I decided to quit babying myself about my sore shoulder, so we continued on with our brandings this afternoon. Saddletramp, Peach Blossom and I gathered 111 pairs and put them in an enclosure made from portable corral panels. We sorted the cows away from the calves, and started branding at about 4 p.m. At five o'clock, the Kosmo Kid arrived after a day in school, and at six o'clock our oldest boy came along after a day's work at his welding shop. We got done a little after seven, and at least it wasn't dark yet. Everything went pretty good, and the weather was perfect. At one time, it looked like we might get rained upon, but that shower passed over without incident.
Gathering the herd
Keep them dogies rollin', Rawhide
Getting them into the portable corral
Three of us got them in without trouble
Cowpunchers and cows
Cows sorted from the calves
Calf in secured position
Saddletramp
Peach Blossom and the Kosmo Kid
No wrestlers needed
Welders can be good cowboys, too.
The old man
Backing the calf into positon
Saddletramp's saddle horse, Chalk-eye
Spearhead brand firmly in place
The arrow points the way out the gate