,Our day was HOT! Did you notice the boldness of the word hot. Now underline it and add a few exclamation points. Two days ago it was in the 60's and today it was pushing 100. The horses were sweating standing in the shade. The poor wild and woolly sheep didn't move from underneath the old oaks down by the pond. We really need to shear them, even if they don't belong to us. I didn't see many cows. They were apparently hiding out too. This heat doesn't bode well for our grasslands. While they are as of yet still green, they are very short due to the lack of rain they've received. Only about 59 inches. Our average is closer to 85 or 90 inches.
Mark and I went around today and made sure all of the troughs were working on the ranch. Most of the year the cows have plenty of water running in creeks and brooks and the like, but when things begin to dry up, we have to make sure that the troughs are full. Did I mention it was HOT and I quit sweating, which was not good and I now have a splitting headache. Mark has one too. We should have stayed in the shade with the horses and cows. They are so much smarter. But no, we were out de-silting spring boxes and blowing air out of the water pipes to make sure that the cows will be refreshed.
Luckily our water system is simple, so even I can be of help. Here on the ranch the water just bubbles up out of the ground in some spots. To develop one of these springs you just improve the spot where the water comes out. That's basically it. You can stick a bucket in, or just make a nice earthen damn, or you put a wooden box in that doesn't have any bottom. Poor box. No bottom. The most important part though, I have had this drilled in my head, is to dig into 'blue clay' so that it seals up nicely. Then you just stick a black pipe into your little holding pond- be it bucket, box or little damn- and lay the pipe down to the trough. Walla. Developed spring. I am sure there are fancier ways to do it, but this seems to work here. We are fortunate that these springs usually run all year.
Mark and I went around today and made sure all of the troughs were working on the ranch. Most of the year the cows have plenty of water running in creeks and brooks and the like, but when things begin to dry up, we have to make sure that the troughs are full. Did I mention it was HOT and I quit sweating, which was not good and I now have a splitting headache. Mark has one too. We should have stayed in the shade with the horses and cows. They are so much smarter. But no, we were out de-silting spring boxes and blowing air out of the water pipes to make sure that the cows will be refreshed.
Luckily our water system is simple, so even I can be of help. Here on the ranch the water just bubbles up out of the ground in some spots. To develop one of these springs you just improve the spot where the water comes out. That's basically it. You can stick a bucket in, or just make a nice earthen damn, or you put a wooden box in that doesn't have any bottom. Poor box. No bottom. The most important part though, I have had this drilled in my head, is to dig into 'blue clay' so that it seals up nicely. Then you just stick a black pipe into your little holding pond- be it bucket, box or little damn- and lay the pipe down to the trough. Walla. Developed spring. I am sure there are fancier ways to do it, but this seems to work here. We are fortunate that these springs usually run all year.
These are our summer wheels. See my handy shovel. 
Mark recently got a new toy and is pretending it 's an important part of ranching.
Here is one of the troughs we walked down too. Note the steepness of the hill. Coming back up was when I stopped sweating.
Mark recently got a new toy and is pretending it 's an important part of ranching.
Here is one of the troughs we walked down too. Note the steepness of the hill. Coming back up was when I stopped sweating.
So I sat down . For quite a while. Pretending to film an important video; that didn't load. But don't worry it wasn't any good, you aren't missing anything. Now these flowers were sweet. They are about an inch across and grow in mass amounts in all of the boggy areas.
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Their scent followed us everywhere we went. I rode along with my nose in the air smelling, like some dog in the back of a truck. The scent reminded me of gardenia's perhaps or some other strong floral, with a tropical twist. I kept dreaming of an ice cold drink, sandy beach, crystal clear blue water and a trade breeze swaying the palms.
"Mark recently got a new toy and is pretending it 's an important part of ranching." Priceless!!
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe how hot it is there. My daughter's teacher had to cancel fielt trip to the park because it was too cold and rainy.
I hope you get a break in the weather soon. The hottest day we've seen in our four years in New Mexico (which is a part of the USA by the way) was 97 degrees last summer.
ReplyDeleteAnd, TJ, you were smart to stop when you stopped sweating - clear sign of heat exhaustion which can lead to more dangerous things.
Michelle and I would hate to loose our good blogging friends.
Take care and keep cool.
Dan
The flowers are Meadowfoam and are very sweet. I love the swaths of white like bridal veils laid out on the grass.
ReplyDeleteAhhh Kym, you are a writer. Wonderful description of 'meadowfoam'. Lovely. Thanks for looking around our blog. I am a bit embarrassed actually because your blog is so first rate and our is so 'family album'. Blessings from across the creek.
ReplyDeleteBlessings back. This blog makes me homesick and I'm already home. If I didn't already like you both, I'd fall in love with you all from the blog.
ReplyDeleteOnly thing I can't understand is how you bear to harvest the animals. It is obvious you are a bigger softie than I am. Thank goodness you do because the meat is delicious.