cowboys – As Far As The Eye Can See

Biscuits, Buffalo, Blessings and Beauty.

Yesterday we held the 3rd Annual Anja cattle drive. Two years ago when our Swiss friend Anja was here we decided to walk our yearling heifers to their summer pasture, that gave her the chance to experience a cattle drive. In the years prior to that we had trucked them. The animals being moved, yearling heifers, are young females that we decided not to sell in order to include them in our herd for the long term. In a couple months they will be introduced to a bull for the first time. We call these young cows our “biscuit heifers”. They are not yet “bred” so they are “biscuits.” Get it?

It was a beautiful day with many memorable moments. I was not on horseback, (I was last year) I just wasn’t in the headspace for it, so I played a support role and from that vantage point was able to get some good pictures.

The biscuit heifers were grazing near our house so this first picture captures the yard in the background as the cowboys move the herd west. I was waiting at the gate where they would turn out onto the road.

From my car window I took this picture of Morgan and sent it to the school secretary as I texted her about Morgan being absent for the day.

The herd is almost out the gate but some of the girls thought they should head east. Thats where I jumped out of my car and into the ditch to change their mind. They did not challenge me really. I might have looked a little scary. A six foot tall woman in a full length burgundy bathrobe was likely not something they were accustomed to!

Everyone is out and heading in the right direction.

And they are off.

Ranching in my robe again.

Over the course of the morning plans for me and what I would do with the crew changed completely. How it ended up seemed perfect. I threw together a make your own sandwich picnic box and met the crew at our land which is about halfway to the pasture. I took this picture just before 11am. I like the vantage point.

This is the herd moving onto the field where I was set up for lunch. This corner is pretty iconic in our area due to this sign. It has become a marker for all who travel near it. Its a red rooster and the words says “Red Rooster Barn”, I think most of us call it “The Red Rooster Road.” A few years ago we got the chance to buy this quarter, it makes for a good stop point on a day like this.

Benches and a table from my fall cow chase “tool kit” allowed this scene. It was a pretty amazing lunch. The weather was almost too warm but sitting in the sun surrounded by nature was incredible. Later when we talked about it we agreed there was a sense about it that this was fine dining.

There were some pretty fun stories told during this break. This was part of one of those moments.

One of the awesome parts of our lunch was that several trucks went by and they all slowed down, I think there was an attempt to avoid kicking up too much dust on our lunch scene and an awareness that these animals were not fenced so they used an abundance of caution. The respect that was part of this was really nice to experience. In this picture a “Flying G” truck is going by.

Russ and Clare, a day to day get er done duo at our ranch. Russ is so appreciating having Clare at his side.

I am really happy with this picture I was able to grab of Miles. He was about to get back riding after lunch was over.

Russ decided to bring Jane our mule on the trail. Her sole job was to follow the herd and tote water bottles. Jane seemed to have mixed feelings about this. Clare did alot of work to keep her going with the herd. It meant alot to Russ. They have a long history together, this marks the 30th year that Russ has put a saddle on Jane. I was riding Jane the day that Russ gave me my first riding lesson in 1999, a day that ended up with him giving me some TLC after I didn’t ride so well when Jane spotted what she thought was a wolf charging out of some bushes, it was actually a big white husky dog but I found the ground pretty fast. Anyways…….as I was holding onto Jane during the moments everyone was getting back in the saddle she and I talked about the good ol days and she suggested we take a selfie.

The crew and herd are back heading west and I headed home to get the truck and trailer. Morgan was riding one of his young horses and needed to give it a break. When I got back to the herd, about 30 minutes later, there had been alot of excitement. The herd encountered a lone loose buffalo. This shook Russell more than anything he has encountered in a very long time. The moments that followed called for some quick thinking strategy as the buffalo wanted to join the herd, as Russ and Miles worked to manage its movements and keep it out of the herd Clare, Morgan and Laurie did their part to get the herd away as fast as possible. This was very dangerous. The buffalo became agitated, it was shaking its head and snorting. We have only a few seconds of video to mark these moments, that is what Morgan was able to manage in the midst of everything else. In the video you glimpse Jane in the foreground and Miles, Russ, the dogs and the buffalo in the background. It all ended up okay but what allowed this to end so well is a bit of a mystery. Between all on the trail there is a lot of faith, it was Miles who came to the conclusion that God was on the trail all day and Jane with her apparently empty saddle was his steed. Having so recently been in hospitals with Russ I am flooded with gratitude for how these moments unfolded. None of the horses got spooked by an animal that they were so unfamiliar with, that in itself is a miracle. Russ was riding the same horse that bucked him off for much less two weeks ago, Morgan added music to his video.

As I jumped out of the truck Russell was quite expressive in telling me what had unfolded, I couldn’t grasp it all at first. Shortly after the stories were told Morg got busy getting his fresh horse ready to go. By the time all was said and done the herd and crew had moved a long way and I had the poetic sight of a lone cowboy on the prairie. This following picture doesn’t do it justice.

A sick heifer needed medicine. My day included picking up the needed drugs at the vet before picking up the cowboys at the end of the chase. They had left “Olympia” at our friends’ pasture chute which was enroute to our pasture. The last job of the day was to return to Oympia and give the meds. Here Russ got in the chute with her to wedge her and stop her from wiggling. Morgan was gripping her tail. Laurie was running the headgate and Miles gave the needles.

Laurie focused on a job that had some tricky moments.

40 seconds before this photo was taken Knightwing was on the floor in the backseat of the truck with her head down. All of a sudden the truck erupted with dog noise. A coyote had been detected. It was a big healthy one. Knightwing was certain she needed to exit through Russell’s window, the two of them blocking each other’s view brought the truck to a stop. Knightwing had work to do, she thought. It was a bit of chaos. By this photo moment things had calmed considerably but I was sharing my seat.

The cheezie party was pretty intense, quite a bit of debriefing, two big bags of cheezies and some cold beer then chips were needed.

Waskesui

I am sitting in the dining room at Hawood Inn in Waskesui.

I came here with Russ. He has been in meetings for two days at Elkridge Resort, they are discussing climate solutions for ranching and farming. I am working on the book we are creating about ranching. I am done the bulk of the writing and now need to work to select and place the best pictures. I came to the Waskesui townsite because we are now checked out of our room and I wanted to come back here to reminisce. Almost 15 years ago I traveled here with three little kids to meet my extended family for a reunion. I hold so much love for those people in my heart. It is comforting and a bit sad to be back here without them, our elders are passing and much has changed. Waskesui remains beautiful and on this sunny but cold winter day it is quiet and rather soul stirring.

Perhaps that is the reason that as I perused our most recent photo shoot from Liz, looking for the pictures that fit best with what I am saying, the picture below stopped me in my tracks.

I am pondering a point I made in my writing. I have a section in the book to explore whats it like to be me, a ranch wife. One of the realities is that this ranch life has created quite a distance between me and the people and spaces of my original hometown, Saskatoon. In the book I readily point out that Russ has acted to lessen the hardness of that. How has he done it? This picture stopped me. The tall guy wearing the slicker, looking like a pretty seasoned cowboy is in fact a grade 8 teacher in Saskatoon. He is my cousins husband. After almost 30 years of knowing Jimmy I just think of him as my cousin. Russ has always been so welcoming of my family and has weathered the challenges of having rookies on the trail, to give them an experience and help them feel welcome at our place. I sometimes take that for granted because it has always been the case, but its really awesome to feel that any of our people can come, and they do.

The other thing about this picture that just about takes my breath away is the two layers of action in it that Gina and Morgan are responsible for. Gina, our oldest daughter, visiting from Toronto at the time of this picture, is helping Jimmy to get tacked up for the ride ahead. The smile you can glimpse tells me how comfortable she is, happy to have Jimmy there and so willing to prep horses for others. Morgan several feet behind her is almost ear to ear with his horse Padre and so very capably bridling him. The last time I was in Waskesui I was attempting to parent two year old Morgan, five year old Jill, and 7 year old Gina. They were terribly cute and endearing, but I had to leave Russ at home haying and I am terrible about asking for help. So I remember the juggling of being here in Waskesui and doing what it took to keep us all on track while soaking up the reunion time as much as possible. Now here I sit, sipping coffee, Morgan is holding down our work at home, and his own, Gina is living a big life, on her own merit, in Toronto and Jill just sent me the goofiest video from her responsibilities at Starbucks in Regina. She is deep into rehearsals for the current musical she is in. I feel like I am bragging to put all this into print, but maybe its okay to say what a friggin relief it is to see your kids get to this point. Maybe its okay to say that raising kids is so incredibly frazzling but in the most rewarding and endearing way I have known. Maybe its okay to confess that seeing your kids being capable and helping others is a source of deep pride. Maybe a stew of all that is what was swirling when I stopped on that candid picture. It was a second in time, it looked like just another cowboy moment but I guess for me, sitting on the shores of Waskesui lake, it marks a milestone in parenting.

There are a couple more pictures that help round out the points.

This picture is one of my favorites because right in the center of it is one of my favorite dogs ever, looking directly at Liz’s camera. For the purposes of the blog this image illustrates something, my niece Brodie and her friend Clare are in this picture. They are darn good help. Brodie started riding many years ago as a visitor at the ranch and we have enjoyed having Clare for two seasons of cow chasing now. Russ is really good at giving people a chance to learn.

Here is Jimmy, now safely seated in his saddle, he is with our new friend Steve. The slicker he is wearing was bought in June, embroidered with our brand by Lynn, it is Russell’s but Jimmy did it justice for its first appearance on the Bar MW trail. He looks so natural. I like imagining what the students in his city classroom would think to see their teacher as a working cowboy.

The day captured by Liz in these pictures was a very good day. My kids were all home and all on a horse and some of my Saskatoon people were near. With the help of my local friend Sandy I was able to get this large crew fed. The picture was pretty complete.

Reporting in ….

Our days at the Bar MW this week have been a mixture of many things. The picture round-up starts with a cartoon that Russell posted on his social media. He related to it so strongly and he shared it with some definite emotion. Our corner of the province had some soaking rains this week. The timing is poor for the grain farmers trying to harvest but it means alot for pasture conditions and taking down the fire risks. Around here we are all feeling very grateful.

Another answer to our needs was the chance for Russ to get in very quickly to have a root canal done. On Tuesday he sent me this selfie from the dental chair while I waited for him at the Estevan library. He started to feel relief very quickly.

Jenn came down to pick up her dog Paisley whom we had been dogsitting and while she was with us she cut Morgan’s hair. She is doing alot to keep him comfortable this summer!

The next day my sister in law Tammy and I went to Regina. While Tammy was in her appointment I whipped over to Jill’s apartment for a visit. As I pulled away from there afterward I felt I had just had the best part of my day, just being with Jill was good for my soul. Later Tammy and I dropped into Starbucks and I caught this picture of Jill listening to a customer. This is very true to who Jill is.

While I was in Regina Russell hosted new friends we became connected to through one of our family in Nova Scotia. Charles, a strawberry and sweet potato farmer, had come to Saskatchewan with his wife to visit their family in Estevan. Before heading to Halifax on Thursday Charles squeezed in a visit to the ranch to meet us and see what we do. He brought his son-in-law and grandson. They helped Russ check pastures. Charles told Russell it was a very good day.

Meanwhile Morgan was doing something he loves. He spends a few days in the summer helping at the government community pasture. He took this picture from on top of his horse in his role as heeler while Francis treated a cow for footrot.

This is a screenshot from our family chat, not a live video link. Those of us who watched it know that the fun fact Gina shared in this part of the audition intro is that she can hotwire a Case 2390 tractor.

Sterling productions released this promo shot this week. Jill’s play is coming up and we are really looking forward to seeing it!

Russ is working on a fairly large fencing project. While dealing with posts he came across this survey stake, marking the boundary line of the pasture. He says that is good evidence he is building at the right spot! The stake is dated 1959. How very cool eh?!

My sister in law Tammy organized a really nice family gathering in Estevan for Valarie, (Russell and Tammy’s sister), who celebrated her 60th birthday on Friday. We really enjoyed being with our extended family circle and friends of the family to mark this milestone with Val.

After the party and some back to school shopping we headed up to Arcola for the rodeo. We had a very important rodeo act to see, the kick-off, which was the Truco Trick Riders. Morgan’s girl-friend Jordanna is seen here, I must give Russ credit for the cool framing of the picture.

Here is Russ and I at the rodeo. It was a bit of a painful night for me. I am an absolute chicken, I am so uncomfortable watching the roughstock events, I mostly look away. I do all the running for food, beverages, garbage disposal, anything to give me an excuse to leave my seat and miss some of those moments when humans hit the ground near the mighty hooves of powerful animals. If I could go to the bathroom on others behalf I would. Why even attend you might ask? Well this evening, the answer started with Jordanna and ended with Tenley.

This is Tenley. She has been a part of our family for several years now in her official role as one of Gina’s besties. We have the hugest soft spot for her in our hearts. Tenley was one of four women doing bronc riding at the rodeo. We needed to stay and watch her give it her all.

Tenley shared this picture with me. It gives me goosebumps. She is brave and so strong in everyday life, this picture makes that extra clear. Tenley had to wait a long time in the chute before they opened that gate. The announcer said she must have ice water in her veins. Noting her presence as she waited through a long delay he said she was “cool as a cucumber, she’s the coolest cucumber in the fridge, nothings bothering her at all.” She had a good ride and stayed safe. We were very thankful. When she sent me this picture she said, “sitting in that chute is a feeling I can’t explain. You truly feel as though you have ice water running through your veins!”

Saturday things came to a bit of a standstill for me personally. I was struggling. I simply cannot write a blog about this life and only tell a partial tale, it feels dishonest. I live with humans and sometimes things get really hard. I feel my feelings very hugely at times. We are working through stuff. The wisdom below sits right with me.

A little comic relief. Russell asked me to take this picture to commemorate an important day. He had decided that this was his last day wearing this work shirt. He has had it a long time and its special to him. My sister gave it to him. At one point he outgrew it and gave it to a friend, then Russ slimmed down and the friend outgrew it and gave it back to him. Its travelled many roads with these guys. Only one of six tears is visible in this picture.

The job of the day at the ranch on Saturday was to trim horses hooves. Our friend Layne has a hydraulic tipping table he hauls here and he sets up shop. Friends with horses and donkeys come over and get their animals done too. Its a big day with lots of work and lots of visiting. In the chute at this point is our donkey, you might remember we named him “Elton John.” He is as cool as his name suggests.

Today the guys were up early with a fun plan in their minds. We had friends coming over to bring the last calves of 2023 home to be tagged, needled, branded, and castrated. We usually do that in the pole shed with a small crew and a tipping table for the calves. Morgan requested that we do this last small group like an old fashioned branding, Russell agreed. It was indeed fun. It seemed less gentle on the animals in one sense, that was iffy for me. But there were perks to this other way too. The calves were not separated from their Mamas as long and they were soothed to see them nearby it seemed.

Morgan and Carter Ewart were on horseback and doing all the roping. Russ, Emerson, Laurie and Tyce saw that all the jobs were done for each calf. Coffee dog is seen here, she was not terrifically helpful, Maddie got dog of the day today.

Carter is seen here dragging a calf down to the guys. Tyce is ready with a piece of equipment that will temporarily and painlessly keep the calf immobilized, its called a “deadman”. Tyce is very experienced with how to do this work and was invaluable today. He is Jordanna’s Dad.

Emerson was the runner, bringing needles and tags to the team.

Jen was the operating room nurse, filling taggers, needles and the de-nutter. In the background is Laurie’s son and his family. We had a good visit.

It was a very diverse week at the Bar MW. I think in everything that transpired, from parties to appointments, to time with our kids, and big jobs getting tackled, hurt feelings, rodeo feelings, much animal action and everything in between, those five words can apply powerfully, “we believe in each other.”

Hungry for Nature

Late yesterday afternoon I went down to the river valley where we have cows pasturing. Russ asked me to help him, Morgan and Laurie by seeing that the cows got across the road into a new pasture.

There were three possible directions the cows could have gone but only one Russell intended. My job was to make the one open gate look like the best choice. I took a video of the action. It is two and a half minutes. I figured there might be a few of the blog readers who would enjoy seeing these moments of cowboy action. I don’t know how the videos display in a blog, I hope there is enough clarity to appreciate just how beautiful our surroundings are at this time of year.

If you are hungry for nature……….here is a nice serving of it.

The Last Round-up for 2022

Just in the nick of time all the cows are home. As I sit to start writing the words that go with the pictures I have received and assembled, the snow is flying, the wind is blowing, it is so wintery feeling. Down in the south east corner of the province we are the last to get hit with winters blow. We are thankful we had the time we did to get our fall work done up as much as possible. The biggest piece of that is getting our cows and their calves home from their fall and summer pastures.

Now that the cows are home we turn a definite corner. The work shifts towards ensuring the cows are fed and have access to water, and we start strategizing for the marketing part of our work. The season ahead holds more evening hours in the house, usually, we are definitely ready for that.

The last part of our cow chase work took place over this past Friday and Saturday. There are some nice pictures that tell the stories of the days.

Griffin shared this amazing sunrise picture from Friday with me. It was still and very cold as evidenced by the frost on the grass. We were bringing cows from “the Vanstone pasture”, east of Carnduff, to home pastures.

Griffin also shared this picture. Thats Teanna, Gina, Russ and Rhett. There was no school so it was a great day to invite the teens of our circle to help bring these cows home. Russ notes that he and Rhett had switched horses for a time, Rhett was trying out Russell’s saddle, which meant riding “Sundance”, who is notoriously grumpy and a challenge to ride. Not many would do what Rhett is doing in this picture.

Laurie couldn’t join the crew for the day but was available to help block the highway at the point where the herd crossed. He was able to catch this picture. What is it? In the very chilly morning temps Russ got craving a coffee. When it had warmed to about -6 he called ahead to Precision Ag, where we usually buy mineral, salt, fertilizer and pet food. Russ asked about customer perks and wondered if they could get five coffees to go. Sure enough, upon arrival, the place that is not a coffee shop had hot coffee in to go cups ready to pass out. Thats a happy memory.

Gina grabbed this picture from her perspective at the pasture gate. The first group of cows for the day was home and it was time to go home for lunch.

Emet got this picture of his dog and Coffee hanging out on a bale. Its cute!

After lunch the crew was off to bring another herd home. This time they headed to what we call “The Sheep Pasture”, I drove part of the crew and so was there when many things were getting done to be ready to go again. I grabbed this cute picture of Russ. That is the Viterra grain elevator in the background.

Dani flashed a great smile when she looked up from dealing with her horse.

Sharon took this picture of Russ ready to roll. Thats Coffee, Knightwing and Bingo in the picture with him.

Sharon grabbed this picture of Teanna and Dani.

Gina took the passenger seat and let Dani drive home from the pasture at the end of the chase. Maddie is healing from an injury and didn’t get to chase, but got to be part of this time with Dani.

Russ wasn’t sure how it would go to juggle two different moves in the same day. Both herds moved more quickly then he thought, the crew did great and both lunch and supper were served an hour before Russ had estimated. I’ll be honest, as the cook, I struggled with the changing details, it was good in the long haul, but I didn’t find the flexing too easy to do.

Tenley sent me this amazing picture of the scene at sunrise on Saturday. The crew had left the yard about 6:45am and they headed to “the Boyes pasture” in the Glen Ewen valley. In contrast to the day before the skies were brooding, but at this point the air was quite still and it was warmer.

Griffin caught a moment when Morgan was being unusual. I am not sure what he was doing. Maybe I can ask him before I post this.

Sharon shared this moment where her grand-daughter Emma is ready to roll for the day. Emma has been on lots of Bayliss cow chases but this was the first for this year.

Griffin caught a cool sunrise picture, it also allowed me to see Emet’s dog in the saddle with him.

Jen saw this moment, the sun still rising and beautiful, Morgan ready to roll.

Becca sent this glimpse of the getting ready process. The sky is still intriguing.

Jen does excellent selfies, the sun on her face and Russ in the background makes this an especially nice one. I am guessing this was the last time the sun was seen on this day.

Becca brought her brother to his first cow chase in a long, long time. He was a good sport through what was a tough day because of the weather.

Sharon’s grand-daughter Hannah was back on the trail.

This is Bill in the centre with his granddaughters on either side of him. Sharon took this picture.

As the cows made the final mile before crossing the highway Becca took this picture.

Dwayne sent me this close up picture of the process of getting across the highway. In the background you can see the Mounties stopping traffic and keeping everyone safe.

I think Becca took this picture once across the highway and looking back at what was behind her.

Russ invited the Mountie on duty to pose for him, he obliged. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could direct the cows with hand signals like this? The RCMP are made aware of our plans, if it works into the demands of their day we get their help, but obviously other things take on greater urgency at times.

It was decided that quick progress meant a late lunch at home versus lunch on the trail was quite do-able and preferable given how windy and miserable it felt. However, a break for the cows was needed, the riders took advantage of the chance to stretch their legs. Sharon got this picture of Gary.

Sharon also got this picture of Bill making some adjustments.

Sharon took this picture right around the break.

Teanna and Dani grabbed a quick lie down in the ditch moment. Sharon was on the job with her camera.

Sharon has always been one to document our adventures, Becca got this shot just after Sharon finished a picture.

Jen’s selfie records a fashion moment, she and Griff have matching sunglasses, thanks to Griff wrestling an old bent out of shape pair into service.

Jen grabbed this moment when a good friendship was easy to see.

Jen and Dani….the queen of selfies strikes again.

Becca shared lots of pictures, including this selfie which reveals a nice spread of the cows behind her.

Becca captured her brother Dylan guarding an approach.

Following the break things got hard. Rain began and never quit until the ride was over. Tenley told Gina she has never been so cold on a Bayliss cow chase, which is saying quite a lot. The rain soaked through and challenged everyone. I got lunch set up for everyone in the house and left just as the crew was drawing near. I came across these cowboys coming home after getting the cows into the pasture. I was on my way into town to sing at a funeral. By the time I returned home everyone had eaten and most had gone home to find warm showers. It was hard to miss out on the meal, the chatter, and the words that might celebrate that the cows are all home, however the deceased was a friend of ours and I wanted to be there representing our family. Listening to the stories that came from lunch I sense that everyone was in survival mode and the celebratory mood would need to wait for another time.

The final quarter mile of the 2022 season.

Liz Griffin took this picture in the first half mile of the 2022 season. This captures the fact that we started with fog and ended with rain. There was no snow this on the trail this year, high wind at times but not like other years, we had some great sunny days.

Its November 7th, a few hours ago I reduced the table back down so it seats just six. Jill and I did up the last of the dishes lingering from the weekend. We watched two movies last night. The cows are home. We had a safe and successful season of moving them. The best thing, we had time with people we love so much, we met new people, we experienced teamwork and the sense that others have our back. I have been encouraged through the readers and comments with the blog. With a little rest in our bodies, and the sound of the wind just whistling around our house, our sense of gratitude rises to the surface in a very big way. We heard that one of our cowgirls cries for a half hour every year when everything is over. Russell says, “we know how she feels.”

I got a little sidelined……

Hello again……

I have been away from the blog for about a month. I never expected that to happen! However, day by day, things have stolen any time I had for writing and also I start posts and only get half done. I think I have 7 drafts going. Hopefully I can get publishing them soon. I have really missed the whole process, evidence of that is that in my head I am writing something almost every day.

Getting back into the swing of things I have a few pictures to share. Liz came and photographed a couple of summer sessions, we are now pretty sure we have all the pictures we need for the coffee table book we are creating about ranching. The first of these summer sessions Liz delivered a few weeks ago. Here are some favorites from that evening (July 15th) when we moved 120 pairs and six bulls from one pasture to another. The main water source in the starting pasture had gone dry and grass was getting to be a concern. We usually move these cows once in the summer but with these drought conditions this needed to happen two weeks early.

Jill and I were in charge of traffic control on foot at the gates. We had some free time to hang out with Liz while the cowboys brought the cows near to the gates. I like the “mother is shelter” feel to this picture.

The cows had come from across the pasture and arrived at the coulee. Russ on the left and Dawson on the right were with the herd while Morgan and Kent were just off camera in strategic spots.

I love how this picture showcases our cousin Dawson. A couple years ago he was just getting started with much riding. In this picture, pictured at the very top, he is looking so relaxed and almost in charge.

This picture looks like it was pulled from an old western. That’s my boy Morgan in the back.

I see teamwork at its finest in this picture. The cows were being given a chance to drink and the cowboys each had their spot and were on guard to keep the cows in place. Can you spot all four cowboys?

Jill and I in the far back, prepared to keep the cows from going down the road behind us. They did well, they came out their gate and took our cue to advance through the open gate waiting for them into this next pasture.

Dawson, Jill and I (Morgan too) ensuring the last calves get through.

Job done, the cowboy is off his horse. Russ really likes kissing and Liz is used to our antics by now.

When I see this picture I ponder “what is Bingo thinking?” She looks like she is assessing something, I do believe it might be something like, “do you need me in there Dad? (pant, pant) I can help you Dad! (pant, pant) If anything hurts you I will bark for you Dad! I can do it! (pant, pant)

It turns out what Bingo was watching was Russ getting this calf out of the trailer. We had roped it and put it in the trailer before the chase started. At birth it was premature and had weak knees, they never did strengthen up like they should. It could not tolerate the action of this night. Here Russ is getting it back with its Mama after the move. This is one of my favorite pictures because of its sense of animal husbandry.

This picture got me thinking about the unspoken communication between Maddie and Russ. I think maybe they were having a post chase debrief, possibly discussing who got cowboy of the day and who got dog of the day. Maddie is a bit of a diva, she might have, in this instant, been putting her name forward for dog of the day.

What do you learn about Bingo by looking at this picture Liz captured? She has a long tongue, thats the obvious thing, but her bigger reality is that she puts her heart and soul into working alongside Russ, she is never afraid to push herself, and will not quit, until its time to rest, the moment captured here.

Getting the trailer loaded in the background and in the foreground an incredibly proud moment for me. My growing son is now taller than me and I enjoy him so much.

Maddie takes her post chase rest, and right in the middle of the road!

I know these pictures betray a sense of drought, the spot where Liz met up with the crew was at a coulee fed by lots of springs, it is green. The dugout we moved them away from was essentially dry, days after we got the cows out we had machinery in to clean it out and hopefully reactivate any springs that feed it. The trackhoe removed 8 feet of mud from the bottom of the dugout. That statistic alarmed Russell, cows left there to scrounge for water could easily have been mired in mud and soon dead. The day after the cleanout was done Russ had a picnic lunch on the dry and almost dusty bottom of the dugout. There was no replenishment to be had.

A picture that Russ took from the bottom of the dugout. That is Maddie dog in the back.

Day 20 – Postcards from the Heart

Looking at this postcard and the seven pictures that go with it I can tell that I was in a hurry when I wrote it. I have tried to reproduce it exactly as the original postcard looked. There is no date, no greeting, no sign off, several abbreviations and its basically in point form. That in itself tells a tale. I remember it was at a time when I knew if I wanted Mom to see these pictures I didn’t have the time to send them one by one.

The first picture was taken in December 2020, the next six were all November 2020. Liz has a zillion more colourful and varied pictures of Russ since this time, but this is what I had chosen to have developed for Mom. They look good in this format but some of these will be best shown, perhaps you could even say, “AMAZING” in the coffee table book we are working on creating with Liz.

This set of pictures comprises the 20th of 22 posts of this series “Postcards from the Heart”. The entire series contains photos taken by Liz Griffin Photography, used as a way to share my life and my thoughts with my mom while she dealt with her cancer reality.

SEVEN PICTURES – ONE CARD
Caption: “YOUR SON-IN-LAW IS A COWBOY!”
-its core to his identity
-I think being a mother is core to your identity and I wonder if seeing that in you has allowed me to embrace that for myself. I believe my call in life is not primarily ministry, but to create a family…. to be “Mom”. I ❤ it!!
The pics 1. Morgan, cousin Laurie + Russ in the morning sun.
2. Russ + Clarence at the back of the herd.
3. 4 hooves off the ground! Dirt flying!
4. Russ – pleased by something🙂!
5. Maddie, David Powell, Knightwing, Russ + Bingo – rounding cows out of the bushes in our rented “River Pasture”.
6. The snow that made for epic pictures.
7. Russ, hot on the trail + 65 lbs heavier than he is now.

Morgan, cousin Laurie + Russ in the morning sun.

Russ + Clarence at the back of the herd.

Maddie, David Powell, Knightwing, Russ + Bingo – rounding cows out of the bushes in our rented “River Pasture”.

Russ, hot on the trail + 65 lbs heavier than he is now.

Diary of a Ranch Wife – July 12, 2021

We had a call this morning that a neighbor’s herd of heifer cows had broken in with one of our herds. We know this could cause trouble because if our big bull breeds his heifers (young and inexperienced cows) he will have calving troubles next spring. So, Russ has been assembling a cowboy crew to head down there and fix the troubles by sorting out Corey’s heifers from our cows and bulls. Without the benefit of a gate/corral system it is extra tricky to sort cows on the open range. Russ wants me to come with them and act like a human gate. I am not very interested. I am in a super homebody mode these days. I am soon going to be changing into my work clothes though and heading out. Its 4:32pm. I have to go clean out my vehicle. I will have passengers because the crew Russ gathered is large and that bodes well for our success, but the truck is in an embarrassing state.

5:58pm We are at the pasture and all the cowboys and girls have saddled up and headed off. Here is what some of that action looked like.

Cowgirl Briella getting ready to jump onto Jane.

Morgan, Russ and Bingo at the head of the group.

As woman on the ground, I was needed to hold horses while things got sorted out. This selfie kind’ve cracks me up. It looks like I am having a decent hair day, but Sundance, not so much!!!

In the end I didn’t have to drive, instead another truck and trailer went to accommodate all the horses and I got to be a passenger with Jackie. That gave us time to talk about how it is that I became a minister and she became a nurse. Now I am waiting for the crew to go round up the herd. We have set up trucks and trailers to act as wings in a corner of the pasture and with those cowboys hope to hold the herd while we sort out those heifers and the bull they are meant to be hanging out with. Russ figures it will take them 45 minutes or more to get the herd and move them back to this corner. The pasture is absolutely beautiful, rolling hills, coulees, trees, wild flowers and just out of sight the Souris river. There is a good breeze and it has started to cool down. I am not hard done by sitting here with my laptop.

I had a little Kathy victory moment before we left the yard. I noticed a low tire, by the time Russ came around to see what was up I had found the air hose, attached it to the outside air spigot, found the airchuk inside the shop, got it attached and was getting the tire aired up. For many that would be no big deal, but that represents a bit of competence that I didn’t used to have and I was glad for Russ to find me taking care of business.

Tuesday, 10:09am Not long after I wrote that last bit I could hear mooing in the distance, the crew was closer than I thought so I shut my laptop and hopped out of the truck. In fact they had yet to get across a coulee before they topped a hill, so I took time for some selfies, had a real portrait session of it actually, burned up alot of power on my low power phone and never did capture a sharp one. Anyways……..the thing about being a ranch wife is that you get to save all your old favorite clothes for work days. You have an excuse to hang on to stuff that normally should have been pitched. This is a bonus for sentimental people like me. For the work of this day I was happily wearing jeans that I remember first wearing on a family vacation in Cody, Wyoming in 2008, my t-shirt is a souvenir of my year in Up With People (1991).

Russ let me use his shepherd’s crook, its kindv’e mysterious, holds alot of power. I tried to do right by it. (We build it up like that to bolster our confidence….its maybe just a long cane….maybe.)

Once the cows got near it didn’t take long for the real action to begin. At first, standing in the gate watching things I wondered if it could be done. The large group of cowboys and cowgirls was very much needed. We had many at the back holding the cow herd into the corner and then several in and around the front of the herd to sort out the heifers. Luckily they were a different breed than most of ours and easy to keep sight of once contact was made. It was a good feeling to see the crew get the first heifer out, I did my job at the gate to get it to leave our pasture and enter Corey’s. Part of my job was to be still as a statue to not frighten the heifer away as it approached. At one point when it seemed I had done that quite well and the critical moment had passed David shouted over “hey is that the Mona Lisa over there?!?” I appreciated the recognition, David got his message across by comparing me to a beautiful painting when my job was to be a statue, as far as I’m concerned its all art and through that first piece of art that came to mind he gave me the message, “I see you over there trying hard!” I appreciated it. Once the heifer advanced past where sight of me was a problem I became a human fence with my shepherds crook held wide and moving up quickly from behind. It was pretty impressive to see the crew and watch their bravery, the sorters had to be up close and personal and give the heifers a sense of space and permission to move towards the gate while keeping our cows back.

Corey, David and Laurie wading through a small sea of cows.

Russ, Corey, David, Morgan and Laurie running that red heifer up the fence. The tricky part here was to keep our calves back. It was quite a feat to get to get the heifer this far up and away from the rest of the herd.

The entrance back into Corey’s pasture. It was a 90 degree angle from the gate out of our pasture. Early on I had to keep one eye on it to make sure these girls didn’t come wandering back out. Once the bull joined them they were all off and gone like a party had been called!

We had to find, sort out and move away 17 heifers and one bull from our herd of 120 cow calf pairs and 6 big Simmental bulls. One of those bulls created an exciting and memorable moment. He started to charge the gate, Russ said, “stop that bull!”, whether I was stupid, obedient or brave I don’t know but I just became warrior Kathy, ran straight at him with that powerful crook in both my hands and I roared, “Noooooooooo!!!!!!.” That 2200 pound bull skidded to a stop right at the gate and turned back to the herd. I found out later that I yelled so loud that I frightened most of the cowboys. Morgan said he was watching the whole thing and knew why I was yelling but still got scared. Russ says he was very proud of me.

Russ was crew chief, we certainly count on his incredible cowboy skills and his people skills.

A good picture of Russell with his pal Evan just behind.

Partway through the process he said, “I think wer’e starting to feel grouchy, lets take a break!” Corey had brought all manner of cold refreshments and lots of them and we did get a benefit from stopping to rest. Russ and a few others stayed at the back and held the herd, others of us were able to visit.

After that we had more challenging moments, I think a few swear words were heard, several times a heifer would get so close to the gate and then change its mind and turn 180 degrees at high speed, a wee bit of rodeo was part of these moments.

An example of the challenge….cows, calves and a heifer all together coming up the fence…we need to work some cowboy magic to get the heifer alone.

It was a great feeling when we were down to one to go and then we were done! Corey pulled out delicious snacks and another round of cold drinks, we had a more relaxed visit now.

Evan always has a good story for Russell.

One of our neighbors came down the road in time to enjoy this part of the evening. Charlie enjoyed Evan’s jokes as much as we did I think.

It’s the hang loose cowpokes in the back and the setting sun that make this pic seem a bit epic to me.

Before the day was over Russ took the chance to show Marisol how to bridle a horse with a sore ear.

Coffee Break Time

Last Saturday I was sorting through a drawer and found prescription stuff for our dog Eowyn, who was a puppy last year at this time. I looked at the date and thought, “oh we are doing well, Coffee is exactly the same age and she has not been to the vet for anything serious.” Eowyn had been quite a mischevious dog and had two head injuries as a young pup. Hence the reminders of medicine and treatments. We lost Eowyn on the first day of school this past year, when she was stepped on by a bull. It was then a hard decision to get another pup when we had the chance. We did and Coffee has been a real light in our life. It was therefore like a bit of a wee nightmare when Russell phoned me Saturday afternoon (only hours after I had decided we were off to a great start with Coffee) and said, “Coffee got stepped on, can you come pick her up and take her to the vet?” He shared his theory that she had a broken leg, due to the sound he heard. I dropped what I was doing and got out the door. These are the phone calls I hate for obvious reasons, but they also contribute to a databank of anecdotes that all scream at me, “Life is risky! Your heart is not secure! Your life is not controllable!” Those things are all true, but they are darn hard to reckon with very much.

Russell and Gina had been out working with a small group of cows, moving them from one pasture to another, just across a road was the goal. It should have been straightforward and easy but it wasn’t. The cows in this group are ones that we are not breeding again, mostly because they are so aggressive and we don’t want them around, they will do best in the world when they become part of the food chain. There are three that are just terrible, their motherly instinct is fierce and it doesn’t subside as things get established, they have proven themselves to be dangerous pretty much year round.

This picture that Liz Griffin took this calving season is a good illustration of how much the dogs are part of the action and that it can get intense.

This is another recent Liz Griffin picture, this is one of our permanently aggressive cows. Just like in this picture, on Saturday afternoon it was coming for Russell’s horse, so the horse moved fast to get out of the way and Coffee was in the wrong spot for that motion and got underfoot. The fact that Coffee got injured seems to be further proof we need to get rid of the mean cows.

Russ figured out a way that he could end the cattle move right then, sent Gina home with the horses and came to the vet with Coffee and I. I cannot lift more than 20 pounds so this turned out to be a blessing because Coffee needed to be carried. She was also overheated, it was one of our super hot days and she was stress breathing. In this picture she has ice packs on to cool her down and is having a break during the xray process.

Bingo came with us to the vet. She insisted and it made things simpler for Gina but right before we pulled away she found cool water/mud somewhere, which in our focus on Coffee we did not realize. Bingo spent time alone in the vehicle while I grabbed some quick groceries and Russ was with Coffee at the clinic. Bingo was able to get mud all over the passenger parts of my SUV. This is where I imagine someone saying, “Kathy, why don’t you set more limits? Why do you let all this chaos into your world?” To that I answer, there is constantly a triage process happening in my brain, sorting through what is important (which is no simple question), what is urgent, what can be dealt with later. In these moments I could not get worried about my seats which will wipe clean, Bingo needed us and honestly I think I needed Bingo. I spent time with her out in the yard at the clinic while Russ did 98% of the time inside with Dr. Dawn and Coffee. I liked it that way. I am finding I don’t do well in moments like that. I had paper recycling in the back and a water bottle and with these I got the seats that Russ, Coffee and I needed cleaned off and ready for the trip home. Bingo got to keep her muddy seat. (Both Bingo and the seat were dried here and much less threatening looking than they initially were!)

Back home with sedative to sleep off Coffee was an easy patient, Jill was near and happy to comfort her. Morgan was away all weekend helping friends with their cows. We elected to not tell him about Coffee’s mishap until he got home. That was a good decision.

This picture was taken back in early January, the night we picked up Coffee from her owners. What I didn’t realize in this moment was the kind of bond that Morgan was ready to establish with this dog. He and Jill have spent so much time with her and just loved her into her best self. Therefore the news of injury was very tough. As he got used to things Morgan began doing some problem solving, what would make this heal best? He texted Dr. Dawn with the question, “should I be giving a calcium supplement to Coffee?” She answered back, “nope, just lots of cuddles and kisses.” That is an easy presciption to make work.

We took Coffee to the vet for a check-up yesterday. Russell and Megan were able to restrain Coffee for the removal of her splint and for the assessment. I was needed for a bit to restrain while getting the new splint applied. We were able to avoid sedative this way. Dawn was great. She said that everything looked very good underneath and we are good to go for another week.

Those are arms of love but for Coffee I am sure they didn’t feel like it in the moment. Coffee is very resilient, she was acting like herself within a minute of being done.

Prior to marrying Russell I had only one experience with a pet, a cat we got when I was already a high school graduate. I didn’t grow up like my kids are growing up, surrounded by 4 legged creatures, some that sleep with them. The word that comes to mind this morning is “privilege.” It is a privilege to have these lives join ours and journey together. Isn’t it funny how the same thing that I call a privilege is also the thing that causes me to say “this is chaos!” Its so true. At 2am I was awakened by Coffee barking (but teen boy Morgan wasn’t woken!), I went downstairs and let her out of Morgan’s room, I let her have a drink and tucked her back in. Before I was back in bed she was barking again. I brought her up to the dog room tucked her in there and thankfully never heard from her again. In these middle of the night moments of wakefulness I am tempted to feel hard done by. Sometimes I totally do and I get a bit stormy. Last night, perhaps mindful of how blessed I feel that Coffee is on the mend, I was at peace and went back to bed and went to sleep. There is alot of deep stuff at play here……the power of relationship between creature and human, the possibility of and evidence of healing, so much gratitude for skilled caregivers like our veterinarians and gratitude to the Creator of all who has designed a world where healing, relationship and helping are forces like gravity, always having a say in what we need and how we act, for better or worse. Coffee is a joy, both the dog and for me the beverage. Thanks for taking a break a reading about our coffee.

Postcards to my Dad

Dear Dad,
As I write this postcard you have been gone from my life for a long time. It makes me happy to think that heaven is a realm of wholeness and dementia no longer has a grip on you. I don’t know how anything works in the realm beyond earthly life but I believe that love shapes everything. Is it possible for you to know whats up here in my world? I have no way of knowing. I write this for myself. When you were well if someone had shown you and I this picture and said, “here is a glimpse of the story in the future” I would have been stunned and disbelieving. I had preconceptions about cowboy life, about what it means to ranch and about what I needed. I wonder what you would have thought. I think your exposure to the humans and the action in this scene would stir pride in you. Dad, that is your grandson and he is a gem. That is the man with the courage necessary to take on, love and nurture your quite complicated daughter. That is a dog who owns a huge chunk of my heart. This picture is all about teamwork. Do I value teamwork so much because of how we did things at home? I am not sure. Thank you for everything you did to prepare me to love these men, the land, the creatures and God.

This picture could be very old, it has a timeless quality to it. It is not. It gets me thinking about what is timeless in life, what are the pieces that endure despite the rapid changes around us? A man, his horse and his dog are timeless, so is the power of kindness, humor, loyalty and compassion. You and Russell have in common the intention to practice these things. It sure has made a difference in my life and in the lives of our children. It seems to me to be the ingredients of excellent fatherhood.

Dad, Liz got this action shot of Morgan last month. He reminds me of you. Not that I EVER saw you on a horse but there is a lilt to his walk that puts me in mind of you…………how odd…..I have not seen you on your feet in 20 years. There is no doubt that genetics that stem from your being are unfolding in his life and it is exciting. You would enjoy him so much. He never knew the thrill of feeling your pride in him but I do my best to pass on and use what you taught me about how to treat people. He is catching it. You would be proud.

These pictures were taken by Liz Griffin about a month ago. We wanted to capture some of the work of calving season. Liz got some cute and pretty epic pictures that day. It is a joy to be able to share these great images and use them to process some of the thoughts I work through as life unfolds.