Photos of a December day

[Soapweed]

Black babes at the bale

Hay, this looks good

Number four-oh-one when the day is done

Seeing spots before my eyes

Tumbleweeds in the twilight

Leftover sunflower in the leftover day

Sunset on the swan pond

Still some snow

Double windmill sunset

Heifers on hay on a different day

 

[Silver]

Another great batch of pics Soapweed. I envy you your snow too.

 

[ranchwife]

gotta love those sunsets!!!!! Sorta make the rest of the day worth the wait! 8)

 

[hometowngurl]

Great windmill shot, those are the best and Soapweed I do believe alittle of saddletramp is rubbin' off on you, you're starting to sound like a poet and don't show it,(often enough) 8) :lol: :wink:

 

[nd]

great photos again, soapweed.

A little off the subject but back to your bale bed- ??You can only unroll those bales one way right ?? can you back up the dodge and unroll that way or do you have to set it down and pick it up again?

Winter storm coming to ND tonight, It's already getting very windy!!

 

[Soapweed]

A little off the subject but back to your bale bed- ??You can only unroll those bales one way right ?? can you back up the dodge and unroll that way or do you have to set it down and pick it up again?

Winter storm coming to ND tonight, It's already getting very windy!!

The string around the bales is the nuisance factor. If it is just sisal twine, I cut it so the bales will unroll, but don't worry about picking it up. It self-destructs. If the bales have plastic or the supposedly "bio-degradable" plastic-looking twine, I cut it off and gather it up so it will not be strewn across the pastures.

After taking care of the twine, I take off driving the pickup. With the bale up off the ground, I just touch it down and immediately pick it back up. A little hay falls off. When the bale is clear of that pile, I touch it down again and pull it immediately back up. This process is continued until hay isn't coming off very well. When the core gets small, I just leave the bale on the ground until it is fully rolled out. Once in a great while, I have to unload the bale and turn the pickup around so it can be rolled the other direction. Usually it doesn't matter which way it is unrolled.

I always carry a pitchfork and a dragfork (pitchfork with bent down tines, designed for walking along and pulling the hay towards you). In case the core doesn't unroll with the pickup, I push it out by hand or use one of the pitchforks. In case too big a pile falls off, the pitchforks come in handy to scatter the hay so none is wasted.

 

[efb]

Hi Soapweed. I am new on here. I really enjoy your pictures. Kinda makes me homesick. I grew up in the Western side of the Kansas Flint Hills and the December days there can look about the same. Probably not quite as cold. I came through the Sandhills this last Sept. Took a trip up through Wyo to drop our son off then came back across Wyo turned south at Murdo ( I lived at Brookings, SD for quite a while also) then down through Valentine. Had lunch there and got up to date on life there from a rancher and family in the resturant. I hadn't been through the Sandhills since I was in high school. That was a many a sunsets ago. It sure looked good up there. However your grass didn't seem as good as I had in my mind. Mayby I have just been down here in NE TX too long. We can run a cow to 2 ac. here in normal conditions. The bad news is we have to fertilize and all of a sudden that has gotten eeexpensive... The other bad thing about here is there are way way too many people to suite me. If I could get my wife to move, I'd try to join you'all up there.
So keep the pictures coming.
efb

 

[theHiredMansWife]

The Sandhills have a bit of variety, depending up which side you're on. The eastern half of the Hills (from about Valentine eastward) are lower hills with better grass. They get more rain.
West of there and it's "The Big Hills" as my husband calls it. Much higher, rougher hills, and sparser grass.

Everything looks sparse this time of year, though. :wink:

 

[nd]

thanks soapweed

ND

 

[efb]

Baxter Black might be right. I want to stay married to my wife and I'd never get her up North ( except in the summer), so I guess I'm going to stay living here. Our place has been in her family since 1867, so that also makes it tough to pull up stakes. I think they were driving cattle up your way back then. [/quote]

 

[hometowngurl]

Now hiredmans wife, I do beg to differ with you about Valentine getting more rain. The 8 1/2 yrs we lived down south of there I would say that the first years was the wettest, with May being the soggyest on record. Only 9 days of sunshine, but the last 3 1/2 yrs, that we were there, was the dryest on record too. with the year 2000 being the worst with the fires that we had. The refuge fire came within 1 mile , north and south of the place and 1/2 mile east and west. :shock: it was like hell on earth then. the date was Sept, 17th, I hope to never go through something like that again, but you really know that if you need help like we did, the neighbors and new friends are GREAT :!: :!: :!: :!: :wink:

 

[Denny]

Now hiredmans wife, I do beg to differ with you about Valentine getting more rain. The 8 1/2 yrs we lived down south of there I would say that the first years was the wettest, with May being the soggyest on record. Only 9 days of sunshine, but the last 3 1/2 yrs, that we were there, was the dryest on record too. with the year 2000 being the worst with the fires that we had. The refuge fire came within 1 mile , north and south of the place and 1/2 mile east and west. :shock: it was like hell on earth then. the date was Sept, 17th, I hope to never go through something like that again, but you really know that if you need help like we did, the neighbors and new friends are GREAT :!: :!: :!: :!: :wink:

The 17th of sept that's the anniversary of my first marriage yer right that was like hell on earth then...

 

[theHiredMansWife]

Now hiredmans wife, I do beg to differ with you about Valentine getting more rain.

Truly, the line seems to be somewhere around Valentine. And remember, we're talking climate averages.
Haven't you ever driven down highway 20 from east to west? Or vice versa? You can actually see the shift from tall grass prairie to shortgrass. (You can see it down on highway 2, also, but I can't remember where it's noticeable)

http://www.ocs.orst.edu/pub/maps/Precipitation/Total/States/NE/ne.gif
It seems the line between green and orange is what makes the difference so far as grass type and quantity...

 

[hometowngurl]

Well then if you meant averages ya shouldn't have said rain then, but yes the grass does change but it is between Kilgore and Crookston. I still drive Highway 20 alot east to west. But no matter what the sandhills still have good grass that has developed over the years for drought and for rain, And the ground does change around east of Valentine, because the town i tself sits on the north side of the river and that is white limestone rock whereas the hills south of the river are the sandhills themselves. Also the change in grasses east of Valentine are easing into the farming country around Ainsworth and Bassett. Still the sandhills no matter where you live is a great place to live...........and I wouldn't want to live anyplace else :!: :!: :wink: :roll:

 

[theHiredMansWife]

I guess I assumed it was understood I was talking about averages. My apologies for not being more clear.

And no, I don't mean the change in soil composition. I was still talking about the Sandhills.
I meant the hills east are more gentle and rolling than those west. The Sandhills in Sheridan county, Grant county, Arthur county, and the very western part of Cherry, for example, are considerably rougher than farther east.