Another day at the office

This is Tony Llama..

We had to say goodbye to Scott today. He was here for 2 weeks helping out on the ranch and he will be missed. He was great to work with and always found the fun in the job! But...I don't think he will miss the sheep too much.

We have been vaccinating sheep & calves that have gotten sick. We moved some cows to a pasture just west of Oshkosh yesterday.

Today we got back to fencing a cornfield where more cows will be turned into probably later in the week.

Lauren, the owner, has Tuesdays off and yesterday she made sloppy joes, pistacio salad and these wonderful date bars for lunch. She is a wonderful cook and we look forward to Tuesday lunches! Thanks Lauren!!

We had to wean 4 calves off of the milk cow today to make room for 2 more calves that need a nurse cow. They were crying all day.

I took some pics of some things on the ranch. Enjoy a bit of Nebraska!

Pumpkin patch

I had a day off on Tues. and I drove to Chappell to pick up a friend to go to the pumpkin patch with me. We drove to Big Springs and had a great time. There was acres and acres of pumpkins and gourds. We collected some and then headed back to her house. She and her husband had me join them for lunch.

I also did some geocaching and found 2 caches.

Thurs. was a busy day at the ranch. We have an extra hand for another week. Scott lives in Omaha and came out here for 2 weeks to help out. He purchaced some property from the owner earlier in the year and comes out to help on the ranch when he can. We sorted sheep, placed rams in pens with ewes, seperated cows and calves, vaccinated calves, moved cows and calves to a different pasture. It kept us busy all day. I hopped on the horse and rode her, I hadn't been on a horse in about 8 years. When I was leaving, a ewe was having her lambs.

We did get a little snow yesterday and it has been bitter cold with wind for the past 2 days. It is supposed to be warmer today

Lambs, lambs and more lambs

At the ranch, where I'm working, we have babies all over the place. Also a pic of the water tower with the beautiful sunset.

23 ewes have lambed and we have about that many left to lamb. We've had to pull 5 lambs and have lost 3 lambs. Also lost a calf the other day.

We're doing fence rebuilding now so we can wean spring calves and get the cows onto new pasture.

One of the hired hands will be leaving the end of the week for a month so we are trying to get all these things done before he leaves.

I have learned how to drive the bobcat and the tractor now. It was a little intimidating at first but now, it's just fun!

I got a phone call from Phyllis who is in Quartzsite last night. It was good to talk with her. She said the count of people coming in is down about 25 from last year.

Today, I have the day off and I'm headed to Chappel to pick up a friend and we are going to the Pumpkin patch. Need some decorations for Halloween...

Oct 12

Hello from Nebraska! We won't be going to Quartzsite Arizona this fall due to having to reclaim our house in Oshkosh Nebraska. The renter failed to pay rent and we had her evicted and are now living in the house. Breaks my heart to have to stay here and not be with my friends in the south. During the month of August and September, Bob came over and spent a lot of time at the house. I came over several times and we spent a lot of time in the court room trying to get some of the money back that was owed. The judge ruled in our favor so now comes the hard part, getting the money. If necessary, we will take her to court again..
My sister, Donna, and I spent a lot of time this summer on hikes. We only completed one overnight hike. That was the tough one! We each carried about a 33# pack on our backs and the hike was tough. But we made it and I felt good about it. Our longest was the Thursday before I moved over to Oshkosh. We went on an 11 mile hike. It took about 6 1/2 hours. One spot was tricky, we had to cross a ravine that had been washed out and only a small log across it. I froze in the middle but eventually made it across. The next 2 days were kinda tough, the muscles I hadn't used in a while sure talked to me.
Since moving to Oshkosh, I got a job working with a rancher and his wife. They were friends before and asked me to help them. I am helping with lambing, calving, chores, fencing and general ranch stuff. I am dog tired at night but sure sleep great.
I'll send pictures when I get some of the lambs we are getting every day.
Miss everyone in Q!