Ranching with a Cause

About a month ago, Ian Welles asked if I'd like to ride with them when they ship their calves. You bet. When I know ahead of time, I can put it on the calendar and plan to work outside the office that day. Time well spent. 

We met up at 0600 and traveled southeast of Buffalo, arriving at the shipping corrals at the break of dawn. 

Beautiful view of the Big Horns from here. 

Chief is still a bit lame, so I had to break out the brute. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit scared. She got a little broncy on me in the spring, so I've been avoiding her ever since. But it was time to cowboy up. First I changed her bit. She responded well to the last one, but really didn't like it. Then I took time to ride her the other day. Even when I picked her up this morning I swung in the saddle for a lap or two. This did much for both of our's confidence. 

Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. - John Wayne. 

Once the posse was gathered, Ian lined us out. 

This pasture is on the western edge of the burn, which is seen in the distance. In fact, this is almost dead center of where the lightning struck and took off both north and south. Ian's family ranch was hit hard. 

Cool country. Nice little bottom spring. 

Neat rolling hills and breaks. 

Giddy up! Mollie did great. No hesitation or froggyness. 

All the riders came together for the final push. 

We had guys in the back, keeping them moving. 

And a few on the side, keeping them in line. 

Once through the gate and in the corral, we hobbled our horses.

Hobbles are slick. You just figure 8 them around the front two ankles of your horse, and walk away. They can still move and graze, but not really get away. 

First, we weaned the calves from the cows.

Then we separated the heifer calves from the steers. I manned the gate. 

The steers went straight on the scale to be weighed and sold. These portable scales are handy. It saves a guy from running the cattle to town to weigh and load, which calves will loose weight with all that moving around. Buyers call this effect shrink. Scales like this have to be state inspected within eight months of use. 

After we had everything separated and sexed, we stopped for a muffin break. Pretty tasty. 

Then we backed up the trucks and got to work. 

One final check before we loaded up. The steers were sold and went somewhere in the midwest to be fed-out. They shipped the heifers to Worland to be fed-up before selling later in the year. 

BJ kept the dogies moving.

Up the chute and on the truck. 

Should be a cozy ride over the mountain. 

Game over. 

Cowboys win.

Ian's wife, Megan, brought out a full-on meal to celebrate.

Pretty fancy picnic on the prairie. Real silverware and banquet beer. 

There was one more job to do, though. Pull the bulls. 

Once gathered, we headed them out to a neighboring pasture about a mile or two away. 

Enjoy the winter, boys. Thanks for your service. 

Alls well that ends well. 

A good time was had by all. This is no day off, though. Plenty of work, for sure. But plenty of ministry as well. Conversations about God from the saddle are about as natural as they get. No pretense there, only truth. When you're horseback, reality is real. God is not an idea when you're in the saddle. He's the Man that created the horse you are riding and the cattle you are chasing. He's the God who permitted the fire and the God who saved you from the fire. And, He's the Father that has provided in the past and promised to provide in the future. Life is good. Let us ranch. 

Poverty

 Aim for poverty of spirit.

           https://youtu.be/jGTj2kfsnLI         

Barn Project

For years I've had the bright idea of turning the loft of our barn into a living quarters. Dad said, Go for it, as long as you finish what you start. Roger that. With a bit of extra time this summer, we decided to pull the trigger. The first step was to plumb the utilities in, sewer and water. 

Grandpa built this barn in the mid-1970's. The three-sided logs were taken from an old cabin in Tensleep Canyon that belonged to Fr. Cyril Hmelovsky. Fr. Hmelovsky was the parish priest in town who baptized Mom and later baptized me. The barn has stood strong over the years. Mom and Dad had a tin roof put on it and we painted it within the last 15 years. 

This will be the utility room. Here's where the water and gas will come in and the sewer will go out. Dad had natural gas ran to the barn years ago and we already have electricity down here. When all plumbed in, we will concrete the floor and heat the room. This will be the only room on the ground level that is finished. The rest will remain a barn for overnight critters. 

Designing the septic system was the first step. They have to follow local guidelines so we drilled some test holes to measure the water dispersal rate. Jeremy and Anna Carver helped us layout the system and kept us on track along the way.

Once planned, we got to digging.

Dug about a 8' deep hole for the septic tank, first. We tamped the base down good so it wouldn't settle on us. 

The smallest tank you can permit is a 1000 gallon. With critters and traffic in the area, we made sure not to skimp on quality. Big Horn Redi Mix out of Powell fixed us up nicely. 

Cool.

Then we backfilled the sides. 

Once we got the tank set we could go to work on the leach field. Correct elevation is key in much of this endeavor. Paul and I share this laser transit, which is incredibly handy!

 Hank was good help in holding the measuring rod. 

The 15' x 20' perforated pipe system had to be completely level and under enough fill dirt. We got it pretty close with the 450. 

Then we hauled in some washed rock from town. 

And bedded the field with about 6" of gravel. 

Then we laid out the grid. Seems like everyday we worked on this was hot!

Once in place, we connected the leach field plumbing to the septic tank outlet. 

Should work. The solids settle in the tank and the liquids flow out and disperse into the gravel and soil.

Then we covered it with another 6" of gravel. That was pretty much all shovel work! 

Before we backfilled it, we put a layer of soil-blocking fabric down.

Then pushed the dirt back over the top.

Still having some time as summer was drawing to a close, we went for the clean water line, which was near by. 

We exposed a corral hydrant and found the 1" main line that fed it.

Once we had all our ducks in a row, we tapped into this live line that feeds the entire ranch. 

While at it, we put in a new corral hydrant. These risers self-drain when in the off position. You want to make sure and put gravel around the drain hole so it doesn't plug up over time. 

The 5' trench we dug to the barn bored under the foundation in the same place that we stubbed the inlet of the septic through. 

Here, we decided to put a self-draining curb valve. This way we could shut the water off in the barn and not have to worry about heating the utility room when not in use. 

So we took a little tubing and made a valve handle that would be user-friendly above ground. 

We set the main feed line next to the tubing before we set it in the ground.

Then plumbed it in.

Let 'er buck!

This was definitely a hard hat area. There was a trench or pile of dirt every were you turned. 

Once all plumbed, we got to back filling the whole works.

Dueling dozers. 

Dad's was a little lighter and could walk over the pipe. I just pushed him dirt. 

Not bad for a couple of farmboys. 

Phase one of the barn project is complete. This was no easy task. But with the right people and right equipment, we got it done handedly. It was imperative that once we started this leg of the project we got it done before winter hit. Time to spare. I would also say, this was the biggest hurdle of the project to get over. From here, there is no time constraint. We can pick away at it as we please, summer or winter. 

As for the loft itself... I've got some ideas. I don't doubt this will be a several year project before it is livable. The end result will be nice, but there's no sense in getting in a hurry. Retirement is far off, if ever. It is in the work that the fun can be found. I'll get as much enjoyment in building the darn thing as staying in it. Special thanks to all who make dreams like this possible. Let's ranch.