One Week in One Post

Where have the days gone?!? Since I got back from the Big City, it's just been a whirlwind I tell ya!

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!

Meet Augustus...& The Blogger Meet Up!

I introduced you to "Command" a couple of weeks ago when I went shopping and put some money down on him. I picked him up last week, and he's working on settling in. He'd been handled a little bit as a weanling and a yearling, but mostly just turned out on pasture with everyone else. I don't mind getting a horse like that at all...I'd prefer the young horse be allowed to be a young horse.

He's had a bit of separation anxiety from leaving his herd...like trying to jump over the 5' round pen! So, I kept him in his stall with the run to let him work out his issues.

After a few days, he's started to focus on me

 and not worrying so much about the other horses. 

A friend of mine (who's been around longer than me) said one time that it was bad luck to change a horse's "barn name." Now, I'm not superstitious or anything, but I couldn't see this new horse being called 'Command' for the rest of his life. And I figured they just called him 'Command' to differentiate him from all the other horses. So, for the first three days, the poor beggar was known as "No Name!" I was having an awful time coming up with a name for him...his anxiety overshadowed his personality and all I could think of were ditsy names like Rocket and Zippy...NOT what I want my horse to be!

I got to thinking about the book Lonesome Dove and Augustus McCrae...and Augustus seemed to be fitting his personality...so Augustus it is...Gus for short of course!

He's lost a lil' bit of weight with all of his worrying.

But, he's decided that beet pulp is a great thing

and he isn't pacing so much.

Gus took his wormer like a champ and should be loosing that shaggy coat pretty quickly now. His skin is flaky and itchy too. I checked for lice, but he doesn't have any. If you have any suggestions, please leave a comment.

Me and Gus...who wouldn't perk his ears up for anything!

Yesterday, we did the saddle pad, some rope work around his legs, and started picking up his feet (which are in dire need of a trim). Today, we'll just build on that and see where we go! He seems to be a quick study, but his attention span isn't very long...which is pretty normal I think. I'm just going to keep his sessions short but progressive and not too repetitive.

Look who's in the background...Colt's getting along

with Gus so far, but I haven't put them together yet.

I'm making sure that Gus will let me catch him consistently

before I turn him out. But I think they'll make good pasture mates.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On to the Blogger Meet!

Last February during my trip to Portland OR for ag survey training, I met up with 3 fellow bloggers. And quite a few other bloggers wanted to get in on the action...well, it's that time!!

We tentatively set a date for May 20.

There's a problem for me with that day...I'll be traveling back home on that day (they switched our conference dates!).

So, how about Wednesday, May 19...Old Spaghetti Factory at Clackamas Town Center...6 pm Happy Hour...7 pm Dinner?

If the 20th is best for everyone, then leave it on the 20th...but please leave a comment and we'll get it figured out!

I'm soooo looking forward to seeing Jocelyn, 20 Meter Circle, and Reddunappy again!! SquirrelGurl, will you join us???  WilsonC?  Heather?  joycemocha?  Anyone else?!?

The more the merrier!!! Oh...this is gonna be FUN!!!

The Golden Pony is a Lucky Pony!!!

Isn't this lovely?!? I was the very lucky winner of Jane Augenstein's 200th post give-away...the prize was this gorgeous hand crafted folk art hooked rug, which of course Jane made with her own two hands. I mean, she even dye's the wool and designs the rugs she makes!

The colors are so rich, the feel is soft and warm, yet thick and strong...it is gorgeous, quality work.

Jane has a wonderful web page, Liberty Homestead Rugs, that has lots of information and photos of rugs that she's hooked. In fact, she will even design one especially for you of your pet!

This is the back side of the rug...personalized!

Every hook is smooth and the edging is as neat as a pin.

I ran around with the Golden Pony to all of the newly painted walls, holding it up, to see which color was best...it looked good against ALL of them! Then I saw The Perfect Place...in a different room...

Right next to the beautiful original watercolor that I won

in another blogger give away from Danielle Barlow

at Notes from the Rookery!

Needless to say, there are some tremendous

blogging artists out there!

So there stands the Golden Pony...in my office...

in the kitchen...above my desk...where I can

admire it on a daily basis; and of

course show it off to anyone who might stop by!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being such a great blogging friend Jane and doing such a fantastic give-away! Rest assured that the Golden Pony is loved and will be cared for...for many years to come!

Now, I did say that the Golden Pony was a Lucky Pony...it has to be. I jokingly commented that I was going to go out and buy a lottery ticket when I found out I had won it...but something else arrived with the Golden Pony...

The Forest Service has decided (with a lot of convincing from the Central Oregon Wild Horse Coalition) to return Dreamsicle to his home! In fact, he along with his two mares, the other bay band stallion and two of his mares will be returned to the Big Summit HMA next week!

Dreamsicle here in the front will return with the

bay mare in the back, and the bay mare

in the center.

The bay stallion on the left, the bay mare, and the

bald faced mare with the four socks will be

returned to their home in the Ochoco National Forest.

Another positive is that two additional mares from another HMA will be going too! Yep, each stallion will get another mare for his band.

The Coalition has been working on getting genetic diversity in the HMA and the best way to do that is by introducing a couple of new mares. The FS finally agreed that this would be an opportune time to do just that. Yahoo!!!

They will release the stallions with his respective mares at separate locations so there won't be any confusion...it'll be confusing enough.

To help with the Coalition's ongoing genetic studies of the herds in the HMA, DNA samples will be pulled from all the Big Summit horses that are at the Corrals right now. This will give us a lot of valuable information. I'll be out at the Corrals sometime next week to help pull, bag and tag the hair samples.

I'm sure you're wondering...what about the other horses that were gathered? Well, three fillies will be put up for public adoption.

This filly is one that will be adopted out.

She came in with the bay stallion band and is

the filly of the bald faced mare.

She looks to be a yearling.

These are the other two fillies that will be available.

They were the fillies from Dreamsicle's mares, but

they are not sired by Dreamsicle. The two mares

are carrying Dreamsicle's first foal crop.

The photo is from last June, so these two are now yearlings.

That leaves another mare and a yearling...and a 2 year old horse colt. Sadly, the mare and yearling have a conformation fault commonly called roach-backed. It's where the spine curves upward (the opposite of a sway back). This mare's foal from 2009 had the same fault, so it's quite obvious that it's hereditary with this mare. It was agreed by everyone that she and her filly should be taken out of the breeding pool. They will probably go to long-term holding.

Then the 2 year old colt...well, if no one else is found quickly to adopt him, he will be coming to live at the Rough String! Not that I need another horse...but I named him way back when he was just a lil' foal...Slider. He was playing on a dirt mound right next to our camp; he'd run to the top and slide down the other side...hence the name Slider. So, My Man and I have an affection for the lil' guy.

So, I really believe that the lovely Golden Pony brought a very good piece of luck...thank you Golden Pony~~

Between You, Me, and the Fence Post

Between You, Me, and the Fence Post...is that not a catchy ditty or what?!? Well, it's actually the blog name of the latest and newest blogger that I've had the pleasure to meet...in person...face to face!!!

Just today!

Please meet Sarah who in this photo is making fast

friends with lil' Silverbelly Stetson...momma Catnip is being

standoffish as usual in the background.

Sarah (blogger extraordinaire) and her husband Malcolm are long haul truckers. Sarah realized this morning that they would be driving by very close to our ranch...yea...like within 2 miles!!! After a couple of blog comments and a couple of phone calls, they were on their way to the Rough String!

L-R Sara, Rohan, me 'n Stetson.

While Sarah and I enjoyed chatting about blogging, the pros and cons of long haul trucking, farming and ranching, and the problem of dust and housekeeping in the west, the guys were getting acquainted. Not only did the two guys have trucking as a common denominator, but farming, ranching (including shooting varmints), and the rural way of life, which quickly bonded them as kindred spirits.

Pretty soon the two of them were out there in the alfalfa fields with .22 rifles shooting sage rats. The rats have just come out of hibernation and the guys enjoyed a few rounds of target practice. Believing that My Man's .22 was the better rifle, he had Malcolm use his rifle. But it seemed that My Man's rifle was dialed in for a left handed shooter (which non of use could figure out), but Malcolm didn't miss a one with my rifle (right handed)...so, go figure!?!

After the bullets quit flyin' the carnivores came in...including this beautiful National Bird...a Bald Eagle.

I took this photo from the front porch with the wheel line

and fence in the photo. Next time I'll get out there

closer and see if I can get a better shot.

As the afternoon went by all too quickly, it was time for Sarah and Malcolm to hit the road again. I drove them a mile down the road where they'd left their truck...which also held their precious cargo...three Chinese Crested.

Oh my gosh...what cute lil' girls they are!!!

Malcolm, Sarah, Carlie, Paris and Ella.

Cindy Sue wasn't quite sure what to think about

"The Girls," but here she is trying to

make acquaintance with Carlie and Ella is running

back to Sarah...just overly excited to see her mom!

My Man and I had the most enjoyable afternoon. Meeting fellow bloggers face to face is an absolute treasure. Sarah and Malcolm are wonderful people, and we hope that we'll be able to see them often in the future as they continue their travels throughout the Western States.

Happy trails to Sarah and Malcolm...return often~~

Bloggers, Bloggers...Everywhere There's Bloggers!

I'm back from my training in Portland...and as usual, it's great to be home!

Cindy Sue and Bella Jo are happy to be home too, but they had a great time at Doggie Day Care! Bella Jo has another BFF...and that would be Daisy!

Daisy had to be on a leash for the first day.

It was a rocky start for her as she'd had a bad

experience with other dogs and was a lil' on

the aggressive side. But with Nancy's

gentle guidance, the two girls were

getting along great!

Nancy's in love with Bella Jo...if I ever need

to re-home her, Nancy's on the top of the list.

But, if Bella Jo ever comes up missing, I'll know

where to look first ;~)

After the first full day together, which was nothing

but running and chasing, they were too tired

to do much else but sleep. They were inseparable!

Miss Cindy Sue, finally started to warm up

to Daisy on the last day and was trying

to get in on the play time too.

But her favorite place was on the leather couch!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then the blogger dinner! A lot of readers have probably already read and seen the photos from Thursday night's blogger meet 'n great dinner.

Here's the line up:

Jocelyn from For the Love of a Horse

20 Meter Circle at From Bell Boots to Botox and Back Again

Reddunappy from There's a Horse in My Bubblebath

The lovely Jocelyn & 20MC

Reddunappy & me

Good food, great beverages and fantastic

company...we couldn't have had a better evening!

We chatted horses, horses and more horses. The

evening went by way too fast!

There are some other bloggers who would have liked to meet too, but couldn't make it. So, I want to suggest a plan. I've got to go back for another training in May.

Let's set a date...May 20

Where: Old Spaghetti Factory, Clackamas Town Center

Time: 6:00 Happy Hour; 7:00 dinner

Who's in??? The more the merrier!!!

~~~~~~

OK...there's one more blogger that I got to see, and she works for the Field Office that I work for! A couple of months ago, she left a comment on my blog, and we put two and two together. It's funny how small the world gets sometimes!

This is Daphne aka "squirrelgurl" at

Notes from the Squirrel Nest. Daphne did a presentation

at my training class on the last day. It was

fun to see her and get to chat horses for a while!

Happy Valentine's weekend everyone...don't miss Sunday Stills tomorrow...it's a cutie!

Blogger Give-Away Thank Yous

I'm very delinquent in giving thanks to one of my favorite blogging artists, Danielle Barlow, at Notes from the Rookery.

We're talking last September...

:0(

Bad Me

Well, way back then, I was the very lucky winner of this lovely, whimsical watercolor original (actually my very first original). Believe me, my photo of this water color does NOT do it justice. I was having a hard time with the glare from the glass in the frame.

The details in the painting are so much fun to look at (click the photo to biggify). I'm always finding something new in the cart when I gaze at it. You can see Danielle's photo of it here.

Part of my time dilemma was that I took it straight from the Post Office to the frame shop, and it took the shop almost 2 months to get it framed...oh, well...I love the tiny, black frame. It seems to really make the painting stand out. I've put it on the wall at my desk...it's perfect!

Danielle is not only a wonderful artist, but she has the cutest kids and ponies too! She lives in England, so it's always fun to visit her blog and see how the folks on the other side of the "Big Pond" live! I hope you'll stop on by her blog; trust me, you'll enjoy yourself!

Thank you so very much Danielle!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then our illustrious leader, Ed, at Sunday Stills, has been doing give-away's on his blog Thoughts from the Road.

I won this beautiful photo of the butterfly...and Ed threw in a couple of greeting cards too!

Ed is a professional truck driver, but is a photo junkie. His nature photography is amazing. Ed's blog is fun and the photos are always worth seeing, but his website, Tellico Images, is eye candy for anyone who appreciates nature. Check it out!

Thank you Ed!!!

Hmmmmm...this is makin' me want to do another give-away myself!! I'll have to start thinkin' 'bout that! Gotta make a plan...

Pendleton~Pendleton~~Who's Coming to the Roundup?!?!?

WhoooooHooooo!!!!

It's Roundup time again!!

I know there are a few readers out there that will be going, and I'd love to meet you in person. Anyone interested in a blogger breakfast at Stillman Park's Cowboy Breakfast or meet in the Let 'er Buck room for a beverage before the rodeo??

Send me an email (address is on the left) and let's try to get together!!

There is a wonderful blogger story

that accompanies this Wild Rag.

A lil' over a month ago, I got an email. It took me a few minutes to figure out who sent the email which said:

"It looks like I'm not gonna get to go to Pendleton this year after all. However, when I was cleaning out my mother's things from her house in Florida, I found an OLD silk scarf from the Round Up in the cedar chest. It has to be at least 40 years old. This is not something that I would ever wear or use. It's too nice to just sit in my cedar chest. I would like to give it to you with the caveat that you USE it!! Send me your snail mail address and I will get it to you in time for the Round Up."

It was signed by "Jenny." You know how we all are...most of us are known by an alias or our blog name. But, "Florida" and her email address that included "AK" were the clues that put the puzzle together. There aren't too many bloggers that I know from Alaska...but, when I found

AK Pony Girl's Riding Log

I had to start following. Horses in Alaska??? I gotta find out about that! Not only does she have horses, but goats and sheep. The scenery is beautiful...a place I want to visit sometime...on horseback!

Obviously she'd read enough on my blog to know my

attire style and love of rodeo...especially the Roundup.

And here is an almost total stranger giving me what I would

consider to be a family heirloom of her late mother's.

It put tears to my eyes.

When I got the package, I couldn't believe how beautiful and detailed the scarf was. It's in perfect condition...but, yes, I'll be wearing it next week at the Roundup!! I still couldn't believe that Jenny wanted me to have it!

The boarder represents the "Indian Village" that

has been part of the Roundup for decades. It's a really fun place

to buy authentic hand-made goods as well as great indian food.

Isn't the detail gorgeous?

~~Thank you Jenny from the bottom of my heart...your

kindness and generosity won't be forgotten~~

Blogger folks are the best folks wouldn't you agree??!!