The Last Little While

 Over the last little while a lot has happened around here. We are down to four heifers to calve! Our cows are pretty much done too. It is very dry here, to the point of being concerning about our entire year. But, we are supposed to get some rain later this week, and are all holding our breathe that it actually comes through. We also got scours in our calves last weekend, which is practically unheard of here. After catching us very off guard, we got on the ball and I have been doctoring and monitoring this week.
My parents, brother and I have purchased a swanky trailer house for my brother and I to live in. I didn't know I could be so excited about a single wide trailer, but I am! The idea of my own bathroom and dedicated office space is something I am very grateful to have in my near future (we all really wish we could just move my Casper home out here). My brother and dad are staying plenty busy getting the water and sewer put in, before the gravel arrives that will elevate the trailer a few inches. We get serious flash floods around here (it's pretty much feast or famine in the rain department), and plan to attempt to divert water around our new home. We aren't looking to be floating down Dogie Creek the next time it does actually rain around here. New house, yes! New house boat, no!

I've been doing some traveling, and the sage grouse, turkeys and various other birds are in full strutting swing! It's like rush hour traffic on some gravel roads around here, and I've been at a complete stop more than once. I'll take this type of early morning traffic any day.

 One trip was to pick up two new Hereford bulls! We will be having a few more cute baldy calves next spring, and are very happy with how the bulls look in general too.

 Not so happy about the "genetic drift" seen in our calf crop this year. We should only have black calves, but have a few red ones that have been showing up. They may be the result of a neighbors bull, or one of our new "Registered Black Angus" bulls not quite being what he seems. I am investigating. Red I can deal with, but that grey one causes my blood pressure to rise. He just came to the feed ground for the first time yesterday, and I was less than impressed to see that one of our cows had managed to find a Charolais bull. Reds will fit on, but that guy is going to stick out that bad his entire life, and will most likely be unwanted by the buyer when we sell these guys in a year and a half.

On a happier note, here is a photo I found of my dad and I in my earlier days. I am using it in an upcoming Farm Bureau presentation, which is another project that has been coming together the last few days. It's always fun to look through old pictures and reminisce (not that I have a great memory of this time in my life).
Other than those few things, in the last month I've sent articles and photos to two new publications, and am working on multiple potential weddings to photograph this summer. Looking forward to meeting with some of the couples during a trip to Laramie for meetings later this week!
Hope all is well in all of your lives!

Where I'm From

I spent the first 4 years of my life in this old farmhouse, located smack dab between Sundance and Upton, on the edge of the Black Hills.
I turned in across the highway from this landmark in my life on the way to conduct interviews yesterday, and couldn't help but stop and admire it for a couple seconds.
The upstairs window you can see was my parent's bedroom, and my brother and I shared the other bedroom located on the opposite side of the upstairs floor.


My family leased the place, and that's how we came to live there. We hayed the meadows, and would trail our cows to and from the home place, located a few miles beyond the pine trees in the left of the photo, two times a year.
Wasps would burrow into the carpet to stay warm in the winter, and would regularly sting Kyle on his way to bed (how I missed being stung is something I do not understand, but am nonetheless grateful for)
We learned to ride here, took toboggan rides in the winter and played in the creek in the summer. I burnt my hand really bad on the lawnmower exhaust pipe once, and more than a couple cows got out on the highway.


My uncle still leases part of if, and based on my best driving by and snapping a photo guess, these are his heifers.
It was a great place to live as a little kid.

The Weekend!

A little bit of randomness for your Friday...
I am heading home, with the guy (interesting, fun, and descriptive term of reference to come...if I can think of one that does proper justice), to introduce him to the parents and help work a few yearlings tomorrow morning.
My new roommate for two weeks, and tenant after that, moved in last night and we got everything solidified, and I am super-excited/relieved/happy/breathing normally again now that I can check getting my house rented off the to-do list. Renting it to a great ag-gal who is really nice and lots of fun is just a great big bonus in my opinion.
I'm starting to feel my age again, and am just so thankful for how well everything is falling into place this month!
They do not make enough caffeine for months like this, or chocolate.
I enjoy architecture immensely, and as a result find myself snapping pictures of it from time to time. The above picture is a result of one such instantaneous whim to take a picture of an old house.
I know it's not exactly straight, but try as I might I couldn't get it to look "perfect" as far as straight goes, and finally decided to just leave it a little off kilter, and try to convince myself it adds to the run down, dilapidated state it's in.
I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

A New Leaf

Things are changing rapidly in my life at the moment.
Last Monday I gave my month's notice at the Roundup, and will be leaving April 30. There were a number of factors that played into the decision, and while I will miss a lot of things about the job, this definitely feels like the right move for me at this point in life.
What am I going to do is typically the next question asked, and what a good one it is. For the next couple months I will be home, helping get a few necessary things caught up on the ranch-God bless my family for offering that opportunity!
During that time I am also planning to get my photography business off the back burner and into focus again, and am going to pursue some freelance/correspondent writing opportunities as well. From there we will see how everything shakes out.
Then there's my house, which I am in the middle of getting rented, and (partially/fully??) moved out of. That is also falling into place amazingly well, all things considered. God, and some quality friends, are definitely helping with this whole thing in big ways.
Things on here may be a little sporadic for a few weeks, but after everything settles into place there will be the usual ag pictures and stories posted on a perhaps not as regular, but often, basis.

Old Red Barns

I love old, red barns, and my dream is to take the wood from one and make it my kitchen floor someday!

Either of these would be perfect for such a project, and the top one is actually our ranches old sheep barn, and on the list to be removed because it's falling apart. Maybe I can do a negotiating and get some of the wood set aside!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Winter house tour, Part 1

I love my little house, especially the inside! The past year has been spent furnishing it, and I thought I would provide a little update on it. This is partially because I'm running a little low on new ranch pictures, and partially to document how it looks over time.

Right now things are a little cramped in the living room due to my Christmas tree. This tree will not be living in my house next year, I plan to upgrade to a real tree that's more than 2' in diameter.
The windows on the wall are a work in progress. I personally think they would have looked better if I had gone all out and hung ribbon, or lights...or something around them. But I wanted to try filling the panes with wrapping paper for the holidays, so I can check that off the list now.


I bought my Charles Russell prints at the Charles Russell museum in MT, and had them custom framed at Hobby Lobby. I forgot to take a close-up, but love how they turned out. I would like to get a third one framed the same way to add to these two.
My leather rocking/reclining chair was a huge find for me too! I should mention I'm a big thrift store shopper, especially with furniture. A lot of my items came from such shops in Casper and Rapid City, including the black leather chair, windows, coffee tables, all the lamps and white shelf by couch.


This shelf came from Target.


Those are actually bright red Christmas balls hanging from my candle holders. I was using my little hand-held camera for this photo project. I also chose this one to give you an idea of what really goes on at my house (imagine fierce growling and a general ruckus to accompany the fighting dogs). Getting them in the picture was a complete accident.
Anyway, the black shelf was from another re-purposing shop in Casper, and my mom found the bench the TV is sitting on. All the wall hangings and the cross tree came from Hobby Lobby (there is reasoning behind asking for a Hobby Lobby gift card for Christmas)
I typically decorate under the bench for the season at hand, and had it filled with fall leaf garlands earlier in the year. I was a little late on my Christmas decor shopping this year, and will hopefully find something I like more to put under there next year. I like to not see any cords or the outlet when I'm done!

The desk is perfect for holding sunscreen, gloves and other odds and ends that you need as you head out the door. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not very happy with my tree, and am planning an upgrade for next year!
Should you ever visit, you will likely be greeted by a growling Pearl, standing right where she is here.



Those wire circle things came from Ross, surprisingly. The chair and ottoman I found at Big Lots, and I bought the couch in Rapid City.
When decorating, I'm the sort that waits until I find just what I want, then rarely move it once I've found the perfect spot for it. So it's this mentality that has resulted in random pieces of furniture and decor being picked up at so many different shops, towns and states.




My parents are not fans of the windows hanging on the wall, even without the wrapping paper.



The kitchen is one of my least favorite parts of the house. I still like it, but compared to everything else it ranks pretty low. While it has plenty of cupboard space, it is seriously lacking in counter space, and I like to cook and bake.



The door in the back leads to the garage, and is also the laundry/dog food area.




The table was found at a furniture store in Casper. The idea is to eventually put a glass door where the window is on the left, and build a deck in the back yard. Right now I have to go through the garage to get to my yard, and I'm pretty excited about the idea of having a deck off the eating area!





I thought about cleaning it off, but this gives a more realistic view of things, especially in recent weeks. There are two computers because my work laptop (the Mac) won't read CD's, so if I'm doing anything that involves a CD I have to resort to my personal Dell. I also usually have my personal computer on because it's where a lot of my pictures are stored, and I always seem to need something off it when I'm doing anything photo-related.
I love the picture, and found it in an ugly frame at a...you guessed it...thrift store. I had it re-framed at Hobby Lobby, and am still looking for the perfect accompanying pieces for either side of it.

The House, part 1

Here is the first round of pictures from my new house. Bedroom photos will be coming after I get the rest of the drapes hung and the wrinkles fall out of them :)
This is my dining room. I LOVE my table! It has two drop leaves and can comfortably seat 4 when they're up. You will notice there isn't much on they walls yet except here. I want to add two long, narrow mirrors on either side of my Charles M. Russell print!
The kitchen, easily my least favorite room in the house. But it works and I've found that I'm never home long enough to cook an amazing meal anyway, so the lack of counter space isn't as big of a deal as I thought it would be. In the back is the door to the attached garage (possibly my favorite part!) and the laundry room.
The floors sold me, they are really pretty in person. The paint color was great too, I'm happy with it. I need a prettier trash can though, lol.
The living room. I am thinking about switching the two chairs so I can curl up in my paisley chair and watch tv. Also thinking a big mirror would look cool above the couch. I'm open to ideas!
The two tables are some of my favorite finds. There isn't a light in the living room, which drives me nuts, so for now I have a beautiful brass lamp my mother donated to the cause.

Temporary tv stand and the rug was included in the house. I haven't found one I like yet (tv stand or rug) The tv was the best deal to date and it's great! I have some ceramic crosses in different colors I'm thinking about hanging above the tv. Again the walls are still really bare.
Hallway. To give you an idea of how the house goes I'm standing by the paisley chair in the living room. The closest doorknob on the right is a little pantry, then my bedroom and a guest bedroom. On the left is the bathroom and the small guest bedroom/office.
Bathroom

The white shelf was included in the house and is the only way I could make the bathroom work. It stores a lot of crap! Love the mirror and sink and all the bright white trim everywhere.

More will be coming