Who Wants To Be Branded?

I see that hand!
We branded on July 1st. It was a hot day but we started early and were done by mid-morning so we could spend the rest of the day recovering by the AC!
I helped round up but there were a lot of cowboys and so I was pretty free to snap pictures right and left....which I did.
I was also chief cook and bottle washer. But since we knew we would be done early, we decided on brunch. I served Egg Casserole, Sausage Links (from the Cole D 4-H pig), fried potatoes, Cinnamon Rolls (from the Cakes ETC. lady in town), and Frozen Fruit Slush. I had no coffee takers - I'm telling you...it WAS hot - so we went through 3 gallons of Orange-Ade and I don't know how many gallons of plain old water! The Orange-Ade and Cinnamon Rolls were directives from John. He is a big fan of Orange Ade....Lemonade and OJ mixed 1/2 and 1/2 and I will say it is a pretty tasty and refreshing combo. I will also say that it is best if you start with frozen concentrate.....I don't think substitutes would be nearly as good. I don't mind powdered lemonade mix but don't think that plus Tang would be quite as good. Can't say that I have tried it...so who knows....you might really be on to something, but the frozen OJ + frozen Lemonade mix is so good that I haven't been tempted to experiment.
The Cinnamon Rolls - well - those were made in town and I don't even feel bad about it. My oven has been trippin' lately- that's my first excuse. It was hot and I didn't want to heat up the house even more - that's my second excuse and in case you needed more reasons....I have a serious dough handicap. So...now you know. I don't do dough...or at least not consistently and not very well. So the thought of making 6 dozen cinnamon rolls made me think of....outsourcing. So I did. Yes. I said 6 dozen, and no we did not need that many but ole John REALLY likes cinnamon rolls and he wanted to make sure we had enough. Secretly I know he wanted some left over so he could binge at his leisure....his evil plan worked and we froze 3 dozen that he can thaw and scarf whenever he gets a hankerin'

We will have a small branding later this summer to finish up but the stragglers but it is always a good feeling to get the big bunch done, without any injuries or problems.