The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been in the news more than usual lately. Perhaps you have seen the commercials asking for your contribution of $19.00 a month to help rescue abused and abandoned animals? Those commercials are gut-wrenching, aren't they? It makes me want to hand over my wallet; do whatever it takes to help those animals.

However, if we look past the commercials and into the financial details of HSUS, it's obvious that their multi-million dollar annual budget ($111 million in 2008) is not spent on helping local animal shelters. Actually, the vast majority of local animal shelters around our country are not affiliated with HSUS. Check out the results of this nationwide poll and realize that we aren't the only ones confusing HSUS with local animal shelters.

Where does their money go? According to this overview of HSUS they 

To accomplish those goals the majority of their millions is spent on lobbyists and excutive staff salaries. According to an interesting article published in the Nation's Restauarant News (the leading U.S. foodservice publication),

For an in-depth report on how HSUS spends it's dollars, please watch this short news segment. If you are interested in more information about HSUS and the misleading ways it raises money, check out HumaneWatch.org.

On a personal note, we are supporters of our local animal shelter and we are appalled by any form of animal abuse or neglect. If you have read this blog for any length of time then you know we are people who truly love animals. From our posh canine geriatric unit to our newborn calf hospitality suite, we spend our days (and nights!) providing quality care for all of our animals. And we love doing it.

I enjoy a clean home. Truly, I do. Every day I sweep, scrub, vacuum, and tidy. But here’s the thing about ranch life: it is dirty. Not only do I fight a constant battle against the dirt and manure that we all track into the house on a daily basis, but, well, there are a lot of animals around here. And sometimes they end up inside my house.

This calf’s mama had a tough time calving; he was cold and tired when he entered the world. It was also about 2 o’clock in the morning and fairly cold. Fortunately, our home is only steps away from the barn and corral. This calf spent a few hours on the floor in our utility bathroom.

We plug in either a heat lamp or a space heater to raise the calf’s core temperature. After a few hours they realize they are hungry and start calling for their mama. This is a great sign! We haul them back outside and make sure the mama cow understands her role in getting milk into the calf’s belly and soon this little calf starts thriving.

It really is only a few steps from the back door of our house to the calving pen, but when you are carrying a 90 pound calf who is warm and hungry and kicking around, it can be a LONG walk across the driveway. To make this task a little easier, we have re-purposed one of the kids’ toy wagons. It works perfectly.

Now if only I could re-purpose one of the cowboys around here to clean the utility bathroom I’d be a happy woman!

The winner of the Cuisinart Coffeemaker is Rusty! Here is his comment:

Congratulations Rusty! (and thanks for your kind words!)

Thank you everyone for entering. I, too, enjoyed the Olympics and I don't think I could pick a favorite event. My husband's favorite was the aerials and the kids all loved bobsledding. Great fun!

Gary Paulsen is one of the most prolific writers in children’s literature. Many students (third grade and up) have read at least one of Paulsen’s books.  (Possibly Hatchet, it is one of Paulsen’s most popular books.)

The Haymeadow is about 14 year old John Barron who lives with his father on a sheep ranch in Wyoming. John is asked to care for the sheep in the summer pasture for several weeks. It is a daunting task; John will be alone with six thousand sheep, his horses and his dogs.  John, while doubting his ability to care for all of these animals, is immediately overwhelmed by a flooding river, coyote attacks, and an encounter with a bear. Similar to Hatchet, John faces each of these disasters and overcomes them through his own resourcefulness. 

Not surprisingly, I enjoy this book because of the ranch setting. Also, I always enjoy a good adventure story. I read this book for the first time many years ago. I recently re-read it and remembered how much fun it is to read one of Paulsen’s books. We plan to read this book aloud to our older boys. It will be a good introduction to Paulsen for our oldest son, who will soon be (independently) reading some of Paulsen’s other books.

Don’t forget, today is the last day to enter the giveaway HERE!  The winner will be announced tomorrow.

Loading hay is a relatively simple process. Remove a bale from the stack and place it on the back of the feed truck. Repeat until the truck is loaded.

(Normally, we use a John Deere tractor to load hay. But it broke down last week, so in the meantime we are using the backhoe.)

Occasionally, though, things don’t go as planned.

At this point the kids are yelling “Avalanche!” That was quickly followed by the chant, “Dad broke a bale. Dad broke a bale.” (Ahhh…just one of the many lessons learned at recess.)

A broken bale isn’t uncommon, but it does make a bit of a mess. Fortunately, my husband seems to have had some experience in this area. He knows exactly what to do. Tie the broken strings together, wrap them around the bale and hope they hold.

Then, gingerly pick up the bale with the backhoe again and cross your fingers that it doesn’t fall off before you reach the cows. Crossing your fingers is the most important part of the process. The kids kept all of their fingers crossed while we drove out of the stack yard and into the field AND IT WORKED! The bale didn’t fall off!

If nothing else, we learned that our kids cannot cross their fingers and chant at the same time. Sweet (and silent) success!

During calving season, everyone around here is trying to function on less sleep. Getting up throughout the night to check on the heifers and still trying to get our regular work done during the day can make our normally even-tempered cowboys a bit cranky! Needless to say, we are drinking a lot coffee around here these days!

So, in honor of calving season, I’m giving away this 12-Cup Programmable Cuisinart Coffeemaker!

To enter leave a comment on this post by 11:59 pm on Friday, March 5^th, answering the question: 

Winner chosen at random and announced on Saturday, March 6^th!

It was Sunday, so Charlie was given the day off.

The calving crew was given the afternoon off.

That left me and the kids to help my husband keep an eye on the heifers and do the afternoon feeding.

My husband loaded two 850 pound bales on the back of his flatbed pick-up. We were off to give the heifers their bedtime snack.

Yes, they get a bedtime snack. The heifers are checked each night at 10 p.m., at 1 a.m. and again at 4 a.m. During the 4 a.m. check they were following the pick-up around in the hopes of getting fed. So, we have started giving them a snack in the evenings. Now I don’t know about you, but I can completely understand where these heifers are coming from. In those final days of pregnancy when I wanted a snack I wanted one NOW!

The most coveted job during feeding is that of driver.

It took three different drivers for us to get those two bales fed. This is serious work, I tell you.

Look at the intense concentration on his face. Completely ignoring any comments from his brother and sister. Also ignoring his mother walking next to him. (yes, walking, top speed is about 3 mph!)

We believe that working together as a family is important. Even when that means the 8 and under crowd are allowed to show off their driving skills.

There are so many different ways to prepare chili and I like to experiment with several of those variations. Today's recipe is the result of that experimentation. 

This recipe calls for a chuck roast cut into 1/4-1/2" chunks. Big decision: ground beef crumbles or chunks of beef? I like the chunks because I really like biting into the tender, flavorful chunk of meat. Ground beef crumbles are good too, I use them when I make Cowboy Beef and Black Bean Chili. When making chili with chunks of beef, I like to cut the vegetables into larger chunks instead of a finer dice.

Another big decision: hot peppers or sweet peppers? Of course this depends on how much kick you want in your chili. I try to keep mine toned down, because the kids haven't all acquired an appreciation for jalapenos. But, without a few jalapenos or habaneros or at least anaheims, your chili lacks flavor. I use a combination of hot and sweet peppers in this recipe.

Here's my final suggestion: If you have the time, prepare this the day before you'd like to serve it. After you simmer it for a couple of hours let it cool then refrigerate it. The next day simmer the chili for 30-40 minutes before you serve it. I am amazed at how much more flavorful chili is when you have time to let the flavors meld together.

1. In a small bowl mix the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and thyme. Mix in water. Set aside the seasoning mixture.
2. Lightly sprinkle beef chunks with salt. Heat one tablespoon of canola oil over medium-high heat. Brown the beef cubes on all sides.  Cook a small amount of beef at a time. If the pan is overcrowded, the beef won't brown well. Remove beef from pan, set aside.
3. In same pan, heat another tablespoon of canola oil. Add the chopped onions and sweet peppers. Sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and jalapeño, cook one more minute. Add the seasoning mixture and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
4. In a large, heavy stock pot put onion mixture, beef, tomatoes, water, lime juice and sugar. Stir together, breaking apart the tomatoes while combining the ingredients. Heat the chili on medium high heat until it comes to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 2 hours, removing lid about halfway through.
5. Stir in the beans. Add salt (if desired) and adjust seasonings to taste. 

Today I'd like to introduce you to a couple of my family's favorite picture books.

Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a small book that is full of humor. Little Pea has a problem. His parents insist he clean his dinner plate before he can have dessert. Rosenthal's spin on this typical scenario is that Little Pea's family eats candy for dinner and Little Pea hates candy! A cute story with a fun spin. There are two other books in this series, Little Oink and Little Hoot, which are both as short, cute and funny as Little Pea.

Amadi's Snowman by Katia Novet Saint-Lot and illustrated by Dimitrea Tokunbo is a wonderful story about a boy named Amadi who lives in Nigeria. Amadi plans to be a businessman (a trader) when he grows up and sees no reason why he should learn to read. His mother has arranged for a reading tutor to teach him to read, but Amadi ducks out before she arrives. While walking around the market he comes across an older boy reading a book. Amadi is fascinated by the book, especially when the other boy explains that it is about snow. Amadi can't stop thinking about snow or about the book. His world is broadened and he finds that he does want to learn to read.

I had several interesting discussions with my kids based on this book. I love books that provide the opportunity for conversations with my kids. We talked a lot about Nigeria, where it is located, the climate, even the food that can be found there. My oldest son was amazed to learn that there are kids who never learn to read and that there are kids who choose not to learn to read. We had a great discussion about literacy and this book was the jumping off point for that conversation.

What have you and your family been reading lately? Leave a comment, I'm always curious what others are reading!

I'd like to introduce you to Calf #413.

He is about 30 hours old and doing great. Yesterday was a cold, miserable day to be born and his mama needed a little help during calving. They have both recovered quickly and the weather cooperated; it was much warmer today. We will keep both of them in the corral for another day, then we will turn them back out with the rest of the herd.

Heifers, particularly those that are having their first calf, sometimes have trouble during calving and need assistance. These heifers are in a field next to the barn making it easy for us to check them throughout the day and night.

This calf's ear tag is #413 simply because that is the number on the heifer's ear tag. We only tag the calves from our first-calf-heifers. Sometimes these heifers have a tough time adjusting to motherhood. They aren't used to taking a calf with them everywhere they go. The matching ear tag numbers allow us to pair up each calf with his mama, just in case they can't find each other.

This heifer is one that we bought last fall and was bred to calve in February or March. The majority of our cows start calving in April, so we are having an extended calving season this year. Although calving heifers is more work than older cows who have more calving experience, it is rewarding when we get good looking calves like #413.