The trip to Portland for my ag survey training was good. The classes went quickly, I got to have dinner with one of my brothers (who we decided that it'd been at least a year since we'd seen each other), and the blogger meet was a blast!
Bella Jo and Cindy Sue got to travel with me and had a doggie sleep over with their friend Daisy.
The weather was wet, but so much warmer than at home.
Look at all that lush green grass!
Daisy and Bella Jo had a blast playing for 3 days!
As usual, Cindy Sue is giving me the wary eye look...knowing
that I'm probably going to leave her.
Once I'm gone though, she gets along just fine.
Their Aunt Nancy & Uncle Gene treat them just like family!
From the blogger meet at the Old Spaghetti Factory...
wilsonc on the left from canterbalance.
Jocelyn on the right from For the love of a horse.
We're all going to be at the Pendleton Roundup this September
and have got our cell phones dialed in. We're planning
a blogger breakfast at the Cowboy Breakfast at Stillman Park!
Come join us!
SquirrelGurl was also with us. She works for the same
company that I do and her blog is Notes from the Squirrel Nest.
Pauline was our photographer. She's a good friend of Jocelyn's and has horses too...hopefully she'll start up a blog. So the five of us talked horses for 2 1/2 hours, ate great food, and had a beverage or two...it was a great time!
The last day of my training conference included a field trip to downtown Portland for a visit to the Wheat Marketing Center. I thought it was an amazing place. They do research on wheat...sounds so simple, but it's important that the right type of wheat is used to get superior products. They have a noodle lab, analytical lab and a baking lab...I loved the baking lab...we got to sample all of the breads. I did a collage of some of the pics...
Top left clockwise: wheat being off loaded from a barge that came down
the Columbia River and approved wheat being loaded
onto a ship for Singapore (about 90% of Oregon's wheat
is exported); noodles (these were like gourmet Top Ramen...yum!);
flour tortillas; unleavened bread baked in a clay type oven
(tasted like a cracker); bagels; steamed bread filled with BBQ pork
or a spicy bean mixture; pocket bread baking in the oven;
testing for elasticity.
I didn't get home until 9 PM (it was a 6 hour drive because the weather was good). On Friday, I loaded up Colt for a cutting lesson...he did great! Bob said if I cut 3 cows like that in every competition, I'll be bringin' home the buckle!
Then Saturday rolls in...and with it came this:
May 22...the snow plastered door...
Bella Jo belly deep in a snow drift.
Two foot drifts...anyone want to relax at the picnic table?
This drift finally melted last night.
Well, one good thing...we save a lot on electricity by not irrigating...
but the alfalfa sure doesn't grow very fast with these temps.
The alfalfa is 8-10 inches tall and all we could see
were the tops of the plants.
I believe I mistakenly said something about how I hoped
the cold weather would stay away so we could have
apples this year...we'll see :(
It snowed and blew until noon. Then it started melting...and pretty quickly too.
The next day we went branding...I'll save that for tomorrow...
Happy Wednesday everyone!
What an eventful week! Bummer of a late snow :(
ReplyDeleteWe had some late frosts here in MA and I think my Magnolia tree got affected, even though it was past bloom and leafed out. I am also concerned about my peach tree...time will tell.
Way to go on the cutting!
Poor Cindy Sue, she looks so sad! I just wanna kiss her on the nose she is so cute! Not really a good thing to do to little dogs though, some don't like it and you might get your nose nipped off! LOL You kiss her for me!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a trip you had, sounds like so much fun! Friends to meet, good food, loads of fun....wish I lived closer!
It's in the 80's here and we cut hay yesterday and you have snow. Hope it doesn't come our way. We need three more days of good dry weather before we can bale.
Great post, love the pictures!
hugs.....
Jane and Gilly
EWW SNOW! It's 87 here right now and I am just about to hop in the pool :P
ReplyDeleteI hate snow! I want the sunshine right NOW!
ReplyDeleteI am so excited for Pendleton ! Cowboy Breakfast!!!!
Too cool, no pun intended..:-)
ReplyDeleteSnow- yuck!Hope it is the last of the spring snows for you, need some hot sunshine for a few days!
ReplyDeleteColt sounds like he's shaping up to be a pretty good horse.
We stayed away because few the snow, but we'll be there this weekend with extras.
ReplyDeleteMy brother is putting together and adding patina to the Let'R Buck statue they're putting in Pendleton next month. I'm trying to talk you know who into going up for at least a day and hopefully hanging with my brother and sister-in-law.
OMG I can't believe you got that snow on Saturday! I won't complain anymore about the rain here as long as it stays rain and the temps stay relatively warm. Really enjoyed meeting you and can't wait Pendleton!
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with this weather, anyway? Hope it's not a sign of things to come! I love the snow,but enough already! Where we live we need some consistant fair weather, too, so we can get to work and make some money!!
ReplyDeleteIt sure is neat to hear of the good time had meeting up with blogger-friends!!
I sure hope that late snow fall didn't hurt your alfalfa crop or your apples!! Isn't a snow this late in the Spring unusual?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great time was had by one and all at the meetup. I envy you guys out west being so close to each other. We haven't had any snow since February, thank you angry weather gods, but we have had days of miserable rain and it's 90 degrees today with 90% humidity. All you want to when this happens is sit in air conditioning, You turn into a puddle if you do anything,
ReplyDeleteWow, you've been busy! Wish I was closer for the blogger meets - it's something I would love to do. Bummer on the snow. It's in the 90s here with high humidity.
ReplyDeleteYikes! Make sure you KEEP it there! I'd love to have visited the baking lab too ;) I'll babysit the Cindy Sue next time.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled across your blog and had to laugh -- my dad, husband and I were shooting sage rats last weekend and got caught in that snow. It was so cold! Not sure where your ranch is, but it must be near where we were (a little SW of Buchanan).
Jane A~You've cut hay?!? I'm so jealous! I want some warm weather! I just started the wood stove again this mornin' :(
ReplyDeletedibear~The snow didn't hurt the alfalfa...I was concerned too. Spring snow is not uncommon...but that much snow is a little out of the ordinary.
Maia~The other gals are close together in the Portland area...I'm 6 hours away from them. But it's nice to be able to meet up with them occasionally! 90 degrees and 90% humidity...I'd melt...I think I'll take the snow! LOL
Rachel~Thanks for stoppin' by...Yes, you were very close to us! We're 11 miles south of Crane at Princeton. This year hasn't been very favorable for rat hunting...it's either been cold or windy.