Elk Hunting by Murphy's Law

It was hunting season in Idaho. Excitement was running high. Jesse & Dorinda and Karen, Nate & Amanda, Nate's cousin Dean, and our nephew and niece,  Andy & Charity, came from PA to spend 12 days with us. The guys were hunting mule deer the first week and elk, the second week.

Mule hunting didn't go quite as well as they would have liked. Rob got his deer before the boys came out so he was able to take them to some of the better spots. 

After several discouraging days of seeing very few deer, the boys decided to go quail
hunting.

,l

They took the girls along so they could carry the game bags. I think they called them "retrievers".  😄 The girls weren't impressed with the guys shooting techniques, the next time, (?) they would carry the guns!  :)

The guys managed to get enough for supper. They even cleaned them! There was an anonymous vote, (among those that ate them), that they were delicious. Dorinda and I took their word for it. :)

By the end of the week, Andy was one happy hunter. 

Monday, the last day of mule deer season,  the guys planned to spend the morning out hunting close to the ranch, then load the two trucks and head for the mountain.

Rob had to run to town for some last minute things, so he loaded the 4 wheeler onto the F250 and headed for town. I was taking the girls in the Ranger, I was going to fill it with gas and get a few groceries they still  needed for camping all week. As we were driving into town I thought the brakes were acting funny. They were making a grinding noise, and when I pushed on the brake pedal it went all the way to the  floor before they grabbed hold. I called Rob but he said there wasnt anything I could do, so we continued with our shopping.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Rob  had seen a nice mule deer on his way back from town. He gathered up the guys and dropped them off at the spot he saw the deer. He turned around to go back to the ranch but the truck just wouldn't drive forward. After fiddling with it for a while to no avail, he backed...back home. One of the joys of living in the outback.  You could be broke down all day, and the only vehicles that would pass you, might be the mail lady and the UPS truck.

When the girls and I got back from town there were 5 guys working on the pick up. They figured there wasn't anything they could do for that truck so they started working on the ranger. A couple guys went for brakes while a couple tore it apart. The other guy was packing up camping gear. The ladies started throwing food in boxes and in the cooler since it looked like they weren't going to get any food it we didn't pack it for them. There was still the question of how they were going to get all their stuff to the mountains. The plan was, to take both trucks weighted down and still have plenty of room for the 5 guys. Now with one truck out of commission, their only option was, driving the 4 wheeler and the little red ranger. 

The ladies stacked all their food supplies out by the garage so they wouldn't forget anything. And told them where it was!!

As the men loaded the 4-wheeler and ranger, the ladies stood watching them.

We even offered them some timely camping advice, but they weren't buying it!!

They finally had everything they needed tied on, even the 4 wheeler was loaded down.

"How are 4 guys going to fit in here?, Do we really need this?"😁

They were finally on their merry way, Jesse and Nate were delegated to set on the buddy seats for the first part of the trip, everytime they hit a bump their knees would connect with their chins.

It was several hours later and quite dark when I got the first text,
"Where are the matches?"
"We put them in the plastic tote."
"What plastic tote?"
By this time a couple girls ran out to the garage to see if the food boxes were still here. They came in carrying a cardboard box.
The guys found the plastic tote but we had all their paper products.

Rob had to come back to feed the cows every day so they cheated a little, the cooks would tell him what to grab while he was here.

None of them got elk, nobody got lost, and they still had fun camping in the Indian Mountians.

Maybe they will try it again next year!!!

The Confessions of Two Sisters

Sometimes life has a way of throwing us into the past. As was the case  from a recent facebook post that I had written about my granddaughter, I had also added a story I remembered about my sister Diane, not realizing that I was the only family member that she had shared it with. 

 

This is the story I shared....

"I immediately thought back though the years when one of my older sisters was about 10, she was walking through our dining room and stepped on a tack. It made her so angry she put the tack in the exact same place for some other unsuspecting person to step on. Sometime later she was walking through the room and stepped on the tack again.”

This is Diane's excerpt:
                                     

"Sometimes having a good memory is a curse. Whispering one of those memories can be like shouting it from the housetops!

I never was forced to tell the above memory but it’s such a good lesson to other mean-spirited little children that it begged to be told. I think it put a stop in my life to that particular brand of meanness. I'd like to say I was never mean again but the person that wrote the above italicized paragraph has a memory good enough to refute that. I was not a nice older sister.

Let the record state though, that I was not ten years old when it happened. I wasn’t even in school yet. I think I was 4 years old and that particular memory actually follows the one where Becky and I were alone in the sewing room and I was gripping the pin cushion and a Sharps sewing needle begging her to let me practice giving vaccinations since I was going to be a nurse. I was eying her fat little arm and she was eying the Sharps sewing needle.

If I would have been successful, who knows where my nursing career would have gone. As it was I became discouraged with nursing and Becky, somehow, through mental osmosis was inoculated against the sewing virus.

Mom never found out about either of those incidents until I blabbed them in later years. If she would have known them, her story about Gramma finding little Becky wailing in the crib and me pinching her little feet would have paled in comparison."  ~Diane

Diane was not my favorite sister as we were growing up. As I read her excerpt I realized our mutual antagonism started at my birth. She is three years older so I literally pushed her off Mom's lap. When we were 10 and 13, we hated traveling in the car together. I especially hated sitting beside her. It got to the place where she would stay home if I was adamant about going and I would stay home if she was going. If I stayed home, I made her pay. I often got candy, a sweater, or one of her treasured books. As we approached our teens and Christ changed our lives we became best friends. 

As I think back to our childhood, I think of all my sisters, I have 5. The two youngest were pretty far behind, so they missed out on most of the drama. We girls shared a bedroom from as young as I can remember till each one left home. I remember Dad banging on our bedroom door, telling us to "simmer down in there or else!" I remember standing in the middle of the room in the dark at the command of my older sister, because I wouldn't stop giggling. I remember Dad or Mom clipping fingernails because they became weapons. I remember being told I was going to retarded school and would miss a very important event in our family. Little sisters are mean, older sisters are heartless.

Now as I see us all pass over that invisible line of middle age, we are friends. We have been there for each other through the death of our parents, through the illnesses of each sibling, there was a stroke, heart disease, cancer several times. We have weathered the storms together and are still walking together through valleys.  Sure we still have skirmishes but we are sisters, some things never change!!

The New Kids on the....Ranch!

This blog was written especially for our grandchildren, but you are welcome to read it too.  :)

This is Joseph.

His previous owners stopped in twice to catch the wayward cat, but he eluded them both times. We didn't see him for about a month, I was sure the coyotes got him. One evening he showed up on the deck. He looked us up and down and then turned and left. He used the same routine every evening for about a week.

 

 One evening he came up on the deck, meowed a couple times and jumped up on the railing and lay down. I looked at Grandpa and said,  "I think we have been adopted!"

I had my camera so I snapped some pictures of him. He tried to act like he wasn't interested. There is a saying, "You haven't lived till you've been ignored by a cat!" I guess that's the evening I really started living, I was certainly being ignored!

Judge had been sleeping out in the yard, but I guess he smelt something funny so he got up to investigate, when the cat saw the dog he jumped down, and I thought "oh no!"

                                         

When I didn't hear any snarls or growls, I went to see what they were doing. They looked like best buds. Wherever the cat went, the dog was sure to follow. They both came back up on the deck and the cat went under the chair. Judge was not happy about that so he pulled him out by the ear.

                                               

Judge pulled, pawed, and drug the cat all over the deck, and then he laid on Joseph. 

Joseph tolerated it for a while, I think he had trouble breathing through Judge's thick hair.

       Joseph has special privileges now. He can eat out of Judge's dog dish as long as there is just dog food in it. If there are table scraps, Joseph gets chased halfway around the house.  Last but not least, Grandpa even tolerates Joseph. When we found a dead mouse laying in front of the garage door, I was grossed out, but Grandpa was impressed. I wanted to call his owners and tell them to come get him, but Grandpa wanted him to stay since he was such a "good mouser"!! Thankfully he hasn't brought us any more peace offerings!!



This is Grasshopper!!

The calf had such long spindly legs. When he walked, Grandpa thought he resembled a grasshopper. So the name stuck.
             

He was born Aug 1. His mother is a high spirited part Jersey cow. 

When Grasshopper was about 24 hours old, Grandpa noticed him laying at the barn. His mother seemed to have forgotten about him. Grandpa brought the cow into the corral and checked her out. She only had milk in one quarter. We came to the conclusion the calf hadn't had any milk since he was born. I went to the feed store and got replacer and a bottle. The cow decided she had enough of meddling humans so she jumped the fences and took off for the back forty. She stayed back there all by herself for several weeks. We put the calf in the barn and fed him morning and evening. He stayed in there for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. One day he decided he wanted to see the world so he ventured out and joined the rest of the herd in the lower pasture. Now we have to go out in the pasture and find him at feeding time. If he sees us coming he will trot toward the ATV. The older calves come up to us as he is drinking his bottles. They look like they are wondering how he can get milk out of an ATV. When he is full, he runs back to his playmares.

Sometimes he crawls into the dried up river bed and falls asleep, then it takes us awhile to find him . He drinks about a gallon of milk morning and evening. We will soon have to think up a new name for him, it isn't going to fit much longer.  We are trying to sell him. He is a lot younger than the rest of the calves, Grandpa doesn't want to keep him till spring, and I don't want to be out in the snow looking for a grasshopper. 

The Day We Introduced Ourselves to the Whole Community

We have been living in Idaho for two months. We have met a few of the neighboring ranchers. Our closest neighbor is about a mile from us, Rob has been getting to know him pretty well. He has offered us some timely advice, and is basically on call when Rob feels he is in over his head.

We recently took a trip to PA. Our 10 year old granddaughter, Jaci, came along back with us for several weeks. She has been getting a front row seat to the perils of the "wild west".

                                                                

                                                                       
She and I had just returned from an outing and were getting out of the truck when we heard a low rumble. It really sounded like a cow in major distress. I looked toward the garden and saw a cow pawing the ground, throwing dirt high in the air. I knew that wasn't a cow...it was one of the neighbors bulls. He saw us and started walking towards us. Jaci, heading for the house, called, "Come on Grandma, hurry! He's coming after us" I called Rob to see what I should do. He told me to drive across the road, the bull's owner was working in the nearby corral. We ran for the car hoping the bull wouldn't see us. As we drove around the house we met the bull heading back out the driveway. We followed him, until he stopped at our fence and was watching our cows. I looked for something in the car to hit him with, Jaci found my purple umbrella. I couldn't reach him but I shook it at him,  he was not impressed but he did start moving again. He reached the cattle guard, we  watched as he gingerly stepped on the pipes back onto his own turf. That explained why he was such a frequent visitor, he was quite an experienced pipe walker! We drove back to the house, Jaci ran to the garden to see what damage was done. She was back in a moment, "Come quick, there's a snake in the garden." You're kidding, a snake? what next! She ran to get my "snake stick". (which was just a wooden flag pole that nobody ever put up) I watched the little snake head for the weeds. She came running with the snake stick, "Should I knock his head off?" Me, "Not yet, Annie Oakley, I'm more interested in seeing what the bull did." What the bull did was walk down our two meager rows of sweet corn and eat the tops off every stalk. "Well, Jac, if you want to knock somebody's head off...." I texted Rob to see if the corn would grow back, immediately my phone rang, He said, " Bring the mule I've got a fire. "  Jaci and I headed for the hay field that Rob had been mowing. He figured he hit a rock and sparked the hay. He didn't realize there was a fire till he got to the end of the field and turned around, then he saw the smoke. When we got to the field lane there were already vehicles parked along the road. People were standing on the back of their pick ups watching. We picked Rob up at the end of the field and drove to the fire. Our rancher neighbor was already there trying to beat the flames with a shovel.
                                                             

The wind was helping the fire pick up speed.
                                                                        

I didn't have the presence of mind to grab shovels when we left the house so Jaci and I headed back to the ranch for shovels and drinking water. As we reached the road there were more vehicles, I was starting to feel a little self conscious. Grabbing as many tools as we could, we headed back to the fire. By the time we got there the fire trucks had started to arrive.
                                                                   

The first truck tried to cross the creek bed and got stuck, so we had to make another trip to the ranch, passing all the spectators, so Rob could get a tractor to pull the truck out of the mud.
                                                                            

There were four fire trucks from two companies, in about 2 hours time they had the fire out.
                                                                       

Jaci and I headed back to the ranch. We did stop and introduce ourselves to the neighbors, even though they already knew who we were. We were all glad it was about over.
It was 6 o'clock so I started supper, and Jaci took a shower. Rob came home and informed us he still needed to vaccinate about 30 calves. He took Jaci out to help him separate the calves from the cows. I was grilling chicken when he called and said he needed more help so I shut down the grill and went out to help, not very enthusiastically I might add. Of all the chores on a farm, separating animals is my least favorite job. I usually get sent back to the house, which was what I was hoping would happen this time too. We had about 9 or 10 calves separated from their mothers, Jaci was being traumatized by an ornery mother cow who was furious her calf was in the corral.
                                                             

 I was ready to give up on the whole job, and then Rob looked toward his hay field and said, "Oh no! the fire started up again. We'll finish this later." He headed for the 4 wheeler and Jaci and I headed for the house. On the way to the house it hit me, he said, "we'll finish this later", it was 8 o'clock, how much later can this day go. I called our neice, Kristen and nephew, Bobby to see if they could come and help.
I had just got off the phone with Kristen when Rob came back up the drive. He jumped into the tractor and hitched up the disc and went back to the fire. He said the fire was already out of control when he got there so he called the fire company.  They were there in a few minutes. He said he knows now why the settlers used buffalo chips for fuel, they smolder for a long time and then explode into flame. The firemen were walking around with shovels, when they saw a cow chip spark they would break it apart and douse it with water.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Kristen and Bobby arrived. We decided to go ahead with the task at hand. We had no idea when Rob would show up again. Kristen had also called her other brother Josiah, he knew how to vaccinate calves so we were good to go. I told them I was no good at herding but I was great at moral support. It turns out I am also a great go fer.
They decided to vaccinate the calves that were already separated and then herd all the cows and calves into the corral and run all the animals through the chute, stopping the ones that needed vaccinated.
It wasn't quite as easy as it sounds, three calves were too small for the chute and slipped out through the head lock while Josiah was loading his syringe. Jaci was manning the squeeze bars, and was enjoying her job so much she almost squeezed Josiah while he was in the chute with a smaller calf.
                                                                      

Bobby was behind the animals driving them into the chute, he has many bruises from the innocent little calves hooves.
                                                                      

Kristen was also helping to get cows in the chute from outside the fence and manning the chute door. Jaci ended up with a bruise when Kristen got excited and poked the wrong person.
Rob finally arrived sometime during the process. It was about 10 oclock when I went looking for flashlights. The job was finally completed around 11 oclock.
Rob was planning on sleeping in his truck out at the fire site, but Bobby wanted to stay and take a shift too. I think he was really hoping to see a coyote and do some target practicing. So Bobby took the first shift. Rob was going to go out about 3am.
As Jaci was heading up the ladder to her bedroom she said, "It sure is exciting here!" Too exciting!! We were especially thankful no one got hurt and we lost less than 2 acres of hay. Most of what burnt was our pasture land.  It had jumped the fence and started in the sage but the firemen were on it right away. When it gets in the sage there is no stopping it!
When Rob left the field some of the neighbors were sitting on their 4 wheelers. "You didn't come down to help, were you afraid of getting dirty?" One of them said, "No, we thought you were having a hotdog roast, and we didn't want to miss anything."
Speaking of food the chicken was still on the cold grill. Most of us were too tired to eat so it went in the frig for the next day.
The day actually ended around 1:30, Bobby called to tell Rob it was raining.  He came back to the house and bunked on the couch. We could finally relax and get a few hours of sleep.

Our first day "checkin' fences"

Rob was heading south to Boise to pick up two ATV's that he had bought. He would deliver them straight to the ranch. I was to head north to pick up the mail then meet him at the ranch for a quick lunch, then we would use one of his ATV's to check fences. A term I  will never take for granted again.
I took the dog with me so he could get some much needed excerise. We have to keep him either tied or penned up while we are here at Rob's sister's.
As I was driving over the Indian Valley  Rd, I had the time to stop and take some pictures. Pictures dont really tell it like it is. They don't show how the hills connect, and each one gets higher like waves in the ocean. Everything is so brilliantly green. They say the snow stays on the mountains until June, or later depending on the snowfall up there.

     

                                       

As I traveled along I came to the fields that had humps all over them. We were told these mounds of dirt were where the Indians set up their teepees. I suppose it kept them high and dry.
                                   

                                             
I don't  know if that story is accurate but it was a sobering thought.  Off in the distance I saw what looked like a pool of water. As I got closer I saw that it was a patch of lavender wildflowers.
   
                                                                 

They reminded me of flowers that grew in grandma's flower garden.

This next picture is just a glimpse of the Ben Ross Reservoir. 

An abandoned homestead.

This next picture is the Indian Valley Rd ahead of me.

This next on is on Hanthorne Rd approaching the ranch.

I got to the ranch, parked the truck and let the dog off so he could chase bunny rabbits or quail to his hearts content. I also brought our leftover pancakes in case he got bored. We now have two pancakes buried on the property somewhere.

Rob arrived, so we ate our lunch before he unloaded the ATV's.

I never went riding the range on a mule before but it wasn't at all what I was expecting. From the way our furry friend was sliding around on the back,  I don't think it was quite what he was expecting either. The whole area was covered in sagebrush, the only way to get around them was over them. Some of them were tall enough to capsize us. I didn't know whether to use the seat belts that were provided for our safety or not. I didn't like the idea of being flung from the vehicle but the mental picture of me hanging upside down wasn't comforting either. I opted to hang on for dear life and pray! As we headed straight up over that big hill behind the ranch, I hoped and prayed there was a better way down. 

This is sagebrush up close and personal!!

There were no tracks to ride on, so over the sagebrush we went.

We were looking for fences that needed mended and water holes. Rob found both, I was still concentrating on hanging on. When I saw we were heading straight for the edge of this water hole, I was ready to jump off and walk but I waited too long!!

A few minutes later we were stuck, not only were we stuck, we had sunk!

I looked at the floor of the mule and the mud and they were almost equal. Rob spent several minutes doing the forward and reverse thingy. We were going nowhere except deeper. He finally realized we weren't going to get out without some help. One of us was going to have to walk back to the ranch for the four-wheeler and a chain.  This was not how I had planned to drive a UTV for the first time. Rob climbed over the mule and proceeded to walk back to the ranch.  He did leave the dog with me...for protection. The sight of a stone deaf sleeping dog did nothing to soothe my fears. I won't disclose what my worst fear was but it had nothing to do with Cowboys and Indians, out here in the middle of nowhere.

If I was going to sit and wait, I might as well take some pictures.  This was on one side of the mule.

And this was out front. We were stuck!!

This was where we had come from!!

My knight in shining armor finally appeared riding a green 4-wheeler.

He hooked his chain to the back of the mule and told me to hang on! I had already anticipated my hasty retreat, so I stuck all my valuables in the glove compartment. He got us yanked out of the mud, his new mule now looked liked it had been on the range for years. I guess this mule is now broke in!

He headed back to the ranch and I tried to follow in  a vehicle I had never driven before. When he disappeared down over the same hill we had ascended moments before, I stopped. I wanted to see if he was going to go head over heels.

It looked like he wasn't having any trouble so I started down, standing on the brake. Half way down I had to stop and take a picture of the ranch. The sagebrush was less populated here and I was actually starting to enjoy myself. 

I made it safely to the bottom. Decided the next time I climb that hill it will be on foot!! We transferred Judge to the back of the ranger. Rob went back out over the hill to check on more fences. I started back to the motorhome, about a half mile from the ranch,  I met something that made me rethink my thought of walking the range on foot. 

It was my third encounter with a snake in two days. Thankfully two of those encounters happened to be on the road.  The fact that I actually took a picture of this fellow,  makes me feel a tad braver. Who knows,  I may have to do something else I never thought I would do, target practicing!!

The next time he says let's "check fences" I  will be a little more prepared!