Hey, y'all! It's been a while, so we thought to share a bit of a day or two of our mostly off-the-grid Texas ranch life. Plus, our grandkids might appreciate this one day and we know our family does!
So much has happened this past year and does daily here (boy, do we have stories), but the latest is that Robert is apparently earning his PHD in Ranch Life . . . that is, post hole digger experience. This weekend we did some high-maintenance fence mending in a few spots after he rounded up a small herd of our wilder cattle from a neighboring property. Funny how cattle can have miles of fence to roam yet they find the one gap that's down.
Well, after stumbling across the down fence line on his way to fish a tank, Robert has the trouble-makers penned and cubed; plus, the fence is back up, as always. That's one way to tame them. Food always works, just like with people.
After over a decade of this beautiful but unpredictable gig, he's becoming scarily expert at finding holes and mending them and at taming cattle. I am sold that it's a gift from above because it was in one of the most remotest places out here. How does he do that?
One of the hidden blessings in all of the pesky mess of chasing fence-jumping cattle when you had other plans is that we get to enjoy the rare and raw beauty of this land, one another's company, AND we get free ranchersize from chainsaws and the PHD! Here are some visuals from our past two weekends on the property chasing the elusively evil herds of wild pigs and the ranch's better, but just as sneaky, wilder cattle. Enjoy!
So much has happened this past year and does daily here (boy, do we have stories), but the latest is that Robert is apparently earning his PHD in Ranch Life . . . that is, post hole digger experience. This weekend we did some high-maintenance fence mending in a few spots after he rounded up a small herd of our wilder cattle from a neighboring property. Funny how cattle can have miles of fence to roam yet they find the one gap that's down.
Well, after stumbling across the down fence line on his way to fish a tank, Robert has the trouble-makers penned and cubed; plus, the fence is back up, as always. That's one way to tame them. Food always works, just like with people.
After over a decade of this beautiful but unpredictable gig, he's becoming scarily expert at finding holes and mending them and at taming cattle. I am sold that it's a gift from above because it was in one of the most remotest places out here. How does he do that?
One of the hidden blessings in all of the pesky mess of chasing fence-jumping cattle when you had other plans is that we get to enjoy the rare and raw beauty of this land, one another's company, AND we get free ranchersize from chainsaws and the PHD! Here are some visuals from our past two weekends on the property chasing the elusively evil herds of wild pigs and the ranch's better, but just as sneaky, wilder cattle. Enjoy!
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| Robert stops to help a dove. |
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| It had a hurt wing, but it could hop, so he released it. |
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| Capitol Feed feed mill, no longer in service, but still a nice norther skyline structure. |
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| The ditch we did not pursue. #loveourRangerbut |
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| Looking for tracks today after recent rains . . . cattle tracks . . . |
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| pig or deer running . . . likely pig . . . |
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| more pig or deer or both . . . |
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| Looks like maybe one of our local bobcats might have had a meal. |
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| Looks like a raccoon . . .? |
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| Same as above . . . |
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| A corn crib from settlers est. early 1900s. |
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| Their simple outhouse reminds me of my Grandaddy's at our family ranch in Medina. |
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| Robert is proud because he "found an old hoe." He is so punny. |
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| This is a much older corn crib from Central Texas settlers est. 1800s! |
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| Up-close image of a nail in the corn crib. The pigs have been here, so it's a bit more torn apart than the last time we saw it. Grrr. |
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| A random shot of a central tank that usually holds water but sometimes runs dry. We check them regularly. Looking good. |
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| Coyote tracks. We saw a large one run in front of the ranger just before finding this track. This is their land too, for sure. This past year one came up to our front doorstep and grabbed our ratcha. I lunged at it, and it released her, but we hunt them now. They can stick with bunnies--not our pets. Boundaries matter. |
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| Cubes are cow candy, and boy are they all tame now. They drool at the sound of our Ranger or Robert. |
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| My favorite. This one takes my breath away. |
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| What a beauty. |
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| Robert capturing me capture tracks with my camera. |
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| Posing for my man. |
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| And there are the trouble-makers. These are the cattle that were visiting neighbors. |
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| Cow tails. |
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| What we call Red Gully. This is where all the fence action took place. |
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| Robert revving the chainsaw to clear the down fence line. |
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| Me remembering how to use this thing. Fencing pliers are pretty multi-purpose. I have a new appreciation after this day. I think we used every part of it. |
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| More fence line down. Turns out the other section was just a warm-up. Hey, whatever it takes. |
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| So I got a little over-zealous with the smaller chainsaw. That's Robert fixing my mistake. Chainsaw + barbed wire caught. Woops. |
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| Post Hole Diggin! Get it, Babe. |
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| All better for now. Ahh. |
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| A natural creek-bed bridge ahead. |
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| Robert thought this was a cave, but it's just a nice snaky den. Beautiful. |
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| This is what Red Gully looks like dry. |
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| You can see a bit of the sandstone. Must be why the area is called Red Rock near here. |
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| Pigs have pushed up the bottom of a neighbor's fence. Not okay. |
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| Cool winter shades here are just as lovely as their brilliance in spring. |
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| This is a wilder one of our branded cattle here. She likes me. |
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| So sweet! |
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| More cube time. |
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| More join the fun. |
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| Big ole Papa bull heading for a family photo opp with more cubes for all. |
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| And the final photo of the day--even the little ones posed for us! So precious. |
