Cowboy Up!

We had a fun time out at the ranch today.  After having a lively breakfast, horseback riding was the scheduled event.  The star of course was Rowan!

Our favorite little nephew dude dragged his parents and his Grandma up to visit Aunty Julie, Uncle Mike and Papa Bill.  He was sporting his brand new cowboy boots and told them he just had to go on the long drive to see us.  We weren't fooled though, he really came to see the horses, the chickens and Adolph the dog!  We're all aware of our place in line :)  I think the tractor we call "Greenie" has also moved ahead of us..

Rowan was all dressed up for the occasion

-Uncle Mike, not so much

Rowan on Hailey, Uncle Mike on Ace

"Tickle, tickle Hailey!"

Rowan showing Papa Bill how to drive "Greenie"

He's a natural farmer!

It was a fun way to spend a sunny morning with loved ones who don't live close enough to see as much as we'd like.  We're already looking forward to Ro's next foray into cowboying.  Look out Hailey!

Christmas Shopping in July

I am one of those people who like to have their Christmas shopping done by, oh say Halloween?  I hate the last minute rushing during the holidays.  It drives me nuts.  I want to be able to enjoy myself (and let's be honest, buy things for myself since I'm not having to shop for others at this time of year...)  Hello sales!

So I have been spending a lot of time shopping creatively online lately.  Being home with Mom makes it hard for me to run around and find the things that I want for my family and friends. 

Today I'm looking at knives on a neat site I just found called The Knife Depot.  Mr. MoonCat and Dad are both most likely going to end up with something sharp and pointy in their stockings.  ~ Good thing neither of them pays much attention to what I write on a daily basis.  If you are on here today, you're getting sticks...sharp and pointy sticks..

For Mr. MoonCat, I'm looking at a folding knife like this one:

Pops is probably going to get a pocket knife similar to the one below:

 

 

Mrs. MoonCat is most likely going to get this beauty:

  

The handle is made of 100% post consumer "Paperstone".  Practical and pretty - I must have it. :)  See how easy it is to get off track when shopping for gifts for others.  But in my defense...today's my birthday.  So look to the right to see what I'm getting myself.....he he

 * A little vocabulary lesson ~ I do enjoy words after all: 

• knives is the plural of knife
• knifes is the act of stabbing or knifing someone

Just so you know....

  

I'm a Member of the Country Club

My friends sometimes forget that I grew up on a ranch and that I was raised listening to Country Music.  I'm talking about the likes of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon & Willie, and other legends.  My parents like to forget that I have also always been a rocker at heart as I was also a major fan of  KISS, AC/DC, Metallica, and many others that annoyed Mom & Dad.  I still go to rock concerts (allbeit old bands that are from the 70s & 80s) whenever I get the chance - and especially if the tickets are free or really, really cheap..

Travis Tritt is one of those artists who is the best of both worlds to me.  He is a Country Music star who knows how to rock!  I have been a fan of his since the late 80s when I first saw him in concert.  I thought he was a real cutie (a short one, but a cutie!).   He had lots of great music videos that told wonderful stories that really stuck with you.  My #1 song on my list below has a heart-wrenching video that I always envision when I hear the beautiful song. 

The reason I'm going on about Mr. Travis Tritt is that we got to go see him in concert this past Friday night.  I received four free tickets from the local casino where he was playing.  I went with Hubby, Dad & a family friend.  The Ant stayed with Mom for the evening so we could have a great night out (love ya lots Auntie!). 

We had such a nice time!  The music was fantastic.  They played for just over two hours straight.  I think one of our favorite parts was when the band took a break and Travis stayed out "unplugged" and sang by himself while playing his guitar.  He was solo for about 20 minutes or so and it was awesome. 

I was laughing at Dad because he never remembers who sings what songs on the radio.  I kept telling him he'd probably recognize most of the tunes and he didn't believe me (or anyone else who told him the same thing).  When we were eating dinner after the concert he told us he was amazed that he knew most of the songs!  He really enjoyed himself and so did we.  It was wonderful for Mr. MoonCat and I to have an evening out of the house.   

(My) Top Ten Travis Tritt Tunes

10.   Here's A Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)

09.   Country Club

08.   Help Me Hold On

07.   Anymore

06.   Ten Feet Tall & Bulletproof

05.   T-R-O-U-B-L-E

04.   Take It Easy

03.   Foolish Pride
02.   I'm Gonna Be Somebody
01.  Tell Me I Was Dreaming

Still A Cutie!!!

Photos are from http://www.gactv.com/

Merry Christmas

Nothing really exciting to share today, I just wanted to get in my Christmas tidings to all of my beloved readers before we get swamped tomorrow. I hope you all have lovely memory-making with your families and dear ones. Cherish the time together.

We have a really busy schedule ahead of us as Hubby & I are going to my other Mom & Pop's house (my best friend's parents) for an early Christmas lunch/dinner on Christmas Eve. That is after I meet Dad for breakfast and help him do his shopping. He cracks me up because he always Bah-Humbugs until the night before and then suddenly wants to get gifts. I should be more prepared for his un-Scrooging by now, but oh well... Then on actual Christmas Eve, Dad is going with us to hang out with Mom at the hospital for a bit. She's feeling a bit better, but still can't come home. Please keep her in your prayers. We all appreciate the warm thoughts.

Christmas Day is still up in the air. We're invited with Dad to our friend's house for what will be a fun and yummy dinner. I just don't like the idea of Mom sitting there by herself at the hospital too long on this particular holiday so I may just send Dad and the Hubby and go hang with Mom. We can watch A Christmas Story over and over again. (Love that movie!) Fortunately, the food at the hospital is pretty tasty so we won't be deprived anyway. I will probably have to sneak her one of my cookies in anyway, but we won't mention that to Nursey-poo...

Well, I'd love to leave you with photos of our lovely decorated home, but #1 - it's not really decorated, and #2 - I have no clue where my camera is! I did decorate Mom's hospital room though, so I hope that counts?

Merry Christmas my lovelies and I will be back in a few days, fatter & probably not much wiser!

Dad turns 70

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Anyone that's met my Dad knows that he is a no-fuss, no frills kind of guy. He's an old time, real cowboy (crotchety) that was born in the wrong century. He's also gruff with a tough exterior that hides a big marshmallow center. He is a supreme animal lover with that vibe that makes most animals instantly adore him. He would do anything for those of that he loves and is loved by many. He doesn't like technology and would be happy up on a ranch in the middle of nowhere with his animals and a few, select people (I'm right there with him on that part, but I do love some of the technology.)

Anyway, throwing a party for him is like pulling teeth. He didn't want one, threatened not to be there, said he'd disown me, etc. I, of course, threatened to disown him right back or handcuff him to the barn if he didn't let me have my way and have a celebration. I finally reached a compromise with him. Since we're still having sorting practices on Sundays at the ranch, I asked him if we could combine a BBQ in with the practice since many of the same people would be there anyway. He relented, still grumbling, but did say OK.

It was obviously a meant t0 be thing as the weather was PERFECT. We have never had perfect weather on Dad's birthday. It's always been cold, raining, foggy, etc. so we couldn't plan an outside party or anything out of town. It was a beautiful sunny day with lovely warm temperatures. Almost everyone I invited made it and the food was terrific (I'm not bragging on myself, lots of side dishes were brought by the 40+ guests, yum.) Daddy had a lot of fun once he relaxed and let himself enjoy all of the people there to celebrate his day with him. He topped it off by winning the sorting jackpot at the end of the day.

Although I was very pleased with the day, I was a dummy and didn't take any pictures. I'm hoping one of our friends will share her photos. So for now, these are some pix of Dad from my wedding last year and a few others. I love you Daddy, Happy 70th!

Loooong Weekend

I hope everyone had a fun and safe weekend. Ours was eventful and rather tiring, but good.

I posted last about our plans to go to the team penning in Templeton on Saturday. After getting up about 4, we were hooking up the trailer at the ranch only to find that we had no trailer lights - not a good sign and we should have taken the hint! They had worked fine the last time we pulled it a few weeks ago, but not this morning. As usual in our little podunk town, nothing was open and wouldn't be til probably about 9am. Needless to say, our early departure with plenty of cushion built in was delayed until about 6:30 when it was light enough to try to get down the road to the truck stop so we could find our parts.

No parts at the truck stop, so on we went, full daylight by now. It wasn't quite as nerve-wracking, but I was still driving very cautiously. Besides Dad, Michael, and I, we had Cinderfella and Dad's dog Adolph along for the ride.

About 8:30 Dad receives a return call on the cell from one of his partners. Dad had called her earlier to leave a message that we were going to be cutting it close getting there on time. Well...get ready for this....the team penning was on Sunday - NOT TODAY!!!

I just pulled the rig over and started laughing. I think Dad was afraid I'd lost my mind. Michael was oblivious as he'd been watching a DVD in the back seat with headphones on. Dad finally busted up and started laughing too. Their other partner had given us the wrong date (originally he had told us the date was the previous weekend so we should have double-checked his info to start!).

We turned around (about an hour away from our target) and found an open parts store near home. We fixed the lights and then went to a Black Bear Diner and had a huge breakfast or actually brunch by this time. Adolph always enjoys trips to Black Bear as he gets lots of left-overs from their giant meals.

We did go ahead and try again on Sunday. The trip over was fine with no hang-ups. Dad did very well with his first run and ended up winning the first go-round. The weather was beautiful and we had a great day. Michael got to see his first team penning and is now wanting to give it a try. We'll have to work on that since his horse Whiskey isn't too keen on the big scary cows!

(BTW, Michael got to do part of the driving on the way home. He is getting more experience pulling the horse trailer and did a great job. Since I'm almost ALWAYS the driver, it was a nice break for me. I finally got a chance to read my favorite magazine The Essential Herbal from cover to cover.)

We spent most of Monday recovering from all of the running around over the weekend. The great finish to the holiday was a lovely dinner with my Ant Darla (not a spelling error, I've called her that since I passed her up in height at about age twelve. I'm only 5'6" so she really is a shortie). She was down for a visit from Idaho so I'm thrilled we got to spend some time with her. We have always been very close & we are hoping to get a chance to go up to see her and my Uncle Jim this fall.

We do love our road trips!

Team Penning in Templeton

Bill Dees & Cinderfella "Before the Buzzer"

I'm spending my Saturday with my husband, my Dad, my horse, and a whole bunch of these little boogers!

We're going to a cattle (or team) penning competition. I've been competing in these events since I was about 12 yrs old - when they first started them up here in Central Cali. I haven't gone in AGES, so when Dad asked if Michael & I would like to go with him for the day I jumped at it.

Should be lots of fun, except for the getting up at 4am part - that sorta sucks. And the fact that I will end up being the driver for the entire trip up and back. That's what Dad always tells me "he" had me for - to be his chauffeur.

I learned to drive the truck on the ranch at about 9 yrs old and began pulling the big gooseneck stock/horse trailers at about 12. I'm an old pro, but the hubby is still pretty new to the whole ranch life. Dad and I are in the process of teaching Michael how to pull horse trailers, but I'm a control freak and nervous about letting a "newbie" pull my horses especially since we'll be in hill country with gusty winds. Dad's a little braver than I am on that front, although I DO try not to hurt Michael's manly feelings too often by making him let me drive.

Team penning is a timed event that consists of a team of 3 riders, 30 cattle numbered 0-9, and a pen. Your goal is to put your 3 cattle into a pen at the opposite end of the arena in the fastest time. Sounds easy enough right? You have to take into account that cattle can be wild beasties and create a lot of havoc in a short amount of time. You have to keep all of the "unwanted" or "not your number" cattle at their end of the arena, opposite the end where the pen is. If one of these strays crosses the scoring line, you're disqualified. When you're running full steam around an arena trying to sort out the correct animals while not running into one of your team members, it can get pretty exciting and hairy.

But, it's lots of fun to participate in and also to watch. There is a lot of whooping and hollering as well as laughing. Most of the horses love it, especially ones like ours that are bred to be cow horses. Some, like Michael's horse Whiskey, are afraid of or ambivalent towards the cattle and might run the other direction. It happens, but Michael loves Whiskey & Whiskey loves Michael, so that's all that matters!

These photos are all of Dad and Cinderfella aka Fella or Yella Fella (yes, I have numerous names for the big critters too.) I will post some photos of my & Michael's horses as well as our beautiful Paint stallion - Sunday Sailor at a later date. I've got to get to bed EARLY tonight - it's a long drive in the am!