June 21- 27, Branding Week

Monday
Pushed cows another pasture closer- only 2 away now. Had a couple sick calves we had to tend to- also found a dead calve and cow, doesn't make your day too well when that happens.
Cooked for the branding meal.
Went back to check on cows that night- they had broke down a fence and gotten into a wrong meadow. I guess one step forward and 2 steps back.
Tuesday
Branding at the Pawlette- only 30 mins away. Daniel didn't have to get up as early but was still up with the sun. As soon as Cinch was up we were on the 4 wheeler and out trying to fix fence and get cow where they needed to be. Got the fence patched as good as possible and tried to get cows out of the wrong pasture and moved into the pasture we would brand in. Ran out of time as I was supposed to be at the branding to pull a panel wagon home for our branding. Timeree rode over to the branding with us. They were fast and pretty much 97% of the way done when we got there so couldn't really even take pictures. Got the branding trap/panels picked up and had to drive back to the truck and trailers. Everyone else had to ride horses in. I was so scared I was going to get stuck because sand is very tricky stuff to drive in and we had to go over a few good size hills. Luckily I didn't get stuck- but they had loaded one side of the panel wagon too tight so a panel started to come off from bouncing through the sand. Felt really dumb that people had to get off their horses to fix it but as least I didn't get stuck because it would have been hard to get out of. Had a nice meal at the Pawlette. Then loaded up all the tables and chairs to come our house.
Got to our house and unloaded tables and chairs and then had to go out and set up the branding trap/panel. I had planned to stay at home and work on cooking stuff- but they needed me to drive one of the trucks.
Still had a mess with our cows for sure- not good with branding day being 2 days away and Daniel being gone tomorrow.
Dallin our awesome intern came that night to help fix the cow mess so I could stay and make 6 dozen cinnamon rolls. He also brought back our lawn mower that another part of the ranch and borrowed.
Wednesday
Daniel was up at 2 again- gone at 3 to another branding. It was the Abott Unit big branding 1600 head from 5-12. It was a huge crew to get done but still good roping and efficiency.
Cinch & I were up early as well to move our yearling heifers. Luckily they moved pretty good. Came home and went to mow the lawn. When I mow the lawn it is pretty random process depending where Cinch is playing so I can watch him. I had mowed some random strip in different parts of the lawn when the lawn mower stopped turning! No way , no this week, with everyone coming to the house tomorrow. I left the lawn mower and fed Cinch lunch and put him down for a nap. Moved our living room and dining room around to accommodate for 50+ cowboys to come eat. Made my sister Jami's killer Baked Beans- and then couldn't stand the sight of the lawn and went and ripped the lawn mower apart. Figured out was mostly wrong but wasn't strong enough to fix it myself so I called Daniel on the cb radio to see when he would be home to help me. About 90 mins. So back in the house to wait- I hate waiting. Well Dallin & Mitch showed up to drop off Daniel's horse because he had went with Merle to the Pawlete to pick up the branding pot. Mitch helped me fix the lawn mower--- part 1 of what we thought was broken. Cinch woke up and they left and I went back to mow and it worked for approximately 53 seconds. Rrrrr. Frustration was sitting in.
We decided we would run to town to pick up the fresh fruit for the dinner and so Daniel could take a test of the library. Got home from town around 7:30 and headed to the furthest part of our unit to pick up the only functioning lawn mower. Got it loaded and back to our house around 8:30. Got Cinch in bed and went out to mow- bathed in mosquito repellent. Mowed for about 20 minutes and the lawn mower started smoking. Took it over to the barn where Daniel was rounding stuff up and he looked at it put didn't have a definite answer. I would try again in the morning- hopefully then I would get the lawn mowed. As frustrated as I was I went and cut up all my fruit and vegetables for the lunch tomorrow.
Oh yea- to top the day off I had to host to vet students from Colorado State for the next 2 nights. I don't even want to go back to that day.
Thursday- Branding Day

Another post of it's own...

Friday-
Nope we didn't stay home and sleep, it was Mitch (our foreman's) Branding today. Daniel was gone around 5:20. I needed to be down and Mitch's house to pick up the breakfast to take out to the cowboys at 7:20. Well Cinch wasn't up at 7 so he got stuck in the truck with pjs on. Got to Mitch's house and picked up the breakfast. As soon as we headed out to the cows we had to sneak around a dually truck/trailer that had gotten stuck on the first hill- not a good sign- Drove and drove out to the branding- it took about 30 mins. Didn't get stuck though- which is very surprising because Mitch's country is wild.
Got to the branding and started serving breakfast. Everyone was teasing Cinch & Me that he was still in his pjs. Luckily Daniel took him to get dressed. We stayed and took pictures and Cinch gave other kids rides on his horses.

Cinch & Lighting McQueen holding a Calf with Nicole (Mitch's Daughter)

Cinch and some other boys pestering one of the little calves

By 10 it was too hot and they were out of water to drink so we left to go try and get the stuck truck unstuck else no one would be getting to Mitch's house. I went and recruited Timeree to come help me get Merel's tractor. We got the tractor and were getting ready to pull the truck out when we realized we had no chain and there wasn't one to be found- as they were on the truck in case someone got stuck on the way out to the branding. Luckily at that time Merel came down the road and was happy to see we had the tractor ready as there was the line of trucks and trailers not far behind him- he pulled the truck/trailer out and then we had to drive the tractor back for him. I don't mind driving the tractor as they have the best a/c out of a truck or house. We had a nice lunch at Mitch's house- it was close quarters with too many sweaty cowboy bodies but still nice. After that- we all went home and crashed! We made it! Finally through calving and branding what a crazy time to start working but we survived! Later that evening we had to go check on our cows and get their solar water pump hooked up for their next pasture.
Saturday
Mitch & Merle came up to work on lawn mowers. The problem with ours was twisted stretched out belts. The other lawn mower had a bearing go out--- not good but wasn't really my fault as it was supposed to be greased by the people who usually use it. Merel being the fix it man- had an extra bearing so it was up and running in no time.
We went to Big Town (Scottsbluff) To get lawnmower and run ranch errands and personal errands as well.
Sunday
Rest and Relaxation. Had the long bumpy ride to Alliance for church. Came home and relaxed. Nothing to exciting. Daniel even cooked dinner as I was DONE cooking for a while at that point!