My guest today is Love Inspired Historical author Debra Ullrick who tells us about a very special Ranch Woman. BTW, Debra is offering a copy of her latest book, Colorado Courtship, with veteran author Cheryl StJohn. Here’s Debra:
“Ranch women are a tough breed. In 1979, my husband and I went from him doing construction and me being a receptionist to ranching. We lived 58 miles one way from town, lived three miles off the main county road, had no phone, knew no one, and had a one year old baby girl. Then about year later, while still working for the same outfit, we moved from the log home we lived in up on the mountain, down to a trailer that was on some ranch land the bosses leased. There, I met a wonderful lady named Helen Elliott.
Helen was 68 years old, almost blind, and she may even have been blind in one eye, I can’t remember. Her husband had died many, many years before we met her, and yet she had stayed on their ranch, living alone in a rugged land where people were scarce. Helen would travel two hours down an isolated road to get groceries, even with her poor vision.
In the older days, she said her family used to go to town once a month for supplies and food, if they were lucky, that is. They had an old pickup, but because the snow was so deep, they had to literally shovel their way to town. They’d shovel a path, move the truck forward, shovel another path, move the truck forward, and they would keep this up until they made it to their destination. Sometimes it took them a full day to drive what under normal conditions would only take two hours.
She told me about how long and hard the old-time haying seasons were, and how they used to bring calves in the house and hold them in warm water until their arms ached and until the calf was warm. Sometimes they had calves lying in front of their wood burning/cook stove because it was too cold for them to be outside, causing their chances for survival otherwise to be slim.
Helen was a kind, courageous woman who knew how to rough it. She knew how to make something out of nothing, knew how to be thrifty, and knew how to survive in a desolate place. She was a very sweet, Godly woman, who opened her heart up to someone who needed a friend–me. I will never forget her, her strengths, or her courage.
To Purchase, click here. Colorado Courtship: Winter of Dreams\The Rancher’s Sweetheart (Love Inspired Historical)
Sunny Weston, the heroine in my story, The Rancher’s Sweetheart, reminds me a lot of Helen. Sunny’s parents are dead, and she alone is left to run her ranch 26 miles from town. No matter how adverse circumstances become, Sunny refuses to permanently leave the home she loves. Against all odds, against the advice of her neighbors, and even against the criticism of her being a woman – and not just any woman – but a short statured woman , Sunny proves to them all, that she is a survivor who will do whatever it takes to live on and to save the ranch she loves.”–Debra
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What a great true story, Debra. And remember please leave a comment to enter the drawing for a free copy of Colorado Courtship.
Here’s the question: Do you think we have an easier life than women like Helen? Why or why not?–Lyn
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Yes, we do. I can’t imagine getting up at 4 AM starting a fire in a wood stove and cooking on top of it. Don’t even get me started about washing the laundry down at the creek!
This looks like a great book to read! Would love to win! Thanks!
makeighleekyleigh at yahoo.com
Debra, what a wonderful treasure Helen was to you and others in her life. Thank you for sharing her story. You are so right that we need to grasp and hold onto our grandparents’ and parents’ stories while we have the opportunity. The journals my grandparents left behind have opened my eyes to the kind of life they led. Yet for all the times we chatted, I never thought to write anything down. Just recently I realized that’s true for my aging parents too, and I’ve begun asking questions about the past. They have so much wisdom and experience to share!
The concept of tough ranch women really is exciting to me! I’ve had to do similar things in my life, as there is no one to lean on. I would love a copy of this book!
I think we have it easier in some cases but harder in others. So much technology has entered our lives, we don’t spend as much quality time together as they did. I don’t feel families are as close knit as they once were. The choices are too many sometimes. However, with the way the world has been going lately, many people are turning back to the simple ways. Generations of families are living together more for economic purposes. Communities are starting to pull back together to help those in times of disaster and need. It is just having more conveniences such as more stores to choose from, better communication technologies, etc that make going back to simpler times easier.
Paula, I think if people don’t, it’s because they’re lives are so busy. I can say one thing I really miss about ranch life is. the quiet, simple life I lived.
Thanks for stopping by.
Debra
Angie, on one ranch, I lived seven miles from the grocery store, but the grocery store wasn’t worth going to. You still had to make a trip 48 miles to get the things you needed and for better prices. That’s a good number though, don’t you think? *smiling* On that ranch, we had what we called a “hot room” to take the calves in. It had heated floors and of course a heater in it. Plus, the barn floors were heated. Guess it was the epitomy of The Plaza or something, eh? hehehe
Hi Sandy! Thank you, my friend, for stopping by. Weren’t our grandparents awesome!! Helen wasn’t my grandma obviously, but she was an amazing woman I will never forget. I only wish I would have been a writer back then, I would taken pages and pages of notes. So, those of you who still have grandparents, listen to their stories, you won’t be sorry.
Debra
Hi Debra, I am in awe of someone able to do so much with so little, It would have been wonderful to talk with her..the stories she must have known…I don’t think anyone today would give that much of themselves to their lives to better them, too many looking for handouts…
thanks for sharing, I definately want to read this book.
I think we absolutely have it easier than Helen. I live about 7 minutes from the local grocery store. And a lot of the farms around me have a wood stove to keep animals warm inside. God bless Helen for sticking it out after her husband passed. That takes a lot of faith, courage, commitment and heart.
Thanks for being my guest, Deb!
What a great story about your friend. Those people are treasures in our lives. Rare too. Those years past defiinitely made a person tougher. You had to be. I had one grandma raise 11 kids in the prairie of North Dakota during the depression. Another grandma that raised 3 kids on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. They were tough, tough women who could get through almost anything because they had to. Thanks for sharing your story. (Great cover on that book.)
That’s an interesting question. My great grandmother lived the same way, only she was completely blind. She lived on her own. She was able to take care of her farm without any problems. Not sure how she would’ve been able to do it if she lived to 2013. We depend so much on the modern technology.
Thank you for the reminders of my wonderful great grandma.
WOW, Amy! What an inspiration your grandmother must have been. I bet you could write a fabulous story about her!!! Thank you for sharing that with us.
Debra
The challenges differ but the degree of difficulty–not much change there. More food but healthier? Serial killers? Longer lives but quality? There are reasons for nostalgia.
Yes, I do think our lives today are much easier when you think about day to day surviving and supporting your family. But if you look at everything we think we “NEED” to do, our days are much longer and most of the time we have less time to spend quality time with our families because we are always trying to impress someone/everyone. So we are probably busier doing things easier but we are also probably much more stressed trying to fit everything into our 24 hour days.
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on the whole, I think we have a much easier life just because of all the modern conveniences – vehicles, technology, communication, appliances, etc. I know my grandparents lived on a farm and raised 10 children in a small house with a basement! I don’t know how they did it. It had 3 bedrooms in the basement! Their town was miles from a large city too. The things my dad grew up with would have been hard for me to grow up with and I’m not picky!!
Thank you, Lyn, for hosting me on your fabulous blog and allowing me to share my story about a very special lady whom I’ve never forgotten.
Thank you everyone for stopping by.
Valri. I think things are easier today too. In some ways. In some ways all the choices have complicated our lives. Interesting story about your grandparents living far from town too. When I lived that life, it was a great life, but as I’ve gotten older, I don’t think I’d like to live that far from town again. *smiling*
I remember living in a small three bedroom house with five of us siblings and only one bathroom. Now, if I had to do that, I would call it roughing it. hehe We are so spoiled, are we not?
Wendy, you are so right. That is one thing that is sorely lacking, more time with our families. Everyone is so busy going here, going there etc, and not necessarily together either. I know in my own life that my day is gone before I’ve had a chance to start it. At the end of it, I’m always thinking, oh I wish I would have gotten that done or this, very stressful sometimes. Then again, at the end of the day, I’m with my husband and that’s all that matters. *smiling*
Liz, the challenges do differ, but in a way some things I think they remain the same. There is definitely a lot to be said for nostalgia. *smiling*
It’s so weird to me that my grandparents on both sides both lived long lives, late 80′s and late 90′s and they ate fried everything. Sometimes I think the difference in healthy food is the chemicals and preservatives in our food. Their food wasn’t laden with either of those. Plus they worked physically hard, whereas today, we are not as active.