The sheep have secluded themselves beneath the branches of a shady cedar tree; Momma and Poppa goose are sailing serenely over the surface of a mirror glass pond with their five fluffy goslings and Bella the beautiful golden Jersey heifer is lingering close by the ranch gate waiting anxiously with young sirloin the red Dexter steer for the dinner call. In the cobalt blue sky anxious crows fight aerial battles with regal eagles drifting on the thermals.....yesterday was warm.....today has been warmer.
Bright and early Friday morning young Holly, a former and much loved WWOOFER returned to the ranch for a weekend visit.....clearly, a weekend is WAY too short for a Holly visit and before we could REALLY give her a "Holly workout" our young friend was reversing out the drive in her city clean Ford. It was almost a rewind summary from the past four years with our young friend....Holly happily ( we think !!) substituted her busy everyday life for life on the ranch. With no hesitation and with a big Holly smile, our young guest hopped onto the old green farm tractor and confidently went to work, round and round the pasture, mowing down the invasive red dead nettle, thistle and blackberry and still managing to be done in time for a hearty lunch. Without a hair out of place or a chipped / broken finger nail, young Holly faced down Barney the currently celibate ram, took care of our equine residents uncomplainingly cleaned up the cow byre and mucked out the nasty sheep pen. As the temperature rose under the warm Spring sun Greg and Holly set out to take down a maple tree (or three) from an overgrown copse in the corner of the pasture. Sadly, the best laid plans of mice, men (and farmers) don't always work out and, even more sadly, falling trees are no respecters of fences, gates and...four wheelers. I heard the "THWACK"....I felt the earth move as the big maple fell, I knew that somehow, something had gone very wrong but, importantly, I could see Greg, I could see Holly, I could see the big old farm Chevy truck and I could see a swirling pile of leafy debris but, worryingly.... I couldn't see the four wheeler with it's signature plastic steer horns and it's plastic green trailer! The two mares, Chelsey and Mariah quietly watched the proceedings from their adjoining pasture, the grazing sheep were totally unconcerned by the drama unfolding in the cedar grove and the four wheeler that was lost was found....under fifty years of leafy foliage and broken bark. Not a whole lot was said as the "no blame" ranch policy card was played.....the four wheeler looks a little (lot) beaten up, still runs.... but....no one was hurt, we do have a LOT of firewood, logs for lumber and branches for chipping. We did have fun... at Greg's expense ! Thank you Holly for sharing your weekend with us, we look forward to the next time....miss that big smile !!
Take care.....keep safe (we will try !!) M
Bright and early Friday morning young Holly, a former and much loved WWOOFER returned to the ranch for a weekend visit.....clearly, a weekend is WAY too short for a Holly visit and before we could REALLY give her a "Holly workout" our young friend was reversing out the drive in her city clean Ford. It was almost a rewind summary from the past four years with our young friend....Holly happily ( we think !!) substituted her busy everyday life for life on the ranch. With no hesitation and with a big Holly smile, our young guest hopped onto the old green farm tractor and confidently went to work, round and round the pasture, mowing down the invasive red dead nettle, thistle and blackberry and still managing to be done in time for a hearty lunch. Without a hair out of place or a chipped / broken finger nail, young Holly faced down Barney the currently celibate ram, took care of our equine residents uncomplainingly cleaned up the cow byre and mucked out the nasty sheep pen. As the temperature rose under the warm Spring sun Greg and Holly set out to take down a maple tree (or three) from an overgrown copse in the corner of the pasture. Sadly, the best laid plans of mice, men (and farmers) don't always work out and, even more sadly, falling trees are no respecters of fences, gates and...four wheelers. I heard the "THWACK"....I felt the earth move as the big maple fell, I knew that somehow, something had gone very wrong but, importantly, I could see Greg, I could see Holly, I could see the big old farm Chevy truck and I could see a swirling pile of leafy debris but, worryingly.... I couldn't see the four wheeler with it's signature plastic steer horns and it's plastic green trailer! The two mares, Chelsey and Mariah quietly watched the proceedings from their adjoining pasture, the grazing sheep were totally unconcerned by the drama unfolding in the cedar grove and the four wheeler that was lost was found....under fifty years of leafy foliage and broken bark. Not a whole lot was said as the "no blame" ranch policy card was played.....the four wheeler looks a little (lot) beaten up, still runs.... but....no one was hurt, we do have a LOT of firewood, logs for lumber and branches for chipping. We did have fun... at Greg's expense ! Thank you Holly for sharing your weekend with us, we look forward to the next time....miss that big smile !!
Take care.....keep safe (we will try !!) M
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