November 2002

Nov 2-Nov 10, 2002:No Guests
Saturday, November 2, 2002

Frank took a load of calves to the sale, hauling Walter, Maurice and Charlie with him. The guest season is over but the work goes on. The girls, Lyndsey, Anna and Trudy rode all day getting the heifers in from 7HL. I screwed up putting them out because I didn't cut my early calving heifers off. I rode the Negrito Lookout area getting in a couple pairs that had been seen there. The day was nice, a hi of 55 low 21.

Sunday, November 3, 2002

The girls trailered out to Canyon Creek to get a couple head Marinel had seen. Well actually once again she had them in her corral then turned them back out again. They rode and rode and rode and found nothing. Thanks Marinel, another wasted day. I worked around here a bit. Cleaned the silt traps along the driveway around the main barn and moved all the collected sand back up into the drive where it started. Then replaced a broken gate post at the pens with a railroad tie. Takes a deep hole to set a railroad tie. Kinda a cloudy day with just a bit of rain. Hi was 44 low 32

Monday, November 4, 2002

It rained a bit over night, was frozen solid in the morning with a low of 29. Snow up on the mountains makes me nervous, should have my calves out of here but having a hard time making a deal. I did sell the heifers last night to a guy in Ca. But I guess I will have to take my steers to auction and just hope for the best.
We gathered Alan's cattle out of the north trap. Maggie rode with us. We got everything in and home about 2pm, took a break then started sorting in the pens on foot, man I hate that. I had the middle gate so I ended up walking a couple miles in a 50 yard alley. I was exhausted by the end of the day. Snow flakes flew as we worked lending a sense of foreboding to my already stressed world. I will gather my stuff more towards the end of the week and by Saturday I hope all my calves will be gone. I will be selling al ot of my older cows, many I really don't want to but I went so far in debt this year it's the only way out. In a way there is a silver lining. I want to change my genetics a bit, get rid of a lot of my Brahma cross cattle and next year buy some black heifers to replace them. Black is where it's at in the cattle world these days. It makes me sad to sell so many but I can build up again later, now it's a matter of survival.

Tuesday, November 5, 2002

We loaded a couple trailers of Alan's calves that he is taking down to Alma. He has decided to try the video sales route and see how they do. A buyer called from Ca. this morning and I made a deal with him on my steers. So now my calves are sold. They will take delivery on Thursday. So we are kinda on hold till tomorrow when we will gather all the big pairs out of the North trap, hold them over night then sort and ship.
This afternoon was spent doing a few odd jobs around the place. Shutting down the shower house, draining water lines, hauling water for the horses and moving all the tack to the main barn. Hi 50 low 22.

Wednesday, November 6, 2002

We gathered the North trap, got a good gather and had them all penned in the water lot by noon. Anna was on Buttercup who is one of the most amazing young horses I've ever started. She is out working cattle by herself and doing a great job. The new owner has got himself a heck of a young horse. She has never offered to buck or run off. Fast to learn, she's gonna be one of the great ones.
After a quick lunch I sorted off the heifers I wanted to keep, only 19 this year. then we left everything penned on the water lot. I hope to hell it's all there in the morning! I don't really trust the fence with over 600 animals in it. I can hear them bawling from the house, which is a good thing. I don't want to wake up in the night and hear nothing.
It was a great day, sunny and no wind, hi 55 lo 17

Thursday, November 7, 2002

I woke at 3am and heard nothing! At 5am I roused the crew and we saddled up. Temp was 16 and let me tell ya it was cold. We had the whole south trap to regather, that's where all the cattle went when they broke the fence down and got out. We rode hard working at a trot most of the time, it was a blessing when the sun finally came up and things started to warm up. While we were riding John and Alan started working the ones in the pens when they got here about 7am. About noon we had all we could find back in the pens and helped sort them. It was a long day. The trucks came about 1pm and we started weighing and loading. Compared to most years this was probably the best shipping day. It warmed up to about 50 and was sunny with no wind. Other years we have done it in the snow and the rain and the mud. It went like clockwork once we got the wreck regathered. I sold 91,590 lbs of calves, a record for me. We were done about dark, tired and worn out but feeling pretty good.

Friday, November 8, 2002

I sat down last night and paid all my overdue bills, back mortgage, and back pay I owed my crew....now I'm broke again but I keep the ranch another year.
But I have no money to make it through the winter so I have to now sell cows. I hate selling cows, each one is a money maker but I really have no choice. John, Anna and I worked the cattle in the pens while Frank and Trudy rode gathering for us. The wind howled, throwing dust clouds over us filling our ears and eyes. The wind chill was about 25, in the afternoon it was spitting snow. We worked cutting my old cows and the ones that show a lot of Brahma blood. Just at dark we quit with still about 75 head to work. It was a lousy day to work in the pens but my little cow horse made it better. Doc was outstanding as usual, making cuts and saves all day long.

Saturday, November 9, 2002

Another blustery day.
We were up and out early, Frank hauling water and I moved round bales into the pens for the cattle we have in there. They are being held to ship to Prescott Az. Sunday morning. I hate feeding hay already but I don't want the cattle to lose any weight before the sale. Anna was out early jingling horses in, there is a cow elk hunt going on and it makes me nervous with so many guns around and so many guys just out to shoot something. Alan came up and we loaded a trailer of cattle for him, then about noon we retreated inside out of the wind. At 3pm Frank headed to Magdelena to meet the new owners of Pounce and Coal and get them on the way to Texas. We sure will miss those two great horses around here. When ever we had serious cow work to do those two were always on the job. In the afternoon I went into the south trap hunting coyotes. They have killed four calves in the last week, That's a loss of about $1,400 I could do without. We had been seeing dozens out there while on horse back, but of course when ya have a gun there's not one to be seen.
The wind blew all day and all night, a big storm going north of us. I hope it stays there for another week or so. But the wind rattled the roof and shook the shutters all night making me wonder what was going to be torn up in the morning.
Hi 38 lo 30 wind chill 20

Sunday, November 10, 2002

Woke to rain about 3am, got up and checked the temp. about 36.
Was out the door in the first light of day to feed the penned cattle. It was rain and sleet and wind and not real pleasant. The mud was ankle deep and the pens are a quagmire. At least the cattle aren't hard up for water. The brand inspector came about 8am and we slogged around in the shit and mud while he checked the brands on the cattle I'm selling making sure I'm not selling anyone else's. The truck driver called about 9am asking if he could make it in. As much as I wanted those cattle on the road I had to tell him he could make it in but not back out. So we put it off till in the morning. I finally came in for breakfast about 10am, As I enjoyed a cup of coffee my mood was sent down hill as I watched the first flakes of snow mix with the rain and sleet. Then it became all snow and the temp. dropped 8 degrees in about as many minutes. Soon it was a white out. Fortunately it was short lived and only put about 2 in. on the ground but it did that in less than half an hour. As I write this at 2pm it is 28 and blowing hard.

Nov 11-Dec 15, 2002:No Guests
Written on December 13, 2002

What a month it’s been…busy with plenty of headaches.

At my last writing I was in Albq. Getting things set with the printer for our new brochure. When leaving town and carrying all my stuff to the truck, I set my laptop which I carry in an over the shoulder bag on top of the truck. No, I didn’t drive off with it there, but almost as bad. When I swung open the truck door the shoulder strap hooked on it and the computer got flung like with a sling shot onto the parking lot. I opened it up with dread and sure enough it was smashed to pieces. I was at first furious but after awhile I settled down and saw it as an omen. The laptop has been driving me crazy for months and I decided it was for the best.

When I got home Maggie and Frank had been gathering and sorting for a couple days, getting cattle ready to go to the hay farm. We shipped two loads mid week and just in time. It started snowing that afternoon and since then the roads have been snow covered and icy. Maggie spent a lot of time doing my work, so it was my turn to help her. It’s her busiest time of year. She had her 9th annual Dallas show and sale then all her Christmas orders. I spent days in her studio doing the non-talented jobs such as cleaning and polishing. When we were just about done and ready to print all the invoices her computer went south so we spent an entire day and most of one night hand writing them all.

Lyndsey finally made it back from her trip to the city with Anna where they painted the town red before Anna headed back to Virginia. Frank and John spent the time hauling hay and working on our dump truck. Did I ever mention the dump truck? It’s a beauty! I bought it a year ago for $500. A 1978 Chevy 1 ton 4x4 with a 10ft. Galion steel dump. We had to put on new rubber, fuel pump and fix the PTO for the dump but she’s running great now. No dents or dings and only 58,000 original miles on it. It will serve as our liquid feed truck this winter. We will set a tank in the back and service the feeder tanks we will put out in the big pastures.

Maggie finally got set for her Dallas show and we were loading the truck early in the morning for the trip to the airport when Edwin drove in. Edwin works with Don and Jeanie. Back in November after losing four calves in one week to coyotes or whatever, I had asked him to set some traps. He’s been getting 6 or 8 coyotes a week and said that in 20 years of trapping he’d never seen so many in one area. Well that morning he came by looking for help ‘cause he had something different in his trap. A WOLF!! We headed down to the trap armed with cameras and ropes. It was just in the south trap, less than a quarter mile from the house. The traps he uses are light leg hold traps and as we pulled up there the wolf stood looking at us. Maggie, Lyndsey, Edwin, his wife Karen and I. That wolf was not afraid at all. I took pictures and often was less than 6 feet from him and he never snarled or backed away. At one point he howled and from right behind us he was answered. We turned and looked to see a big female less than 200 yards away on the ridge. Edwin put a stiff handled noose around its neck which I held as he undid the trap. Then he took the noose and I looped a 1/4-inch nylon rope around him and tied him off to a fence post. Edwin took the noose off and we scampered to the trucks. We expected him to take a few minutes chewing through the rope; he bit it once and was gone! It made for an exciting morning to be sure. I had never been that close to a wolf before. It didn’t fill me with awe or delight, as it seems to do to so many people. Just looked like a big coyote to me.

We finally got to Albq. and Maggie on her way to Dallas. I headed to the computer store and replaced my smashed one and got another for Margaret too. Then it was a hassle getting all the data transfers done between old machines and new. Of course none were easily compatible so it was longer and more expensive than it should have been.

Got back home a couple days later and started doing some riding which I should have done before. Hunting up a bull here, a couple cows there trying to get everything where it should be. Frank and John hauled hay up and horses down. Lyndsey rode as well covering the open country as I did the timber. There is a bit of snow in the canyons, six inches or so, to make it hard on the horses in the afternoons when it gets sticky and balls up under their hooves. I have been riding Frio and Dakota. Doc got sick and I had to take him to the vet. Pigeon fever was the diagnosis. He gets an I.V. once a week and is getting a lot better. John has Moses at his house he’s sick as well. Not sure Ol’ Mose is up to it.

Maggie made it back the next week, sick. She got something in Dallas and is still way under the weather. She says she doesn’t need to visit the big city again for a while. I have been trying to do what I can as far as her work goes, the simple stuff I can do but all the stamping and intricate stuff she will have to do when she’s up and around. There may be some late Christmas presents and some pissed off people. They have to understand it’s not a factory here.

We are feeding liquid feed this winter, never used it before. It is a thick molasses base stuff that is supposed to supply all the nutrition they need. They will fill up on the dry winter grass so hopefully their bellies and bodies will be happy. It is delivered by semi truck and pumped into a huge 6000 gal tank we set up today. Out in the pastures are lick tubs, steel bins that have wheels in the covers. The cattle lick the wheels that spin thru the feed. The lick tubs are filled from a tank on a truck that in turn fills off the main tank. It’s going to be a messy job I can tell that.
Everything now has settled as far as the ranch stuff. The cattle that are here are staying. The cattle that need to be at the farm are there. We have most of the horses at the farm where they will just graze all winter costing us nothing. We have 36 here that will spend the winter with us, still a lot of dang mouths to feed!
My truck is still out of service getting the tranny rebuilt, it’s been over three weeks. It really cramps my style.

The weather for the most part has been great. December started rough with blustery days and a few light snows but the last week has been sunny, calm with days about 40 and nights full of stars and about 15 average.