Gift of Love

Love is a total gift of self. 

           https://youtu.be/K3e08W8y6rY         

New Pump

In general, most ranchers would not consider themselves farmers too. The Lungren's are a rare breed. We came to town farming and only in the next generation did we pick up on ranching. Subsequently, farming is always in our blood. And if your are going to farm in the Big Horn Basin, you better get good at irrigating. 

The valley around here was pretty much settled on flood irrigation. But over the years, pumps and sprinklers have prevailed. Our little place has always been pumped. Grandpa started out with a 25hp pump, but after we put a pivot sprinkler system in, we didn't need that much pressure. So Dad toned it down to this 15-horse, which has served well for the past 15 years or so. But with our set up today, we could use a bit more power. 

So we set out to exchange this good and faithful servant with a new 20hp set up. 

There's a bit involved in this pump station. Beings we pump right out of the canal, we have a moss-catcher that sits right in the water and a horizontal filter immediately after the discharge. 

The first step was to unbolt the filter. 

Then break loose the fittings. Only a 36" will do. 

Once unbolted, our handy farmhand lifted it right out of the way. 

Then cleaned the pad up for the new pump to bolt in. 

In a project like this, make sure and have plenty of WD-40 on hand. 

Safety first. 

To our surprise, it bolted right up. Gear-wrenches are handy in places like this. 

All the fittings lined up as well. Made sure and doped the threads good. 

Then re-bolted the filter back up. 

And put a new gage on, rated for higher pressure. It’s good to use a liquid filled gage when working with components that vibrate a lot, such as a pump. They just hold up longer. Also, when using teflon-tape, always wrap with the direction of the threads. 

This is a three-phase pump, so it can run in either direction. We had a 50/50 chance of wiring it right the first time, but we were wrong and had to switch two wires. No problem at all. 

Bingo. 

We like to use this little cover to shade the motor from the sun. Helps it run cooler and use less energy. 

It fired up and ran real smooth. This centrifugal pump has packing that allows the input shaft to drive the pump without water leaking by. That being said, a little water trickling through is necessary to keep the packing lubed.  

Nice. 80psi at the wellhead. 

And 48psi at our big gun. 

Sweetness. It's easier to deal with too much pressure than not enough. This new pump certainly enhanced the one-sprinkler-wonder on our little alfalfa corner, and will really lite-up the hand-line on the 5 Acre as well as the pivot on the big barley field. It's like my old ranching buddy would say, rain will make a farmer out of anyone. True, but around Worland it doesn't rain enough to grow a weed. Thankfully, the Good Lord made a river run right through our little valley. From it, we can grow the best crops in the state. Irrigation is great, but it comes with a cost. If you want to be a farmer/rancher in the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming, you best get used to pumping water. 

Human Flourishing

All moral teaching of the Church is ordered towards human flourishing.

           https://youtu.be/cxHRD9otTzs         

Brothers

Jesus teaches us well how to work within the tension of being a child of God and still having family relationships. 

           https://youtu.be/tsx0f9zNVwk         

Scrambled Eggs

I'm an egg guy. Fried, soft, or scrambled, it's all good to me. Scrambling is probably the easiest, especially if you're camp cook at our annual ranch retreat. It's simple, clean, and you can feed an army.

Most people crack the eggs into a bowl and whip them up first. That works. But I like to just crack the egg right into the pan and slowly mingle the whites and yokes. 

Here's a new and nifty way to crack an egg. 

My buddy Josh sent it to me. 

Just wack the center of the egg on the pointed protruding edge. 

And bam! Perfectly cracked egg. I'm impressed. Cuts clean, right through the inner egg membrane, and leaves hardly any egg white on the cracker. Thanks Josh!

Then just unload them right into a heated, non stick pan. Oh yeah, for best results use farm fresh Flocchini eggs. 

Just let them slowly cook, without breaking the yokes yet. As the whites get white, just stir them around so they cook evenly.

In the meantime, chop up some of last night's buffalo burger.

As the whites get cooked, start to break the yokes and get them cooking. The idea is not to just mix the whites and yokes together, but let them cook separately. This makes for a more colorful batch of eggs, and better tasting too. 

Well before its fully cooked, add your buffalo burger so it can get warmed up. Good time to add some seasoning as well. 

Looks done to me. Don't over cook them. I'd rather them a little snotty than rubbery. 

Come and get it!

Now that's fine dining. 

Delicious. Can't beat home grown eggs and bison. Makes for a pretty tasty breakfast. There is more than one way to cook an egg. But when you need to feed the men, scrambling is the quickest way to go. Special thanks to John Flocchini for hosting our men's retreat and providing the food. Paved the way for a real encounter with our Providential Father. Keep up the Good work, pal. On to the next one!

Grafted

Through our baptism we have been grafted onto Jesus. Now His grace runs through our veins. 

           https://youtu.be/4gVAKqwVV7U         

1982 Ford

The four Gospels contain four different perspectives of the one Jesus.

           https://youtu.be/C1KXG8D-LDM         

Bridle Repair

About the only memory I have a getting yelled at as a kid was for tying a horse up hard. To this day I know I shouldn't, but I still do. But if I don't they are just going to get loose and walk on their reins. Blasted! 

Well, I got bit again. I double wrapped up Chief recently, and he pulled back and broke my headstall. Fortunately, I tied him to something stout. I have the good sense never to tie a horse to a panel are something that could pull loose if they spook. That's a wreck waiting to happen.  

So I set out to fix my bridle. The original side strap was one piece that connected the bit and ran back around.

With enough leather to play with, I figured I'd just extend it a couple holes. 

And sandwich it in the middle of this loop. 

Needle nose pliers are a must when working with leather. Guess that's why they call them a Leatherman.

After I marked the placement of the holes, I punched them with a leather-punch. They are a must-have in any tack shed. Just rotate the cylinder until you find the right sized punch, and press it through. Once you have it through, twist your tool back and forth to finish the cut. Make sure and go big enough. Nothing worse then breaking the only leather strap you have trying to pull it through a hole that's too small. 

Then I just fed it through the three parts. 

And put a good square knot on it. To do so, make sure each end is on the right side of the other and heading back out the direction it initially came in. Should be square if so. 

Dropped a couple holes and we're back in business. 

Ready to ride!

Paul calls this my barrel racing bridle. I call it my roping reins. When I'm swinging a lariat, the last thing I need is a set of two-piece reins to hold onto. My hands are full enough. This fix is just one more thing to check off the list of being branding prepared. I don't know if I learned my lesson or not. I struggle knowing how best to tie a horse up with a bridle. If I don't have a halter, I'll usually just hobble him if he's going to be standing awhile. I suppose the right thing to do is teach your horse not to pull back. It's all good. Thanks be to God for leather. It's willing to give if the pressure gets too high. If not, we'd all have a lot more war stories. On to the next one. 

Together at Last

What's the saying, two's company, three's a crowd. The same goes with horses. Introducing a new horse into the herd needs to be done with caution. Especially when you are going from two to three. With two, it can be easy for them to gang up on one. Knowing my critters, I didn't want to rush the issue. 

We wanted to make sure Red was good and halter broke before we started the processes. Then if something went south, we at least had a chance to get ahold of him. Having them across the fence from each other for the past month really eased the process. 

Before we ever kicked a horse in with him, we walked Red around the permitter of the corral so he had his bearings. Then we kicked just Mollie in with him for a day. Being a mare she can really stir the pot with other horses. But she has been spayed, so she doesn't seem have as much effect on geldings as other mares do. They got along just fine. 

Then we kicked her out. 

And put Chief in. He is actually the chief of the herd. He pushes Mollie around and made known, right away, to Red who was boss. But with a corral this size, Red had plenty of room to run if need be. Most horses aren't out right mean to others, they just want to make sure everyone knows who's boss. 

Content. 

Red is definitely low man on the totem pole. But they are all going to get along just fine. I'm actually glad to have three horses around. Now if I take Chief out for brandings, Mollie can just hang tight with Red. All is good. We've been bending and sending him, and doing other forms of ground work. The saddle is really not too far away. We'll just have to see what time allows for. However, now that they are all together, there's no rush. 

Sandbox

Jesus is THE means to THE end, which is the Father. 

           https://youtu.be/o8o-XvbsORg         

 

Ever Pervading

 To hear God's voice we have to believe. 

           https://youtu.be/S36RJHkUQCE         

Life to the Full

Catholicism is about human flourishing. 

           https://youtu.be/3AWGOpxFX3k