It's better to be waiting on spring, than spring waiting on you. So in anticipation of warm weather, rain, and new cows, I headed down to the Bell corrals to get the feed situation straightened out.
You ain't no rancher unless you have the family brand burned into your side boards.
Dad and I had some hay stashed away back home from last summer. Just as pretty as the day we baled it.
Hank even showed up to pitch in.
A little different placement this year. I'm pretty confident, or at least hopefully, that the herd outside the corral won't mess with our stack. This'll sure be a convenient spot to get to it. And yes, I did put steel posts on the outside corners.
Now all we need are some cows.
Hopefully that'll be soon. Gerry has a couple with our name on them already. Might as well make a game plan right now. How bout 12 heiferettes this spring and we'll start to run them up to the Raney Ranch as soon as we start to see some green. Sounds good to me.
I've always been a white pickup guy. My first truck in high school was a 89 white GMC 2500. She lasted me until I bought this beauty in 2005. Like the rest, company truck, as I used to call her, had 135K on it when I bought her. I ran her until 2008 when I went to seminary. Wanting to hold nothing back in my pursuit of the priesthood, I gave her to the Carmelite Monastery.
1998 GMC 3500 cab and chassis with a 454 and a 5 speed. Not the the most trouble free truck. We rebuilt the transmission, the transfer case, new set of lifters, the fuel pump went out and stranded me. Someone broke out the passage window and stole my girlfriend at the time’s purse in the Church parking lot. But the truck served me well and I was thankful for our time together.
Of course I had to outfit her with stock racks. I had acquired these oak racks in Montana and built the flatbed around them. It definitely looked cool, which was the main purpose. But they were super unhandy to load and unload two horses. The last time I used them I about burned them.
We pulled some heavy loads together. Sometimes too heavy. Our JD 450 blew a hydraulic line on the mountain while I was fixing roads. Little White Horse came to the rescue. Coming to Worland from Tensleep was like a rollercoaster ride with 20K lbs behind me.
The Monastery got some good use out of her, but I knew she had been parked for several years. Needing a flat bed for my pickup, I asked if they wanted to give her back. And with no hesitation, they did.
Flat tires and stoved up, we got her on the trailer and brought her home.
It's a pretty handy truck. We had put a hoist under the bed when we built it. After remembering how custom made the bed was for this truck I decided not to take it off.
So Dad and I thought we might as well see what's wrong with her. The rats and rabbits had a hay-day under the hood. Ole reliable got the wires patched up though. She was last licensed in 2013. We knew three plug wires were gone, but thought we'd see if she'd crank anyway. It made a revolution or two and then stoped hard. We actually thought we had fluid on the cylinders. After letting it sit, Dad gave her another try and she popped. Sounded pretty good. So we put some plug wires on, changed the flat, and ran up the creek. A good wobble in the front end was about all we could tell was wrong. She'll definitely take some cleaning up, but we'll find a use for her.
Me and Mini Me
It's good to have the company truck back home. With gas prices at an all time high, a 454 is just what we need. Maybe if Gerry comes back to town it can be his ranch rig. Whoever leaves mother or father, or brothers or sisters, or lands, or pickups, for My sake will receive a hundred fold in this life, with persecutions, and eternal life to come.
I don't claim to be much of a cook, but turns out I can make jerky. Having a steady supply of beef, I thought I'd try my hand at drying meat. A few tweaks here and there, but over the last year I think we have making jerky dialed in.
Paul Casey and I plan to start an open forum discussion group called Chewing the Fat, with coffee and jerky.
Not having made jerky before, I called my brother for his recipe. I'd like to share it, but it's a family secret.
5/16" seems to be a good thickness for raw beef. It'll dry down to about an 1/8". I like sirloin and round strips the best.
Then off to our trusty American Harvest dehydrators. During the 12hrs of drying, they put off a nice aroma around the house that I think Fr. Cliff really enjoys.
I'll check them and the ones that are a bit tender we'll keep drying. Generally speaking, 12hrs of marinating and 12hrs of drying will do the trick.
Ready to serve. The meat is pretty dry when it first comes out. But after sitting in a bag for several days, it softens right up.
It seems like I have made more friends since I've been jerkying beef. Not sure why. Guess people are just more friendly when you've got dried meat in your pocket. Our Lord said that man cannot live on bread alone. But I think he could live on jerky alone, or a least he'd try. Paul and I are pretty convinced that dried beef and hot coffee can solve the world's problems. Why don't you pull up a chair and let's find out.
