Calves

Are you my baby?

Where's my baby?

They look so soft and cute

And loud and skittish.

Branding Specialists

First off, it wouldn't be a branding without a brander! There are two brands that are kept hot by a propane flame. He switches off so that the brand is always hot, effective and quick. (by the way, that's hair burning, which is also what it smells like)

The vaccinator isn't necessary, as long as you don't mind running after all the calves again or having a sick and probably illegal herd. Soooo, it's a good idea.

Ropers get the calves where the work is done by lassoing their hind legs and sliding them over the grass.

A few of the moms are in the corral with the calves, but most are outside waiting. Not waiting patiently either. I was amazed how loud it was. Even in the middle of the country, if there's 100 mooing moms, it's loud!

The calves are then flipped onto their back/side by one person pulling the tail and the other pulling the rope that has the legs. It's a leverage thing.

Then they're held down, one person at the head and one at the feet so that everyone get get to the parts they need access to!

Then we have the surgical castration. Again, very important only if you want a good, healthy herd.

When I held the hind legs of one of these calves, it wasn't easy, but they really only flinched when the branding iron first touched and the first cut of the knife. I was surprised at how little they struggled once they were down.

And Gordon, he and Edith (who I know from Habitat) own this ranch and threw the branding party!

Black or White

Sometimes I can't decide if I like a photo better in black and white or color. They convey such different places, even though they're exactly the same.

What do you think?

Cotton Snowstorm

The cottonwoods are sending a storm of cotton into the air these days.

It's really summer!

Thunderstorms

There's nothing like a thunderstorm, a respite of rain in an arid place.

And nothing quite beats the show either.

Especially when you don't even bother to get out of bed!

Coming together

Two of the homes we're building this summer are made of prefabricated panels (lumber and sheets of OSB already put together). We also received trusses, drywall, roofing and the lumber that makes up the floor.

They all came together on two semi's last Tuesday. The paperwork from the company delivering said to have six people ready to unload.

So we did.

But as you're probably already thinking, that's not enough!

The truck drivers just about fainted when I told them we were going to hand unload their vehicles.

While Jessica, the NCCC volunteers and I were all ready to work hard, the day was really saved by over 20 volunteers from the WYSTAR program who came, carried, smiled and managed to unload two semi's in four hours! The same it usually takes if you have a forklift!

I was amazed and ecstatic that we pulled it off, that we all came together, that we fulfilled the mission of Habitat of bringing the community together and doing it in a way that promotes affordable housing!

We have another semi to unload this Tuesday. We're getting a forklift!

With a View

Good Monday Morning!

Don't you wish this was the view from your office?

Army of Strawberry Shortcakes

Pure strawberry puree

One of my favorite memories as a kid in Utah is sitting on our concrete porch as the sun set, eating strawberry shortcake. The bisquick shortcakes were hot out of the oven, strawberries sweet and juicy from the garden, the evening air cool and the concrete still warm under my legs.

Batter ready to bake (or so I thought at the moment)

When I saw this recipe at Use Real Butter, I knew I wanted to try it. It seemed perfect for an early summer dessert. Little did I know how perfect it was for what I was about to do to it.

I was taking this to a potluck for the Care-a-Vanners, NCCC, Habitat homeowners and Habitat board members, so mini-cupcakes seemed like a better idea than full on cake.

They turned out fantastic despite my fairly significant lapse in direction following (explained with the recipe below) and all 70 were gone by the end of the night.

Recipe Strawberry Chiffon Buttercream Cake (Cupcakes)

Strawberry Puree
1 lb fresh strawberries

Wash and trim tops off berries. Freeze berries until solid. Completely thaw berries and puree in blender or food processor. (Fresh is the best, freezing pops the cell walls releasing flavor. Resulting puree is thick, not at all watery like I was afraid it would be.)


Strawberry Chiffon Cake
makes two 9x3 inch rounds (or 76 mini cupcakes)

14.5 oz cake flour
8.75 oz confectioner's sugar
0.5 oz baking powder (omit above 8500 ft)
6.75 oz whole milk
6 oz canola oil
3.25 oz eggs
13 oz egg whites
9.5 oz granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 oz strawberry purée

Heat oven to 350°F. Place cupcake liners in pan.

Sift dry ingredients (except granulated sugar) into a large bowl. Mix all ingredients (except the 13 oz of egg whites and granulated sugar) in the large bowl until combined. Whip whites and granulated sugar to medium peaks. Fold into batter gently.

You can also completely forget that last step and leave out the egg whites and granulated sugar. I'm sure the cake is better with it, but I tested the recipe without, and it still turned out really good. Probably a little less sweet and a little more dense, but still good.

Bake until set, about 15-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and remove from pan.

strawberry swiss meringue buttercream
8 oz egg whites
16 oz sugar
1 lb butter, room temperature
4 oz strawberry purée

Combine egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl. Whisk constantly over a gently simmering hot water bath until 140°F is reached. Remove from heat. Place on mixer with whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch (this takes a while - should be cooler than your hand). Change to a paddle and gradually add soft butter by tablespoon pieces. Mix to emulsify. Once desired consistency has been reached, add purée and mix well.

Assembly
I used a circular piping tip to cut a small circle into the top of each cupcake. Then I removed it and some of the cupcake underneath it with a pointy knife. You can save the top circle, to replace, or not. I did.

Pipe puree into hole. Cover with buttercream.

Real Cowboys

On Sunday I went to a branding at a friend's ranch.

While most everything went smoothly, one calf got let go and ran off before the holders realized he was missing an eartag.

Fortunately running after him was the break a few of the cowboys needed from the real 'work' of the day.

Reclining Nude

I went to a friend's ranch the other day for a branding and passed a lot of cows on the way there and back.

None, however, quite compared to this lovely lady lounging in the grass.

Of Foundations and Water

Water at the foundation is a little different here than in Seattle.

In Seattle there's layers of gravel, drain pipes, filter fabrics and multiple other methods for keeping water away from the foundation. This is especially important in an area where on the other side of that foundation wall is a living space.

So I asked about all of that and the others said.... well... we do have to waterproof it, but we usually just coat the foundation with a layer of... foundation coating.

Water just doesn't wage the war here that it does in Seattle.

Here we'll get drain tile, we've waterproofed the foundation with a tar-ish coating, and that'll be good!

Foundation Walls of Murphy House

It's moving along. With or without me, time is moving along.

Springtime!

A Late Freeze

Karen and Dave were out of town for the latest freeze, but I did call Karen to see what I needed to do to protect in the garden.

I was instructed to put the empty ice cream buckets in the garage over the eggplants and the tomatoes, the most tender of all the garden. There were four of each.

I now know that tomato plants can make it through a light little freeze here, that I can't tell tomato leaves from broccoli leaves and that broccoli isn't hurt by an ice cream bucket, even when it's hard to fit!

A June Summer Sunday

Ahhh Sheridan...

Footings

Well, it wasn't sunny yesterday, but it wasn't rainy either and that was enough!

Footings got poured this morning after a city inspection.

The soil, which is so clay-y no temporary retaining walls are necessary (on the other hole, not this two footer), dried out quickly enough to make use of our little weather window!

Railroad Yard

Busy day! Isn't it amazing how everything seems to happen at once?!

But at least things are happening!

Trying to Move Forward

That was last weekend, so sunny and so hot you could smell the lilacs from a block away (although since they're blooming on just about every block, it could be that you're always close to them).

And this is now. And this weekend. And next week.

Soggy excavation hole for a soggy foundation.

And 10 NCCC volunteers arriving today, 4 Care-A-Vanners coming on Sunday and about 14 more the Sunday after to give us their all and build us one single family home and a duplex.

Hopefully we'll all get a break.

Sitting the Tank

I dogsat Tank last weekend, the most social 100 pounder you'll ever meet (I only had to whisper his name from across the room to get the eye)!

It makes me miss Amelia.

The View from My Desk

It's kind of comfortably familiar. You know, like Nicaragua.