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    Hello and welcome to our Diary page.  The purpose of this diary is to record our adventures, folks who stop by, travels and events at the Thorne Ranch.  It was primarily meant for family and friends in the beginning, but we have grown a large number of faithful readers in the past seven years.   Over 90,000 from all over the world have visited us.   We don't intend to offend anyone or to glorify our life here.  It's pretty boring most of the time as you will see!  We are pretty common folks trying to make living doing what we love, breeding and raising cattle.  

    Our wish is that someday this Diary will be enjoyed and appreciated by our grandchildren and great grandchildren.  In the mean time we hope you get a few good laughs at our expense.  Learn from the mistakes of others.  You can't live long enough to make them all yourself."   - Joan

January 2007

January 2006   Feb 2006  March 2006  April 2006   May 2006    June 2006   July 2006  August 2006  Sept 2006  Oct 2006  Nov 2006  Dec 2006

 February 1 - 6   It's warmed up some this 6th day of February!  Thank heavens!  The snow is going pretty fast when the sun comes out, but that wind is still cold!  Maybe all our snow will disappear today!   One new tid bit of news, the 2nd Annual St Jude Research Children's Trail Ride at Thorne Ranch.  It  is being scheduled for  April 1, 2007.   Get your ponies ready!   Sure hope it warms up before then!  Congratulations Overby family on a good run at the gold in Jackson MS with your TLC steer.  He won Champion English steer at County  and Champion English steer at Districts before running into the toughs at State!  One man's opinion that day!

Saturday, Crystal and Bryce braved the cold wind to come help put out hay for the day!  We came up with a new name for those two!  Some people call them the old married people, but we have tagged them Laurel and Hardy on them after Crystal ran over Bryce's foot with a wheel barrow!  ha   They are fun kids to have around though.    Thank you for your superb help!   We had a call from Roger, and Star was selected Reserve Grand at San Antonio Stock Show behind the heifer that she beat last week in Ft. Worth.    If you don't want to get them beat, don't take them out, because it's going to happen eventually!    Congratulations  Jeff Hampton crew!  We are happy for you all!

Guess who these masked folks are?

Zorro or Laurel and Hardy?  Great job Bryce!

Brock and his heifer

Clem before in the pasture.  He is a real character and will come up to you in the pasture.

Clem with new hair cut and halter training for the day

Isabella is a thick one!

February 8 -  It was another cold day!   We got  two heifers clipped out this afternoon before we started moving cattle around.   These two heifers got names like Carolina and Evelinda.   Evelinda was a little wiggle worm in the chute and she was upside down a couple of times.  But before we got done she was starting to like her hair massage!   I was taking Mick and his new girl friend, Brian's cow to their pen when they decided to run past Abbie in the feed truck!  I sped out to out run them and the foot feet on the mule stuck!  I don't know what happened but I think "we" may have messed something up bad!  I had to quick shut it off to get it stopped!   I say we because it has been doing this and no one had fixed it yet.   But of course since I was driving it, it was my fault!   I was headed for a metal gate and was lucky enough to get it stopped before impact!   It could have been messy!   That's the good and the bad news, the best news today!  Roger and Rachel called and Star won the San Antonio Junior Show today!   Congratulations, McDowell and Ivey family!  We are happy and proud for us all! 

Does anyone watch the Gay "View" anymore?  Since Meredith and Star Jones left it's gotten to be such a horrible show!  It used to have some normal people on it and now with weird Rosie it just seems to get more demented each show!  She flaunts her gay life to the extreme!  I don't know who she is trying to convince?  Us or herself that she is normal!   I believe in free rights, but it's starting to get ridiculous for us normal straight people to have a say on what is put on  television these days!   I am sure you all have heard of the Rosie and Donald Trump battle!   I  think that CBS, NBC and ABC should request a reality show with these two as contestants!    Rosie and Donald Trump should have to live together on some small deserted island alone together,  learn how to survive together for at least a month.  Their battle of words has gotten sickening!   Surely that is what Solomon would have done now wouldn't he?   I can hear their words now!  Rosie darling?  Yes Donald dear!   You are fired!  No doubt in my mind who would win in the end! ha   At least we think Donald is a straight arrow!

February 9-10   Happy Birthday son in law Rick!  You are a good daddy to our grandchildren and a super husband to the daughter!   Friday we put out hay to everything.  Meaning we put out 25 bales of big rounds.   That was almost a truck load that we just got from Iowa.   We will get one more load and then it's find more hay or pray for sunshine and roses!  The mule was not destroyed by me the other day thank heavens!  I have been really babying it around the place after the run away!   We got done putting out hay just in time for Burk and Megan to get here.   Abbie and Megan headed to Pryor for the Stierwalt clipping clinic.  I was just happy to have the warmth of  my house!    We loaded them up this morning starting out about 5:00.   We caught Wave and they gave her a bath and blew her out as good as they could!   I hooked up the trailer and got everything ready for them.   The chute, blow dryer, clippers, several can's of smelly stuff, scoop shovels and pitch forks,  feed pan, water bucket, extension cords,.   Everything but the kitchen sink!  We had our first A. I. baby this morning and he was bull calf out of Alias and an Angus cow.   Pretty little calf, sure hated to see him come into such a cold old world!   But so far he is up and going strong!  I got everything fed, put out salt and mineral in several pastures and then cleaned up and ran to Pryor to see the fitting crew at the fair grounds!  I didn't stay long and stopped off at Homeland for some supplies.  Milk, eggs, and veggies!    I won't have to get up so early tomorrow, thank heavens!   I am taking pictures of an angus bull tomorrow at Brian's so will have to charge up all my batteries.  ha

February 11-12   Sunday  I made it over to Brian's to take pictures of the Robertson's angus bull about 11:00.  It was pretty chilly out there taking pictures, but we managed to get a few good shots.   I had to give Brian a bad time about all his dogs, cats and kids running loose around our subject a few times!   Just when I had a shot of a lifetime a furry cat ran across.  ha   I suggested we contain the crew next time in the barn! ha   They were just curious what we were doing.  We used Brock and Madison to distract the bull several times.   Little kids will keep most cattle's attention, as they are not used to the small version called little people!   We finished about noon and I headed into the Fair grounds to the clipping clinic to see the rest of the crew at work!   We listened to Kirk Stierwalt tell several of his show kid stories and was beginning to think he is part comedian too!   He had us all belly laughing!   I think he must be related to Baxter Black somehow! ha  He should write a book about his clinics and judging episodes!  We had to recruit the troops to catch a wild steer out in the parking lot one time!    But all in all the day was good and I think all the kids enjoyed their weekend clipping school!  Even the biggest kid in the bunch, Mr. Thorne.  He went to Kirk's clinic a couple of years ago and he gained lots of knowledge then and he learned more this time!   Now we will really get to test out his clipping skills in the next few weeks and I am sure he will be saying to me.  No not like that!  Kirk says! ha   We met the LaRue's at Goldies and we had supper there.   We then traveled home so they could pick up their Angus cow and calf that we had visiting with Bud.

Monday, it was raining when we got up and it's still raining tonight!  Water everywhere and from what the weatherman tells us it could be snow by morning!  Yep, just what we needed more cold wet weather!  Don't mind the wet weather if it's not freezing out but we don't have a say in the matter now do we?  Not a good situation with new baby calves due any day!   I went to the Pryor Recreations Center this morning and I enjoyed that small time to get away!  Didn't get to swim but now I have my locker and place to store stuff in when I go in.   Really a nice new facility.   Walking and jogging track up stairs, weight and exercise machines, basketball court, volleyball court, and swimming pool!  No wonder our taxes went up!  But when you get a place like this it is worth it!   I saw several older folks in using the place!  Mmm maybe I am one of those old codgers too!   Anyway I walked and then bicycled for an hour and then went to my WW meeting!   It was a good week, I at least lost weight!.   Probably brain cells. ha

I found a story and link to the Stockman's Bank in Miles City, Montana.   That tells about Cowboy Banker Bill Nefsy, I told you I would tell the story a few weeks back!   The story pretty much tells it the way he was.   I went with my husband Eddie and his crew to cook for them while they set up and wired center pivot irrigation systems back in the 1970's.   We all stayed at the Nefsy Ranch at the bunk house.  That was complete with a big kitchen and bed rooms for the crew.   I remember stopping in Belle Fourche SD and picking up about $600 worth of groceries for the crew just before we got into Montana!  That was about three grocery carts back then.   Most of it was meat, potatoes and canned fruit and veggies.    We knew that when we got up to the ranch that the grocery stores were going to be slim to none.   Anyway we got settled into the ranch along the Stage River road.   We met the ranch manager and several nice folks that worked there.   But we were not prepared for the ranch owner. ha   He came driving up in cloud of dust in  his white Caddie that had seen better days and crawled out  grinning!   Howdy folks!  He shook all our hands and he made you feel real welcome to Montana and the Nefsy Ranch.   He had a gray felt hat that had sweat marks on the brim and he had a mop of gray hair sticking out form under it!  He had a light colored western shirt on and worn out blue jeans!   His boots were the best yet!  They ran over on the sides and they had been used!   I wouldn't have been surprised that his last best pair would have had duck tape around them.   Yep, he was the owner of a Cow outfit and a Bank in downtown Miles City, Montana.    The  week went well and the crew got the water hooked and the pumps wired up to the sump pumps that pulled it from the river to the irrigation systems.  I cooked from daylight to dawn!  With about a dozen hungry guys each meal!  I ran out of supplies and needed a few things so I went with one of the crew to pick up parts and groceries one day to Miles City.   We had a couple of signed checks from the company called Sandhill Equipment that we all worked for.  Mr. Bill said that if we needed anything just holler at him.   So we went to the Stockman's bank to cash the checks.    We entered an old well kept up establishment with big furniture all around.   A steer head on the wall and oak trim everywhere!  When Mr. Bill saw us walk in he jumped up and proceeded to order his secretaries  in tight skirts and high heels to get us coffee as company had come to town!   He made you feel like you were the most important folks he knew.    I will never forget that happy little man sitting in a big leather chair behind that  big fancy desk with his worn out boots  propped up on the side!   Still in his old hat, old worn out shirt and blue jeans!   Not your normal banker attire, but maybe that is what made him one of the most successful bankers in Montana and Wyoming.   His willingness to treat people like they were all his best friends, regardless if you were the hired hand, cook or owners of a multi millions dollar business.   I don't  believe that man ever met a stranger.  Wouldn't it be nice if we all treated people like that.  I hope Mr. Bill is singing with the angels and grinning down at us from up above, still in his old gray felt hat with wings attached to his western pearl snapped shirt!  God bless you Mr. Bill.   You made a lasting impression on a young girl.

Stierwalt Clipping Class 2007 in Pryor OK

Abbie, Kirk and Megan

Puppies to give away.  Korgy and Terrior cross at Brian's

Picture I took of the Robertson bull.

We had a real cold spell hit and we even got a little snow this morning!  But pray we are almost done with this winter weather.  The forecast is good for the next few weeks!   We had another Angus baby born yesterday.  A little heifer out of New Look and the old stacker bred cow.  Maybe she will be the show heifer prospect  for Angus Junior Nationals that will be held in Tulsa in July!    We are really excited over the Spring crop coming.   We hope they will be the best calves yet.  It's that eternal optimism in the cattle business that keeps you trying to select more and better sires and donors.   You wonder sometimes if you are doing the right trait selections.   We try to keep our maternal most importantly and then worry about all the other things afterwards.   They will fall in place with good mother cows at the base!   I have to chuckle at some of these big outfits that think they can just go and buy their recipient cows at the sale barn.   They are there for a reason!  

Check out a couple of other sweethearts

at the News Page.  Rachel and Star win San Antonio and $10,000 Scholarship! 

February 15-16  Burr cold is all I can say today!  We had several new babies born last night and this morning!  Good thing we have a heated chute room in the barn to start them out in!  Veronica delivered her baby in the cold yesterday!  A pretty little Black Icon heifer calf!  She is happy to be a mother again after about seven years not getting settled and bred.   She would flush every year,  but couldn't carry a calf to term for several years.  So we just kept her in good shape and flushed more calves than she could have had naturally anyway.  But this one slipped up on us one day when we were going to set her up for a flush, our vet Clint said she was bred.  We said are you really sure?  Yep she's bred 5-6 months.  She was exposed to Icon for about 20 days. Who said that Icon semen isn't powerful? ha  So we have kept her up by the barn all 1900 pounds of her to watch her carefully!   Abbie said that she is proud as punch of that new baby and didn't even want to go to water because she was so worried about her new kid!   I guess this one's is going to have to be called Ms TLC Black Miracle.   

Burk came early this morning with the hay from Iowa!   It was good to see him safely here with the big load of hay.  Jake Kramer came yesterday and will be helping us after school and on weekends!  Glad to have the extra help!  The forecast is for warmer weather.  Anything would be better than this frigid ice box air we are getting from up north!  Especially since we have now officially started Spring calving!  I visited with Mom this morning and they were 20 below, so I guess we should feel lucky to be 20 above!   I am ready for daylight savings time and some sunshine!  How about you?

I got a really funny joke from one of my ya ya sisters today.   Too good not to share.. Since I have been dieting again this really hit the funny bone!

I went to Pryor yesterday to the Recreation center in the morning.  Walked, rode the bikes, and swam.   Then to WW at noon!   Yippee I lost again this week!  Makes a difference when you get up off your back end and move! ha   I had lunch with friend Darla and she is a real fun person to be around!   We had salad at Goldies and had a great visit! 

Took pictures today of several calves, when I could catch up with them!  I got my exercise following them in the pastures.   They were curious about what I was doing so it wasn't that bad!   Got some pretty good shots.   I need a whole lot more before it's going to a done deal!   I took some pictures today of some of the new babies too.   They sure are cute little tikes and they were enjoying the warm sunshine today!  John called and Cody and Brilan did well at their Checotah Livestock Show.  TLC Dream was Supreme Grand Female out of nine breeds exhibited and TLC Tiger was Grand Champion Steer.  I bet those boys were beaming!   Great job boys!  Good luck at County next week!

Check out the free cattle program at this site..    www.mycattleman.com   Thanks Udo!   We handed out all the free one's you gave us!  Notice the TLC Cow and Calf at the left of his new logo....

February 23-25    Well another past few days busy chasing cows and kids!  I made it over to the Claremore Expo building for the Roger's County Livestock Show and enjoyed my day.   I met Carol for lunch and we had a good visit!  As always!  Two crazy old cattle women who talk about cows, kids and grandkids!  What a combination!   Was really proud for Reighly today as she had the Reserve Supreme grand heifer with TLC Juna.   She is getting to be quite the little showman too.   Jacob made us all proud when he hung on for dear life with TLC Otis his Braunvieh steer.   That out weighs him by 800 pounds at least!   Great job Jacob!  Brooke and TLC Redman did really well as the Shorthorn  Champion too!   So all in all the kids and cattle performed well and took home some ribbons and prizes!   I got home and Abbie was going to take me out for dinner for my birthday but we both decided that tomorrow would be a better day.  

Yesterday we packed up and went to the Will Roger's Livestock Show at the same place.  Two show rings and two judges.   Jake offered to stay home and watch the cow herd!  Thanks Jake!  Our little buddy Brock Courtney did an outstanding job of showing a big heifer.  See his picture below! Ryan Rash was one of the judges and he also judged the show on Friday.  He is fun to listen to and he knows his cattle.   The other judge was a nice guy and he actually knew what a Braunvieh was.   He thought that the Braunvieh heifer Vasa last year was the best one he'd ever seen!   So he had remembered her a whole year later!   Now that is impressive considering how many cattle he sees a year!   We are glad she made a lasting impression!  We got a call from Jason Haney last night and he was jumping up an down!  Kylie and TLC Graclie won Champion AOB Heifer and were selected 4th in the County Premium Sale!  Visited with John and Cody and Brilan did well again wtih TLC Dream Catcher standing 3rd behind the Grand and Reserve Grand females she had beat last week at their local show but it was a different judge and different day!  TLC Tigerman was selected Grand Champion Market Steer both shows!  We are proud for you Oxtoby family!  Send us pictures so we can show you and your cattle!

 Today we are playing catch up.  Made three more tags for new babies!  We had our first Salute heifer calf the other day and she is really a pretty thing!  So we are starting to get more Shorthorn genetics!  Just what I need is another breed to try and keep papers and registrations up on!  But they are such fun to look at!  Color and color me more!   The kids love them too!  Something different than solid black!   I would say that probably 85 percent of the cattle shown anymore are all black!

We hope that Jacob's dad Kade gets better real soon!  He got kicked in the face by their angus heifer when he was loading her to come to the show and he got a broken nose and jaw.  He is going to have to eat from a straw for several months.   Wish we could do something for you all!  Oh how painful!

TLC Redman and Brooke Summers

Brock Courtney and his Angus heifer

Jacob Daley and TLC Otis Champion Braunvieh Steer

February 26-28    A busy last three days!  Monday was exercise and weigh in.   I went home to help clip out calves!  We got a couple more done before we had customers come by in the afternoon, so I showed them the cattle.  Susan and Randy Wassom.  Enjoyed their visit!  They especially liked a little bull. 

Tuesday I hurried around and loaded the camera to head to Stillwater to the Payne County Junior Livestock Show where Madison was showing her Beef Builder heifers.   She had to have four head to make a breed.   So she had Champion Braunvieh female with Panda's Wave and made the premium sale.  She let a friend of hers show the Reserve Grand Champion heifer.  I made it out of the fair grounds by 6:00 and headed to Claremore for the annual Calf Fry and Slave Auction.   I wasn't too late to get a plate of the little gem's and also purchased my a slave named Crystal.  Bryce went for more than I planned on or else I would have had them both.  I had so much to spend and I hope he wasn't too disappointed that he won't have to work for me one day! ha  So I got in a bidding war with a Doctor over Crystal.  Oh well it goes to a great cause!   Great job Matt, Erica and Claremore FFA Crew and families!  You made the annual calf fry a fun event again!  I made it home to find Abbie still calving out cows!  He had one little heifer calve in the pasture and she thought that motherhood was over rated.  So he had to get her in, but she is taking the calf now!   We have around 35 babies now!  They are starting to run and buck in the pasture!  Not a cuter site than babies calves frolicking!

Today I had TLC Bud semen sent off to New Hampshire!   He liked the looks of Bud and also was impressed with Star's stardom!   We gathered and sorted some cows.   We loaded up a trailer load of open cows so I could deliver them to Joplin Stockyards.  Some of those cows have been here since I have so it was a sad day to see some of those old cows go to cow heaven!   But when they are open you can't afford to keep them on senior disability!  Not with the price of feed and hay these days!

Roger called about noon and Star won Grand Champion at Houston today.  Both the Junior and Open Show!   Great job Ivey Crew!   She certainly has made us all proud!   I met Judy Shaffer for lunch at the Ranch House in Carthage MO and we got caught up on about everything.  I had the air conditioner going on the way home.  75 degrees!  That is way too warm way too quick!  Now we will be watching over our backs for storms!  Goes from one extreme to another.  Cold to HOT!   Just heard the news and we are in a tornado weather warning for the night!  Hang on to your hats!

Lookin good Madison!

Great job showing Madison!

Blowing off the dust! 

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