Day 2 at Branding Camp

Waking to the sound of wood being split, I stepped out of the tipi to find my brother in law, Jason, boiling water on the fire for french press coffee. Joel was already assembling a tray of berries, melon and hand made nutella and jam pastries at the picnic table. The sun wasn't up over the canyon wall yet, so I wrapped in a wool blanket.

I am a morning person. But seriously, with this start to the day, who wouldn't be?

Also on the menu, pancakes, fried eggs and bacon to fuel us all for a full day of branding at the rodeo grounds.

One of our roping friends, Jordan Manley, gifted Rhys with this very first lasso. Rhys didn't put it down all day and that night I found it tucked into his sleeping bag with him.

Lunch was a group effort by the fabulous cooks in the family, a mouthwatering spread of smoked beef brisket, coleslaw, corn bread, pickled beets and eggs, grilled pineapple and for dessert. . . .

chocolate ganache cake.

Because Joel was on chuck wagon duty, I got to spend the morning giving vaccines to the calves. See some beautiful action shots from the day captured by Greg Hennes.

photo credit- Greg Hennes

photo credit- Greg Hennes

Back at the camp

Joel was already preparing a bok choy and meatball miso soup to serve with fried rice. He had packed his wok, so each grain of rice was crispy and wonderfully flavorful.