The life of a cattle rancher is sometimes a thankless one, always hard working , and never boring. You can't become a cattle rancher with the idea the everything is always going to go the way you dreamed. You will have to survive the rath of Mother Nature , diseases you cannot imagine you have to control, and yes, there still are cattle rustlers. Sometimes these come in the form of either man or beast. We spend endless hours making sure we survive the last two, it is most of the time easier to control the beast, but we have yet to get a upper hand on Mother Nature!
Welcome to our Cattle Ranch .
I hope you can come and stay a spell. We will be showing you pictures of what goes on in the life of a Cattle Rancher. Yes, the good and the bad. So, grab a cup, sit down for a spell, and remember a bit of Texas Wisdom.........don't squat with your spurs on!
We work cattle about twice a year. What I mean by working cattle, we brand each of them, vaccinate each of them, ear mark them one by one, castrate the bull calves that aren't saved for herd bulls, and sell the ones that are to big to stay on the mother cows. This usually takes about three straight days of working to complete the job. During this time, we spend much of the time around a open fire with branding irons and food. If it happens to be a hot day here in North Texas, you can bet you have earned your pay by the end of the day. It is not a easy task. They make it way to glamourous on television. The smell of the campfire and cattle hide being branded stays with you for days. The horseback riding is a experience everyone should have. To be on such a huge and graceful animal is always amazing to me. They are so well trained to herd the cattle, racing through the pastures , turning on a dime, and all the time remaining upright with you astride. By the end of the cattle working you are usually totally exhausted. If not, you didn't give it your heart and soul. It is a good feeling though, an honest days work and sleep comes easy.
My favorite bumper sticker around here is : "Trust Everyone.......But Brand Your Cattle".(Just a little more Texas Wisdom.)
We love this land we committed together to work 35 years ago, and that is what it is. A total commitment. It can be no less than that and work. It isn't always easy, and sometimes your dreams seem so far out of reach that you want to ride off into the sunset and never return, however you awake to a new day with the sun rising over the trees and see that single flower blooming in all of it's glory in the new morning sun, and you know that you are in God's world, and it is a new beginning.
And at night when you finally finish the endless chores for the day you lay down with the knowledge that you have given your all, and you can dream that dream again.
Our wish is that our legacy will be that we lived our dream to the fullest, with honor and dignity, and together managed to find the true meaning of "The Love of The Land".......
One of the "perks" of this life is having fun doing things that you love. The one thing for sure is that the children love the animals, and learn so much from them. Yes, you can learn from animals. Watching a new life come into this world is such a experience for children. They have a totally different perspective on life and death than children who never see this on a regular basis.
Here is one of my favorite pictures of my husband giving a ride on our horse to a very ,very special little girl!
Y'all Come Back Now! We hope you enjoyed the page. Remember to keep your life simple, laugh often, love like there is no tomorrow, and don't squat with your spurs on!
WOW! NOTICE!
On December 11 2003, we were blessed with our first Grandchild! He is the light of our lives. We hope we can watch him grow and live with nature as his pallet. How blessed we are. Welcome to a wonderful life Nolan. Love from Grammy and Grampy......
Nolan loves the country life, but he has to come in from the city to enjoy life with the grandparents! This picture says it all!
YIPEE!!!! We are awaiting the arrival of our next grandchild in August of 2005........Check back!
What a wonderful world! We have been blessed with another beautiful grandson. Stewart came into this world on August 23, 2005. He captured all of our hearts upon arrival! Welcome to this wonderful life Stewart.
