Branding is over for one more year. Cowboy looks forward to it, but at the same time just gets tightly wound. There is rain to worry about, enough calf "wrasslers" to show, making sure enough vaccine is taken each day. The little chores are endless.
On my end, I get a kitchen helper and we wonder how many we are going to feed. The most we had was 33 and the least was17. I am one of those cooks that wants to make sure there is plenty of meat and then fill in around that. The first day, which got a late start because of rain, began at about 10 a.m. for the branders (the cowboys to gather went at 8 a.m.) They had a coffee break at noon with donuts. Jerome always brings donuts the first day and he presented them with 4 doz. and there wasn't one taste left! They came to the house for supper that night to 21# of roast beef , tossed salad, wheat salad, dinner rolls, and brownies. We made them 10# of potatoes and gravy and we mixed the gravy in a six-quart kettle and we RAN OUT! We quickly made some more for Cowboy and John. You cooks know that gravy really doesn't make "quick" but we got some more made anyway and they wanted some of it. I could bore you with all the menus, but I won't. I try to vary the menus from year to year except we always have lots of beef, at least a roast one day, some kind of burger dish and we fixed 20# of ham also. Whew! It makes me tired and full typing it!
Pictures are more fun, so the last day was a short day and we went up during coffee break so that I could take a few pictures.
Jerome was tally man this year and didn't have to wrestle calves. One of the comments I heard was there was sure a good crew and nobody was a slacker, everyone pitched in and did their fair share.
Dallas running two guns, Wyatt faithfully ear tagging, Cowboy branding, and I assume Jason was vaccinating too, I can't really tell. When I takes pictures, I don't always "see."
John is branding and Bill is watching the ropers. He gives all a chance and I think since this was such a small bunch of calves this day, the younger kids got to rope MORE. How else do you learn if you aren't given a chance?
I had to get a picture of Scottie roping off of Merlin aka Big Blue. Cowboy sold him that horse and we called him Big Blue. He is a gentle giant. I know Scottie takes good care of him. I hear that Scottie's wife like to ride Merlin too!
The country is really green and I had occasion to stop and listen and the birds in the morning are the Best alarm clock! Those 4 a.m. mornings rolled around fast. As Cowboy put it, "When my feet hit the floor in the morning so I could put the coffee on (lots of cowboy coffee at that!) they never stopped moving until bed." The pieces of pie didn't go to his waist, he ran them off!
I am following a blog that I found when I went to: www.The Scrappy Apple Yard.com. I have enjoyed following the blog of a fellow quilter who designs patterns, has a shop, makes quilts, goes to shows! I am impressed and awed. She said she was having a drawing and if any of the blog followers wanted their name put "in the hat" to indicate such. She said she had picked a winner and the rest of us were a little sad. AND THEN, she posted on my blog since the first person did not respond, my name was drawn! Blessings for me! We had quite a time making an e-mail connection, but finally got it done.
I receive the package yesterday and what a gift box!! There were four yards of material, three fat quarters, 1/4 of material, plus "goodies" of all types. I had best show the pictures!
I wish I could make that a little closer, but isn't that the cutest shadow box for a quilter girl?? I just love it!
The Christmas fabric is glorious and I just need a pattern...ha! All my quilting friends know I am a pattern girl and I don't deviate much. Some of us are like that and I have friends that think out of "that box" and they try to stretch my mind occasionally. It doesn't usually hurt me either. (Right Running, Quilting, Ranch Wife?)
I didn't take the notions out of the packages, but there are so many cute buttons and add-ons. Isn't the quilting book cute? See the snow flakes in the package at the top of the book?
Rosie O'Grady, this is to show you, I may be related... All my gifts were packed in strips of fabric. I could not bring myself to throw them away. Surely there is a use for them. Maybe I will recycle for packing, but for right now they are in my sewing room in a bag... See how we are...
Cowboy likes pie probably the best, so that is what I made him for his "special" day. Of course we had to have candles!
Candles don't stand up real well!
I had forgotten I had bought him a present so when Maggie asked if there were going to be any presents, it jogged my "old" memory! I dug it out of the closet. The grandies had to help open the gift and since there was ONLY one present, PopPop got to open his own. The little hands were so wanting to help and Bill took his time cutting tape. It was fun watching the kids. Angus just knew that it was a gun and Baylee wanted it to be "cakeup" (makeup). Bonnie brought Baylee a backpack and she has been wearing every day. She calls it "backack." We have been having so much fun.
Maggie baked PopPop a birthday cake to bring and it didn't come out of the pan. One half came out and so it torn into two pieces. They left it home...
Cowboy PopPop and I went to a dance recital on May 29th. It was raining, so we were able to get away from the ranch. We don't get to as many events of the grandies as we would like so this was a perfect opportunity. Little did we realize that it was a dance recital for wee ones up to adults. It was all VERY good, but it was two hours long and the sweet little ones were going to perform again at 6:30 p.m. for another two hours. If I were in charge of the world, I would have a recital for the small children and one for older people. But drat! I wasn't put in charge! There were cloggers, and cheer leading stunts and everything in between...
The theme was a little bit country, a little bit rock...
Liv told her Mom she wouldn't be "shy" and she did lots of smiling! We loved watching "ours" and it was so hard to see them all as we didn't want to miss anything Liv did!
They are getting "lined up" so they don't run into the one beside them. To pull off a production of this sort, is a LOT OF WORK! Taking pictures was a test as they were always moving and some of the one I took were blurry!! Imagine!
Kamy is older and has lots of "polish" and looks fantastic in orange with her red hair. Mom said that it was quite an ordeal getting everyone's hair "just right"...
I love their poodle skirts... Kamy did well in this dance too. They were just so cute with their pink kerchiefs!
We were so glad we went even if it was a lot of sitting! Meghan told me that Sydney had a art show that lasted for 1 1/2 hrs. and that is for a first grader!
Miss Sydney does not get to Montana very often and I have been saving these pictures for a day when I could pick and choose the pictures to post. Of all our grand girls she lives the farthest. If we had the funds we could "jet" everyone back and forth. But, we do lots of phone talking and the newest thing is getting on "Skype" and I think it is the BEST.
I hope I don't get in trouble for posting this as I have everyone's name listed. It was too precious not to share.
Cowboy PopPop, Auntie Cari, and Sydney tailing them...
Don't you love sequence pics...
From the back Cari and Tristin resemble. (For those of you that don't know, Tristin is Cari's niece).
Joe has got to be the all-time kid horse. He is so friendly and he is so gentle and kind. In the pecking order of horses, they ALL still pick on Joe. I just hate it for him. But this is such a sweet picture of his nature and to a small child, he must seem enormous!
Miss Sydney gives Joe a pat. Notice the "horse cat" walking the top of the fence. Tiggy thinks she is in charge of everything on the ranch!
Finally! Horseback!
Look Mom, I am sitting on Joe...
PopPop was trying to get the cow to eat "cow cake" out of his hand. Grandpa took them to go look at cows and calves. They also saw some sage hens with the roosters drumming, but between the dog and Sydney they were a little bit too noisy for the hens. Meghan was not able to hear them drumming. It is something neat to hear and witness.
I wish I knew what Sydney was thinking...
Bonnie brought bunny ears for everyone and the kids loved them. Grandma Margaret brought up plastic eggs with candy in them and the kids loved playing with them and hiding them and opening and eating the candy! There is nothing quite like getting to play with cousins. We were glad that Maggie and Angus came for part of the Saturday before Easter.
Maggie and Angus are VERY busy dying Easter eggs. The table is spread with freezer paper. Much easier clean up. Cookie day has us trained on what works best with kids. As an aside, when I put the leaf in the table I found green frosting on the edge from cookie day that had been in December... Ah, well, I had a quick walk down memory lane.
Rachel, Tristin, and Sydney getting ready to dye some eggs. I dye eggs even if we have no one for Easter. I love the colored eggs and we all like to eat deviled eggs. Why doesn't one fix them more often? One of those questions that float by.
I think Cari is helping one of them get their egg out of the dye...
Sydney helping Mommy and PopPop swing gates before they brand the new bulls.
Easter morning...
We had hot cross buns. I tried Martha Stewart's recipe and it is definitely a keeper and better than the one I was using! The table topper I made to be used at Easter. It is so bright and cheery. I used some of the Nickel packets. I saw the pattern in one of the quilt shops and decided I wanted to try it.
We went to the church service at Sand Springs. They had a potluck before the service, so after the service there was dessert to be had for our sweet tooth people! You know who you are! Tristin, Rachel, and Cari left after the church service to get back to Billings and Bozeman respectively. We still had Sydney, Meghan, Erin, and Nicole.
I love pictures like this... What little girl doesn't love horses? Look at those curious "boys" looking at that wee little girl. There is nothing so soft as a horse's muzzle...
This ends our time with Miss Sydney and I saved that picture for last. It makes me sad typing this as she is so far away and I would like her to touch those horses a little more often... Our babies all grow so fast and as we get older we see the days just fanning by. Weren't we all just 30 something not long ago?
One last thought on the picture. Cowboy likes to say, "The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a girl." I took the liberty of changing that a little. I think that quote is from Will Rogers or someone else. Does anyone know for sure?
