Country Lifestyles
Cowboy Culture – A Bad Day in the Cowboy World
By Clay Reid
Well, another day another dollar and another NTFR deadline crept up on me. So as I was headed out the door to go gather some bovine into a trap to wean the calves off their mamas, of course it hit me like a hammer, that I had unfinished business with NTFR editor Jessica Crabtree.
Before I start this tall tale of bad days in the cowboy world, I will also let it be known that in my life I have prayed for many things. I prayed for safety for my family. I prayed for health for the same bunch. I have even prayed for my beloved Dallas Cowboys to win a game after placing a $100 bet on them.
This morning, however, will be the first time that I will be praying that this computer stays together and allows me to finish this story unabated. You see, last month the last four sentences in my little article took about an hour and a half to finish.
My computer was locking up and it took five seconds for each letter to pop up onto the screen. It was all I could do to keep from throwing it across the room and stomping on it like a three year old when Granny won’t let him have ice cream. Well, so far so good.
I was going through some pictures the other day when I came upon one of me with my face in ruin. It was a horse wreck picture, and I sure looked pretty homely. In the cowboy world it ain’t if you will ever have a horse wreck, it’s a matter of when and how many you will have, and will you live to tell the story.
I have friends who have died from them and others who are forever crippled from them. The picture I speak of was a pure example of how quickly it can happen while horseback, and I hope that some who read this might take note and realize how dangerous it is for grown men, much less young children, to be horseback.
To read more pick up a copy of the September 2017 NTFR issue. To subscribe call 940-872-5922.
By Lacey Vilhauer
Ingredients:
1 whole lemon, seeded and roughly chopped
2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons
¼ cup water
Directions:
Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree the strawberries in a food processor and add to the lemon mixture along with juice of one lemon and water. Taste and add more juice as desired.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Nicholas Waters
As winter plods along – come Spring and gopher mounds – homeowners and farmers find themselves playing a familiar song – fiddling while Rome is burning.
Let’s make a mountain out of a molehill. Those mounds on your lawn and pasture could be moles, but they’re more than likely gophers; Plains Pocket Gophers to be pragmatic – Geomys bursarius to be scientific.
These rodents dig and chew, and the damage they can do goes beyond the mounds we mow over. Iowa State University cited a study in Nebraska showing a 35 percent loss in irrigated alfalfa fields due to the presence of pocket gophers; the number jumped to 46 percent in decreased production of non-irrigated alfalfa fields.
The internet is replete with academic research from coast-to-coast on how to curtail gopher populations, or at least control them. Kansas State University – then called Kansas State Agricultural College – also published a book [Bulletin 152] in February 1908 focused exclusively on the pocket gopher.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
By Annette Bridges
Everyone needs a room with a view that makes their heart happy. My honest favorite panorama would be either the mountains or the ocean. I have yet to convince my hubby to make permanent moves to either, although he does enjoy the visits as much as I do.
The location of our house on our ranch does not provide the expansive field of vision of our land that I would enjoy. So, I have created a room decorated and furnished in a way that gives me smiles, giggles, and a wonderful peace-filled feeling when I am hanging out in it. I am in that place right now writing this column. I am in a lounging position with my computer in my lap on the chaise that was once my sweet mama’s. I had it reupholstered this year to give it a fresh look.
To read more, pick up a copy of the April issue of NTFR magazine. To subscribe by mail, call 940-872-5922.
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