Last Week

 It seems as if things never really slow down around here. I'm not complaining - it's just life and around here, we're never really off the clock. So many are longing for longer days, but we're up before the sun and don't close out the day until it's dark and even then, we sometimes have to tend to things by headlights and flashlights:

And as I get older, I'm pretty pooped at the end of those long days. However, I'm grateful that each day brings it's own measure of joy:

Yes, we now have 2 dogie calves that are eager to see me walk up with their breakfast and supper each day. I've cut back to feeding them twice a day.

We've enjoyed some really nice weather bookending the wintry days:

And I spent one pretty morning in the bottom of what is a dirt tank - that's what we call the water holes around here, but right now it really does just hold dirt 😕 - burning some of the files from my parents' real estate business. There is no chance of the fire getting out of control as there is nothing for it to burn:

And DH and I have been back on leak repair duty:

He fixes a lot more than I document here, but how many pictures of him fixing leaks do you really want to see? Still, it was a beautiful day and Skeet was on hand to oversee our project:

We had a special Brangus sale in town on Saturday that I worked and then it was back in for our regular Monday sale and there's one more special sale this next Saturday:

We got another load of hay in:

And DH and our camp man have been flaking it out. I've been at work thus far, but our camp man recently quit so I'll be on hay duty. It takes all morning, 3 days a week. We've never had to do that before. We've been through droughty conditions before, but this is the worst we've seen. There is NO grass and it's not a case of overgrazing or mismanagement. Grass won't grow without rain. It's the same story across the state as well as in much of West Texas. We're selling another load of heavy bred cows. We'll hold the ones that are currently calving until their babies are a little bigger. By the time the cattle have been sold, we will have decreased our numbers by 75%. It's a good life, but right now, it's a struggle.

And less cattle doesn't really mean less work. It just means DH will be tending to other projects that he hasn't had time for:

                         

You can tell that's an old picture by the tank water and green grass. It'll be like this again one day:

I always say, we're one day closer to the next big rain, but for now, we'll continue to be good stewards of this land that God has placed in our hands

 to be thankful for His merciful grace

and to be mindful that He is always in control