Fall Cow Works - Day 1

 I'll be cooking for the crew for 6 days this week and on Saturday I HAD to get to town for groceries. The list was long

 And the price was steep

I spent another $150 at Sam's and it took me 10 trips to haul everything in to the house.

I fixed waffles this morning

along with eggs, bacon, and fruit for breakfast and then jumped in the rig to haul the boys out. Lots of silhouette photos because it was too dark for anything else, but that SKY!

You simply cannot beat a New Mexico sky

These all came straight out of the camera:

This place is big and I often haul them out and drop them off to help out. Then they might only have to ride 15 miles instead of 25 although DH said they rode about 30 miles this morning.

This morning, we drove 24 miles to their drop off point and it took an hour to get there.

It was such a pretty morning and a crisp 35 degrees so I'm betting their horses were frisky

I came back to the house, washed up the breakfast dishes and threw together a second dessert. Initially, I was planning on going in to work after breakfast, but I'm going to haul the boys out again after dinner and my boss said they'd be fine. I'll check in with them after I drop the crew off and go in then, if need be.

I went out to feed the chickens and guineas. I can't figure out if these two are the parents or just 2 hens, but the babies are never far from their watchful supervision

The baby guineas are growing fast

This little fella was soaking in the first rays of morning sun:

So, since I thought I'd be going in to work, I just fixed something that would stay hot and be simple for DH to drag out at noon:

Taco Soup with Fritos, shredded cheese, and sour cream

And Ginger Snaps and O'Henry Bars for dessert.

Leftovers for supper!

A Bit of Sewing Progress Amidst the Daily Adventures of Ranch Life

Yesterday was the first day we've had sunshine in 11 days. That's probably a record here as we have over 300 days of sun here every year. It was a welcome change though and the perfect way to welcome Autumn. In between raindrops, I managed to get the chicken coop mucked out and hauled in many loads of sweet smelling loose hay from the floor of the barn:

 Our dirt tanks are full

and the pastures are thick with grass. The ranch has had between 2"- 6" of rain and we're incredibly grateful.

We made a fast trip to Lubbock last Friday in the rain (almost 3 hours one way) for some shopping

Doesn't everyone shop for livestock scales when they go shopping? And yes, that is all we shopped for. We were there for 2 hours and then we ran into Cabela's for 30 minutes, grabbed a bite to eat and headed home.

DH has been making ladders in the shop

for the storage tanks we installed and plumbed in a few weeks ago:

So, even with the rain, sewing time has been hard to come by, but the Four Corners quilt needs attention and is at the top of my priority list. DH is helping the neighbors today and tomorrow which means he leaves by 4. And yes, I do get up with him as we like to start our day together and I stumble into the kitchen to make him coffee while he heads out to catch and saddle his horse.

That leaves me empty morning hours and I am spending them at my sewing machine. It took me a while to figure out where I had left off and remember that the pieces weren't lining up right when I put it away

There are some pieces that called for 1 7/8" squares cut in half and I cut them into 2" squares, but I guess I was more precise with my stitching than I thought and my seam allowances probably weren't consistent from time to time as I put this project on the back burner for weeks and then months, and the parts didn't fit together properly. The way everything fits together, there really isn't a way to trim either so I had to re-cut over 300 1 7/8" squares into HSTs. Much better!

I finally reached the spot where I had originally stopped because June got crazy and was able to make some more progress:

This pattern isn't hard, but it requires concentration so things don't get turned around and I can't listen to an audio book while sewing on this one. Now that I'm back to working on this, I hope to stay focused and get this into a top soon. I've also got a box of fresh orchard picked apples I'm working through  and the house smells like fall:

And I've got small bunch to cook for on Thursday and Friday and antelope hunters will be here this weekend which means stripping and washing bedding for 6 beds and cleaning the bunkhouse. DH installed a new water heater for it last week.

 And next week we start weaning calves so I've got a trip to town planned at the end of the week for groceries.

I am really going to love this quilt and I'd love to keep it, but it's a Christmas gift and it's frustrated me enough that it's doubtful I'll make another...although I've been known to change my mind.

All of that SHOULD keep me out of trouble, but I'm not making any promises. :)