April Fools!

 April Fool's Day is a big day in our house. I'm not quite sure how it turned out that way, but now the kids expect some good pranks. And they plan pranks to play on us! I started with putting tape over the shower heads. The kids shower first thing in the morning in two different bathrooms, and didn't even think about checking the spigots, so I got both of them!

Then I had "fried eggs" ready for them for breakfast--made of yogurt and mandarin oranges (peach halves work better, but we didn't have any). They liked that trick.

My husband got into the action with the cup game. He showed them two one-dollar bills. Then he put them under one cup and moved the cups around with elaborate hand gestures. He asked them to pick a cup at the end. They successfully picked the cup with the two one-dollar bills. Then he picked up the other cups, which had ten-dollar bills under them and walked away smiling.

The kids taped the trigger on the cleaning attachment at the sink, so when you turned on the faucet, it sprayed water across the room. The kitchen got a little cleaner that way!

The best part was handing out some Donut Seeds. These can be planted anytime of the year. Instructions include digging a hole on the north side of the house six feet deep and eight feet long. "In the dark of the moon at midnight, plant seeds about two feet apart. For frosted donuts, sprinkle blooms with sugar. For chocolate covered donuts-fertilize with chocolate syrup. Water with coffee...You must believe. If nothing grows, you end up with Donut Holes!" You can find the template at TeamKNK.com  --thanks!

 See previous pranks at this post.
What did you do for April Fool's Day?

2019 Sheepherders Gathering

 Every January it's time for the annual Sheepherders' Gathering at the Border Inn, located along Highway 6 & 50 on the stateline of Nevada and Utah. Sheepherders, sheep owners, and other aficionados of the sheep industry drive up to hundreds of miles to attend.

On Friday evening there's an Industry appreciation dinner (invite only) followed by Open Mic night. I really enjoy this, as you never know what entertainment there will be. Nephi Clark Allred "Red Clark" opened with a sampling of his musical repertoire (above). Check out the link to hear some of his tunes.

Thank Hank Vogel took the floor as emcee.

Denys Koyle started the Sheepherders' Gathering many moons ago, and it has become a huge success.

Next up were a variety of stories and tributes.

Recognize this little performer? It's Desert Girl! She sang and played (sort of) Mary Had a Little Lamb.

Her jokes were better than her playing (she needs some practice).
Q: What do you call a sheep covered in chocolate? A: A candy baaa
Q: What do you get if you cross an angry sheep with a moody cow? A: An animal that's in a baaaad mooood.

Next came more memories.

Melanie has been performing since she was just walking. It's been so fun watching her grow up and seeing her talent blossom. 

Waddie Mitchell, cowboy poet, was the headliner for the weekend. He certainly knows how to spin a good yarn!

We missed many of Saturday's events because we went into Ely for the Birkebeiner Ski Race. There was a sourdough pancake breakfast, film screening, and more poetry by Waddie Mitchell.

We got back in time so my husband and I could attend the delicious Basque-style family dinner. The crowd was huge, filling the whole cafe and events room. I managed to forget to take a single photo!

Then we were entertained by the Front Porch Pickers. They sounded fantastic, and it was a really great evening.

It's so nice to have a special event to look forward to in the middle of winter. Keep an eye on the Great Basin National Heritage Area website if you want to attend next year!

Desert Girl Helps at a Branding

It was time for another branding, and we wanted to see more. We headed down to the action, where the moms and calves had already been separated.

It didn't take long to see some action. First the roping, which included roping the head and then roping a hind leg.

Then once the calf was secured, it was time to vaccinate, ear tag, ear cut, and mark the calf.


Desert Girl wanted to take some photos. Here's one from her perspective.

And she really likes the horses, so she got lots of horse close ups.

And another.


There's so much action during a branding, that it's captivating to watch.


Of course working with such a beautiful backdrop doesn't hurt!

It's always fun to try and get some different perspectives too.

Desert Boy helped for a bit with the calf wrestling, but he took an elbow to the eye and went home early. It turned out the elbow wasn't too bad, but his allergies were, and his eyes were nearly swollen shut.

Desert Girl did better. She wanted to help, so Aunt Tana gave her lessons on the first job: loading the ear tagger. Since it contains a pesticide, she had to be careful not to touch her face.

Breanna made the calf wrestling look easy.

And back on the barrels, Desert Girl was getting the hang of her job.

She was quite serious about doing a good job. She also enjoyed it.

It's cool seeing these traditions carry on and the kids learning about them and participating.

Till next time!

April Potpourri

It's so easy for me to get behind on photos! Here are some from April. We went for a drive and saw a pronghorn. I love watching these animals, the fastest land animals in North America. They are also unusual in that they don't jump over fences, but go under them.

On this particular drive we were heading to a wet meadow area, but due to the dry winter, it looked kind of brown.

This fence post caught my eye. And in the background you can see that there isn't much snow on the mountains.

This is one of my favorite trees. Sometime I hope to go down and take a night sky photo with its silhouette.

Back at home, the kestrels have moved in and make a lot of noise.

One day I found the kestrel was excited about its catch--a lizard.

Our dog, Maggie, jumped out of the back of the truck and broke her femur. So she had surgery and was on a lot of confinement. Fortunately she's been recovering well.

We have a lot of playdates. I loved that one incorporated some music practice. These two will be performing in the spring concert next week. They will have a duet, as they're the only brass players in their school.

A couple coworkers and I led the elementary school on a wild cave trip. The kids had a great time and were delighted to have an opportunity to crawl and get muddy. One of the chaperones was surprised how we incorporated how much science into it--programming bat equipment, checking climate data, reading maps, showing geologic features. It's easy in caves, there are just so many cool scientific areas to study!

Our currant bushes bloomed, and that brought lots of pollinators, including these cool sphinx/hummingbird moths. They are not easy to photograph! They move around really fast.

I thought it was cool to see how the proboscis is curled up while it's flying.

Then it extends it to take a drink.

The flowers help provide a bullseye.

Desert Girl did a session of dog training for a friend. They were so cute! One of Desert Girl's ambitions is to become a dog trainer, so it's good to start young.

Caving friends came via a small airplane, and they let the kids sit in the cockpit. They immediately started dreaming up their adventure.

These ladies are awesome, I will have to do a whole post more about their geologic work in Lehman Caves soon.

We squeezed in some trail work on the local Sagebrush Discovery Trail. The flowers along it have been great in May (also another post!). There are still so many more rocks to move, but we're slowly making a difference. And it's always great to socialize!

One of the school events was a Young Author's Fair. Guest speaker Glenn Terry came in to do some cowboy poetry. Then the kids read each other's book that they had written for the event and did some activities. Parents and friends also get to read the kids' books, which are very entertaining.

We had a few EMS and fire calls for the month, including this vehicle fire. It had stalled, so the driver pulled it over to the side of the road, and then it caught on fire. She was able to get out safely, but the car was totally engulfed. Fortunately minimal brush caught on fire, as you can see there was some wind.

We got good practice with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs). There are so many toxic fumes from a car fire that you don't want to breathe even a little of that smoke.

One last tidbit was a school field trip to the Aquarium in Draper, Utah. It's a 3.5 hour bus ride--each way--but it was worth it. Everyone had a great time and we certainly got to see things that we don't usually see in the remote desert!

Hope you had a good April and are enjoying May!