What I've Been Up To

Gosh, I wish I had time to publish a short post every day. Then you wouldn't have to wade through posts with random subjects like this. But part of the reason I write, is to keep track of what goes on around here. One of these days when someone asks, "What did ya'll do out there all the time?", I can direct them here or hand them the growing stack of blog books I have printed. :)

 I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th. I know it was a long weekend for most of ya'll. Around here, it's been business as usual. Leaks need fixing

troughs need cleaning out:

Gas wells need repairing:

Hay needs unloading: (This is an old picture)

                           

Grass needs mowing:

                                              

Weeds need pulling:

Rain gauges need dumping
:

YAY! In June alone we had 2" here at the house. June is statistically our hottest, driest month so this has been a welcome change. Our west side hadn't caught any though. This place is pretty big so it's rare that all of it catches rain at the same time. July and August tend to be monsoon season. Here in the desert, monsoon season is a funny expression because there are years our annual rainfall has totaled  3". That makes for a rough year when you are trying to raise cattle on grass.

On Sunday we had a 20% chance of rain and we ended up with  0.9". A few weeks ago we had a 100% chance and got not a drop. Last night they forecasted 20% again and this morning we had another 1.0". Our radar looked like this at 1:30 this morning:

                                                    

This time, most of the ranch got good and soaked, including the west end. There's no rain gauge there, but the dirt tanks that were dry, are now full! Catching dirt tank water is always  a good thing.

                                 

Harvey and Skeet wore each other plumb out:

We had a quiet 4th. DH smoked ribs and we invited our North Camp fella over.

                                                        

Soon plates were empty and tummies were full. D has been stranded for a few weeks because of this:

He was on his way to a wedding in Oklahoma the afternoon we finished working cattle and he called DH about 3 hours later. His transmission blew out about 90 miles from the ranch. So we hooked up to the flatbed, loaded the wench and headed out to rescue him:

Poor kid. We were all thankful that he even had service to call for help because this road is long and empty and phone service is spotty at best:

The bride wanted him there so she rented him a car and I took him to the airport in town the next morning. He has another wedding this weekend so DH will take him in to pick up his rental car in the morning.
I would do it, but my partner in all things quilting and I are escaping to a little town 75 miles away for some fabric therapy so stay tuned. I love this quilt shop and surely, we'll return with some goodies and inspiration to share.

Chuckwagon Cowboy II - Baby Quilt

In my attempt to use up some fabrics that have been lingering for far too long around here, I made up another little baby quilt using this chuckwagon cowboy print:

                              

Hobby Lobby has carried this for years and it took me longer to figure out what to do with it than it did to actually make it:

                               

A few years back I decided a simple strip quilt might possibly work and I made one for a new arrival on the neighboring ranch. There was still enough fabric left for one more quilt:

So I pulled coordinating fabrics from my stash and made some square in a square blocks, alternating those with the cowboy print:

After a run through the washer and dryer, it's 38 x 40. A bit smaller than I like to make baby quilts, but I doubt the baby will mind. See, even Chappo seems to know that quilts have nap inducing qualities::

                            
 
Jackie quilted a fun swirl across it, and I used the last of the main fabric for the back, finishing it off with a denim print I had:

Just about the size of a saddle blanket:

                            


This was in another stack of quilts I have to bind:

Now if I could only find the time to get to them. One down:

Our girl came home from her University trip to North Dakota on Sunday. She brought along one of her favorite college buddies from when she was an undergrad. I went to work on Monday, but I guess he asked her, "What are all of these boxes stacked up around here?"

Her reply, "Fabric. My Mama's a quilter." And then she proceeded to walk to a closet and fling it open as she continued, "But, WAIT....there's MORE!". LOL. My child is a rascal. Now I am fairly certain he thinks her mama is a little left of center field. I'll bet if I made him a quilt, he'd have a change of heart. ;)

Puddles!

We'd had a little bit of rain earlier this spring, but we were getting pretty dry. The excessive heat - 105+ day after day, coupled with the wind - didn't help matters either. I think they're forecasting another 110+ day today. Today, we're winding down. This is the last day we're working the Corrientes and I had planned to sneak out and take some pictures, but they're branding over at Devil's Tank and it takes 40 minutes to get there and longer today, because of this:

I think we had a less than 20% chance of rain and about 7, yesterday evening, the wind just hit...hard. The sky was brown with dirt until the rain started. For a while, it was raining sideways...fast and furious:

And puddles began to appear quickly:

We love a good, slow soaking rain, but we love a hard rain too because it runs water and that running water fills up our dirt tanks. DH was just finishing up outside and I had run in to take a shower so I was in my pj's. When your day starts at 2:30, and you're coming in at 7 and 8 in the evening, it doesn't take too many days like that to wear a body out. It wasn't so bad when we were 30 or 40, but boy howdy! - hit 50, and weeks like this are rough. DH had fixed a leak and worked on a well, after a full day of branding, and he came in just covered in mud and oil.

We were SO ready for bed - too tired to even eat any supper, but this was a fast moving storm and after about 40 minutes, it stopped raining and we both ran out to check the rain gauge:

DH was still dressed, but I ran out in my pj's. I was out there for about 45 minutes. Thank goodness there's not a neighbor within 7 miles of us. Since much of the storm was a horizontal rain, we may have gotten more, but I can tell you that this sure did pep us up! DH went in to shower and I ran around with the dogs who were sure enough enjoying the storm's aftermath:

I wish these next 2 picture weren't blurry. They would have been a great shots had they been clear, but I liked them anyway.Yes, he chases rabbits...on a daily basis.

We are absolutely overrun with rabbits and they eat a surprisingly large amount of grass. You might think a little rabbit can't eat THAT much grass, but they eat all day and when you multiply that rabbit by the thousands, they DO eat a lot. Skeet thinks this is his job and he's very serious about it.

And for those of you that are bound to ask, yes, he caught it, but I'll spare you those photos, as some of ya'll may not appreciate that part of rural reality. Skeet actually caught 2. He walked away from the first one when a second one ran past him and Harvey stole the one Skeet had abandoned. Harvey tries to keep up with Skeet, but what he lacks in speed, he makes up for in heart:

It's funny to watch them together - they are quite the pair:

I was absolutely give out before the rain, but the good Lord just poured His blessings down on us and revived us with His gift yesterday evening:

This morning I made breakfast burritos, put out grapes, and baked cinnamon rolls

and the morning banter around the breakfast table was lively and filled with good humor. Rain does that.

Round 2!

Just as I watched the dust from the last rig leave headquarters last Friday, more dust was headed our way. We had a full house and a busy weekend with 6 extras here to celebrate Father's day. I love it when the front of the house looks like this:

Nothing makes me happier than when all of our family is together. Saturday was brutal as far as the heat:

And this week promises more of the same. Everyone finds their favorite shady spot in the heat of the day

:

The wind was whipping up a storm on Sunday morning and wind and smoking do not a good team make. So DH moved the smoker:

I put all of my leftovers to good use this weekend and DH filled the smoker with chicken. Cornish Game Hens on one side:

And big chickens on the other:

Everyone pulled out on Sunday: One in the morning because she was headed to North Dakota (I made a trip into town to meet her ride from the university), 2 in the afternoon, 2 headed south in the evening, and 1 headed east. I made 24 Buckaroo Bundles on Sunday to send with the kids:

Buckaroo Bundle Recipe Here

                                             
I made 16 2 weeks ago and our girl's bringing a college buddy home this next weekend so I'll probably be making more to send back with them.

I loved every minute of the weekend and can't wait till we get to do it again. My FIL is turning 80 in August so that's the next clan gathering!

After work on Monday, I made another trip to the grocery store because the crew was gathering around my table at 4 the next morning and I think I was expected to feed them. :)  Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert is on the menu for dessert so I know there will be lots of happy cowboys!

Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe Here

                                             

I've got roast in the pressure cooker for barbecue sandwiches tomorrow and am fixing to put together the Chocolate Eclair dessert. It's DH's favorite. :) Can't remember if I've shared it or not. I'll check - and if not, I guess I ought to do that. :) I've got to tackle that laundry too. Lots of bedding from everyone being here this weekend and I'll need it for the next round this coming weekend. I think I need a nap. 2:30 a.m. will be here before I know it.