Just a quick entry today, it's going to take me half the morning to get my rain gear on ! The other half will be allocating chores to the ranch hands. ..I've got 4 today. Actually that includes Greg who technically doesn't qualify since he's co owner, thinking about it, I can't really allocate to Big brother or sister Trish since they are technically on holiday and then there is Jodi our resident Wwoofer volunteer , she doesn't need allocated chores...she knows what she is doing. So I'm all out of ranch hands to boss around, now what do I do ?? The rain continues to fall and fall ...and fall, all the water levels are at brimming over stage and it's not going to get better any time soon. We'll have to break out the water wings and the row boat. Back to the plastic bag round my hair, at least I'm not on my own in the frizzy stakes, we'll just have multicoloured frizzy heads, Trish is a redhead and she was inflicted with the same hairtype as me. All the animals hate the rain too, the horses have perfected the art of looking miserable, they have also perfected the art of being a chamellion and now blend beautifully with the mud...all of them. The chickens hate the rain too, inside the chicken huts they are all bickering and squabbling for the same inch of perch, for the same nest box or the same bit of grain. One unsavoury consequence of the birds going into confinement .......they are all pooing in the hut, on the floor on the perches in their food...everywhere ! We dont know we have sheep, except for the steam rising from their pen....wet bodies and once again.....the poo ! The flags got instantly soaked and hung limply all day and Bran struggled with getting wet ( doesn't do rain ) and chasing anything that moved....nothing was....and the rain still fell !! Time to go, take care, enjoy your coffee. M
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WET !!!! Oh my gosh, the rain water just pooled on top of the snow yesterday, every footstep and you were splashed from top to toe. I almost needed water wings taking Charm out to the pasture, 2 feet you got splashed, 2 feet and 4 hooves almost required a snorkel mask ! Mr. beauty with attitude huffed, puffed and generally managed to make himself look very miserable all day. Destiny mastered the fine art of keeping herself dry in her shelter and continuing to munch whilst managing to position her tail just far enough out of the stall to poo. Bran spent the day making decisions, choices between get wet...Bran doesn't do wet ( and yesterday was VERY wet !!!) or spend his day on duty outside the pastures chasing anything that moves inside the fence line. Much of the day was spent steaming in front of the woodstove, no doubt dreaming of the ultimate roundup. Jodi has confirmed our first impressions, she is going to be a great asset, providing she can cope with the melting pot of cultures accents and humour we are sure that we are going to enjoy having her around. We 3 (since big brother John and sister Trish had jumped ship and taken a day off. smile) got to work on construction in the barn kitchen. Two old crocks, 2 bad backs a gimpy knee and little 5 foot Jodi managed to erect a 12 foot beam across the kitchen ceiling. I have to say, there were times when we were "holding" a tree trunk "steady" or rocking on the top of a ladder I did ( for the umptyumpth time) question our sanity and for the umptyumpth time confirmed to myself that we were barking mad !! But we did it, thanks Jodi, your patience under pressure was admirable. Ok, cuckoo clock told me that time's, up, better go and dig out the snorkel. Take care, keep dry, M
Ice...heat.....ice and heat......DRUGS !! Poor Greg, it was Gregs day yesterday, or maybe I need to rephrase that, it WASN'T Gregs day !! He and John were preparing a log to make a beam and it jumped up hit his right knee bounced off and just for spite hit his left....broken..recovering knee. Fortunately for him and not so fortunately for my swear jar I wasn't around to witness the incident but was around to see the damage. Gregs knee is a myriad of hues of blue green purple and black ...so we are back to a knee brace ...and a back brace and finger splits.....just when things were looking better. DOH !!! We welcomed Jodi our first Wwoofer yesterday, unsuprisingly she had managed to make it almost all the way on her bicycle but got turned around about 15 minutes from the Ranch and was rescued by Greg and John. I remember my first months trying to learn my way around the trees trees and more trees. I didn't...and Greg bought me a GPS, ...I still get lost ! Johns saga continues....he had dutifully planned the "day off" that we had so graciously given him, he and Trish are / were going North, up to Vancouver WA....it SNOWED and now it's raining. Discretion being the better part of valour, plans have changed, Portland is now the designated destination. We'll keep our fingers crossed for them and Mom and mum J can add them to their prayer list if they would please. Talking of Mom, today is her 90th birthday. Mom, Gregs mother is an inspiration to us all. At 90 she still manages to have enough energy and drive to put us all to shame. Happy Birthday Mom, we LOVE you . Time to start layering up, not sure if I dress for snow/cold or shorts for the tropical temperatures we are expecting this afternoon (51 degrees). Take care, keep safe, M
Greg had a tough day off the ranch yesterday....John had a REALLY BAD day on the ranch. Just as the snow started to fall, Greg checked out to go for a medical overhaul. We had some good news, the muscle wasting disease our primary suspected isn't....so my "ranch hand hopefully gets to spend a lot more years with me as his boss. smile. Big brother John, always enthusiastic, always smiling, ...wasn't !!! It started well enough, all the animals were where we had left them the night before ( always a good start ! ) The horses all went out to the pastures without incident, the 2 hormonal doelings appear to have given up their love quest and Macho the lusting buck appears to have been thwarted... then it all started to go wrong for big bro. John had his pitching practice with the sheep, he threw the alfalfa flakes with perfection into the feeder, 1, 2, 3, ..oops, a fumble, an incomplete pass and he had to go in, tackle the ewes and recover the flake. Next chore, sanding Marys cherry wood ready for her little goat soap boxes. No sooner had Gregs truck disappeared through the snowflakes when the fragile boys toy fell to bits !!! Johns anxious (and incidently... not smiling ) face appeared round the stall door. Clearly there was an "issue"....Johns policy is "stay WELL CLEAR" of poo, something serious had brought him into the poo zone. We soon found out, as soon as Gregs back was turned the offending machine had a hiccup, swallowed a piece of wood and then coughed it out where it shouldn't be coughed out. Big brother took it appart ( easy )...tried to put it back together, ...not so easy. Reinforcements were clearly needed and so there we all were, the England team each holding a part, trying to get the thing back together. Each time one piece re connected another fell apart. We decided it was an American conspiracy and after utilising the dreaded baling twine and checking out the look of desperation on Johns face I made an executive decision...... abandon surgery, declare dead and just close the door ! Something tells me brother John is going to give the sander a very wide berth in future. Things didn't get better for my despairing sibling and by mid afternoon a traumatised John declared that he shouldn't have got out of bed. Have a Corrona..It will all be better tomorrow, ...we hope ! As for Trish, she is on familiar territory, horses and poo are right up her street...another glass of wine ?? Take care, keep safe. M
Good Morning, another day dawns down on the ranch. Yesterday was exciting to say the least and the unlikely source of the excitement....chickens ! Chickens, little feathered birds that contentedly cluck their way through the day, benevolently laying rich yellow yolked eggs.....NOT !! The day began as normal, well, as normal as it gets round here, animals were fed and turned out. We had Trisha and John so chores were allocated accordingly ( slave labor compulsory ). Since John doesn't "do" the working ends of horses cows goats sheep or chickens Greg gave him a pitchfork (he's good like that), the quad, the trailer and precise instructions...he's very good at that too. John was assigned to pick up the discarded hay from around the hay feeders and treat the chickens to the goodies. Greg opened the gate to the chicken pen and locked John in .....not looking to comfortable ( John or the chickens !) we walked off, reassuring big brother that when he had completed his assignment he would be duly released by sister Trish...who was also given her assignment to clean out Destinys field and stall while Greg and i milked Molly Moo. Sadly ( for John).. Off went Trish with her wheelbarrow, off went Greg and I to milk Molly Moo and there was John, surrounded by chicken poo and feathers..looking even less comfortable ! We FORGOT John. There we were, each engrossed in our chores, Molly Moo munching contentedly when like a bolt out of the blue I remembered my brother. OOOps !!! Poor John, incarcerated with the curious chickens and roosters had been howling for his release and his calls had been unanswered. I owe him one...he may never recover. But it got worse ! . Having checked Adolf the roosters butt end (not a pretty sight) I determined that he had recovered sufficiently to return to his Hareem. Being in an assigning mood, Greg was summoned to catch Adolf and after another dousing of antiseptic purple spray asked to take him back to his ladies. Unfortunately...for us and apparently happily for the flock, Greg neglected to close the gate properly. There they were, all over the barnyard...Bran the dog was in seventh heaven, something to chase ! We sprang into action, I was so proud of my English team, there they were rugby tackles, ducking diving and leaping around after the not too impressed trouble makers and we got them all. Sadly the entertainment didn't last too long, they were too efficient ! The days drama didn't end there and my typing finger ( notice ...one finger ) is getting weary but my journal is as yet incomplete and my story still untold. Evening chores and there was I, returning from feeding the chickens in the roost, bravely facing off the roosters twitching wattles and the chickens aggrivated pecks when I noticed the door of the chicken Shack ( the other chicken pen) was open. I called, I jumped up and down and I yelled but the door stayed open. As I reached the Shack, Lamb chops woolly butt was reflected in the light coming through the door. It got worse...much worse.. The band of 3, Lamb Chop, Macho the buck AND Daisy May had all broken into the chicken house....the chickens were standing on top of each other jammed into the corner as the 3 amigos in a line stared at them.by this time, bodies were appearing from all over the barn responding to my calls. Daisy May and macho, not too interested by the neighbours digs were happy to evacuate but Lamb chop had to be pushed unceremoniously out by his butt end and his oversized "bits". What a day. Ok, hopefully today will be quieter, an earthquake or volcanic eruption probably wont cause quite as much disruption...time to go, take care, M .
And then there were 4 !! Trish arrived yesterday so the English influence in the house is very evident. The cow is firmly planted Union Jack side out, the tea caddy has supplanted the coffee pot, its peanut butter without jelly. and tap, not fawcett. We 3 may sing God Save Our Queen when I put the flags up this morning, Gregs, and his choir of 1 will probably fight back with a rendering of the Star Spangled Banner. Things will be a little evened out tomorrow, Jodie our first Wwoofer arrives ....oh ! maybe she will have her flag, things could get interesting around here !! It will be fun having both of them here at once, I think I'll be putting Gregs "BOSS" t -shirt in the back of his wardrobe, he wont be needing it, smile. At 9.30 last night Greg was putting the bedroom door back on its hinges, my sewing room chaos has been transformed into a little bedroom and what to do now with all my "stuff"....I feel a little trip to Goodwill coming on but I'll have to make sure it doesn't go to our local one or I'll be buying it all back !!! Yesterday was a short evening shift at the barn as we had to get the Seatac to pick up a very weary Trish from the airport. We put the animals back into their stalls, picked their hooves and closed our eyes as we shut the barn door. Everyone had rolled, I think there was a challenge on, who could get the most mud coverage, from what I saw, it was a draw !!! This morning it will be like a bunch of strangers I feed breakfast to, everyone looked muddy black !!! Chores should be done in no time today, Trish is a horse person so we'll do the stalls, John doesn't do the "working end" of a horse and he and Greg will be out in the pasture collecting fire wood. Well, got to go, it's time to start layering up for another day down at the barn. Take care. M
Well, January 6th, the 3 Kings have been and gone and it's my annual mad scramble to get the Christmas decorations down, if they are still up after the 6th...it's bad luck. I swear I got them down last year on time, heck with Gregs bad back, the decorations only just got up in time for Santa !! It almost seemed that I just scrambled up the stairs with the hundreds ( slight exageration, but only slight !!) of boxes of potentially twinkly lights and Christmas treasures (potential because it's always a cross your fingers affair when the lights switch on...or not ) when it was time to lurch them back down again. The living room looks like a bomb has gone off..but they are all down. Thats my bad luck superstition....I heard from Mum J and she told me that in the South, if you don't eat black eyed peas you are asking for bad luck. So THATS the problem....i've never eaten a black eyed pea in my life, would a baked bean substitute ? Super Mom down in Albuquerque has other traditions and her homemade pirogie (I'm SURE I haven't spelt that right) makes a much more palatable option.....but it sure beats hands down, the herring option ! We miss her here on the ranch, she has got to be THE best unpaid ranch hand...and cook in the world. Trisha my younger sister arrives tomorrow, we are currently scrabbling to change my sewing room / disaster zone into a bedroom as our Inn is going to be bursting at the foundations. Our first Wwoofer ( volunteer) arrives on 10th, we are looking forward to welcoming Jodie to the Ranch and hope that she is the beginning of a lot of new friends and a great experience. So the snow is coming back, oh dear, I forgot my plastic bag yesterday and my hair turned into a frizz ball, it can only get worse. Adolf the hen pecked rooster has lost his companion hen, he must have ticked her off and she set to pecking him aswell....evicted back to the roost to allow Adolfs butt to heal. Apart from Adolf, all are well...except Greg and I, but the decorations are down, so lucks got to turn.....pass the black eyed peas please, oh, and the raw herring, ..just in case. Take care, M
Greg loves it when we have family house guests..( slaves),the cookie monster within breaks loose and an unrestrained cookie monster wreaks havoc on the waistband of his jeans which always "shrink" after a cookie binge. Big brother John has been worth his weight in cookies since his arrival on Sunday and he and Greg can be seen bustling around together building, pulling apart, hammering and drilling industriously. Yesterday, since John had earned some "time off" ( and we needed to visit the feed store ) we took the afternoon off and headed off to Tacoma. Gregs idea of Heaven is a store full of big boys toys, mine an hour uninterupted shopping in the Goodwill store.....Johns Nirvannah is a tech store, yesterday found big brother almost quivering in anticipation as we pulled up in the car park of Best buy. Our day trips out, off the ranch in the Winter total about 3 hours, chores have to be done before we go. I remember my mums old adage, " never go out without clean underwear on in case you have an accident".....mine is clean stalls in case we dont get home and someone else has to put the critters away. Poo flew,wielding brushes, pitchforks, hosepipes and wheelbarrows we got the stalls cleaned before 11am. Greg gave me 10 minutes to scrub up (5 minutes more than usual ! it was a luxury !!) and before 11.30, Bran was curled up in the truck and we were off the ranch. The rain was falling, mounds of broken ice started to melt, rivers of ice water flowed through the fields and the animals looked miserable in the damp greyness but we were "out to play". Today the boys are going out to play with chainsaws in the rain and I'll be back to picking poo in a nice dry stall with a steaming cup of coffee and a Costco muffin. Life's tough...but someone has to do it. Time to go, enjoy your coffee Mum J . Take care, keep dry. M
Ok, I'm done, this cold ...sorry FREEZING weather has got old now, it's been a week, my washing machine can't keep up, there's a mountain of clothes every day. Talking of mountains...we were ? horses eat hay, big horses eat lots of hay and the more hay they eat, the more poo they produce, what goes in must come out, right ? ..but what I don't understand is how come what they are currently producing seems to be a LOT more than they ate ! Even dear old Destinys bowels seem to have gone into overdrive and even though her little rabbit droppings dont compare to Ladys gargantuan elephant piles they still have to be cleaned up. Its getting pretty bad when I found myself inventing games to entertain myself with the frozen poo balls ( possible new olympic sport ???)....but there I was, standing in a icy white pasture playing hockey with the "stuff". I got pretty good at batting poo ball after poo ball into the wheel barrow and in Destinys stall I mastered the art of dribbling ( as in soccer... or Football for us Brits) round Destinys little grey legs into a premarked goal. I was getting pretty good but you can only have so much entertainment mucking out a stall and back to reality and the ever growing manure pile. Big brother John had no time to be gently eased into Ranch life...before he had time to be head butted by Daisy Mae, Greg had him loading a wheelbarrow of steaming cow poo ( now,...why can't that stuff freeze !!!) pulling down a gate putting up a gate and removing nails from the dismantled one....Greg is very frugal ( love that, don't you Tony !) It was a really busy day and poor John looked slightly dischevelled and a bit grubby ( actually, no point in trying to be kind, John looked positively hillbillyish and extremely grubby. bless !!) by the time he staggered home for a shower. It was a good day, its fun having John around, looking forward now to Trishas arrival. Take care, keep warm and safe, M
The invasion has begun !!! I hoisted the flag yesterday morning with a new enthusiasm, by"the flag" , I mean the red white and blue one....ummmmm, the one without the stars and stripes... and it wasn't bigger or higher than Old Glory but as it fluttered I knew big brother John was in the air and on his way. John has been before to the labor camp..I mean Ranch, it's a constant source of amazement to me that he comes back !! For several weeks before John arrives, Greg can be heard mumbling or muttering, "that can be a John chore "...John was going to be here for 3 weeks, the snow in New york saved him and for the two weeks he is to be here, he has 6 weeks of chores !! On Saturday younger sister Trish arrives from Holland , I will give her time to get over jet lag before I set her to work,...and hour or two should work ! So, next week there will be 3 of us here, almost a family reunion. This year also begins with our new involvement with the WOOFER programme, if any of our potential volunteers is reading this, please note, slave labor is reserved for family members....we will be a little kinder to you. I just heard the weather forcast for today...it's colder here than alaska, and over the past few days I have no difficulty believing it !! I have so many clothes on that Greg could put me out the door and roll me down the hill to the barn. Getting to the bathroom takes two hours planning and I'm never sure which layer of clothes is hiding my phone, even if I find it before it goes to message mode, I can't open it till I peel 3 layers of gloves off ! We can tell how cold each night has been by the thickness of the layer of ice broken in the water troughs each day and in the chicken houses, chickens pile on top of each other to get under the heat lamp which is keeping their water from freezing . Tomorrow the rain will be back and I'll be moaning again. smile. Oh well, it's time again. Time to go and start layering up for the Arctic freeze. Stay warm, keep safe, take care, M
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AuthorIts me, Maureen, (the Boss) Archives
March 2018
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