Arrowheads at Ortega Sink

After the ranch work on May 3rd my boys and I went to Ortega Sink and searched for arrowheads. We found two. Also pictured are 3 arrowheads we found a number of years ago in the same place. The description should say "north of the ranch"

We also hiked up to the hill to the east of the ranch house to find the "cave" that Johnny, Greg, Steve and I (and maybe others) used to play at. [It's not really a cave, just a space between 2 boulders that looked pretty awesome to young eyes from a distance].

May 3 Work

The following work was completed Sat May 3rd.

Picture to the right is Don, Landon, Darren, Timber, Caleb, Conrad, Jacob, Steve, Guy and Christopher. Not pictured are Ginny, Alicia.

1. Fence at east side of main pen was stablized by installing 3 posts in concrete along side.
2. Water tank at big mill was cleaned out
3. Tin roofs were repaired on ranch house and branding station.
4. The two northern fences that created 2 holding pens in the lane from the Double Knoll pasture to the ranch house were removed.
5. A lot of useless wire and wood was cleaned up from the area south of the wind mill on the east side of the hill.

4/22/08 Fence Repair

Guy, Chris, Ryan & Steve repaired some downed fence on Section 36. Installed 3 new posts and multiple wooden & metal stays. Put in a good 5 hours of work.
Section 36 was something new to me. This pasture is southwest of Cecils pasture and dad says that we've had rights to it for decades and they used to pasture their horses on it but I never remember working on or seeing this pasture. Because of the fence being down the neighboring horses had been grazing on it and there is no feed available this season.
There has been a change of plans for the drinker on the Knolls pasture. Instead of coating the interior with a product to stop the leaks and protect it from future deterioration Guy has found a company that produces an durable plastic insert that can be placed in the drinker (I kind of picture it as a "rebath"). He is preparing to order one.
Our next work day is May 3rd. Plans are to do some corral work at the ranch house, repair some roofing on the ranch house, clean out the drinker at the Knolls and possibly remove some fencing in the lane (where the lane from the ranch opens into the Knolls pasture we've always had those two makeshift corrals that we have to fight the cattle through. We're going to do away with those.)
If your available to help we hope to see you then.

Broken Generator, Cattle moved, Fence repair needed

I'll start off with the need. They've had to move the cattle off of the Knolls because the generator went down so no water is being pumped and they have moved some yearlings onto Cecil's property. They then discovered that the fence was down in 3 places. Two they have fixed but the last one is about 1/4 mile long. Dad called this morning wondering if we could get 2-3 hands up as soon as possible to fix it. I am committed the next 3 Saturdays on other activities but I could go on Thursday April 17th or Tuesday April 22. Please respond back if you would be available either of those days, and if not, whether there is a Saturday this month you could go and if there are a few of you that could then we'd set it up for you to go.

As I said, the generator quit working at the big mill. They've had a repairman out and he thinks it's the regulator and they have one on order. Dad, Chris & George Wallace rode last Tuesday and found everything but about 25 head. Dad, Chris, Ryan & Ginny are riding today to try to gather the remainder. Most of them have been moved on to Jennie's pasture with a few yearlings to Cecils.

It has been a real blessing to my dad to have Chris up there since just after Easter. They have been out working every day on Fence, corrals and cattle. A lot has been getting done that wasn't able to for many years. It's wearing my dad out- Chris says dad is too tired to drive home at the end of the day- he has Chris do it. We have an upcoming work weekend on May 3rd. Some of you committed to help that weekend so keep it open.

Upcoming Work Dates

May 3 -Sat: repair fence, repair tin on ranch house, muck out corral manger, repair east picket fence at corral

June 6 & 7 - Fri/Sat: Spray; Muck out drinker at Knolls’ Mill

June 21 - Sat: Apply sealant to drinker; other work as needed

July 4 & 5 - Fri/Sat: Branding

Yearling Roundup

March 21 & 22 rounded up cattle on Knolls and Cierro Hueco to locate 12 yearling calves and wean them from their pregnant mothers. Only able to find 8. 5 were already branded,so only had to brand 3. They'll be weaned over next few days and then put in bull pasture. Cleaned out manger area and horse stalls. Removed the float valve at Jenny's mill to purchase another and Tom Baker family will install that over the next month. At the roundup was Dad (Guy), Ginny, Alisha, Christopher, Ashlee, Cody, Ryan, Tracy, Deanna & Steve. Horses rode: Barkley, Cinco, Chit-tah, Guapo and Winston. Rojo looking older and skinny so we didn't ride. Also didn't ride Pepper and Buddy. Colt is looking good.
Also want to make everyone aware that Christopher took two months off from his job, is living with my dad & mom and working at the ranch. If you didn't know, he worked the last 6 months at Babbitt Ranch (largest ranch in Arizona) near Flagstaff and Grand Canyon. For a perspective, last fall they branded 3400 calves compared to our 80. And they do it all on horseback and roping them rather than using a squeeze. He learned how to shoe horses and was able to shoe all of the horses for a savings of 400-600 dollars. We also roped the 3 calves that we branded and did it on the ground- first time I've ever done that and we had a good time. He roped off of Guapo and the horse did real well. He and dad are working every day on fencing and so we'll see on May 3rd, our first ranch work weekend, what work we will still have to do. It is comforting to me that there is someone out at the ranch with my 82 year-old father in case something happens.

Water Problems

During November the generator at the Knoll's Mill stopped working. Guy brought in a mechanic who discovered it was wire that had been chewed through by a mouse. Now fixed. Portable generator at ranch house mill also stopped running. Generator belongs to the person running cattle on Johnny Naegle's land. Guy got the owner to get it repaired

11/12/07 Talked to Guy. Said that he had good water at Knoll's mill (70 inches) but the feeder trough was leaking more now and he's concerned. We tried to repair it earlier with a repair dough. Asked him what we should do and he said he didn't know until he got back up there to take a look at it again.

Asked dad a few weeks ago about how to know when you need to put hay out for the cattle in the winter but didn't get a satisfactory answer that made sense to me (something like "when they need it"). But he and mom both reminised about the winter of 1969 when the snow was so high that dad and Casper had to pull hay behind horses on sheets of tin. Dad said they didn't have to open any gates because the snow was above the fences and they just walked right over them.