Boning knife

Stainless steel damascus and giraffe bone handle. This one will work as a fillet knife or a boning knife.

Random from our cow working

Once again my computing skills have let me down. I had to delete a post that I attempted to move from an email to the blog. I'll figure all this out someday, sorry for the inconvenience.

These are a few pictures from our cow moving and calf branding last week that Kim Goldsmith took. I have a lot more for future posts, including some pretty good wrecks.

Joe

Jug, doing what he does best.

We thought this calf was too little to ride with the rest of them. Afraid he'd get hurt.

A trailer full of corrientes.

 

This is what happens when you sit on your ass all day.

Fire!

I got up this morning, and as is my custom, checked the weather. The forecast said no wind and a 30% chance of rain. A perfect day to burn cedar piles. So at 4:30 this morning away I went, armed with diesel, newspaper, and a cigarette lighter.
 Burning conditions haven't been favorable and the dozers have been busy, so I had kind of gotten behind. The piles are dry and it didn't take much diesel to get them lit, so it was pretty much just light the paper and move to the next one. In my joy and haste to get caught up with the dozers, I really hadn't been looking behind myself, but when I did, it looked like the gates of hell. I had probably 25 piles on fire, and it was bright!
 The first phone call came about 6:15. It was my lovely bride wanting to know what I thought I was doing, and what should she tell the fire department, who were currently standing in our front yard. I tried to explain that I had things under control, and how the fire department could find me if they really wanted to, but explaining things like this to a non-morning person standing in the front yard in her bath robe talking to two fire trucks full of firemen is not easy. Needless to say, I was glad I was a long ways off, across some very rough country.
 The firemen did eventually find me, and said that my beautiful bride gave pretty good directions on how to find the "crazy sob". We had a nice talk, and it was agreed upon that I would call the sheriffs department and tell them it was me. The sheriffs department was very understanding about me forgetting to call in my controlled burn after I explained to them that nobody should even be up at this ungodly hour, and that I really thought it would be burned up before anybody noticed. I told them I would call from now on.
 The next, of many calls, came from eight miles up the road, letting me know there was one hell of a fire down in my part of the country somewhere.

I think I will go ride my horse tomorrow.

Meatless monday and farmers markets

http://www.worldcrisisnewswatch.com/2012/03/video-milk-man-faces-multiple-felony.html

Coming soon to a farmers market near you.

http://www.beltwaybeef.com/2012/02/whats-wrong-with-meatless-monday.html

I thought this was well written by Mr. Daren Williams. We have an up hill battle judging by some of the comments.

When the government gets total control over our food, they can do anything they want with the country. Hungry people follow a lot better than independent full ones. This has happened quite often throughout history, Russia, China, almost any communist country you can think of to google search. Scary stuff if you ask me. And... all done while telling us it's for our own good. And... all done without wasting ammo. They are saving the ammo for you independent types that refuse to conform.

Branding

We branded and worked our calves the last couple of days. We moved all our corriente cows by truck to some pastures that finally caught some water, and will let the native grass pastures they usually run  on rest for the summer. We were real hard on our grass through the drought, and it deserves a break.
Cattlemen may claim to be in the cattle business, but we are really all grass farmers. If we take care of it, it will take care of us.

The brand

Nobody makes working hard look easier than Randy!

Picking one out

Going to get another one

I should have some more pictures next week, complete with wrecks, storms, and misses. I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Buckles and wheat

The finished product from the can damascus and buckle blanks I showed a week or so ago.

 Monday was a day that every cowboy looks forward too. Light wind, mid 60's in the morning, mid 80's in the afternoon. The wheat is growing, the cattle are straight, and we can ride around at a leisurely pace checking things. Life doesn't get any better.

Things haven't looked this good around this part of the country in years.

Spurs, knife, and tearing things up

I spent yesterday afternoon decorating birthday present spurs to the direction of the birthday girl. We managed to keep a secret, gave her the spurs without silver, and let her put what she wanted on them.
There was only one question I forgot to ask. How old are you Kim? I saw what I thought was a forrest fire to the north wednesday evening, might have just been candles.

Ole Jug ought to giddy-up now!

I got this one back from Armorall Leather. 1095/nickel damascus, with a paper micarta handle. 

It is for sale, email for details.

We have been clearing cedar on some country just south of my house. My intention is to get the native grasses back in place, and the water flowing from the springs again. Cedar chokes every thing else out, and gets most of the water. Hunters like it, but I can't understand why, deer won't hang out in them unless they are pressured, mainly because there is nothing to eat, and the cedar flies chew them up.

I wasn't standing in the same place when these pictures where taken, but you get the idea.

Another casualty. The seeder is pretty well trashed. I guess that's what I get for working on Sunday. I really should sell every thing that can rust but horse shoes. Me and anything mechanical just don't get along.