Ranch Wife's Slant

Tag: rural living

  • What You Can Get Away with on a Farm or Ranch

    This column was originally published February 12, 2014 Farm and ranch residents may not have a grocery store or WalMart located only minutes away, but there are some advantages to living out of town including things you can only get away with in the country. It’s universally acceptable in the country if a kid pees…

  • An Appreciation For Three-Pronged Outlets

    I gave up a long time ago trying to hide the numerous extension cords that the run along the walls and cords that dangle from outlets located halfway up the walls of our living room and bedrooms of our home. There’s just no concealing them. Extension cords, powerstrip cords, and reducers are a major part…

  • Dr. Val Farmer: A Professional Who Knows

    Many people think living on a farm or ranch sounds romantic but there are stresses that are unique to the farming and ranching lifestyle that families commonly struggle with. I have always been a Val Farmer fan because he specializes in rural mental health issues that families in agriculture commonly experience. He shares his insights and…

  • Work Mess Code

    At different times in the past, I held short-lived jobs requiring dress clothes.  Picking out different outfits for inside work was by far, the toughest part of those jobs. Making a decision on slacks and tops everyday was no Sunday picnic for me, and I developed withdrawals from jeans and sweatshirt comfort. That’s why the…

  • Backroads

    I’ve spent my whole life on Black Hills backroads. They’re like home to me. I’m most comfortable driving on them and they’re safer to be on than on any other roads. My driving is less than exemplary on highways. I don’t worry about getting lost on backroads like I do in big cities. I know…

  • The Face of Terror

    Last Tuesday, the family spent the day moving our cows to a different pasture.   We loaded up our horses and drove to our starting point to gather cows, which was a twenty minute drive from home. Our son followed in his pickup because he and my husband planned to gather up and move salt…

  • Amy’s South Dakota/Life in the West Recommended Reads

    I’m open to reading a variety of different books, but am most drawn to non-fiction. I’ve read some excellent fiction, but if it’s a really good story, it’s disappointing to me in the end if I have to remind myself that it’s not true. I enjoy history, especially about women, but overall, I just enjoy…

  • Eyesore, My Eye!

    I can’t imagine life without a clothesline, but evidently some people can’t imagine life with one. I wrongly assumed once that everybody has experienced line-dried clothes and loves the smell of fresh air in their laundry like I do. When I pluck sun-dried laundry off the line, I burry my nose in them; inhaling a…

  • Just Leave Me in the Dark

    I’m left in the dark at our place a lot, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m comfortable there. Once my husband and I started a family, we outgrew our tiny two-bedroom home and my father in-law agreed to switch houses with us. After moving into the home where my husband grew up, the sodium yard…

  • A Barrel Horse

    I dreamed of being a barrel racer as a kid but should’ve considered saddle bronc riding instead. I got a lot more practice in on that kind of horse event. The horses of my youth weren’t papered, fancy, or always the soundest, and they each had at least one character flaw but every family member…