Haircut!

Yes, that is Mac. It was much needed. His coat was picking up every stick, pricker and thorn out there.

Fencing-part 2

It continues! Though I was on a beautiful part of the ranch all morning.

There are some journalists here from Europe and I get to provide some insight later while I work some young horses. I'm better on horseback right now anyway as my feet hurt. I've forgotten what wearing boots all day will do to your feet.

Fixing Fence

On a ranch fixing fence is a never ending job. On 50,000 acres you can get lost doing it...like today. I wasn't lost...i just couldn't find the stinkin' fence that needed to be checked since elk constantly knock them down. I did see the elk though! So I must have been close right?

There is an elk in this picture...right above Mac somewhere...as you can tell everything is a bit vast.

Medano Pass

Today we took a LONG ride up the pass that goes over the mountains from the sand dunes.

I rode Maggie out and i'm pretty sure she is exhausted as me!

On another note;five baby chicks were born today! I thought they were so cute peeking out from under their mommy!

Wrangling: day 1

As promised I will attempt to blog briefly each day on wrangling this summer. hopefully its a good summer without drama like my other job.

Today I took out Ringo on my own. We just walked but he did just fine. I have high hopes for that horse. Charlie and Maggie also went for a ride and did well while working young colts.

We have a bottle fed bison baby that was found in the ditch surrounded by coyotes. No mama in sight so we figure she's dead. Good thing someone came along when they did or he would have been dinner. He's so stinkin' cute!

Spring Art Project

I like to draw, take photography, paint, scrapbook - but other than snapping pictures all the time I never seem to have time to do much else.  Recently I joined a scrapbooking circle - so at least one evening a month I can sit down and try to organize past trips and such...

I always have these great ideas to for the house - but since we still rent I refuse to put any time or effort into it.  However, I do take some pride in the yard and what we personally own - and since my kid is always hogging whatever chair we are sitting in outside, I decided it was time to make him his own.  I bought this little chair for $5, and then we personalized it!  I thought it turned out great!  And, as you can see, Wyatt loves it!

Ringo

You've probably been wondering what's been going on with Ringo...

Last fall we had him ridden in the pens at the Zapata with another horse and rider; just moving up and down the alleyways.  Then I started working him again a few weeks ago...and he bucked me off.  I don't have the time to get on him every day or so until it's time to put the miles on this summer, so I asked my friend's husband, Tom,  if he would get on a him a few times a week. 

The first day he bitted him up he didn't know Ringo had never worked off a bit before - and thought he was a piece of work for about 20 minutes, but after he 'reminded' him he said he did really, really well.  When I told him that he'd never worked off a bit, just held it in his mouth - he was all surprised and said he did way better then he had thought. 

Then he rode him again for about a half hour a few days later and he did real good in the pens and alleys.

Then we branded. And Tom decided to drive cattle with him. Not only was this the first time Ringo was to be out of an enclosed area, it was only Tom's third time riding him off a bit. Look how he did:

Moving out

Backing

After picking up dropped items

And after the initial 'out of corral' expereince...Tom chased down a stray calf at a trot through knee deep water.  I think he's going to make a good horse!

Feeding the Bison

My friend brought in 5 baby bison on the Zapata that were born really late in the season last year so they wouldn't die exposed to the elements - now they are like pets.  I don't recommend ever doing this unless you know how the animals has been raised - Bison aren't known for their friendliness.

These guys, however, follow you around like dogs looking for a handout. I can keep my kid occupied for hours as long as I have a few flakes of hay he can feed to them handful by handful.

Wyatt's First Branding

Spent last Saturday helping our friend's brand their calves. Wyatt was a little scared of the bawling calves, but as long as he had a good grip on my leg he felt secure.

 

Afterwards Wyatt and his buddy went for a horseback ride.

We had to move the cattle back out to pasture when everything was over - Wyatt thought the four-wheeler was a perfect place to take his afternoon nap.

"The Beach"

Or our beach at least....each spring the rivers run down from the mountains through the Great Sand Dunes. It's a like a giant sand box with water. We love it - so do the dogs.

He was posing for me here - notice the thumbs up...

Critters

Since spring has sprung it seems we spend a heck of a lot more time with the animals around here.  First off, I'd like to introduce Roxy:

No - she's not a reincarnation of Maverick - I don't think....but she sure acts and looks just like him.... Roxy found us and since it was like coming home, she's stayed on with the three other mutts.  She was found wandering in the school parking lot late one night during a basketball game.  We figured she jumped out of someones vehicle but nobody ever claimed her.  Since I have the kennel I offered to take her home for the night.  She's never left.  She was probably around 5 months old when we got her and was housebroke, knew basic commands and already knew to give Wyatt his space.  I think she's a pittbull/lab or hound mix.  Whatever she is, she's a hell of a good dog and won't let Wyatt out of her sight.

Speaking of Wyatt and animals...he sill loves his Buni kitty, and takes over any other animal that comes to visit, like my friend's dog Hank, or the landlords horse:



Bock Bock...Quack

I have a hen that goes broody every year.  I never let her set to hatch, but this year I gave her six eggs.  She took three out, which, when candled didn't show any growth, but she wouldn't let me candle the others.

This morning this is what I found:

There are two eggs still under her so I guess I'll see if any more hatch within the next day or so.

I have a duck that thinks she's going to hatch out a billion geese.  I took out a bunch of eggs to give her a reasonable number, and so far they have been progressing.  There's no way I'm keeping a bunch of goslings, but it was a fun 'science' experiment - hopefully she makes a success of it!

A Month Went by Fast

...and blogger looks different...
Coming back to reality after one of my random non-blogging hiatus.  I keep thinking I need to have a focus to this blog rather than just random postings about my life, but I haven't found that focus yet.  Perhaps as a Wrangler this summer I will try and do a daily picture and post about working on a working guest ranch....idea to ponder...

Life has been busy - that much is a given I suppose.  Two and half weeks left to the school year, a growing kid and trying to condition horses hasn't left me much time (and not having internet at home kinda sucks too).

That and dealing with teenagers everyday.  For whatever reason these kids think they can cheat their way through life.  I always tell them it's only a matter of time - but they will get it all back eventually - well, one of my classes' did.  Evidently they have 'borrowed' work from previous years, despite my changing projects from year to year, to try and get out of doing all the work required.  I've know this occurs but unless it's a written piece, it's awfully hard to catch.  Last week a student was heard bragging about how she already had the final paper for one of my classes - one I haven't even assigned, nor was I.  Guess what?  I decided to assign a paper afterall.  And guess what the topic was?  How the integrity of characters found in the literary studies this year have lead to their eventual downfall.  When I assigned it I told them good luck finding someone who has written this paper already!  I know it's not much - but it's one battle won against plagiarism in my classes.  We use turnitin.com also which really helps with the written thesis and such.

Anyway - I have a goal to make this blog more worthwhile. Here's some random pictures of the kid to enjoy until then:

Happy Easter Bunny!

The Flood

On top of crashed servers, burned out computers and general anxiety this semester at school, we had a flood also. The week before midterms no less. Of course. And State basketball. And Science Fair.

So midterms were embraced by the start of the new quarter instead because school was shut down for two days before the weekend. 4200 gallons of water poured out of a science room sprinkler when an experiment set it off and nobody knew how to turn them off because only one person knew that protocol. And they weren't here. Typical. It ran down the halls and through the floor and collapsed the ceilings below. It was a mess. Because the sprinkler system went off the fire alarm went off and the fire department had to respond. They could have left, but they didn't. Instead, the ones that bothered to show up stayed and swept water down the halls for over two hours to help us out while we salvaged computers, backpacks and science fair projects.

On top of all that we're one of the new schools that was built by the Neenan company that are under review because some of their schools have not been structurally sound....nice.....Luckily our structural issues have been minimal and are being fixed...but still....there are structural issues. I guess we should feel lucky we are not like some of their other schools that have been condemned....or have had portions collapse.

The Way Home...

We got up early the morning of debarkation, through customs and on the road by 9am California time. We weren't sure what we were going to do - stop for the night somewhere or drive through...

Despite living less than a half day drive from the Grand Canyon, I have never been there, so I was sort of hoping we might stop and stay at the Cameron Trading Post, just 29 minutes from the South Rim, on the way home....and we did! I don't usually have comments on hotels, but this place rocked. Let's just say the regular rooms were sold out, but they had a suite available (darn!) that we took, and it didn't cost much more than a regular hotel room. The suite was beautiful! The restaurant was SOOOOOO good (Navajo Tacos are the best)! The trading post shopping wasn't marked up too much and they had a beautiful selection of pawn as well. It was built in the early 1900's and I strongly suggest to anyone driving through the Four-Corners area to stay there.

We spent Saturday morning and early afternoon at the Canyon before heading home....or so we thought....

I would have liked to spend more time at the Canyon, but we wanted to hit the actual Four Corners and make it home that evening, so we made a tentative plan to go back again soon. When driving up to the Four Corners we got a little frustrated. See, we had taken our time and it was only 4 o'clock so we figured we were great on time. We had stopped to look at the Dinosaur tracks in a dry riverbed off the side of the road and had lunch outside Monument Valley (another place we have to go back to see) But Timewise? Not so much....as we crossed out of Arizona to enter into the the Four-Corners through New Mexico it became 5 o'clock since Arizona doesn't observe day light savings. And the Four-Corners closed at 5. So at 5:07 pm we were cursing at the locked gates.

So onwards we went.....and as we came through Pagosa Springs I decided I wasn't ready to be home yet and we stayed at a great little hotel directly across the street from The Springs Lodge and Spa and hung out at the natural hot springs with beverages until midnight....soaking away all the travel aches. Pagosa Springs is the best local I've been too for natural hot springs. Pools range from 110 degrees to 91 degrees and is located right on the river for a cold dip. I love it.

Anyway - we got home Sunday and will probably be there for quit some time from now on because we spent a lot of money. But it was worth it.

Spring Break is Over :(

Hello All! We are back, unfortunately. I could have stayed gone for another few weeks for sure. It was a good trip. We left last Saturday night to let the baby sleep and drove through the four corners area before stopping for a quick nap. This really isn't a long drive. Two-thirds of it can be done in a pretty short day with plenty of time to relax if you stop for the night. It had been raining/snowing lightly until we stopped for a quick roadside nap, and we woke up to a light rain at about 7am. We were about an hour outside Flagstaff and planned on being in Lake Havasu around 1pm. As we drove closer to Flagstaff the rain turned to snow and suddenly we were driving our little Yaris in a two track with snow brushing the undercarriage of the car. I couldn't stop because there are no places to stop. Literally. So I just kept driving! We got into Flagstaff and we navigated the huge snowdrifts into a McDonalds where we figured we'd wait until the roads were clear as the only people plowing were private plowers. Evidently everybody had the same idea and that's where we learned the highway was closed. However, after about an hour, being the mad UP of MI driver that I am - since there actually was visibility again, and the storm was showing to dissipate to the west, (I LOVE my smartphone app that tracks weather) I decided we needed to see if that highway really was closed...and guess what? It wasn't - so Westward we drove! We pulled into Lake Havasu about 4:30 and chilled out for the night after walking to the London Bridge.

Yes, the actual London Bridge that was brought over from London in the 60's or 70's. I would have gotten more info but it was cold and I was tired.

The next morning we drove to Long Beach and left on our cruise via the Carnival Inspiration. We stopped at Santa Catalina Island for the day and went kayaking with the sea lions and dolphins. It was so cool! My pictures are on a waterproof camera that needs to get developed so I'll have to post those later. We left Wyatt with a babysitter that morning while we kayaked and then picked him up and brought him back to the beach where he wasn't too sure about the waves, but loved the sand!

That night was the formal night on the ship, and I went ahead and had us take pictures. The sitting fees were free so I figured why not? I did choose a few of the pictures later that turned out really well. I'll post those later too.

The next day we spent in Ensenda, Mexico. I've been to Baja before in San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez. I really liked it there - Ensenada...the town...not so much. However, it is located in the wine country of Mexico and we went on a Winery Tour of two local wineries which plied us with wine and food; including two free bottles of wine. Needless to say I stocked up as well! I'm not sure why I didn't take any pictures of the wineries...they were beautiful. Although the lack of pictures could have had something to do with the excess of wine. Maybe.

Then we spent a day at sea before pulling into a rainy Long Beach port and headed for home....however, I wasn't ready to go home yet....

To be continued...