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Cows & Clouds

leanin' H

Well-known member
We went decorating graves last Sunday as a family. I want the kids to know about thier ancestors, the amazing people that molded and shaped and built our ranch. So we took my folks and headed out. A picture of my Grandparents grave and monument. Grandpa Ekker was in WW1.
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My Dad built the basket hanger with their brand on it and Mom decorated it with the vine and some horses.
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3 generations honoring the 4th. I am sure ya'll feel exactly the same as me about your people, but my grandparents were saints! They were perfect and my heros! They loved me so much and I sure love them!
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The grave of one of my other role-models, Uncle Parry. Always quick of wit, a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face. A fine man!
WW2 military Police in Italy.
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And another wonderful Uncle who was the definition of cowboy. Skinny as a whip and tough as nails. A veteran also. In the small town cemetary where they are buried I counted 83 flags honoring veterans. Maybe 300 graves in all. Thanks to all the Veterans, near and far!
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Now for the cows and clouds. We hauled a heifer and her calf out to our leased pasture to join the rest of our own little bunch. The Lewis Flax is in its glory.
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She's the fall calf who suprised us with a calf. Follow the milk truck with the built in fly swatter young un'!
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When ya only run a little bunch you can get em' all in one frame! :wink:
But they are all ours and thats a great feeling! :D
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Today we worked 112 head prior to their trip back to Wyoming next week. They wintered out here and will summer around the Bridger Valley. Dusty and bellering cows was the forecast. Weather guesser got it right! :shock:
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Bryant rode his stud colt and kept the NordFork full. May have to breed a mare to this colt.
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The NordFork in action. Most of ya have seen one i'd bet and they are helpful. 6 of us was the crew and the forks acted just like a couple extra guys.
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Rick was a horseback too. Can ya'll notice the blatant descrimination against me? Just because I can't rope doesnt mean i shouldnt get the opportunity to try! :cry: :D :wink:
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What a fork looks like empty. A stake in the ground, a light rope tied to a tube, a rope tied to the fork and the fork. No spoons allowed!
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The scattered showers over the Sheeprocks are welcome! And they made for a colorful sunset.
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I call this one "two horse and twilight" :wink:
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Just some swirls of cotton candy over head.
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Black Crook cloudburst. Cows are on the mountain. Kids will be out'a school next week. Garden is planted. It's been a fine week.
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Soapweed

Well-known member
Great pictures. You have a nice family.

In the picture using your forks, you said "no spoons allowed." I'll bet you allowed knives to be used. :)
 

jeff in ca

Well-known member
I love the idea of brands on headstones. I lost my dead a 18 months ago and he was the brand inspector here in his retirement years. I know he would love his brand on his marker. BY the way the eastern slope of the Sierra is alot more desert than your country. We have a hard time keeping plastic flowers alive here. I know you folks from Utah think you have a lock on the desert deal.
 

Sundancer

Well-known member
Enjoyed the picture Tour, H. The decorated graves are very colorful. It looks like the head stones in your area contain much more detail than the ones found in this area. I hope to visit some of my grandparent's graves tomorrow. Always a time to reflect and give thanks for their Christian example.
 

Shortgrass

Well-known member
I like the forks better than a gizmo, mostly because I need to dehorn a few, and the head work is easier, or so it seems to me. Whacha think?
 

Jassy

Well-known member
I know how you feel when it comes to grandparents, I was very fortunate to have both sets of mine to spoil me till I was an adult. 3 are gone now, but the orneriest one, and my life line, my 92 g-ma is still with me and living out here on the ranch. Trust me, I still don't get away with anything around her, but my kid (her greatgrandkid) gets away with anything and everything! Pretty country and thanks for the photo's...
 

Denny

Well-known member
Shortgrass said:
I like the forks better than a gizmo, mostly because I need to dehorn a few, and the head work is easier, or so it seems to me. Whacha think?

I made a gizmo nobody liked it so the forks win out here.
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
Denny said:
Shortgrass said:
I like the forks better than a gizmo, mostly because I need to dehorn a few, and the head work is easier, or so it seems to me. Whacha think?

I made a gizmo nobody liked it so the forks win out here.

There are a few reasons the "gizmo" works better for us. The biggest reason is that it takes less people. With a fork, the roper is "tied up" until the calf has been processed. If there is only one roper, the whole crew is on hold until the roper can catch another calf and get it into the proper position. With a gizmo, the rope is secured so the crew can process the calf while the roper grabs another rope to catch another calf. When things are working well, by the time a calf is done, the roper has dragged another calf into position on our other gizmo. If the roper is catching consistently, there is no "down time" for the ground crew. A four person crew can work quite a few calves quite efficiently. We have one roper, one brander, one person vaccinating and a fourth person castrating. Whoever is available helps load and secure the calf. We have done up to 200 head in a long half day. Best of all, we can pick nice weather for our simple project. If is isn't a fairly decent day, with our small crew it is easy to reconsider and do something else instead.

There are a couple other reasons the gizmo works well for us. By having mainly straight Angus calves, there are not many horns with which to contend. We sure brand the ones we find without too much trouble, and if we happen to miss any, it is easy to dehorn in the fall at preconditioning time. Then our brand is a simple one iron brand so it is very easy for the brander to grab the tail with his or her left hand and apply the electric iron with the right hand. The gizmo allows using an electric iron with the cord not being in the way, where using electric irons with forks would probably result in tangled troubles occasionally.

Anyway, this is my story and I'm sticking to it. :wink: :)

Sorry to hijack your perfectly good picture thread, Leanin' H. You sure post some interesting and historic photos. Keep it up.
 

leanin' H

Well-known member
After using the fork, I still want to get me a gizmo built and try it for all the reasons Soap mentioned. Then I'll decide which I like best! :D Thanks for the nice words everybody. I hope all of you will post lots of pictures this summer so we can see how you do stuff and look at your operations! And not the medical operations Gcreek! Your ranches, Your cattle and your wives! 8) Just kiddin! :D
 

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