Springtime at the ranch: branding, flooding, playing

Back from yet another trip to the ranch!  Almost two weeks this time, getting ready for the branding and then recovering from it.  I had lots of things to tell you about, but I think I'll just sum up the trip with some pictures.

Love the baby horses!

Remember last year, when everything flooded really bad?  It hadn't done that for almost 30 years, but it is flooding again this year.  Two years in a row!

Mud boots were necessary to enter the basement.

 There was cowboy-ing to do... cousins to play with and water to look at.

 Here's what they were looking at.  The water over the culverts was making a whirlpool and sucking sound.  Very interesting to kids and very worrisome to moms.  Very difficult to catch on camera too.

There are also things in bloom and happy border collie dogs.

Water flowing over the road.

Hawthorn bushes in bloom.

Jonesy looking dignified.

I mentioned cowboy-ing, right?

Coming in from the gather.

Roping in the little kid's pen with Dad.

There were other things going on during the branding, like puppy petting and a scavenger hunt for the kids.  Plus the normal adventuring of kids in a grove of trees.

The old Johnny Popper.  There was a clue on the seat.

The outhouse... and a destination in the hunt.

Old chicken coop, also a destination.

Playing pirates... or something like that.

Can you see me?  The girls, probably hiding from pirates.

It was fun, but it's good to be home.  The garden has really grown, but I'll update you on that another day. 
So, what have you been up to?

Cowgirl Crafts: sewing elastic into a hat

I'm here!  Mostly, anyway.  Even though it's not officially summer yet, things are already crazy.  It feels like I'm busy all day, but I don't have much to write about.  I'm busy with a whole lot of nothing, I guess.

June means cow work.  We gather and ship our cows home from their winter residence and then a few weeks later, we brand the calves.  My past few absences have been for the shipping, and next Saturday will be the branding.  It's a big day and takes a lot of preparation, so I'll be heading back to the ranch for most of next week to assist with food prep.  My little man is excited to once again take part in the big gather before the branding, which will take place on Friday this year.

In preparation for our big weekend, I've been working fast and furious on a few projects that I had hoped to finish a long time ago.  I've finished one, the other... might not get finished in time.  We'll see. I've been spending every spare minute working on them, which is why I haven't been blogging much lately.  My computer time has turned into work time. 

My first project was making some hats fit the girls.  I found these great hats at the second hand store, but they were just a bit too big.  I tried fixing a string to hold it on, (called a stampede string) but those Wyoming winds are just too powerful.  My little man's hat has fit his head for several years because of some elastic sewn into it.  I decided to try to replicate that in the girls' hats.

I bought some 1 1/2" sports elastic and began the process of trying to estimate how much stretch it needed to have.  It became extremely difficult after the kids went to bed.  Plus, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing.  This seems to be an over-arching theme to my projects.  The first one seemed to turn out well, but the baby won't leave it on long enough to see if it will stay on.  That's confusing, I know.  The plan is for her to grow into it and for it to grow with her.

I had the elastic pulled too tight for the dancing girl's head the first few times I sewed it, but I think this time I got it right.  Sewing a piece of elastic into a palm leaf hat is not all that easy.  You can't pin it in place and I couldn't sew it together on the machine, so here's what I did... just in case you find yourself needing to stitch elastic into a hat...

Find the "middle" of the elastic ring by folding it in half and marking it somehow.  Then fold it in half again to get the sides.  Mark as best you can the front, back and side points on the hat and make some quick stitches to hold the elastic in place.  I added four more of these around the hat.  Then, start sewing the elastic down to the hat.  Of course I ran out of thread when I only had an inch left to sew, but that's the way things go around here.

All done!  It's not beautiful, but it will keep the hat on her head and the sun off her nose.

My other project is also cowboy related.  It's a saddle blanket.  For those who don't speak cowboy, the saddle blanket goes between the horse and the saddle.  It keeps the horse's back from rubbing or getting pinched by the saddle.  A wool saddle blanket, or saddle pad is something that works well for the job and this type is particularly good.  It is made by weaving wool roving into a latch hook rug canvas.  The wool forms to the horse's back and felts in that shape.  Once it has felted, not much can destroy it.  Except pack-rats.  I made one of these for my husband years ago and some pack rats moved in and decided to eat the canvas.  They left the wool alone, but the blanket fell apart.  I was hoping to have this one done before the branding, but it just might not make it.  Hard to work on with the little one playing in the wool roving.  Hopefully it will look good when it's all finished... if I ever finish it...  I have several other projects that I want to work on, but I have to finish this one first.

Branding day menu

Our branding lunch always has my mom's beef enchiladas. I don't know when she started making them, but I can't remember ever not having them. You need many tortillas, hot oil, enchilada sauce, beef, cheese, and we put onion in the beef too. You could use just cheese, or whatever your heart desires. Oh, and we put sliced olives on top when we remember.
When there were more of us at home, we made a big assembly line. Good times, good memories.

First, you fry the tortillas one at a time in some hot oil. (Mom usually did this) Not too crisp, but it's necessary to keep the tortillas from sopping up all the sauce. I know, I tried it once without that step...yuck.
Then into the enchilada sauce. One sister coats on both sides, then puts it on a plate for the next sister to assemble the parts. Beef and cheese -next sister- roll it up and put in pan. We had another girl in charge of bringing new pans and removing the full ones. (That's right, five women in one kitchen. My other sister was already gone to college when I was big enough to help.) When the pan is full, pour more enchilada sauce over the whole thing, sprinkle cheese on top and then toss some sliced olives on. Then we cover and freeze because this is usually the week before we actually cook them.
The next step is very important. Fry up more tortillas, this time till crisp. As soon as you take them out of the oil, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Tear apart and enjoy the feeling of finishing a big job.
To cook, defrost (or just stick it in the oven after assembled) then stick it in a 350 oven for as long as it takes for the middle to melt. Sorry I can't be more technical on that part. Shouldn't take more than an hour. For the branding, we layer the pans into great big roaster pans and cook at about 300 for the morning hours while the branding is going on.

Then, we make buckaroo beans, also something I don't remember ever not having. We quadrupled this recipe because we usually run out. We had leftovers this year. This recipe is for cooking on the stove top, but when making huge amounts, we use the oven or the big roaster at 300. That's what that little note at the bottom is for.

To go along with these, we usually have several salads, some watermelon, grapes and chips. The kids usually only eat watermelon, grapes and chips, but since it's like a holiday, I let them eat what they want.

What a week

Whew! I made it! We held our annual branding last week. Preparations took most of the week before and we're still trying to get things put back together. It's exhausting, but so much fun too. Around here branding season is something everyone looks forward to. It's a time to get together with neighbors and friends and show off buckaroo skills. Cattle rustling is still alive and well in the west, and actually increasing lately, so branding is still a necessity to ensure that we find all our cattle in the fall. My dad is as cowboy as they come and insists on doing things the old fashioned way. We don't have any ATV's on the ranch, and we do nearly everything on horse-back. Branding is no different. We still rope the calves from our horses and dad insists on things being done well. No crashing around, no racing. He likes to see the cowboys using good horsemanship and good loops to ensure that the calves aren't overly stressed. All five girls in the family learned to rope and our branding has become a place where other women feel welcome to work with the men. Cowboy traditions are important to my family. We feel strongly about preserving this way of life. That's why we also started a kid's roping pen- to teach the next generation the cowboy way. We sort off the smaller calves and let the little guys have a go at roping. This picture is my little man, setting off to catch a calf. The parents are right there to help out and give instruction.

The bigger kids also get a chance to rope from horse-back, learning and practicing until they feel comfortable roping with the adults. I wish we would have done this when I was a kid.

My role during the branding has changed. Where I used to be one of the hands, now I'm the cook and nanny. Since I'm the one with the youngest child, I sit out from roping and make sure lunch is ready and that the kids are okay. It's been a hard transition for me, going from ranch hand to baby sitter. I've had to realize that I just can't do everything, and that my job now is just as important as any other. We put on a big spread of food for everyone, since that's the only pay they get for their help. It's a big job, preparing in advance and then getting everything heated and ready. It feels good to be the one that makes sure everyone gets enough to eat and I do enjoy cooking.
Getting the kitchen back under control has been a battle though. Things are still a mess from the flood we had as well. We are in the process of moving off the ranch for hubby to finish up school, and this week was when we had to move our stuff, so add the craziness of moving to the general mayhem, and you have my week. I'm looking forward to getting things back in order this week. The dishes are finally tackled and I made it to the grocery store today. Laundry tomorrow...

I'm so proud of my little man. Today was a big day on the ranch. We had to gather all the cows and calves and push them several miles in preparation for the branding tomorrow. My five year old loves to ride his horse, and really wanted to go on the gather. He thinks he's so grown up and he really wants to be just like papa. So I told him he could go, and then worried a lot last night. I packed tons of snacks and drinks into his saddle bags and prayed for safety. I can't go because I've got a little one that needs me often, so off he went with his dad, papa, aunts and two other little cousins. I met them on the other side with a late lunch and the three young girls, not quite knowing what to expect. All smiles when I got there. It sounds like it went nearly as well as it could have. He had so much fun and was actually good help. (The horses see to that, whether the boys want to or not.) There will be no stopping him now. Tomorrow is a very long day. We will be branding calves and I will be watching a herd of kids, getting lunch on, and cleaning up. Off to bed!

This is not a picture of today, I forgot the camera. This is one of my favorite pictures of my little man when he got a saddle for his birthday.