Fredericksburg Parade
Yesterday Hardy, Gay and I participated in the Fredericksburg parade for the fourth year in a row. Riding with us were our neighbors, Paul and Barb King. As usual, May and Belle performed beautifully being perfectly comfortable with all the craziness that goes on in a parade. The only thing that phased them at all was a Shriner dressed up as a clown driving around in a little scooter - and I had the same reaction that they did!
This is one of my favorite events of the year. If you want to get in touch with middle America this parade is as good as it gets. Watching a community come together for an event like this is important to see, especially when we all hear as much negative press as we do about what is wrong with our country. A very uplifting day.
Departure of the Painted Buntings
A few years after we bought the ranch the first pair of painted buntings arrived - the most colorful, amazing little birds. Each year they leave in the fall and return in the spring. This year we had two pair of mature birds and they each raised a family.
Last weekend they were here and this weekend they are gone. Our birds are part of the western population so they are likely on their way as I am writing this to northern Mexico and may go as far south to Panama.
Update on Dan Tucker
Some readers of this blog will remember the story of Dan Tucker, a little bull calf whose mother was accidentally gored and died. Hardy and Kathy Vaughn raised him on a bottle and as you can see he is doing fine. He always expects Gay to bring him a treat!
Bull Pens
So the one of the biggest challenges of raising Texas Longhorns is protecting our bulls’ horns. Bulls with the longest horns are most valuable but the bulls don’t know that. So they tend to fight and push each other around which often leads to breaking off the horn tips. That can mean tens of thousand dollar differences in what they will bring act auction.
So this week we finished construction of four new pens, each separated by a 12 foot alley so the bulls will never be right up against each other. Seven strands of barbed wire, about six feet tall should hold them in.
The pens are designed for great herd sire prospects, like Blazing Star - horns growing straight out.
Waiting for Hardy Vaughn
Saturday morning, May 2, 2008 7:30 a.m. and the cows are all lined up waiting for Hardy Vaughn to arrive with his sack of feed. If you don’t think cows can tell time - you are simply wrong.
They line up every morning at the appointed time to see what day it is - they get fed every other day - so they are right 50% of the time and wrong 50% of the time. But they always show up anyway.
Dan Tucker
Here is Gay feeding a bull calf we named “Dan Tucker.” Dan’s mother was killed in a freak accident - gored by another cow. This is the first time anything like this has happening after all these years with Longhorns. So, we are bottle feeding “Dan” and he is coming along very well. Looks like we will have a big pet on our hands!
A big bottle in the morning and another in the afternoon.
The road - finally done.
Getting projects done in the country is always a challenge - especially if your project is 1.2 miles of road construction. Anyway, after months of preparation it’s done. Are we getting spoiled? Hardy and his geriatric road crew hauled 220 dump truck loads of base and gravel - each load averaging 13 tons! We had a couple of close calls but no fatalities.
The oil goes down first followed by gravel. It gets rolled and the process repeated again.
Ranch House
The ranch house was designed by our good friends John and Elizabeth Blood. We finished construction in November, 1999.
Main entrance.
View from the porch.
The bunk house.
Pool.
Kudos to TLBAA
The breeder’s association has really been through a rough spell over the past year. Gay and Hardy and I were worried that the Horn Showcase Sale might suffer as a result. I’m pleased to say that we were impressed with almost everything about the sale. Overall, prices were very strong. There was a great crowd that hung in for most of the sale. I know how much time and effort producing a sale like this takes - and we want to say thank you to all involved.
We think this was probably a turning point in the history of the TLBAA - and we say congratulations for a job well done.
Ranch Day
Shooing heifers out of the way on Ranch Day. We all had a great time. Lots of babies, dogs, horses, etc. Pies from the Bluebonnet Cafe and lunch from Inman’s. Thanks to all. (thanks for the picture Scott)
