Blog neglect has been rectified!

I have been an absolute blog neglecter.  It’s true; here it is December 10^th and I haven’t posted anything in a month.  A month!  Terrible, terrible.  But it’s not as if I’ve been lounging, oh no.  I started a blog right after Thanksgiving and was all ready to post it, all I had to do was get the pictures and videos off my phone.  It hasn’t been a problem in the past—I have downloaded, emailed, Facebook-ed, and Twitter-ed pics from my phone before, but it has decided to go on vacation for the holidays.  I don’t know when it will return to full function (if ever!), so it has taken me ages to finally get these pictures.  The videos have yet to surface anywhere, even though I've downloaded them about a bajillion times.  Technology! 

Today's blog--new and notable things going on at the ranch:

• All animals are out of Bridgeport and down at our Smith Valley ranch as of November 30^th.  We hauled the last of the horses out just as a series of storms hit—we were leaving the ranch with the snow already obscuring the mountains and the hill to the south and west.  I don't know exactly how many inches of snow and/or rain we got, but it was enough to blanket the mountains in pristine white snow.  It's gorgeous.
  

Here it comes!  

Snow in Smith Valley on 11/10/2012, the day after the cattle drive.  So cold!!!

• We have had RAIN!!  And SNOW!  Why is this exciting?  This means lush, green meadows for you to ride in next summer as well as fat horses and cattle.  We get really excited about precipitation.  Really, really excited.  In fact, it's what ranchers talk about a lot of the time when they see each other.  So if you happen to see us away from the ranch and we get to talking with you, now you know why 9 times out of 10, we will say something about the weather.  I think it's hardwired into our brains...
    

The ranch in late October/early November, before the leaves blew off the trees and the snow came.

• We sent almost 200 calves over to the west side of the Sierras to get fat on grass over there.  Our growing season is different here so while we are grazing our cattle on last year’s feed and have to wait a few more months to get new grass growth, on the west side of the Sierras, they are already starting to get green grass…and green grass = happy, fat calves, and we get really excited about that, too!
  
• We have acquired 2 new mares and a new filly.  They are currently pigging out on some great hay and eating as much as they can hold—they were severely underweight and pretty neglected when we got them.  It was a sad story, but we hope that we can give them a better life where they never have to worry about where their next meal is coming from!  They are all very sweet and easy to be around and we have high hopes for them.  None of them have names yet and I will try to get some pictures of them when they are looking a little better.  They already feel much better since being on a consistent plane of nutrition, so it looks like it's all uphill from here.
  
• The Fall calving group of cows is nearly finished calving—which means we have about a hundred of the cute little buggers running around!  Before we know it, the spring calvers will start popping calves out like popcorn (bad image?  I like popcorn and calves, and they do sort of pop out...) and we'll be inundated with cute tiny bovines once again!
  
• The 2013 Newsletter is finished and will probably get mailed out around the first of the year--very exciting!  We hope you will like the changes we made to it this year.  Feedback is welcome and we would love to hear what you think of it!
  
• Christmas is coming...and I don't think I need to add too much to that.  It pretty much encompasses all that is the stress/shopping/joy of the last big holiday until next year.  

There are a million other little things that we have been doing, but you get the idea.  Winter is still a busy time for us, as it is for nearly everyone, I imagine. 

Shiloh & Company say hello on their last cold morning in Bridgeport until next spring.

Blair and Potter, satisfied after running the horses in!

I am madly working on the blog for the Cattle Drive, so this will just have to tide you over until I get it posted.    Until next time, dream of green meadows, fat cattle, shiny horses, and blue skies!