Heather Smith Thomas: Diary from Sky Range Ranch – November 17 through December 14, 2021

NOVEMBER 27 – When I went out early Wednesday morning to do chores last week, I discovered one of Alfonso’s horses in our barnyard, next to Sprout’s pen and squabbling with Sprout. It looked like the horse had been here most of the night, from the various poop piles around the barnyard and up by my hay shed, and all the hay I’d laid out for feeding the horses had been nibbled on and stirred around. The only reason the horse hadn’t gotten into the haystacks next to Sprout and Shiloh’s pens was because my “fake” hot wire around those was still in place, for when I was letting Sprout graze in there.

The stray horse came trotting out of that pen and into the lane so I herded it up the lane—even though it didn’t want to go that direction—and shut the gate at the top of the driveway. The horse wanted to come back, and paced back and forth at the gate, upset and whinnying. When I finished chores I called Alfonso and he said he would come get his horse. He’d moved it down to his camp on his lower place (taking it from its buddies on the Gooch place) but failed to shut his gate, so it came back out of his pasture and up the road to our place.

Later that morning Andrea came down with her little jeep and loaded up two protein tubs from our feed truck. After putting more air in her jeep tires (which were a bit low) we took the protein tubs to the 320. There was still a little left up there, but it was time to re-supply.

When we checked the upper water trough, we discovered the overflow was plugged with fir needles that had blown off surrounding trees and into the water. We got it unplugged and working again, so the trough would quit running over and making a mud hole and ice flow where the cattle come to drink.

Andrea driving her jeep

Then Andrea drove the little jeep down the lower road for the first time, and we had to move the logs out of the way—from the tree that fell across the road this past spring that Stan sawed into pieces so we could ride through with our horses and a 4-weeler. There wasn’t quite enough room for the jeep, however, so we rolled one of the logs farther out of the way. I took photos of her rolling the log and driving down past it.

log in road

Andrea rolling log out of the road

Andrea driving down past logs

We made it down toward the bottom trough, and hiked over to it. The ice was about 2 inches thick (after the temperature got down to 15 degrees in the night), so we chopped it up into manageable chunks and took all the ice out of the trough so it wouldn’t be as likely to freeze over again.

Andrea shoveling ice chunks off trough

It wasn’t quite as cold the next day, but we went up to the 320 again to check on the cows and water. The ice wasn’t as thick, and the cows had been able to drink in an open spot where the water comes into the tank, but we cleaned all the ice off again.

Andrea getting ice off trough

Then we drove on up to the upper bedground and found Michael’s cows all there at the protein tubs. We didn’t see our cows, but looked across the canyon and saw them on the far side, grazing out from Baker Creek.

Michael's cows at protein tubs

looking for our cows

Lynn went to town for mail and groceries, and some new parts for the bathroom sink. The drain was plugged and leaking and we need a new drain pipe before we can use the sink again.

Friday was warmer and we didn’t need to go to the 320 to break ice. Andrea and I called the 9 young cows from the lower back field and took them through the barnyard and up the horse road to heifer hill, where there’s more grass. Lynn helped us head them the right way at the top of our lane, to put them up the horse road.

Then he worked all afternoon on the bathroom sink. He got the old leaky pipe out but had trouble with the new pipe, and realized that the whole sink was worn out and needed to be replaced. So the next day he went back to town to get a new sink, and more protein for the cows.

Sunday was cold again, but Michael and Carolyn went to the 320 to take more protein to the lower saddle, and they broke ice on the lower trough. Andrea and I helped Lynn take the old bathroom sink out, but the bolts holding it were very tight. Dani came along late afternoon and was able to get a few more out, with her longer arms, lying down under the sink.

The next day Andrea and I took more protein to the top saddle in the 320.

more protein tubs to the cows

Then we took all the ice off the lower trough again. The cows had managed to drink in one small open area, but taking all the ice off whenever we go up there helps ensure that it doesn’t get too thick and freeze over the small open area where the trickle comes in. I took a photo as we were leaving, showing the ice all cleared off again.

trough ice cleared off again

Lynn went to town and got more protein tubs and more parts for our bathroom sink. We have to get it working before the weather gets really cold, because we need to let those faucets drip at night or the whole water line freezes up in this old house with no insulation in the bathroom area.

Tuesday morning Andrea came down to help Lynn work on the sink but after they got started they realized the drain part we got earlier didn’t fit the new sink! So after lunch Lynn went to town again to try to get the right one, after unloading the protein tubs out of his pickup onto the flatbed feed truck. Andrea went to the 320 on her 4-wheeler to check the cows and break ice. None of the cows had been down to that bottom trough and the ice was very thick.

Emily dropped Christopher off here when she went to the chiropractor and then to work, and he entertained himself in his swing, watching a movie, while I worked on a couple articles that had urgent deadlines. Andrea got home from the 320 just as it started to snow, and just after Christopher got sleepy and started dozing off in his swing. We put him in his playpen for a nap and she went home to try to do a few things while he napped.

Michael has been very short of fencing materials for the projects he is trying to finish on 4th of July Creek. The father-son outfit in Oregon that were bringing him poles earlier had run out of poles and are now working on a timber sale across the valley up Warm Springs Creek, but Michael has to take his pickup and trailer up there to get those poles. He goes up that mountain every other day or so to haul out what those guys manage to get cut, and the road is steep and treacherous now that there’s snow and ice. He has to chain up his pickup and flatbed trailer for the last 8 miles up (and down) the mountain.

Wednesday Andrea helped Lynn finish the sink project, and we finally had a workable bathroom sink again! At least cold water. The hot water facet still leaked (we didn’t replace the hose to it, so we had to wait a couple more days for full function, after he went to town again to get another hose!

Andrea helping with the sink project

ready to put in the new sink

Yesterday Andrea and I took two more protein tubs to the 320. The jeep tailgate has to be bolted shut or it comes open, and she absent-mindedly left her wrench and socket on the flatbed truck after we slid the two 125-pound tubs into her jeep and shut the tail gate. We realized we’d left those behind, when we were partway up the mountain. Fortunately she had a wrench and her leatherman in the jeep and we were able to use those to undo the bolts to unload the tubs up on the upper bed-ground. Michael’s cows were all up there and I took photos of them eating protein.

Michael's cows eating protein

We checked the troughs and broke ice again. The cows are still grazing and looking good, and there’s enough grass up there to last a few more weeks if it doesn’t snow under. I took photos of Andrea clearing the ice off the bottom trough, and our cows all down by the gate at the lower bed-ground where we have protein blocks.

shoveling ice out of bottom trough

our cows were all down by the gate

Today was warmer and we gambled on the ice not freezing very thick on the water toughs, and didn’t go to the 320—which was nice, because this was the day we celebrated Thanksgiving. It was a day that all of Andrea’s kids could be here and we had dinner at her house this afternoon.

Charlie brought down pies to cook in my oven (since Andrea’s oven had the turkey cooking) and he helped Lynn put the new hot water hose under the bathroom sink and we finally got everything working! It was a lot easier for Charlie, with his long arms, to lie under there and get it all hooked up.

Then we all gathered for dinner at Andrea’s house, including Lynn’s sister Jenelle, Emily’s boyfriend AJ, and her friend Audra and Audra’s dad. I took photos of Christopher playing with his toys before dinner and having a sip of milk.

Christopher playing

a little pre-dinner drink of milk

And a photo of the cooks preparing the food.

cooking dinner

We all ate too much and then Lynn and I came home before dark, to do chores.

DECEMBER 6 – We had a couple days of warmer weather last week and took advantage of it, getting a few projects done before winter. Andrea helped me take the shoes off Shiloh and Dottie. Michael and Carolyn took more protein blocks to the 320 for the cows and left them on the lower saddle just through the gate. I grazed Sprout for a few days in the driveway between the main corral and the bull pen, letting her eat the tall grass along the edges and using step-in posts and fake “hot wire” (baling twines) to fence her in there for a few hours each day.

Last Monday Andrea took her pickup to Scott Kesl’s ranch to get 10 protein blocks (100 pounds each) and the next day we took 4 of those blocks to the 320 in her little jeep and put them on the upper salt ground. With what Michael and Carolyn put at the lower saddle, it should last quite a while. We also checked the water troughs.

cows enjoying their protein

checking lower water trough

Loggers brought equipment and unloaded it at upper stackyard. Michael made a deal with the guys who have been cutting poles up on Warms Springs. They want to harvest the timber on the Baker Creek side of the 320 (a 3-year project) in exchange for improving the road into that area and supplying Michael with a year’s worth of poles for his fencing business. They spent Friday and Saturday working on the road but were unable to complete the part that goes up Baker Creek (the ground was too frozen on that shady side) so they hope to bring out a little timber this fall from the upper road and down the ridge, and will finish the lower road in the spring.

I did our Christmas letter this week and Emily put together a group of photos for it. After 55 years of sending out Christmas letters, we finally have photos with it! Here is what she put together for me:

December 2021 Box 215, Salmon, Idaho 83467 208-756-2841

Greetings from Withington Creek. Our family is grateful for our many blessings in spite of numerous challenges. Lynn and I are still able to take care of our cattle, with help from our daughter and granddaughters, and we enjoy having family around us. Michael and Carolyn stay busy with their custom fencing and landscaping business, along with their own cattle. Winter weather, snow and frozen ground make their fencing job more challenging, but they continue to have a crew working most days.

Grandson Nick is still coaching cross country at the high school and middle school. His runners did very well again this year; the girls’ team took first place in the state, and the boys second place (after being first in the state the past several years) which is amazing for our small school. Nick also works in his folks’ custom fencing business.

Granddaughter Heather Carrie and husband Gregory had a busy year on their grain farm in Saskatchewan (also taking care of their cattle and horses) with their two young boys. Joseph will be 5 years old in April, and James will be 2 in February. They are looking forward to arrival of a new sibling in February.

Our daughter Andrea continues to help us, taking care of cattle, irrigating, fence-moving (creatively rotating pastures with portable electric fences) and haying. Her friend Stan from California visited multiple times and helped keep our ancient haying equipment running and learned how cut and bale hay. We were grateful for his help!

Andrea’s oldest daughter Emily has her CNA license, working toward becoming a registered nurse; she’s now working at Discovery Care Center, an assisted living facility. The rest of us help take care of Christopher (Emily’s nearly 3-year-old son) when she is at work. Christopher loves cats, tractors, and anything mechanical.

Charlie (age 20) worked again this summer for the Youth Employment Program as a crew leader, clearing trails, building fences, etc. on public lands and also works as a mechanic at an auto body repair shop.

Samantha (soon to be 19) got her CNA license, graduated from high school with a 4 point grade average, and received the state Louie Armstrong Jazz award for best trumpet player in the Jazz Band. She is now a freshman at the College of Southern Idaho with a double major, planning to become a nurse.

Danielle (age 17) still enjoys horses and cattle and helped us during calving season again, and plans to help this year. She lost her pickup when it caught fire while she and several friends were driving in the mountains above the ranch, but thankfully they all got out of it before the gas tank exploded, and none of them were hurt.

Emily and her boyfriend AJ took a short trip with Christopher to Spokane in early summer, and later when Emily had a few days’ vacation time she took Christopher and Dani on a trip to the Seattle-Tacoma area. They stayed on Fox Island at the Durham family cabin—where Christopher enjoyed the beach and the water.

Lynn and I are getting older and slower but still moving! He continues to locate sites for water wells; many people are moving into our part of Idaho, wanting to build homes and needing a well. I continue to write articles for livestock, farming and horse publications, doing phone interviews with people across the country.

One of my favorite cousins, Roger Smith, passed away this spring. He wanted to have his ashes scattered on our 320-acre mountain pasture, where he spent many hours as a young man building fence for my dad. In July my brother Rockwell and I honored his wishes and took Roger’s ashes to the 320 and spread them, overlooking Baker Creek

After weaning the calves this fall (two-stage weaning with nose flaps) we put our cows on our mountain pasture where they’ve been able to graze for more than 2 months. The grass was very dry, due to severe drought this summer; we’ve been taking protein supplement up there for the cows. Andrea and I rode up there often, to check on them, until my horse injured a hind foot (jabbing a stick deep into the coronary band, where it broke off and had to work out). She developed an infection, necessitating daily soaking and then bandaging for several weeks. We continued checking cattle, on 4-wheelers and hiking up there, to see the cows. Spells of cold weather the past last several weeks made it necessary to go up almost daily to break ice on one of the water troughs.

We pause this time of year to remember the many special people in our lives, and the Love that God shared with us when he sent his Son to show us His love. We wish you a wonderful Christmas, and God’s blessings in the New Year.

Heather and Lynn Thomas

Somehow I lost my list that I’ve had for 40-plus years, of all the family members’ addresses and phone numbers. This is a list that my mom created for me many years ago and I’ve added to it and updated it, but now it’s gone. So I have been recreating it, connecting with cousins to get their addresses and phone numbers. I called my Uncle Bob Smith (my dad’s youngest brother and the only sibling living, in that generation) and had a good visit with him.

Andrea helped me take shoes off Willow; now all the horses are barefoot for winter. She also helped Lynn put power service in all the tractors so that they will be more ready for cold weather and the diesel won’t gel. To circulate it in the diesel tanks they had to start the tractors and let them run a few minutes. To do that, they had to plug in the big tractor for a while, and had to use the battery charger on the little one. The middle Johnny was the only one that started without help in this cooler weather.

My brother Rocky was supposed to have shoulder surgery this week. The doctors got him all prepped and under anesthesia and then his blood pressure plummeted and his oxygen level dropped dangerously low, so they postponed and sent him home, and will reschedule it later.

Dani was working on her pickup during the weekend, out at her dad’s place; he’s helping her make the necessary repairs to get it more roadworthy.

The deer starting eating on the alfalfa bale stacks by the horse pens, so yesterday Andrea helped me put the plastic netting around the end of the stack they’ve been eating on, to keep them out of it.

Today I did a couple phone interviews (early this morning) then Andrea helped me take a protein tub to the young heifers (on her 4-wheeler). We’ll soon have to start feeding them hay, but there is still a lot of grass in their pasture. It’s getting drier (freezing at night) and has less and less protein all the time, so we decided to give them a protein supplement until we start feeding their big alfalfa bales.

Then Lynn went to town for the mail and groceries, and Andrea and I went to the 320 to check on the cows and water tanks. We met the father and son logger crew, and their two big dogs, Panda and Tuffy, at the camp they’ve set up on the first big bench in the 160-acre pasture.

logger's camp on 160 pasture

logger dogs Panda and Tuffy

The road is a little rough with all the new rocks they’ve turned up in widening it, especially up to the main ridge, but we made it on up to the top bed-ground to check on the protein. Then we drove down into Baker Creek to check the cows and water. I took photos as we drove down our old jeep road, where the loggers have widened the road and started cutting a few trees.

driving down toward Baker Creek

widened road

There were a lot of down trees by the upper trough and some branches and slash across the cow trails.

logging activity

big old trees gone

trees gone on hill above trough

We had to unplug the overflow pipe on that trough because it had been occluded by lots of fir needles that had fallen into the trough.

DECEMBER 14 – Lynn and I got our flu shots last Tuesday. Jim got here from Colorado. He is done with his job as manager for the guy he’s been working for during the past three years, putting in an apple orchard. He will spend the winter here and work in his shop (that he set up several years ago in the old trailer that was used for a while as a calving camp when Michael and Carolyn were calving their cows down here with ours).

Wednesday afternoon Andrea and I went to 320 to check cows and troughs. We had to unplug the overflow on the upper trough again—a lot of fir needles and small boughs had fallen into the trough from the tree-cutting right above it. I took photos of Andrea scooping the floating needles and debris out of the trough and unplugging the overflow pipe that had a wad of debris clogging it. This time we took along an OB glove/sleeve for her to wear over that arm to keep her hand dry so it wouldn’t get so cold). The pipe was full of fir needles again and it took a while to get things running through.

Andrea unplugging overflow entrance

water gushing out from the overflow pipe after it was unplugged

Then we drove on down the creek and checked the lower trough. The ice wasn’t very thick on it, but Andrea shoveled it off anyway so it wouldn’t build up thicker during the cold nights.

ice not very thick

shoveling ice off lower trough

All the cows were down at the lower end, probably because the logging activity at the top had disrupted them a bit. Hopefully the cows and the logging can co-exist for a while longer, since there is still grass up there.

our cows all down at lower bedground

On our way down into the 160-acre pasture we cleaned off all the ice on the big trough between the 320 and 160 where Michael and Carolyn’s horses drink.

It snowed that evening. Em’s car spun out when she came home, and she had to back down Andrea’s driveway and leave her car in our barnyard. Dani drove down here, and took her and Christopher home in her pickup.

With the snow, all the whitetail deer that had been still grazing in our fields and pastures decided to munch on our haystacks instead. A bunch of them spent the night eating on the big bale by the bull pen and pooping and peeing in his feed manger. So the next day Andrea and I put the deer netting up around that area, using the two little trailers as “fence corners” as we’d planned. The racks on the trailers are tall enough to hold up the tall netting and gave us something to secure to, since that ground is too rocky to set steel posts and add taller poles. We used elk panels to secure the short spans across the ends, and one of those upright panels I can swing open a little to go in and out of this big “cage” to feed the bull.

two old trailers help hold up deer netting

netting cage around bull hay to keep deer out

Here is a photo of Babe in his pen, and a photo of the upright elk panels that serve as a gate to get into the “Babe hay cage”. I can swing one of them to the side to go in and out to put hay in his in-fence feed manger.

Babe in the bull pen

gate into hay cage

Emily took her car to town to get snow tires put on it, so she’ll be able to make it in and out of our driveways. Later that afternoon Andrea brought her pickup down here (after having it plugged in a while so it would start) and we off-loaded the rest of the protein blocks into the camper shell on the old jeep—a place where they will stay dry and we can be able to load them onto a 4-wheeler to take them to the cows when needed.

Friday morning was cold, and the young heifers were slow to go graze, so I took a little bale of horse hay out there in my wagon and fed them. It wasn’t enough hay for 12 head, but it got them started and they happily went to grazing that afternoon. It will soon be time to put their bale feeder out there and start their winter feeding program.

We knew the ice would be thick on the lower trough on the 320 so Andrea and I dressed very warm and drove up there on her 4-wheeler. All the cows were down at the lower end and I took photos of some of them on the saddle by the ridge gate.

cows on ridge

We looked up the ridge where the loggers had been dragging a few logs down, after the snow, but didn’t drive up that way.

road up the ridge to top bedground

We first went into Baker Creek to break ice on the bottom trough first, since we knew it would be thick after the cold nights. It was completely iced over, with ice about 2 inches thick.

bottom trough iced over

Fortunately there was a small hole in the ice, underneath the pipe trickling the water in, and the cows had been able to drink there, probably just one at a time. I took photos of Andrea breaking the ice and shoveling it out of the trough.

Andrea breaking ice loose from edges of trough

shoveling the ice out

Then we drove up the low road to the top trough. We discovered that the loggers had cut a bunch more trees, and had taken a semi-load of logs out of there. We also saw that the cows had not been up to the upper water trough or the protein blocks at the top bed-ground since before the snow. Also from the looks of all the dog tracks up there, we realized those two dogs had been at large, roaming around, while the loggers sawed more trees and skidded the trees out.

Realizing that the cows are no longer using that top trough or the protein on that top ridge, Andrea and I loaded up a couple of the tubs (the lightest ones, that had the least amount of protein left, that we could stack together) that we could lift onto her 4-wheeler, and I walked along behind to help steady the tubs. We very carefully brought those tubs ¾ mile down the ridge to the lower bed-ground, to put with the scanty remains of the protein there. With all the cows using that protein, it was nearly gone.

We had to come very carefully down the ridge because the road was rougher than it used to be (with rocks upturned by the widening of it by the loggers). In places where it was very tippy we both had to walk alongside the 4-wheeler and push against those tubs to keep them from sliding off the side. We got the tubs safely down, and then on our way back through the 160 coming home, we broke ice off the big trough in the 160-320 fence-line.

The next day was not quite so cold, but very windy, so it actually felt colder. I fed the heifers a little more horse hay, then Andrea and I went to the 320 again while Lynn babysat Christopher. Emily worked a late night shift and wasn’t home yet.

The loggers hadn’t come back yet to start cutting more trees, but the cows were still staying away from that upper end of the 320; all of them were down in the bottom corner. They had probably been so impacted by the presence of the loggers’ dogs at the top trough and bed-ground (there were dog tracks all over those areas) that the cows stayed far away, just as they would if there were wolves in the area.

So we went up the ridge and loaded up the last two partial blocks of protein (about 70 pounds each) on the 4-wheeler and this time strapped them on and just carried the empty tubs. We took them down to the lower bed-ground where the cows had eaten almost all the protein we’d taken down there the day before.

protein blocks we brought down strapped to 4-wheeler

We then went down into Baker Creek and broke ice on the lower trough.

clearing the ice off lower trough

Our days up there with cows are numbered; we thought we would probably have to bring them home next weekend when Michael and Carolyn can help, and sort their cows from ours at their corral.

Then Sunday, looking at the weather forecast for more snow and then much colder weather (with ice becoming a bigger problem on water troughs, and maybe even making it hard to get a 4-wheeler started to go up there every day), we discussed the situation with Michael and Carolyn and they decided we should probably bring the cows home sooner than later. Even though the cows had a little bit of protein left, and a little grass left, if it gets very cold or the grass snows under, the cows will probably start losing weight. With mild weather we could have stayed up there another week or 10 days, but it’s not worth gambling with bad weather. The cows need to stay in good body condition going into winter, and not lose weight before calving.

Michael and Carolyn locked up their bull and 3 calves in one part of their corral, and went up on 4-wheelers to bring the cows down from the 320 and sort them at their corral. They put their bull with their cows and took the 3 calves to the pens by their house. Then they called us and we took the feed truck up there, with one bale of my horse hay to be a lure for our cows to follow the truck.

Andrea went up on her 4-wheeler and shut the gates along the way (all the neighbor’s driveways, and a couple gates out to the range). We brought the cows down; they readily followed the truck as I called them and lured them with bits of hay, and Andrea followed the cows to make sure they didn’t dawdle along the way and try to graze weeds along the road. She took photos of the cows following our feed truck as we led them past the upper place.

bringing the cows home

leading the cows with feed truck - past the upper place on their way home

We were lucky on traffic; we only met one outfit—the Yoder family coming home from church in their buggy. Andrea had gone ahead to block a neighbor’s driveway that didn’t have a workable gate, so our cows were on their honor following the feed truck as we came around that corner and met the horse and buggy. The cows were startled by this strange type of vehicle they’d never seen up close before, and for a few moments they were a bit spooked and thought about running back up the road, but then they came on past the buggy to follow the truck.

We put them in the heifer hill pasture with the 9 young cows that stayed home from the 320, and gave them all some protein supplement (one tub and one block). There’s enough rough feed left in that pasture to last the combined herd a couple weeks, with the protein to balance their diet—if the grass doesn’t snow under. It’s a relief to have the cows safely home from the 320, and they look good. They also trimmed their long feet, walking around on the rocks up there for 3 months, and being able to graze up there saved many tons of hay.

Jim bought a wood-splitter a few days ago, and while we were moving cows he started splitting the rest of the wood.

Jim trying out his new wood splitter

Then he and Andrea went to the 320 on his side-by-side and brought down the last remains of the protein blocks that the cows hadn’t eaten.

Jim & Andrea ready to go to 320 to get remains of protein

While they were up there, Emily and Christopher were down here for a while. She stacked some of the wood, and Christopher took off to go see the horses, packing his sippy cup along to drink on the way.

Emily stacking wood

Christopher heading for the horses

He said hello to Dottie for a moment, and petted her..

Christopher saying Hi to Dottie

Christopher petting Dottie

Then fed her some bits of hay through the gate. He loves to feed horses!

feeding wisps of hay to Dottie

Yesterday it snowed a little bit again, with a nasty wind. We’re glad we’d already brought the cows home from the 320! Lynn started the big tractor and we fed the heifers their first big bale of alfalfa hay. Andrea dragged their feeder out to the pasture with her 4-wheeler, and we took a big bale out there with the tractor. It was such lush alfalfa (and very fine-stemmed grass/alfalfa) that we feared they might bloat—not being accustomed yet to eating alfalfa, so we only let them eat for a short while and then wrapped tall deer-netting around the feeder.

The piece we took out there wasn’t quite long enough to go around the whole feeder, so Andrea cut a short piece off another roll, to cover the gap. We realized this was actually a good thing; we can undo that short piece (on one end, like a gate) and take some hay out twice a day and spread it around for them, limit-feeding the rich alfalfa and gradually increasing the amount until it is safe to let them have access to the feeder full time. That way maybe none of them will bloat.

deer netting around the bale & feeder

netting to keep the heifers from eating the alfalfa

The netting served three purposes; it will help us limit-feed the heifers and gradually adjust them to the rich alfalfa, keep the deer out of it, and keep the wind from blowing it away. This particular bale is such fine hay—almost like lawn clippings—that it was falling apart after we took the net wrap off, and bits of it were blowing away in the wind. Now it is contained and we won’t lose so much of that really good hay.

Jim has been working on some nice stones that he puts into his antler art and yesterday made several string ties for a customer, using polished stones set into an antler base as the holder. He got a shipping box and bubble wrap from me, to get them ready to mail to the guy, and I took a few photos of his finished product.