Bus crash

http://abcnews.go.com/US/oregon-bus-crash-people-dead-20-injured/story?id=18096025#.UOIxJhw2_nI

High capacity vehicles should be banned! Look at how many people they are capable of killing at one time!

Had these poor folks been in vehicles that hold 5 passengers or less this would not have been near the tragedy that it is.
 How many times do Americans have to witness such things before congress and our president act. BAN THEM!!! Ban them all I say. People in town can walk to work, or ride a bike. People like me can ride a horse. Not another day needs to go by without something being done.
A call to your congressperson and executive leader demanding action immediately should be made. I'm sure diane and barry are waiting by the phone.

The few weeks before Christmas are usually hectic in the shop. I'm in a hurry and either forget to take pictures, or take crappy ones. These are a few of the last minute items I did.

Steve Goldsmith wanted to build some spurs for his grand kids, so he spent his spare time at my shop where he built these, with just a little help from me. Damn good looking for the first two sets.

A couple more good cowboys(persons) being raised.

Cell phone pictures of some knives. The big one was ordered, the little one is made from left over steel from the big one. It is for sell with a neck sheath for 200.00$

Pneumonia

We had some calves getting sick. Dust is the main problem, so we decided to get this bunch up and re-vaccinate. Maybe it will cure the problem. We could sure use some rain, it's been over 60 days.

Gun laws

Jewelry

Some things I finished this week.

I make these out of 10 peso Mexican coins.

Made from stainless damascus scrap.

I made the buckles, not the straps.

A kitchen knife.

Judd's spurs

Judd is my 2 year old grand son.

I call these type spurs draggers, which means the rowel is lower than the heel band. Draggers are for short people that need to reach down to cue their horse. They also tend to drive people crazy, particularly mothers, because as said short person walks around on hardwood or tile floors they drag across making lots of noise.
Merry Christmas Jessica.

The quest

I have spent the vast majority of my life in search of the perfect horse. Peanut is my latest acquisition, and only time will tell if he is any thing close.

14 hands, and about 1000 pounds is what attracted me to him at first. When you get old and crippled up, and have as many gates off the hinges as I do, you think about things like getting on and off.
 He came from some local cutting horse trainers, and has quite a handle on him. He almost lost me the first time a calf tried to get by us. The leap from cutting horse to working cow horse isn't very far, and he is catching on quick.

He's a little rough on the trot, but outside of that, I haven't found many holes in him.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, this is my daughters latest horse.

Christmas Spurs

This set is on it's way to Weatherford, Texas. His wife and I hope he likes them.
1018/nickel damascus steel, one piece spurs. 1 3/8"  8 point rowel. Nickel silver brand.

I was politely asked to include prices, even for the work that has been ordered and sold. Please keep in mind prices vary by the difficulty of what the customer wants, and the price of materials. It is only meant to be a guide unless otherwise stated.

These are 900.00$ spurs.

Christmas special

These are some of the first damascus steel spurs I made. They are number 73 and are unworn. They have a 1/2" heel band, 1" shank, and a 1" rowel. They are ladies sized. They can be bent in or out to fit the individual.

For sale or trade. 250.00$ plus shipping.

Christmas bit

I'm not saying for who.

I know, I need to feed a little better

A few "doctorin" pictures. Things have settled down quite a bit around the ranch, we are down to just a few sick ones a week.

Back in bidniss

Wildblue was kind enough to straighten us out for a week or two. I can't wait to see what excuse they come up with next time. What ever it is, it will be our fault, not that they have a crappy service.

Here are some kitchen utensils I finished this week.

Cedar, Ironwood, mesquite, and oak handles. All are stainless steel damascus.

Computer problems

Wildblue sucks. I will be back posting when things straighten out.

In between

We have been 7 days a week straightening out calves, but I did manage to get one knife finished, mainly working on it in the mornings waiting on daylight.

Stainless damascus with a giraffe bone handle

It dawned on me that when I speak of straightening out calves, there may be some that read this blog that don't know what that is. I will try to explain.
 We buy calves out of various sale barns around the country using cattle buyers. These guys get the cattle bought according to our specifications, weight and quality, then put them on trucks to our pens. For the next month to 6 weeks these cattle are extremely susceptible to any disease, either hauled in or present at the pens. It is our job to find the sick ones and get them "doctored" before they die. Some years are worse than others, and times of the year make a difference. This is a 7 day a week process, rain, shine, cold or hot. Sickness doesn't take sunday off.

Steve holding one down while Joe draws medicine.

Me holding one down.

This is what we want them all to look like, healthy and eating.

These were all taken this morning.

Moving cattle

I took these with my phone while I was standing around not doing anything. We have some steers straightened out and they are now ready to go to the wheat pasture. We do everything we can horseback.

Joe the counter

Ronald the pusher

Finishing the job. Every day is a good day when you make a living horseback.

I am expecting a full frontal assault from our government on our way of life. The EPA has lots of plans for farmers and ranchers that will drive us independents out of business and off the land. What a shame, we don't make much money, but we sure have a lot of fun.

The sale has started!

http://www.igbsm.org/

The facebook page probably has the best pictures.

knife and stand

Hand forged from scrap damascus. The base is mesquite. Round is a lot harder to do than one might think. It should display well anyway.

Processing

More pictures from from last week. These cattle traveled a long ways to spend the winter with us. They have been pulled off their mamas, run through a sale barn, then put on a truck and shipped to a vastly different climate. All within a few days. We do every thing we can, in the way of vaccinations and good feed, to get them past this stressful time and get them back out in the pasture and growing again.

The gray mare and I in the tub. She takes a hooking or a kick once in a while, but at least I not in there on foot. It's very important that I don't walk any further than from the back of the trailer to the door of the pick-up. Joe's wife took this picture with her phone.

Jessica keeping the chute loaded.

Joe in the branding smoke. He smelled real good by the end of the day.

Vaccinating.