Bountiful Baskets, Indeed!

I don't think I've blogged about this before, but if I have and this is repetitive, let me know.  I recently joined a Co-Op called Bountiful Baskets.  It's a participatory, all-volunteer effort to source reasonably priced produce and breads every other week.  Because the money is pooled by the Co-Op, the prices are unbeatable.  You opt in whenever you want.

Today, I had my pickup for my $25 food share order.  You can order the food in shares, or baskets, that are a grab-bag of produce - good quality, and usually a mix of fruits and vegetables. You can also select an organic share, or add artisan breads to your order.  This time, I decided to order one food basket, and one order of artisan bread.  It was listed as English Muffins, two savory loaves, and a baguette.  Well, the English Muffin bread is in loaf form - that's new to me, and it seems much more bread by volume than buying the 6- or 8-pack of English muffins at the store!  

At any rate, the pickup for these orders is 8 am sharp at the Hyattville Community Center.  Nancy does a fantastic job of managing the orders, dividing up the produce, having it ready for pickup, and overall managing the program for the town. 

Now, I was prepared for this week's haul to be lightweight since it's just before Thanksgiving, and because the previous order was so good.  The orders are every other week, so for a single person like me, that gives me enough time - if I'm really dedicated - to get through the whole haul in two weeks' time.  Except I didn't.  I still have two zucchini, two acorn squash, and some lemons from the last order.  

Today, I decided to walk the two blocks or so to the Community Center.  I thought it silly to start and drive the vehicle two blocks to pick up a grocery order.  I took my dog (of course), my regular sized back-pack, and just in case, a trash bag (to carry the bread).  Unfortunately, I was the last one to arrive to pick up my order - although the prior person was just leaving, so I hope I didn't make anyone wait on me. 

Imagine my surprise when I saw an entire produce box waiting for me - in addition to the breads!  Nancy and the others who were there were pretty doubtful that I'd be able to carry everything in just my backpack and trash bag.  In the end, I was able to fit everything in the backpack and trashbag, but Nancy insisted on driving my "haul" back to the house, since she was also dropping off Jo Ann's order at the Cafe.  I gladly accepted the hauling help!  

At any rate, here is the unloaded haul on the dining room / work table.  Remember, the squash, zucchini, and lemons are from the prior order (two weeks ago), but everything else is fresh.  Could you buy this for $25 or less in a store?

This week's rundown:

5 artisan bread loaves

1 honeydew melon

1 pomelo

1 pineapple

1 bunch of Romaine lettuce

1 bunch Celery

3 bags of full sized carrots

4 Russet potatoes

12 navel oranges

9 green apples

3 vine tomatoes

6 bananas

This haul was deceptively heavy, and I consider myself challenged to consume all of it, but I'll give it my best.  At $25, if the worst case scenario happens and something goes bad before I can eat it, my losses are very minimal.  

One new tool I've discovered to help with ideas on what to do with the food is a website called AllRecipes - particularly their search panel.  In it, you can enter the ingredients that you have, and be provided with a list of recipe options for those items.  A thank-you shout out to Karen C for the tip on the website! 

Snow Woes

First off, let me stipulate - I'm not complaining!!  But if I were, it might sound something like this:

Lately, I've been reveling in the snow, but it's starting to melt now - and the problems that causes are twofold.

One is that the underside of my vehicle is covered in what I affectionately call "road snot" - the partially melted, then re-frozen drippings of driving. The ugly part of that is when they congeal all up under the wheel wells to the point of rubbing on the tires during driving. I've asked around and the options are to either not drive in the snow, get the vehicle "lifted" (which I seriously might do, so it's as high as the 4Runner was), or 'bang it out with a long stick' (which is what I currently do).

The other issue that the melting causes is with my dog. I'm going to have to curb her off-leash activity at the ranch. The other day at the ranch, she rolled around in a slushy mixture of snowmelt, mud, cowpiss, and manure (oh, and oats). Now, the stream is too cold for her to take a dip into for rinsing purposes, and she is an anti-bath dog. My solution has been to buy cans of dry shampoo, spray her down good, let it dry, brush that out, then rub her down 2 or 3 times with baby diaper wipes. She seems to love that - even leaning in to me - but I'm not keen on doing this all the time.

Interestingly, when I let her walk off leash around the house, she doesn't get dirty - somehow, even though where I walk is mud 2 inches thick, she is able to find remaining solid spots of snow and walk on those. So, it's really only at the ranch that I have to watch her. Which means I probably won't be taking her to the ranch much when it's muddy. 

Shortly, I'm off to lunch with two of my favorite locals - Bret, the handyman from the ranch, and Mr D - at the Hyattville Cafe N Bar.  

I can't believe it's mid-November...

Self-portrait phone shot from the ranch  

I've really been enjoying the snow and the crisp, cool weather! So has Djinni (pronounced Genie, my dog). Yesterday I fed the calves/cows/bull in the corral in the morning and then headed off the 32 miles to the county seat for Big Horn County.  Basin is a small town with a gas station and a grocery store, but it's also the home of all of the governmental offices for the county.  I finally got my Wyoming driver's license - so I am now an official Wyomingite!  I took the time to look at a few homes in Basin, and also in Greybull - the next town north by about 10 miles.  

I enjoyed lunch at the historic Greybull Hotel - and the woman working there showed me the speak-easy downstairs (where they still have dinner service), some of the old bricked up tunnels, and let me go explore the rooms upstairs in the hotel. It is really beautifully cared for! And the lunch was pretty good too. Afterward, I came back to the house, changed, picked up the dog, and headed out to feed the calves later in the afternoon.

By this time, the temp had warmed up to about 40 - the first time since the snows that it got above freezing. Here in rural Wyoming, where most roads are graded / gravel / dirt, things can get pretty messy.  At the ranch in particular, it was a true slush fest.  There was no place that I could park my vehicle and be assured of stepping out onto solid ground.   By that time, I was committed - I couldn't just keep the dog in the car and stand to hear her cry. So, I fed calves, cows, and one bull while Djinni had a wonderful time. At one point, she even rolled around in a mud-manure-slush area. Oh. My. God.

In warmer weather I would have directed her to the creek to self-bathe - she's pretty good about that. She had no interest in doing that yesterday, so I did the next best thing: I gave her a snow-bath. The snow was dry, yet clumpy, so I was able to grab a handful and squish it into a ball. I used the ball to scrub Djinni's fur (until the snow disintigrated) and then repeated. I was surprised that this did as good a job as it did, and that Djinni stood there and even leaned into me to help out! Once she was clean enough to ride in my car, we returned to the house where I did my 2-step winter cleaning process that is great for dogs in cold weather.

I have a can of "dry shampoo" - basically, an aerosol powderized cleanser that you spray on and let sit for a few minutes before brushing it out. I hate how it works on me, but love how it works on my shorter and less curly-haired dog. After setting, you just brush it out. This leaves her coat shiny and salon-fresh, but I don't think that's a natural scent on a dog and I don't think she likes the smell either. I follow that by wiping her down with unscented baby wipes - they're thick so they grab loose hair rather than spread it around, and they seem to eliminate 'dog' smell and neutralize cleaning smells.  She stands still and tall for me to do this, and just as with a water bath, is left refreshed and extremely playful!

Animal wise, lots of deer continue to graze nearby, but the new addition this week has been a couple hundred geese! They have bedded down in the pastures. I've never seen them bed down in non-waterside areas. 

Logically, this is where I would insert a photo, but there is a story behind that..... The other day I did some exploring on the other side of Ten Sleep, with Djinni, and we saw hawks, turkeys, an eagle, a fox, deer, elk, and mountain sheep! I was so glad that I had my nice fancy camera with me (Canon T1i) and I was snapping photo after photo. It's a digital camera, so eventually, I looked down at the LCD display to check my work, and I saw instead: "ERROR: No SD Card!". 

Apparently, I had removed the memory card from the camera and inserted it into my computer - it's an easier way of copying images over than hooking up the USB cable. And, my card was still in the computer, back at the house. Which meant NONE of the great snapshots I just took were really captured. I think you could have heard my "Oh, No!" down in surrounding valleys!  I will have to make a return trip, and it's looking like this weekend might be a prime opportunity!

Also in animal news - I've observed the buck and 4-5 doe harem still hanging out in the side yard - apparently they enter where the fence meets a very old and....not quite straight cottonwood tree.  A portion of the fence is bent from prior cotton wood distress, and the deer can just step over the fence at that point. They bed down right on the other side of that tree, or further down the property in the brush closer to the stream. Two or three of them stand up when I take Djinni out at night - but they no longer run off. They stare, Djinni stares back, and I make a point to walk her in a different direction. At the end of our walk, we come by that side yard.  The thought on this is that the deer have had time to decide if they still want to be there or not with my dog and I roaming about nearby. Sometimes one or two will spring-bounce off when we arrive at the end of our walk, but the others stay put.

As for me, I'm enjoying exploring in the snow, but have been wandering looking at houses in the region. The next few listings of interest will likely be day-trips, so I'll want to plan out Kathman's food (so he doesn't eat it all at breakfast!). I've been virtually meeting other Wyoming consultants and entrepreneurs through the WY Business Development Council, and participating in some video conferences with them. I have put off incorporating until later in the year / end of year for tax purposes, but if I need to pull the trigger before then I can. I keep waiting for gloomy weather to knock some reading and research off of my list, but the weather hasn't been cooperating! Not that I'm complaining.  Happy Camper, indeed!

A little snow, some cows, good company = awesome Sunday!

So, the snow added a level of interestingness to this weekend's visit by the vet, Dr. Dan Miller, for the 90+ cows that were trailered down from the mountain last week.  Doc Miller had to deal with a rougue bull last week in Worland that just waltzed into a basement, and then became angry about being in there!! More details in this article and on YouTube, so I'm including that link here too. 

On Saturday, we ended up getting between 8 and 10 inches of snow. The temp when I left for the ranch this morning was 0.7!! My layers treated me well, though. Besides Mr D, Dr Miller, his helper Marilyn, and me,  Carl and Bret came to help as well. The calves were vaccinated and the cows were pregnancy tested.  Mr D separated out a few cows to go to auction later this week.  The calves are mostly still corralled, and the others were re-released into pasture down toward the lease place.

Of course, the fun at the ranch was followed by an afternoon of play outside with my dog!  And now for the pics.  Here is little calf 27.  She runs toward me - probably because I am one of the people who has fed her!

A good way to keep warm on a cold day:  head-butting! 

The snow was dry, diamond-like and crystallized. 

 

 Finally, my dog.  One thing that she just hates to do is to face the camera when I'm holding it.... 

 

Finally!! Snow

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that the Weather Service had issued a severe weather alert for the tiny hamlet of Hyattville recently - advising of 50 degree temperature drops (from our recent warm run) as well as the chance for snow as a result of Winter Storm Brutus moving south from Canada.

Sure enough, the flurries started about mid-day Friday and have continued non-stop (albeit with varying strength) since then.  The accumulation here is 8 inches of snow so far, and it's that glorious, loose, crunchy, diamond-like powder!  Interestingly, the forecast called for 6 inches in the valleys and up to 12 inches closer to Cloud Peak, up on the Cloud Peak Byway.  WY DOT is warning of high winds, black ice, and falling rock on that route, so I'm not in a rush to check out the snow in higher elevations.  We're just at about 4400 feet elevation.

I was also surprised to see a plow truck go by on the paved road.  Hyattville is at the end of WY highway 31, and the plow made it all the way to the end of the road.  All of the actual little streets in town are gravel, and probably won't need clearing or plowing - in my experience in Ohio, I'd prefer a snow-covered gravel drive over concrete or asphalt any day for traction.

This is actually (paved) WY Highway 31, after the plow had gone over it twice!

Another interesting facet is that now I have a vehicle with 4 wheel drive.  Really it's front wheel drive all the time, and when it senses slippage or traction loss on any of the other wheels, it automatically shifts power to the appropriate wheel / drive train.  I was anxious this morning to go for a drive to get used to the feel of this vehicle (a Toyota RAV4).  I have to say, it was quite a pleasant departure from my 4Runner.  I still miss and love my 4Runner incredibly - but she was 2 wheel drive.   Specifically, rear wheel drive, and that is absolutely no good in snow or icy conditions.  Hell, even on gravel she'd lose traction.

At any rate, I went to a big open area off of the BLM road on the south side of town and really opened her up.  I wanted to check acceleration, braking feel, braking speed, and braking distance.  I also wanted to check out traction control using the various settings the vehicle allows me.  In short, let's just say that from a bird's eye view, it might have looked as though some teenager were out doing donuts in their first car in their first snowfall...it was fun and exhilarating   I have more confidence in the handling of the vehicle, but I am aware of the old saying:  the worst side effect of having 4 wheel drive (for many) is overconfidence in the ability of their vehicles.  I plan to avoid representing that cliche.

I'm glad I did the driving exercises today - that leaves me prepared for my early morning trip tomorrow.  For the 97 cows that were trailered down from the mountain last weekend, the Vet is coming tomorrow morning to perform pregnancy tests and vaccinations.  Mr. D has arranged for a "bunch" of home-made cinnamon rolls from the Cafe, and I'll bring those along with an old style percolator coffee pot and supplies.  The high temperature for tomorrow is supposed to be 24, but that might not happen until 3 pm or so.  In the meantime, Mr. D and a few volunteers are rounding up the cows to move them into the corrals tonight, so they'll be there and ready for the Vet visit in the morning.  I know what to expect this time around, having helped on the last batch of cows, but this round is almost twice as many - and I'll be wearing a few layers to boot!  Now if I can figure out a way to keep the cinnamon rolls and coffee manure free, that'd be awesome.  I think I'll try to build a barrel fire as well - pending time.  

Anyway, now that you've read through all of this, here are a few photos.  Enjoy!!!

This is one blissed-out dog!!!

Fabulous Fall Days

I almost feel guilty about how much I've been enjoying the outdoors over the last month or so.  I mean, put into perspective, the east coast is being ravaged again with the winter storm follow-up to frankenstorm Sandy, and just north of us in Montana, they're preparing for blizzard conditions.  But here in pleasant Hyattville?  It's just beautiful.

Because the weather has been so unseasonably nice and warm, I have been taking every advantage to be outside and enjoy it.  When the sun is out, even if the high is only in the mid-to upper 50s like it is today, that can still be warm enough for t-shirt weather.  In fact, it is warm enough for the south-facing glass storm door trim - which is dark colored - to be almost too warm to touch!

So, this week we have enjoyed temps in the 60s, with a slight downward trend into the 50s for today.  That is all gearing up for the 'cool front' heading our way - namely, remnants of the blizzard-inducing storm named Brutus by NOAA.  In fact, for local Hyattville weather affecionados, the weather service has issued a severe weather warning to advise us that tomorrow we may see a 50 degree drop in temperatures (so bringing us down to the teens or 20s for a high) along with a 60% chance of snow.  So, winter effectively begins tomorrow, it seems!

Why am I droning on about the weather?  Well, it makes for fantastic environmental interesting-ness here in WY.  Just take the sunsets.  They have been breathtaking!  I think part of that stems from the fact that here, you can see the whole horizon, so the impact is that much more noticeable.

Animals

I have to admit, my animals are loving it, too!  Djinni has really behaved well off-leash.  However, in the late afternoon or evening walks, I have decided to put her back on-leash.  The reason?  Deer.  Big ones.  And lots of them!!

I took this photo of a young buck in mid-October - ironically, on the first day of hunting season.  I'm not sure if hunting season is over or not - I'm waiting on a reply from the Wyoming Fish and Game folks - but it would appear this little guy survived, and added two hang-along does to his mini-entourage.  The photo below, taken from my wobbly handed phone, isn't that great - but it shows the buck in an open area across the gravel road from the house here.  

However, it seems this buck has really taken to bedding down at night - with his two does - in the grazing yard next to the house, here!  So, for a few nights, Djinni has awakened me at 2 or 3 am to go outside.  She is a slow dog to wake up  - so I have just opened the door to let her out to do her business.  The other night, though, this buck and his two does were just standing in the side yard looking at us - it was a beautiful moment.  Djinni has seen deer before, but not that close or that stationary.  After a frozen moment of staring, Djinni's dog instincts kicked in and she hauled off running for the deer.  For her, this meant circumventing the little barbed-wire fence between the back yard and the side yard, where the deer were.  

For the deer, however, this just meant two graceful hops and they were bounding deep into the pastures to the east of the house.  Djinni has done this twice, and the deer still bed down in the side yard.  So, as an offer of reconciliation, I left a few old apples out there for them last night, and put Djinni on-leash for our evening walks.  

And now, my beautiful cat, Kathman(du). He has really enjoyed acquainting himself with the lay of the land, and has been getting more exercise as a result - including indulging in the cat mint patch next to the house.  He doesn't mind the camera as much anymore - so I'll take that as a sign of him mellowing out a little!

I'm such a bad blogger! So here are some photos to tide you over...

Lessons learned in cowboy country:

• When heading to the ranch, even if just for a quick errand, wear your boots.  Inevitably, you'll be there longer than expected and have an encounter with at least two types of poop.
• If your dog is part hound, it's ok to let her "roll" in the interesting scents that she encounters.  She is familiarizing herself with new odors - and mine, anyway, seems to only do this for new odors, not every scent that she encounters.
• When fishing, you have to commit to the removal of the fish.  Letting one wriggle off the line leaves a hooked and injured fish in the ecosystem.

So, what have YOU been up to lately?  Thanks to Tiffany for the nudge to update the blog!!

The weather here in Hyattville has just been beautiful.  It's still atypically warm for Oct / November, and believe it or not, they're still in the process of bailing hay at the ranch.  This is good for the cows there, because hay is in short supply this season.  The ranch hand who was scheduled to start over a week ago has been delayed, but as luck would have it,  a local from Shell, WY has stepped up to help out, and he's doing a bang-up job.  His name is Bret, and he's a gunsmith by trade, with lots of mechanical and ranching experience to boot.                  

Mr. G's brother, Mr. D, leases the ranch next door so between the two, there is quite a bit of pasture land for cows.  This works well for the 97 other cows that were trailered down "from the mountain" near Ten Sleep.  Bret and I helped Mr. D herd the cows down to the additional pastures at the lease place.  Later this week, those cows will be pregnancy tested and vaccinated.  In the meantime, with the good weather holding out, I've been doing some exploring, a little hiking, some fishing, and communing with horses. 

Hyattville is nestled right up next to BLM (Bureau of Land Management) lands, or public spaces, and the Bighorn National Forest, surrounding the Big Horn mountain range.  A good rule of thumb is to think of BLM lands as dry, wide-open spaces.  The most interesting aspect is the rapid change in ecology and geology, where the dry high-desert abuts to National Forest, which is more treed and green.    The Red Gulch Byway is a graded gravel road that spans about 35 miles just north of town, and it traverses some fascinating geological features along the way.  Once upon a time I drove this stretch in a rental car during a rainstorm - a big no-no.  Much of the subsoil is bentonite, also known as kitty litter. When wet, it becomes clay-like and slippery, which is how I introduced the rental car's passenger side to a big boulder.  At any rate, the road has been recently graded, so gone are the ruts that were filled with a foot of dust.  While slow, the driving is much easier on that road now.  The byway also includes a dinosaur tracksite, where (with some patience, in my opinion) you can see small dino footprints in long-ago calcified mud.  For your viewing enjoyment, here are a few phone snapshots of the Red Gulch Byway:

This is Turk (the paint) and Fancy (the sorrel) down at the ranch.  Note in the background the tops of some of the snow-covered peaks of Bighorn National Forest. 

Finally, this is one of my fishing spots (also the dog bathing spot).  It is right behind the house here in town!

                                            

Dogs and Pheasants and Cows, Oh, My!

For a few days, I'm feeding the calves at the ranch, until the new ranch hand arrives.  I love this little task - there aren't very many, and they are fed hay, so it doesn't take long to break down the 3 bales required for their morning and afternoon feedings.  These calves are truly beautiful.  Today, I brought my dog along, and it seems both she and the calves enjoyed the introduction.  

 Also, hunting season is coming to a close, but I haven't seen many hunters in the last week or so.  I think they come in one big wave right after opening day.  At any rate, there were so many pheasants at the ranch today that you'd be hard pressed to throw a rock and not hit one.  They move pretty fast, though, so the only one I was lucky to shoot a snapshot of was crossing the road - and taking his sweet time to do it.  I may have to wean myself from taking photos with the phone, despite its ease, because the quality is just too poor for blogging.  But, I do what I can.

Wintering in Wyoming status

Despite having a little dusting of snow last week, Winter in Wyoming seems to be a little delayed. While the east coast is dealing with Sandy and its Frankenstorm mess, we have had gradually warming, sunny days.  This would not be nearly as interesting a point if it weren't the end of October!  In fact, the forecast has the area in the mid-60s on Thursday.  That is, Thursday, November 1st....!  Here in dry Wyoming, that temperature is as warm and pleasant as a low humidity day of 80 degree weather in Houston.  T-shirt weather.  I'm not complaining, but it is skewing my experiment to determine if I can whether a Wyoming Winter somewhat.

So, the Fall days continue, and they are really beautiful.  The light is low-slung, golden, seemingly pre-polarized - and it coats everything like honey.  Many of the cottonwoods still have leaves clinging, though they have turned a darker, ochre-y shade of yellow.  Hunting season continues for just a few more days, and that big buck that has been hanging out in the side lot next to the house is still alive and well.  He doesn't even mind my dog sniffing around in his general vicinity.

It is also still a season of change.  We have a new ranch hand coming later this week, but in the interim, no help down at "the place".  This is not a terrible situation, since the late season activities are largely tapering off - but there are some calves in the corral that will need a few bales of hay in the morning and afternoon.  There is also the case of the residence down at the place.  It needs to be turned over for the new ranch hand - it's the benefit of a provided place to live on site, just up from the creek, out in the country.  I'll head down there later today to do what I can.  Based on the comfort level so far this morning, I may just need a short-sleeved t-shirt!

In the coming week I'll be making a few landmark moves - registering my new vehicle here in WY, obtaining a WY driver's licence and plates, incorporating my consulting effort, local banking, feeding calves, and trying to get up into the Cold Spring / Red Alkali Gulch scenic roads before they're too difficult or messy to complete.

Below are a few photos - I snapped these with my phone, so if you're a facebook friend, you've probably already seen them.

This was Thursday, October 24th - the first snow of the season!  It lasted for a few hours, but was too warm to really accumulate.  What it did succeed in what making outdoor work fairly soggy.

This is Djinni (pronounced Genie), looking east, in the late afternoon sun.

Looking east toward the Big Horns after a little rain activity earlier in the week.  You can't see the higher elevations because of the clouds, but the peaks collected a little snowfall from this accumulation.

Where did the last week go??

I am a negligent blogger, I admit it.  Frankly, the last 6 or so days have been peaceful, quiet, and productive - in other words, not very adventuresome for blogging purposes!  I have been inside for a few days doing some preparation work on other potential projects.  We've had a few days of drizzly rain, which is great for my motivation to stay inside, and great for the surrounds.  This time of year, the ground is soaking up as much moisture as possible.  The streams that run through town - Medicine Lodge and Paintrock Creek - are running a little higher these days, since the fields that they irrigate in the warmer months are effectively 'closed' for the winter.  This week, much of Wyoming has received their first dusting of snow.  Not Hyattville - yet...

While we are drying out after a few rainy days, the guys down at the ranch will be moving a few old heifers off to auction today, and everyone is hoping that this colder weather will still allow the remaining late season hay to dry enough for pick-up and storage.  It would be such a shame in a tight hay market year to lose even the little bit that remains to be put up for winter.  

Well, back to work for me - but please enjoy these photos from last week's round up prior to the Vet Check.  It's interesting to note that the guys are nicely outfitted in traditional-looking gear - both for themselves and their horses.  Hyattville is one of America's last original ranching communities - still doing what it was homesteaded for originally.  So, it's no wonder that folks around here - many of whom hail from families associated with the early homesteading of the town - are very proud of their traditions.  As part of keeping these traditions alive - easier here than in other ranching communities - many cattlepersons support the 'western way'.  One thing that I've noticed is that the younger generations seem more eager to display this traditional western flair and finery than the self-proclaimed "old-timers".   Perhaps that's just one of the ways that you can distinguish the "cowboys" from the "cowmen"!  

 Jared, Ty, and James are heading out to gather the cattle.  I wish I had a good frontal shot so that you could see the finery on the horses, the detail of their chaps, etc - but these guys were hard at work, and I didn't want to slow them down!

After most of the herd was gathered, vet-checked, inoculated, etc - the guys - Jared, Ty, and James - were heading out to pick up the few stragglers that didn't make the round up.  

You Lookin' at Me?

 

This week has been surprisingly busy.  I've opted to trade in my trusty steed, Tessa the Toyota, for a smaller, younger, faster model.  I feel a bit like a traitor.  My 99 4Runner and I have had some fantastic adventures together over the last decade plus....but, alas, I bought her in Houston, which is a 2 wheel-drive market.  Rear-wheel drive to be exact.  Unfortunately, that doesn't work well in winter climates that can have snow accumulation, or even ice.  If I would have been in this region when I bought her, I would have only seen 4 wheel drive options.  At any rate, I think she knew the time had come.  She's been a good, strong companion - even acting like a 4WD in rugged parts of the Canyonlands in Utah and some forest areas here in the Big Horns.  As I was driving the famous Cloud Peak Skyway, we encountered ice at elevations above 9,000 feet.  I forgot - it had been raining the day and night before.  My trusty steed worked well moving into second gear and managing the ice - for the most part.  We did get into a fishtail moment - it only lasted for a second - but when you're on a mountain pass facing a 7% downhill grade, the disaster scenario that could entail escalates rapidly in your mind.  Ironically, we were on our way to Sheridan to look at vehicles.

In the end, I selected a vehicle that I'd had my eye on for a while - a little smaller, same V6 engine, but all-wheel drive and notably better mileage.   It was the right thing to do for the coming winter and for the way I like to engage my vehicle.  I'll still miss old Tessa - I think that vehicle is my longest relationship in recent memory (not including family).  

Here are a few photos from the last couple of days - hope you enjoy!!

This is our morning routine - we go down by the stream next to the cabins.  I do a few little yoga stretches, and my dog sniffs around to monitor last night's deer activity.  Below, a snap of the stream running through....

Have you ever seen an outhouse with a mini-solar panel?  It seems like a dichotomy - but in this case, the solar panel is part of a wireless weather monitoring system.  This panel captures the outdoor temperature near the stream.  The outhouse?  Not sure if it works - I don't have a burning need to try it out!

This is an off-the-cuff, mobile phone snapshot of the entrance to Mr. G's ranch.  The colors, the light - everything seemed to beckon on that approach!

Finicky Fall Day

Lessons learned in cowboy country:

• You'll find tissues in all of your pockets eventually. Besides being useful for your nose, you'll find yourself using them for your face, hands, and as ad-hoc napkins.  Oh...my....god....I have turned into my mother!
• If there is rain in the forecast, bring along an extra layer or two.  It would not be unusual for a 20+ degree temperature drop. 
• Don't squat with your spurs on.

The middle portion of this week is dedicated to running a few errands in nearby towns.  Yesterday (Tuesday) was partially cloudy all day with a few showers - it got up to 70 and dropped to 55 pretty quickly.  The rest of the week the highs are in the upper 50s with lows in the lower 30s, and believe it or not, it is comfy enough in the pre-dawn hours to walk with my dog - without a jacket.  Note I said "with my dog" there - she's been doing great off leash, which is about 80% of the time we walk.  I carry the leash with me in  the event we encounter cows or horses or something that might be lunge-worthy, but so far, she has been very adept at her adoption of Wyoming.  

Now, off to Sheridan to look at 4WDs...!

Service with a Smile

Lessons learned in cowboy country:

• Prepare your dogs for the dry weather or winter by feeding them fat drippings and adding vitamin E oil to their food.  This helps their skin stay moisturized, preventing dandruff, and prevents cracking of their foot pads and nose skin.  
• Clip mint plants down to the ground when it starts freezing at night.  Save the clippings and place them in areas where you don't want mice to visit.  They are a spreading plant perennial.  Your cat wants some, too....

On Friday of last week, I stayed at the house to wait for the cable person to come for an installation.  The provider up here is called TCT.  The installation appointment was for 9:30 am.  An actual, specific time.  Mike, my installer, was running late, so he called shortly after 9 to tell me that.   In all my prior cable experience, the installation time period is usually "between 8 and 5" or something similarly frustrating.  Here, TCT covers a large area of Wyoming, and Hyattville isn't really on the way to anywhere else.  So, I was impressed with the near-accurate timing of their dispatch system.

He did the install which when through the basement and exactly as I'd asked.  Once connected, he gave me an impromptu User Training session on the remote.  Sure, I could have figured that out on my own, but I thought it was a nice touch.  During the process, I learned about a channel that I would not have otherwise bothered to view - it shows community news, events, obituaries (yikes!), lunch menus at schools and retirements homes, and very, very specific weather forecasts for each of the tiny hamlets scattered through the Big Horns.

Over the weekend, it turns out I noticed that when I was on the phone, the wireless internet signal would drop.  After the phone call, it would reconnect automatically, so not a huge issue, but frustrating.  It called to mind the old days of dial up when you couldn't be on the phone and the computer at the same time, unless you had two phone lines.  So, I called up TCT, and let me tell you, these folks could show the likes of Comcast and others how to do business.  Let me explain:

• My call was answered by a real, live, human.  The next town over.  I told him the issue I was having, and he asked for a few additional details.  He said he didn't have an answer for me at the moment, but he'd get right back to me. 
• About 15 minutes later, he actually did call me back and told me that the problem was with the splitter.  He said that this would be handled as a trouble ticket, and their policy for trouble tickets is that they are handled as a priority, so someone would be able to come by on the same day.  I was surprised - it certainly wasn't an urgent situation. 
• A few minutes after that, I received another call - this time from Mike, my installer from the Friday before.  He wanted to confirm the details of the issue, he apologized for the inconvenience, and then he told me he'd be at the house around 3.
• Sure enough, at 10 minutes to 3, he arrived - replaced the faulty splitter, had me confirm internet access while he was on the phone, and all was well with the web again. 

As someone who has done fairly well to keep myself super-busy, I've heard the old cliche that sometimes a job done quickly isn't as appreciated as a job done with personal attention.  A few months ago, I would have said, "there's no time for that personal attention stuff - get in, get it done, get out".  But, in this case, that personal attention didn't take any real additional effort, and made a lasting impression on me as a consumer.  It's what we all know already.  It just so happens that I'm in a position to see and appreciate those little extra touches that make a significant difference now.  

Weekend Update

Lessons learned in cowboy country today:

• Eat all of the food provided to you.
• If you drive a diesel, you should practice priming the fuel pump so that this is a fluent exercise when the time comes. 

I'll see if I can mentally track back to Saturday for an update.  I know, it's only 2 days ago, but somehow each day has provided so much activity that it's getting difficult to keep them separated in my mind.  Saturday was going to be a wind-down working day on the ranch:  Mr G wanted to finish up a few things before returning to his year-round home in Houston.  There was still hay to be bailed and straw to be hauled - but first, we went to Eva's for a breakfast visit.

While we were there, Eva mentioned she might need help "trailing the cows" down from the mountain - essentially, an old-school trail ride to move the cows from pastures up on the mountain down into the corrals for winter.  I jumped at the opportunity to ride horseback for 20 miles down-canyon trailing cows.  After further discussion with Eva (based on the trail and my years of non-experience) we decided it would be best if I didn't join this ride.  She did have some great suggestions to further a riding interest, though.  Mr G has several horses down at the ranch, and one is an old mare that I've ridden before.  After talking with Eva and Mr G, I have a multi-faceted opportunity:  find a saddle that fits me (there are 4 to choose from here), learn how to bridle and properly saddle up the mare, and ride her around the property on a regular basis.  There is also a local woman who is known for her horsemanship skills and can provide training.

Alright -back too Saturday morning - Mr G wanted to work on some items at the shop, so I opted for the homestyle breakfast whipped up by JoAnne at the Hyattville Cafe N Bar. (Incidentally, I've bought a few squares on the matrix in the bar to win a nicely tricked out rifle and scope - it's on display just above the bar, which is joined to the Cafe).  For a price less than the pain of visiting a Denny's or IHOP, I was able to chat with some of the locals and Mr G's brother, Mr D.  I also ordered a basic breakfast plate.  What I received was 6 (!!) long rashers of thick bacon, a pile of hash browns, 4 pieces of toast, and two scrambled eggs and an endless mug of coffee.  It was all delicious - but I was full by the time I got to the hash browns, so left most of those behind.

Now, here in Wyoming, folks don't like to waste things. I've known this, but it's different to keep in mind as a new resident, as opposed to being a neat little attribute of a vacation trip.  So, wasting a serving of hash browns really should be avoided if at all possible.  JoAnne told me this when I returned my plate to the counter - she's the only one working and it was bustling.  She said that she'd downsize my future portions accordingly, but to let her know in the future if I won't be able to eat all the food I order.  We struck a deal - I would do that, provided she let me know if I was getting in over my head with some sort of jumbo sized servings.

I eventually made my way to the ranch and helped out with some auto work for the morning.  The afternoon plan was to head over to Manderson, about 15 miles away, and pick up some bales of straw.

Did you know:  hay and straw are different things?  Hay is essentially a type of seeding grass that has been cut and dried, and is used as a food source for livestock animals.  Straw, on the other hand, is the stalk remains of grain plants - wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc.  These grains are harvested from the plant for livestock and human consumption, among other things - leaving the stalk of the plant to dry, which becomes straw.  As a secondary product of cereal grains, straw provides extra bang for the buck.  It has tons of uses - but in our case, it provides two benefits for ranchers: food and bedding.  As a percentage of the feed for livestock, straw provides roughage and generates heat from the digestion process, maintaining body temperature during winter.  It is also used as bedding for the livestock.

In our case, the bales of straw we were going to pick up were those giant round ones you see in the fields.  The process was fairly straightforward - we went to Allen's farm, weighed the Diesel truck and flatbed gooseneck trailer first, then went to the straw stacks for loading.  Allen rode with us to the stack, and then operated the tractor to lift a total of 8 giant straw bales onto the flatbed trailer.  We returned to the weigh station at the farm, measured the difference (over 4 tons!!), and then headed back to the ranch here in Hyattville to unload the bales.

We needed to make one more run before the end of the day, and the afternoon light was fading fast.  We returned to Allen's farm in Manderson, where he loaded up another 8 bales of straw, and started on the way back to the ranch.  The fading daylight was gorgeous - golden dappled light here and there in the hills, good company and conversation.  Then, a dashboard light came on.  It was the low fuel light.  Mr G mentioned this, and said that the truck had a 20 gallon tank, so we were discussing how many  remaining gallons of fuel there might be (1? 2? 5? plus a reserve?).  Then the engine started to lose power, and we stuttered to a halt along the side of the road, with 4 tons of straw, in nearing darkness, about 7 miles from the ranch.  Mr G borrowed my cellphone and climbed the adjacent hill to see if he could get a signal.  He could, so he called a few folk that might be able to help - to no avail.  Everyone he was calling was out and about, starting their weekend, or headed off to their hunting camps.  

Fortunately, Rebecca was home - and her home was literally right across the road (and set back about a half mile).  She hopped into her truck and came to help us out - we rode back to the ranch, grabbed some tools, paper towels, hand cleaner, and a 5 gallon jug of diesel fuel. 

Did you know most farms and ranches have a small farm/consumer type tank of gasoline and agricultural diesel fuel for their equipment.  This was great for our purposes, because we only needed to fill up the 5 gallon container and head back to the truck.  

Rebecca kindly drove us back to the waiting, empty diesel Chevy (cough cough) truck, whereupon we promptly added 5 gallons of fuel.  

Did you know that when you open any portion of the fuel system on a diesel engine, you break the requisite vacuum seal?   In this case, it turns out that we had to find the fuel pump, loosen a screw (thank goodness we had a flathead!), and push down on the manual primer.  This basically pumps the fuel line, purging out the air that we allowed in by running the tank dry and then adding fuel.  When priming a fuel pump, you'll get an outpouring of tiny-bubbled diesel foam.  It may take more than one attempt at this before you'll be able to get the engine to not only turn over, but to keep running once it does.  

By this time, Rebecca's husband James and a friend had arrived to help, and we had a whole repair complement:  flashlight holder, manual reader, driver, and fuel pump primer.  We were able to get the vehicle up and running strong again, thanked all our helpers, and returned to the ranch.  Once there, Mr G called John and Mary - neighbors and founding family members of Hyattville - to advise we'd be late meeting them for dinner.  Turns out, they had some company and were hosting a Mexican themed buffet dinner at their house.

After returning to the house in town, letting the dog out, and each freshening up just enough so that we no longer smelled like diesel fuel, we joined the dinner party.  I think I walked in the door for the final time on Saturday at about 11:30....it was a long day, but remember, I had that nice break where I had breakfast and a return check on my animals.  Mr G hadn't stopped all day!  I suppose I have to admit - I do not have the physical strength or aptitude to keep up with a retiree.  

Yet.

Sunday was a wind down, finish unpacking, do laundry, catch up on email,  and a trip to "town" (or, Worland: 30-ish miles from here) for groceries / supplies (typically a 3 hour event).  Afterward, I finally turned on the television.  It was after dark, and the eerie electronic glow felt strange and somewhat blasphemous.  

 

Roller Coaster Friday!!

Lessons learned in cowboy country today:

• Don't put your work gloves away until you are on your way home.
• Don't leave your vehicle windows down, even on a gorgeous day, to prevent bees and flies from setting up house there.

Today, the Cable Guy came out and installed cable tv this morning.  Everything went smoothly, other than taking too long.  Afterward, I joined Mr G down at the ranch to help out towing a truck to Basin for repairs. That was an adventure in itself.  He drove a Jeep Cherokee, and I was in the 83 Ford super big pickup.   Once we got the emergency brake released and took it out of gear, and turned on the accessories, it was clear the truck had a flat-ish tire and no power steering.  So, for about 30 miles, I was steering this big truck with every fiber in my body.  After the first panicky moments passed (during which my mind did a disturbing escalation of the risks involved, including rolling both vehicles over down a hill), I calmed down and enjoyed the ride much like a roller coaster.

That is, until the Jeep towing me began to overheat.  Of all the days helping out on the ranch, today is the day I decided to bring my black and white cute little insulated bag that looks like a purse.  I had it loaded up with ice and cans of soda.  Turns out, we needed the ice to begin the cool down process of the radiator 5 miles outside of Basin.  That wasn't going to be enough, so Mr G then used the insulated bag to scoop up more water from a nearby drainage canal and began adding that to the radiator.  After a few trips down to the canal, we got the engine cooled off enough to get the Ford truck to the auto shop and drop it off, adding proper radiator fluid in the process.

Then, we headed further down the road in the newly refreshed Jeep to Greybull.  There, we needed to have a tire repaired for a stacker tractor - one that stacks the hay that has been already baled into the 70+ pound rectangles. I call that machine the "hay bale picker upper".  No one has corrected me yet, and it gets the point across.  While in Greybull, we had to stop at the A&W shop for an ice cold Root Beer float.

Making our way back to Hyattville, we stopped off at the bridge that we've been working on .  The work at this stage involves drilling guide holes into planks that are about 16 feet wide, 10 inches deep, and about 2.5 inches thick. Once the guide holes are complete, Mr G follows with a variety of bolt sizes and washers, and then drives them in using the impact wrench.  The weather for this today was perfect - mid 70s, sunny, peaceful - until the mosquitoes discovered us!  We completed one of the longer sections of the bridge today -  that felt like a good accomplishment.  We headed back to the central part of the ranch, and were going to do just one more thing.  This turned into about 10 more things.  I'm not complaining, but I had taken my gloves off and put them away - and we were not in a position to have enough time for me to retrieve them.  You don't want to  know what my hands encountered.

We moved some trucks and trailers, I helped guide the pointy end of a forklift tine into four very small fabric holders to lift a ton bag of oats, and we fed the remaining cows and one of the horses.  We did a little late day clean-up around the ranch, and wouldn't you know it - the sky turned this most incredible sunset swirly range of colors.  Then, each field we passed on the way to the house was filled with deer.

Poor things don't know hunting season starts Monday - but they will soon!

Here is a parting snapshot from when we were leaving the ranch this evening....enjoy!