Saturday Critters

Information below courtesy of the King Ranch website. 

"As a continuation of its leadership in ranching and cattle operations, King Ranch developed the Santa Gertrudis and Santa Cruz breeds of cattle.

In the early twentieth century, under the leadership of Robert Kleberg Jr. and Dick Kleberg, we were able to develop the Santa Gertrudis breed.

This breed is recognized worldwide as being able to function productively in hot, humid and unfavorable environments. In order to accomplish this goal, King Ranch breeding experts selectively crossed Indian Brahman cattle with British Shorthorns to develop an animal which is recognized as being 5/8ths Shorthorn and 3/8ths Brahman. In 1920, many years of experimentation culminated with the birth of Monkey, a deep red bull calf. Monkey became the foundation sire for not just a superior line of cattle, but for an entirely new breed. In 1940, the Santa Gertrudis breed was recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the first beef breed developed in the United States; it was also the first breed developed anywhere in the world in more than a century.

As a result of this early practice of linebreeding, Santa Gertrudis are especially adapted to crossbreeding. When ranchers and breeders use Santa Gertrudis cattle in crossbreeding programs, the resulting crosses yield high levels of hybrid vigor. Cattlemen who have used Santa Gertrudis cross females generally consider them exceptional animals.

Today, the Santa Gertrudis thrives in harsh ranching climates all over the world and is the most prevalent breed of cattle in Australia. The development of the Santa Gertrudis breed is a testament to the vision and persistence that have characterized King Ranch’s operations from the very beginning." 

Below is a Santa Gertrudis cow. She was recently purchased by friends of ours. She has a gentle personality except when their pup decides to get close. She chases the pup. Wish I would have taken video of their interaction. Pup was teasing, cow was not.

She has an M brand on her rump, so she has been named Marilyn. Marilyn is 4 years old and about 3 months bred. Looking forward to meeting the calf.

She was keeping her eye on the pup in this shot. In the background you will see the neighboring rancher's cattle having a free-for-all. The fence must be down somewhere.

Linking to Saturday Critters

Weekend Roungdup - D

This week's prompts: Starts with D.  Favorite.  Double

Starts with D: Just one of the many DEER I frequently see.


Favorite D: DEVIL'S TOWER. Favorite because it is near Sundance, Wyoming where Hubby and I were married. This is now our yearly adventure. Hopefully we will get to go before the weather turns cold.


Double: This Out House is a....

DOUBLE seater. With grow-your-own TP. :)

Just Because: This is Roscoe, the DONKEY. He lives down the road from us. He was braying at the top of his DONKEY lungs as he ran toward the truck. Roscoe is a hoot!

And Finally: This DUMP truck was DUMPING gravel to make a new driveway.

Okay, this is really the final D: DUCK...

...killed by the DOG!

Come join the fun!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup 

It's a Mockingbird Kind of Day

Photos taken in Southeastern Oklahoma

This Mockingbird braved a windy day to sing me a song.

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday

Stratford Peach Festival

Last Saturday a friend invited me to go to the Stratford Peach Festival in Stratford, OK. Liked the contrast of the old water tower with all the newfangled equipment mounted on top. 

The old Train Depot is still standing.

The temperature was predicted to hit 103°, so we went early. Worked well because the crowd hadn't arrived yet and we didn't get overly hot before we left.

The highlight was the homemade peach ice cream. It is normally made from Stratford peaches, but the blossoms froze this year, so the peaches were shipped in from Texas.

It was quite tasty. $4.00 for a cup seemed a little excessive, but it was worth every penny.

There were lots of vendors hawking their wares, but I only bought one thing. This is a cutting board. The pup reminds me of my Findley. Sadly he crossed the rainbow bridge a couple of years ago.

On the way out of town, we decided to stop in and see what the Purple Swirl Shop had to offer. There was a good mix of antique and collectible items, but I left them all inside the store.

Upon our return, we stopped by one of the Mexican restaurants in town and enjoyed a swirl margarita. Yum!

Linking to Our World Tuesday

Bird D'pot

Photos taken in Southeastern Oklahoma

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (male). I watched this guy preening from my kitchen window. 

Linking to The Bird D-Pot

Saturday Critters

The butterflies finally found my butterfly bushes. I think I have them named properly.

I found these grasshoppers avoiding the heat on an old fence post.

And another hanging onto a T-post.

Linking to Saturday Critters

Weekend Roundup - C

Today's prompts are: Starts with C, Favorite, and Couple.

Starts with C: I get to see a lot of COWBOYS here in Oklahoma.

But this is my all time favorite COWBOY, Mr. CROW.

Favorite C: Loved watching these COMMUNITY band members playing their CLARINETS. 

Couple:  At a ranch auction this COUPLE blocked our view of the items being auctioned. Good thing we were not in the market for tools. Not sure if she was holding him back or holding herself up, but she had hold of that pocket the whole time. Maybe she was hanging on to his wallet.

Just Because:  I absolutely love feeding CARROTS to the horses.

And Finally: A COW and her CALF

Come join the fun!!!

Linking to The Weekend Roundup

Willy Nilly Friday Five

l. Spending a lot of time inside for the next couple of days. Trying to stay cool. These Indians kind of reflect my opinion of the temps. Last winter I swore I wouldn't complain about the heat. Well, that didn't last long. :)

2. I want to write a story based on this pic. This door is on the side of a house along one of the back roads I enjoy. I wonder what lurks behind it.

3. We went up to Illinois last week to get our house ready for the new owners. We took a new route back to Oklahoma. We drove past Hannibal, MO. The route took us through Mexico. Fortunately, that would be Mexico, MO. I almost missed this shot as hubby was speeding down the highway.

It was a scenic route.

4. Egrets in trees.

5. A plant growing out of a fence post. Now that's weird.

Linking to Willy Nilly Friday Five

Little Things Thursday

All photos taken in Southeastern Oklahoma.

It's a beautiful start to what will be a VERY hot day. The prediction is for actual temperature to hit 107° today. I plan to spend most of the day inside, but I'm enjoying a morning cup of coffee on the porch, taking pictures, all while tossing a ball for Gus to chase. Multi-tasking.

My butterfly bushes seem to be enjoying the heat. 

Hope you are staying cool today.

Linking to Little things Thursday 

Wild Bird Wednesday

All photos taken in Central Illinois

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday