exactly how to make things happen, it was a humbling morning. Funny thing though, the moment they turned around and headed back towards the barn, Casper was a different horse. Brian couldn't hardly get him to slow down. Casper knew where home was, and he was headed back.

Once they were back at the ranch, we found out there were 2 more trucks of yearlings coming, but we didn't know when. They were supposed to be here by noon, but at 1:00 we'd heard nothing. Brian received the assignment of watching for the trucks, and letting everyone know when they arrived. However, we can't see or hardly hear the trucks from our trailer, so we had to sit in the cookhouse and watch for them. Remember, there is no heat in the cookhouse. We wrapped up in our sleeping bag and sat watching a video on the laptop while we waited, and waited. We had to go take the laundry down off the line when it started to snow, and we waited a little more. Finally the trucks arrived about 4:00 p.m.
These yearlings were a little different than the others, they still had to be branded and given vaccinations. Once the guys were in full swing of their processing routine, I walked down the road to the corrals to watch. I could smell the branding from hundreds of yards away. Getting closer though, I was surprised at how little the cows protested. Unfortunately, somewhere in the process one of the cowboys got a needle stick with a needle that was supposed to go into a cow. It is pretty potent stuff and he was out of there in seconds, ran to his truck and started the 1 1/2 hour drive to the emergency room. The med he was exposed to has been known to cause cardiac arrest in humans, so he wasn't stopping to talk about it. I found out this morning that all is well. He must have not got enough to cause any reaction.

Knuckle has also had her exposure to ranch life a little more in depth after yesterday. We have been trying to keep her away from the new yearlings and the corrals not knowing how she would react, and not wanting her to bark and cause any issues with the cows. Sometimes we have closed her in the trailer or the cookhouse, but earlier this week I was successful at getting her to "stay", at the cookhouse porch until I got back. Yesterday, I thought I'd try that again. She would stay until I was out of sight, then she'd move forward a little bit and stay again, everytime I looked back she was sitting watching me, but sitting in a different place. She ended up following me all the way to the corrals ( in her sneaky way) but I finally got her to sit and stay in a nice grassy spot while I walked around to check in on Brian. I thought all was well, when all of a sudden I saw a dark brown yearling running through the group of cows that was smaller than the rest. Knuckle had easily squeezed under the bottom fence post and was running like crazy through the corrals, her ears whipped back, a big smile on her face. I think she really just wanted to be like the other dogs! Nothing incidental happened, she didn't even bark at the cows. She just finally ran up to me after going through each corral with a look on her like "see mom, I can do it too!" This last photo is standing with my back to the corrals, looking down the road towards the barns and the ranch house (behind the barns)

Freezing Cold

Brian just go back for the day, its 1 pm. He spent all morning out fixing fence up Rock Creek on a quad. He saw 3 coyotes...none of them alive. There are sheep herders also leasing this land and aren't fond of the coyotes in the area. It snowed sideways for the first 1/2 of the day. It was COLD.

It was so cold he could hardly get the truck started when he got back to it because his hands wouldn't turn the ignition.

Lots of geese and ducks this morning, in fact lots of birds, all the time. The morning we arrived here a whole group had gathered together to count sage grouse. The bird is being studied to determine whether or not it should be on the endangered species list. It is to the best interest of the ranchers that it not be, so they are eager to be a part of bird counting expeditions.

Mother's Day at Squaw Valley

We have processed over 3000 yearlings in the last 3 days. The last batch will start arriving in Semi trucks tonight in the night sometime. Starting last Thursday night, the first trucks arrived about 3 am, and we get about 10-14 a day. Each truck holds around 80-90 yearlings that need to be unloaded into corrals, then ran through "alleys" a few at a time where they are given necessary meds before releasing them out into the range. Each day a few of the cowboys push the calves from the previous day into the next field so the the ones being processed from that day can go into the field closest to the corrals. There are a few pictures attached of that process.

We've also put some pictures on from riding fences last week. We take a batch of supplies out and ride along the fence line fixing anything that needs repairs. One of the fields had a bunch of wild onions, we could just smell them driving through it. I dug some up to bring home ( the onions were the size of large blueberries) but we lost them somewhere on the way. There are a few pictures of starting up the jet pump also, an irrigation pump that is run by a generator instead of a windwmill like the others, so someone has to go start it each morning as long as there are cows in that particular allotment

Today has not been quite as cold, but the first morning we were out processing cows at 5:30 am, it was 17 degrees outside. It has been very cold most days, but today probably got into to the 60's by afternoon. The portion of the ranch we are on is at about 5700 feet elevation.

We plan to go into Midas for a Mother's day dinner, then to bed early since cows will start arriving again soon.

Oh, and for those that knew about Knuckles foot, she seems to be all healed up.

Monday May 3rd

We went to dinner last night with everybody at the only retail place in Midas (about 20 minutes away). I little tiny restaurant and bar with good food, and everybody is on a first name basis. Midas has about 30 houses up a tiny valley, used to be a gold mine. Only about 16 people live there year round, but there are vacationers that come in the summer.

The ranch runs up a valley and is long and narrow. We live at upper Squaw Valley, the highest point on the ranch, it is often snowed in for weeks in the winter. Firman and Lyndsey live up here with us, and in the summer, most of the work happens out of this upper end. There are about 15 horses here, several barns, and several quads and work trucks. We have our own garbage dump, gas and diesel tanks, water and septic systems. There is also a manufactured home up here that Maura and Gareth live in. Maura and her sister Ricarda, and their Mom and Dad Mary and Dick are all from Lakeview Oregon. Maura and Gareth will be leaving in August for Gareth to get a Master's degree in Ranch Management.

Ricarda and Jesse live at Lower Clover, the lower homesight in the valley. It is called Lower Clover because there are acres and acres of wild clover that gave the valley a purple hugh when we pulled in. Ricarda and Jesse are the ones that hired us, and are about our age. Ricarda grew up in Lakeview, and Jesse grew up in Montana. He had no ranch experience until they got married, and they have been here in Nevadafor about 4 years. They have a 2 month old and a 15 month old. They are very nice. In the middle of the valley, between Lower Clover and Squaw Valley, is Upper Clover (also lots of wild clover). Dick and Mary, Ricarda's parents, live there. There is also a bunk house with a single cowboy and another one on the way at the end of May.

Dick and Mary are both 2nd generation ranchers, and also have ranch partnerships in Lakeview Oregon, and Adel Nevada. They were part of the original "Oregon Natural Beef" coalition, and provided beef to Oasis natural food stores in Eugene, and now provide beef to Capela's on Willamette street in Eugene. Dick is from Paisley Oregon. He is very "old school" as Brian puts it, but we like them well. We went to their house yesterday to fill out employment paperwork and get beef from the ranch freezer to stock up our freezer. We were planning on a quick stop, but they insisted we come in and sit down, so we had about an hour visit. I think that is what everybody does here on Sundays.

Knuckle loves it, although she cut one of her foot pads on Saturday, so I'm keeping her in today because her limping has been getting worse. Hopefully it will heal up soon. I think Firman and Lyndseys dog Ruger already misses her. He has come by the trailer a few times looking like he is lonely.

I do Laundry at Lyndseys house, and hang it out on the line outside my trailer. I also have a big area that I think I will use for the garden. Right now it is full of wild clover. Firman says there is a big pile of old manure, and they just brought a bunch over into their yard and made a raised bed mound for the garden. They haven't planted theirs yet (way too cold) but they plan to plant right in the old manure and hay mixture. I'm a little nervous about that, but I need to go look at the pile and see how much dirt is in it before I decide what we're going to do.

Brian was out the door at 6 this morning (up at 5). I'm cooking, do laundary, e-mailing, etc.....we are really enjoying it here so far.

Sunday May 2nd

We arrived at the ranch yesterday. We are about 33 miles from pavement but we have internet at the trailer....no cell phone. Yesterday we unpacked and set up house a bit. We are using the cook house for water and bathroom, but there is no heat in there, and the stove doesn't work, so we will be living mostly in the trailer (when we're here). Brian is already out working this morning. We me with Jesse about 7am to review maps of the ranch, and talk about what

the next week holds. Today, Jesse and Brian are driving out to try and locate some yearlings that have wondered off, and open a few fences into greener pastures. They are trailering two horses, and will do the work on horseback once they are to the end of the road.

The schedule got bumped up a bit, and we will be getting 1500 yearlings on Thursday. Brian and another cowboy, Roy, will be checking miles and miles of fence, mostly by quads, in the next 3 days. Once the yearlings arrive, they will be wormed and have an implant inserted before they go out to pasture.

We are about 100 feet from another family, Ferman, Lynsie and Mia (11 months) who live in the main house and are also employees. They have chickens and a dairy cow, and we may get a little milk and eggs from them if we're lucky. Lynsie has already told me she will show me how to make cheese, and of course she makes her own butter as well.

It is very cold here at night, and so far upper 60's in the afternoon. Knuckle is a true farm dog already....wandering off with the other dogs.