Faye you ever get to Texas give me some notice all that is a regular spring thing here followed by a great lunch for all involved, I can make that happen for you. All the neighbors come to help, we did have one show up some years back dressed in all white, he payed the price for it I did loan him my chinks, my old pair not my nice ones, wrong it was my showing apron. Faye did you cut then or band them? We cut then a wipe with the purple stuff.
It might surprise you how many here know about ranching, farming, and rural living. I think more do than don't they just don't care to talk about it which I fully understand. I didn't until recent years. When you strip away all the glamour of rodeo and western fashion, it isn't a hot-button topic. Something about a photo of small kids in worn dirty clothes roasting fresh young bull testicles over the open fire while the branding irons reach temperature, that doesn't attract the papererrzzi. It is hard to even get a like for it on a ranch forum. Personally, I would give it a big love, but that is just me. Disappointed my Oregon Trail ranch neighbor south of me missed that photo yesterday.
My father was a bander, but I loved a sharp knife and perfected a quick slice off the scrotum bottom and a quick scrapping motion on the cord and then we used a blood stop and disinfectant powder. We must get this thread back on topic hahaha! I don't have to go far here to get in on such action, but I tend to overdo such and pay the price later so I stay home and out of the way.
We have the squeeze chute and pens and all but had 2 and alternated them on horseback in the lot rope and drag, growing up I looked forward to a branding day about more than anything else we hand take down then and used piggin strings, I am one of the few left around here that checks mama's on horseback and not an ATV, click on a ear number and you get a picture of the mama and all info and dates on my laptop and backup on cd and flash drives. Big Man loves his job and attention and do anything for a pear to munch on.
Rural living may, and may not, include livestock. Just saying. Years ago, I rented a room in a housing development that consisted of horse property. I had one of my horses there, but many, many home buyers didn't use their horse property for anything. Back area was completely empty. As far as "not talking about it", I really don't understand that. I have never ranched and only helped on a farm during my high school years, but sure have an interest in both. Now, last weekend's "live" rodeo we watched on the Cowboy Channel, had Mutton Busting and a Calf Scramble. Wife and I love seeing the little kids in the Mutton Busting and the teens in the Calf Scramble. As far as "glamour of rodeo and western fashion", it sure shows up in the Pro-Rodeo News we get each month from PRCA. But, then again, not much "glamour/western fashion" in rough-stock riders or men's Timed Events. Some in Breakaway Roping and plenty in Barrel Racing.
Got to add 1 more good one one day preg testing with the shoulder length glove on a friend found his wedding band loose in the glove! Doing preg tests we did not have anywhere the turn out as a branding day, Many lookers few helpers
My neighbor is an AG prof at Texas A&M in Commerce TX and helped me with all that it really is a good program and records keeper.
I know you don't get it Cody because you didn't grow up on a remote ranch and miss out on fun things other kids were doing because you had to spend 18 hours on a tractor going round and round, cleaning the barn, feeding in below temp weather, delivering a calf, or helping with gardening. Growing up on a ranch is day in and day out doing mundane chores and you are on the ranch schedule, not anyone else's, and that includes the school. For many years I felt I missed out on all the fun other kids were having. Sleepovers, parties, cruising main every Friday and Saturday, dances, etc. That is why I didn't care to talk about it. Now I realize I had a better life and something to treasure and now I love talking about it. Anyway, let's get Lon's thread back on track.
Well, Faye, there are no ranches in northeastern Indiana. But, what I'm talking about Faye is..........we go to a livestock auction. Not to buy or sell, but simply to observe. There can be a difference between a person only talking about something and someone who interest is so high, they try to fulfill the interest in the best way they can. This is one of the reasons we have this ranch/farm display, pictures of old John Deere tractors and two pictures, one of a bull and the other of a hog, showing the different cuts of meat on each. But, that is us. And, you are right..............back to Lon's thread.
In the spirit of over-complicating everything, I've been messing with the tarp roofs I put on some firewood racks I built. This project has taken up much of my time lately. The initial part was planned, the rest of it was design-on-the-fly. The very ends of the firewood protrude outside the roof line and are not completely protected from the rain. The solutions are (a) restack the wood so it does not protrude, or (b) tear down the roofs and build them so they protrude further. I chose (b) and tore one roof structure down yesterday and bumped it out to 10" rather than the existing 6". I discovered that 10" just gets in the way...I gotta duck around it to get to the wood. My firewood guy dropped off the last load yesterday and told me that a little water on the ends in the context of how well the rest is protected will be no big deal. In other words, I wasted my time...again. I got out this morning to put it back the way it was, and it started to drizzle (they're calling for significant rain in the late PM.) I finished cutting all the pieces I need to cut so I could put the saw away, and I've been watching TV ever since. I should finish it all tomorrow (replace this roof and construct the 3rd and final one.) Then I gotta stack that new load of wood. Then I'll find a way to get the exposed ends of the existing stuff pushed in further without restacking it all.
Well, today: printed out a picture of a big-rack Bull Elk I took in Rocky Mountain National Park during the "rut" (breeding season) a number of years ago. I will hang it on our living room wall with three other big-rack Bull Elk pictures I took. One of the other ones, is a great looking Bull Elk that was in Yellowstone National Park, when we were there in 2006. Then I hung three multi-picture frames of rodeo that I took. A couple of photos have wife and I holding our baby great niece, when we were at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in 2005.
Today was hanging out waiting for my new mattress to arrive and be set up and having the old Queen size mattress picked up and donated to the Salvation Army. Hopefully tonight will be a good sleep night for me.
Interesting @Lon Tanner charity shops in South Aust ( can’t speak for the rest of Aust ) Won’t take mattresses even if they are unused / brand new . I offered a single bed and the mattress , that I’d had when the grand children were small ( the bed cost in excess of $200 ) The mattress had been replaced due to one of the GD having a blood nose so the mattress sat unused ( still wrapped in plastic ) on the bed for close to 12 years but they were not interested ...I was told to advertise it to give away in the local paper ..that would have cost me $25 to advertise something to give away ........so I ended up putting it on the free web site that’s owned by eBay Called Gumtree and got $65 for it
I decided to start getting ready for the upcoming adjustable bed delivery, so I stripped the bed that's currently in that spare room to wash all the linens. No one uses that room but I'm sure things are dusty. I got side tracked in the linen closet and decided to pull out a ton of old blankets and such to get rid of, which led to a clean out of a closet in another spare room where I have my hoard of cardboard boxes. Good grief, I'm exhausted and still have to break down about 10,000 boxes for trash on Monday. (Yes, that's an exaggeration but it's a bunch.) The new mattress and linens (pillows & sheets) arrived by UPS today for the new bed so now I'm waiting on the "white glove" delivery of the bed frame. Not sure how long that will be but I want to have things ready. I'm pooped and glad the better half will be picking up dinner today.