The day's activities in photo form

[Soapweed]

Fenceposts and soapweeds

Some of the girls

Bextor daughter

Son Brock and friend Devin, watergappers

Installing a floatable barricade

Youth group campout on our lake

Campfire fare

Steak, it's what's not for supper :wink:

Full moon over the fire

Grassy silhouette

Jet-ski on Moonlight Bay

A boy and his dog

 

[HAY MAKER]

Nice pic's as usual soap weed,how big is your lake,whats the depth?.................good luck

 

[Soapweed]

soap weed,how big is your lake,whats the depth?.................good luck

Our biggest lake is about 260 acres. It's kind of "banana shaped" and is a mile and a half from one end to the other. It is only about seven or eight feet deep, and is too akaline to support fish. In years past, a friend harvested salamanders or "mud puppies" out of the lake to sell for bait. He had a boat rigged up that pushed a funnel-type affair out in front that rode on skids that pushed along on the lake bottom. The mud puppies were dislodged and collected in five gallon buckets. They were then consolidated into holding tanks, and later sold coast to coast.

There are three other lakes on our ranch. One of these has quite a few perch that are mainly taken by ice fishing during the winter. Two of these lakes are about 160 acres, and the other is about 80 acres. Another lake of about 100 acres is mostly owned by a neighbor, but our cattle water out of a water gap on the north side. That is where the boys were fencing yesterday afternoon.

 

[jodywy]

An the looks of that flat land that fire wood is a scares commodities

 

[Soapweed]

Cow chips are quite prevelant. :wink:

 

[Rowdy Ranch]

Soapweed and Crew,
Nope-never tire of your photos! That is a great place for the kids and very kind of you and Carol to host this for the kids! Hope they all had fun-sure they did.

 

[nr]

That is a very beautiful place- rolling sand "dunes" dressed up with lakes. Mrs. Soapweed took us out in the paddleboat on one of them and it seemed so unusual being able to see off in every direction, not a tree blocking the view.

Those youth group kids will have some happy memories of that campfire, too. There is definitely something special about evening campfires. tired bodies, warm faces and full tummies.

 

[ranchwife]

Beautiful pix, soapweed!!! Looks like all had an absolutely wonderful time!!! Keep 'em coming!

 

[Denny]

Cow chips are quite prevelant. :wink:

So do those cow chips Really burn or do they just smolder the one's around here never dry out enough to burn too much rain...

 

[Soapweed]

The cow chips have to be well cured, but then they burn good. That is what the early pioneers in this country had to use. In fighting prairie fires, the smoldering chips are a big problem, because the fire restarts again after it is thought to be put out.

 

[Denny]

The cow chips have to be well cured, but then they burn good. That is what the early pioneers in this country had to use. In fighting prairie fires, the smolering chips are a big problem, because the fire restarts again after it is thought to be put out.

Hmmmmm well that stinks lol.

 

[Soapweed]

Amazingly enough, it doesn't smell as bad as it would seem. It's similar to pipe tobacco. Saddletramp has a poem entitled "Prairie Grass and Water." That pretty well sums up the ingredients and the odor.

 

[Denny]

so do you all roast hot dogs and marsmallows over those fires?

 

[Soapweed]

There would be no reason not to. All the pioneer women used cow chips for their cooking fires, as that is all there was. Old time pictures show big piles of cow chips gathered and stacked by the homestead shacks. This showed preparation and readiness for a long winter. The cow chip fires worked well, but didn't burn quite as hot as wood, and there were more ashes to haul out. It was a case of use cow chips or eat cold meals, as in many prairie areas there simply was no alternative fuel.

 

[shorthorn]

Thats neat i have always read of doing that but never been able to the dung beetles get ours or the earth worms. So they dont get dry enough to burn.