Heart Z Ranch, Crawfordsville Oregon.

Last weekend we went to Crawfordsville, there is so much to see on the way! I was happy to not be driving so I could hang my camera out the window for some shots off of Peoria Road. It is so pretty.



Lazy M Ranch is Brad's Grandparents ranch. His uncle John does most of the ranch stuff now though. It is really fun to go out there with the boys.




Why does food always taste better in the country? Well I think it is because you work for it!

After a good lunch we went to 'help' Uncle John load some cattle at Heart Z Ranch. He bought some little Holsteins for a friend. They are about 6 months old here.











I learned some things when we went to the ranch. Holsteins are not the kind of cows a rancher wants to buy, they are cheap and dairy cows...but are only good for hamburger meat. I didn't know that, maybe you did. Brad's uncle bought them for the lady who is on the fence in the pictures. She wants them to train stock dogs, which are dogs who herd cattle.

Info bit number two is that not all bulls have horns, and some cows have horns!Yea, Mr. Heart Z Rancher thought I was joking when I was astounded that that "black cow" in with the babes was a bull."Well, hey! I grew up in Spain, man where no bull would be caught dead without horns!" I told him, he laughed and said that many Mexican cattle have horns too, but that most American ranchers opt to breed it out, or dehorn babies- since horns can be pretty dangerous to people and to the other cattle. Every time I go I learn more, I love the whole thing.

Thanks Uncle John, it is always fun to 'hang out' and learn from you! Oh, and he gave us some Tenderloin Steaks- yes, we are vegetarians but, only fair weather veggies as we are always willing to make exceptions. Especially for tenderloin from Knee Deep Cattle Company it is Free Range Beef, Born and raised on Oregon's lush green pastures. No added Antibiotics or Hormones. (a company based out of Eugene, Oregon!) He also gave us jerky from Knee Deep Cattle Company- the owner of the company is in the pictures above in the blue hat on the fence. She warned us, " make sure you refrigerate the jerky after opening it, as we don't use any preservatives!" I just had to laugh. " You know this will be gone before we get home, right?" I asked. "Well good!" she answered smiling.

We all worked hard, and the boys were certainly ready for some good rest at the end of the busy day.

I would love to live in the country. And I love jerky. I love Oregon.

Lazy M Ranch

We are so blessed, Brad's grandparents own a farm in Crawfordsville, Oregon. It is the equivalent of a theme park for the little bungarees (and sometimes the big ones too). Lazy M Ranch is the place to be, dogs, plants, grass, rocks, sticks, acres of room to run, a creek, and the 4-wheeler. A dream.

old fashioned sour dough pancakes supreme

There is so much to enjoy about being together, about cold mornings and being inside and eating pancakes. B made us breakfast this last Saturday, we gobbled it up. We are firm believers in eating meals together. The boys are not always the perfect dinner companions, but they are learning.


Old fashioned Sour Dough Pancakes Supreme
recipe by Agnus Marble (B's grandma)

1 cup starter (sourdough starter)
4 Tbps. Sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 pint cottage cheese
1 1/2 tsp. soda
2 cups flour
4 beaten eggs
4 Tbsp. oil or melted shortening
Milk or water

Add milk or water, as much as needed to get it pourable. We love these, great way to get a good breakfast down the kids. Loaded with protein. I keep these going just adding water, a bit of buckwheat, wheat germ, more eggs, cheese flour, etc.

Get to work at Lazy M Ranch

We went to the Lazy M and immediately got put to work. We filled and planted some bulbs for Grandma. She owns the Crawfordsville Covered Bridge Plants, so we were helping for next selling season. It was any little boy's dream, to fill up tons of buckets of dirt. I had the job of planting the bleeding hearts, the lilies and the peonies and it got done and we were pretty grubby. We always expect that when we go to Lazy M though, mud is what there is, and dirty means a fun time.

On the way home, this was our thank you :)