We went to a fun outdoor wedding over the weekend. Perfect weather, beautiful views of the mountains, great local Mexican cuisine, a good dj and lots of dancing. By our local definition a casual to semiformal affair: Casual means no tie, but get a haircut, shine your boots and tuck in your shirttail. Semiformal means you’ll need a tie, a coat and all of the above. Black tie formal means you probably don’t wanta go.

 

 

Still the most important words to get along in life: Please.  Thank you.

 

And with that said, “THANK YOU, GOD”  for the ½ inch of rain a couple of nights ago and another ½ inch last week!!  So we know it can still rain!  Not any sign of grass greening up in the pastures, but it washed the dirt off of things, has given us a starting point, and my yard is very happy!

 

We are now listed on the Top50Ranches.com.  We along with some other member ranches have recently been featured on ABC News! It's about 1/4 of the way in as you're watching(be patient as it loads!). It will be featured live today at 2pm and again next Friday. Here is a link to it:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/video/top-learn-vacations-14126761

 

It will live at ABCNews.go.com forever after airing!! 

 

 

We had a nice weekend at the Weed Bluegrass Festival,  There were 7 different bands, each one playing two different 45 minute sets of music.  Live music all day with some really talented musicians!!  It’s quite a challenge and a bit intimidating rubbing shoulders with the caliber of some that were there!  

 

The drive up there was discouraging.  It is SO VERY DRY, and you don’t have to drive many miles in any direction to see some (or a lot) of devastation as the result of wild fires that have ravaged our state and beyond this year.   PLEASE PRAY FOR RAIN!!

 

 

July 15, 2011

July has been packed with activities of all sorts!!  Well it actually started mid June when Kim landed in the emergency room, followed by 3 days in ICU following a horse shoeing accident that broke three ribs and gave him a serious puncture wound along with it.  He’s recovering remarkably well, with hardly a trace of discomfort. 

Wednesday we had our first measurable precipitation, ½ inch, since last September or October.  It’s not much to many people’s standards but we are so grateful.  Even if it doesn’t start the grass growing, just washing the dust off the grass, trees, houses, etc., makes everything seem so fresh this morning!  The birds sound better, the ants are out in force scavenging, the cows even don’t seem so desperate for the feed pickup to come by!

We started the month with some great guests arriving:  Mandy from New Zealand, Markus from Switzerland and Shannon and Delilah from Oregon.  Thankfully they were very content to ride easy and very helpful with the handling of the saddles, giving Kim’s ribs more time to heal.  With Kim banged up, Haley stepped in to fill his shoes on the ranch rodeo team when they competed in Colorado Springs on Saturday, the 2^nd.  We loaded up our camping gear, Markus and Mandy, and headed to the springs to watch the rodeo.  Our team wasn’t a very big threat but we had a good time.  Haley had a great time taking Kim’s place and Kim did pretty well being an observer!   We said good-bye to Markus there and headed back to the ranch.  Mandy was with us another week when we got some calves branded, she was right in there flanking!  Had another good week with her then drug her along with us to the first night of our church’s Mountain Family Fellowship campout before taking her to the airport on Saturday. 

Home to Patricia’s band members waiting on her to get a marathon practice in Sunday night and all day Monday in preparation for the Weed Bluegrass Festival, that we will be off to this afternoon for the weekend, where Kim is also the master of ceremonies!