The Cast of Characters - Our Cattle Pets

When I was a little girl, growing up on the ranch, we would sometimes get the urge to name a baby calf. We didn't want to poke them or use a torturous tool called the "hot shot". It just seemed cruel, especially for baby calves. I remember my sister, who was more of a ranch gal than I was, trying to just talk softly to the cattle to get them into the chute. "Go on up there" She would say in her soft voice. Holly also refused to wear pants for much of her childhood. She was as feminine as girls come, and she loved the animals at the ranch. She later moved on to wanting to take in strays, homeless people, and anything else that needed to be rescued. She really was a better humanitarian than I was. It wasn't that I didn't care. I was just too clueless to realize that I could do something about it. Anyway, we often had the urge to name the baby calves that we saw, and we were told that we should not become attached to these creatures. This is a working ranch, and once they are named, it is hard to think of the chain of life that lies ahead for them.

They might leave in a cattle truck, and where they went was a bit of a mystery to us. Once we realized the connection between these cattle and the food on our table, it became a little more clear, and it was very saddening.

Fast Forward about 30 years... My dad has mellowed a bit over the years. When my twins were four years old, we spent a couple of weeks on the ranch that summer, and there was a calf who did not have a mother, so was being fed by bottle. She had a NAME! She was "Sally Mae". We enjoyed feeding times almost as much as we enjoyed any amusement park ride or event in the city. The twins loved this baby. I enjoyed seeing them bond with this baby. I really thought this cow would not be treated any different because she was bottle fed and named, because I had never seen my dad name a calf.

Well, I was wrong. Every visit since then, it has been a daily joy to go to the pasture to feed Sally Mae. She is a 700 pound cow, and she will walk right up to you and eat out of your hand. She has had a few babies, and she is still here.

Now, we have quite a cast of characters in the "pet" herd. There is "RED", who was also bottle fed as a baby, and is equally as gentle as Sally Mae. She is named "Red" because she is a red cow.



Then, there is Mary, the longhorn, who my brother negotiated in a bar one night. It was a little bit of a joke at first, but she has become one of the favorites. She has had 2 calves, Sheila and Blackberry. Sheila looks like a longhorn who was de-horned (we don't have any other longhorns on this ranch, and de-horning is just part of the process -- those horns could be dangerous. We all scolded Papa for taking the horns off a longhorn -- that just doesn't seem right. Blackberry is black, and has also been de-horned. She is still in the herd with the pets.

My dad's wife, Ginny came into this ranch world at age 60. She is so well dressed and sophisticated (and clean), afraid of snakes and mice, and appears a city gal. One might think from a distance that she is no cowgirl. She has taken such an interest in this group of bovine girlfriends that she goes in the feed truck in her heels to feed and check on them most evenings. She calls them her "girls".

The other day, my dad introduced a new pair to the crew. Meet Oreo and Double Stuff. These are a breed that I had never seen before. They are so pretty, and definitely easy to spot. Apparently, Ginny has seen this breed on a nearby ranch that they drive by, and dad asked a friend to look out for one to add to the pets on our ranch. He left at 6am on Sunday to drive 3 hours to pick the pair up. For my dad, this is about as romantic as it gets. Ginny was so happy to have them.

My kids love the daily event of feeding the pets, especially when Ginny is here to take them in the Feed Truck!

Ranch Camp Day 5 – Early Morning Horseback Ride (for leisure, not work)

Day 5, Monday, Morning Ride with Uncle Thatcher and Papa! It isn't often that ranchers go horseback riding just for fun, but Papa is mellowing in his age. Okay… Papa didn't actually ride a horse, but he instructed Thatcher to take us riding, and he drove the feed truck along to coach us all. He also transported little Ben in the feed truck, which is a highlight for Ben, since he is generally obsessed with any type of TRUCK!

Alexander got to ride by himself for the first time (without being led by an adult). He rode "Law", who is a great gentle horse that Anthony used to ride. He did not like trotting, but he did okay in a walk this time. Of all of our kids, Alexander is our cautious one, and really the only one that doesn't dive into the deep end without a thought. He usually has great ability once he gets in his groove though, so he will progress fine here.
Maggie and Anthony were trying to get their horse legs warmed up after a long time off the ranch. Though Maggie has been taking English Riding lessons, somehow being loose in the pasture is different. A couple of hours in the morning was about all we needed since it was expected to be 100 degrees today.

Ranch Camp Day 2-4...Bluestem Lake Memories, Boots, Adventures

…Ranch Camp is moving right along.
Day 2 Friday was another busy day on the Drummond Ranch, with the twins working cattle with Uncle Thatcher on 4 wheelers. This was a new skill for them, and they enjoyed it.
…And Fun at Bluestem Lake… What Memories
We also spent some time on Bluestem Lake with Uncle Thatcher and Forest, where the kids jumped off the famous water tower. We were going to try a zip sled run, but we had a bit of a technical difficulty… the rope was not on the boat. We will have to be more organized. Bluestem Lake is a small lake, but it brings back a lot of memories for us. When we were young, our family had a small boat dock at this lake, where all of our cousins, aunts, uncles would gather for a lot of fun! Thatcher and I reminisced about a time when we were kids, when the whole family was on our bright green, home welded party barge. It was all our cousins, aunts, uncles, and even Grandma Ruth and Papa. We would drive this party barge to the middle of the lake and someone would grill some burgers.

Anthony and Forest are weighing their options for jumping off the water tower!

We could jump off the top of the party barge, and we had a smaller boat that would circle round with skiing and zip sledding fun. This barge was no ordinary party barge. It was a custom made welded square with 2 stories and green turf grass covering (thus the green color). The floatation was good old fashioned barrels, and maybe some foam or something, and a motor was attached. It was pretty low tech, but it was bigger than any manufactured pontoon or such that you see. Thinking back, that thing was pretty cool! You could literally fit 20 + people on this thing.

Forest is telling Thatcher "no way"... Look Out... Thatcher is on his way up!

It mostly stayed parked, for us to swim from our boat dock on, but on special occasions, we would drive the beast to the middle of the lake and have a good old time. It wasn't often, but on very special outings, Grandma Ruth and Papa would join us. I think the chaos made them a little nervous, which is why they were not regulars on the barge. One time in particular, Thatcher and I remembered that Dad was driving a little fast on the beast and it started taking in water.

We had quite a crowd, so it perhaps was not floating as high as usual. This was one of the times when we were honored with the presence of Grandma Ruth and Papa. Papa was the patriarch of the family, and was the boss of absolutely everyone and everyone! He began shouting and hollering, and Dad was shouting back, and Grandma was laughing, mostly at Papa, and at her crazy son trying to sink us all, as she did in times of stress. Kids were instructed to jump off to reduce the weight so they could float the beast to safety. I don't have clear memory, but I am sure that during this outing, nobody actually put down their beverage. The kids never really knew we were in danger… it was just another day in the life of our crazy family.

What funny things get burned into our memories forever.

It was a pretty long way down... Look at Forest Jump!
Day 3 -- New Cowboy Boots All Around. It was a Saturday, and miraculously, there was no cattle work scheduled for today. Papa offered to take the kids to buy new boots after 3 days of struggling to get the boots on and off. This, he thought, would be a simple quick errand. Nothing is simple with 4 kids. Our first stop was a store outside of Tulsa, but Anthony it seems is in a size that is popular, and not greatly stocked. He is between kid and adult sizes. In addition, the kid is a little particular. No square toes, No round toes, and no pointy toes -- he just wanted the traditional point toe (but not too pointy). He knew what he wanted for sure, and Papa's patience was struggling a bit. This would require another stop (hopefully not more). Papa's patience was tested, but we all survived! Oh, today I had a nasty eye infection that by the end of the day was determined to be PINK EYE! We have calls in to several doctors, because, of course, Pink Eye is a emergency issue (kidding). I don't know how I got this, but the next worse thing would be to transfer it to my 4 kiddos, so I am hopeful to get rid of it before it spreads. If we all get pink eye, along with our other injuries, we might have to pack up for the city already.

Day 4 is Sunday, and Mommy awoke with PINK EYE, and the bright sun was painful! Papa took the kids to feed cattle, and Ginny took the kids to the "graveyard", where there is availability of many bones of animals – a little spooky, but the kids thought it was a blast. By the end of the day, a sweet doc family member rescued me with some medicine for my pink eye… life is getting better already.

Day 1 at Ranch Camp

The City kids have arrived at the ranch.
Alarm sounded at 4:45am... which I snoozed until 5am (slacker that I am). This early morning work is going to take an adjustment! I carefully lead the twins to the living room so the little boys can sleep a little more, and attempt to coach the 9 yr olds through getting dressed half asleep. First crisis is that Anthony's jeans are tight, since he has been growing like the incredible hulk, so he tried a couple pairs of jeans before finding the right ones. Maggie got dressed without a hitch. The boots were a different story… both kids needed serious muscle to get their boots on – I even had to get Papa's muscle in on getting Anthony's boots on. (crisis #2). To my relief, once the boots were on their feet, they did not complain about them being tight, so we were off…

Per Papa's instructions, I delivered the twins to him for work at 5:30am (okay, his instructions were 5:15 am, but he probably said that because he knew we would be late – I had 2.5 hours sleep, so he let it slide this time). Cousin Forest (Thatcher's son) is here too, plus 2 cowboy kids that they played with last summer, so the kids are happy to be back. Maggie was so happy to see her favorite horse Ted again. Uncle Thatcher was not so excited to be saddling 2 extra horses again, plus Forest makes 3 extra horses. And Uncle Thatcher was especially not excited to hoist 90 pound Anthony onto a horse. Anthony will HAVE to learn to get on his own horse very quickly. I waved goodbye as they joined their fellow cowboys… and I snuck back into bed for a couple of hours until the littles woke up.
Once Ben and Alex awoke, we gathered ourselves a bit, then joined the cowboys at the pens where they were sorting cattle. The littles rode horses a bit, then we joined the cowboys for a late lunch at Bad Brad's BBQ (a great local BBQ joint that we will wear the kids out on this summer).

In the summer heat, the work must start by daylight (sometimes before) because the cattle ( and horses, and people) cannot take the heat. When the cattle get too worked up in the heat they can die. Often when the work day takes longer than planned, we will loose at least a couple of cows, which is sad, and very costly for Papa. Sometimes the work is complete by as early as 10am, but usually at least by lunch. The cowboys all go in for a nap in afternoons when they can, but the city kids think naps are only for babies, so they refuse naps, and opt for the cranky evening route, which provides so much joy for their beloved Papa.

Sweet Ben... he may have a big fat lip, but look at that smile! He has a smile that will melt the heart of anyone!

Our Day 1 Traumas:

In our first 24 hours, Alexander fell head first on the cattle guard and ended up with a golf ball size bump on his forehead, then Ben fell off the bunk bed (or maybe he jumped... the story isn't really clear), then Maggie rode her beloved horse Ted through the trees and cut up her neck and face. Mommy was a little worried about the massive fireworks planned for the evening... perhaps an ambulance should be on call.


Alexander ...bumped his head today as he was walking accross the cattle guard, and he is tired tonight, but it was a great first day at "ranch camp"!

As a special treat on this day 1, Papa has acquired some special fireworks for our enjoyment. I called him just before July 4 and asked him to get some fireworks for us, because our neighborhood in The Woodlands is under a burn ban so we cannot do our normal fireworks at home on July 4. The ranch has no rules, so I knew this would be something we could do at ranch camp. When I asked this, I thought he would get sparklers and bottle rockets, and the small stuff we are used to doing in our front yard on the 4th of July. Papa is a big man, who does nothing small. He ordered special fireworks for this event, which were quite large, with names like "Hot Mama", and "Big Daddy". He invited a couple of cowboys, friends, and Debbie from his law office who has worked for him since I was 11 years old (somehow no title seems enough for this woman who has been through so much with my dad).

Cousin Forest has to leave on Saturday, so we will make the most of these next couple of days with him! It is hard to believe we have only been here one day at this point.

Ranch Camp 2009 -- Let the Games Begin

Ranch Camp 2009 – City Kids Meet Pioneer Woman Kids -- Let the Games Begin
We are beginning our 2nd annual tradition of "Ranch Camp" at Papa's ranch in Oklahoma. Our original goal was to depart on July 1 and spend the entire month at the ranch. We adjusted this to depart after July 4th, once we learned that our Kentucky cousins would be visiting during that time. We were then leaving on July 6… July 7… and finally July 8 was to be the day! Packing was a daunting chore for mom. I procrastinated as long as I could. After the packing job taking longer than expected, Just as I was about to close up the house to begin our 10 hour drive to Papa's ranch, Ben stripped naked just for the heck of it. As I was dressing him, more messes insued, requiring another run through the house to clean up and turn off lights, etc. We were finally ready to depart at 2pm, after our goal of 10am failed. Due to our late departure, Anthony proclaimed that we should just wait yet another day. I exclaimed "Absolutely Not!". We will leave now, and persevere."… And so we did. We are no longer in diapers after 9 straight years, but little Ben still has a small bladder, so this trip included potty stops at least once an hour, and sometimes twice. Every time we stop, all four kids unbuckle and start moving around, even if they have no potty needs. Then the startup includes the whole process of the kids negotiating seats, arguing about this or that toy or snack item, and buckling back up… my patience was definitely tested this trip, but we made it, and for the most part, the kids are great travelers.

We arrived at Papa's ranch on Wednesday at almost midnight after a long day of packing and driving our 10 hour trek. Papa informed us that he was expecting the twins to work cattle at 5am on Thursday. We would not let our late traveling keep us from the work that needed to begin. Kids slept in the car, so they got more sleep than I, so it would work out okay. We arrive at midnight, kids in bed in the cowboy house by 1am, mom finished unloading the car, including the roof carrier with dog crate and golf clubs by 1:30am. Mom is finally in bed, after a quick staging of the bags to allow for locating boots and jeans for working tomorrow. The full unpacking will begin Thursday. I tell myself that this enriching experience for my children is worth the monumental work of moving this army to the ranch for a month… Goodnight Moon… Only 2.5 hours until my alarm sounds for work. So good to be here... the simple life is for us!