Strike a Pose

I have to start with what is arguably the most exciting thing to happen all week. Just a hand full of people know I was involved in a photo shoot earlier in the spring for Pendleton Woolen Mills ( http://www.pendleton-usa.com/ ) Pendleton was shooting a special line of clothing dedicated to the 100th year celebration of the Pendleton Round Up. For the shoot, they wanted authentic cowgirls from the area and I guess I fit the bill. It was a lot of fun and I am sure they got some great photos. Now, if I didn't tell you it was me you would most likely skim right over it in the catalog or on the internet and not make the connection. But here is the shot that made it in the catalog to show case a beautiful silk scarf with the trademark bucking horse in the middle. After the photo shoot I was asked by Pendleton Woolen Mills to come back and model their spring 2009 line at the July sales meeting which took place yesterday, Thursday. I, along with two other women from the area, modeled 9 different styles in a runway type setting. It was a lot of fun and I was extremely flattered to be involved in these two projects.

In addition to the exciting runway show this week focused around the divorce trial of my brother in law. I can't tell you what a long process this has been. She left in February 2007 and it has been nothing but an ugly battle since she stepped out the door. Thankfully, no children were involved, and we feel a very fair judgement was handed down yesterday during the judges decision. This is the first divorce our family has dealt with and I hope I never have to witness the process again. Painfully ugly and damaging. There were no winners.

Wednesday was a fun morning out on the farm. Our neighbors grandkids came down for the annual horse ride. They spend a week of their summer vacation over here during harvest every year and we always look forward to seeing them. They are great kids, full of personality and charm. Elvis gladly gave everyone a tour of the pasture and waited patiently while photos were taken to document yet another summer visit. I think this is what he really thinks of the riding we do with him.

Today, Friday, we hurried in to help my mom move hay before her new hay for 2008 arrived. I don't know how it works out that my mom has two horses that get fat on air and I have a horse that eats what should satisfy 3 horses! Cash and Cruiser both demand a lot of hay to maintain their weight. But anyway, we were happy to go help my poor broken up mom move her hay. She thinks she broke a rib last week doing some work around her place so moving bales only aggrivates it. While I was moving the last of the hay, Kate and Hadley got to visit with the new barn kitties. I couldn't believe it but Hadley was afraid to hold the baby kitties. Kate didn't hesitate holding and has such a nice way of picking them up around the neck. Their mom was a rescue kitty my mom got from the mountains where they have a cabin. I believe she is a sister to my cat, Grass. Hadley named Grass and he has been the best cat. So when my mom brought home his sister I couldn't think of a more perfect name then Weed. Don't you agree?

Our fence building continues on. Doug's enthusiasm is amazing. I appreciate his positive attitude and willingness to do so much work for another person after putting in long, stressful hours at the clinic. We have a system going now, he puts up the boards and I paint the shelters while he works. Typically the girls sit in the shade of the water troughs and play in the dirt. Strangely enough, it feels very calming and productive. Everyone seems to know their role in this task.

Let me share a word about goats. As they have grown older I have developed a love hate relationship with them. They are fun and spunky and friendly. I appreciate that. They are pushy, they jump on everything and they sometimes knock the girls down. I don't like that. I brought home a load of straw from my mom's that I use for bedding in the goat/chicken coup and while I was unloading it I caught this photo on my camera. I am not a fussy person by nature but when it comes to this pickup I like it to be kept as close to new as possible. Goats on the roof doesn't fit into the range of what I deem acceptable. I must admit I thought about what a goat would taste like after being roasted when I saw her take that final leap onto the roof but decided she was worth too much money to eat. After the fun of unloading straw and watching the goats and the kids play on it, I decided it was timeto get out the hoof trimmers and trim their hooves. It was a bit of rodeo and I wish someone had been there to see the fun. Don't underestimate the strength of a goat who doesn't want his or her nails done. They are supposed to have their hooves trimmed every 4-6 weeks and this was the first time I have taken them on. It took some serious wrastling around and pinning them against the wall or straw bales but we got it done. Not without working up a man sweat though.

Kate seems to be developing an affection for riding. She loves the time we spend down at the horse pens and I have to keep an constant eye on her because she is forever wanting to get in with the horses and pet their legs. Thankfully they are kind and gentle horses. Cruiser's 1450 lbs compared to 30 lbs doesn't make it a safe combination. Whenever I am with her she is allowed to pet them or sit on them and she always loves it. Anyone who knows Cruiser knows how big he is, a solid 17 hands but kind as a teddy bear.

So there you have it. Another week on the farm.

Scrap Metal and Wooden Fences

Ok so it's been awhile. Summer keeps moving along at the speed of light. I can't believe it is almost August. It seemed like it took so long for summer to finally get here and now we are about to enter the final month.

On the domestic front I need to report my washing machine died. So I had been limping along, carrying clothes to wash in the basement of the guest house. I even convinced myself I was going to fix the washer so I did some researching on the Internet, pseudo diagnosed the problem and then took a look at the back of the machine and felt tired. It looked like a real project to get the back off. So Doug did it. And he was unimpressed when he got it off, said it was nothing but a bunch of cheap plastic parts. So after much deliberation and encouragement from Doug I finally decided in the wee hours of the morning on Friday to buy a new machine instead of spend half the value of a new washer in repairs. I bit the bullet and headed to Home Depot. My new machine with the MATCHING dryer should be delivered on Wednesday. I have never owned a new appliance. But I am looking forward to this putting a little excitement in the work of washing clothes. It is a front loader and will be MUCH more energy efficient and use a fraction of the water. And the best news, I can easily wash bulky winter horse blankets!!

We have had another project going on this week. A guy who buys metal scrap has had a crew here cleaning out a bunch of old cars and other misc odds and ends that have been scattered around the farm but primarily down at the racing stables. That reminds me of something I would like to share with you. One of the bigger disappointments at the time. Let me take you back 18 years. I had just started dating Doug and we would spend time together at his parents place (which is what I now call home.) He was talking about the racing stables. Yes, the racing stables. I asked him what it was. He told me it was a place that used to stable horses a little west of the house. Ok, you might be able to imagine the grandiose visions that swirled in my head as a passionate horse lover. A racing stables?? How fantastic! Ummmm....upon first hand viewing of this "racing stables" I am pretty sure no body ever put a horse in this metal building built of car frames. It was filled full of things that they didn't want to put close to their house. Old bed frames, wheels, boards, cars. You name it, it was probably there. Can you feel my disappointment? But back to present time, a crew of two men and a big loader have been here dragging stuff up from the racing stables and crushing them and then loading in a semi to make a trip to Portland. We should have one more load on Monday and then we will call it complete. There is still plenty of stuff left for future projects and parts for other machines but a lot of the bulk is gone.

Saturday I ran to town in the morning and picked up 5 gallons of paint for my horse shelters. I am sprucing them up after their 5th year on the farm. The original white paint is wearing away and they need a good new coat of paint before the bad weather sets in. I had planned on getting some painting done but it didn't work out that way due to the weather and the kids schedule.

Early evening we loaded up a couple of bikes and headed over to Horn Rapids ORV park for a practice MX race. Doug has been active in racing the vintage bikes but hasn't raced modern bikes so he is wanting to get in some practice before he competes in a real race. The turn out was fairly slim which ended up being just fine. We liked the laid back atmosphere and the race grounds was much more kid friendly than I had thought it would be. We were able to back right up on a flat area overlooking the track below and the track was fenced in so it kept out wild toddlers. Kate and Hadley had a lot of fun playing in the little sand pit once Hadley got over the brutal reality that she wasn't going to be racing. Next time we will give some serious consideration to bringing the appropriate gear for Hadley so she can have another chance at racing. How can a daughter of mine want to compete anything that involves speed??

Sunday was a great day for me. Doug went to great lengths to help me start building a real fence around my horses. When we originally moved to the farm it was straight from Yakima when Doug completed his residency. Our plan was to live here on the single wide that his parents had and pay off student loans and get set up before we bought our own place. Therefore, I put up a temporary horse set up with plans for it to be short lived. Well, as a good friend once told me, there is nothing more permanent than a temporary fence. So...I finally decided to make it permanent after my good show horse escaped when I was in the mountains last time and took a high speed tour of the farm and the wheat fields.

We finished off the weekend with a dinner in town at Mongolian BBQ to celebrate Doug's aunts birthday. It was nice to get together and visit. It seems there are never enough hours in the day to see friends and family so it was good to have a special occasion to bring us together.

Fun on the Farm

There are many ways to have fun on the farm. This is not one of them. I was over at my neighbors farm, Melissa, and we were sitting on her back patio.

The girls were playing, we were visiting and then I saw some smoke from the southwest. Hmmm....was it deju vu? Two years ago, on the third day of harvest, we had a fire race through our valley and burn some of our crop and our crep. So here we are, three days into harvest and another fire has started. As I watched the fire grow, I decided it was time to round up the kids and take a drive back home to see what we were up against. By the time I got home, I could see the flames and the black smoke and my stomach began to sink. I could see our farm was out of harm's way for the time being so I headed down to our neighbors to see if I could be of assistance. Everyone was out fighting the fires so I went back home to set out some sprinklers and prepare for a shift in the wind. I rounded up the horses and put them in the pens so it would be easy to load them up if I needed to haul out. Luck was on our side and it didn't cross over into our field. What a scary day, I feel bad for our neighbors who lost some good wheat!

As if that wasn't enough excitement for the day, I got on the tractor and, with the help of about 300 of my closest aviary friends, mowed my pasture. I mowed, they swooped and caught the bugs I was stirring up. I suppose it worked well for everyone except the bug. Now perhaps I will stimulate some new growth in my pasture and can easily spread the manure with the harrow sometime this weekend. My pasture started out so strong but now it is faltering and I am having to throw the boys a couple flakes a day to keep them happy.

Today, Saturday, Doug hooked up the plow and worked up my arena. I have had such an issue with gophers this year we are hoping that will slow down their work and make my riding safer. This is the first summer I have had my horse at home and have been trying to maintain him myself. Typically he would be at the trainer and I wouldn't ride in my arena so it usually took on a life of it's own in terms of weeds. But, with the help of Doug, I am making a real push to keep it in good shape. Now if only there was some economical way to keep the dust down....

Odds and Ends

I have some pictures I wanted to share. The first one being my mom on her new motorcycle. She decided to step up a bigger bike. She had started her biking career on a Honda 70 but now she is riding an 80. Doesn't sound like a big change but actually it is. This one is taller, more powerful, and the biggest difference is this is one is not an automatic so she is having to master using a clutch. I think you would all be impressed by my mom's passion for dirt bikes. She and her great friend Penny both have bikes so they do a lot of riding in the mountains at their cabins. My mom is pretty amazing really. To take up motorcycle riding at her age (which is not at all old) instead of slowing down and getting used a leisurely life of golf and puttering around in a flower bed somewhere is pretty awesome if you ask me.

Second picture is of a friend's daughter riding her new horse. The horse was given to her by my mom this summer and the little girl is having such a wonderful time riding her, daily I am sure, on their farm in Idaho. This little mare has nearly a million miles on her from my mom riding in the mountains, wheat fields, around the lake, in the dessert, etc. and has passed her along to be used by our friends, the Birds. "Scout" was raised by my mom and trained almost entirely by her also and is such a cute mare. She is only 12 and will serve the daughter and family well for years to come. What makes it especially fun is the Birds also have Scouts half brother and her mom so we know she is in good, loving hands. My mom is so generous with her horses and puts their care and quality of life far above making a buck. And I have no doubt some day we will see little Shelby waving from atop a horse blazing through a rodeo arena as she serves on royalty court for Lewiston Round Up or some equally prestigious court.

Doug made the Hammer and Tong website with his photo from Washougal. Hammer and Tongs in the circuit he competes on in the northwest made up of vintage and evolution bikes. He competes in the open and expert class and does really well. It is fun to watch him ride and train.

And to wrap up this special feature post, I will tell you a nice little diddy from last week. I was downstairs and I looked down to the floor. I see a "watermelon jelly belly". I think to myself, "hmm...that seems strange. Who would have had jelly bellys, I didn't buy them." Being the sweet tooth of the family, I am instantly drawn to this little temptation waiting for me on the floor. Yes, on the floor. Junk food eaters will stop at nothing to feed their habits. So I pick it up. Was it a watermelon jelly belly? No friends, it was not. It was, instead, a TICK that was so engorged it had fallen off it's host on to my floor. Can you think of anything more disgusting? I certainly can not.

A Note from Bill Gates

I got this from a friend in an email and thought it was so worthwhile I am going to post it on the blog for all the world to see. Because surely the world is reading my blog, right?

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life. Rule

9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

It's a cooker out there...

Another weekend has passed. The entire day of Friday was consumed with a BIG yard sale I helped host with a friend. My gosh we got rid of a lot of stuff!! It feels good to down size a bit with a goal of continuing to simplify our lives. I made enough money to make it well worth my time and had a good time doing it. Being a hard core yard saler, it was interesting to observe the other side of the coin. I have to say I was a little surprised at how cheap people really are. People don't seem to look past the yard sale price to what the item cost originally. It seems to have no bearing on what they are willing to pay. As much as I love to go to the sales I hate to dicker on prices. The weather cooperated, we got plenty of sunshine without too much heat.

Doug's brother hosted a bbq Friday evening. Dean lives on a farm just down the road from ours. He has such a beautiful, lush setting in the middle of all of these dried up wheat fields. It is always refreshing to go over and hang out at his place. He has a cool, stocked pond so sometimes someone brings a pole and throws a few casts out in hopes of catching a bass. The kids always get such a kick out of this. But this time we just stayed close to the patio and watched the kids ride their bikes around and visited with good friends. I had ridden my motorcycle over so I left just before it got completely dark with hopes of having a little bit of light to help me see to feed the animals and tuck them in for the night. It was a real thrill to see 5 bucks (Doug calls them the Fab Five) by the railroad trussle and another 4 in the piece east of our house.

On Saturday a few of our friends from Warden came down to the spend the afternoon searching for houses in the area. I enjoyed showing them around and helping them see the areas in and around Walla Walla. Tara is a friend from horse shows and although she is no longer showing I know we would have fun together if she lived here. Her daughter is a couple years older than Hadley and they would have a great time if the move works out for them.

The chores never seem to end here on the farm. Doug spent a good deal of Sunday dealing with irrigation and hand lines and also building a long awaited bunk bed for Hadley and Kate. The end results was well worth the wait and now the girls are sharing their little "surf shack" room. It's a strange to think that 30+ years ago Doug was sharing the very same bedroom with his brother Dean. In a house with 4 bedrooms there is something comforting about being close to your loved ones.

My cousin, Ryan, completed the STP (Seattle to Portland) bike ride last weekend. I believe it was 200+ miles and she soared through the race. I am so impressed by her abilities--she just took up bike riding this year and has been going on some LONG rides. Her sister, Erin, is equally amazing with completions of marathons and the STP as well. Ryan will be coming out here this summer to drive wheat truck for her dad for a week. It will be a good chance to see her.

We didn't let the weekend stop when Monday rolled around. Kate, Hadley and I took good old Elvis for a ride around the pasture. Hadley lasted a lap or two and had enough of Kate head butting her while sharing the saddle so she opted to go check for eggs and run with the goats instead. Then Kate had Elvis all to herself which I am sure was her original intent. She rode round and round the pasture and when I finally had enough of leading Elvis I pulled her off but it wasn't without a huge tantrum. Nice to have someone who shares my love of horses no matter how much noise she makes about it.

Every day, this time of year, we try to make a point of getting out to the raspberry bushes and picking them. This has been an especially good year for berries and if I don't end up using the berries that day I freeze them for the winter because I know we will get more berries tomorrow. Tonight I made an especially tasty dinner of salmon on the bbq, rice and beans followed by individual raspberry pot pies for dessert topped with home made vanilla ice cream. I would be lying if I didn't admit to eating two of them.

I know it is said how chickens help so much with gardens, keeping the weeds down, eating bugs, etc. While that might all be true, I would also like to note they make a mess of some things in the process. I had a nice patch of succulents in one spot under a tree but apparently the chickens must have liked what was underneath them because they have just about torn out every single one. During the hot summer afternoons I often find them in and among the raspberry bushes. I think it must be cool from the watering and the bugs must be plentiful. They seem to enjoy eating any berries that have fallen to the ground. Here is a picture of Uno striking her best pose.

Fourth of July on the Farm

Well, the weekend came and went before we knew it. The 4th is one of the only holidays Doug gets off from the clinic so we always look forward to it. In typical fashion, we figured we would just end up working around the farm and having a quiet, relaxing holiday but Doug's friends changed the plan. Coy, Rick and Dean showed up Friday morning with bikes in tow and the four guys were like a bunch of kids all weekend! They spent the day riding their motorbikes on the track and then resting for awhile in the shade and having a drink then hitting the track again or racing through the mowed stubble. It was a lot of fun to watch them having so much fun. What a nice group of guys. Friday evening was rounded out by a fantastic steak cooked on the bbq by Rick and then the girls and I headed to town for a home town fireworks display while the boys headed to shop to tinker around and drink beer.

Kate, Hadley and I met up with our neighbors--the Cochran's--and grandma Betty at the fire station to spread out in the grass and take in the fireworks. I thought they were spectacular and for the first time Kate really enjoyed them too. Hadley, Kate and neighbor Kylie made a party of it and all curled up together under a blanket and watched the amazing show of colors and loud explosions and fire falling from the sky. I love the fourth!

Saturday Doug and the guys headed out after a big homemade breakfast of sausage and farm eggs. They had planned a motorbike trip up Tiger Canyon and across the Blues with a goal of ending up in Dayton but snow prevented this from happening. From what I have been hearing, the snow is sticking around later this year than usual up in the mountains but it made for some creative riding and back tracking down Tiger Canyon to return home around 5. I think they covered about 100 miles which is a heck of a long way on the back of a dirt bike if you have never done it. Doug's brother, Dean, joined them and was able to really try out his new KTM on and off road.

As soon as Doug got home he had to hop in the shower and then we headed to the neighbors for a birthday bbq. Eric and Melissa Cochran invited a group of friends over with their kids and we all sat around and visited and watched the kids play. Eric bbq'd up some tasty chicken and homemade deer sausage from last years hunting season. Unfortunately we had to cut our visit a little short so we could get home and visit Doug's cousin who had stopped by the farm for a visit after moving away 3 years ago. She and her family lived in what is now our guest house for 20 + years before moving to Idaho. It was nice to see her and a few of Doug's other cousins. We visited outside as the sun set and picked raspberries and strawberries and caught up with the changes taking place in their lives with a new marriage and a very successful teaching career north of Seattle in the high school special ed department. Michelle is a very gifted teacher and has such a loving, caring way of dealing with these special needs students. She also has a generous sense of humor which I think must be a necessity when living such a high stress life in the classroom.

Sunday morning Coy and friends loaded up their bikes and headed on their way back to Baker City and Mollala. We hope they come back soon because they are a lot of fun and such thoughtful guests. With the entire day ahead of us Doug and I decided we wanted to go up and spend it in the mountains with my parents and the kids. So....we loaded up the bikes and headed south. What a fun trip it ended up being. Dean followed us on his motorcycle and then we took a off road ride as soon as we got there. We retraced the trails I had been on a week or so earlier with my mom to the breaks of the Umatilla. Of course, this is a moment I wanted to capture on film with my entire family and parents and Dean but as sometimes happens the camera didn't make the trip as we had intended. It didn't dampen the mood though. Kate and Hadley and I picked wildflowers to take back to the cabin and identify with our field guide and scanned the hills for bears. It was a perfect place to catch site of a bear or two picking berries or looking for shade. No luck in spotting one but it will remain one of my favorite bike rides and I am thinking about taking my mountain bike up next time and riding it along the trail. A quieter mode of transportation might make spotting wildlife more realistic.

While my dad and Dean stayed back at the cabin while the girls played, Doug and I lead by my mom headed out on yet another ride. This one was on mountain roads and it took us down around to the end of civilization on Basket Mountain Road to my favorite dream hideaway. A one room cabin that looks out over the entire valley across grass fields and premier cattle pastures. It backs up to tall pine trees and a green meadow with a pond for water. Looking at a picture it could be 2008 or 1945, it would nearly impossible to tell. When I make my final break and move away from "the world" you might find me there.

Ok, so mountain visits always come to an end so we loaded up the girls and headed down the hill. Once we got home I was a ball of fire. I rode Cruiser, fixed fence, weeded, fed, cleaned the house, did laundry and went to bed feeling mighty good about a day well spent. Life IS good.

Lastly, because I some how managed to get through the weekend without taking a single picture I will leave you with the photo I just rec'd from a friend taken when we were little. I am on the left with Kelly Tennent in the middle and my life long friend Todd on the right. We had SO much fun growing up horse back.