Mooooooo

Besides adjusting to life with double the amount of children, our winter has been all about "The Ranch."

 

The Ranch:

A place about 30 miles away from our farmyard near a state park in northwest Minnesota.  A place that has been in the family for 30+ years, which we recently acquired.  A place where a couple hundred head of cattle, a few horses, and dogs reside.  A place in rockier soil where farming is a bit trickier than the fertile Red River Valley land.  A place that is managed by a friend that the kids like to call "Cowboy Dan" who lets them help feed the horses and gives them ear tags of their very own.  A place where my man occupies his deer stand after harvest in the fall.  A place that I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of in the future.

 

And so begins a whole new set of adventures.

 

The fact that my husband knows more about artificial insemination, labor/birth, nursing, and all the terminology that goes along with it than I ever will is not news to me.  These are all things he learned while working at The Ranch when he was growing up.

 

It is also not news to me that just like us, the cows have to eat every day, too.  So, I will not protest when Jason is spending his days at The Ranch during farming's off-season.

 

What will be new to me is getting up-close-and-personal with farm animals as I have never done in my life.  And soon a season called "Calving" will be added to our calendar.  I am not quite sure how long those days and nights will be, but ask me in a couple months when we are in the thick of it.

 

How is it being a rancher's wife so far?

 

So far, it has been fun, because I have gotten to assist in re-doing the bunkhouse!

When I say "assist" I mean:

· selecting all of the interior finishes and fixtures including cabinetry, flooring, wainscoting, paint, lighting, faucets

· accompany my husband on numerous trips to "Bee-nards" (as Lucas calls it)

· acheiving a feeling of 'rustic elegance' (Think antler chandeliers.) You know, a place where even us women wouldn't mind resting our heads if absolutely necessary

· being frugal as much as my champagne-taste-on-a-beer-budget-orientated mind will allow

That is such a typical designer-turned-farmwife response, isn't it?!  I am not doing any of that demolition, installation, electrical, plumbing, or messy work.  Just the decorating part.

 

The goal is that after this winter, the bunkhouse at The Ranch will be a cozy, little cabin where the guys can stay during calving and hunting season.  I am already daydreaming about my boys staying out there when they go hunting with Daddy.  I can hardly wait to show you before-and-after photos!