Ride 'em Cowboy...

Last night we went to the Young County Rodeo in Graham (20 miles away). It was a fun evening. Most of the contestants were from Texas or Oklahoma, but there were a few from further away (MT, WY, NC, IA, NE, CO, ID, LA-Louisiana that is, AL and one from Marseille, France!). Unfortunately, my camera had limitations on indoor shots with lighting - on most settings pics were unfocused, too distant or blurred, but I finally found a setting that gave me marginal pictures, but you can at least catch some of the action! The above picture is the 'wait staff' - they collect loose horses and assist broncos and bulls our of the arena.
Here's a rider about half way through his ride, trying to right himself so he can qualify by staying on the bull for 8 seconds, but as you can see in the next picture,
he didn't make it!! He's in a heap over behind the bull and the clowns are coming to his rescue to distract the bull so the bull's not all over the rider. I missed good pictures of the barrel racing, calf roping and got marginal pictures of the bronc riding. Next rodeo is in May and it's here in Olney. It's also outside, so I should be able to get better quality pictures!! I would like to call your attention to the sponsor signs - particularly the one that says 'That's what I like about Texas: DQ'! In Ohio, I measured a town by the presence of a Walmart. Pam, EVEN Clovis had a Walmart!!! Olney has NO Walmart!! But every town that's anything in Texas, has a Dairy Queen and they're proud of it! It puts them on the map!! YUP - WE DO HAVE A DQ!!!!

New addition!

The cost of doing business or changing careers is mind-boggling! The purchase of the real estate is only the beginning. Before even looking for stock, there's lots to be done with the land! We need grass, both for grazing and for winter feeding so that we won't have to purchase hay AND feed for however many animals we end up with. This involves soil testing ($), fertilizing ($$), weed eradication ($), plowing and sprigging (Bermuda)($$) or planting seeds, and then hoping for rain so it will grow (PRICELESS). None of these steps are free except for the hoping for rain! Fortunately we have encountered some very kind and helpful people to guide us and refer us to those who can help us out. We have found wonderful friends in our new church and in the local area. Pictured here with Mike is David Sandlin. (The road in the background is Walker Road, our road). Sam, our border collie, is one of David's pups, plus that big 'honkin' tractor (new = $125,000) we previously borrowed to plow fields, belongs to David as well. The County Agricultural Agent, Brad Morrison, recommended plowing one of the fields again, so once again David came to the rescue and brought us another disk with the same big 'honkin' tractor. Right now the disk is in the process of being repaired so that Mike can finish the job. He's repaired 4 flat tires (2 on the first disk and 2 on the one that's out there now) and he broke a rod on the disk a couple of days ago.
Like any job, there are always glitches! For example after having someone come out and dig post holes for the garden area and chicken 'coop', we've had 3 storms with wind, rain or snow, making it necessary to redig the holes before the poles can be installed. The soil has clay content which when wet, sticks to the blades of the post hole digger. Every job takes extra time, but the place is taking shape slowly but surely.
As for our new (used) Ford 4000, new it would have cost $30-35,000. We were lucky to get it for $8,500! Hopefully it will meet our needs. It came with a front loader and spikey attachment to pick up big round bales. It's not pretty, but it is a good tractor!
The thought occurs that we might open a B&B with the opportunity of a 'ranch' vacation. Be sure and get your reservations in while there are still openings. : )

Happy Easter, y'all!!

Sure is a cool (brrrrr) Easter - 50's and overcast here, sprinkling some; spoke to Mom this afternoon, and it's been snowing in Illinois, some snow in Ohio! I guess it's likely because Easter is early this year! Nothing REAL exciting here! We officially joined a local church today. We're now members of the First Baptist Church (of Olney) which is a very warm and friendly church with much outreach to the local community and a wonderful pastor who gives the most meaningful biblical messages during his sermons. Some wonderful church friends invited us to lunch (more like dinner - I'm stuffed!!). So we've had a nice Easter!

"Kitty" has a new, slightly larger box (getting ready for the family)! She's quite comfortable in there!!! Tober, though inside, doesn't miss much and watches out for Kitty. She still 'challenges' her through the glass! If she could just get to her, she'd show her who's boss! Kitty is VERY friendly, so she must have grown up around people. As a former OB/GYN Nurse Practitioner, I'm down to checking for 'quickening' (fetal movement) on my critters! And yes, we're definitely expecting kittens sometime in the next few weeks.

Easter greetings from Olney, where Kitty's agrowin', Tober's abossin', Sheba's apacin' or asleepin', Sam's adancin' and achewin', Eeyore's ahealin', and Doc's the alpha horse!! I hope your Easter is a blessed one as we celebrate that He lives and blesses us every day.

The Lion Walks at Night!!

This must be more of "March coming in like a lion"!!! All kinds of growling (thunder) last night, and this morning the horses had to eat, standing in ankle deep water (mud). Even the sidewalk has over an inch of standing water! It's like a footwash for Sheba before she comes back inside. Little Kitty has to search for a place to dig to "get busy" (that's Cana's command to go out and do his 'business'). So Mike walked out to check the rain gauge and we had 4" of rain and we're not done yet! I can attest to that amount because Eeyore's grain tub had 4" of water in it!! Eeyore chooses to stay in the barn and pens and NOT come across the corral for his grain this morning! He didn't want to wade through the mud!!

As I sat down to write this blog, I heard a 'poof' (muffled noise coming from the direction of the porch) and went to verify what I imagined in my mind's eye ... Sam knocked over an 80# box waiting for UPS and ripped the label off. BUT when I went out to set it back up, look what I found that had snestled behind the box. Pam, I'm afraid I'm going to catch up in the yucky critter department!!

It Was There... Now It's Gone

You think you can depend on tails.

You don't expect tails to go wrong.

The last time I looked it was right there.

Now when I look there, it's gone.
It was always just behind me, always tagging along.

A little something at the back...

I thought it was there, and it's gone.
I assumed it was attached to me, that it actually hung true.

I'd hoped it was stuck very firmly on. Maybe we needed some glue.
It used to trail right behind me, always tailing along.

My little extra at the back...I thought it was there, now it's gone.

Poor Eeyore! He was so sweet and gentle - followed us around like a puppy. Then a few days ago, he started herding me, shoving me around, blocking my path and nipping at my legs!! I didn't know what got into him unless it's the pheromones taking over!! He doesn't do it to Mike!! Anyway, Eeyore had surgery today. He didn't lose his tail, but close! He lost his 'jackhood'! (He was a 'jack', but now he's a 'gelding'). They were there last time he looked, but now they're gone. The local veterinarian stopped by today and removed them! (Yup, Doc Rux makes house calls!!) Animals are amazing how they cope with bothersome things, injuries, and the removal of body parts! He was immobilized for the deed, but it still looked pretty brutal to me. He's up and walking around and even munching on a little grass. He was bleeding at first and we were a little concerned, but he seems to be OK tonight as we checked him before Mike went to bed. We'll keep him quiet for a couple of days and in a few weeks he won't even remember what happened to him (I hope)! Hopefully they don't remember like elephants!!!

Housekeeping

I've received a few e-mails from 'you' expressing frustration with trying to add a comment in response. I had the same problem at first - until Cheyenne walked me through, that is. So, in the interest of wanting your comments, here's how it's done. When you click on 'comment', it brings you to a place to type your message. Then, below that is a group of random letters with an empty box beneath. In the blank, type the letters you see above. Then lastly, click on the choice that says "name/URL" and put your name as you want it to appear (in the 'name' space) (ignore the URL prompt). Then click on "publish comment" and ta-da, it should appear. Half of the fun is the feedback from folks all over. Also, any picture that you want to be enlarged so you can see better, just single left click and it will fill your screen so you can see more detail. So much for housekeeping stuff!!! Now I look forward to your comments!!!

Spring is coming.....

I know Spring officially arrives next week, but I see evidence that it's peeking around the corner here on the ranch. In spite of several days of mid-twenty degree mornings and highs in the 30s, the planters on the side porch seem to have survived winter and the vinca vine has it's first bloom this morning! And as I look across where our garden is trying to take shape, I see we have a flowering fruit tree in bloom. And speaking of the garden, like any project, there are always glitches!! No sooner did we have someone come out and drill 2' holes for the posts when 2 days later we had a nasty thunder storm which washed half of the dirt back into the holes (and it's clay-like mud) and just as the holes were beginning to dry out, that little blizzard soaked the muddy holes anew. Now Mike has to redig out each hole before he can set the posts - and there are a lot of posts yet to set!!!! If it will stay dry, maybe we can have the garden ready in another week or two!

The tree way in the background of the flowering fruit tree is more evidence that spring is coming!! If the buds aren't evident, single left click on the picture and it should enlarge it for you to see better. The blue mass is a bird nest made out of the string that wraps the bales of hay. I guess I'm not the only one who picks up the string from old bales!!

I planted the pansies in the planter outside the front door late last fall, and they've been colorful all winter. The red shrubs just off the front porch (nandinas) have been colorful all winter. And the live oak trees apparently keep their leaves year-round! I'll have to get more of these!!