Heart Z Ranch, Crawfordsville Oregon.
Last weekend we went to Crawfordsville, there is so much to see on the way! I was happy to not be driving so I could hang my camera out the window for some shots off of Peoria Road. It is so pretty.
Lazy M Ranch is Brad's Grandparents ranch. His uncle John does most of the ranch stuff now though. It is really fun to go out there with the boys.
Why does food always taste better in the country? Well I think it is because you work for it!
After a good lunch we went to 'help' Uncle John load some cattle at Heart Z Ranch. He bought some little Holsteins for a friend. They are about 6 months old here.
I learned some things when we went to the ranch. Holsteins are not the kind of cows a rancher wants to buy, they are cheap and dairy cows...but are only good for hamburger meat. I didn't know that, maybe you did. Brad's uncle bought them for the lady who is on the fence in the pictures. She wants them to train stock dogs, which are dogs who herd cattle.
Info bit number two is that not all bulls have horns, and some cows have horns!Yea, Mr. Heart Z Rancher thought I was joking when I was astounded that that "black cow" in with the babes was a bull."Well, hey! I grew up in Spain, man where no bull would be caught dead without horns!" I told him, he laughed and said that many Mexican cattle have horns too, but that most American ranchers opt to breed it out, or dehorn babies- since horns can be pretty dangerous to people and to the other cattle. Every time I go I learn more, I love the whole thing.
Thanks Uncle John, it is always fun to 'hang out' and learn from you! Oh, and he gave us some Tenderloin S
teaks- yes, we are vegetarians but, only fair weather veggies as we are always willing to make exceptions. Especially for tenderloin from Knee Deep Cattle Company it is Free Range Beef, Born and raised on Oregon's lush green pastures. No added Antibiotics or Hormones. (a company based out of Eugene, Oregon!) He also gave us jerky from Knee Deep Cattle Company- the owner of the company is in the pictures above in the blue hat on the fence. She warned us, " make sure you refrigerate the jerky after opening it, as we don't use any preservatives!" I just had to laugh. " You know this will be gone before we get home, right?" I asked. "Well good!" she answered smiling.
We all worked hard, and the boys were certainly ready for some good rest at the end of the busy day.
I would love to live in the country. And I love jerky. I love Oregon.
Lazy M Ranch
We are so blessed, Brad's grandparents own a farm in Crawfordsville, Oregon. It is the equivalent of a theme park for the little bungarees (and sometimes the big ones too). Lazy M Ranch is the place to be, dogs, plants, grass, rocks, sticks, acres of room to run, a creek, and the 4-wheeler. A dream.
old fashioned sour dough pancakes supreme
There is so much to enjoy about being together, about cold mornings and being inside and eating pancakes. B made us breakfast this last Saturday, we gobbled it up. We are firm believers in eating meals together. The boys are not always the perfect dinner companions, but they are learning.
Old fashioned Sour Dough Pancakes Supreme
recipe by Agnus Marble (B's grandma)
1 cup starter (sourdough starter)
4 Tbps. Sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 pint cottage cheese
1 1/2 tsp. soda
2 cups flour
4 beaten eggs
4 Tbsp. oil or melted shortening
Milk or water
Add milk or water, as much as needed to get it pourable. We love these, great way to get a good breakfast down the kids. Loaded with protein. I keep these going just adding water, a bit of buckwheat, wheat germ, more eggs, cheese flour, etc.
Get to work at Lazy M Ranch
We went to the Lazy M and immediately got put to work. We filled and planted some bulbs for Grandma. She owns the Crawfordsville Covered Bridge Plants, so we were helping for next selling season. It was any little boy's dream, to fill up tons of buckets of dirt. I had the job of planting the bleeding hearts, the lilies and the peonies and it got done and we were pretty grubby. We always expect that when we go to Lazy M though, mud is what there is, and dirty means a fun time.
On the way home, this was our thank you :)
looking at cattle at lazy m ranch (and how they looked back)
We were out at the ranch a couple of days ago and the Marbles have some of the biggest cows they have had (meaning fat and strong, well nourished). we walked around and took some pictures. I have a new edition of bungaree speak for you, this is baby o's first time being featured in bungaree speak:
Setting: we are walking among the different fields of cattle, looking and uuuuuuing and awwwwing over how big and pretty they are (handsome too).
b: oh, those ones are so big and pretty aren't they boys?
j: yes they are really, REALLY big.
b: aren't cows cool? look over here there is a mamma...
o: (o interrupts) and a rabbit! (certain that her baby calf laying next to her could not possibly be a cow!)
b,j: hahaah, hahah!
b: no, o that is a baby cow called a calf, it is so much bigger than a rabbit.
enjoy some cattle pictures:
below is Marble mountain, I can't wait to hike to the top sometime!!
our fourth celebrations went a little like this:
two brothers celebrating freedom, but mostly cupcakes.
and food.
walking on the ranch.
grandma and grandpa's house.
the view.
someone rode their horse over. cool.
creek rock throwing time.
(and jumping)
yum. raspberries, delish!
see?
playtime
observers.
pretty cool horses. the rider has a helmet with HUGE feathers out the back, sweet!
rainbow juice and horse riding, interesting combo?
baseball, how could you not, it is the 4th!?
this was a great independence day celebration! Same place, same time, one year from now...
you in?
a pea break
Here is the pea patch...a great place for a snack. Grandpa Marble (great grandpa to the boys)tells me that he does not plant sweet peas, "you know, those ones you eat the shell and all! We used to feed those to our cattle! I used to plant some for other people, but I don't do that anymore" says grandpa. We are fine with what he has, as the boys can both pull, peal and eat these well on their own. Oh, the sweetness of fresh peas...shhhh, don't tell grandpa, the boys eat the shells anyway, even though they are actually rough and not very yummy....oh well.
Last week we went to grandma and grandpa's lazy m ranch and had some good, quality pea time. It was great, the boys sat there for well over 40 min and just ate and ate and ate the peas. grandpa was pleased, he loved watching them chow down. we love going there, especially when the weather is nice so we can be outside!! They have tons of fun things to do and a creek to play in!!
Among other things here is what we enjoy at the ranch: a super warm fire in the winter, cows to look at and talk to, raspberries by the ton (we can pick as many as we want !!), blackberries down by the creek, marble mountain....we hope to climb it soon :), a million yummy squash, tomatoes, cukes, and potatoes, beans, pole beans, and much more...we go for the day and enjoy it the whole way. Oh, the ranch...one of our favourite places in the world.
They have trucks too.
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