Life on the Ranch

Two weeks ago I was barely able to walk into my chiropractor’s office.  I was in very bad shape and a lot of pain.  I was given strict orders to stretch and to lose weight.  Hmmm! Both are a tough assignment to do, but I am now able to touch my toes again.  The back is feeling a lot better, but does not do well sitting in a car.

Branding and docking started on June 15^th with the arrival of my sister Sharie and her friends Carl and Jackie.  Sharie, Carl and Jackie spent Sunday in Deadwood visiting with friends and attending church at the First Baptist Church in Deadwood.  This is the church that she attended when she was a year old.  From there she celebrated her birthday with our friends Harold and Marge.  Thank you H & M as all she got from me was “Happy Birthday” and that might have been a day early.

We spent the week preparing for Branding and Docking (B&D).  Carl mowed our lawn and Sharie and Jackie did the cooking.  Every time I walked into the kitchen, Sharie would kick me out.  I did notice that Carl did wash a lot of dishes during that time.  A big thank you goes to all three of you for your help.

The Minnesota group arrived on Thursday this year.  That made for a relaxing day of resting and visiting.  They set up panels for the branding and had things ready to go for Saturday.  One by one people started arriving and all were here by Thursday night.  We were truly blessed to have Tya with us this year.  She was a foreign exchange student from Indonesia.

Friday everyone was up early for the docking and all went well.  That night a new game was introduced to everyone called “Spoons”.  From what I hear, that was a good time had by all. I do know that if a person was looking for a quiet place, that building was not the place to go.

Rain!  It rained Friday night, but we were still able to brand on Saturday morning.  We started breakfast early so that we could get the day’s work finished before the Peterson side of the family left for the wedding.  Thank you all for getting the job done.  Then it rained again!

The Wedding!  It was probably the shortest wedding I have ever attended, but thankfully someone was listening to the weather forecast.  The wedding started at 3:56 (my watch, my story) and was finished by about 7 minutes after four. (I didn’t look at my watch.)  We were down in our vehicles and headed for the reception when the rain and hail hit.  I must have been in the right part of town as less than 20 hailstones hit our vehicle.  There were those who were less fortunate and now will be purchasing new windshields and probably fixing dents in their cars.  I have learned to think that hail damage happens so that I don’t get all bent out of shape on the little things that happen to my car. Living on the ranch allows for all kinds of little things to happen.

Sunday, we watched Angela and Mike open their wedding presents and then had a great time with family.

On Tuesday, Chip took Jo and Lizzie to a branding way back yonder.  They came home tired but excited. (At least Lizzie was excited)  I spent the day trying to figure out if our water softener was working or not.  Then I washed sheets and made a few more beds.  I did rest a lot as well.

It is now Wednesday and I am starting to feel like a human again even with a sore throat.
So once again, thanks to all that made our 10^th Branding and Docking a real success.

I did find a pair of sun glasses, but can’t remember who lost them.