Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Over The Fence: Part I

Well I need to write something. And I don't want to write another post. I'm either a) too lazy, or b) not motivated. Maybe both. Maybe more a concentrated. Anyway.

I am going to entertain you with a story! Hahaha I wrote this about 8 months ago, and abandoned it. Like I do most of my stories. I have no problem at all coming up with the first part, I just can't seem to keep it going through the middle. Haha. But I picked this one up again and I just finished the third part to it. So I guess I'll let ya'll read it. Since the next 2 weeks or so are going to be absolutely hectic. Anyway. Here is the story. I have no idea why the title is what it is, I just needed one (I've been putting it on a writing site for critique) and it just kinda fit. Kinda. Sorta. Anyway- and you pronounce the girl's name as, "tuh-nay-uh". Yeah. And I almost didn't post this because I don't think it's that good, it may be a little sappy, the bronc riding scene is definitely dubious. Well anyway. I'll post it for the heck of it. No making fun of my amateur writing skills! So here you is:

Part I

Mitch winced as his leg was rammed against the side of the chute gate.
“Sit tight!” advised one of the men gathered round the chute.
Like I’m not already, Mitch wanted to snap, though he was really too nice to do so. His free hand gripped the gate tighter; ignoring the pulsing pain in his leg, he gritted his teeth and breathed jerkily.
“Hurtin’ a little bit, Rhodes?” Mitch wedged his eyes shut in an effort not to leap out of the chute and tackle the speaker to the ground as the hoarse voice literally whispered the phrase in his ears, like an insult from the Devil himself.
“Leave him be”, snapped Evan, double checking Mitch’s saddle. The horse reared in the chute and pawed at the pipe before lunging backwards and settling in the chute, quivering with anticipation.
“I won Jackson on this horse with an eighty-se-"
“This dadgummed horse is bout to flip over”, a very alarmed somebody shouted, cutting off Jerry Lane’s threat, much to the relief of Mitch. He could feel the muscles in his neck tense, already throwing off his balance.
Don’t let ‘im get to ya Mitch, focus, darnit, focus!
“He’s gonna go over backwards!” somebody warned, as the horse reared and pawed at the gates, snorting and anxious for what he knew was coming.
“Muddy Moon’s notorious for that”, Evan replied, sounding both calm and concerned .
“Well, dangit, then just let me out!’” cried Mitch. Two seconds later, Mitch was high in the air, and he came down with a heavy seat, jarring his spine and gnashing his teeth together… but he was still in the saddle, and that was all that mattered. Adrenaline, which felt quite comparable to lightning at the time, raced through his veins; every breath seemed precious. That gut-wrenching feeling gripped him again, as the bronc beneath him kicked high and came down hard before sucking back heavy and going again. Get your licks in Mitch! he told himself. A cold shiver tickled his bones as he felt his rowels connect with the horse’s thick shoulder; he raked his heels up and was rewarded with a lunge-twist combo. 8 seconds seemed more like 8 minutes when you were atop of a bucking bronc, riding like hell to win that $750 for first prize. Every ounce of his belief in himself, every ounce of his strength, self-respect, any emotion at all, drenched every second of that ride; every time he rode a bronc, it wasn’t just for the money, it was what he loved. He would not settle for second!
“What a snappy horse this is, Mike!”
“Yes-sir-ee, Paul, watch that horse kick; he’s a rank one, alright. Rhodes should score high on this’n.”
The announcers’ voices never seemed to reach Mitch’s ears as he rode good and hard. When the buzzer sounded, Mitch’s heart sank; Not yet, I didn’t get enough in, no!
When he hit the ground, the first thing racing through his mind was, ‘Was it good enough? Did I beat ‘im?’ Still ignoring the pain in his right leg, his eyes lifted to the score board, eyes fixed on it as if those numbers were his lifeline… The lights flickered… 82.5. Shoot. One point. By one point!
“Hey, Rhodes, nice try.” Mitch didn’t look up as he stalked over to the fence and easily scaled it. He managed to take some comfort in two old fellas who had propped themselves up against the fence, muttering between themselves.
“…dang judges…”
“…don’t know nothin ‘bout no bronc ridin’… that Mitch boy can sure ride one…”
“ Appreciate it”, Mitch mumbled to Lane. That disgusting gravelly voice just laughed and spoke once more:
“But you can’t beat the best.” Mitch bit his lip and walked away. The best is coming, Lane, it’s coming…
*---*---*---*---*
Easy, don’t rush the steer… Perfect! Now watch ‘im, he’s starting to duck… dangit! Get back in position! Okay… watch your delivery, Tanaya! Don’t jerk your slack too soon… Great, both horns!
Tanaya dallied skillfully, her grey eyes not dismissing the steer in order to take her rope twice ‘round the horn. She tucked her leg and rein into her horse, turning the steer for Riley to take the heels. The crowd cheered when the heel loop snaked around both hocks and caught, perfectly. They stretched the steer out on the ground for a full 2 seconds before Tanaya herself whooped and turned her rope and the steer loose, watching the latter trot haughtily towards the catch pens. Tanaya couldn’t contain her excitement of being in the arena, performing what she loved to do; roping, and being the best at it.
“I think that takes it”, Riley grinned, coiling and strapping his own rope to the saddle swells.
“I sure as hell hope so. The prize is five hundred, two-fifty for the each of us.” Both looked up hopefully at the score-board… 6.4.
“And Riley and Tanaya West take the team roping with a 6.4!”
The congratulations a'waiting at the chutes soon got old. Tanaya mechanically said thanks as CJ, bless his soul, walked calmly through the chaos, seemingly without a care.
“Fantastic, kids!”
“Thanks, Daddy.” Tanaya leaned over to hug Jim, and as she did, some fellow sitting a ways off on a hay-bale caught her eye. He’s the one who durned near won the saddle bronc riding. Lost to that durned idiot, Jerry Lane. He wasn’t much older than her own 17 years. There was something about the way he solemnly leaned over his knees, staring at his boots, large hands clasped together. Something about that thoughtful expression that somewhat intrigued Tanaya…
“You took it, hands-down!”
“Thanks Brandon…”
*---*---*---*---*
“Durned ole bull… I hope one o’ these days some of this wire gets tangled up round your throat and kills ya!” This is what could be heard if you had happened to be wandering around… well, the Middle Of Nowhere, rather. These haughty words echoed across the range, empty, except for cows, antelope, jackrabbits, rattlers, and other range critters. Oh, and yes, the meaty Angus bull grazing about 50 yards off, seeming to enjoy watching Tanaya West mend the fence that he had just happened to bust up.
“Every time…” the teenage girl continued to mutter, to no-one in particular, unless perhaps the bull. “Every stinkin’ time, you’re pulled off cows, you run through this fence. And every stinkin’ time, I have to clean up after ya! It’s a curse!” she moaned.
Tanaya continued muttered nonsense remarks under her breath as she fumbled with the awkward stretchers. The 4 of the 5 wires were busted clean through, and one of the posts was broken. Tanaya gave the stretcher several cranks, and was groping in the dirt for her pliers, when the distant roar of an engine distracted her from the current task. She glanced up to see a cloud of dust approaching her on the dry ranch road, obviously caused by a vehicle, but belonging to who she couldn’t begin to assume. The vehicle came closer, and she soon realized it to be a red feed truck, which stalled in the middle of the road near where Tanaya was fixin the fence. She stood slowly, watching suspiciously as a young man jumped out. Eh, he’s wearing a hat. Surely he’s not the worst of company.
“Howdy”, she said, pulling off one of the leather fencing gloves.
“Howdy”, returned the stranger. Tanaya honored him with a once-over with her grey eyes. Scuffed brown cowboy boots, with spurs… interesting. He’s one of us, she thought, chuckling internally. Faded jeans, cracked brown belt with ranch rodeo top hand buckle, blue working shirt, light brown felt hat with stains around the crown and a hawk feather propped jauntily in the band. And smiling brown eyes; he couldn’t be very old, yet laugh lines had already nested in areas around his eyes and mouth. Square jaw, black hair peeking out from under the hat; in fact, he could be called rather handsome. And he looked so familiar… but for the life of her, Tanaya couldn’t recall where she had seen the friendly face.
“Tanaya West.” She offered a hand and a slight smile over the busted wires she had begun to mend.
“Mitch Rhodes, nice to meet ya’.”
“Likewise.”
“I reckon that’s Uncle Kenny’s bull”, Mitch commented, gesturing towards the grazing beast with the Curtis Creek Ranch brand on his left hip. He surveyed the bull with experienced eyes.
“Kenny Fields? You his nephew?”
“That’d be me”, he replied with the slightest trace of a smile and a cocked head.
“Ah. We heard ‘bout you.” Tanaya bent to twist the wires she had begun to stretch together. Mitch laughed.
“Is that good or bad?” Tanaya squinted up at him and smiled.
“He speaks pretty highly of you.”
“Ah, well…”
There was a slight, perhaps awkward, pause. Mitch fumbled with the cuff of his shirt, seeming to think of what to say. Doesn’t seem like the talkative type, Tanaya thought. Not altogether a bad trait.
“Could I give you a hand here?”
“I reckon I wouldn’t reject such an offer.” Mitch retrieved his own gloves from the truck and the two proceeded to mend the fence together.
“Where you from?” Tanaya asked casually, tightening one of the ties.“Texas. Mostly the Panhandle.”
“Mmmm. What brings ya to this desert wasteland of New Mexico?”
“Just graduated-" Mitch paused to set the new T-post he’d dug out of the back of Tanaya's truck. “-Uncle Kenny suggested I come down these parts, maybe get a job. Enter some rodeos, see if I can get a start in that somehow.” Tanaya fixed her eyes on Mitch with renewed interest.
“You rodeo?”
“Some.”
Suddenly, it clicked. Tanaya shook her finger at him, recalling just where she had seen this Mitch Rhodes.
“I saw you at the Esther County Amateurs Rodeo a month or so ago. That’s right… you didn’t look too amateur to me.” Mitch blinked in surprise.
“Oh, hey! Yeah, you and your brother, Riley was it? Ya’ll took the team-ropin’. Darn good ropers, you two.”
“Thanks. You didn’t look like you sat a horse too bad either”, Tanaya commented, squinting up at him.
“Eh, well…. I’m working on it.”
“Do you think you’re any good?”
“I reckon I’m decent.”
“You took second.”
“Exactly… not first. You took first.”
“Dang right.” Mitch chuckled, clipping the last tie as he stood back with Tanaya to survey their work.
“I reckon it’ll do till the idiot busts it down again.” Mitch turned to look at the bull.
“He do that often?” Tanaya glared at the creature with pure contempt blazing in her eyes, and laughed sarcastically.
“Oh yeah.”
“Well, reckon I’ll be back round first thing in the mornin’ to take him to the East side of the ranch instead.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Huh. Thanks.”
Tanaya tossed the coil of wire, stretchers, and pliers into the truck.
“Well, it was nice meetin’ ya Mitch Rhodes. Thanks for the help.”
“You bet”, Mitch returned, shaking hands.“Reckon I’ll git. Suppose I’ll see you around?” Mitch asked, mid-step.
“More’n likely.”
*---*---*---*---*

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Bleh.

Been a long hard morning.
Last night was pretty bad too.
But it's okay, may His will be done!
I'm probably confusing you.

Hehe.

Just asking for prayers about a baby kitty who was an inch from death this morning, but I think we saved him.
Thank you Lord!

And for Jenny, who had 2 kittens, but is nursing 5, of 3 different ages. What a great Mommy cat, several kittens would be dead without her.

And I have my piano recital at 3:15- ehh I don't think Arabesque is ready. I kind of want to get it over with.

Anyway. Just wanted to pop in. If not tonight, I'll try for more tomorrow.

Prayers please! Have a blessed day!

In His Grip, Ranch Kiddo

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Photoshopped Pix

I haven't posted in a while, but I just can't seem to get really.. blog inspired. Dang I need to start getting some more of those blog nutrients... So I'll just post something real quick to satisfy your blog cravings.

I was at Sara's all day yesterday, it ws hilarious. I will merely say that she has a laptop, with a webcam. Yes. It was terrible. We made all these hilarious videos like we had our own little online "show" and uh yeah. And one where we would just stick our faces up in the camera real abruptly and scream. And... yeah. Hahahah and we took pictures and warped them oh my gosh... In one I looked like a male cartoon character, in another Sara looked obese. It's hard to explain, let's just say it's one of those "had to be there" things, but be glad you weren't.
Like I said, this would be short. But I just wanted to put something up. And when I don't feel like typing... I put up pictures!!! And I have been messing around with Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 and loving it. So here are a couple LOL Hams. Remember those LOL Cats? Well on my hamster site, they have a little contest where you make LOL Hams and put them up. Here are a few of my favorites I made myself:




And here are a couple "signatures" I made. You put them in your "signature" on sites which show below your posts. Yes they are all of my hamsters because I have been a little obsessed with them lately, since I got Dexter. And I have been making them to put on my hamster site. So yeah. They are smaller because they have to be sized properly to be in a signature. Oh and one the second one, Dexter is saying "Hey HHers" because the site is called Hamster Hideout, and we call the members HHers. Haha.




And this is a picture (the original) that I took when we went to feed mares one afternoon; I didn't have it on sports mode and didn't even mean to catch the colt jumping, she just did it as soon as I snapped the pic:


Then I altered it to make it into a little avatar/sig. Here is the signature version (my name is ranchgal on the hamster site:)


So there are my latest creations. Not that spectacular, considering what some people can do on the same program. It's absolutely phenomenal, it blows my mind! But I have fun playing. =)

Oh, and Dexter is pretty much tame! Yup I can pick him up, hold him, feed him, he doesn't pee on me anymore, lol, so yay! He gets a little skittish at times but that's okay. He doesn't bite! Woohoo! Yay for nonbiting hammies!

In His Grip,
Ranch Kiddo

Friday, April 18, 2008

Hamster Habitat Perfection

Just for the heck of it, I figured I would give you a visual of a bin cage. Hamster habitat perfection, if you were to ask me. This is Sassafras' bin. I used to use Carefresh, a bedding composed of recycled material, it's great for odor control, very absorbant, but very expensive. And it's too clumpy to burrow in. I now use Aspen which is like 4 dollars a month per cage, and it smells nicer, nice and woodsy, and is fairly absorbant, and they like burrowing in. Aspen is in her bin in these pics. I change around the layout of her bin occasionally. I clean it out completely every 2 or 2 and a half weeks. The white stuff is toilet paper for nesting material, the green thing is a Greenie, for her to chew on.



I think this bin is 32 inches by 19 inches. I think. Can't remember. It's on my old keyboard stand.



This is the lid. I've put more holes in it since then. You can also cut out part of the lid and attach wire mesh with rivets, but seeing as my cat loves to perch on the lid, I'm not sure that would be such a great idea in my situation.

The inside of Sassy's bin. She was in her ball at the time.

Now for Dexter's bin. (Yeah I named him Dexter, aka Dex.) The lid cracked when I drilled the holes. Zoey loves sitting on this one because she can watch him through the top. The bin is on top of Tucker's crate at the foot of my bed.

The inside of his bin. They like to chew on toilet paper rolls. Since this pic he has made a nest under the water bottle and in the wooden house.

So yeah, there ya go. =) There are alot nicer cages than this. Some people use tanks or bins and add them together and put all sorts of cool stuff in there. This is pretty simple, but satisfactory to a hamster. I think.

Now I must go continue school. Blech.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

New Addition To Zoo (Needs Name)

Yes, I have another hamster. But... it wasn't planned! Honestly, it was an unexpected addition to the zoo.

See, Sassafras is virtually untamable. I don't know what it is, but she is a very rare hamster. She is Syrian, beautiful, but she will bite repeatedly when intruded upon and chew my fingers bloody raw. She will not give my hands a chance, she merely bites when I offer her it to smell. What a darling. Here is a pic:





So Tuesday, Mama and I went to town. I was only considering getting another hamster, within the next couple months or so. And I was just gonna go in and see if they had the right wheel size, honest!!

Now in petstores, they label hamsters with fake names just to get money. "Black Bear" hamsters, are merely black shorthair Syrians. "Teddy Bear" hamsters, are golden shorthair Syrians. "Fancy Hamsters", are shorthair Syrians of various colors. "Longhair Fancy Hamsters", are longhair Syrians, various colors. Then there are dwarves, but they are easily distinguished from the Syrians. Anyways.

In the little box labeled "Longhair Fancy Hamsters", was a little dark brown fella and he was so cute I think my heart stopped. Back out to the truck I went, starstruck... Into WalMart we went for groceries. I emerged with... a bin.

The best cages for hamsters, in my opinion, are bins. Just a simple Rubbermaid, Sterilite, etc. bin- very large, mind you. Then you can drill holes in the lid for ventilation, and a hole to accompany the water bottle. It's very clever as they are light, easy to clean, and roomy. The plastic tubey kind of cages are unsafe and crowded, wire cages are okay but usually too small, aquariums/tanks are great except they are heavy and expensive. I like the bin cages.

Back to PetCo we went. I asked the "hamster guy" who came up, if I could handle the hamster, explaining that my previous purchase was... faulty. The answer was 'yes'. =D

He explained that they tried to handle the hamsters 10-15 minutes a day, but these had just arrived the day before and hadn't been handled much. Now there was a little banded cream (cream colored with a white band around the middle) in with the brown, that I hadn't seen before. (They are nocturnal, you see, and sleep most of the day.) He was definitely a cutie. The 'hamster guy' said the brown always just hid and was shy and a little fiesty, while the the cream was nicer and a bit more friendly. Well, I wasn't taking my chances on another Sassafras, so he caught the banded cream for me, and let me hold it.

During the transfer from his hands to mine, the little guy jumped, and, well... kinda did a flying-saucer leap through the air and landed with a little plop! on the floor. The guy just scooped him right up, checked him, and this time the transfer was complete. He was soooo soft and I was so excited, because after over a year of having Sassy, I could never hold her. He sniffed my thumb and bit it once, but that's okay because first of all he had been awoken from his peaceful slumber, and when you do that you are almost asking for a bite. Plus, he wasn't being mean about it at all. We humans see something, then touch it, to check it out. (Unless it's a snake or some such thing.) Well hamsters have bad eyesight, so they smell, then taste it. It drew blood but I didn't really care.

So into the box he went and I gathered up my supplies. A wooden house, wheel, ball, water bottle, and food dish. And home we went with a new critter!

At home I set him up, drilled the holes, and he was home! I tried offering him my hand, but he won't come to it, and he won't take treats. =\ Oh, well, he's still settling in. He lets me pet him fine, and I think tonight I'll try to hold him. =)

He also needs a name. I am thinking about Dexter, Sammy & Sonny. I really like D'artagnan and Muskogee but neither fit him. Any ideas?

Ya'll ready for some pictures?!?!

First pic I took, I think it's the best too. Yes, he is sitting in his food dish. Just look at that face!

By his house. It was hard to take pics, he kept scurrying out of the picture. =P

Getting a drink. A little blurry.

In his wheel. He runs on it like a mad-ham!

Water spout's in the way, but it's still really cute.

So there ya go, my newest addition. I'll let ya'll know how taming goes. Hopefully he won't eat me alive like Sassafras. Gee, my first ham had to be so evil... Most people get sweet and cuddly. I got the rotten rat. The ungrateful, evil, full-of-attitude, vicious rat.

I guess Mama could say the same thing about me.

In His Grip, Ranch Kiddo

Monday, April 14, 2008

Extra Crunchy Peanut-Butter & The 5 Missing Somethings

Algebra.

The very word sends horror and dread seeping through my body. Just begin to speak of factoring binomials or adding variables in fraction form using the distributive property and watch my eyes glaze over and my body begin to sag with boredom.

Today... we had to go over algebra. Meaning, we must grade the papers. And I will admit I have a insy-winsy, teeny-tiny issue asking for... well, help. If I don't completely undertstand a concept I just... well... skip the problem. I'm working on it!! But anyway yeah. It was absolute horror. Torture. Agony.

But there is a strange thing with Mama and I when we sit down for one, two sometimes three hours to grade algebra. I don't what it is, but we get into giggling fits and we say the most ridiculous things that just... well they simply don't make sense. Now we often say things that dont make sense at all... But I mean really it gets quite ridiculous. And we seem to lose quite a few brain cells over the ordeal, which is quite a terrifying ordeal seeing as we don't have enough to start with!

Take for instance, the "negative one" situation. There was a problem that was -1, with -1 as an exponent. So I asked her if it would be negative one (because at this point I just couldn't do math as simple as this) and her reply went like... "Well it's negative one... multiplied by negative one... with a negative one... which would make it a negative one."

Did I mention multiplying? No! It was terrible really. And there was a word problem that went something like...

Travis peeked around the corner and saw 140.This was 65% more than Eric saw- how many did Eric see?

Now that is not the exact problem but I don't feel like getting out the book and copying it out. Anyway the answer was 275. Well I came up with 270. "Well where did the other 5 go?" I asked, scanning my work for a mistake, searching for the missing numbers.

I mean honestly. We can't have 5 missing... somethings. It didn't say what they were it was just... somethings. but they were missing.

While I searched vigorously for the 5 missing somethings, Mama said... "Well the other 5 must be around the other corner."

Oh dear.

So at the end of our grading session I was quite certain I could not stand for my mother to be my teacher another semester. It's just not a healthy relationship between woman and child, especially in the teenage years. These are very delicate years of my life, you see.

So we went online where we are seriously considering enrolling me in Texas Tech. They have online classes for highschoolers and that may be a good option for me. I'm gonna be praying about it I think it would be pretty cool. And alot less stressful on both me and Mama!!

So yes. Anyway. While we were struggling through problem after problem of arithmetic, I was becoming quite agitated and when I become distressed so, I... well I eat. So with a spoon and a jar of extra crunchy peanut-butter, we fought our way through four lessons. There are 18 more waiting to be graded, not including tests. Oh my.

Peanut butter is my main comfort food. There is also chocolate, homemade tortillas, and others. But peanut butter is my best friend of the food category. I love it on peanut-butter banana sandwiches, plain bananas, apples, tortillas, cheerios, it's really delicious with a variety of foods. Peanut butter cookies are utterly tasty, and chocolate chips added to the dough makes them even more irresistable.

Okay. Enough of algebra and peanut butter. I must now go and... well I don't know. I would like to continue my research on laptops (just looking Mama) but I have been told my computer time has passed. So away I go. Have a fantastic evening!!

In His Grip,
Ranch Kiddo

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Nice Warm (Albeit Dry) Days & Kittens

It did not rain, it is not overcast, there is no prediction of a storm. Today is just a nice, warm, sunny day with a light breeze (and yes one of those dadgummed blue skies) but I choose not to complain, and to enjoy it for what it is. Because it ain't changing anytime soon. And I can learn to live with that. Lord knows how we would all love a good rain and I swear to you I will dance in it when it comes. But until then I shall relish in warm sunshine and lay beneath blue skies and pray for Him to keep our ranch safe from fires.

So seeing as I'm motivated to be a person of such optimistic character, I will not complain of what I set out to complain about in today's post. No siree, I shall not entertain (or bore) you in such a manner as to even mention the previously set subject for today. For what do I have to complain about? I mean sure, anybody can find things to complain about, but the good far outweighs the bad. People are far worse off than I am- so I shall only speak of positive things this afternoon. Things like...

Baby kittens!! I have been suspicious of the fact that Bobbie had her kittens for a while now, and sure enough. In the hay barn, in a gap between the bales, there are 3 baby kitties, about 2 weeks old. A black, a smokey grey, and a white. That is right, solid white but I think the ears are gonna be orange. Not sure of the genders yet. We have 3 more litters on the way, that we know of, I have no doubt atleast one or two of the wild cats are pregnant as well.

Up until we moved up here, I thought baby kitties just naturally smelled like hay. That they just popped outta there smelling like hay. Down on our ranch in Texas, the only sensible place to have kitties were in the hay barn, and that's where they all were, and they always smelled like alfalfa. On more than one occasion the mamas would put their babes together and nurse all of them, babysit all of them, and take turns. I was obsessed with the kitties when they came. Those poor critters weren't sure who was their mama, that cat or me. Tyler and I would build little forts out of bales and flakes of hay, and then I would find pipe and put it in the little playpens for them to crawl through. Believe it or not, they loved it! We would tie strings from sacks of cubes to cow cake and hang them or drag them... We obsessed with the kittens. But they are honestly too cute to not obsess over, they are just adorable. Sara, Marquita, Joshua, I know you don't like cats, but these kittens are irresistable, just one look at them and your heart just melts.

I can't wait for Jenny, Gracie and GK to have their babes! Land's sakes, they are just stuffed it's a wonder their bellies don't just pop open and let those critters out. There has to be atleast 5 in there! Both Jenny & Gracie, poor things. I wonder if cats get stretch marks? If so, these two are in for it, I have never seen Jenny so heavy with putty-tats. My, my... Hussie cats... You wouldn't of gotten knocked up if you'd just avoided that black stranger that prowls the ranch, tsk tsk... Now we have to find homes for all these babies! Anybody interested??

We'll almost pay you to take them. Please. I'm begging you. This is a cattle ranch, not a cat ranch. Honestly you can't walk outside without being greeted by 5 or 6 of the beasts and Huckleberry will follow you out as far as you will walk. All around headquarters, they swarm our feet... Please... Save us! Take pity, have a heart!

No pictures today of the ferocious, but extremely adorable, critters, but next time I promise I'll try to have some. You'll survive won't you? I think so.

Well I'm out. Maybe I'll go... read... or chill to my iPod... or call up a friend or some such thing. Until next time... Adios!

In His Grip,
Ranch Kiddo

Saturday, April 12, 2008

2 Teenage Girls Trampled By Mares At Local Horse Sale

^^I can see it in the headlines now!^^

(Just keep reading.)

Today was funnz. =D It was the spring horse sale!! The local sale barn has cattle sales every Monday, and horse sales four times a year. Well the spring sale was Friday and today.

Horse sales are real fun for me- tons of people we know we get to meet up with and chat with there. It's awesome, haha I can't hardly take three steps without going, "oh hey, I know what person". It's pretty cool. =)

So at 6:30 we were out loading horses. We sold 6 today. 2 mares- a palomino and a bay, that were givin fillies I think it was. 2 fillies- a 2 year old and a yearling, just not interested in them personally for brood mares. Jose- a chestnut ranch horse, who has a suspensary ligament injury and is probably permanently lame. And Mitch. Mitch is a big stout feller, gentle, handles real fair, but gets sore in the left front when ridden too hard. Well the way we need to ride horses out here on the ranch, he just wouldn't do, so we had to sell him. =(

I was pretty heartbroken because I have a love-hate relationship with horse sales. Today was the "junk horse" sale. On Friday, they have the catalog sale, and you have to pay a certain fee to get your horse in the catalog, which has a short description as well as the bloodlines. The stuff people don't want to pay to get in the catalog, sells on Saturday, and is usually junk although a few good horses go through there.

It's a sad deal, because they are shutting down the kill shelters. Now I know this is a very touchy subject. I jsut think that only the permanently injured horses should be humanely put down (meaning the kill shelters should have better conditions) and that people need to feed their animals and take care of them properly. But nope we have too many idiots running around the place for that. Jerks. Which is the sad part. But I won't dwell on that.

I just hung around a little while after getting the horses unloaded and in the pens and the paperwork and Coggins and everything worked out, then Sara showed up and I hung around with her. Then we went and caught Mitch and I got to ride him through the ring. =D We had several people asking about him, and they all seemed like pretty decent people. I was praying really hard (silently of course haha) that the Lord could let him go to somebody who took care of their animals and had a good heart and would care for Mitch properly. He had never been in town or around so much excitement, so he was pretty excited. Once he kinda rammed my leg against the fence... Uh yeah it's kinda sore. I'll live. Anyway, in the ring he was good. We made some nice sharp turns and he went for $1325 which is great!! After he sold I went and got Jose and as I was standing in the alley waiting my turn in the ring, a lady walked up to me and started asking me about Mitch. Turned out she had bought him and was wanting some information on him.

The Lord is good! She wanted to use him for trail riding and pleasure riding, needed him to be gentle, but he wouldn't be ridden hard or super often. A perfect home for Mitch! =)

Anyway, then Sara and I led the fillies through. I led the yearling and she led the 2 year old. The yearling was giving me heck, running into me, sometimes snapping at me, walking all over me, and freaking out. Of course I can't blame her; she's young and all that stuff was just overwhelming. So in the ring I just kinda turned her around a few times then turned her loose. Sara did the same. Then came the mares.

Ohhhh joy.

We had to tie them up with halters in the pen, because that dadgummed palomino mare will kick the snot outta anything she can. Sara had the palomino mare and was leading her behind me, meaning I of course had the bay. Well up the winding alley we went... The alley was closed off by a gate, and right by the gate was a gelding, me thinks, tied to the fence. A guy was standing there and said, "Oh he's alright, he won't do nothing to bother you." I was thinking, "Well he might not kick, but that mare does for sure." Sure enough, I walked by the gelding to open the gate, and the palomino kinda freaked out and pinned her ears at the gelding then whirled to kick him. The bay got spooked of course and kicked and pinned her ears and I just ran into the corner about to jump the fence because I was about to get kicked or bitten by one of the three somehow. But then it all calmed down and I rammed that latch open so hard and man was I glad to be outta there! That was danged near an accident, Sara and I were both kinda spooked, man... Whooee.

And then standing right there in line, there was a young stallion (Arabian it seemed) in a pen. And right across the fence were a bunch of mares. What idiot did that?! You don't put a stallion right by a bunch of mares, especially when a couple of 'em are in heat. As you can imagine that stallion was goin kinda wild and my mare was getting a wee bit excited herself.

But we survived. Barely. Ole bay gal did step on my foot. Coulda been worse. Aren't'cha glad I survived to tell the tale? I bet. Accidents happen all the time at that sale barn. A couple weeks ago Dave got bucked off recieving a concussion and a some stitches to the back of his head. 2 days before that, Sterling got it too and impaled his leg on the fence, then that got infected. See? Happens all the time. But we is safe. We is sound. We is not in the newspaper.

Nothing too exciting happened with the exception of those mares. Sara and I had a Dr. Pepper and a package of mini chocolate donuts for breakfast. =D Then we had a cheeseburger and fries for lunch... Yeah it wasn't that exciting. I still had fun though =D I saw Dave, Dickie, Shana, Brett, the Pierce boys, Mike, Clay, just alot of people we know. So that was cool...

But today the shooting sports team also came out to shoot. Well I went to the horsesale instead, but it's okay because the range is still set up here and I can shoot plenty of times just whenever. But Brett had bought a horse and since he lives only about 10 miles from us, we just loaded up the horse and went to his place with his wife, stepson, and we met Mama on the highway and took her too. We were there a little over an hour, and came back home. Well Mama had left the ranch Chevy at the cattleguard (she had to get to the highway somehow) so I jumped in it. It's a stick shift so it's fun to drive. =D Well I thought the team was still at the rang up at the big shop, so I high tailed it up there to find... Nobody. Hmmm. Niiiice. So back down it was and everybody was about to leave.

Well anyway they did and now I'm sitting here eating carrots with Ranch dressing and... writing this out. Not a very interesting post just kinda typing out whatever comes to me. Well, I better git then. Still need names for the birdie!! I shall now bit adieu and stop snacking and go eat lunch. Au revoir!!

In His Grip,
Ranch Kiddo

Friday, April 11, 2008

Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! [Name Da Birdie!]

Hey just wanted to let ya'll know I finally found a good blog template site. They don't have cowboy, western, or Christian themes but they have pretty good ones. Well I take that back. They had one cowboy template. I helped Mama set up hers and put that template on it, and helped her set up a playlist and stuff. Her blog needed a makeover. ;-) Pyzam (www.pyzam.com) has some pretty good ones but nothing that I really loved.

The sight is called Final Sense. Just visit the link below, and choose from the categories on the left side bar. When you want to see one, just click on the picture. When you want the code, just click on "More Details". A page comes up, and you copy the code. Then just go to "Customize" on your blog (or from your dashbord, "Layout"), then "Edit HTML", and replace the code with your old one. =) They have a really cool one called Sunset with birds that fly around in the header that is just super cool.

I, of course, found my template on there. I like it because it's light and simple.

By the way, my birdie needs a name. Lol he just does! Any ideas? All suggestions welcome!!

Anyway, just thought I'd share, in case somebody was lookin for an update on their blog. =)

http://www.finalsense.com/services/blog_templates/march2008_templates.htm

Dreaming Of Rain...

I dreamed of rain last night. Best dream I've had in a long time. The sky was dark and thick with rain clouds, and the rain just came pouring down in buckets. You could hear it on the windowpanes, see the puddles and mini-streams building on the ground. Lightning flashed behind the thunderheads and the electricity was out in the house. We all stood at the doorway, jumping with joy as the rain came down...

But then I woke up. And what did I see when I looked out the window? Dust being lifted into the air and billowed around and carried away. The tree limbs and leaves swaying and being brutally bounced about by the gusts. The ground, dry and hard and thirsty. And the sky? Clear and blue as can be.

People sing songs and write poems and paint pictures of blue skies. Ugh. Nice, warm sunny days with a cool breeze and blue skies are nice sometimes, but the breeze is just a bit strong for this day to bring much pleasure. And I prefer my stormy skies anyway, especially when we haven't had any moisture for so long. I'm sure if I lived in Seattle or something where it rains all the time, I would get sick of it.

I feel for those poor people who can never enjoy the rain, because it brings such pleasure. There is no bette feeling then when the rain comes after a long drougth. Those people can never feel the relief of the long-awaited moisture, can never feel as if they were the dry, thirsty ground sucking up the water.

I feel bad complaining. But really, more than anything, right now, I just want rain. We were spoiled last year- we had so many storms and showers it was unbelievable. For most of the year, we didn't go 2 weeks without rain. It was unbelievable and such a blessing.

As my Mama puts it, "the good Lord is reminding us that we live in the desert". I guess that's true. We live in the dry NM desert, and it's home, and it's a good home with an abundance of the Lord's blessings. One of them is not alot of rain. But it all evens out. The rain will come, eventually. The longer we wait, the better it will be when it comes.There is nothing like the mood of a storm. When the electricity goes out, and the thunder rolls over the flats, and the lightning flashes on the horizon.

I can just see it now... Me, curled up on my bed with a multitude of flannel quilts and fleece blankets and pillows, my battery-powered lamp lighting the printed words of a good mystery novel, the cat curled next to me, asleep and purring, the dog snoring contentedly, the house silenced of all electrical appliances.

My shooting sports coach, Hugh, puts us Senior shooters through a "Headgames" clinic. In part of it, he makes us do a breathing technique, feel our pulse, and go to our "happy place" to help us relax.I think what I just described, is my new happy place. =)

Ahhhh. Like I said... the longer the wait, the better we'll feel. The Lord will provide, He always has and always will. The rain will come in His timing, and when it comes, it will be perfect. But in His timing. Not mine. I want the rain now... But the timing isn't right. God made the rain, He dang sure knows when it's supposed to come. As it says in Ecclesiastes 3:11...

"He has made everything beautiful in it's time."

Everything. Including the rain. No... especially the rain.

In His Grip,
Ranch Kiddo

Thursday, April 10, 2008

I Hate Shinnery. (Stupid Shinnery)

Found a new template. =D Not sure how much I like this one, it'll probably change soon. Still looking for a cowboy/western/Christian one though.

Spring has arrived, the 3 Spring Things have proven it. There are 3 things to help you know (if you're in our little corner of the world) if it's spring. You always know it's spring when...

#1) Baby everything (antelope fawns, calves, colts) begin to appear
#2) The wind begins to blow relentlessly
#3) The shinnery buds

What is shinnery? Well it's this little plant that causes us ranchers quite a bit of trouble. In the spring when it buds out, it's poisonous. Those little buds are very tender and tasty, and the cattle love to dine on them. If eaten in small quanitities, along with grass and other feed, it's rather harmless; but in pastures with a large amount of shinry, the cattle are in danger of... well... perishing. =P After it's done budding, it's fine, in fact makes fair feed for the cattle. But until then, we gotta keep them off that little plant.

So this morning I got up early, saddled up, ate breakfast (thank you Mommy) and off we went to save some critters!

When I first woke up (5:30 am), the wind was blowing.

It is now 3:00 pm.

The wind has not stopped, not at all.

If your just trottin across the pasture with not much to do, the wind really annoys you and you find yourself in a miserable mood fervently wishing you were elsewhere. Anywhere but out in the pasture with the stupid wind slapping at your face.But when there are cattle to gather, keep together, herd somewhere, and keep from runnin' off, well the wind isn't entirely ignored, but it doesn't seem such a prominent annoyance. But like I said, it's still a pain in the butt.

First we gathered North Adobe pasture, the cattle were pretty good, everything went well there. It's a gigantic pasture, but all the cattle were in 2 areas so it was all good. The trouble began when we moved them into a little trap. We took 'em on down the road, to put them in Silmon. Well the wind was blowing so darn bad, and I was downwind of them cattle... you can imagine how I suffered. I could not see a durned thing half the time, only dirt, that is all.

Well I was ridin' along wishing I could see, when the wind died down for a moment; when I glanced back, there was a calf that had kinda halted and Clint, who was riding drag, went to turn him. Well as soon as I turned to help, that calf bolted, and we were off to the races!!

Another difference between joy riding and chasing after wild bovines. When you are just riding, you are more concerned about the brush and holes and such, and you try to avoid them and choose the best path possible. When you have a calf runnin' off on ya, you just don't give a darn. Neither did Wyatt; we jumped some brush, but alot of it my good ole boy just plowed right through; he has alot of cow in him and he was pretty focused on that calf. One of us would get in front of him, and that calf would just stop and turn and off again in antoher direction, there was no getting in front of him either really. Those calves are too small to really stop, not like a cow.

Well we got down by one of the rigs and a water tank.... and... haha I'm sorry, Clint, it was amusing to watch. He was riding this one colt Phil, who has a.... problem. Everytime Clint rides him, this horse is a pain in the butt until he bucks, then he is just a great ole fellow. It's weird, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. So anyway, Clint was at a dead run ya'll, and this horse goes to pitchin a little. Now I've seen this horse really pitch, and Clint ended up on the ground, but he rode him a good while, and this little horse can really buck now. But he was just crowhoppin and bucking lightly. (All this I was observing while at a dead run as well, still trying to turn that stupid calf.) Well Clint had enough of that, so he got down his rope (amazes me how he can do that in such a position) and went to poppin that horse a little. Well the calf turned now, so off I went. The calf headed down the road, and I just loped a little behind him, and he headed right back to that herd. Every now and then I would glance back and see that horse by the dirt tank rearin and pitchin a little and Clint and him were just about goin to war. Well anyway...

So we resumed our journey down the road, Clint eventually returned. Well I was riding the side of the herd, kinda the flank of the herd I guess, and Clint was drag like I mentioned. Well he veered off to the side a little to turn some cows, leaving the drag open. By the time I saw that calf, I was already too late. (Different calf this time though.)

Just in case your wondering, there is a reason these calves bolt out. In the midst of moving cattle, they lose their mommas. So they think those momma cows are somewhere back where they came from, so they would like to go find them. When really the cows are- ugh stupid calves.

So yeah this one wasn't running too hard but I couldn't get him turned back for the life of me, it's a wonder that first one went back. I had to leave him. When we got to Silmon, we (Clint, Grandpa and I) held the herd at the dirt tank while Daddy went back to get the calf. (I was feeling extremely low and guilty by now.) He was gone a while, so Clint went after him, and before long they had the calf back at the herd and all was well.

But now... another pasture must be cleared of cattle due to shinnery. Oh how I was hating shinnery by now. Sardine Lake (we have a mountain, more like a HILL, called Sardine, thus the name of the lake) bordered North Adobe and the trap. This pasture not only had shinry, but some cranky cows. Daddy warned us that they are "trotty" (cowboy term of course) unless you were able to get a good hold of them first, then they were fine. So the key to this gather was, get all of 'em together, and hold 'em up, then move the girls outta the place.

Clint and Daddy headed off down the fence to make a weltie around the lake (dry lake might I add) and a dirt tank, where we would hold the cattle. Grandpa and I trotted on to the South of the dry lake/dirt tank, opposite side of Clint and Daddy. It wasn't long before we saw them move in on the cattle (they were all right there thank goodness) and point them towards the dirt tank. Then Grandpa and I moved in and took one side each of the dirt tank, same as Clint and Daddy. The worst trouble we had was 2 calves who got out on Daddy, but he easily got them back in, luckily. Then we moved them out and they were just dandy. Mission accomplished!

Do you think those ornery critters, any of them, thanked us for working in the cruel wind that stunk our faces, to save their darned hides? No!!! They did not! Sorry, ungrateful.... Aww heck whatever, it's done. Whew!

May is going to be a busy month, just thinking about it.

May 3rd & 4th: State Shooting Sports
May 5th: I GET MY BRACES OFF!!! WOOHOO!!!
May 12th: Spring Works Start =D

Okay. Anyway. I shall leave you with another LOL Cat and a little bumper sticker thingy...




Despite the wind, I hope you had a good day!! God bless ya'll!!

In His Grip, Ranch Kiddo

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Short Post

This is going to be quite short, I will warn you. I really don't have anything to discuss. Hmmm. But I figured I had better jot down something before I fell behind and was called a slacker again. I am not a slacker, just so you know. Phoo on you J- uh, I mean, person-who-emailed-me-and-called-me-a-slacker. -glares-

I would really really love to ride. But the wind is blowing and is terribly strong, resulting in a miserable ride. My horse is such a dunce in the wind, it's not riding into it that bothers him, he just acts so strange. It's like if you messed up the wiring in a car. Instead of going when you hit the gas, it would turn. Or if you turned the steering wheel, it would stop and back crooked. Well this sounds silly. But it's true. This will make no sense to somebody else though so I will shush.

Oh, I have been looking for a good MySpace template, and a good Blogger template. Western/Cowboy/Ranch/Christian type layout. I have Googled it so much and just can't find anything that really works. If you are bored and wish to amuse yourself, or simply relieve a frustrated soul, feel free to begin the search. Please leave me a comment or email me if you have any good results =)

Just because there is nothing to talk about really, I will just put random little things in here. Like my current favorite song. =)Take You Back, Jeremy Camp. I love Jeremy Camp. He is my current addiction, my obsession. All of his songs just hit me right in the heart and this one made me cry the other day, and I'm not sure why. I just turn up my iPod and close my eyes and just hear his amazing voice and it's just so powerful. Ahhhh this song... other good songs by Jeremy are Take My Life, Give Me Jesus, Worthy Of My Praise, In Your Presence, Restored, among others.I could go on and on and on and on about really good artists and songs, but I'll stop there.

And for your amusement... LOL Cats!!! If you don't know what they are, they are just pictures of cats caught in funny and/or unique moments, with captions. =D They crack me up. I'll just drop a few this time rather than song lyrics, quote, or Scripture like usual. Just for giggles. Hope they make you laugh! They never fail to do so for me. (I have an entire folder of them on My Pictures and my iPod!)


In His Grip,

Caitlin

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Blog Nutrient Deficient

I recieved a... notification... from a certain... Slacker Outlaw... who accused me of being a slacker. I, am not a slacker, thank you very much, Slacker Outlaw!! First you torture Sara, then me. -gasp- My goodness, when will the madness stop?!

Well, it has been 2 weeks. I apologize. I'm sure you are so devestated. Yes, I know. Dearest readers, I am deeply and sincerely apologetic. Unfortunately, I cannot devote my life to the computer.

Also... you kind of have to be in the bloggy mood to blog. Personally, atleast, I believe so. I have never written a blog post out of blog mood. I have plenty of drafts, but they just don't come together. It's just mandatory to be in the bloggy mood.

I recently had a blood test run and I am blog nutrient deficient. Blog nutrients are found solely in ice cream, chocolate, cookies, etc. I will devote my meals to foods that contain these neccessary contents especially for my blog readers. They shall cram these detestable products down my throat... for the sake of your entertainment.

I hope you're happy.

I could write about the shooting sports team coming out, or about my shooting shotgun today, but that would require I go into a small amount of detail, and seeing as it is 10:00 pm on the dot, I would rather not do that.

I in fact, am rather inclined to head for my warm cozy bed. But I had to post for the sake of your well-being, Slacker Outlaw. I am, after all, such an incredibly considerate person.

Seeing as I am so concerned about my readers, who have been so crudely deprived of my lovely posts, I shall atleast include some pleasant add-ons. The following 2 photos are of a sunset that took place... two nights ago I do believe. Same night my mother took the splendid horse photgraphs. I am nowhere near the photographer she is, and my camera is rather... well amateur compared to hers, but I am not quite as passionate about the art as she is. More as a sort of hobby. =) Here you are:



I shall also be so kind as to include a nice little quote. It goes hand in hand with the sunset pictures, I do believe.

"Only in the dark can you see the stars."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

A splendid phrase, if you were to ask me. Only after the sun went down, could I take those pictures. The most beautiful time of day, occurs when the sun has disappeared and only a small trace is left. And the stars, oh the stars!! They are superb beyond words. The stars.... I could admire them forever. If you ever feel far from Christ, just look at the stars. And remember- when things aren't at their best, when the big good things, like a good job, nice income, great relationship status, nice house, etc., aren't present... is when you can appreciate, and see only then, the small things. Like the dew on the grass, or a rose freshly budded, or the bird singing it's song as it perches upon... well a perch. Of some sort. The "big" things overwhelm the small things, so we don't notice them. Only when the big light(s) {the sun} is snuffed out, can we see the little lights {the stars}, that are every bit as bright if not more so.

But with this short post, drenched with sincere guilt, I must bid adieu. Good night my dearest friends and on my word, I shall do my absolute best to type out a hideously long post tomorrow. (Seeing as I have a cat in my lap trapping one arm, that would be rather difficult as of this moment.)

In His Grip,
Ranch Kiddo