What have we been up to???

Blogger doesn't like me.  Won't let me upload pictures.  It let me upload this one picture.

But, I do love this picture!!!  A.Cowgirl talking with her heifer (Freedom) before she took her to the ShowRing at the Iowa Beef Expo.   These two have an amazing bond!  A.Cowgirl loves all animals!  Her dog Lola broke her foot Sunday afternoon.  A.Cowgirl sat with her in the porch & read a book to her all afternoon.   We splinted her leg & A.Cowgirl was so careful with her.  When we took her to the vet yesterday, A.Cowgirl was right in there holding her dog & making sure she knew exactly what they were doing to her dog.  She took her outside 4 times yesterday & made sure she protected the cast with a plastic bag each time.  It is SO WONDERFUL to see her love her animals!!!

Not much of anything .....oh yeah the dog story....

Well, my house is quiet. TOO quiet. So, I'm going to blog.

The tanning process is stalled in the Salting Stage. So, its really icky looking and won't work great for pictures yet.

So, I'll tell you how I almost killed Honey's dog yesterday. You know, his sidekick, the dog who worships him & about died when he quit working for Summit Farms, & got an inside (can't take your protective dog to work everyday) job.

I didn't really mean to kill him. I PROMISE!!!! That's why they call them ACCIDENTS.

So, a little prologue.....

Rough morning, Insurance adjustor came & we didn't quite settle our claim.

Honey has been gone overnight so Chilli (HIS dog) is REALLY clingy. AND Rosie is also REALLY clingy! She is pregnant & ready to pop. She won't leave my side. Both times she has had pups, the first one was born on or under my feet.

I went outside to chore & left Rosie on the porch. Praying she wouldn't climb under the dresser or behind the deep freeze to have her pups.

While I was choring, Chilli rolled in something REALLY nasty smelling (something dead for at least a week). So I hopped in the Farm truck to go haul hay home from the field & told Chilli to "stay there & watch the house". Meaning that he was free to go roll in the dead stuff again cause I didn't want a stinky dog in the cab of the truck.


I got to the pasture and backed up to a couple of bales of hay & loaded them on the bed with our HydraBed ( http://www.triple-c-inc.com/Hydra%20Bed.html ). I start to pull away and hear an AWFUL sound. Hmm, sounds like the Hydraulics are whining. I turn around in the seat to check how the bale is sitting exactly & OH MY GOD!!!!!!! I see Chilli's little face SQUISHED between the bale & the Headache Rack! Oh my God, Oh My God, Oh My God!

It felt like it took FOREVER to get those bales unloaded & off of him!!!!!! The whole time his face is squished & his body is squished & I know he is suffocating, & being crushed. Oh my God, Oh My God, Oh My God! Oh my God, Oh My God, Oh My God!

He had jumped on the flatbed & I didn't see him. He likes to lay down right behind the cab. AND HE DIDN'T JUMP OFF (in his defence he is trained to never get off the truck unless he is told to). OH MY GOD I JUST KILLED HONEY's DOG!!!!

The bales were finally off of him, I jumped out of the cab & petted him. He had jumped up and was panting really fast, but appeared fine. Felt legs & abdomen, no apparent injuries. I asked him to get off the truck. He jumped off fine, walked around ok, jumped in the cab ok. Still panting REALLY fast, with a VERY elevated heart rate.

VET, must get to the vet, to listen to his lungs and see if he has popped one, or hurt his diaphram.

I flew into town, & Dr Miller was @ lunch. So, we waited. Yes, with the dead stinky panting dog in the front seat. OH MY GOD, I almost killed Honey's Dog. Please let his lungs be good!!!

I waited @ Casey's & got a fountain DrPepper (I NEEEDED one!) , a couple of pieces of pizza, and a box of Nutty Bars. (TOTAL nervous eating) & some water for Chilli.

Hopped back in the truck and again checked his abdomen for any issues, I couldn't feel anything abnormal.

I offered him a pizza crust & he did not hesitate. {Animals won't usually eat if there are internal issues} He ate 2 pieces of pizza and a nutty bar while we were waiting.

Dr Miller listened to his lungs for quite a while & both sides sounded good. No issues with his diaphram & his intestines had good functioning sounds, & nothing felt abnormal.

WHEW, I didn't kill the dog. Well, at least today.

Chilli is still doing good today & acting normal. No puppies yet either.

Just another day on the Ranch.....

Busy time of Year

Well, this time of year is pretty busy. But wait, we only have a SMALL group of cows calving right now! We still have another 80 or so cows in the pasture behind the house!

Oh, well! Right now we are down to crunch time with preparing for calving, and finishing the barn, caring for the new calves, getting the '08 calves ready for the sale barn, trying to sell more beef (so I don't have to take those calves to the sale barn), and dealing with puppies and Rosie trying to wean them, and kids and "school issues"

I am excited that our beef business is expanding rapidly, and I don't have to take 2 more calves to the auction. I'm also excited about how the colts are growing, and becoming tame and loving attention. If you need a puppy, horse, or BEEF; drop us a note.

The school issue should be resolved soon. I have met up with a couple of GREAT Unschooling Mamas, who have greatly improved my confidence! If, J still has "behavior" issues at school, she won't be IN school until the end of the year. I STRONGLY believe that she has been labeled as the "bad kid". Any sort of issue, in a location where the teacher can't hear, is J's fault! She IS NOT A BAD KID! She's bored, and she speaks her mind! I have always said that she will "tell you where to go and how to get there". She has spoken her mind since she could talk, literally. I don't want this independence taken away from her. So, if school isn't helping her, it is hurting her!

Now, I haven't decided exactly what form of school we will be doing at home. But it will involve some "curriculum" because Honey thinks it is necessary. I think that they will thrive and GROW, not just stay stalled as A has in school. A will do a TON of creative writing (because she just isn't doing enough at school to encourage this passion), J will do all sorts of creative learning methods, that don't require sitting still for an hour at a time.

CHICKENS!!

Almost forgot our new additions to the Ranch!! We went into the Co-Op after school on Friday for a new chick for each of the kids (Squeak included!) and ended up with 10 chickens. Yup, you guessed it! The husband who thought the chickens weren't a good idea, MADE us get 10 chickens. Same said husband now wants to build a fancy "portable coop" for the chickens. Yup, about a month ago, he said that "Chicken Tractors" were silly, didn't want to listen to me, or pay attention to my plans. Now he is designing the coop, planning the coop, and taking over the coop. Gotta love men!! Oh well, he is on board with the chicken thing, and excited to have them! He even Loves the eggs! In our new group are 2 broilers. We are also looking forward to the barred rock hens from Runnin Roan!

On the bloggy front, SORRY I haven't been posting much. I do have several blogs brewing in my brain. Some are now in draft form, and pretty funny!

Oh, and RanchGirl is gonna be a Momma! YEAH!!
And I'm ADDICTED TO FACEBOOK!!!

Puppies!!!

Well, I don't think I have shared anything about my Rosie (my Mini-Aussie). After I lost a great dog, I went looking for a mini-Aussie. I wanted half a cow dog and half a lap dog. Well, It took a little while, but I found a red merle and I wanted her. Now, Rosie was not a "die-for-you-dog" in the beginning. She could take you or leave you. But, I took her EVERYWHERE. I mean it, I almost NEVER go anywhere without a dog or kids. I joke that if I did go somewhere by myself, people would think I'm crazy, because I would be talking to myself all the time. (Cause its ok to talk to a dog, right??)

Well, Rosie had her first litter with Chilli (Beau's awesome blue heeler cow-dog). I told the girls they could keep ONE puppy. Well, we ended up keeping one for each girl. They're now about 7 months old and learning to be good dogs, and learning to work.

About 2 weeks ago, I took Rosie and Chilli and was working around the ranch. Feeding hay, moving calves and cows. All day Rosie was driving me nuts! She wouldn't (couldn't) get on the flatbed. She would hit the edge just behind her front legs! Blast! What is wrong with her, why won't she just JUMP! I kept choring and working, and then it dawned on me!! They got out together ONCE, just ONCE when she was in heat. BLAST!!!! I was trying to save her to breed her to a toy-aussie who lives on the other side of our section. She COULDN'T get on the flatbed, cause she was PREGNANT!!!

Add to the fact that my sister was going to watch the kids, the weekend I calculated she was due, and I was in trouble! You see, my sister is great, but I knew she wouldn't be up to 3 kids 3 dogs and another 1 having puppies! Well, I got lucky, and Rosie waited.

Night before last, she was on and off the bed a million times, and was trying to burrow her way under our bed and make a nest. So I knew when I left yesterday, that I better leave her at home unless I wanted puppies IN the truck. (remember, its winter break & I was hauling hogs and shopping with 3 kids). Shure enough, after I chored and came in the house to potty, I called Beau to let him know he needed to bring the kids in with him, cause we were having puppies.

Well, Rosie did well, even though the merle was pretty big, and was stuck for a bit. She only had 3 since she was only bred once. But they sure are CUTE!! So, we will have some great family and herding dogs for sale in 8 or 12 weeks. If theese ones don't sell right away. I'll probably start training them and sell them started. Let me know if you need a great family or working dog.

Shanen

Dogs and their love

Today, I was just neighborly(sp). I helped our 80 something neighbor take his calves to town to be vaccinated and castrated. Sounds simple, RIGHT! Wrong. First, the truck was in the barn (remember, we don't have ANY rock) and it has been raining for 3 days. After I got the truck out, I had to hook up to the trailer, try to go to town and get diesel, and then I could help Don.

Helping was the fun part, the mud wasn't. Don fell in the calf pen & I just about had a HEART ATTACK!!! His wife just laughed and said he does it all the time. We easily got the calves in the small pen, trailer backed up and then it was time to load.

Forgot to mention that when I was unsticking the truck, I put the dog on the flatbed (of the truck) and left him there...... Chili, (Beau's Dog). The calves didn't want to move, so I called the dog..... Just for his presence, It usually helps.... It didn't. So, Chili got to help. Poor dog was sooooo excited he just bout flipped out cause he got to help. Calves were on the trailer in 2 seconds with NO hassles. Chili got LOTS of prais and we headed into town.

Showed up at the vets office a little early and waited. Unloaded calves and started working. The guys were all inside so it's lil ole me by myself. Chili couldn't stand it!! He was on the truck whinin barkin the ENTIRE time I tried to move a calf. They didn't want to go in the barn ('cause Don was standin directly in front of 'em) and Chili wanted them to go, so I let him help. You'd of thought I hung the moon.

SHHH, don't tell Chili he only got to help move like 20 head. He LOVED IT.. Remember, this dog 'bout died when Beau left the ranch. Chili has been in heaven today. But he hasn't figured out yet that he ain't sleepin in the bed tonight. He was covered in slop and mud. I love that dog, and he loves cow-workin.

It was a GREAT Day.

And, while I was workin calves, the girls were at home for an entire hour after school and didn't kill each other. Squeak was in the truck with us and taking his nap.

Night!

Our Current Ranch

So... This summer we worked on building our current ranch. We bought a 160 ac Ranch with a small house that had not been lived in in 2 years. So, a remodeling we went. We decided to build a new barn and fix up the house a little. Because the barn makes the money, not the house. We put some new windows in the house, new appliances and ripped out the carpet downstairs to expose beautiful hardwood floors.

Across the road, we built the BARN. This barn is everything my 12 year old self ever dreamed of. We built a 98 x 104 barn. It is set up for both cattle and horses. We put large runs out the east side and an arena to the north with some working and holding pens. The inside will have an open area in the center for riding horses with pens on each side.

Our Ranch Plan is pretty complex, but here are the basics.

1- Our goal is to raise Maine-Anjou females to sell to other breeers. Byproducts of this goal will be Show Quality Calves, Beef and Bulls. We want everything to be Organic. The cattle should have great dispositions, and be happy and easily handle-able.

2 - Beef Sales. We will raise both Grass-Fed and Corn Fed Beef. Our animals will ALWAYS be treated with the utmost respect and kindness as long as we have them. We want to sell Beef Shares and Sides and Quarters of Beef. Our animals will always have access to exercise and grass.

3 - Horses. We raise working quarter horses. We want to keep our colts until they are 2 - 4 to train for roping and working cattle.

4 - Dogs. We have working dogs. Our male is a blue heeler and my female is a registered mini-Australian Sheperd. We will raise Mini Aussies an Toy Aussies. Our dogs are GREAT with the kids and must always be great with the kids.

5 - Garden. This next year I want to start a great garden. Eventually I would like to offer a vegetable CSA. I would like fruit trees to be in this garden

6 - FAMILY. Most of all our main goal is for this Ranch to grow our family. The kids are most important to us, and the main reason we downsized to this ranch.


I know this kind of turned out like a list, but it is what I needed to explain to y'all what we're doin, and what we're about. Hope you like our blog and you can also read along at http://www.localharvest.org/blog/24259/
This is where you can look at purchasing options for our Beef CSA