When I left you at the start of February, I recall informing you about the “unseasonably warm” winter we were in the midst of. As so, it’s only natural that February proved to be quite cold and very wintery.
Where our ranch is situated it is quite uncommon to receive much more than 3-4 inches of snow during a given storm. This month, at least 2 storms dumped well over 6 inches of snow on the ground. The hills were blanketed and it was really quite beautiful. I even had the opportunity to slip into my cross country skis and take a few jaunts through the fields. That NEVER happens. We also had a family fun day sledding the field hills. For more sledding photos go to P&P Facebook.
In Montana, the saying goes something like this: “if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes”. That seemed to hold true for much of February. After each storm hit, the temperatures would rise into the mid 40’s and 50’s. As you can imagine, 6+ inches of melted snow can create quite a mess. The “three D’s” spent a good portion of the month moving snow and hauling it away from the calving lot and sale barn facilities. Ask anyone who lives on a gravel county road in Montana who their favorite person is and they’re likely to name the farmer/rancher down the road with a loader who plows the snow before the county plows have a chance to get out.
So, here we are, at the beginning of a new month. The cows have all calved (300 total) and we are less than a week away from the most important day of the year on our ranch; sale day. Since the beginning of January, the men have been busy ultra-sounding, clipping, picturing, videoing and testing all the bulls. Us gals have been mucking stalls, cleaning barns, tidying up the grounds, and scurrying around to make sure we have everything necessary to entertain the 200 plus buyers who will arrive at our ranch next Tuesday. The men are back in the tractors pushing snow around in a last ditch attempt to have the grounds clean when our guests arrive. With any luck the wind will blow and dry up all the slop.
Happy March!
