Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Tucker on a date Snowmobiling
Tucker took a date to The Ranch to go Snowmobiling on January 1st. He said there was about 3 feet of snow and it was all white. Hopefully that will help all of the vegetation this year.
West Fence Boundary Completion
This post has been a long time coming. After an entire Spring, Summer, and Fall of effort we finally finished the West Fence. The wire is strung up the entire way. We still need to add a lot of dancers and a couple gates in a few places but it is all done for the most part. It looks amazing. Many people helped complete this project and and put forth a lot of effort and money to help better the property.
There are many benefits for having this new fence in. We can now have livestock up there and contain them in our property. We can also keep cattle from surrounding property owners out of our property. The fence will help with trespassers and keep the area a little bit safer.
We will be able to finish the fence line very soon with the few dancers that are needed as well as the gates we would like to install.
Thank you to everyone who helped and for any groups that helped work on the project, it was a huge endeavor and goal we had and it felt really good to complete it.
We are trying to get some pictures of the completed project up soon.
There are many benefits for having this new fence in. We can now have livestock up there and contain them in our property. We can also keep cattle from surrounding property owners out of our property. The fence will help with trespassers and keep the area a little bit safer.
We will be able to finish the fence line very soon with the few dancers that are needed as well as the gates we would like to install.
Thank you to everyone who helped and for any groups that helped work on the project, it was a huge endeavor and goal we had and it felt really good to complete it.
We are trying to get some pictures of the completed project up soon.
Tractor Retrieval November of 2012
It has been over 3 months since we last posted something on here and there have been things happening at The Ranch since that last post.
We saw our first snow fall in November and we had to hurry to get the tractor and potato planter out of The Ranch so we could work on them both a little over the winter since they both have a few issues. Tucker and Dustin went up early one Saturday morning with Jared's truck and Eric's trailer. They were able to drive all the way up with the trailer to the Miner/Child property line and left the trailer there. They drove the truck all the way up to the cabin and then had to walk in the rest of the way cause the road was so muddy. Everything was amazing and peaceful. There were no sounds accept for Dustin's heavy breathing and Tucker sliding in the mud.
They finally got to the tractor and made a joke that now they had gone all this way and wouldn't be able to start the tractor. Tucker tried for about 3-4 minutes to get it started but could not get it to work. He was getting frustrated and then laughed cause of the previous joke that had been made. Dustin then had an idea to pull it out of gear and then push the starter button, the tractor roared to life, Tucker could not believe it. The potato planter was picked up and then a few minutes were enjoyed just looking around at the beauty winter brought to the ranch.
When they got the tractor and truck back down to the trailer they loaded everything up and then took a few minutes to shoot a .22 Rifle. They left early and got home by 10:00. Very well worth it, now we still need to get the tractor and potato planter worked on a little so we can be ready to plant this spring.
We saw our first snow fall in November and we had to hurry to get the tractor and potato planter out of The Ranch so we could work on them both a little over the winter since they both have a few issues. Tucker and Dustin went up early one Saturday morning with Jared's truck and Eric's trailer. They were able to drive all the way up with the trailer to the Miner/Child property line and left the trailer there. They drove the truck all the way up to the cabin and then had to walk in the rest of the way cause the road was so muddy. Everything was amazing and peaceful. There were no sounds accept for Dustin's heavy breathing and Tucker sliding in the mud.
They finally got to the tractor and made a joke that now they had gone all this way and wouldn't be able to start the tractor. Tucker tried for about 3-4 minutes to get it started but could not get it to work. He was getting frustrated and then laughed cause of the previous joke that had been made. Dustin then had an idea to pull it out of gear and then push the starter button, the tractor roared to life, Tucker could not believe it. The potato planter was picked up and then a few minutes were enjoyed just looking around at the beauty winter brought to the ranch.
When they got the tractor and truck back down to the trailer they loaded everything up and then took a few minutes to shoot a .22 Rifle. They left early and got home by 10:00. Very well worth it, now we still need to get the tractor and potato planter worked on a little so we can be ready to plant this spring.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Deer Hunt 2012
Tucker, Trent, Brinley, Colbie, and Porter all went on the deer hunt 10/20/12. Trent and Tucker both got 3 spikes just 5 minutes apart from each other and about 100 yards away. They were both very excited. Tucker was very excited considering this is his first deer and it is much bigger than Trent's. Tucker said he is really a man now. Enjoy a video and a couple pics.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Columbus Day and 2,000 views
It has kind of been a tradition the past 3 or 4 years to go the ranch on Columbus Day since I work at a Credit Union and get the day off. This year Jared and Grandpa both went along. We went to water the grass and also to dig up all of the potatoes. We were able to get all of the potatoes out of the ground, it was a very dissapointing year. We only got two small bags of red potatoes (minus what we have eaten when we go up there) and we did get 2 large bags of russets but they were mostly odd shaped and a lot of them were really small. Due to the dry winter, spring, and summer it really affected our potato crop.
We also watered our grass seed which we are now proud to announce does have some actual grass growing. We have been going up there twice a week to water the area and we have just been hoping for some grass to start growing in. We finally saw some results on Monday. It was just a little bit but it was a welcome surprise to our trip. Look close below and you will be able to see just a couple blades of grass we planted.
We also watered our grass seed which we are now proud to announce does have some actual grass growing. We have been going up there twice a week to water the area and we have just been hoping for some grass to start growing in. We finally saw some results on Monday. It was just a little bit but it was a welcome surprise to our trip. Look close below and you will be able to see just a couple blades of grass we planted.
We also reached 2,000 views this week! Thank you to all who have been reading the blog. Please email any suggestions to ranchw8@gmail.com
Friday, October 5, 2012
Midweek Trip
Jared and his family have been trying to get to The Ranch twice a week to water the grass seed we planted. We hope to have a nice small field of grass up there by next spring. Jared, Dustin, Toby, and Libby all went up on Wednesday and watered the future grass. We noticed 4 head of cattle in the cottonwoods and we spent the entire morning getting them out of the property and found the part of the fence they broke through to get in. We fixed the fence and then watered the grass again. To keep the Libby and Toby entertained we went on a rock scavenger hunt. They walked around picking up rocks and putting them in a bag to be used for future projects. They really enjoyed it and it helped them stay entertained while we were working on getting the cattle out of the property. Morgan (Tricia's daughter) and Brinley (Trent's oldest daughter) often search for Nature's Jewelry. They look for odd rock, snail shells, acorns, or random looking sticks and collect them as jewelry. There are many things to do up there to help keep the children entertained and enjoy the property as much as we do as adults. Remember, the kids will get very dirty up there.
We also saw a flock of 16 Turkey crossing the Flat Iron from South to North. It was a really cool site and we have seen a lot Turkey this fall. Look close in the picture below and you can see them running away from us.
We also saw a flock of 16 Turkey crossing the Flat Iron from South to North. It was a really cool site and we have seen a lot Turkey this fall. Look close in the picture below and you can see them running away from us.
Monday, October 1, 2012
Fix a fence, disk, logs, and gril pad
Saturday 9/29/12 Jared and Tucker set off for the Ranch bright and early. They got up there in the morning to find 20 head of cattle roaming around the fields. They quickly went to work to get them out of our property. As they pushed them out they found some pretty big breaks in the fence between our south border with the Child's property. They fixed that fence and then Dustin, Valerie, Libby, & Toby showed up with lunch.
We then went and fixed the fence on the old road. Someone keeps repeatedly cutting the fence down and opening it so they can drive their four wheelers through or for whatever reason. We fixed the fence a little better this time and even put up a 2x4 to make it more difficult. Hopefully the fence will be in tact next time we get up there.
Valerie then had to leave but Jared stayed with the rest. Jared disked up the field next to the cottonwoods. Tucker and Dustin along with the kids went to clear out some old logs that are sitting north of the fence by the pavilion area so we can make that into a parking lot. We will eventually try to level it out a little so people can park their cars up there out of the way. They then went to continue working on a grill pad and cooking station which is just above the trailer pad and grass area being planted. We picked away at the dirt to create a large flat area big enough for a 3 man tent. (it will not be used as a tent site though). We will have a BBQ grill and a Camp Chef Stove there on either side of the area. Then along the back portion we set up an area to cook with dutch ovens. It is lined on the bottom and sides with rocks. It is big enough to sit 2 camp chef stoves side by side. We also made a retaining wall and made steps from some of the larger rocks around the area there. It was a lot of work but it was very fulfilling when we finished. It will make for a very nice area to cook and prepare our meals up there.
We then went and fixed the fence on the old road. Someone keeps repeatedly cutting the fence down and opening it so they can drive their four wheelers through or for whatever reason. We fixed the fence a little better this time and even put up a 2x4 to make it more difficult. Hopefully the fence will be in tact next time we get up there.
Valerie then had to leave but Jared stayed with the rest. Jared disked up the field next to the cottonwoods. Tucker and Dustin along with the kids went to clear out some old logs that are sitting north of the fence by the pavilion area so we can make that into a parking lot. We will eventually try to level it out a little so people can park their cars up there out of the way. They then went to continue working on a grill pad and cooking station which is just above the trailer pad and grass area being planted. We picked away at the dirt to create a large flat area big enough for a 3 man tent. (it will not be used as a tent site though). We will have a BBQ grill and a Camp Chef Stove there on either side of the area. Then along the back portion we set up an area to cook with dutch ovens. It is lined on the bottom and sides with rocks. It is big enough to sit 2 camp chef stoves side by side. We also made a retaining wall and made steps from some of the larger rocks around the area there. It was a lot of work but it was very fulfilling when we finished. It will make for a very nice area to cook and prepare our meals up there.
Anytime you get a chance to go up for family home evening go check out all the progress being made right now. We have big plans for the future and we hope to finish a little bit every year. The days are getting shorter though so hurry up there so you can get a chance to see the end of the leaves and get there before snow comes.
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