Remember me saying I was a city girl, raised on a farm but sure didn’t want to go back there ever. Then I met the cowboy. When we first got married Michael was managing a large ranch east of Big Timber plus he had the place where we now live. Two places to cut hay plus he was also installing satellite dishes and doing a little excavating—busy!! So, he decides I need to learn to drive the hay swather.
Off we go for a lesson in this huge, massive, gigantic machine with a 12 foot cutter bar out in front. We had two swathers at the time and I think the cowboy gave me the worst one! 
I pushed the cowboy off the running board, climbed down and stomped off muttering something about, “you can cut your own *^%#$ hay!!!” Needless to say he persevered and I learned to cut hay, I spent many, many hours going round and round in the hay fields, growing to enjoy it.
Check out Angie’s blog tonight, she and Ralph visited the Little Bighorn National Battlefield on their way to Wyoming from our house.
This Christmas cactus belonged to Michael’s mother and after she died in 2000, LoraLee inherited this one. The plant came to live with me after LoraLee died and I think it’s a little confused about the season—kind of like Wal Mart and Costco???
Life is good!
Posts
I so enjoy when you reminisce about your life coming to the ranch. I really grew up a city girl, and dreamed of meeting a cowboy and living on a ranch. Childhood dreams, of course, but your tales always tug at my memories of wishing for that. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJudy--thanks so much! For some reason even though I didn't ever want to live on a farm or ranch again I still had a thing for cowboys--maybe it was the tight jeans??? :))
DeleteI think your Mom & mine went to the same school of hair cutting. :) I had the same haircut at about that age.
ReplyDeleteGeez, you guys are "cleanin' house". It's always good to see something go off to be enjoyed (at least most of the parts) by others.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you wrote about your Swather - now, at least, I know what that contraption is called. Just the other day Paulette and I were walking along the Cowichan Estuary and a farmer was zooming around his hay field in a big green John Deere contraption similar to yours. He was really moving in that thing and I knew it was a hay cutter of some sort but had no idea what it was called. It looked like fun though.
ReplyDeleteSorry to see you lose your old swather.
Great early ranch stories - smart man to get you behind the wheel early and therefore share all the "fun work"! I imagine it could become very relaxing cutting the hay up and back in rows...... Oh yes, the short bangs and bowl-bob - we all looked like we were from the same litter :-)
ReplyDeleteBoy, Janna, that cowboy sure had you over a barrel. You are one tough city gal:) Turned into a great cowgirl!! Super post.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see idle equipment (or old and broken) be used to bring life to similar or other mechanical projects.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that the craziest thing, my Christmas Cactus is blooming like that also. I just don't know if it has taken cues from the daylight, it sits in a north facing window and I guess as the season changes it must have different light. It seams to do this a lot!
ReplyDeleteHaha, my sister and I had the same bowl haircuts! Cute photo. :-)
ReplyDeleteYou did not want to live on a farm/ranch and that is what I wanted and finally we got a little tract of 5 acres. I raised llamas and loved the work in the pasture and the barns.
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