Saddled Up

With spring work settling down, Dad and I decided to take the kids for a ride and get a fresh lay of the land. 

I've been on both Chief and Mollie once this spring. Thanks be to God, Chief feels sound. I think I better start shoeing him though. 

It's been rainy around Worland and a horse just can't help but roll in the mud. 

Harnessed up and ready to ride. 

Dad and Chief were the first ones to break in the Sand Box Riding Arena. Works good!

Then we cut out into the field to check on the grass. Saddle back is a great way to view grass. Coming right along. 

I always like to stop and see our Blessed Mother. 

Then we rode around the south end of the ranch. Don't get back here much. Real cool rock out croppings. 

Rough country. No problem for Tonto and Scout, though. 

We ventured into the neighbors. Native grass is coming along good. This is typical Big Horn Basin prairie; bunch grass, dirt, sagebrush, rocks, bunch grass, repeat. 

We'd like to put cows in here this spring so we looked over the fence. Needs some tending to. 

Surprise! In all this dull countryside stands the most beautiful, bright pink flower in the world, Indian Paintbrush. What a great gift. 

Then back home from the other end. 

God bless America. 

Good work, kids.

This was fun. We are finally starting to reap the rewards of all our toil under the sun. So much of the heavy lifting of our ranch restoration project is complete and we are able to enjoy it with some horsing around. No better perspective than from on top of a horse. The country is coming along. A little warm weather and a shot or two more of rain, and spring will be in full swing. There's always more work to be done. But sometimes you just have to stop and smell the sagebrush. Let's ranch. 

New Old Fence

After moving our pivot sprinkler and planting the field to pasture, it was time to rebuild the north fence line. Of course you could just go buy new material and knock the job out. But where's the fun in that? With no livestock on either side of the fence, we took our time to rebuild it inexpensively and right.

The old fence was shot, to say the least.

So last summer we tore it out.

And hauled it off.

Then set new brace posts.

Here's where the fun begins. I've seen always seen this old highway right of way wire, spooled up along the roadside. And, I've always wanted to rummage through it and make a new fence out of the good old wire. Well, my buddy Will down in Kaycee, hooked me up with two bundles to help make my dream come true. 

So we hauled in home and unrolled it. There was barb wire spooled up with it, which was a tangled up mess. But when it was said and done, the hog wire looked pretty good.

We had to make about three splices. I've hardly worked with woven wire, so I researched how to splice it. On each side of a vertical, cut the horizontals and spin them around each other. One spinning backwards and one spinning forwards. That way, as the pull, they tighten against each other. 

Then we wrapped it around a pipe and hooked it to Dad's truck to tighten up. 

It really stretched up nice. 

For the top strands of barbwire, we turned to Grandpa's old scrap wire pile. This is good wire, just needs a new home.

A good single strand splice follows the same logic, one forward, one backward. This way there is no kink to weaken the wire and break at a later date. 

Again, she tightened up real nice.

It's always a good idea to put the wire on the side of the post that is going to get the most pressure. As critters push against it, they are pushing against the post and not just the clips that hold the wire on. Here's our wire ration: 50" at the top and about 1.5" off the ground. The first barb wire sits right on top of the woven, to keep a cow from wanting to stick her head through. And the top two remove any funny ideas of trying to jump. 

Should work. 

Good fences do make good neighbors. They also allow for a little peace of mind, knowing that it would take extreme circumstances for a critter to breakout. I like building fence. And I'd rather do so with left over material that still has life. I think this wire and posts would rather be serving a purpose than rotting away in the dirt. Looks good to me. We'll see what the cows think. On to the next one. 

Holy Arguing

In debate, Jesus shows up.

           https://youtu.be/H6y2w5JLhJA         

Church Bells

The bell tower of the church has been one place I’ve wanted to explore. With a free hour and a trusty ladder, we ventured upwards to see what we could find. 

I love the sound of our church bells and would like to hear them of a regular basis. 

Construction began on the church in 1949, and it was built with local stone. 

Darin helped me access the trap door. 

There’s a cool first room below the bells themselves. 

The steeple is finely constructed out of lumber. 

The smallest bell out of the three is reported to be off an old train steam engine. 

These two 36”ers make all the noise you want. Not sure what they are made of, but all you have to do is tap your fingernails on them and they will sing. 

Fun stuff. I’d love to hear theses guys three times a day, everyday. We’ll see what we can do. In the meantime, it’s good to see what we have to work with. Ranch on. 

Mary

Be open to where God can be found.

           https://youtu.be/OkwBD3RuIwQ         

Fearful yet Overjoyed

The tension in the Christian life.

           https://youtu.be/3KN0ywBPL0o         

Risen Signs

Let the signs of God point you to Christ's resurrection. 

           https://youtu.be/vUwfdB8nPts         

Betrayed

Jesus shows how to handle betrayal.

           https://youtu.be/pu0eNP6H230         

Lawn Care

With Easter around the corner, we decided to give the church lawns a little cleaning up. They are in good shape. But coming out of winter, everything could us a manicure. 

Looks fine from a distance. But up close, the yard is matted and full of debris. 

So Darin fixed me up with this yellow stallion. 

Bring it. 

So fun to make such a difference with so little effort. 

Having this gone has to promote some new growth. 

We just dumped the tailings in the Paddy Wagon. 

Much better.

Then to the next yard behind the church. 

Same scenario. 

That works.

Then onto the house. 

This grass was thicker. I had to go over it twice, at different levels, to get the crew cut I was looking for. 

This mower is an animal. 

Done. 

Muy Bien. 

Good deal. I'm glad we got this dirty job out of the way. With some moisture coming in this week, these lawns should be perked up nicely in time for Easter. We'll find out. Ranch on.