Ranch Wife's Slant

Cowboys, kids, and ranch life

Month: February 2011

  • Ranchdaze

    I’ve been frequenting a new blog site lately called Ranchdaze by a fellow ranch wife, friend, co-worker, girlfriend trip cohort, and mother of boys. My friend JoAnn recently started her own blog and it’s full of humor, photos, stories and a handful of quotes. It’s worth a click and a browse. I got acquainted with…

  • Producers and Their Cows

    Part of the reason people don’t know much about cattle handling practices is because the cattlemen are busy spending time with their cows. Ranchers are committed to raising and caring for their stock to the best of their ability which means getting frequent updates on their herd. Numbered ear tags serve as an identification and…

  • Trade Skills

    My husband’s trade skills are more attractive than the pickups we trade-in. When we decide it’s time to upgrade a ranch pickup, he uses clever strategies to trade off our trade-ins. We try to get every penny’s worth and more out of a pickup by using them long after they’ve been depreciated out. As a…

  • A Different Kind of Church Service

    Whether my family is on our way to first service church or we’re on our way to feed cows on a Sunday morning, I enjoy listening to Father Joe Breighner’s Country Roads  weekly radio show on KOUT 98.7 out of Rapid City, South Dakota in the car or pickup. Even though I’m not Catholic (I call myself…

  • A Book Race

    At the beginning of each new year, I set up goals in different areas of my life that I want to achieve over the course of 365 days. I’ve found that New Year’s Resolutions are a sure curse of doomed failure for me so I don’t do resolutions. Setting goals works better for me. This…

  • Thinking Outside the Box on Romance

    With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s important for me to think outside the box on the subject of romance. If I don’t, I’m destined for disappointment. I already know my spouse is different from other men because of his chosen occupation, the way he views the world, and how he handles different situations. His idea…

  • “Fort Man” is Nearly Complete

    I’m learning that men never outgrow their dream of building the ultimate fort. For the past month my husband has been spending all of his time up at our new pole barn making one corner of it into a tack room, but it’s really a 47 year-old boy’s fort. Now that the construction of the tack…

  • My (Husband’s) Little Pony

    Some of my stories gather a lot of interest but not to the degree that my husband sometimes does. He draws a lot of attention and gets all kinds of looks over his car. It’s a sweet little ride called Pinkie Pie. Named so for its color and the My Little Pony toy horse our…

  • Losing My Coffee Innocence

    I used to be totally content drinking coffee made with coffee grounds from a can. It satisfied my morning coffee craving just fine, but it wasn’t extraordinary and didn’t catapult me into my day or anything. It was on a bright sunny morning several years ago that I lost my coffee innocence. I met some…

  • Disadvantaged Ranch Family

    Life can be tough out on a ranch. Some think we’re disadvantaged because we miss out on so much due to our lifestyle. Some people act apologetic when I tell them how far I am from the conveniences of the nearest town (Custer Pringle’s conveniences are few) or city (Rapid City). Living so far away…