Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

In the last month, Buddy has changed jobs... hallelujah! He is no longer working an hour and half from the house (weather permitting) but now working on a 500+ acre Longhorn ranch that's only 20 minutes from home. It's certainly a change from running heavy equipment all day but I'm loving having him so close to home. Yesterday morning I went with him to go feed so I grabbed my camera...






Meet Hank... a wild turkey hen that came up to the ranch last summer and decided to stay. She is Buddy's compadre. She rides around in the Mule with him, sitting right next to him on the seat. She's not stupid..she knows to stay in the Mule or she'd be attacked by the donkeys. Each pasture has their own set of donkeys. Their job is to keep predators away...and they do their job well.

You will notice that when it came time for me to leave..there was Hank..in the back of my truck.

Now this precious little girl is Latte Frosty's Star..otherwise known as Button, which is the name Buddy has also given our newest granddaughter. She has a calf named after her. She is one of twins which the mother abandoned. The other twin is a bull calf who is much larger. The little heifer calf is a free martin, meaning she is sterile because in utero, all the hormones or testosterone go to the bull calf. She will still grow big and get the traditional Longhorns but she will be sterile. Once she's weaned from the bottle, RiverBend Farm will be her new home.

Here's the bull calf...he's much bigger.

These next few pictures are taken as we went through and fed. Once I get off into the back pastures, I'll take pictures of the others.

Check this guy out..he's only 18 months old!...the horse, not the bull. The bull in the above picture is two years old.

Here's the colt's guard donkey...isn't he cute?



There are about 250+ head of cattle, horses and donkeys and it's in Buddy's job description to learn all their names. Yep, that's right...they ALL have names.


Happy Trails...

Yes, I'm back from a long blogging break..nothing wrong, just been in a slump dealing with everyday life consuming my days. Since I've been away, I guess I could make this post very long and winded but will spare everyone.

Now..what's wrong with this picture? This is Texas! It's not suppose to snow like that here. I will say that it was a sight to behold though.

Even the horses were wondering what all this white stuff was...

Big Hilda kept following me around as if she was saying "please take me back up to the house with you!"

Okay, I've got to get on my soapbox so bear with me...remember our precious Jasper, the golden retriever that someone dumped out here a year ago? Well.. making a very long story very short, the boyfriend of a renter down the road reported us and my next door neighbor for animal abuse/neglect because he felt like our dogs are too skinny! OH MY GOSH! He should have seen this dog when we rescued him out of the bar ditch. We have since learned that when others saw this dog in the ditch, they wanted to shoot him and put him out of his misery. This idiot should see all my other animals and their living conditions! The charges were finally dropped only after a vet submitted a letter of perfect health and the frivilous charge. People like this are dangerous. If they want to report someone for neglect/abuse, they need to sit out on the road and catch all the folks dumping their animals out here for us to fall in love with and add to our ongoing vet and feed bills. It is a sad day in our country when we have to take the time and money to defend ourselves from some idiot people who have nothing better to do. Okay...I'm done.

In the meantime, we are staying in and enjoying the wood stove and I can't wait for spring to get here!!

Happy Trails...