Opa Reads
307 episodes - English - Latest episode: 7 months ago - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingBook selections read to my children and grandchildren.
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Episodes
HDC Chapter 1: I Become a Drover
August 24, 2022 01:58 - 17 minutes - 7.74 MBRalph learns about the shipping business from Bob Wilson, and he enjoys the hospitality of the Wilson family by staying with them during a week of culling out older animals.
TDD Chapter 17: Ragtag No More
August 23, 2022 02:17 - 20 minutes - 7.68 MBRalph and Judy end their wheat hauling business and begin a cattle trading business. Only Paco will remain with Ralph through the winter, so all the hands leave for Denver.
TDD Chapter 16: Home on the Dry Divide
August 17, 2022 01:51 - 23 minutes - 10.1 MBJust and the crew figure out how to surprise Ralph with a renovated house and bunk room. Mrs Hudson has enough profit from the wheat harvest to move to town and into a house of her own.
TDD Chapter 15: On Our Way to Heligoland
August 16, 2022 01:28 - 24 minutes - 9.23 MBThe wheat hauling business gets into action as two different properties get managed by Ralph and Judy. The celebration on the first day could be heard a mile away.
TDD Chapter 14: Yimminy! Dat is Fun!
August 11, 2022 02:04 - 32 minutes - 12.3 MBOrnery mustangs are brought in from the field, hitched to the wagons, and then each driver gets to practice running down the gulch and up the opposite hill.
TDD Chapter 13: Wagon Wheels
August 10, 2022 02:04 - 21 minutes - 8.13 MBDoc is cured of his medicine man ways, the wagons are repaired and made ready for business, and paint is added by Martha and Judy.
TDD Chapter 12: Tricky Business
August 06, 2022 18:24 - 27 minutes - 10.5 MBRalph and his team figure out how to build a forge, repair the wagons, drive the hills with light horse teams, and then Judy helped Ralph determine which hauling orders could be accepted.
TDD Chapter 11: Haggling and Horses
July 24, 2022 21:35 - 20 minutes - 7.77 MBRalph and Judy work together to haggle for horses, harness, and wagons to ensure a successful hauling operation.
TDD Chapter 10: Bamboozling Bones
June 19, 2022 16:41 - 23 minutes - 8.89 MBRalph does the arithmetic required for a profit analysis of hauling wheat in order to convince the banker to back his venture. The crew enjoys a day in town, but Doc reverts to old habits.
TDD Chapter 9: New Fields to Reap
June 18, 2022 18:02 - 13 minutes - 4.97 MBBones makes a visit to Ralph’s fields in order to assess the quality and value of the crops. Ralph develops his first ideas of hauling crops to the elevator.
TDD Chapter 8: Wheat Harvest
June 17, 2022 01:33 - 20 minutes - 7.89 MBThe entire crew gets their jobs sorted out, Myron’s family joins the meal, and the muscles adapt to new labor.
TDD Chapter 7: On My Own
June 15, 2022 12:49 - 27 minutes - 10.3 MBRalph and his crew repair the machinery, learn their new roles, and make an initial practice run. Good good for the crew and good feed for the horses.
TDD Chapter 6: Completamente Aplastada
June 12, 2022 18:24 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MBHudson gets killed in his wrath and his wife Clara trusts Ralph to continue the harvest on her behalf.
TDD Chapter 5: Banker Bones
June 12, 2022 16:25 - 18 minutes - 6.97 MBRalph makes a successful business pitch to Bones, the local banker. That allows him to get the entire crew to remain willing to stay in the job while Ralph takes over the wheat harvesting operation.
TDD Chapter 4: Under the Lash
June 12, 2022 15:35 - 33 minutes - 12.6 MBRalph and the crew learn about the skills of each person, how to work in the field under the oversight of a tyrant boss, and Ralph shares the painful burden carried by the horses under Hudson’s lash.
TDD Chapter 3: Judy’s Story
June 11, 2022 23:47 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MBRalph learns how Myron Hudson came to be so ornery and thinks of a way to help the crew ensure they get their wages.
TDD Chapter 2: Blacksnake
June 08, 2022 03:00 - 24 minutes - 10.7 MBHudson is running a very poor operation with bad equipment, wild animals, and using fear to keep his house and crew together. Ralph ends up the focus of Hudson’s wrath and manages to survive a wild bareback ride.
TDD Chapter 1: Ragtag Crew
June 07, 2022 01:03 - 24 minutes - 9.13 MBRalph gets thrown off the train with a dime in his pocket, then transitions to his next job as a wheat stacker.
StNB Chapter 19: So Long, Buddy
May 19, 2022 02:31 - 20 minutes - 8.68 MBLonnie recovers his self-control and departs Kansas City in a hurry, leaving Ralph chasing $700.
StNB Chapter 18: End of the Trail
May 18, 2022 02:36 - 23 minutes - 10.1 MBLonnie does not change his wasteful habits and Ralph enjoys sending a large check home.
StNB Chapter 17: Ladies’ Man Lonnie
May 17, 2022 02:14 - 24 minutes - 22.8 MBThe marble like bust business grows and Ralph has to create a stable business plan.
StNB Chapter 16: Two of a Kind
May 15, 2022 02:31 - 15 minutes - 6.79 MBRalph has to read a legal contract in order to change his usual $25 bust price to $50.
StNB Chapter 15: City Slicker
May 04, 2022 02:28 - 17 minutes - 7.49 MBRalph and Lonnie head to El Paso with the intent of doing a bust for an attorney, but it sets them back two suits, luggage, and a hotel suite.
StNB Chapter 14: Leave Me Try It!
May 02, 2022 02:30 - 21 minutes - 9.03 MBThe business goes into full swing as Mabel brings customers to Ralph, and as Ralph learns to keep Lonnie busy and out of the way.
StNB Chapter 13: Cowboy Artists of the Southwest
April 28, 2022 02:21 - 17 minutes - 7.33 MBLonnie’s enthusiastic embrace of being an artist leaves Ralph with the trouble of setting boundaries for Lonnie to stay busy within while not simultaneously ruining the artwork.
StNB Chapter 12: We’re in the Dough
April 26, 2022 02:29 - 19 minutes - 8.71 MBThe banker approves Ralph’s clay bust, Mabel gets more orders for Ralph, and a visit to the nearby town provides the makings for plaster of Paris. Lonnie’s enthusiasm for Shiftless continues.
StNB Chapter 11: Little Clay Horse
April 22, 2022 02:20 - 9 minutes - 3.99 MBRalph and Lonnie have no luck finding ranch jobs, then their car breaks down, so Ralph takes on the new enterprise of making busts of leading men in the city. He hasn’t actually made one yet, but he has his first contract with a banker.
StNB Chapter 10: Rice Pudd’n
April 21, 2022 02:43 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBChristmas dinner developed over the course of an entire day—from fixing the flat tire to milking a wild cow.
StNB Chapter 9: Christmas Eve
April 19, 2022 02:20 - 16 minutes - 7.26 MBRalph creates an Indian pony from clay, and they camp beside the road to make a Christmas Eve dinner…with a flat tire.
StNB Chapter 8: Back Country
April 18, 2022 02:48 - 26 minutes - 24.3 MBRalph and Lonnie have a tough time getting even a few miles along the road before the limitations of vehicular travel become apparent.
StNB Chapter 7: Shiftless
April 13, 2022 02:31 - 23 minutes - 10.5 MBLots of work was required to put Shiftless into working condition, and that was not possible without the Larsen’s help. Ralph and Lonnie left town blessed by them!
StNB Chapter 6: Outfitting
April 10, 2022 23:41 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBRalph reconnects with Lonnie, then enters into hours of wrangling over a price for the car and two saddle outfits.
StNB Chapter 5b: Friendly Phoenix
April 09, 2022 10:26 - 11 minutes - 5.45 MBWe learn how Ralph became proficient in Clay modeling, and of its joy to his life while healing in Phoenix.
StNB Chapter 5a: Friendly Phoenix Part 1
April 06, 2022 02:28 - 18 minutes - 7.42 MBRalph reconnects with his friendly train conductor after he leaves the set, and his return to Phoenix brings news about the state of his personal health.
StNB Chapter 4: Horse Falls
April 05, 2022 02:32 - 23 minutes - 10.1 MBRalph learns how to fall by watching others, then he earns $435 in four days.
StNB Chapter 3: Movie Location
April 04, 2022 02:04 - 16 minutes - 7.22 MBRalph receives good advice from Ted that gives him insight into how the horses fall, what the obstacles on the set are made out of, and even s bit of pay advice.
StNB Chapter 2: Land Rolling!
April 03, 2022 02:30 - 17 minutes - 7.58 MBRalph gets on and off trains in the wrong way until he gets away from Lonnie long enough to ask permission to ride broke, then he checks into a Hollywood movie outfit.
STNB Chapter 1: In a Bad Way
March 30, 2022 00:20 - 26 minutes - 10.1 MBRalph is diagnosed with diabetes, so he goes west…but he also goes broke.
StNB Chapter 1: In a Bad Way
March 30, 2022 00:20 - 26 minutes - 10.1 MBRalph is diagnosed with diabetes, so he goes west…but he also goes broke.
TFoH Chapter 34: A God’s Wonder
March 21, 2022 02:41 - 18 minutes - 7.17 MBThe strawberries ripen, tomatoes go to market, corn is canned, potatoes get harvested, and the barn is raised. A great culmination of a full year’s work.
TFoH Chapter 33: New Crops
March 20, 2022 02:21 - 17 minutes - 6.57 MBThe strawberries plants get ordered, potatoes and sweet corn go into the field, and Uncle Levi figures out how to get a few strawberries to fruit in the first year.
TFoH Chapter 32: The Story Pole
March 18, 2022 02:39 - 27 minutes - 10.3 MBRalph and Grandfather clear out the chestnut grove and the joy of grandfather’s new personality blesses everyone.
TFoH Chapter 31: Dynamite
March 09, 2022 03:15 - 17 minutes - 6.82 MBRalph helps with the road crew and then the removal of stumps us done with the help of dynamite…with grandfather’s blessing and to his great joy.
TFoH: Grandfather’s War is Almost Over
March 03, 2022 03:15 - 17 minutes - 6.7 MBAnnie gets red ribbon and Grandfather “finds” Millie all before Uncle Levi repairs the spreader for the new strawberry and tomato Field
TFoH Chapter 29: Annie is Woman of the House
February 27, 2022 03:36 - 22 minutes - 9.62 MBUncle Levi shows up to help take care of Grandfather, and his main concern is to get good food into him. That is where Annie Littlehale comes in—she cooks a full days worth of food for them and then disappears.
TFoH Chapter 28: A Holy Place
February 23, 2022 04:30 - 13 minutes - 5.33 MBGrandfather keeps seeking out Millie, but she isn’t found on the payrolls.
TFoH Chapter 27: Butter Making
February 18, 2022 03:13 - 13 minutes - 5.23 MBGrandfather and Ralph can’t get the butter to set until Annie is called in to help. The rest of the day is spent picking apples and then topped off by Ralph receiving a used manure spreader.
TFoH Chapter 26: ‘Bijah Out-Trades Himself
February 17, 2022 03:55 - 13 minutes - 5.25 MBGrandfather gets rid of one ornery cow in trade for a good milker, and then commences to tell Ralph about an oak crop from 1814.
TFoH Chapter 25: Grandfather Sets His Cap For ‘Bijah
January 26, 2022 03:26 - 18 minutes - 8 MBRalph finds a new and chipper grandfather when he wakes, then during milking grandfather decides he will trade the brindle to ’Bijah.
TFoH Chapter 24: A Thousand Things to Show Me
January 25, 2022 03:58 - 20 minutes - 8.6 MBRalph invites Annie to teach him how to cook, but trouble follows that good intention. By morning, though, Grandfather catches a vision for the farm.