Finally the weather cooperated long enough to brand Lonn’s calves today. Lonn and his gang of cowboys started early at another ranch branding those calves before coming back home and rounding up the ranch’s calves:
My cowboy and I made a trip into town retrieving the food for lunch—brisket, beans and salad—catered by our friend Brian Engle who owns the local meat market. When the rest of the gang arrived, Michael headed off to help while Emmi and I watched over the roasters.
A little after 3pm I heard truck doors slamming and conversations—everyone was hungry and thirsty—a lot of the folks helping are young people, still in school or just getting started in life. They are a joy to be around—listening to their stories and their good natured ribbing of each other is just fun! We caught up with friends we haven’t seen in a while—a good afternoon!
I sure was surprised to read Rick’s blog this morning! We wish him well as he starts his new blogging adventure!
Posts
So many fun memories of branding day(s) - always great camaraderie! Never liked the smell, but it is such a quick process that it was more like giving a vaccination than a tattoo :-). Hope Emmi got appropriate compensation for her "roaster-watching" duty.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on trying to shoo the calves back to avoid the pain of getting branded. As I write this comment though, We are visiting with my sister and her husband - cow/calf operator/owners - at their ranch in north eastern Alberta. Calving season is almost over for them.....! It is always a treat to be out in this ranching country though.
ReplyDeleteWow.. that snow melted FAST! Good for you....
ReplyDelete~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Karen and Steve
(Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I don't know why but I thought cattle branding was a thing of the past. I can see now I was wrong.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was shocked to get up this morning and not see my blog either!! It's been 5 years since that happened! I'll be back soon with what I hope will be the old "new, improved version"!
Do they use the ear tags as well as the branding? I can see the branding is more permanent, but I thought the tags made for easier-I want to say inventory control:)
ReplyDeleteNow to show my ignorance. I did not realize that branding is still done. I was thinking that ear tags / piercing was the mode of operation. Is the branding in order to see from a distance?
ReplyDeletePoor cows. :-) Just caught back up on reading your blog. Love your new ride for Alaska.
ReplyDelete