Time to Rope You Back In
Have you given up on me? Well, I’ve almost given up on blogging! Not by choice but life has been busy and business is growing and I haven’t had much time to spend here or on social media. It’s all good though.
We made it to another branding a couple of weekends ago and I’ll post that soon. But today I’ll leave you with Patrick hopefully roping you back into the Uprooted Magnolia world. 🙂
*Hugs*
Leah
Round Up and Branding
This Mother’s Day weekend was a rainy and snowy one. But last weekend the weather was perfect for a cattle roundup and branding. Below are images of that day.
After saddling the colt , he saddled his horse for the round up.
The boss got some help from his daughter with buckling up his chaps.
Making final adjustments to the cinch.
Discussing the route for gathering cows and calves.
And…they’re off!
Before branding the calves, we worked/doctored the cows in the barn.
Getting the horse ready for roping calves.
We start them young out here in the wild west.
Hot irons sit and wait. The flames are powered by a propane tank.
It was a nice day with friends, old and new. After the calves were all branded, they let them out of the corrals to mother up. By early evening, they all found one another and are doing great.
If you’d like to see more from this day, go to my website HERE.
Thanks for looking… 🙂
First Saddling
This young horse hasn’t worn a saddle much and had to learn how to back out of the barn. It’s all about trust between cowboy and horse. When Patrick saw this image, it made him think of the Charlie Russell painting “Bronc for Breakfast”. Quickly noticing the dust and dirt in this image, he said the next shot would be the bronc bucking around the corral as soon as he left the barn. Happy to say that didn’t happen. He stayed tied to the fence post and was well behaved.
A Cowboy’s Vessel
Happy Monday, friends!
We had an eventful weekend full of horses, cows, cowboys, snapping turtles, and good friends and it couldn’t have been better. The rain held off down here but the thick clouds drenched the hills. The river is high and muddy and since we don’t have a boat, Patrick had to cross it horseback to mend fence. Gray did well at a branding and on the ride home, helped us lead our bay horse to the barn so he could go home with the best horse whisperer we know. Oh, and speaking of the river being high, we, ahem, Patrick, captured two HUGE snapping turtles out of puddles in the meadow and relocated them. They are a danger to the cows and especially the calves. Anyway, that was an adventure all in itself. Those things are scary!!
Hope you are having a great start to your week. I’ve got a lot of images to share with you from the weekend, sans turtles. 😉
Water Truck
I’ve been backing up and organizing image files and I found this one that I don’t think I’ve ever shared. This was back in 2012 during a hot and very dry summer. It was actually the summer of the Arapahoe Fire. We were still living on the ranch in the hills and we had our own water truck for fighting wildfires. We decided to crank the old girl up and drive her around while we checked on cattle, just to keep her running. We thankfully never had to use it to put out fire but we did fill up a small reservoir or two for the cows to drink from.
Cowboy Up!
We’re getting saddled up for branding season.
Patrick caught Gray and led him out of the meadow and up to the barn and corral.
Unfortunately the young Bay horse isn’t invited. He’s not even half-broke so he gets to stay in the meadow. His time will come but for now, Patrick can only focus on one horse. He ran and bucked up and down the fence line the rest of the evening. He’s fine now, but the first couple of hours he was full of anxiety.
In the evenings, Patrick saddles Gray up and encourages patience and obedience while running circles. He took a spin around the meadow with him the other day and he did surprisingly well for not being ridden all winter.
Tighten the cinch and git yer spurs on…here we go!
River Crossing
Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path
and leave a trail.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
Cowboy Phil
A good friend of ours from back east came out to Colorado on a business trip and drove up to wonderful Wyoming to stay with us for a couple days. Phil went on a tough journey with throat cancer last year and we are excited to see him doing so well. Our celebration and delight called for an old west photo shoot. We love you Phil!
Spaz and Red Cat
Hi guys! My calendar is full of shoots and projects for clients last week and this week. I’m not complaining, in fact I’m celebrating, but unfortunately it causes me to neglect this blog. So I wanted to check in this morning and show you this fun little outtake from a shoot for a client selling one of their horses. Spaz the cow herding dog checked in with Red Cat to make sure we were having a good shoot and were showing off his best side.
Hope you are having a good start to your week. Happy shooting!
Trailing at Sunrise
We are going to pick up where I left off from Today,at Daybreak.
We started a little before the sun appeared.
The colt we are calling Crazy Alice (name that movie) ran the fence as the cowboys rode down the drive to the pasture. She wanted to go but being true to her name, we’re not putting a saddle on her just yet.
Patrick and Wayne laughed and told stories almost the whole trail. They had some catching up to do.
Good morning Squaw Mountain, we are headed your way!
It took some convincing but Patrick was finally able to get these calves down the hill to mama.
They mothered up quickly and easily so trailing them was uneventful.
Occasionally they would disappear in the dust and dirt of the sheet grass.
Once we got through the canyon of sheet grass, I turned back to see Wayne checking to make sure we didn’t leave any behind. I was so happy to see these clouds and his silhouette. During the trailing, the sky was cloudy and then blue. The sun would appear and then disappear behind clouds. The lighting was diverse all morning. That’s why the exposures here look like they were shot on different days. But they were actually taken over a 5 or 6 hour period.
The cows were happy to get to this pasture. The sun is high, grass is tall and the water is running. This will be their home for the next couple of months.
Today, at Daybreak
Daybreak
I have prepared several images of our gather at sunrise but when I got to this one, I felt it should have an entry all to itself.
This morning the air was crisp and cool. The gather went smoothly and the cattle drive flowed seamlessly. Everything fell right into place, especially this photograph. I’ll share the other shots with you tomorrow.
I am craving a print of this right now.
Overheard at Brandings and Cattle Drives
1) When yer stirrups are too short, your knees hurt. When yer stirrups are too long, yer ass hurts. When both yer knees and yer ass hurts, your stirrups are just right.
2) Don’t dig for water under the outhouse.
3) Never miss a good chance to shut up.
4) Always drink upstream from the herd.
5) Don’t squat with yer spurs on.
And my favorite…
6) Don’t drink prune juice when yer thirsty.
Happy Friday everyone! Remember to always speak your mind, but ride a fast horse!
Man of Many Hats
**Warning** This is a Sappy one!
Fly Fisherman, Precise Cattle Herder, Cowboy.
Roper, Windmill Repairman, Farrier.
Fireman, Horseman, Driver of Tractor.
Rancher, Cattle Feeder, Houndsman.
My teacher of all things western. My muse. My heart. My true love on the four wheeler through life.
Happy Birthday Patrick. May all your dreams come true.
L♥ve, Sweetpea
**Updated**Patrick thanks you all for the Birthday well wishes in the comments below!
Dusk
His eyes as blue as the sky.
His heart as soft as a well-worn saddle.
Sun-drenched hands covered in dust
guides his horse that leads the cattle
through meadows and open pasture
into the hills at dusk.
I Heart Firewood
It’s still warm here but that will change in an instant. And this Georgia girl isn’t afraid to admit she’s a little nervous about her first Wyoming winter. That’s why I was grateful when I walked into the shop and Patrick was sharpening the blade on the chainsaw.
Twas 90 degrees outside and the effort seemed futile but better to do it now while we can still feel our fingers and toes. Patrick, the heat stroke you suffered will all be worth it, right? I can’t thank you enough.
Douglas Wyoming State Fair: Bronc Riding
The rodeo started with a touching National Anthem while the current Miss Rodeo Wyoming rode her horse around the arena with the American Flag.
Then the gates opened.
Dirt kicked up and hats went flying.
The expressions are priceless.
This roan horse was our favorite.
Still to come: Crowning of Miss Rodeo Wyoming 2010, Mutton Bustin’, and Bull Riding.
I’ll give you some time to apply an icepack to your achy muscles before I show you the bull riding.
I knew this day would eventually come.
I got the call yesterday evening that there was a fire at McCauley’s Ranch just across Palmer Canyon. I called Patrick off the meadow he was baling to let him know they were in need of some serious help. While I waited for him to come in, I went and stared at his firefighting gear. I’ve always known it was there but I had hoped I would never see him in it. I knew this day would eventually come. And I know it’s not the first and certainly won’t be the last.
But I must admit he does look mighty handsome in that fire retardant suit. That, however, did not help the ache in my chest.
Back home, safe and sound.
He was out there all night long until a team of 13 that travels to help towns on fire arrived to relieve them. When he got home his morning, he said it seems well contained. Let’s hope it stays that way.
Took a ride in the Big Green Tractor
tractor ride to the sprinkler
But the real preciousness came when we saw a turkey in the drive snuggling her little ones. She quickly got up before I could get a picture of them and they escaped into the tall grass.
baby turkeys with momma hen
If you look closely, you can see the babies following the leader.
more baby turkeys with momma hen
In all we saw 6 broods with their mother hens. They are already flying over the tall grass and we hope they all make it. Those evil coyotes are always on the hunt.
It’s a dangerous job-
-but the cowboy has to do it.
We’ll be taking the cows to the Laramie Plains soon so getting the windmills pumping water is part of the preparation.
Patrick gets belted up and climbs 40 feet to add oil and start the blades rotating.
Dang that’s high. It’s scary up there he says.
And we have water!
The land is so flat and you can see storms miles away. Sheets of rain and dangerous lightning makes me very nervous but it never came near us thankfully.
It’s so wild to see this violent storm in the distance while we sit and watch all nice and dry.
The storm arrived later that night on the ranch. The roads turned into lakes and the night sky was lit up with lightning. But we welcome the rain. We should have some fat cows by the end of the summer.
It’s that time again…
Branding. It’s exhausting. Not only for the cows but for the cowboys and girls too. We branded at Uncle Tom’s yesterday and Friday we’ll be at Kenny’s.
She's looking for her baby while that cowboy back there rounds up the stragglers.
Look at that loop!
I’ll have more images up soon but for now, the only shots I’m concentrating on are the vaccines for the babies to keep them well.
ttfn.
Uprooted Magnolia 
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