Potato King Dies........

I was cruising thru the lastest issue of the Beef Cow/Calf weekly on line and saw this obit - occasionally I read obits - I don't know why and I doubt I'm the only one that reads about people they don't know - this guy had an amazing life and I bet you've never heard his name - so read on.......

J.R. Simplot, Idaho's legendary billionaire potato king, cattle feeder and entrepreneur, passed away on Sunday. He was 99.
He dropped out of school when he was 14 to rent and farm 40 acres of land. He made his initial fortune of $100,000 in the hog business, which he parlayed into new investments in potato storage houses. That led to the construction of more potato houses, and eventually into shipping of Idaho potatoes.
At the advent of World War II, he figured out how to freeze-dry potatoes for shipment overseas to hungry U.S. troops. From potato processing, he began expanding his empire to include beef cattle, cheese and fertilizer Production. The Simplot cattle-feeding enterprise includes operations in Idaho and Washington turning out about 400,000 head of cattle per year.
Simplot pioneered the first commercial frozen French fry in the late 1940s, eventually becoming a major supplier to McDonald's and other fast-food chains. He said the secret to success was his willingness to work, reinvest and never sell out.
Read more about this amazing man at: www.simplot.com/company/jr_simplot.cfm.

Some Kids Play with Toys

...others play with calf nuts! No one on this ranch particularly likes calf fries or should I say no one offers to cook them...so the other day once the dogs had their fill of nuts...the calf nuts were still flying thru the air ... well, these kids took to seriously playing with them. It was pretty funny. One father commented, "I spent $200. on toys at Christmas what was I thinking?" Of course, I supplied a plastic bag to one kid that wanted to take home the nuts - hope they didn't leave the bag in their parents SUV! Now, please forgive me if I've grossed you out with this post. Some kids play with toys, some kids play with calf nuts!

Leader of the Pack

Here is Dudley followed by Ike with just a hint of Duck in the picture all running in for dinner. I gave the all the horses their West Nile & Flu vaccinations last night. - Dr. OneCowgirl

Just Doing My Job OneCowgirl!!

Watermelon Anyone?

This is Desmond's grandmother and one of my dearest friends. When I was a child my mother taught us this silly game - you put watermelon seeds on your forehead, you name them after the boys that you like and the one that stays on the longest loves you the most! Maybe the adults just liked seeing the kids run around with watermelon seeds on their foreheads but if I remember correctly my mother played too. A few years ago a girlfriend & I were having a girls weekend at the beach and over breakfast we did this - it raised a few eyebrows in the dining room. Has anyone else played this game? If not, you must try it this summer while you are enjoying watermelon!!

Cowboy in Training!

Meet the fearless Desmond but I call him Desmond Tutu. He's in first grade and of course doesn't have a clue as to who Desmond Tutu is but when he's older I believe he'll appreciate the nickname. Last night I helped him do his homework - did you know first graders have to know fractions? What next kinder calculus? He had at least an hour of homework - which I thought was a little much so after the sentence writing meltdown we stopped and played hide and seek!

Don't I Make Good Lookin Babies!

Well if this bull could talk what do you think he'd be saying?

OneCowgirl You Did What?

Its still really dry and the lack of rain means we are still putting out syrup for the cattle. As you know, I would rather be riding a horse and moving cows. MOST any task on horseback suits me better than a task that uses a truck except for perhaps a trip to the grocery store - with that said, I opted to ride over the weekend instead of putting out syrup. Of course, its always better if you have some task to perform on horseback even if it is minuscule - so, I was told to ride upto the Ol Bar O and check the 10,000? gallon water tank. Easy enough I thought! Well after having a nice leisurely ride to the tank - going behind this hill and that, checking the cows here and there I arrived at the Ol' Bar O. I gingerly climbed on top of the tank trying not to catch my spurs on the ladder, lifted the heavy lid and peered inside the tank - to my surprise the water was almost to the top! This is really a good thing - it means none of the water drinkers further north are leaking or the tank would be empty. So as I am trying to move the incredible heavy lid back into place I hear two bulls knock heads and out of the corner of my eye I see Dudley scramble - (he usually barely moves when he's ground tied) and with this I lost my balance and the heavy lid went right into the tank!

Horses are Just Like People

Some are really really nice, trusting, have loads of common sense others are just outright mean, shallow, crazy. Just like people horses come in a variety of shapes and sizes and they all have unique personalities. Like people some horses have more personality than others. As with people you can tell alot about a horse by looking into their eyes - of course, its not all in the eyes but it is a tell tell sign. If the horse's eyes look wild - beware. There is something very special about connecting with a horse and for those that aren't horse enthusiasts its hard to explain. Now, if my Mom were a horse (she'll love having me compare her to a horse on my blog!)...her eyes would show kindness, she's be flirty like Veinte, a bit mischievous perhaps letting the other horses out, she'd get mad if you worked too hard and I think occasionally she'd have a tendency to kick but not buck or rear - of course, she would be a very pretty horse! Its my mother's birthday today - Happy Birthday Mom!

Snickers!

There is something special about a little girl and a horse! This is a third grader that I've spent the last nine months mentoring - its been amazing to watch her transformation. Next time you are thinking of volunteering PLEASE consider mentoring a child - its been a wonderful experience.

Wide Open Spaces

Did I tell you I love wide open spaces? There is something very comforting to me being able to look out and see forever! I actually get a bit very claustrophobic when I leave the Southwest - like driving on the East Coast in the summertime the trees begin closing in on me!

Lookey Heree!

Finnelly, Onecowgirl boght mee a newe saddle paddle! Its one hunderd percente woole and an inche thicke. It makes that sissy barrelle saddle of hers fit me better and it don't rub my weathers. My last saddle paddle was really worn - I chewed on it while it was on another horse that OneCowgirl had saddled - guess I was jealous that my pad was on another horse sose when we were ridin in the trayler i did a real number on it. I do occassionally misbehave! Happy Madre Day OneCowgirle! Love, Studley Dudley

My Dream Trip

Yes, I want to ride horses in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Check out the trip.

Cow Facts!

Did you know cows GROW everyday of their life thus if you see a cow with a big head and big hooves its older. A thousand pound cow with calf needs 30lbs of feed/grass and they need forty gallons of water a day. Like most mammals cows sweat thru their tongues but a Brahma cow can sweat all over! Brahma cows are also the fastest walking cow. You can move a herd of cows 1 to 1.5 miles an hour if they know where they are going.

OneCowgirl at Work!

Well someone finally decided to take a picture of ME!

Riding with Bulls!

Please note, Dudley is riding in the trailer with two bulls! Usually he loads up in the trailer with no problem. I actually play this ridiculous game loading him in the trailer - I tie the reins around his neck and place him 20 to 25 feet behind the trailer and say, "Dudley get the trailer, Dudley get in the trailer, clap my hands...Good Boy" Nine times out of ten he walks right up and gets in. Funny he always gets in the morning but after working all day he sometimes doesn't understand the command. But when we had these bulls loaded in the trailer and he had to ride beside Ike - the horse that takes up half the trailer to begin with - Dudley refused to get in. Hollywood was tired, irritable and frustrated with Dudley - I said listen Dudley loads really well and if he doesn't want to get in with those bulls we need to give him a little time! He loaded after a few minutes and rode nicely with the bulls. Notice Hollywood taking notes/numbers off the bulls.

Calf & Cow Reunited

During the night momma jumped the cattle guard and went back to where she had last seen her calf. It was #317! Yes, it is not easy to tell which calf belongs to which cow! Especially when momma would rather run with the girls than claim her bellowing calf! This picture of Hollywood has nothing to do with the reunion but I didn't get to take part in the reunion because I was moving the rest of the cows! Yes, I was even given a radio for communication! Best of all - I got to turn the herd - which is one of the absolute COOLEST things to do!