Brand new “Baby Bigs”
This Spring, Grieb Ranch welcomed a new colt for the first time in 30 years. “Baby Bigs”, as Little P calls him, was born trouble free. His registered name is “Buck N Big Time”. Dam, “Gemma”, is a Buck N Tuff daughter and sire is “One Big Time”, owned by Rick Machado Livestock.
Momma has been re-bred and went in for a Sonogram to see if she is in foal again.
Bigs is growing strong. He may have a brother or sister joining Grieb Ranch next year.
One of the traditions at Grieb Ranch is to plant a fruit tree for family members to give them a connection to the land. The Grieb family also gets family members started in the cattle industry by assigning them a calf.
The newest addition to the Grieb family, baby Andrew, has a heifer calf named Andi. Grieb Ranch anticipates her becoming a top-producing cow for him.
We welcomed the arrival of baby Andrew born on April 30, 2017. Here he is with his welcoming committee at the hospital.
Little did we know that he was soon to become our miracle baby. A few days after his arrival he was airlifted to a Children’s hospital in San Francisco. A competent team of doctors and nurses went to work to discover and fix Andrew’s issues. . . while we prayed and prayed.
We praise God that Andrew is now home and doing well but his family could use more help. Read the rest of his story and see how you can help this new family here: gofundme.com/gnugqr-andrews- journey
You have shown me how to give of myself.
You have shown me leadership.
You have taught me to be strong.
You have taught me the importance of the family.
You have demonstrated unconditional love.
You have demonstrated a sensitivity to people’s needs.
You have handed down to me the important values in life.
You have handed down to me the idea of achieving one’s goals.
You have set an example, throughout your life of what a mother and woman should be like.
I am so proud of you.
And I love you forever.
– Susan Polis Schutz
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” Exodus 20:12
Happy Mother’s Day from the Grieb Ranch
Recently Stan and Little P went to work in the shop, out of the rain. When they didn’t return for lunch, Connie went to check on them. She was looking to see how clean the shop was and what projects were getting done. Upon entering the shop, Connie was greeted with two big grins and not the sound of rain but the sound of trains in the shop. Trains! A hinged platform was unearthed and brought back to its use of holding the HO train track rails. The train engineers resurrected life from the trains in the rain.
The weather forecast was for 51% chance of showers. 300 head of cattle, a three and a half hour drive away were on the schedule to be worked. The weather forecast didn’t deter. Connie got up at 4am to go help her niece get the cattle worked. Well that 51% chance happened and the cattle were worked in the mud. The cowboys had to struggle as the mud stuck to their ropes adding a different challenge to the day. In the end, it turned out to be a fun and safe day that gave even the experienced cowboys a time to remember – working 300 head of cattle in the rain.
Can you see the cowboys and the cows?
Picking flowers for mom
Spring has sprung at Grieb Ranch so we see amazing spring flowers – both wild and planted – come to life all over the ranch.
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.”
Each flower is so intricate and phenomenally created, but it only lasts for a short time. In contrast, the word of our God stands forever.
The Old West is almost gone. So far we have been able to gather enough cowboys to rope and brand the calves. Working cowboy skills have for the most part dissolved into memories, histories and legends of the Old West. Grandpa keeps threatening to buy a calf table.
Between wind, rains and bull fights and riding the neighbor’s ranch to find missing cattle we finally gathered all the cattle for the branding event. The recent rains have resulted in boggy roads and hillsides making traversing them pretty tough. We are grateful for the rains but it made it tough finding a slot to get the calves branded between rain and friend’s branding events. We rely on friends to help us brand and we in turn help them.
That is why each year it is so important to get cattle worked…..because you “Trust your neighbor, BUT brand your cattle.”
From One Year
To 91 Years
Branding is used for identifying ownership of cattle. Every ranch has a unique design, usually incorporating the initials of the owner or initial of the ranch. Grieb Ranch brand is a backwards G with an arrow underneath.
Grieb Ranch Brand
Fall calves were recently gathered at Grieb Ranch and driven to the branding area. In addition to branding the young cattle receive vaccinations and ear tags plus get looked over for any health issues. All procedures are done efficiently with the cattle’s best interests in mind.
Connie’s kitchen served as the stage for branding, ear tagging and vaccination prep.
Branding is a social affair with cowboy friends showing up early and staying late. Many hands make the work light. Local cowboys help each other out by lending their assistance and knowledge at each other’s branding events. So of course there is food to enjoy after all the work is done. This year the big hit was a Fruit Pizza presented by Jessica Willems.
Fruit Pizza created by Jessica Willems with fruit rearrangement by little L. Brandings require everyone to lend a helping hand, even a 16 month old boy.
Recipe for: Fruit Pizza
From the Kitchen of: Jessica Willems
Servings: 16
Ingredients:
Crust
Crust Directions
Topping
Topping Directions
Equipment needed
Grieb Ranch appreciates all helping hands at the branding from 1 year to 91 years.
Papa Carl, on his beloved tractor, cleans up debris after a storm.
Connie pauses to reflect on how God might want us to apply David’s prayer from 1 Chronicles 29:14, “Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us.”(NLT)
Water and mud everywhere! The waterline to the trough had to be blown out for fresh water to fill the trough again.
We’re gathering cattle while many little streams run down our hillsides.
Paraphrase from Our Daily Bread-Sept. 8
The Willems now have a babbling brook running behind their home. Connie says it’s lovely music to fall asleep to.
. . . And He answered. Rain has been coming regularly since November; sometimes nice and steady but most recently the faucets have been on full blast! 60-70 mph winds were a part of the last storm and trees fell all over our neighboring Arroyo Grande areas.
Grieb Ranch is thankful for the rain, but it has made for some interesting times, fun adventures, hardships, and damages. Here is a picture tour of the most recent storm happenings.
Rain and sun have turned the hillsides green. In between storms we simply enjoy the scenery and have some fun. These kids got stuck in the mud while helping to fix a downed fence.
Rain or shine though there is work to be done. Here little L shows he is able to get down and dirty like the rest of the crew.
What no riding because of the mud? Well then practicing on Charlie Horse at Grandma’s is the next best thing!
Yes all that rain came down the hillsides and gathered like a pool in the horse pens. The horses waded around in the muddy mess for a little while. Grieb Ranch is waiting for the corrals to dry out so we can safely work our Fall calves.
A cow got stuck in this bog. It took several hours to get her out. She is doing just fine now.
High winds ripped through the Arroyo Grande area toppling trees and taking out power. This shelter blew over. Now it needs to be fixed.
Mud and equipment really don’t mix. The combo takes a toll on the farm equipment.
We prayed for rain and He answered. He will also see us through the hardships that may come in life. We are thankful and we always rejoice.