Double B Ranch - April through June 2023

You're always fixin' somethin' at the ranch. I can count on one hand the number of visits I've made where there wasn't something that needed to be repaired. My end of April trip was no exception. The well pump stopped working. Add to that the leak in the water trough, and you're left with a (near) empty dipping pool. I decided to go ahead and drain the entire thing so I could (1) clean out the sand and debris, (2) fix the float valve in the water trough and (3) hopefully figure out what was wrong with the well pump.

Jacqui came with me this weekend, and we also spent time staining the deck railings.

There's my cowgirl - working hard!

Howdy!!
....Jacqui's never happy to have her picture taken while she's working.

I put the picture above and below here so you could see how the dark railing 'blends in' so much better.

I found the problem with the well pump - can you see it?
This is the pump pressure switch, and it was broken preventing the pump from turning on.
I was able to 'band-aide' it together, while waiting for a replacement.

Despite how dry it was early May, the cactus still showed some blooms.

Here's something else that needed to be fixed.
The aerator on this faucet was spewing water.
I tried just about everything to get it off - including burning it - before I broke down and completely took it apart.

Fixed

Oh, and here's something else that broke.

Do you know what this part does?

It's the steering arm for the Polaris.

I might as well work on this gate while waiting to hear back from the Polaris Repair Shop

It works!

I thought this was a good picture

It was tricky getting the Polaris on the trailer when one front wheel did not want to cooperate.

Guess what happened between my last visit to the ranch in early May and the one pictured above in late May?
Rain!!
After a two year drought, we finally started seeing substantial rain starting late may and extending well into June.

It's like a completely different place when everything is so green

There's a good amount of water still in the Cobb creek

Such a pretty view from the porch

BOOM!
I got this mama hog early in the morning, as I was driving to the blind.

In addition to all the deer, you can see the muddy tracks where drove to drag the hog away from the feeder.

Green, green and more green - I love it!
...but it does need to be mowed around the house.

I had to make the drive into Kerrville to get a new battery for my mower.
So I took the opportunity to stop at Billye Jean's for lunch.

One more thing to fix.
I had a leak in this feeder, and with all the rain it spoiled the feed (and it gets matted and clogs the feeder).
Clean out wet feed and fix leak - done.

Finished the gate and put on a latch.

Yet another fix.
The problem with the mower was more than just a dead battery.
It turns out, if you don't start your mower in over two years, the old gas will gum up the carburetor.

So I had to fix that....

But look how nice the yard looks after it was mowed

I remember this guy. 1st shot was a hit, but he took off running (as they most often do).
I was able to reacquire him, and got off another shot as he circled back - saw the spray and he dropped right there.
I would not have been able to do that with the bolt action.

I love this.
I was driving on the north 100 (looking north over Toby creek) and this deer stood there long enough for me to get a good picture.

Also in the north 100, this abandoned deer blind looks over a green field.
It's abandoned because it's a 'ground blind' and I was in there a couple times with some sort of critters - mice, squirrel - I'm not sure
...but...just too creepy for me.

It's almost time for a dipping pool party!

That tree would make a good spot for a hammock

I even got the weed-eater out and cleaned up around the barn.

I can't resist taking a few pictures of the house when everything is green and mowed.

It wasn't something I had to fix - but I did finish putting together that cabinet behind the couch.

A view of the dipping pool from the barn

Over Father's Day weekend (mid June), we had the whole family plus Trey visit the ranch. Jacqui, Austin and I drove up Thursday. I did the usual 'work from the ranch' Friday morning, then we went into Harper for feed, etc. I got the feed out to the feeders, and we did a few things around the house before meeting Lauren and Trey for dinner on their way in at the Harper Tex-Mex. Well, it rained almost all night Friday. We had heavy rain and hail in Harper as we were eating, and we made it back to the ranch just in time before we got SLAMMED with another two plus hours of heavy storms. We enjoyed sitting on the front porch and watching the rain and lightning show. The next day, Trey and I almost got my truck stuck in the mud at the feeder. After the girls left for Fredericksburg, the boys drove around in the Polaris to see how much water was in the creeks and took the picture above.

And how could I forget? As Austin, Trey and I were in the very far northwest corner oft he ranch, the Polaris woudn't start! We tried and tried, but eventually had to walk all the way back to the house. Thankfully, Lauren left her keys, so we were able to drive her Jeep (good thing it's 4 wheel drive) across Toby Creek to the NW corner and jump the Polaris.

WooooHooo - the 1st dipping pool party of 2023!!
Saturday morning Jacqui and Lauren went into Fredericksburg to shop.
When they got back, Austin, Trey and I were already enjoying the dipping pool.

The deck was HOT and the water was COOL!

Back in the day, I would have made a Flash animation of the these pictures so it would look like they were swinging back and forth.

I had a WONDERFUL Father's Day weekend at the Double B Ranch~!~!~!
And I think the kids enjoyed it as well.