Update

I thought I better give an update since my last post was in early March. We've had quite a bit of snow since then. It normally melts off before we get more though. The temperatures have been below normal recently. About a week ago, we had a snowstorm drop about a foot of snow. 

Here is a picture of Blue Mountain covered in snow.

We have just started calving as well. When we were flying one day, we saw that a new-born calf had slid into a draw with really steep sides and couldn't get out. So, Dad landed and after a bunch of slipping and sliding, we reunited the calf with it's mother. 

The snow was still pretty deep then. 

Today was pretty windy, so we rode to check the heifers instead of flying. As you can see in this picture, the snow is melting off pretty good. It is really wet though. Once it warms up, the grass will really take off.

DJ

Selling Steers and a Fly-in

On the 7th we gathered the steers and put them in the trap.

















The next day we brought them in and (after some excitement) loaded them on the trucks. We drove in to Dickinson to watch the sale. They were lighter than we thought they would be, but they sold well.

On the 9th we loaded up the airplane and headed to the Badlands fly-in at Hot Springs, SD. This is the second time we have attended. We had a lot of fun last year and this year wasn't any different.

I got a couple of pictures of Mt. Rushmore on the way down.


When we arrived, there were already quite a few airplanes there.


Shortly afterwards, several more showed up.


3 RV-10's and an RV-7A.


An RV-10.


An RV-9A


Another RV-10


RV-4


RV-12


RV-9A


RV-8


RV-7A (I think)


A bunch of RVs


A nice RV-10


We also went to a mammoth dig site. It was once a sinkhole that mammoths fell into and couldn't get out. Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

DJ

Savage Montana July 29th Storm

These pictures were taken on Saturday after the storm Friday night.

The old Greenway Dairy.


Notice the water tank in the corner of the building. It was on top of the hill.


Farm south of Savage.


A wrecked pivot.


Uncle Del's pivot.


Hay bale blown across the field.


Farmstead by the river.

Savage cemetery.


DJ

Haying and Thunder Storms

Not exactly a good combination.

We are still busy haying. We have gotten over 1400 bales put up this year so far and have a lot more to go.

Finished with that field. You can see Blue Mountain in the background.


That field finished too.


A field with a lot of sweet clover.


Dad cutting hay.


Mom standing in the sweet clover.


A picture of the breaks down by Devils Canyon.


You can see baled hay, cut hay, and yet-to-be-cut hay.


Nice pretty windrows. Wish they still looked like that...




This storm came through a week ago. We got 1.1 inches out of it.


These pictures were taken yesterday.







Mom and Dad went up to the mountain to try to hay yesterday. We thought this storm would miss us. We were wrong. We didn't get it too bad at the house, but at the mountain where the hay was there was more rain and wind. Some of the windrows blew. We will have to rake to get the windrows back together. However, compared to some, we didn't have it too bad. We went flying today and towards Savage there is a lot of damage. Power poles are snapped, pivots are toppled, and some buildings are damaged. I took some pictures and will try to get them up soon.

We got about 8/10 of an inch in the storm yesterday. That is 3 inches in 3 weeks. Not typical July weather.

D.J.

Cutting Hay

We started cutting hay just east of the house yesterday. There is going to be a lot of hay.

Last night a thunderstorm came through. We got about an inch of rain in half an hour. There was also a terrible wind and hail, not a good combination. It pretty much wiped out the garden. Fortunately the hail wasn't really big. If it had been we might have lost some windows.

Now for the haying pictures.




A big patch of clover.


A close up of the clover.


Tall grass.


Nice windrows.


The hay here was so tall it was lying over.



We went flying this morning and I took some pictures of the hay. Luckily the windrows stayed put during the storm.

DJ