Author: Amy
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Getting Ready to Work Cows
We’re gearing up for working cattle next Friday. I’m planning my dinner menu in order to get all the groceries needed to bake, cook and prepare food for the meal. I generally cook the same thing, but always check my standard menu grocery list anyway. At our place, I usually make BBQ short ribs, roast…
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Getting the heifers and bulls moved
Getting the heifers moved turned out better than expected. We ended up borrowing the neighbors’ panels and set them up alongside the fence instead of using the corrals that belonged to the neighboring old bachelor where the heifers spent the summer. The temperature on Friday was in the mid 20’s so the family put their…
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Bootism Disease
Bootism Diseasolumn for Oct 11-17 My family has a genetic disease called bootism. It’s a rare disease that affects only ranch families, but knowing that there are other families like ours all over the country with too many boots is reassuring. The disease can infect a person at infancy, as it did with both of my…
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Cowboy Shirts That Fit
I can still remember the shirt my husband wore on our first date like it was yesterday. That’s because he was wearing it yesterday. Upon close examination of the long-sleeved western shirts that hang in a cowboy’s closet, one might see how ranching cowboys’ (different from PRCA rodeo cowboys in my opinion) loyalty to things…
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A Lot of Junk Drawer Miscellanea
While escaping the craziness of opening weekend of elk season for the SD Festival of Books in Deadwood, it turns out I didn’t miss anything exciting. A few tags were filled but the report I got was that those who went farther south of Pringle to hunt down in the Minnekahta area between Hot Springs…
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What Really Counts
People who spend any amount of time around a rancher should expect to be asked to count something sooner or later. My rancher counts things like money, days, years, bales, elk and cattle. After selling culled cows at a sale barn, he counts each day that the expectant check hasn’t come in the mail. Once…
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Rifle Elk Hunting Season Starts Oct. 1
Rifle season for elk hunting starts tomorrow. The elk haven’t been seen around the area much for months. I’m not sure where the hunters plan on finding them but I can guarantee you’ll be able to find the hunters in the Hitchrail tonight and probably tomorrow for mid-morning breakfast after the first attempt at seeing…
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A Token of Friendship worth Savoring
If friendships were measured by gifts given or received then jars of jam would be considered the gold standard. Many friends who are given homemade preserves as a gift are friends thought of with high regard. Harvesting fruits in the form of homemade jams and jellies is a way to savor the summer during the…
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Eating Beef and Umami
I love talking about beef. I love getting people thinking about eating beef and informing others about beef and its counterparts. My favorite way to do this is by writing about it in a way that makes people salivate so badly that they’re hungry for a succulent sirloin, juicy mushroom-swiss or bacon cheeseburger, pronto. Crafting…
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Pringle’s PPA Monument
The southern Black Hills town of Pringle, which is out-populated by the area’s elk, knows how to laugh in the face of adversity. The proof is at the top of the hill and overlooks the town. The community’s unofficial monument isn’t obvious, well advertised, or the most photo-worthy site in the Black Hills, nor…