We are a Home School family who lives out in the other neck of the woods. We are striving to do our best by serving Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and honor Him in all things.
Living on a ranch comes with lots of responsibilities. One of the things we love the most is getting to spend time together as a family while working. We have many memories from the day the cows got out and trampled in our garden, to the day that we all sat on the back porch watching the vivid colors of the glorious sunset.
We raise pure bred Angus cattle. In the Summer/Fall, we round up all the cattle so that we can brand all the calves that were born earlier that year. We also breed all of the cows during this time, and sort off the ones that are too old to calve any more. We then sort them again to get different cows to different pastures.
After sorting, we saddle up the horses again and head out to take them to their new home for the Winter and Spring. After a long day's work, we are all very glad to get back home, kick up our feet, and sip some iced tea.
During January/Febuary, we start to calve. Well, not us, but the cows. :-) During this time, we go out every day in the feed truck and check on the cows. If there are any new babies, we tag them so that we can keep track of who their parents are. When you raise registered, pure bred cattle, you must keep track of their genetics and what not. This way we don't have any imbreeding in our cattle. After tagging the little darlings, we head out to check all the tanks and break any ice that might have formed. Some days it gets so cold that we can stand on the ice!
When we aren't out checkin' the cattle, we are snuggled inside by the warm fire enjoying come cocoa and some laughs. There is always something funny going on around here. However, it isn't always pleasure inside.. when it gets especially cold at night, as it does out here in the West, we often have calves that are frozen. The momma cows decide to give birth in the middle of the night, and the poor babies are wet and cold. What a welcome to the world! The next thing it knows, it is being hauled back to the house in the back of the truck, and set in a bathtub full of warm water. When it finally comes to it's senses, it sees lots of interesting faces around it. This is always fun for us. Having a calf in the bath tub, as if that isn't normal. ;-) We take turns holding it's head out of the water and trying to rub it's skin to get the blood flowing again. When it does come to it's senses, everyone in the house knows it as it lets out a loud bawl. Once it is nice and warm, we often times keep it in the house for a bit to make sure it is alright, and then it goes back to it's grateful momma. It is loads of fun. :-)
We are also doing some school during this time as well. However, schooling doesn't always come first on some days. We kids are usually glad when school breaks up in order to get the cows back in their right pastures, or to fix fence (and there is a lot of that to do!).
In the early Spring, our family enjoys doing the registration for our Home School convention. It is always fun to listen to the speakers, see lots of old friends and new friends, visit all the vendors, and spend time together. After a weekend of hard work and fun, we come home and crash. ;-)
The rest of the year is spent together, doing school, visiting with friends, or celebrating birthdays.
Thank you for stopping by our blog. Please be sure to leave a comment and check back with us when you can!
God bless!
Meet Me in Montenegro (2015)
9 years ago
