Diary from Sky Range Ranch – September 8 through September 30, 2016

SEPTEMBER 15 – We’ve had a preview of winter with a few cold nights and freezing temperatures.   Last Friday Andrea took Dani to town at 7 a.m. to get on the bus to go to her first cross-country meet. That kid loves to run and their little team is doing well.

Dani running

Dani at cross country meet

Andrea and Carolyn have been busy working on various things to assist the lawyer for the custody trial. On the weekend, Charlie went with Steve Harris to work on the ham radio tower on Baldy Mountain and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Eric Simonson, the government trapper, came out to the ranch that day and we showed him photos of the wolf-killed calves up Baker Creek. He will start checking the area more frequently to try to apprehend the wolves.

On Saturday, friends from Ontario, Canada (John and Joan) came by to visit, on their way back home from a trip to Washington State. They’ve been reading my column in Grainews for many years and wanted to meet our family and see the ranch. We had a delightful visit with them and fed them lunch. They brought us a box of peaches and a big bag of apples from Washington.

Sunday morning something must have spooked Carolyn’s yearling filly, Peaches, because she jumped out of the horse pasture above the wild meadow (where she was living with her mother-Carolyn’s old mare Thelma) and got out on the road. Several boys on bicycles came down the road, and one of them was chasing poor Peaches as hard as she could run. Fortunately she didn’t try to jump the cattle guard and hurt herself, but instead made a sharp turn off the road and ran up the lane to Michael and Carolyn’s house. Carolyn witnessed it all from her window and was upset that someone would be that malicious. The little filly was exhausted, panting with her tongue hanging out, when she arrived at the horse corrals at the house. Carolyn ran outside and let the filly into one of the corrals.

I cooked a big dinner Sunday night and fed the kids, but they all came home from their dad’s place sick (with bad colds). We had an extra guest at dinner. Mark Sheehan, the guy who ran the Zamboni at the Sun Valley ice rink where the kids played hockey the past several years, came through here on a trip to Montana with his motorcycle and sidecar and stopped by to visit.

Monday morning Andrea and Carolyn drove early to Idaho Falls to meet with the lawyer to prepare for the custody trial. We fed the kids supper again after Lynn got them off the bus after school, and Nick brought Dani home from cross-country practice.

Tuesday was the court case. Before it started, however, the Judge talked to kids, and they told him they didn’t want any changes, especially not for the school week, since that would too disruptive if they had to be at their dad’s place part of the school week.

Yet the judge was swayed by Mark’s lawyer (who insisted that Mark needed more “opportunity to be a parent”) so now Mark gets them for 3 days each weekend instead of 2, and has them for twice as many weekends as Andrea does. Mark also gets another 30 months to continue to try to refinance his house and get Andrea’s name off the mortgage, and doesn’t have to spend any more time in jail for contempt of court. He was found in contempt of court earlier this summer because he was ordered to get her name removed from his mortgage when they were divorced (nearly 7 years ago) and had made no attempt to do so.  

Yesterday we moved the cows to the swamp pasture and they were happy for new grass. We’re hoping we have enough green grass left until we can sell the calves and then take the cows up to our 320-acre mountain pasture.

SEPTEMBER 22 – Last Friday Andrea and I rode Sprout and Dottie to check our 320 to make sure no range cows had gotten in.

Andrea riding Sprout through the 320 to check gates and fences

After checking our fences and gates, we rode up through high range and took photos of the very skinny cows. It’s a shame that Alfonso and Millers haven’t taken very good care of the range and their cattle this year; they didn’t keep the water troughs working, so the cows congregated in the few areas that still had water. They also moved the cows to the high range almost a month too soon, and they ran out of feed too early.

neighbor's skinny range cow

Our neighbor (Jack) below us with the first water right on the creek quit irrigating for this season. We no longer have to supply water to him and can use a little more of our 2nd right, which has been reduced for several weeks. Hopefully we can get the rest of our fields irrigated before freezing weather.

On Saturday Michael and Carolyn went to watch Nick run in the cross-country marathon at Challis, and he came in 1st in the men’s division. Andrea and Robbie took out the steel posts and hot wire along our lower field so cows can clean up the edge next to the horse pens.

The Amish and Alfonso rounded up their cows off the range that day, with 22 riders. They brought the cattle over the top from Baker Creek into Withington Creek, brought them down Withington Creek into the 160-acre pasture next to our upper pasture, and sorted the cows there. They cut a hole in fence and brought the cows down the road in several sorted bunches, putting Alfonso’s cattle into the Gooch place, and brought Millers cattle on down past our place. They had those cattle grouped in such compact mobs they ran into and damaged the fences and crashed the telephone boxes next to the road. We don’t understand why they move cattle in that fashion, jammed together in a tight mob, since cattle travel so much better if you let them string out, the way they travel naturally. Then the cows can keep track of their calves, traveling as pairs, and not getting upset wondering where their calves and mamas are.

That night it started raining, and we were glad for the moisture!! It rained through Sunday morning. The storm cleared off by afternoon, however, which was nicer for our preg-checking and vaccinating the cows and putting nose flaps in the keeper heifers. We locked the big bull in a side pen and put poles across the two gates (low spots) so he wouldn’t try to jump out, and put the yearling bulls in the swamp pen next to their corral—so we could use both corrals for sorting/holding cattle.

Michael, Carolyn and Nick came down to help when Dr. Cope arrived at 2:30. We preg-checked and vaccinated the cows and Bangs vaccinated the heifers. After we finished with our cows, Dr. Cope went up to Michael and Carolyn’s place to do theirs, and Robbie went up to help them. Andrea and Dani helped me and Lynn sort ours—putting the two open heifers and the yearling steer in a pen to send to the sale. We put the 9 replacement heifers (with nose flaps) and their mothers in the field below the lane and put the other cows back up in the swamp pasture. Andrea helped Lynn get a few bales of hay to feed the yearlings in the corral. The nose flaps are the best way to wean calves because they don’t have to be separated from mom—so it’s not stressful. They just can’t nurse, so after a few days the cow dries up her milk and the calf is weaned.

nose flap keeps calf from nursing

calf with nose flap

On Monday Michael hauled the yearlings and our big bull to Carmen Creek (the other side of town) to load on a semi of cattle going to the sale. Andrea helped me bring the rest of the cattle back down to the corral where we sorted off our bred keeper heifers and left the cows with calves to sell in the corral and hold pen and fed them some hay. The brand inspector came out late morning to inspect the calves.

Early Tuesday morning Michael and Carolyn came down with their calves in the trailer and we added our 11 calves to make a full load. They hauled the calves to the sale at Ramsey (near Butte, Montana) but had a flat tire on the way. They got there later than planned, which meant the calves sold late in the sale and didn’t sell as well as calves sold early in the sale. But they did fairly well, considering how bad the market and how young those calves are (born in April).
Andrea and I rode that afternoon to see if the neighbors left any range cows hanging on our fence, but several riders that morning had gathered up the strays—and we didn’t find any left behind. The high range is almost denuded of grass, from their overgrazing, however.

Andrea checking condition of the high range

On our way home down the ridge toward our place, I took a photo of Andrea as she rode past the corner of our hill pasture above the house—and the little maple tree that the kids named “Mable” several years ago. Mable was in glorious golden splendor, now that her leaves have turned color.

Andrea riding past Mable

Yesterday we put a little more hay in the feeder in the corral so that when the cows come down into the corral bawling and looking for their calves they can have something to eat.

Emily’s dad, Jim Daine, came over from Montana and brought about 200 pounds of packaged elk meat for Emily, to store in our freezer for her and for us.

Today we had a little more rain. The dry grass on the hills is actually starting to green up, so we may not need protein supplement for the cows when they are on the 320 later this fall.

The new parenting schedule set up by the judge isn’t working very well, with the kids going to their dad’s place on Thursdays right after school instead of Friday evening. Mark and his girlfriend grab the kids out of their classes, and don’t want Andrea there for the exchange, even though she has to bring them their things for the weekend that are too cumbersome to bring on the bus and won’t fit in their lockers. She also has to bring them their prescription medications (for their asthma, etc.) for the weekend because it’s illegal for them to bring medications to school. Another problem is that they can’t get their homework done at their dad’s house. They always were able to do their homework on Fridays, until now. Many of their classes require use of the internet, which Mark does not have at his house. They come home tired on Sunday night and still have most of their homework left to do.

We seem to go from one problem to another. Today we went to court house for a hearing regarding our neighbor’s trespass water development on our property.

SEPTEMBER 30 – Last Friday one of the heifer calves lost her nose flap, so she was still nursing her mother. She’ll have to be weaned again!

On Saturday Andrea and Robbie drove to Boise to attend Dani’s track meet. Nearly 300 kids in her cross country race (from multiple schools) and she came in 158th place—in the center of the pack.

Dani in race

cross country team

Dani at cross country

On Sunday we put more hay in the feeder in the corral and sorted out the 3 cows to sell (Magrat and Emerald are open, and Cub Cake is old and has a bad udder). We left them in the corral after we brought the 9 pair in from field below the lane and took the nose flaps out of the heifer calves. We put the calves in the pens below the calving barn where there’s good grass, and put their mothers back up in the field by Andrea’s house with the other cows.

Sunday afternoon Lynn and I went up to Rock and Bev’s place and enjoyed a couple hours looking through a few of mom’s old diaries. We had a great visit, and also found the dates we put in the original water system for the house that my folks later sold.

Monday we moved the heifers to the orchard pasture. They are enjoying more room and more grass. The Brand Inspector came to look at the 3 cows in corral and later that day Michael and Carolyn loaded those cows (with their 4 open cows) to haul to the sale in Montana.

On Tuesday Michael, Lynn and I all went to Dr. Carrington (skin doctor) to have various lesions checked and removed. Michael had a lesion on his nose that has been gradually getting worse for at least 2 years. Dr. Carrington sent a biopsy to be checked, since he suspects it is malignant.

Andrea and Carolyn had a conference call with our lawyer regarding the problems with the new custody schedule and how it is negatively affecting the children and their ability to get their homework done on the weekends they are with their dad. We may eventually have to revisit this issue in court and ask the judge for a better resolution.

Then Andrea irrigated (with the little bit of water we still have) and went to town to pick up Dani after her running practice. Michael and Carolyn put their cows back into the corral, took the nose flaps out of their heifer calves, and hauled the heifers down here to our place. We will winter their replacement heifers with ours again.

Lynn went to the bus to pick up Charlie. When I did chores that evening Rubbie was lying down behind some tall weeds in her pen and didn’t get up when I went to feed her. I walked over to check on her and discovered she was very ill with colic and didn’t want to get up. She’d been sweating but the sweat under her belly and thighs was cold and clammy. Her gums were purple-gray instead of bright pink, and she had very slow capillary refill, meaning that she was dehydrated and in shock.

I went back to the house and alerted Lynn to the fact that she was very sick, and I gave her an injection of Banamine (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory that also helps ease pain). She then got up briefly, but staggered out to the middle of her pen and plopped down again. I hoped that her pain might be relieved enough that I could lead her out of there and take her to the pen in front of the house where she’d be easier to monitor and treat through the night if necessary.

But she didn’t improve. She rolled, and lay on her back in an effort to relieve the pain in her gut. Andrea got back from town with the girls and helped us get Rubbie off her back and in a more comfortable position. Lynn called Michael and Carolyn, who came down to our place and brought a couple horse blankets to put over her, to keep her from chilling, since by then it was starting to get dark and cold. I gave Rubbie an injection of dexamethasone, to try to help alleviate some of the effects of shock, and Michael gave her an IV injection of Banamine.

Rubbie in pain from colic but on her feet after the injections

We called our vet and left him a message, and he came out about 8:30 p.m. The medications we’d given the mare eased her pain a little—enough that she got up briefly a few times—but the relief was very temporary. The fact that her condition was continuing to deteriorate did not bode well.

Rubbie in pain from colic but on her feet after the injections

Dr. Hayden gave her additional medication, checked for gut sounds (very few) and then did a rectal exam and determined that there was some displacement of the gut. All of these signs, plus her age (29) didn’t make for a very good prognosis. Rather than try to keep her going and just prolong her agony, we opted to end it. We tearfully said goodbye to her while Carolyn went home to get Michael’s pistol, and he mercifully ended her life.

saying Goodbye to Rubbie

We covered her body with the horse blankets until we could bury her the next day, and staggered off to bed, exhausted.

We’d always figured that Veggie would have to go first, being older and more crippled up with arthritis. I wasn’t going to try to get him through another winter. We’d worried about how Rubbie would react to his absence, since they are so closely bonded and have never been able to cope with being apart. Now Veggie will have to cope without her.

He knew that she was gone, after we put her down, but he wasn’t frantic, thanks to having Shiloh as a buddy in the next pen. Thank goodness we’d made a pen for Shiloh right next to the old gray horses, when Shiloh arrived last year. Veggie and Rubbie were spending the summers together grazing, but these past few winters I’ve had to separate them because Veggie eats so slowly that Rubbie would have eaten most of the hay. So they had gotten used to having an electric fence between them, and not being together.

Wednesday we had to move the cows to the 320, so early that morning Michael put front shoes on Captain for Carolyn to ride. Andrea and I sorted our cows again. We left 6 of them here on pasture—the ones that we will sell later as bred young cows—to cut down the herd and cull out some that we know will eventually have bad udders. We rode Sprout and Dottie and started moving the main herd up the road to go to the 320. We wanted them to go slowly since it’s a long trip, uphill several miles, and weather prediction was for a very warm afternoon (mid 80’s); we didn’t want them to get too hot and tired.

We had a hard time getting them past the old Gooch place, however, without losing some of the cows through the bad fence along the road. We had to hurry them, because they wanted to go into the fields and join Alfonso’s cattle. It was a miracle that we got past several sections of fence that were leaning over or completely flat; Alfonso still hasn’t fixed the flat fence where his tractor coasted off the hill and went through the fence. Carolyn joined us on Captain as we went by the upper place. Michael went on ahead with his 4-wheeler and opened the gate from the corral as we approached, so their cows could come out on the road with ours, and he drove on up the road to head the herd up the big draw toward the 320.

Our cows were wearing out by then, and some were very hot and panting, breathing with their mouths open. They still wanted to go too fast, however, so we made them stop and rest a couple of times while they climbed up the hill to go over to Baker Creek.

letting the cows rest before they start up the hill

climbing up the hill

Then we let them rest a little at the top before they headed down into Baker Creek.

Carolyn & Captain letting the cows rest a moment at the top

taking the cows over the hill to Baker Creek side of the 320

The dry grass up there is looking better, with a little green regrowth after the rains. The cows were happily grazing as they started down into Baker Creek. We probably won’t have to buy any protein supplement. We just hope the grass will last several weeks before we have to bring them home to feed hay.

grazing as they went over the hill to Baker Creek

Michael started the backhoe during heat of the day (it won’t start when it’s cold) and brought it down early afternoon to dig the hole in Rubbie’s pen and bury her. We will bury Veggie right beside her in a few weeks, because we plan to put him down before the weather gets very cold. His arthritis is bothering him a lot and I have to give him a daily dose of bute to alleviate the discomfort. He’s still a bit stiff, but without the bute he is so lame he can hardly walk. The time has come—when quality of life diminishes to this point—that it’s kinder to let them go. As someone once said, when considering timely euthanasia, its better a week too soon than a day too late.

Veggie and I comforted each other while Michael was preparing the hole to bury Rubbie; we had our own private memorial on that beautiful fall afternoon.

Veggie & me comforting each other as Michael buries Rubbie

Veggie alone now

Those two horses had long, full lives, and we will miss them; those two old grey horses are the last of our babies that we raised. Veggie’s mother was Andrea’s first horse, and his grandmother was my first foal (Khamette) born in 1959. Khamette’s mother was Scrappy, a little black mare that my dad bought from Lynn 10 years before we were married, and Scrappy was a foal at side when Lynn’s dad bought her mama (Misty) when Lynn was just a little boy, 68 years ago. A lot of family history, coming to a close with this final chapter.

Yesterday Andrea and I rode again, making a fast trip up the ridge to the 320 to check on the cows we put up there, and check the gates and fences.

Andrea and Sprout crossing Baker Creek to check cows in 320

The cows were doing fine. Our yearlings and Michael/Carolyn’s yearlings and two-year-olds were all hanging out together, happy to see each other again. They spent winters together at our place and being together again on fall pasture was like a big reunion!

That afternoon Alfonso hauled several trailer loads of cattle up to his 160-acre pasture next to ours and then cut the fence again to bring them down the road. We found out later he had a wild cow up there that came down off the range, and he couldn’t bring her on down the creek with his horse because she was too wild. So he took a bunch of cows up there to put with her so he could bring them down in a herd.

Michael and Carolyn took 3 blocks of salt (in their little pickup) to the 320 yesterday evening for our cattle, and a chain saw to remove the old aspen trees that blew down over our jeep road in the bottom of Baker Creek. They got home just ahead of a rainstorm. A little more rain would certainly help our dry grass!


If anyone would like to order some of Heather’s “critter stories” books as Christmas gifts, here’s information about her three most recent books and she’d be glad to provide autographed copies.

Ranch Series by Heather Smith Thomas

Horse Tales: True Stories from an Idaho Ranch (the original book in this series) is a collection of 22 stories about the horses that helped define the author’s life in Idaho ranch country. Press release stated: “Horse Tales is a unique memoir infused with the brand of wisdom that can be acquired only through an existence built around livestock and the land. Thomas centers each story around a specific animal, along the way sharing lessons on life, family and stockmanship.” 282 pages, paperback. $24.95

Cow Tales: More True Stories from an Idaho Ranch (325 pages; $24.95) was published in July 2015. The press release from the publisher states: “Following the success of her acclaimed nonfiction collection Horse Tales…Cow Tales is an entertaining and compelling line-up of autobiographical essays detailing her family’s adventures raising cattle in the challenging ranch country outside Salmon, Idaho. In the tradition of James Herriot (All Creatures Great and Small), each story centers on a particular animal or aspect of animal husbandry, offering insight into the resourcefulness required to manage a cattle herd, and a heart-warming look at human-animal bonding.”

Ranch Tales: Stories of Dogs, Cats and Other Crazy Critters, the third book in this series, was published December, 2015 (273 pages, $24.95) and consists of stories about memorable ranch animals and wildlife. “Each humorous, heartwarming and insightful tale is centered on the unique bond that forms between people and the animals—livestock, pets and wildlife—that populate a working ranch.”

Order any of these books from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or from the publisher: The Frontier Project Inc. (phone: 719-237-0243) thefrontierproject@gmail.com

Signed copies are available from Heather Thomas, Box 215, Salmon, Idaho 83467 (208-756-2841) hsmiththomas@centurytel.net [price: $24.95 plus $3 postage – Idaho residents add 6% sales tax. For all three books - $70 plus $7 shipping]

Ranch Diary: July 1 through August 10, 2016

[I didn’t take very many photos this past month, except at our granddaughter Heather’s wedding reception!!]

JULY 12, 2016 – Last week Andrea went to the hospital for an MRI on her neck and spine, which showed a serious bone spur in her neck and some narrowing—which may explain some of the nerve problems (numbness in her arms every morning) and pain. She goes to physical therapy twice a week, which helps, but may need to go to a spine specialist to figure out what can be done about the vertebra problems and bone spur.

Grandson Nick ran a cross-country race during Salmon River Days and came in second. He is now coaching the cross-country runners at the middle school and high school (as a volunteer) and has been hired as a track coach.

Lynn turned and baled hay on the field below the lane, until the baler broke down. Robbie was able to fix it a couple days later and we got that field baled and hauled. Then the next day we baled and hauled the field by Andrea’s house. We got done haying earlier this year than we have for several years, so we can now hopefully irrigate those fields and get some regrowth for fall pasture--before the creek drops too low and we run out of water.

Early Wednesday morning Robbie helped Andrea set several steel posts along the fence below our house where trees have fallen over it. They got that fixed before we had to move the cows back down to that pasture. Then he went to work (helping Michael and Nick build custom fences) and Andrea and I rode Sprout and Ed to gather up the 3 range bulls that were hanging on our outside fence, trying to get in. They were obnoxious and didn’t want to go, and one of them threatened my horse briefly. The older one kept trying to run down the mountain the wrong way and we had to outrun him down through the rocks and sagebrush. We had to take them a couple miles, but eventually got them to their proper pasture.

That evening we moved the cows and bull to the pasture below the lane, since the range bulls are gone now (and our bull won’t try to go through a couple fences to fight them and they won’t be trying to get into our place to fight him), and moved the heifers and yearling bull to my horse pasture.

We’ve been having hot weather, up into the 90’s during the day. At least it cools off at night and we can open the windows and cool off the house.

On Friday Sam and Dani rode with Andrea and me on a short ride over the low range, and I took some photos of the girls riding Breezy and Ed.

We discovered a dead cow of John Miller’s that must have died while their cattle were out there in late May. We called to tell them about it, and they were not aware that she had died. Her orphan calf would have been about 3 months old when he lost his mom, and probably got moved to the middle range in June.

I cooked dinner for Andrea and kids that evening, and granddaughter Heather stopped by after dinner with a dress for Sam to try on. Heather’s wedding is the 23^rd of July. Her best friend from college, Lexie, is supposed to be a bridesmaid, but she is in China teaching English, and having trouble getting her travel visa approved to come back to the U.S. for the wedding. If she isn’t able to make it, Sam will be a “standby” bridesmaid to fill in for Lexie.

On Saturday Nick ran in the extreme challenge 60 kilometer race along the continental divide (across the valley from our ranch, on the mountain range between Idaho and Montana). People from all over the world come here to run it. A man from France came in first, and Nick came in 9^th which he felt very good about. The trail was very rugged and treacherous in places, along the top of some dramatic cliffs.

We had a thunderstorm the next day, and were glad it didn’t happen the day of the race. Lightning knocked out Michael and Carolyn’s phone and they had no phone service for a couple days. Their dog Baxter got scared by the Thunder and went up to Rocky’s place. He tried to call them to ask if this was their dog, but their phone wasn’t working. Baxter is one of the two old cowdogs that hid in the old Explorer during a lightning storm a few years ago, and “drove” it down off the hill where it rolled a few times and ended upside down, smashed, on the county road with the dogs still in it.

Today our new watermaster and his boss checked all the ditches on our creek and Gary learned how to read all the different weirs.

JULY 20 – Andrea helped Lynn and me put a tarp on my haystack—the part that sticks out past the hay shed. We moved the cows to our upper swamp pasture. The heifers are running out of grass, but have to keep them in the horse pasture a few more days with the young bull, so we are feeding them a little alfalfa hay to stretch their pasture.

Michael, Carolyn and young Heather have been working on all the preparations for the wedding this coming weekend. Michael leveled a place for pouring a cement patio on the shady side of their house, and Carolyn and Heather have done a lot of landscaping. They created some lovely flower beds, and covered the hill by their house with rockwork. Lynn went up there on Saturday and sanded their deck railing (to smooth off any old wood splinters) and sanded the wood blocks for the table centerpieces for the reception dinner. Heather came up with unique centerpieces symbolizing their combining forces—with a horse on one side and a tractor on the other.

On Sunday Andrea and I rode Sprout and Dottie to check the 320 fences, to make sure no range cows are getting in, since those cows have eaten all the grass on the middle range side of our place and are pressing the fence. We discovered that Alfonso had already put a bunch of his cattle into the high range (a couple weeks early) and they’ve already eaten out Baker Creek just above the 320.

We realized that his bulls now have no buffering pasture between them and Michael’s cows (and the bull we loaned Michael). Andrea and I rode around the mountain above our 320 and found a group of cows and a big bull on that salt ground just above our place – if they came around the fence they would be next to Michael’s cows and bull. The bulls would likely fight and tear the fence down, with risk of injuring one or both.

Andrea called Carolyn from the ridge above the 320 where there’s cell service and luckily caught them in the house taking a break from their landscaping work. We asked if they wanted us to bring their cattle down before the bulls created a problem. They were glad we were up there to remedy this crisis, and they drove up the creek on a 4-wheeler to open gates. We brought their cattle down out of the 320 to their field, after taking a few minutes to prop up some fence the elk pushed over.

Heather stopped by our place later that day to pick up a dozen empty milk jugs to freeze water in – to have some ice for their coolers. She and Carolyn drove to Montana on Monday to meet Gregory on his way down from Canada, and they bought all the produce for the barbecue and the reception dinner (to bring home in the coolers and store in our extra refrigerator space).

Andrea and I made a quick ride on Shiloh and Dottie. It was the 1^st ride on Shiloh this year. We’ve just been too busy with everything else to get her back into working again. We still need to start working with Willow again, too, and continue her training.

The past few days we’ve been having water problems, with our neighbor Alfonso stealing water—not only taking more than his allotment out of the creek, but also using part of our water in the shared ditches. The creek is dropping, and water is getting shorter in supply. We’ve had a lot of hot weather – in the mid 90’s every afternoon, but cool nights (high 30’s to mid-40’s).

Yesterday morning Andrea was awakened at about 5 a.m. by her dogs barking frantically. She looked out the window and saw a big cougar right by her deck. She yelled at it and it and it went down through the field by our cows and calves. Later full daylight they looked at its tracks in the mud by the sprinklers and they were huge.

That afternoon our cows and calves were running around, bawling, but we didn’t find anything wrong. Then last night just before dark Cub Cake was bawling, trying to find her calf, so Andrea went to check, and found her calf across the creek, dull and weak and breathing fast. She could hardly get him to cross the creek. He was so weak and wobbly that he almost fell down going up the other bank.

I helped her sort that pair out of the herd and through the gate and brought them down to the corral and over to the barn. It was completely dark by then so we put them in the pen by the barn where we could plug in the light above the headcatch. We cornered him there and took his temperature. He had a fever of 105 degrees. We gave him antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory medication, and left him and his mom in the second day pen pens where there is grass and some shade/shelter. We figured that he might have pneumonia, from the stress of such hot days and cold nights. This morning he’s feeling better, drinking water and grazing a little, and has nursed his mom a little.

We had our vet, Dr. Cope, come out this afternoon to check the calf and to also check our yearling bull. We worried that he might not be fertile. He has bred every heifer, but the first 3 that he bred have cycled again. We decided to have him checked, and if he’s not fertile we will put the heifers in with the cows and the older bull. Cope took a semen sample to test, and said the yearling has live sperm but his sperm count isn’t great. His assessment was that the yearling should be able to settle a cow, so we’ll leave him with his group of heifers and hope that those “returns” were just a fluke.

While Cope was collecting a semen sample, the side of our squeeze chute broke. The chute is old (we bought it in 1979) and the bottom parts have become corroded from rust and manure. It was awkward trying to finish the collection with the whole side of the chute flopping loose (and the bull just caught by the head). We’ll have to fix it before we can use the chute again, and it’s probably a blessing it broke now, rather than in the middle of preg-checking our cows later this fall.

We had Cope look at our sick calf while he was here, and he was puzzled at how the calf could have been so sick last night and so perky and normal this morning. He suspected it might have been heat stress (from the hot day yesterday and maybe some additional stress with the cougar and the cattle running around and upset) with possibly a touch of early pneumonia that responded quickly to our treatment last night. At any rate, the calf is doing much better today.

This evening we had another challenging situation. Alfonso diverted ALL of our water out of the ditch by Andrea’s house and she didn’t realize it until she got home late this afternoon. Not only had we been shortchanged on our allotted water for irrigating that field, but the lack of water in the ditch nearly burned up her little pump that she was using to water her yard. She left a phone message for Alfonso, and we also called the watermaster, so he could explain again to Alfonso that he cannot legally use the water that comes through our ditch.

JULY 30 – We kept Cub Cake and her calf in the pens by the barn a few days just to make sure he was doing ok, and then put them back with the herd.

We’ve had more water problems. Alfonso is using much more than the allotted rights on the place he is leasing from Colstons, and Jack (at the mouth of the creek) was short for his right, so the watermaster adjusted everyone’s headgates and shut off the 4^th right (our upper place, which is Michael and Carolyn’s place). There would have been enough in the creek for everyone, however, if Alfonso hadn’t been using more than his share.

This past weekend was special, with the wedding of our oldest granddaughter to Gregory Eppich, a young grain farmer in Saskatchewan. Last Thursday Lynn took our barbeque and all our plastic chairs up to Michael’s place, and the guys hauled Andrea’s picnic table up there. Most of the Canadian guests had arrived (many of them were staying in motels and Gregory’s parents and Carolyn’s mom staying at their house). Carolyn’s brothers and their families camping there.

Friday morning Sam and Dani helped me clean house and then we moved our heifer group to the field above the house. That afternoon we all went up to the barbeque at Michael and Carolyn’s house. It was nice to meet Gregory’s family and we enjoyed visiting with his parents, sisters and relatives. We also got a peek at the wedding cake, made by Carolyn’s brother’s wife. The top of the cake as adorned with a wedding couple sitting on a little tractor.

Saturday we all went to the wedding at the little Catholic Church downtown, and afterward there were some family pictures taken outside the church—the bride and groom with their parents (Carolyn and Michael, and Barb and John Eppich).

And a photo of Gregory and Heather with her grandparents (Lynn and me, and Carolyn’s mom Irene)

Here are a couple more photos of the bride and groom right after the wedding, taken at a friend’s ranch:

Lynn and I came home to do chores after the wedding, then went back to town for the reception. The dinner was really nice (many friends pitched in to help make the dinner) and the slide show was a lot of fun. They’d put together a bunch of old pictures taken when Heather and Gregory were growing up—showing both of them at various stages of their lives through childhood—plus photos him on the farm in Canada and her riding horses here on the ranch. The final photos were some that Emily took earlier this summer when Gregory was here—neat photos of the two of them together in scenic settings here on the creek.

After the dinner, speeches and toasts, they cleared away the tables for a dance. The two little flower girls (Gregory’s nieces, who are cousins the same age) spread rose petals along the floor.

Before the dance, Gregory’s sister Theresa, and his good friend and neighbor Leon entertained everyone with a humorous song they had “rewritten” about marriage and John Deere tractors. Here are photos of the singing, and the listeners.

Then Heather and Gregory had their first dance, as man and wife, and they were a very handsome couple!

This was followed by several special relative dances, starting with the bride and her father, the groom and his mother, Heather and her new father-in-law, Gregory and Carolyn, etc. Michael gave a little speech before his dance with Heather, telling how everything had come full circle, starting when he carried her around when she was baby/toddler singing to her in the middle of the night to help her fall asleep, and now dancing with her at her wedding.

 

Michael told about Heather’s early love of horses, and how he used to sing her the Ian Tyson song "Adelita Rose," about all the pretty little horses. So that’s the song that they played for the father/daughter dance for this wedding, and it was very touching. Michael sang along softly with the Ian Tyson music, singing the lullaby he used to sing to his little daughter:

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes

You know she is my sunshine wherever she goes

Lie-lie-lie lay-lay-lay

Lie-lie-lie lay-lay-lay

She is my sunshine wherever she goes.

Adelita Rose stay in your own little bed tonight

For the sake of your Momma and me.

We gotta get some sleep

Tomorrow's gonna come early.

We don't wanna hear any sound at all

Don't wanna hear little feet coming down the hall

Got to sleep, dream of all the pretty little horses.

The blacks and bays and the dapples and grays,

The red tail hawk on the summer days

The gravel road winding down to the river

And watch that pony or goodness knows

He's gonna step on your baby toes

Go to sleep, dream of those

Pretty little horses.

Then everyone danced—and it was delightful watching everyone enjoying themselves. The little flower girls were dancing with each other,

…and the bride dancing with her uncles, and all of us just savoring the joy of this occasion. Here’s a photo of Heather dancing with her uncle Brian, along with the flower girls dancing around them.

All the little kids were having a blast, dancing around with everyone else. One of Gregory’s nieces (Maria who is not quite 3 years old) stole the show, dancing around and around by herself through the whole time. I captured her happy face a few times in my camera as she went whizzing by.

The bride danced with nearly everyone, including the flower girls.

Andrea danced with her kids, and I was able to snap photos of her dancing with Charlie and with Samantha.

I got to dance with my grandsons, and my son, and we just all had a wonderful time. Here’s a photo Andrea snapped of me and Charlie.

I also had the honor of dancing with Gregory, my new grandson-in-law!

My brother Rocky was talked into dancing by Samantha.

Grandson Nick gave his 4-year-old cousin a good time out on the dance floor.

Near the end of it all, I caught a few candid shots, including Gregory and his new father-in-law Michael having some kind of discussion.

At one point Michael and Carolyn actually had a chance to dance with each other.

After the dance, Heather and Gregory cut their wedding cake, and everyone enjoyed a piece of that wonderful creation.

Sunday morning, Michael and Carolyn hosted a brunch for everyone at their place, with Michael cooking pancakes. It was a nice chance to visit again with the Canadians before they had to leave for home. Just as it all started, however, happy spirits were dampened by a phone call from Judy Skinner (good friend of Michael and Carolyn—ranchers across the valley from us) to say that Jim had been in a 4-wheeler accident, so Carolyn and Heather rushed over there to help Judy. Jim was life-flighted to a hospital in Missoula Montana. He was very lucky, we found out later, with no internal injuries. They did surgery on his shattered arm, but they said he would soon be back home again.

Later that day we visited with Leon and his wife and daughter (the farmers who neighbor with Gregory) who stayed 2 nights with Andrea. Then Gregory’s aunt Norma and uncle Neal came down to visit us, and then Gregory’s parents, Barb and John. It was nice to get to know them better.

That evening Lynn and I moved our cows to their next pasture--an easy job that mainly consists of calling them, opening the gate, and getting out of the way as they pour through it! Leon and family came down to our place again that evening to see the horses and Dani also wanted to show them her favorite heifers, so we walked out in the pasture above the house and the heifers all grouped around us to eat grass out of our hands.

Monday and Tuesday nearly all the Canadian guests were leaving to drive back to Saskatchewan. There was a brief thundershower Tuesday afternoon but not much rain. Lightning started a big fire the other side of town on Napoleon Ridge. That evening Heather and Gregory brought back our chairs and barbeque grill and visited a bit, then went over to see Jim Skinner, who had just got home from the hospital.

Gregory left for Canada the next morning and Heather will be leaving in a few days to finish up a few things. She won’t be coming home again for quite awhile; she has to stay at least 2 years without leaving Canada, to gain her citizenship.

Wednesday morning Andrea and I rode with the girls briefly. That evening Dani and her friend Sekowa started cross-country practice with their 6^th grade team, with Nick as their coach.

Thursday morning, the watermaster came out here adjusting water. Right after Gary left, Alfonso took water out of one of our ditches again, and raised the headgate on another ditch on the Gooch place to take more than his allotted share, so Gary had to come back and readjust it, and tell him AGAIN that he can’t take water out of our ditch.

We moved the cows down to back field across the creek. It has enough regrowth, after haying, that it might last them a couple weeks.

Friday Andrea and I rode 4 hours and checked 320 fence along the top (Alfonso and Millers moved the rest of their cows to the high range that morning) and we patched a couple places where the elk had broken the wires going over the fence.

This evening Andrea and Robbie helped Lynn take apart the broken chute and load up the two sides in Andrea’s pickup—and took them to Vern England to weld and fix. He’s the excellent welder who very creatively reconstructed our wrecked flatbed trailer several years ago when it and the tractor slid off an icy road and rolled down a hill.

AUGUST 10 – Last week we moved the heifers again, putting them on new pasture. It’s a juggling act, rotating them around, and the cows in their group, hoping to have enough irrigation water to keep the fields green and growing so there will be regrowth to come back and graze again as we rotate around.

Vern England got the broken pieces of our chute welded back together, and Lynn and Andrea went over to get them. A couple days later Robbie put them on the chute and it works again. It’s a good thing we got it fixed because we had to use it to treat one of our bulls with a second dose of antibiotics for foot rot. This is the big bull we loaned to Michael and Carolyn this year. They discovered he was lame so they put him into their upper corral and into their old chute. They treated him with a long-acting injectable antibiotic (oxytetracycline) and sulfa boluses, then hauled him down to our corral.

We rounded up our big bull the same day (it was time to take the bulls out of the cows, to make sure our calving season ends in early May next year) and we put him in the back corral with a cow and calf to keep him company so he wouldn’t try to jump out. We rounded up the heifers and took the yearling bull out of their group, to put with the lame bull to keep him company. We had planned to sell both of the older bulls; Michael was going to haul them to a sale this week. But now we’ll have to wait a month on the lame bull until he is fully recovered and no longer has any antibiotic residue in his body. He can live in the corral for awhile with the yearling bull.

It’s been a streak of bad luck lately. The reason Michael and Carolyn discovered that the bull was lame was because they were looking for a calf that disappeared. They didn’t find the calf, so Andrea and Carolyn went back again the next day and searched through the brush. They saw 3 coyotes in that field, and Carolyn has seen them several times in that area. Now we are thinking something happened to that calf and the coyotes ate him.

Michael is recovering from an accident with his 4-wheeler when it tipped over on a steep hill when he was hauling posts, on a fencing job. He wrenched his knee severely while attempting to get away from it so it wouldn’t crush him.

Robbie had a bit of bad luck when he was working on his pickup a few evenings ago, putting a newer engine in it. He was underneath it and the strap holding the engine broke, and it fell on his chest. It’s a good thing he (and Michael) are pretty tough! They are both sore, but fortunately neither one of them was seriously injured in their mishaps.

We are still having water problems. The creek was too low during several hot days to fill all the rights so the 3^rd and 4^th rights are now shut off and our 2^nd rights are cut in half. Two of our neighbors are irrigating at night, however, and turning their ditches back off in the morning, which makes the flow erratic and the water even shorter. One of them tried to make it look like we were stealing water, by turning on one of our ditches in the middle of the night. We are hoping that by next year everyone will be forced to have lockable headgates. We’ve been pushing for this for the past 3 years, but there are a couple users on the creek who DON’T want headgates locked, for obvious reasons. Lynn and Robbie welded some angle iron on one of our headgates, with holes in it for adjustments. We plan to put locks on all of our headgates, and at least that will keep other people from tampering with ours.

Dani is enjoying track practice, running several nights a week, and Charlie started drivers’ education class last week. He will be 15 year old this month, and is eager to get his driver’s license.

The kids came home Thursday night from a week at their dad’s place and they are happy to be home. They all had supper here, then the girls helped me lead Rubbie and Veggie back to their ditch bank pasture. I had them behind the barn for about a week, eating the grass so it would be all cleaned up (and not a fire hazard) for parking the haying equipment there. On Friday Lynn cleaned hay out of baler and swather and parked them behind the calving barn until next year.

Saturday we had thunderstorms that started several more forest fires. Between showers, Lynn located a water well for some people on the other side of town, and Andrea and Robbie helped me put the big bull through the chute and give him more antibiotic injections. He’s still a bit lame, but walking better—putting weight on that hind foot. We’re hoping he won’t need any more medication.

After the thunderstorm we had strong winds that blew branches off the elm tree by our house. On the other side of town, a burst of wind blew one rancher’s hay shed apart and blew it clear out of his barnyard and onto the highway. Fortunately no one was hurt.