Feeding at Michael's

Thought I'd put in a couple of pics of feeding out at Michael's. Enjoyed that little job a lot. I probably spoiled his colt for him. Sorry Michael.

Tana is eight!

Bob plowed snow today and I fed calves. It was gorgeous out on the ranch. Talked to the birthday girl, briefly. Can't imagine how the time has flown! Happy birthday Tana!

This and that!

The other day when I mentioned the Upper Green River Cattle Association meeting with the Game and Fish and the Wild Life Services, I should have mentioned the total loss that was turned in by the ranchers. 6.98% calf loss. That compares to 2/14 loss before the griz and wolf predation. I don't know how the ranchers take it. Nearly every member had at least 20 that didn't get back. A couple quite a few more than that. Also another interesting side note, several ranches had cattle come back with a calf branded for one specific ranch lower in the valley. Hummm! Lots of speculation there. At least for this year, the brand inspector checked the calves by the mother's sides, and gave the proper owner a bill of sale. So how long has that been going on.

Nothing Much!

Well, I've heard from some people who shall remain nameless, :), that I'm not updating my blog often enough. And yes, that's true! The thing is, we haven't been doing that much that's newsworthy!

Well, yesterday we did fly the upper Green. It was a gorgeous day for flying, and good to be in the air! There must be at least six inches of snow at cow camp. Pinion Ridge is almost bare. There were lots of elk track on top. John Fandeck's feedgrund has many elk. Our old (yes, old...we're not feeding this year) had six elk. There wasn't as much ice on Willow Lake as last week.

Tonight we are getting a skiff of snow. Bob is hoping for enough to plow, but at this point, that looks doubtful.

I'm having fun spoiling Michael's colt...teaching him to eat grain, etc, etc. Michael doesn't feed grain to his horses! He doesn't want to spoil them. I suggested to Bob today that we bring the colt home, and tell Michael we're so sorry he died! Bob did laugh!

The Christmas parade in town the other night was fun. So were the partys around. I bought a neat leather coat at Bill Webb's! I've wanted one like that for a long time.

T-Bones on the hoof!

This heifer has learned about grain quickly, and loves her feed! She waits at the gate while I go after her grain. This will be Cheeney's and our winter's meat. Meanwhile, Bob's loading hay to feed the rest of the calves, and a mare and colt. It's a small feeding job, as the cows are still grazing on the bottom land. I enjoy being out on the ranch.

Yesterday we met with the Upper Green River Cattle Association, who were having their annual bear and wolf meeting. Game and Fish personel and Wild Life Services guys were there, helping the ranchers fill out the forms needed to be paid for the verified bear and wolf predation during the summer. It was an interesting meeting. Bob put his map up for all to see, and it sure tells a story. It drew a lot of interest.

We flew this morning!

After feeding Michael's calves, mare, colt, and a beef to be butchered, we flew. It was a gorgeous day to be flying. We flew over our old feedground to see what was going on...not much..there were six head of elk there. They've put in a new shed. Flew over other feedgrounds, and not much going on there.

At the airport we ran into another pilot that landed just after we did...not literally! He had a biology student from Laramie aboard, and they had been counting fish! Yes, really! Back to the old telementary we've been dealing with on the upper Green and on the feedground. She implants radio transmitters inside the cavity of the fish, and turns them loose. Then they fly around and count them. They are doing this with native suckers, which are loosing ground to a non native species.

Nothing much

Well, it's true, I haven't been on here lately. But then I haven't done anything very interesting. Doing some getting ready for Christmas things. I need to get out in the shop, and more shopping. Oh yes.

Anyhow, this is Bob's new saddle. We went to Crowheart last Saturday and picked this beauty up. It's much like mine except larger, and basket weave stamping. I hope he likes it a lot.

Dell has to deal with a new "cousin" today or tomorrow. Michael is going to leave Mouse off for us to tend while they go on a trip to Disney Land. We'll also be feeding for him. We are looking forward to that. Betty, I plan to post a picture of "our" heifer who is in, but not on grain yet.

Thanksgiving at Steeres

Lots of good food, laughs, stories...anybody's ears burning??? Thad's playing crdibbage...he's also the grand master of Monopoly.

After lunch in Rock Springs, on our way home, we stopped at the Wild Horse Pens. You hate to see all those formally wild running free horses penned for life. Our tax dollars at work. There was probably several hundred penned there. We didn't go through them like we did several years ago.

Somehow the pictures didn't come up in the order I posted them, but they're there to stay. :)

Bob's weed pile

All spring, summer and fall, during Bob's spare time, he was digging weeds from our gregarious weed patch in the back yard. If you were to gaze around the back yard, you might not guess he did all that...but there is a huge improvement.

Yesterday was burn the pile day. It's still going today, however much reduced.

Cowboying with Michael

Michael called to see if we could help move the cattle into the river bottom. Of course we were pleased to do so. These photos are taken from on top of Ruby Butte.

The trip to Idaho Falls went well. The roads were icy and snowpacked, but we did fine. My doctor's appointment went very well. We had a leisurly afternoon shopping, several good meals, and spent the night at our favorite motel by the falls, where they love to accept dogs. :) The roads were clear coming home.