Hello & Welcome to our Diary page. The purpose of this diary is to record our adventures, folks who stop by, travels and events at the Thorne Ranch. It was primarily meant for family and friends in the beginning, but we have grown a large number of faithful readers over the past years. Over 100,000 from all over the world have visited us. We don't intend to offend anyone or to glorify our life here. It's pretty boring most of the time as you will see! We are pretty common folks trying to make a living doing what we love, breeding and raising cattle. Our wish is that someday this Diary will be enjoyed and appreciated by our grandchildren and great grandchildren. In the mean time we hope you get a few good laughs at our expense. "Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself."
Welcome to the Diary &
"The Adventures of Dear Abbie's Wife"
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD..
Remember to welcome strangers, because some who have done this have welcomed angels without knowing it! Hebrews 13:2
Copyright © 1998 - 2010 A. W. Thorne Land & Cattle, Inc. All rights reserved.
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3
A.W. Thorne Land & Cattle, Inc.
435707 E370 Rd
Adair, Oklahoma 74330
Office 918.783.5477 Joan 918.284.0175 A.W. 918.527.2002 joan@thornecattle.com
This page was last updated: July 2, 2010
The Best Days
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'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'
There comes a point in your life when you realize: Who matters, Who never did, Who won't anymore...And who always will. So, don't worry about people from your past, There's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.
June 2010
June 1-3 The year is half over already..gosh we are going through 2010 fast at this rate! We have been clipping pastures. We both clipped yesterday and we finished up the East pasture. Now we only have the north pastures to do. I clipped the triangle last night until 9:00 just so we could get the low ground clipped before the rain storm that came! We got about 2 inches and it sure did green things up. Just what the doctor ordered, we were starting to get very dry! Today Abbie set up cows for the next breeding. They delivered the new washer and dryer and I have had fun getting everything washed up and back in clean order! ha Amazing how many clothes we go through around here! Just the two of us! I ran to town to pick up some supplies. Lance came by with some recips just as I was leaving! I did get the road mowed and around the barn yard done. It is really going to shoot after this rain! Brock texted me and he won the OK Beef Expo Junior Showmanship today. He said there were 40 plus kids in his division! We are so proud of him and what he has accomplished at his young age! He will be showing one of our heifers we own together on Saturday so hope he does well with her. We AI bred her the other day to try and keep her disposition even. She is a handful when she was in heat! Abbie says thats just a female thing to be a handful. You know? ha
Our condolences go out to Harlan Doeschot and his family! His wife Goldie passed away. She was a really nice lady and will be missed. Also a friend Lisa Gierau Murdock passed away suddenly and our thoughts and prayers go out to husband George, son's Spencer, Martin and Nick along with their families! My girls used to baby sit the the boys when they were little! We have many fond memories of them! Our time hre on this earth is limited my friends.. so while you are here make the most of it and appreciate your family and friends just a little bit more. Tomorrow could be your last day among them!
June 4-9 A busy week we spent with pastures, fence and cattle already. I did make it over to Stillwater on Saturday to watch the kids and cattle show. Brock won his class and Blake was Reserve Grand Shorthorn plus. They all looked hot and tired after several days of events. Brock, Sara and Katie won the fitting contest. Happy for them! We made it in time that evening to help our friend Roger Moore celebrate his surprise 50th Birthday party! Guess he knew all along that there was going to be a party! ha We had a great supper and enjoyed seeing everyone! We sprayed thistles and locust at pasture 12 West along the pond dam. Steep incline of course? Abbie drove the mule and I walked behind spraying. He got too far and slid down the dam into the hot wire fence. Which we ended up taking down and driving it out the other side! Now if I had drove it into that mess I would still be hearing about it! ha We had a boy come and want to work on Monday and he lasted two days! He wanted to learn more about cattle he said. Kids these days all want a position without any experience and expect to start at bankers rates! ha Anyway all you can do, is all you can do! I do know that most young people can't keep up with my husband and he should be ready to retire and instead he kicks it into another gear about sundown! ha Be careful what you wish for! ha I wanted a hard working Christian man and I got a Goliath and David Crossbred. ha I took a few pictures yesterday of the cattle and late calves, while I was waiting to help clean up fence row down south! We got it cleaned up and pulled two rolls of wire last night before dark. Today we are driving a big post for the corner just in case the old one doesn't hold! This country can rot wood and rust metal pretty fast! So you guessed it I am the surrogate hired man again! Only this employee does not take ass chewings very long! I just walk away! ha Turn the other cheeks right? ha Have a great week friends and come back soon!
Daniel, Stacy, Renita, Roger and Amber Moore. Roger turned a young 50 years old!
TLC Black Brit M112 in the foreground with south pond in background!
Congratulations Clay and Stephanie Nohavitza of Texas on twins, A boy, Creed 3 pounds 14 oz. and A girl, Stella May - 4 pounds 11 oz. We feel like grandparents since we were part of this immaculate conception! Stephanie was taking shots at our house before the babies were conceived! Through prayers and committment all things are possible! Wow are they cute! Yes Clay they made the Diary Blog! ha We Love You and thrilled for you all! Bring the family and come see us! I think we have enough beds still! ha Your bachelor days are really gone forever now Daddy!
June 10 - 16 A busy week of breeding cattle. In the chute several times, cidars in and cidars out, shots and back in the next day for more shots and then back through the next day for a. i. breeding. If you don't have gentle cattle it could be a nightmare! Our cows are so used to coming and going through our chutes they just walk in and take their medicine and walk out. We had one first calf heifer that acted up and we both looked at each other and said she can go away. ha She has had a attitude since we weaned her. Not mean but just plain flighty. We managed to get them all run through and we didn't kill each other. Although there were several verbal communications a few times when you would have thought we might not sleep together that night! ha I don't know who wrote the book about husband and wife beside the chutes but they had to experience it to wright the facts. If husbands talked to their help and buddies at the chute the way they do the wife they wouldn't be friends or buddies long.
I would much rather be loading the semen and doing the paper and technical work but unfortunately you have to load the chute and sort cattle before hand. It sure helps to have three people, but we weren't that lucky this last session probably because he was too hard on the last help! ! ha I finally got the office, kitchen, lab room and bathroom in the barn cleaned somewhat. Wow had that gone to the dogs or should I say the mice and cats? I arrived in time to rescue a kitten that had fallen down into the wall behind the gas cook stove! Don't ask me how he got there it should be impossible? Anyway I listened to that cry for a little while and then decided to take matters into my own hands.. I decided it was not far from the gas line to the stove so I took a steak knife and proceeded to saw the sheet rock out. I missed the electrical wire that was just behind that thank heavens.. I can see it now in the headlines!! "Dumb woman saws into electrical wire and dies from electrical shock trying to save a stranded kitten." But I missed it and waited for the little wild critter to crawl up the wall to the hole. I had my leather gloves on and nabbed him as he presented himself in the hole! Out into the barn he went happilly to find his mother. Abbie thought I should have taken the wall loose from the outside of course but at least it was better than a dead cat in the wall! He sure wasn't doing anything to save the little ball of fur, he had been there for two days when I found him! Men you got to love them! ha My kawasaki mule gave us several back fires the other day and we ended up taking it up to Kansas to get it repaired again! It was the spark plug which I kept saying I have an extra one in my purse to no avail! You have heard the saying a farting Mule will never tire!! ha Maybe we should have left it alone! ha It sounded like a shotgun going off! ha We had lunch in Pittsburg, KS and then headed over to Joplin to Sam's for groceries and to pick up a new copier for the barn office. All in all we had a nice day away from the cows, dogs, cats, ducks, horses and bulls! ha We are preparing for company tomorrow that is if they can get here through all the rain storms! Flooding is everywhere and from family in Nebraska they all need to buy a boat. The pictures are unbelievable with big bridges taken out on major highways. Country culverts are all washed out too! We got a down pour today and now the sun is shining? The Braunvieh Junior Nationals are going on in Springfield, Missouri. We have supported the kids ever since it's inception and to say we are missing something would be a lie! We are actually enjoying the no stress game! ha Imagine all the work we have gone through in the past with trailer loads of cattle and kids? We must have been retarted when I think back? What did we accomplish really? We went in and set the pace for several breeders and they all resented us for winning! ha Springfield, MO is a hole in the ground and I swore I would never show cattle there again a few years ago! It's a hell hole and the pain is not worth the glory! I hung up all the banners finally in the barn and I don't really care if we get anymore. It's time to slow down, live a little and enjoy life. My one year anniversary date from surgery last year is coming up and I plan on no pain for that day! ha
June 17 - 23 It's been a busy past couple of weeks! We lost our old 13 year old Schnauzer Holly early Thursday morning. She got sick on Wednesday and was gone the next morning! So we buried her out where Heidi got laid to rest back a few years ago. It sure seems funny without her woofing to go in or go out! She has been with us a long time. She missed getting ate by the coyotes once and had 16 stitches in her neck and back, but bounced back and was as tough as ever! But this time she didn't regain her strength. Guess in dog years that is pretty old. No matter we are missing her! Pets are there for you in good times and bad and they love you unconditionally. Too bad people can't be that forgiving and loving?
Randy and Stephanie Allgood and Spencer made it in on Thursday noon. We sure enjoyed their visit. We viewed all the pastures and grilled steaks that night! They spent the night with us and headed to Springfield MO for the Junior Nationals next day. They are great people and we sure did enjoy their company and opinion. We will be doing a website for their embroidery and monogramming business they are starting.. Check it out at www.texanadesigns.net I hope to get more done on it soon! Get your orders ready!
We finally got the barn almost all cleaned except for the north side where all the stuff gets piled.. ha Guess we are lucky to have an area to pile stuff, but it probably wouldn't be there if his mother was still paying storage somewhere besides here! We also had Paul and Roger from Arvest Bank stop in on Friday morning for the annual inventory and lunch special! Sure enjoyed their visit and as always I think they enjoyed lunch! Saturday we hit it at Jim's to get his 100 acres mowed and baled up! We finished it up last night and moved all the machinery home and now we are starting on the east side of pasture 12. We got all the bulls out and that is a relief but now it's check and make sure we don't have some neighbor bulls get in with ours! Of course our one neighbor had limousin and now he has a black brangus bull with a nasty sheath in there this year. You can't win for loosing! Oh well we hope most are A. I. Bred. It sounds like our friends in Indiana are under water again this year! Sure glad we have been getting it when we need it.. Right now the heat index is 105 in the shade! I ran to Walsh Repair this morning for mower parts so I guess I am headed out to the field to help mow! Not bad when you can stay in the tractor and air conditioner! But when you get out you pay for it! ha
We had two cows in the Beautiful Cows book published by Val Porter.. TLC Betsy P4154 a Fullblood cow and full sister to TLC Buds Star National Show Heifer of the year 2007. TLC Isabella sired by Maine bull High Definition and out of one of our good half angus half braunvieh cows. The Blakley family has been showing her since she was a heifer and she has had three heifer calves in a row. She was recently Grand Champion Cow Calf Pair at Jr. Nationals with a Turk sired heifer calf at side and her heifer calf from last year, Winning is Fun sired by TLC Bud was Grand Champion Beefbuilder for Reighly. Congratulations Blakley family! Thanks for showing TLC Genetics!
TLC Buds Betsy P4154
Fullbood Braunvieh
TLC Isabella
Beefbuilder and Maintainer
The haying has began in Oklahoma at Thorne Ranch.
June 24 - 28 Happy Birthday friend Nick and Mother! We hope you girls have a great day! Hope you enjoyed your birthday cards this year! A busy week of haying. We fnished up the north pasture just in time for a good rain last night! So it cooled things down some! Thank heavens! It's been 100 - 105 heat index for days now! Too hot for only June? July is fast approaching us though and guess we better get our sunbonnets on and be prepared for a very hot summer! The worse thing about those air conditioned tractors is that you have to get out once in awhile! Then you about die from heat stroke when you work on something. Of course my rake is not hydraulic, you have to get off and unhook each time you move to another pasture and push it in and chain it up. I guess I shouldn't complain at least it still works. Although it looks like we will have to replace about 40 teeth sometime before we start haying again! ha Of course that is my fault, I either drive to slow or drive too fast. You can't win when you work with your husband. Of course they drive just the right RPM and just the right gear all the time you know? ha Good thing those tractors have big see through glass doors so I can send him a message once in awhile via finger mail! ha Read between the lines? ha
Seems like we are having a pretty good summer so far though. Still getting a few calls about cattle. Well June is about done. You all celebrate the 4th of July safely! Don't get too much sun, too much water, too much booze, too much traveling and most of all too much fun ha Everything in moderation! ha Enjoy!
AW leading the bulls. Putting them out to pasture! We are done A I breeding until next fall! They all have girl friends now! ha
The house with lake out front full and almost overflowing now!
June 29-30 We have been haying over at the lease place now. I would rather take a beating than hay that place! We need the hay but you earn every bit of it that is for sure. Rough and covered with armadillo holes that will drop a front tire into the spindle if your not careful. Abbie finally started spraying it the past couple of years and has gotten the thistles, Ceresa and blackberries under control. Of course we have to put the money out to get it sprayed it's not part of the rent payment. I hope we don't loose the lease since we have went to a lot of extra cost to make it better. One never knows. I have been in the pastures at night checking for heats and watching for sore eyes or sick calves. Vinnie was quite content with his girl friends until he saw the virgin heifer pasture near by! ha He was covered with mud but still looks pretty good.
