Amazed at the internets ability too make something much more difficult than it should be.

    Several weeks ago...ok it's more like a month now...I sat down dutifully to add a new post only to find out, that all of the commands I had used so successfully the day before, didn't work at all! My technology experts were A). Not at home B). Couldn't explain what to do about it.  C). Hadn't a clue why the idiots at the blog site had changed all the sign in "buttons" ( I'm still looking for the buttons on the screen!?!) Rather than calmly take the computer out to the stock tank and drownd...I mean gently immerse it in the stock water, turn and go back to the house, sans computer...I decided to just walk away. I can hold a grudge, it's taken me a month to try again!
    If insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results, isn't the inverse also true when you do the same things and get different resuts? I know it's enough to make me plead either temporary insanity, or justifiable homicide!
    However after a month that included some interesting blacksmith projects, alot of cowboying for the neighbors, some nice deep snow horseback rides in the Mountains, I'm almost ready to try again, especially since an old and treasured freind told me he could't read my blog without getting hungry... this one's for you.
    Tonite I took a 3-4 pound Elk  hindquarter roast, rolled it in freshly ground pepper, salt and dryed onion chips, soaked it with olive oil, and tossed it on the center of the upper rack of the gas grill at 3:45, I only lit the outside burners and left the burner under the meat unlit, and grilled the roast indirectly til about 4:45. I left it set on the counter to mellow while I steamed some fresh broccoli.The meat turned out very moist and completely cooked pink and hot on the inside. Note to George: save some large hindquarter roasts next year,I always give in to the temptation to cut all that meat into those beautiful one inch steaks.
    Thanks for the encouragement, and wish me luck!

Feeding for the neighbors

My neighbors had to be absent from the ranch for a few days, and even when they are home they have been short a damn good man this Winter, so I offered to help their hired man doing any chores they needed done in their abscence. So this morning I spent about three hours feeding cow / calf pairs from one end of the ranch to the other. With Gus (my Weimaraner Dog) as co pilot we went down and fed my horses and my freind's horses,and then took off up Big Coulee Crick to load round bales, then proceeded South below the Rims I trap for Bobcats, to Painted Robe Crick where I fed a bale to cows and calves there. The we went East of the State highway and fed another bale to the Bulls in the Bull pasture. Back across the highway to pick up two more bales to bring home to the ranch Headquarters.

Next I drove up to the Woman's Pocket, and fed a couple bales to the cows with bull calves pastured there. This ranch sends cows with bull calves North into the Pocket, and cows with Heifer calves South of some of the Rimrocks I trap. This way when we start branding we don't have to sort through heifer calves when we are castrating bull calves.

It occured to me that I fed almost as much hay today usig a pick up truck and bale handler in three hours as I did feeding 6 Horses, 2 Burros, 4 Goats and a Llama all damn Winter with a pitchfork!

Reproduction Revolutionary War Skillets

Finally my technology expert walked me back thru the process of uploading photos to my blog. Thanks. Of course the goofy thing didn't do all the things I accused it of,so I guess I have to figure that the problem was the loose nut behind the mouse!

I have therefore enclosed some photos of the skillets I mentioned the other day. Each skillet measures about 6 inches in diameter and 2 to 2 1/4 inches deep. I start with a flat sheet of steel about 10 inches in diameter and using heat, sink the center of the skillet blank into a die I made many years ago for that purpose, when you do that you are asking the edges of the sheet to "shrink" which the flat plate is reluctant to do, as a result it shrinks and thickens a little each heat before wrinkiling to get away from the stress of the process, all the wrinkles are subsequently hammered out in a suitable form which in this case is my Swage Block.( The swage block was cast in the 1870's and was used in the engineering program at Rocky Mountain College starting in 1878!) The process of heating, sinking, and hammering out the wrinkles continues many time until the pan is forged about like you see in the photos. After the rough forging has cooled, I use a divider to mark out the top edge so it is equidistant from the bottom, and thereby level with the bottom. Next I take the cold forging and planish it using hundreds of hammer blows to cold forge, and refine the shape. This process brings a subtle texture to the skillet and makes it indistinguishable from one forged before the Revolutionary War!

Next the folding or fixed handle is forged out and the hinge joint is made in the folding handled model. The handles are riveted in place and the whole thing is polished, and pre seasoned with Bear Lard the I render from the Bears I have shot over the years. Bear Lard makes the best seasoning for iron cookware be it cast iron or forged iron.

I have carried one of these skillets for years in the backcountry hunting and use it as a cooking utensil and plate, so I can tell you it is certainly a handy item for the backcountry traveler irreguardless of what century you happen to be living thru!

Apologies for not keeping up

    It has been a while since I updated my blog, apologies to anyone who has been wondering what the heck I've been up to. I got busy in the shop the last few weeks making historic reproductions of everything from Revolutionary war folding skillets, to forging replica axes for reenactors from the 1750-1850 period. To be completely honest I lost my temper with the technology last time I tried to upload photos of some of this work I'd been doing and said the heck with it. I am from the generation that is emmigrants to this computer age, not a native, so when they change some electronic button and the process that worked yesterday doesn't today I get as mad as a Bobcat killin a porcupine! It reminds me of the old cowboy who sent his dad down to get the model A out of the shed, a half hour later the old man walked by on his way to the house, when asked what he did with the truck he responded " You'd better go down there, when I left it was still tryin' to get out of the shed!" So now you got some idea how old timers feel about runnin this new fangled technolgy!
   Tonite we're having a Whitetail rolled rib roast I like to brine 'em to make em tender, try this out
3 Tablespoons Kosher or pickling salt
3 tablespoons brown sugaar
1 sliced onion
1 cup red wine
Dissolve the above ingredients in 2 cups boiling water, add enough cold water to cover the roast and submerge it in the brine for 2-4 hours,in the fridge. The process of osmosis (remember what your teachers used to ask you?) draws the salty liquor and the flavors of the wine, sugar and onion into the non salty meat, adding flavor, moisture and tenderizing it.

You can grill the roast indirectly (with the heat next to it not directly over it) for an hour hour and a half, or you can drop it in a roasting pan with an inch of water and roast it in the oven for 11/2 to 2 hours at 350 degrees.

When my technology expert gets home  I will impose on him to get me straight on the picture uploads and try again.

Shearing time at the nieghbors

    Late evening before yesterday I got a call from the neighbors needing help shearing yesterday, they were lookin for two, but Son had to go to school and take care of work that was time sensitive, so Gus and I headed up North about 7:30 in six inches of wet Spring Snow. 1000 head in the sheds ,dry (they need to be dry when they are sheared).
    I haven't helped much with sheep over the years but remembered helpin a few folks 15 and 30 years ago. they work alot different than cattle, for sure. Freinds John and Eric helped get me lined out pushin sheep up to the shearers and, cuttin out lambs and blackfaces (lower quality wool)  through a side gate. Their Dad was ahead of me and helped all day (he's 89!). Also helping me get it right was one of their Peruvian herders (thanks Omar). I don't think I embarssed myself too bad, and maybe was a little help after all.
    Was a cold grey day with heavy fog in the forenoon, not really ususal weather here, but not unheard of. If you follow the 90 day fog rain forecast we should be lookin for a good rain in late June which would be perfect timing.

Spring on the High Plains / Char's Casserole

Every day looks more like Spring here, just after dark I heard the Killdeer calling. So that makes for Nuthatches, Sandhill Cranes, Robins , and now Killdeer back in that order. I taught Gus to come to Nuthatch calls when we were out hunting, as whistling isn't really conducive to hunting! He also looked back at a Pine Squirrel bark, which allowed me to use hand signals to communicate once he looked at me. The old gentleman doesn't hear well enough now,  but that's ok. 25 degrees and wet Snow driving in from the Northeast this morning, wet horses chewing their feed audibly in their nosebags with all the birds calling in the Brush along the River.

Today's a good day for Char's Casserole.. so here goes at the request of freind , Nelle Door:

1 1/2 pounds ground Deer Elk or Antelope Burger
1 small onion chopped
1 can Mixed vegetables
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
4 slices Cheese

Fry the onions til tender, push to the side and brown the hamburger.
While the burger is browning dump all the canned goods into a saucepan and start heating them.
When the burger/ onion is done, drain excess fat and combine with the stuff in the saucepan.
Top with cheese slices just long enough before serving to melt the cheese.
Takes 1/2 hour and serves 4

This is an easy quick hunting camp meal. Char swears you should add the canned goods to the cast iron skillet you fryed the burger in, makes for even better taste.  I find it easier to wash the saucepan than clean the skillet, but her way is no doubt superior. Another thing she does is steam fresh potatos and vegetables an add them instead of the canned type, that is definitely superior, but might cut into your hunting time!

And Nelle, I bet this would freeze great in a big batch for your lambing crew!

Yellowstone Park Lantern for Client in Utah

This lantern was made for the best client anyone could ever ask for. He found my name stamp on one of the Lanterns in Yellowstone and sought me out on the internet. That kind of client is very much appreciated, thanks. This lantern will ship out today.