Spring 2012

It is too chilly and windy to do yard work and I am thinking of my trip to South Dakota in May.

My niece and her husband have a ranch in Milesville, SD

In my limited understanding of ranch life, I am saying this time of year is for rounding up the calves for branding and treatment of cows.

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This kind of life is so different from anything I can imagine.  The branding is only a part of life on a ranch.  I was privileged to be there visiting in time for the annual event.  I don't ride or even think  of what it must be like to ride out in that wonderful, wide open land and then ride an animal that knows more than I do about how gather those cows and their babies into some sort  of semblance of a line and herd them to the pens at the ranch house area.


That being said, the first time I was there (2011) it was chilly, misting and generally not a good day to be out.
I was in an over heated kitchen helping my niece, and another ranch wife, prepare the meals for the hands who would need food and lots of it.,  That day, everyone ate inside
My niece found their dining room table at an auction that has so many leaves it can stretch far enough to seat18. There were over 30 people to be fed.

I didn't bring a camera that year.

This past May, I did. This year it was warmer and very dry, hence the dust.



 My job was to basically keep the dishes and pans washed and help set the tables, for break around 10AM and then lunch around noon.  Sort of reminded me of church functions when the women clean in the kitchen and visit, while the men and children are fed in the dining room.
This year, it was warm and dry, a lot easier on the drivers, so the tables were outside,














My niece prepared the meal (with the help of another ranch wife). (this shot if of my niece at the refrigerator and her friend at the sink)  Some of the prep began the night before and then the main meal beef and elk roasts (huge) roasted in the oven overnight , 5 pounds of potatoes (I can peel you know), 2 huge bowls of salad and hot rolls and pies, pies and more sweets. Oh, yes corn from a can. warmed in a crock pot









In the "down" time, my niece told me to go out and take pictures.  I did.  The whole time outside, there was the constant bawling of the calves and calls of the mommas.

My brother in law brought his old (city) dog with.   Barney could not make out what that noise was and was not very sure of himself.  If it hadn't been for the ranch dogs, he would not have been very happy.(Barney is brown)                          

   
I  took pictures and more pictures.  Not nearly as many as I should have and missed out on the kitchen business and tables inside.

I believe this building was where my niece and family lived while building the main house

 

Something I noticed last year and this, the young people brought beer with them. My niece and her husband do not drink and these young men and women took their "supplies"  outside.  No rowdy behavior, no cussin', just doin' what they do outside.  Oh yeah, and everyone took their muddy boots off in the mud room on entering the house.



                                                        

All in all, the cowboys and cowgirls from nearby ranches spent at least 9 hours at this ranch.  They do this what ever the weather (my niece said that cooking in her kitchen and serving in her home beat delivering to the riders in the back of a pickup, in the driving snow, wind or what ever else mother nature throws their way.)

Probably the next weekend they will all go to another rancher's spread and do the same thing.  They only hope they will be as well fed as they were on this day and the day last year.  My niece believes in feeding people who work hard. Bless her.