Making Breakfast

Dude - "Mom"
Momma - Yes?
Dude - You Makin Breakfast?
Momma - Yes
Dude - Fore MEEE!!!
Momma - No, for PJ
Dude (with confused sour face) - PJ tant tome in the house to eat...?  I eat it.
Momma - Little Man I'm making you some oatmeal, but this is for PJ
Dude - Otay
moments later
J.ustaCowgirl - It smells good, whatcha cookin for breakfast Mom?
Momma - PJ's food, want some?
J.ustaCowgirl - Ummmm, no.  But its wierd, it really does smell good, but looks nasty.

So, you guessed it, my house is filled with yummy smelling food.  Its just not people food.  PJ is somewhere over 26 years old.  He's the rope horse that tought tons of guys around here to rope.  He taught me the right way to rate a steer.  He was the babysitter for A.Cowgirl & J.ustaCowgirl while we bred literally thousands of cows.  He has severe arthritis & now his teeth are getting pretty thin.

So, I cook a hot breakfast for him. I don't cook a hot breakfast for my family every day, but I do for PJ.  He also gets a hot lunch & supper too.  We're taking Beet Pulp (very high energy) and Equine Senior and cooking it in the crock pot to heat it up & serving it warm to him. 3 to 5 times a day.  The water is also warm from the automatic waterer in the run that he shares with the show calves.  This has made a huge difference in his energy level & hopefully will make it easier for him to get through another winter.

While I'm on this subject I need to talk about animal "comfort".  We have a barn & stalls.  It also has runs that open to the east with hay bale feeders in them.  PJ is really old and its pretty hard for him to get around.  But, he HATES being in a stall.  But he really should be in a stall to feed him & give him some of his own space.  But then, he wouldn't be able to play (or bite at) with 7-up.  He wouldn't be able to have his own choice to go in or out, eat hay or not eat hay.  Its a daily mental battle to put him in a stall or let him be.  Granted, he has his own pen to eat in (the calves & 7-up are locked out). But he should really be in a stall for his best interest.  Right??

No. I don't think so.  He is happier out with 7-up and the calves.  He is happier standing outside.  Does his comfort count for something? I think so.  I will make sure that he's fed well (better than well) and happy.  So remember that when you drive by a pasture & there are cattle & horses out in the snow.  They might like to be there.  (But I do love the option of having my entire herd under a roof).

So, if you stop by the house & it smells really yummy, don't get excited, its just horse food.  But you're welcome to try it, I have.

Hel...loooo! My name is GreenRanchingMom I'd like to re-introduce myself

Hello, My name is GreenRanchingMom.


Just felt the need to introduce myself again, because I've been gone so long. I'm not going to completely bore you with tons of details, but to say that the last couple of months have been long & hard would be an understatement. And, when I'm stressed or upset, I tend to pull back. Instead of reaching for help, I tend to just try to just take everything thats thrown at me one piece at a time by myself. I don't want to burden others with my problems & issues, so I don't. I just keep to myself & take care of the basics for the kids & animals.

So, I'll just start this blog with a short list of the problems projects I'm working on right now.


New Cattle Shed - should all be finished in the next two weeks

Ford Tractor not running again (my front end loader) - (sell it & buy a team)

IH1466 not starting - a $2 bolt on the battery cable fixed it after 3 months of messing with it

IH1066 Engine toasted - Have a guy to work on it (cheap) but he's taking forever to even get it in the shop, sounds like just a "minor" fix of $3000 (really, truly looking to buy a team of horses & get rid of the tractors!)

White Dodge Truck - Transmission toast. Been in the shop for 2+ months, he should get it in next week

Dually not running properly - Appointment for it next Tuesday

Calves all weaned & home - not selling any at the salebarn yet, just need to work on marketing ALL of our calves this year (blog post to come soon - I promise)

"Wrong" mare delivered to new home - papers were for a different mare & we'd been calling her the wrong name for 4 years. Problem figured out - mares soon to play ring-around-the-rosie.

New pond constructed - just need to fence it

Bad fenceline on east side torn out by buldozers - just need to put in a mile of fence

Grassfed beef grew slow this year - scheduled for harvest later this month, we've been supplementing with alfalfa cubes to increase gains



WOW!!! Hmm, that makes mee feel a little better. As you can see - it started out whining, and became a list of things to do. Somehow, when we're upset, our world seems huge, and overwhelming, but if you break it down into babysteps, you can do anything.

I AM really thankful that our little family is starting the year healthy & together. We're praying for another ranching family that is currently being split up today as Mom flys with Dad to Colorado for rehabilitation after a 40 day ICU stay after a nearly fatal truck accident. Luckily Dad is super tough & will prove everyone wrong and walk out of that hospital soon. I'm really thankful for the support of our community and the prayers for their family. Our prayers are with them as they fly to their new hospital & with their family that will take care of the children for several more months. We'll head that way to visit too - we think a train ride might be fun!

I hope all of you are enjoying the New Year, and your family. 

Over here we're going to work on PROGRESS this year, NOT Perfection.

These cute itty bitty puppies are now big & ready to find homes.  There will be no more of this cross because we finally neutered Chilli Dog, so if you need a great pet or an even better working dog, let me know.

ps, you'll have to remember that line and understand that I'm just "talking" and not a perfectionist writer; but at least I'm sharing & blogging again. 

Glad to be back!
GreenRanchingMom