Collage in My Blood

My mom just returned from a family reunion with her cousins . . . 

lugging along a "treasure chest" of antique images.

My mom's cousin Barb had the h.u.g.e. scrapbook that had been put together

by my Great Grandma Ruby.

I could hardly contain my excitement when I peeked into the pages.

She also brought a found Bible for young people

and a bag of sewing patterns from my Aunt Barb.

Oh.My.Heart.

I could barely breathe.

One of the most amazing treasures:

this handmade color wheel.

What a teaching tool!

I just may have found inspiration for my next project!

And the next, and the next . . . 

The pages of the "gi-normous" scrapbook

are completely covered with

images from the late 1890's and early 1900's.

Along with greeting cards and advertisements,

calendars, Sunday school cards, trading cards,

are

handmade

pieces

of

goodness.

Perhaps, did my great-grandma weave these patterned papers?

With her own hands?

She carefully cut out and pasted every image.

Here is her perfect attendance 

Diploma of Honor

from 1906.

One thing that delights my heart

is to see a connection

with a great-grandma

who only saw me as an infant

whom I never knew personally.

Yet right here,

it was as if she knew

how much this would

be enjoyed

by one of her great-granddaughters.

She collaged papers.

That's what I do.

Collage.

My Grandma Marj was a photographer.

And I see how the roots run deep along both sides of my family tree.

It's like the grandmas gave me a present

 to discover far into the future 

that they would not have with me here.

A secret message.

That now connects us.

Ranch Traditions: Branding Part 2

As I left off in my last post,

in our family,

one brother brands calves. 

The other brother cuts,

or castrates the bull calves

and then they (the bull calves) are known as steers.

And the father, as most patriarchs on ranches,

has graduated to the vaccine gun.

We have a two iron brand called a quarter-circle star.

A star with a quarter-circle over the top.

If you have questions about branding,

you can read my first post here:

Branding Part 1.

Although, I am probably not all that qualified,

I do my best to share about it.

I should probably have my husband write all of the ranch posts

because I likely make some mistakes in writing

and sometimes I put up a photo that I shouldn't

in my own ignorance of being a photographer more than a cattlewoman.

You can also refer to Ree Drummond's blog The Pioneer Woman

and the posts by "Marlboro Man".

He does a great job of explaining many things about ranching.

One of my favorites is this:

The Cow-Calf Operation.

Although every ranch is a bit different,

this is a great explanation about the business.

My husband is a cutter.

He's the one with his knife in his teeth.

By the way,

you might be concerned about him

getting sick with that knife in his mouth.

But I have been around him for 21 branding seasons

and he has been healthy every single one of them.

Actually I think it builds his immunity.

He rarely gets sick.

Ever.

I think it is Copenhagen and cutting calves.

And fresh South Dakota air.

At our branding, he probably kneels down and gets up

about 250 times that day.

Which keeps him in fitting well into his Wranglers.

He is one of few that do this job 

. . . passed down to him by Karl, I believe.

I try to tell him it's good exercise that keeps him young.

But he is not so sure anymore.

He is a cutter or the cutter when he "neighbors" at other places too.
So by the time the season is done . . .
I suppose he has done well over 1000-1500 lunges/squats.
Don't quote me on that . . . it is just my guess.
Maybe I should take up that job and my jeans would be fitting well
 . . . or not.

On the branding stove you can see the

Rocky Mountain Oysters

a.k.a. "nuts",

or other various names,

cooking under our "chef", Karl's, knife.

Karl does more cooking that cutting these days.

We have several men that run the branding irons also.

It takes a lot of good hands to get the job done.

Although my husband is a cutter,

he is not an eater.

When the cutter doesn't eat them, maybe that is a message...

It is getting to be time to pass the knife,

or at least get some back-up help.

Which brings me to my next topic . . . 

One of my favorite parts of branding 

is how the men take time to raise up the kids to learn to work. 

It means so much to the kids to be treated with respect.

The kids learn to wrestle calves and how to hold them

so that they lie still.

As my husband says, it is more about technique

than it is about strength.

This was the year

that my son

branded a calf for the first time.

It is a proud thing

to brand your own calves - -

like a rite of passage.

As the day winds down to the last few

pens of calves,

the kids get more attention.

Here, Jake is helping one of our lil' friends

who was all excited about working calves.

Not an ounce of fear

and several pounds of enthusiasm.

It is good tradition

to have family and friendly neighbors

raise up the next generation by teaching them how to work.

It is good tradition

to have your friends take your kid

under their wing

and treat them like they are 

capable, responsible, strong.

It is good tradition

to have neighbors work alongside

helping and growing courage and confidence

in the next generation.

It starts early.

So you might as well show up, geared up.

Please Don't Let My Dreams Run Dry

My husband told me once

that this was the song he listened to while he was haying,

taking his swather for another round of cutting,

and his tractor another round for baling.

He and the lifestyle he has given us

are often inspiration for my art and photography.

You can listen to my man's song in another tab here: Amarillo Sky by Jason Aldean

as I give you a sneak peek at this piece I've been working on for the past month.

This ranch where we live and work

has been in his family for over 100 years.

His great grandfather came from Ireland

and homesteaded here on the prairie of western South Dakota.

It was a leap of faith for his great-grandfather

to come to America for a new life.

And a walk of faith for 

the next three generations.

Our kids will be the fourth generation.

A 

walk of faith

and

a

way of

life.

A way of life.

Feeding the world.

To

feed

our

kids.

Layered into this piece

is an anonymous poem from a book

from the late 1800's

about a husband

working and waiting 

on the land

weary,

facing

doubts and fear,

and

drought

and

who cries out 

to 

God.

It could be the prayer of 

my husband,

his dad,

his brother,

his granddad,

my dad,

my Grandpa Tommy,

my brother,

my son Tommy 

in his future.

It is much like the Amarillo Sky prayer,

Please let my crops and children grow.

Lord, I never complain, I never ask "why",

Please don't let my dreams run dry . . . 

Today, as I work on this piece to honor our

walk

of 

faith

and

way

of 

life,

it

is

raining.

And the answer to the prayer

seems to come

in the words of Psalm 65:

You visit the earth and water it,

You greatly enrich it;

The river of God is full of water;

You provide their grain,

For so You have prepared it.

You water its ridges abundantly,

You settle its furrows;

You make it soft with showers,

You bless its growth.

You crown the year with Your goodness,

And Your paths drip with abundance.

Psalm 65:9-11

Grateful

for our way of life.

And for God.

Who is Faithful and True.

No matter what seasons and circumstances come upon us.

Additional inspiration this week came from

these links:

{Wonderful photography/art/message in these links}

Ranch House Designs, Inc

~ We are grateful here at Shaw Ranch, Inc. for the opportunity 

that our kids have to work on our ranch. ~

~ They learn skills and work ethic and responsibility for life and for family. ~

Farmers Feeding the World

This is the statistic that they shared:

97.2% of America's young farmers and ranchers

plan to farm and ranch for life.

90 % would like their children

to follow in their footsteps.

More Jason Aldean songs:  Fast and Fly Over States

When I first heard the lyrics to Fast,

I thought about how the thought of saying goodbye to the hardships

would be like saying goodbye to family . . . to our life.

And from Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts

here is her Canadian heartfelt blog fitting this post's inspiration:

When You Want A Great Life Plan

And last, but not least,

joining these bloggers

for sneak peeks into their inspirational spaces: