Technology Woes

 I have a love/hate relationship with technology. DH tells me I'm his IT tech. He's in trouble because that's not my area of expertise, but yesterday, he sat down next to me and asked me for help. His phone did one of those automated updates and this is what now shows up on the little icon above my name in his phone

I guess I now wear a turban and sport a beard. 🤣🤣🤣 Think I can pull that look off? 😂

Cooking for the Crew

 Spring has arrived in the desert. The mesquite has leafed out. 

The buzzards have returned. 

Baby calves are on the ground. 

And branding season is in full swing. 

That means I am in the kitchen, cooking for a crew. 

Yesterday I had 20. 😧Since the ranch sold last year, things have changed and one of those things is the size of the crews. For 37 years, DH has branded, weaned, shipped, and generally ran crews of 6-10, occasionally 12. 

But this outfit does things a little differently. They have a lot of ranches and everyone drives to the various ranches to work cattle. It's not wrong. Just different. The breakfast burrito station was open for business at 3 a.m.

 But I was in a quandry about where to put everyone at dinner. I can seat 12 at our dining room table. DH said that other places just eat outside or sit on furniture and the floor, and I certainly don't have 20 chairs. We thought about pulling the flatbed trailer close to the house and just letting everyone eat on it, but I've worked hard to grow a yard here and I'd hate to tear up the grass. I have a set of horseshoe furniture that can seat 8 if someone wants to use that. I did not want to spend our $ on conference tables and chairs, so we asked and the ranch bought them. I'll store them in the bunkhouse and they'll be available for anyone who needs them. I set everything up on east side of the yard under the big trees and that worked great. Those big shade trees are a huge blessing

It was a lot of work shlepping those tables and chairs out and then carrying them all back to the bunkhouse. And before you ask, yes, DH offered to help, but he was leaving at 4 a.m. and we couldn't set everything up the night before because the guineas roost in those trees at night and high winds were forecast overnight as well. I shooed him away after dinner and told him I could put it all away. He still had cattle to sort and a leak to fix and didn't walk back in the house until after dark, with another 3 a.m. alarm for the next morning. If I couldn't do it, he absolutely would have helped, but I am perfectly capable of shlepping. It's a good life, but ranching (and farming - which we don't do)

means long hours, often 18 hour days, 7 days a week, with no overtime pay. So, as a ranchwife, I try to be a supportive helpmeet, but that also means I'm willing to step up and do things by myself when I can. Although I will admit to hollering for him a few days ago when the dang bullsnake scared me to pieces in the nesting box when I went out to gather eggs. 

So, yesterday I cooked 2 big briskets, made Perfect Potato Salad, beans, jalapeno poppers, and corn casserole with Mississippi Mud Pie for dessert. 

It was 96° and I was going to make  gallons of tea but  everyone on this crew lives on Dr. Pepper. The new camp man at North Camp said he drinks 12 a day. I have never bought pop for a crew. I don't even buy it for us,  but the ranch does pay for groceries and DH said that's what they drink everywhere else they work, but I made 4 gallons of tea anyway and it was gone too.

Back in the day, before Covid, we just carried a 5 gallon cooler with water on the branding rig. Now we fill a cooler with bottled water for the crew to drink while they work calves in the pen.

 I'm grateful the weather was nice and that the wind wasn't howling. 

This outfit doesn't really do breakfast either, but I made 20 breakfast burritos and DH handed them out when they arrived at North Camp. A new fella was finally hired, but his fiancé was just moving in so I cooked. After this, she will cook when they work cattle on the north side of the ranch. 

I used to do this for 10 days in a row, 3 meals a day for maybe 8, but the last time I had to do that was 15 years ago. The old gray mare just ain't what she used to be, but what she is, is 60 and tired. LOL.

Italian Pasta Salad

 Yesterday morning I had to make a quick trip into town to pick up packages from the post office and chairs and tables from Sam's

I timed it so I could grab a roasted chicken. While everything else is increasing in price, I appreciate that Sam's has left their roasted chicken at $5.00 and their chickens are huge. 

DH and I get 3 meals out of them. And yesterday I made this pasta salad to go with it. When I was in Texas, tending to my mom's estate and cleaning out the house, the lady that cut her hair for over 40 years, brought this to me and I loved it. It's so good, fast to throw together, and the perfect addition to a roasted chicken.

Italian Pasta Salad

1 box tri-colored Rotini

broccoli 

cauliflower 

cheddar cheese, cubed

pepperoni

red onion

Zesty Italian Salad Dressing 

*Boil pasta. Rinse and cool. Mix in remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for 1 hour. You can throw anything in here. Like olives? Toss a few in. Need to use those salad peppers? Perfect! A homemade dressing would be good too, but this is what she used and what I had. 

This is the pasta I like to use

I love all the colors in this salad

And yes, we used paper plates. 

This old ranch house doesn't have a dishwasher and DH and I needed to put another coat of Linseed oil on the flatbed right after dinner so paper plates it is.

Thankfully there are leftovers because tomorrow's spring-cleaning-in-the-chicken-coop-day for me

Special Weekend

 Last weekend our newest grandbaby and his Mama and Daddy drove in for a visit so I soaked in all the smiles and giggles I could in the short amount of time they were here. 

Skeet kisses!

           They have lots of animals at home so Lucas is used to critters and Skeet has such a gentle heart although his tongue can get a little excited. LOL.

    

 Such a sweet boy!                              

                                           

But I discovered something. My grandbaby muscles need some training. My hips and hamstrings were so sore! LOL. I first noticed it when I got back from spending time with our 3 yr-old granddaughter last week. 

This old Gram spent so much time on the floor interacting with and playing with them and then swinging them up from the ground probably 100 times and let me tell you, those grandbaby muscles were super achy. My parents and in-laws spent time with their grandkids, but I honestly never saw them on the floor with them and maybe that's why. LOL. 

Still, I wouldn't change it for a minute! 

Birthday Blessings

Last week I hopped a plane to visit our boy and his family and to celebrate a special birthday!

This little nugget is just delightful!

Such a fun age!

Full of ideas and imagination and joy and adventure.

The best kitchen assistant ever!

We made gallons of lemonade for our picnics. LOL

Bath time is a family affair. LOL

Build-a-Bear adventure!

TLC was administered immediately

 We were getting ready to go to the wildlife zoo and mama put this cute outfit on her. Apparently she's grown and the top is now a crop top. Daddy commented: She just turned 3 today. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. LOL. Laughter ensued and outfit was changed.

Such a sweet day

Hip-Hip-Hooray!

I loved capturing those everyday special moments

And the Corn Quilt was a hit!

I savored every moment

There are only 2 daily flights into the nearest airport and one of them arrives at 11:40 p.m.. Flying over Lubbock at this point.

By the time I got home and took a shower it was after 1 a.m. and then it was back to town the next morning for work and up again at 2 a.m. on Tuesday because it's spring branding season and DH left at 3 a.m. to help the neighbors. Whoever said things would slow down when empty nest season arrived lied! OYE! This Gram is pooped! But her heart is full!