Summer Brain Challenge ~ Day 8 ~ Get Every Little Bit

First things first...My Man has been busy today as usual...first it was the Escape, then the Dodge pickup...and now the tractor!!! He says that the big horse trailer is next!!! What a guy!!

OK...on to the challenge!

Last week, Dr. Perlmutter focused on nutrition for the brain. This week is exercise and movement. 

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The assignment for today was to pick a friend to join me on a short workout. Short is better than none at all...and for some, it's better!

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I chose my dear husband John...and all four dogs!! We broke out the cruisers for a back road country spin! We can't go too fast when Mindy Mae is with us...her little legs can't keep up!!

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But, great fun was had by all. And I always feel energized by getting outside in the fresh air!

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What is your "go-to" lack-of-time exercise?

In Health & Love~ 

 #DoLifeBetter 

 gtyyup

Summer Brain Challenge ~ Day 4 ~ Eat For Your Mental Health

Dr. Perlmutter writes: “Pay attention to how you mentally feel after you’ve had an indulgent meal. That regret isn’t just sociological - processed and fried foods full of sugars and refined carbs can cause your mental health to suffer. If you’ve got an indulgent meal coming up this week, take note of how you feel after it.”

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For me, it’s been so long since I had an “indulgent meal” that I can’t really remember what I felt like mentally…but, I do know that my “brain fog” has lifted over the past year of not eating any processed foods!! Duh, probably why I can’t remember!! BTW, I literally threw everything in my pantry that was not “real food” into the garbage!

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Being petite, I’ve never had a weight issue, but more depression and mood. After getting off the “after cancer” medication, eating “real” food, hydrating myself and getting enough sleep, I’m slowly finding purpose again.

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Everything is connected…eating real food brings better health to every area of your life!

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Love your family and friends…4 legs or 2 legs!

In Health & Love~ 

 #DoLifeBetter 

 gtyyup

Self Care ~ Animal Care ~ Everyone is Important!

I'm almost afraid to say it...but I think we're past any chance of snow...well, that'll jinx us now!! But it's been the longest, coldest, wettest spring anyone can remember. In the high desert here we should never complain about precipitation in whatever form it comes in...but it's been hard on the ranchers and farmers.

My Man is dragging the hay fields...Rastus is a bunch of help of course!

Tax day has come and gone (thank goodness that's done with for another year!), and another year of poisoning the ground squirrels (we call them sage rats) in the hay fields. Because of all of the rain, we couldn't get the bait out in a timely manner, so the percent of dispatch wasn't as good as other years, but we got what we got.

Easter too has come and gone...but the memory of the sunrise service is fresh in my mind. It poured rain the day before, and we wondered it we would need to shift to plan "B"...but the day broke with some clouds...just enough to get a beautiful reflection as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. It was perfect!

Easter sunrise service in Crane Oregon...it was spectacular!! Fitting for our King~

This week I'll be flying to Austin Texas for a huge event...Paleo f(x)...I'm so excited to be selected to go with my team and learn a ton of new stuff...building my knowledge on Paleo and Ancestral Health. I'm pretty sure I'll have a bunch to share when I return!

Until then...have a quick listen to my latest FB live video.

Self Care~You're Important!

In Health & Love~

#DoLifeBetter

gtyyup

Throwback Thursday~March 2014

March 5 years ago...great memories!!!

Awwww...the newborn calves! How I miss them.
We sold our little herd two years ago in preparation of moving.

Red Dog & Rastus...running and chasing each other as spring is coming.
Not much has changed with these two! 

Sweet Martha Jo~we adopted her so she could live out her life with love.
She wasn't with us long, but it was a very special time.

What precious memories do you have in your heart from 5 years ago?

In Health & Love~ 

 #DoLifeBetter 

 gtyyup

Day Work...and Play!

I've blogged before about riding for other ranchers...and it's turned into a bit of a part-time job.  It's termed as "day work" out here...where you're hired on for the time they need you.

Crowley Ranch is one of these ranches. I usually go for anywhere from a few days to a week...depending on the job that needs to be done...which is good since it takes 2 1/2 hours to get there! It's really not that far from our place, but the last 26 miles is one rough road. This past winter and spring it was impassable at times with the snow drifts and then the flooding when the snow melted!

The area is very remote with long miles in between ranches. But, that's what I like about it best...it's a step back in time.

Saddled up by 7AM and waiting (for us to go have one more cup of coffee).

This week was just a short job; gather for the branding on Friday. I drove out on Wednesday afternoon to arrive with some time for Kat to help me with Jiggs and Rastus on her sheep. BTW...this is the ranch that Jiggs came from. She breeds awesome working Border Collies!

Jiggs is a bit fresh as he starts his first work!!! But, my goodness, he wants to work!!

She had me work Rastus (I sure need the practice!), and then she worked Jiggs by himself...but he needed a bit of help from Rastus (Jiggs learns from taking Rastus' lead). So, Kat gets Rastus working the sheep and at the right time I release Jiggs. It works pretty well, but at times it gets a bit wild!!

So, I have my three sheep to practice on, and some basics in my head. I'm also going to study a video series by Shane Harley...he's very similar to Tom Blasdell and Kat...keep me from getting too confused!!

Gathering up the pairs for branding on Friday.
LOVE the wide open range where you can see forever!

Rastus helping me as we bring them into the corrals.

My two hooligans!

No, Jiggs didn't go gather pairs...we wanted them in the corrals, not into the next county!! But he's learning patience by staying in the horse trailer when I'm working and being tied for long periods of time with Rastus. We take many walks and do fun things when we're at Crowley, but they sure enjoy coming home with the fenced in yard to run their hearts out!

Two Years, Two Months and Two Weeks Later...

It's a lazy Sunday mornin', and I just finished reading Mugwump's latest post. Scrolling around her blog, I see my blog name...and it says my last post was 2 years ago. Actually, it has been exactly 2 Years, 2 months and 2 weeks...but who's counting right?!?

There's no way to catch up on 2 years of life in a nutshell, so I'm just going to pick a photo...or two or three or four...and start from here! Short 'n sweet blog posts...if I can remember how to insert a photo!

Rastus has a new buddy...Jiggs!

Cute lil' stinker...his nickname is Turdy Jiggs

Mindy Mae could use less of him. He used to drag her by her sweater and her tail!

He's got the  Border Collie stare.

He's already outgrown Rastus at 8 months!

God bless you all on this fine Memorial Day weekend~


GTYYUP~

Discovering the Nifty Fifty! (50mm lens)

And another Random 5 Friday!

I'm doing a couple of weekly photo challenges on Facebook. This week, one of those challenges was to use the 50mm lens...shoot whatever you want, but use the 50mm lens or something as close as you could get to 50mm.

Well, when I bought this "used-new to me" Canon DSLR, it came with four lenses...including a 50mm which I've never used! I LOVE IT!!

Say "cheese!"

It's light weight and takes consistently good quality photos with little to no post-processing.

"Awwww Rastus...I luv you!" says Mindy Mae

I like that the lens shoots more closely what your eye sees (distance wise)...there's no zoom, it's a fixed lens...you have to do it the ol' fashioned way...move your feet!

"Is it dinner yet?"

I can't explain this part, but I was able to get this shot out the back barn door...I'm standing in the dark barn and the bright sundown light is shining onto Colt. Usually the gate boards are black or he's all over exposed. Shrugging my shoulders on this one!

Love the fine detail...this is SOOC...no processing.

And, action shots were really impressive!! I set the camera in Action mode and I got more consistent shots than with the zoom!

The Boys...and just outside of the frame
 is Mindy Mae trying to get in the middle of the play!

Summary...I'm going to use this lens a LOT in the future!!

My Random 5...

1. To clarify my statement from last week about being concerned with My Man's retirement...it's mainly the health insurance that's bothering me!! And My Man sure won't be lettin' any grass grow under his feet after retirement...he just won't be working for the lumber yard anymore!

2. I got my hair cut yesterday...My Man didn't say boo about it...he sort of ticked me off...guess it's a bad cut.

3. Pierce needs lots of ground work before I get on him again...he's got issues with someone being on him...he's not happy or relaxed like he should be.

4. It's home made Egg Foo Young and a movie tonight...all at home!

5. Italian at our friend's house tomorrow...I'm making bread sticks and dessert...yum, can't wait!


Have an awesome weekend!!!

Leggin' Up - A Springtime Ritual

Yesterday, I took my first ride up our hill since last fall. The grass is starting to shoot up, but only a couple of inches so far. The weather forecast shows 69 degrees today, some rain tomorrow, and back up into the upper 60's again after that! YES!! The grass should start shooting up nicely with that!!

Rastus needs legging up too!
You can see the green grass coming up! 

The Butter Cups are starting to bloom, and I heard my first Meadow Lark...while Bald Eagles and ravens flew overhead. It was a beautiful afternoon ride.

I've got Colt in the two-rein...getting him tuned up...hope to have
him straight up in the bridle in a couple of weeks. 

We were supposed to help trail a few hundred yearling heifers to summer pasture on Friday, but something happened and the day was cancelled...dang :~( I hope to get invited when they reschedule...Rastus, Colt and I need leggin' up!!

Hope your spring days are as good as mine~

Twelve Photos from 2014

These are not chosen as my best quality photos, but as some of my favorite photos representing events and life changes in the year 2014.

Miss Cindy Sue starts the month of January. It's been a year now, and her PRA (progressive retina atrophy) has left her almost blind now. Her eyes are a milky white color. She still loves to go to the barn, but we have keep a close watch on her. It's been hard watching her eyesight fail, but dogs are amazing...she is adapting quite well.

February ~ Ah yes Mr. Red Dog...I do love this photo of him!

March ~ This photo just makes me laugh. Our brandings are so NOT traditional!! We had three bull calves and one heifer to vaccinate and brand...and of course castrate the bull calves.
No horses...just brute strength man power!

April ~ Our beloved Martha Jo, a VERY senior Chihuahua, came to live with us in April as a friend for Cindy Sue since CS can no longer go on trail rides or irrigate. My Man and I both just loved this lil' lady to the moon. She was picked up as a stray in Madras Oregon, and we adopted her through Three Rivers Humane Society. We gave her the best we could to make her life meaningful in her golden years...but we lost her in October. Her lil' spirit lives in our hearts. Rest in Peace Martha Jo~

May ~ We were blessed to be invited to numerous brandings for our friends and neighbors. My Man took this nice shot of me and Colt at the Thompson branding in Diamond...the branding with the most wind and dust of the year!!
My camera will never be the same :( 

June ~ We had a pretty good year for our hay. Our decision on when to cut second cutting should have been about a week later. The hot weather during the growth of third cutting made it grow faster than second cutting...really abnormal for that time of year. We could have gotten a fourth cutting, but opted not to take the chance. So, now in January, we have lots of deer feeding in our fields which is nice to see.

July ~ Off to school goes Pierce! He's not the perfectly willing, forgiving horse that Colt is...I will have to step up to the plate on his training. I'm glad that I decided to do the Mike Bridges Project with him...it'll help me keep focused...and our friend/neighbor Brian will also be in the same Project...that'll be great support!

August ~ Trailin' Cattle...gather and trail with Colt and Rastus = Awesome!

September ~ The beautiful Indian Summer lasted well into November...VERY unusual for our area. My planter of hummingbird flowers bloomed on and on despite the deer who kept trimming off the top blooms!

October ~ My sweet boy Rastus. We spent an exciting two days at Crowley Ranch in October gathering pairs and moving them into fields close to headquarters just prior to their shipping date. It's the most remote ranch I've worked on...loved it!!! We passed the test...because we're invited back this spring to help turn out onto summer grazing...can't wait!

November ~ Our Kids! I'd been looking for a good day to do a family photo shoot and finally got one. Hard to believe that the Nasturtiums were still blooming in November!! The blooms made for a wonderful background.
Shortly after this, we had a major freeze, and they were done. 

December ~ On the 20th, our newest lil' treasure came into our lives. We are pleased to introduce tiny lil' Mindy Mae. At 4.7 pounds, she's just a drop in the bucket compared even to Cindy Sue!! Mindy Mae is another stray out of Madras which we adopted from Three Rivers Humane Society. She's just 3 1/2 years old and is in very good health! She LOVES the wood stove obviously, but she also loves Cindy Sue, Rastus and Red Dog.
My Man and I have lost our hearts to her~

OK...let's make it thirteen!!!

My Man is always here to support me...so, this one gets my vote for favorite photo of the year!

Thanks for ridin' along...happy trails~

Holidays? What Holidays?

OK, so Thanksgiving and Christmas have come and gone...as quick as Santa's blink of an eye. I was here, but I'm not sure what I did since I didn't get the Christmas letter done, any cards mailed, or all of my crafty gifts finished...

Sigh...

I'm not really into the term "resolution" as in New Year's Resolutions...but I hope to be here blogging in 2015 more than I was in 2014...I may have said that last year too...

Sigh...

What else...I'm gonna pick up that camera more often too!! The world goes by all to quickly...and I really didn't see any of the details!!! That's why they call it a "capture"...right?

So, I'll leave you with a capture of Rastus in the fresh mornin' snow today~




Belated Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas~

Happy Howloween!!!

Bwhhhaaaaaaaa...freeze dried jack-o-lantern after 3 weeks! Mother Nature can do cool stuff!

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A bit of a blast from the past...Cindy Sue and Cowboy from 2007. Rastus from 2013. Yes, I was forgiven for their abuse!

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Have fun, be safe...keep your dogs safe too from all the scary goblins in their costumes...it can be very frightening for them!

Meanwhile, Waiting for the Water Trough to Fill...

Smile!

What else would you do...but have a photo shoot!

Let's chase bunnies!

The "Get Up" command in action!

"Hey Mom...I feel stupid up here!"

Awww...but you're so handsome Rastus!

And...other stuff...

Boulder & Sage

Tumbleweed Corner...yes, in my arena...gotta get to cleanin' that mess up!

Have a wonderful Fall weekend!