Ranch Wife's Slant

Cowboys, kids, and ranch life

Tag: ranch life

  • Eat Like An Animal

    There are days when I would rather feed our heifer calves than my family. For me, cooking is oftentimes more trying than parenting or ranching. I strive to have supper ready at a time when we can all sit down together and I try to make wholesome, home-cooked meals that nourish and satisfy, but I…

  • Boot Up

    One thing my husband and I have never had a problem with is putting shoes on our kids’ feet. Since birth, they’ve always been well-outfooted, er, outfitted, with cowboy boots. My son’s first pair of boots were a baby gift and he wasn’t able to wear them much because his chubby feet wouldn’t fit in…

  • Let’s Go For A Jeep Ride And Check Cows

    School started on Monday which meant a change in everyone’s schedule at my house. My husband and I had our kids do the daily cow, salt, and stock tank checking over the summer so when they had to exchange their work duds for school duds, I took over their job. We run our cows on…

  • The Buckskin

    We don’t normally name our vehicles but my husband calls this ranch pickup the buckskin. She looks a little tough but she goes anywhere. We have two Toyota flatbed four-wheel drive pickups because most of the roads we use out here in the Black Hills are Forest Service roads that aren’t graveled and not very…

  • Planning For An Uneventful Cow-Moving Venture

    Earlier this week we took out some panels to set up around the feed bunk for our replacement heifers. It’s part of our plan to hopefully make moving them off of summer pasture less challenging or stressful. Last year we managed to get our previous heifer bunch loaded and moved but the process wasn’t a…

  • Mondays Are Best Spent in Luverne, Minnesota

      If you’re ever dreading Mondays, I strongly suggest you spend it with the Rock County Farm Bureau members in Luverne, Minnesota. Mondays will quickly become your favorite day of the week. I departed Sunday morning to head to eastern South Dakota; below is my drive through Kirk valley, north Pringle on my way out…

  • In My Next Life I Want To Be A Cow

    In my next life I want to be a cow on a United States cattle ranch so I can find out what it feels like to be spoiled. Cows live a cushy life as a result of a rancher’s hard work and his pocketbook. If I were a cow, I would get to eat an…

  • Having a Family Hay Day

    We haven’t put up enough square bales to make an impressive trailer load in a long time, so my husband wanted pictures this time. The barn was originally built to house hay stacks but this photo seemed appropriate. For the past couple of weeks we’ve been busy putting up hay. We baled a lot more square…

  • The View Outside My Office Window

    During the summer I spend a good chunk of my time looking out the window while I work…and think.   Sometimes I let other noises besides my inner voice like the radio, break into my long train of thoughts. I absorb enough news on the radio to last me for another whole year when I’m…

  • Going Out To Pasture

    Moving cows to summer range is my favorite day of the year. It’s better than Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. I don’t go to bed regretting eating too much like I do with the other holidays and moving cows onto Forest Service takes place in the summer not in the middle of winter….