Monday, November 2, 2026

Working Cattle...

 

Working Cattle @ The Kessi Ranch



If I am not at my sewing machine...

I am doing something cattle related.

Today we gathered up a few of the mama cows

and brought them into the corral to be worked.




The Cowboy is getting the head gate adjusted

on the squeeze chute...




I am getting all of the vaccines and cattle

medications ready.  I use the bed of the

pick up as a work table...




This is the view from the end of the chute...

the cattle come down a crowding alley

then into the squeeze cute...




The first cow is in and we are ready to go...

She will get her vaccination shots,

de-wormer, vitamins and her

fly tags will be removed from ears...




The squeeze chute does not hurt them,

it keeps them upright so they don't

move around and fall down.

It keeps them still so we can

work quickly and get them back out

into the field in just a few minutes.




This is Althea Red

She is a Shorthorn mama and a real beauty !




The Cowboy is removing fly tags

from Mary Blackfeather's ears...

they keep the flies off her face in the summer.




Mary Blackfeather is 11 years old

and used to being worked on in the chute.




This is my sweetheart Elsa

She is the daughter of Golden Girl




The night Elsa was born it was 17 degrees

and she nearly froze to death.  

Golden Girl lead us over to her frozen calf

and we took her to the basement and thawed her

out with a hair dryer and tubed her with

warm colostrum.  After 3 days we were able

to bring her out to the pasture to give her back

to her mama.




This is Golden Delicious,

also the daughter of Golden Girl.

She is 4 years old.




This is Rosabell

The sweetest, little cow....we love her so much.



I wish I could show you more images of

what we do when we are working cattle but...

I can't hold the camera and give shots at the same time!

You can see videos on my Instagram


View my Instagram feed HERE


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi 


Sunday, November 1, 2026

Hot Pads...


Hot Pads 


I learned a new method to create hot pads

that does not require a binding

or a hole that you need to stitch closed...





They also used up scrap fabrics...





I am bundling them in two

and wrapping them up for gift giving...





I will leave a link at the bottom

so you can check out the tutorial and pattern...





These fabrics are leftover from a

quilt I made last year...





I was also able to utilize all those

batting scraps that seem to pile up...





We have been weaning calves the

last month so I don't have a lot of

time to sew, but a few minutes here and

there and I was able to complete

quite a few hot pads...





The holidays are quickly approaching and

these will make great handmade gifts...

















I have completed 32 hot pads so far...




We are raising baby bulls this year...

We just introduced them to our mature 

bull herd yesterday and they are all

getting along really well...


Hot Pad Tutorial CLICK HERE


Hot Pad Pattern CLICK HERE


View my Instagram feed HERE


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi 


Thursday, October 22, 2026

Hello Spring....Progress

 

This is my Wednesday project

Happy Spring Quilt



I have all 8 flower blocks completed

and I am piecing the lady bug blocks...





The table is set for.....FUN





Today I finished up the last 3 lady bugs

a total of 14 lady bug blocks

they measure 10 x 10 inches




The flowers measure 10 x 20 inches





This quilt makes me smile !





I have begun to orient the blocks

and cut the sashing strips...

I will finish this up in November.




We are loving the new Feeder Wagon...





It holds 5,000 lbs of hay...





The cows are loving it too !





This is our beautiful, golden Nellybelle

She is the daughter of Golden Girl

Nellybelle is bred and will have her first

calf next Spring.



I caught Scarlet licking her lips...





The girls are all gathered round the

Feeder Wagon...


View my Instagram feed HERE


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi 


Friday, October 16, 2026

Weaning Calves....

 

It must be October...

we are weaning calves



It took a few days to round up 

all of the cow and calf pairs,

sort them out and load up the calves

in livestock trailers and haul

them to the weaning barn...





The calves are 6 to 8 months of age...





The calves are in the barn for

the next 2 weeks...





Most of the mama cows are a few miles

away at different locations,  but there

are a few that live in the pasture behind

the weaning barn, so they come up to the

barn and bawl at their calves...





Inside the weaning barn, the Cowboy

has set up bale feeders, a watering trough,

protein lick tubs and salt blocks

and a whole lot of wheat straw bedding

to keep the calves comfortable.





The mama cows are not very happy

with this arrangement...





Every morning when we come to 

feed the calves and bed the barn with straw,

we get the stare down from the mama cows...





The mama cows are expecting babies in February

so they need a break before their 

new calves are born.



October also brings gourds...

lots of tiny, cute ones !


View my Instagram feed HERE


CLICK HERE:  to see My Quilts




May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,

LuAnn Kessi