Colored outside the lines

New Year! ! !

2010-01-03T11:05:00.004-07:00

Happy New Year!!!

We brought in the new year with a small party at MDA's Get-a-way! 15 people were having a good time, lots of food and drink. Gary started our 1st campfire and it was a big success. Several people played pool through out the evening.

We went to a pot luck dinner before the party. Cathy made chili and Jay made chicken and dumplings. Both were excellent. Mike and I both had to have two helpings.

Yesterday we had a horseshoe tournament. There were 4 teams and several great throwers. I did pretty well the 1st game but then my luck changed and I went downhill after that. Mike did really well and was getting quite a few points. He even placed 3rd in the event. We took Shadow along and he enjoyed being in the warm sunshine. It got up to 70 degrees yesterday and we expect to have more and more nice days.

We are working at the check in station today. It is getting busier with more campers coming in. The Big Tent with the RV show will be set up by Jan. 16th. The official opening day for all the vendors was Jan. 1, 2010.

RAIN, RAIN & WIND

2009-12-14T09:30:00.002-07:00

Monday the 7th was a wet day! We had some rain, wind and more rain and wind....It was reported there were 2 tornadoes that buzzed thru Quartzsite and 2 in the desert where we are staying. Winds went from 82.5 mph - 100 mph. We had calm before the storm,,,,a lot of rain, then it calmed a bit and hail began to fall.
Mike and I were outside bailing water from the tents. We filled up 3 - 12 gallon containers in about 10 minutes. We had rain gutters up inside the tents but they needed to be more secure. They are now rain proof..
It rained a little yesterday and they seemed to be doing their job.
All the tents were staked down good and we didn't lose any. We had some water damage on the back tent and had to replace one tarp on the roof. But we fared very well.

I'm no longer working at the Grubstake restaurant. The manager said I wasn't bringing in enough business. But hey, I was bar tending and couldn't go and flag people in. I think it will be their loss.

Friday night we went to our weekly potluck at the hosts campsite. We were going to have chicken and dumplings but we got there and no dumplings. It was still good. This Friday we will be having 15 bean soup and cornbread.

We have new neighbors from Montana. Gary and Claudia Peck are now in our circle of friends. We had a group of friends come over Sat. night. We popped popcorn, had music on and shot some pool. It was a good time.
Tonight we are having friends over to watch the Arizona game and we might play Mexican train dominoes. And of course there will be happy hour and snacks.
Have a good week and I'll post again next weekend.

Dec. already

2009-12-06T12:24:00.002-07:00

December is here already! Last week Mike and I went to Phoenix and got some things done. He picked up a propane heater for the LP tank for the MDA Get-a-way tent. It already takes the chill off while sitting there during the evening.
I moved my 5er on Thurs. night over tho Mikes and Steve's tent area. It has provided a wind block on the east side. We have tiki torches at the entrance and are creating a Quartzsite Survivor entryway.
Barb and Jim have come over a couple of times to join us in the evening. A potluck was held on Fri. night at the camp hosts tent. Jay and Cathy served roast beef, taters, gravy, salads and desert. It was wonderful. After we joined everyone at the fire pit.
I had to get 2 truck batteries for my dodge 2500 yesterday. It wouldn't hold a charge and then just wouldn't start on Fri. morning. Those batteries are spendy!
I'm going to help Mike tonight with his tents. The ropes have to be tightened and we need to put tarps on the inside to keep the cold out from below. We are also going to put up 2 rain gutters for the rains coming tomorrow. Of course we will have the spouts going away from Mikes motor home and catch the rainwater on the other side.
There is another potluck on Friday again. Sue Ellen is making her famous Chicken and Dumplings. We will fill in the gaps with our favorite sides. There are a lot of good cooks in the desert!
Since I got my satellite hooked up, I will be able to watch The Amazing Race tonight.
There are more and more vendors showing up but the campers still aren't flooding in like the previous years.
I'm only working 3 - 5 hour days at the Grubstake restaurant and the tips are low.
Hope everything picks up soon...Might have to get a 3rd job just to make ends meet...
Have a great week!

Cool day today

2009-11-29T12:22:00.006-07:00

We start off the day with some pics of the volunteers who run the LPN check in station. The first pic is me and Mike, then Alice and Chuck and Barb and Jim.

It was only 37 degrees this morning. Lots of RV heaters were running trying to keep these snowbirds warm.

Mike and I got the generators out yesterday and changed the oil in his and mine. Heck, Mikes even fired right up after he filled it with gas!

We worked on his tent area yesterday making several trips to K & B tools to get rope, clamps and fasteners. The entire tent area is enclosed now and with a couple portable heaters, it will be toasty. He brought a pool table over last week, has a bar and popcorn machine so it's party time. So MDA's Get-a-Way is officially open! Come over and join the fun..

The BLM had a meeting with all the volunteers on Tues. We went over the rules and regs. of the volunteer positions, etc. After the meeting we had a potluck, with the BLM supplying chicken and soft drinks.

Yesterday there were very strong winds. We are getting a cold spell too. I thought it was supposed to be warm in Arizona. That's one of the reasons I came down here.

This vehicle pulled into the parking area the other day. It is a German "man" Mercedes vehicle.

Another work day

2009-11-22T12:11:00.003-07:00

I'm working at the check in station today. So far at noon we've only had one couple check in.

Last week I worked at the Grubstake restaurant. Both Thurs. and Fri. were so slow. I got sent home 2 hours early on Friday and tips were not good. It will pick up as more people winter in Q.

Laundry day is always on Tues. I can also use the computer at the laundromat, so I get caught up on my emails.

Also on Tues. afternoon there was a music jam at La Posa South. It was interesting to listen to all the talented folks down here playing and singing.

I took a couple pictures of some unique trailers here in the desert.

The first one is one a lady owns. She takes broken down trailers, strips then down and repaints and rebuilds the interior. The 3rd picture is one that has a wind turbine with it. The 4th is a new model with a loft.

We are planning on Thanksgiving down here at the host's campsite. They are furnishing turkey and dressing and we will all bring side dishes. I think I might just make some homemade rolls.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone this year, new friends and old ones...

Cooler days

2009-11-15T11:54:00.004-07:00

Here's Mike starting off his day and the 2nd picture with him hard at work.

Today started off a bit cooler. On the way to work at the check in station, the temp was 51 degrees and the winds are blowing.

I went to Yuma/Algodonez, Mexico on Tues. Since it was Veteran's Day, everyone had the US flags flown. Traffic was stopped on Hwy 95 North because of about 125 Veteran's riding thru on Harleys and Goldwings. All were proudly displaying US flags.

I did finally find the Scottie dog rock formation on the way down to Yuma.

After picking up a RX in Mexico, I had to have the famous shrimp taco. Actually I ended up eating two of them, they are delicious. It only took 10 minutes to get thru the gate on the way out.

I watched some of the CMA awards the other night. I was surprised at some of the awards.

Best new artist-Darrius Rucker (used to play with Hootie & the Blow fish)

New album-Taylor Swift

Ent. of the year-Taylor Swift

Vocal Dual-Sugarland

Music Video-Taylor Swift-Love Story

Male Vocalist-Brad Paisley

Female Vocalist-Taylor Swift

It was a good show and a lot of great entertainers.

Since I had yesterday off, I headed to Parker. I took my metal detector and tried to find treasures along the Colorado River. Wasn't lucky at all.

I spotted this helicopter at the Super 8 motel last night.

Another beautiful Arizona sunset.

Pictures posted

2009-11-09T11:59:00.004-07:00

I took some before and after pictures from when I got here. The campers are starting to fill in the desert.

I was out trying to find some hiking sticks the other night about sunset and captured this Saguaro along the horizon. Also the full moon was beautiful the other night.

Here is a picture of Mike's dog, Shadow. He stays down at the check in station, outside, while Mike and I are working.

Warm days ahead

2009-11-04T10:24:00.002-07:00

The weather has been great for the past few days. Last week we had 2 days when the wind didn't stop blowing. I noticed that all the awnings had been put in for those days. It is supposed to reach record high temperatures this week.

Working at the check in station is getting busier. We check in 5-6 rigs per day with all the stations open now. We went from 1 work day a week to 2 days now.

I will start working at a popular restaurant in town starting tomorrow. I will be waitressing/bar tending a couple days a week. The manager said that it will turn into full time if I want the work.

The vendors are setting up. Rice ranch has the most vendors so far. I'll have to get my camera out and start taking pictures and posting them.

I am feeding about 30 quail and 30 gamble quail every day. The hummingbirds are hanging around too. I do have a fox that frequents my campsite at night. The coyotes are always howling, what a wonderful sound.

Next time, pics will be available..

Pictures

2009-10-28T12:12:00.003-06:00

Just trying to get some pictures uploaded so I'm playing with this post.

High Winds

2009-10-28T11:47:00.003-06:00

Yesterday and today we have had high winds to the 40mph gusts. I was planning on moving my trailer in the next few days so I hope it lets up. I had some people park way to close to me and I think I need a change of scenery. Also I have been being harassed by a guy just across from me.
I have several job applications in and hopefully I will get hired on pretty soon. I was told this morning of another place that will be hiring soon so off to town to get another foot in the door.
Ron and Terry arrived here a couple nights ago. It was good to see them after a year and 1/2. They are scouting for a place to camp their 5er.
Quartzsite is starting to get busier. Quite a few vendors are setting up. Next month will be even better.

Sat.

2009-10-24T11:22:00.002-06:00

Today was laundry day. I'm getting it done, just sitting playing on the computer also. It's nice this laundromat has WiFi, plus a patio where they serve bisquits/gravy and hot dogs. Their Chicago Style Vienna dogs are the best. So if in Quartzsite go to "Gone to the Dogs" laundromat and get it all done at one time. It's across the street from the Roadrunner market.

Snowbirds are finally moving into Q. We have about 6-8 check into the BLM area every other day.

I have been collecting some wood for fires in the evening. The nights are so beautiful. The sun goes down and the sky is as clear and bright with stars. So a fire is always welcome.

Ron and Terry will arrive shortly. I haven't seen them in about a year and 1/2 so I'm looking forward to them getting here.

The rock club will be opening its doors soon and I plan on going down and getting involved in that also.
Drive safe getting here and look me up at La Posa North--1st 5th wheel this side of the garbage dumps on the right with the WYO and US flag out front. Sandy

Oct 5, 2009

2009-10-05T11:26:00.003-06:00

We arrived in Quartzsite Az on Sept 19th. It was blazing hot for about 10 days well over 100 degrees. The high was 112 degrees. I melted, complained but survived somehow. It's now in the low 90's and feels comfortable believe it or not.

I went to Algodonez, Mexico and picked up some new glasses. For $125 I got new frames, bifocals, progressive, eye exam and they were ready in less than 2 hours.
I had to have a shrimp taco also. They are soooo good. They fix them in a warmed corn tortilla, battered fried shrimp inside with pico de gallo, raw shredded cabbage, lime juice and sour cream. They are to die for. I do have to go back and get my frames adjusted soon.

Today is chore day. We got propane, a load of wood (going back for a 2nd one), doing laundry, checking the internet for messages and get stuff done on line. It will at least take up a few hours.

People are starting to trickle into Quartzsite. When we first got here (the heat probably kept them away), the streets were bare. Now the stop lights are working overtime.
Till I write again, can't wait to see all my old friends and the new ones I haven' met yet!

Sunday

2009-09-13T12:49:00.002-06:00

We are headed out on Tues the 15th to head to Arizona. We will travel thru Salt Lake City Utah and then down to Ariz. We are going to spend a couple days at Lake Meade. Work is finished in Wyoming. I'll talk to some of you about it when I get down to Q. It was a bad experience the last couple of days with the owners of Woods Landing.
'The weather is getting cooler here. It has been getting in the 30's at night. Gotta turn the furnace on for a short bit to take the chill off.
Today I'm at the laundromat doing the last bit of wash. Then tomorrow we will hook up the 5er and bring it to town to dump the grey and black water. We'll camp at the Territorial Prison overnight and then head to Riverton to visit my other sister, Jan and her family before we make the long trip.
Last night we took a drive up the mountain to WyColo lodge. It is a restaurant and bar, plus they have cabins to rent. We listened to a cowboy poet for a while and then headed back down the mountain.
We'll be visiting my sister, Donna and family today to say our goodbyes for another season.
See ya all soon in Q!!

August 29

2009-08-29T21:53:00.003-06:00

WORK, WORK, WORK !! ! ! !
It seems like that is all I've been doing lately. My last paycheck I worked 95 hours and had taken 3 days off to go to SD. Good thing I'm only part time. I am actually part time---at the store, waitressing, cooking and cleaning cabins. But all together, they become full time.
Last Monday, I went on a 12 mile hike in the Snowy Mtn Range. Donna, Jim and Russ tagged along. It took 6 hours and at the end we stopped in Centennial and had pizza and beer at the Bear Tree Cafe. They have the best pizza in WYO!!
Joanne Gabrielson came over from Pocatello Id. to visit for a couple days. Her and I and another friend floated the Shoshone River in Cody last summer. We were all high school buddies.
Russ and I have to work tomorrow, but in the afternoon we will be going to Centennial to listen to a Blues Band. They have a band every weekend and it is fun to get away once in a while.
THEN---on Tuesday, Donna (sis) and I are going for a hike in the Rawah Wilderness down in Colo. Hopefully we can go for 3-4 days.
Have a great week!

Hey, a post!

2009-08-10T14:34:00.002-06:00

We are finally back on line here at Woods Landing.
I'm still working a lot, now not only cleaning cabins, working in the store and waitressing but have now started cooking in the cafe. I like it all and am totally worn out each and every night.
I was supposed to go on a hike in the Grand Tetons but problems arose and it was canceled for the moment.
We had some great neighbors this year. Jo and Rick Geveart from Oklahoma spent time here. Rick works for the Forest Service and Jo is a kindergarten teacher. Jo had to leave on Sunday to go home and start work. We got really close and many tears were shed when she left. She will be my friend forever and I love her dearly.
I have been spending a lot of time with my friend Russ. We will head to Arizona sometime in the fall and spend more time together.
I'm finally happy again.
I'll try to post more often now that we have INTERNET!

July 8, 2009

2009-07-08T15:23:00.002-06:00

This is a post long overdue. I have been busy working at Woods Landing, doing cabin cleaning, working in the country store and waitressing in the cafe. On my off time, I have been trying to get in as much hiking as possible. A month from tomorrow, my sister Donna, brother in law Jim and nephew and I will begin our 35 mile hike in the Grand Tetons at Jackson Hole, WY. We are taking 5 days to do this and I am getting so excited. After that if I haven't dropped dead from the hike, Donna and I will try to hike part of the Continental Divide trail from Battle Mtn Pass to Steamboat Springs Colo. It is about 75 miles. One nice thing about hiking is that I can eat all I want and never gain a pound.
Hope everyone is doing well, I will post again soon.
I am headed to Quartzsite, AZ sometime in Sept. Looking forward to seeing old friends again.

May 30

2009-05-30T19:15:00.002-06:00

Today my friend Jane and I decided to go to Ft. Collins, CO for the garage sales. We hit the jackpot! After getting up at 5am and being to her house in Laramie at 6:30am we were on our way. We got a latte and headed down the road. After we got there we found a Community Garage Sale in a sub-division. There were about 6 block by 6 blocks of garage sales, maybe every 2 -3 houses. My find of the day was a Showtime Rotisserie (set it and forget it). It was brand new and I got it for $7.00. What a steal. The second deal was a Kelty Backpack. It is only a year old and used once by a girl that took it to New Zealand last year.
Jane got a brand new WOK, a pendulum clock and a set of 7 beautiful bowls made in Italy. We were both happy with the day.
We had lunch of salad and soup at Olive Garden. Yummy!
We also went to Petco for dog tags for the dogs.
On the way home, we got hit by a hard rain storm. We all of a sudden noticed that there were so many cars on the highway headed to Colo. After I got home, I found out that I-80 from Laramie to Cheyenne, WY had to be closed due to a large hail storm. It ended up being 1 1/2' of hail on the highway and the snow plows had to be called out to clear it off.
Pretty wild for the end of May.
I've got cabins to clean tomorrow then work in the cafe till close. Have a great evening.

May 29th

2009-05-29T18:09:00.002-06:00

I had to run to town today to get some paperwork. But got bad news when I took the paperwork back in. Oh well, It will work out somehow.
Harley, my Cairn Terrier, loves to travel, so he was sitting on the console the whole way just watching the scenery fly by. He's got this thing about cars passing us. He barks and chases it from inside the truck. Strange little dog!
Jane and I are headed to Ft Collins Colo tomorrow at 6:30am to go to garage sales. Then at noon time, Olive Garden will get a visit from us. We have to go to Pet Smart and get new dog tags for the dogs.
We had rain showers here today. It smells so good after the rain and I love walking in it when it is coming down lightly.
The campground has 4 campers tonight and 3 cabins and the guest house have been rented out. I'll start cleaning cabins on Sunday and then work in the cafe in the afternoon. My summer work has begun and I just love it here.
The high school graduation was this afternoon in Laramie. It didn't seem to busy when I was in town tho.
Have a great weekend!

After Memorial Day

2009-05-26T20:12:00.002-06:00

I went to Utah for Memorial Day. I spent time inm Ogden canyon with friends from Quartzsite. I had a wonderful time and hated to come back to WYO. The canyon and campgrounds there are beautiful, lush and green. There was some rain for about a day and 1/2 but all in all it was perfect.
I got home this afternoon about 5pm and am exhausted. It is an 8 hour drive from there. I talked with my boss tonight and I will start work on Friday. It will be good to get back into the routine here. It is cool here tonight and supposed to only be in the 30's tonight.
This is a short post tonight, I'm tired, and cooking pork chops and veggies for supper. Have a great end of the week.

May 20

2009-05-20T18:19:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I hooked up the 5er and said goodbye to my friends and employers at the ranch. I went on the road to Scottsbluff, NE. I took the trailer in to get summer-ized. They flushed out all the lines and fixed the refrigerator and water heater. The fridge wouldn't ignite to the propane and they took it apart to find it was corroded. It is working like a champ now. Chemical was put into the holding tanks to clean the sensors. It didn't work all the way after heading down the road to Laramie.
I arrived in Laramie and stayed at my sisters house for the night since I didn't get there till 6pm. She had supper ready and a nice soft bed for me to sleep in.
This morning I headed up the road 25 miles to Woods Landing. I now have the 5er hooked up for the summer, just have to fill the tanks with water. Might get that done tomorrow.
It's good to be back here for the summer, but I will miss my friends and animals in Nebr.
It was 100 degrees in Scottsbluff yest, and today here in Woods Landing it got to 68. Wonderful weather!
Tomorrow, I'm going on a hike with my sister, Donna. We will hike a 4 mile trail the opposite way we hiked it last year. Uphill this time. I just tried on my hiking pants and none of them fit!!! YIKES... After the hike, I will have to buy a couple pair for future hikes. I lost 35 pounds over the winter and 5 pant sizes. I look better and feel great...Lots more energy too.
After the hike tomorrow, I will have dinner with my friend of 30 years, Jane! She is making Shrimp Curry. It is the best!
Then either on Fri or Sat I will go to Ogden Canyon to visit friends for a couple days that camped in Quartzsite and I got to know them well. I am anxious to see them.
I will start work here about June 1st.
Have a great Memorial day weekend and drive safe if you travel.

May 15

2009-05-15T19:28:00.002-06:00

It's been too long since I've posted on this blog. It's been busy at work, moving sheep to new pasture, sorting bulls to transport to the buyers, seperating cows to AI soon. We started a fencing project today. We plan on moving fall calves to the pasture after we brand them, hopefully in the next day or two.

I have seen a couple coyotes out in the place I'm staying. They travel early morning hours and move north. I see wild turkeys every morning usually only about 7 of them. Grouse are frequent flyers here too. There is a little water hole close buy and curlews are seen almost every day.

I have started packing up my stuff in the trailer. I am leaving Nebraska and heading to Wyoming to work for the summer on Tuesday. I was going to leave Wed. I have been keeping a close eye on the weather and Tues is supposed to hae no wind. All the other days there are winds to 35 MPH. I don't even want to travel on those days.
I took my window coverings off tonight after I got home from work. I thought the wind was going to blow the ladder out from under me. But it is done!

I still need help on how to download pictures. I used to be able to do it but something happened and I can't get it done now. I have so many to share!!!

I found out from my boss in Wyo that we will now have wireless internet at Woods Landing. So, I will post frequently and be on the computer more.
Later, and have a great weekend...

May 4, 2009

2009-05-04T19:51:00.002-06:00

We have been having quite a bit of rain here. Crops around here are looking good tho.
I spent the day today doing chores, then weeding a flower bed. It was a great time to be outside, the weather was perfect, no wind or rain. It was payday so I splurged and got myself a steak for supper, grilled mushrooms and had baked sweet potato. It was wonderful.
Tomorrow we are going to sort sheep to be taken to the auction on Wed. We also have to get some cows ready for the auction on Wed.
I went to the greenhouse the other day and got a begonia and geranium to have outside in a pot. The rain has been good for them.
I have a puppy coming next Wed. I got a Cairn Terrier, silver in color, 6 months old. Can't wait to get him.

auction

2009-05-02T20:31:00.002-06:00

The auction was held on the 25th. I picked up the proceeds check today and was disappointed. We didn't make much on it. I paid a lot more for the items than I purchased for the house than I got back from the auction. Bob got 1/2 of the proceeds and I got 1/2.
Bob and I have split up and I will now be doing this blog without him.
I will be going to Arizona in the fall with the 5th wheel trailer and truck. I still don't know where I will be working yet this summer. I might stay in Nebr. depending on my job availability. If it doesn't work out, I will go to Wyo and work till Aug 1.
My sis and I will be hiking in the Jackson Hole Tetons in WYO this Aug. then hiking the Continental Divide Trail after that. So Aug will be my vacation month. In Sept, I will be headed back to Arizona.
Hope all is well with everyone and hope to see you in Arizona in the fall.

April 25

2009-04-25T19:37:00.002-06:00

Today was the big auction day. We had cool weather in the 50's and it was overcast. There was a pretty good crowd and I think it went well. Some things went high and some low so it evened out pretty well. The auction lasted until 1pm.
I went to the ranch and fed lambs afterwards then did chores this evening.
2 heifers with heifer calves were being picked up tonight by a buyer from Colorado. The brand inspector had to come out and health certificates had to be faxed over from the vet. He was showing up about 6:30 pm to take them home.

I got a call from a guy in Sutherland today (1 1/2 hrs away). That was the place we picked up lumber that my boss bought at an auction last weekend. There were some glass blocks that they didn't know if they sold. Well, he called and said they didn't sell and I could buy them. I got them at a super price and will head down that way tomorrow to pick them up. It is a nice drive and will take up part of my day. I'm going to drill a hole in the side, fill them with miniature Xmas lights, wrap ribbon around them and try to sell them at a craft fair or booth. I got one for Christmas this year and just love it. I have it plugged in all the time and it is just beautiful. I know, just what I need is another craft project!!!

Our week at work will be busy next week. We will be taking sheep to Ft Collins to sell and deliver bulls that sold at the bull sale. So, more sorting of sheep and cattle!

I think the week will be a bit cooler again. I was getting used to the 80 degree weather we had last week. But my farmer tan is starting to show up. The wind just kicked up pretty good tonight.
Hope your weekend will be great!

April 23, 2009

2009-04-23T20:06:00.002-06:00

We have been busy at the ranch. On Sunday the boss went to an auction and bought a bunch of lumber. We went down on Mon. and Tues with the trucks and trailers to bring it back. He got quite a bit and will be able to do quite a bit with it. He also had to take some heifers to North Platte, NE to a sale on Tues.
We sorted sheep and took 2 bunches to summer pastures yesterday. About 60 sheep went.
Today we sorted cows, some are being sold and we had to get them to the pens to have the brand inspector come and look at them on Sat.
We have someone repairing a windmill that isn't working. Hopefully he will be done with it by tomorrow.
Bob and I are having our household auction on Sat. The auctioneer is coming by tomorrow to sort things out. Then at 10:30am the auction starts. It won't be as big as last time but we hopefully will have a good turnout. The weather is supposed to be in the 60's.
We've been having weather in the 80's for the past few days. My summer tan is coming back, in the form of a farmer tan. I have lost 32 pounds while working this winter. I need to get some "skinny pants" again. The ones I got in Dec. are already too big. But, I like the way I look and will continue to stay skinny.
Have a great Friday and better weekend.

April 17, 2009

2009-04-17T19:26:00.002-06:00

I spent the Easter holiday in Cody WYO. with my family. It was a 9 hour drive to get there and I was pretty tired that first night.
Mom is feeding 45 bum lambs 3 times a day. That kept us very busy for the weekend. We also had 2 calves born while I was up there. My neices and nephews came over for dinner and we had a great time.
One sister couldn't come up, sure did miss seeing her.

Back at work on Tuesday had us sorting cattle all afternoon. I didn't have a good day, couldn't make the boss happy about opening gates. But today it rained all day and we had to work out in it for 4 hours. It was miserable and we were all soaked and chilled. Got to go back for a couple hours this afternoon and get it all over again. The rain is supposed to die down by tomorrow night.

I am feeding a couple new lambs at the ranch. One acts like he can't see, she just follows my voice. Now she is my favorite lamb!

We are having our auction in a week. The house will be rented on May 1st. I am staying in Oshkosh till at least May 15th. Bob will probably head to Wyo on May 1st.
Hope everyone is having a great spring...

April 7, 2009

2009-04-06T19:11:00.002-06:00

We survived the weekend blizzard. Saturday it snowed but mostly blew snow. We had a hard time feeding the animals, couldn't find the white ones to easily. The winds blew up to 40 mph and it sure was cold.
Today it turned nice in the afternoon. I was working in my shirtsleeves.
We've still been having a few lambs and calves. None were born in the blizzard tho.

I'm headed to Cody, Wy this weekend. I might leave Thursday and get part of the way. It is about 500 miles. It will be nice to see my family for Easter.

We're getting ready for the auction on the 25th. I've been organizing things in the garage. Bob still has to take a load or two over to his kids house to store. I don't know when he will do that.

I'm going to work at the ranch till about the middle of May and then go to WYO.

Hope everyone is enjoying the spring time weather.

ELK, donkeys and llamas

2009-04-02T16:58:00.003-06:00

I worked until noon today. Afterward, since it was so nice outside (55 degrees with no wind) I decided to head out of town about 3 miles and take some pictures. There is an elk ranch where people can book elk hunts and the elk were up close enough for me to take some pictures. Some have lost their antlers but a couple still have theirs. They just watched as I snapped pictures and weren't a bit scared.

On the way up there, I noticed some miniature donkeys in a field with some woolly llamas.

Here's a picture of a pheasant I saw. There are a lot of them out this year. Mostly they live in the corn fields where there is plenty to eat.

AND---on the river---A DUCK!
Enjoy the pics!

Well, I tried to download pics but when I went to look at them on the blog, it was just #'s and letters. Ron, what is going on with that? Email me!

2009-03-25T18:53:00.003-06:00

On Monday we moved cattle about 5 miles to the ranch. They didn't drive good! As I was in the truck with a round bale of hay on it, the cattle headed every direction but to the truck once they got outside the gate. The winter wheat is coming up and they headed toward the "GREEN". After a while Henry came up to the truck and said swap him out for the horse. He took off in the truck to get a 4 wheeler, I got on the horse and tried to herd cattle off the wheat. I haven't been on a horse in a while so it was fun. Henry brought the 4 wheeler back and I was the one to hop on it and hopefully help out. But after going thru a ditch and it stalling, I wasn't able to go any further. It quit and wasn't starting! I ended up walking and herding cattle on foot. It was just like the olden days. We finally got them back to the ranch. The wind had started to blow very hard but was at our backs. I walked a total of 2.5 miles. After we got them home, we worked on the ranch.

Sheep had to be sorted on Tuesday. We moved some that were going to lamb soon, up to the barn.
We've still been having lots of lambs, pulling ones that the ewes can't have. We've lost a few but have been doing pretty good otherwise.

Today, I had to give CPR to a lamb that was not breathing. I will find out tomorrow if he lived.

The weather changed from nice to COLD and WINDY on Tuesday. But today it was up to 50 degrees and I shed my coat and enjoyed working outside.
I'll try to get some pictures in the next post.

Lambing season

2009-03-19T18:16:00.002-06:00

It is definitely lambing season! Yesterday I think that 8 ewes had lambs. That includes the lambing during the night. We have had a set of quads, one of which we were able to graft onto another ewe that had enough milk to feed him. We had a set of triplets, they are doing great. I pulled 3 lambs and Elton pulled 2 lambs in 2 days. They are huge lambs and the ewes are having a hard time with them.
After they are born I have to put ear tags in their ears, give them a shot, band their tails and spray paint them with the # of the ewe that had them. I have to write down the ewe that gave birth right away so I don't miss any of them.
This morning one ewe and her twins, busted out of the little pen I had her in, I had to hunt down the 2 lambs and get them tagged, etc.
We try to keep them in lambing jugs (pens) for at least a day so they can bond good and we know that they will give enough milk.

I had to "tube" a bull calf that keeps bloating. It is a plastic flexible tube that goes down his throat into his 1st stomach and lets the air out. He has gotten used to being loaded into the chute and having this done every morning. At least he is alive!

We talked to the auctioneer the other day and have our household auction set for April 25th. It won't be as big as the last auction, but hopefully we can get rid of everything. May 1st or there a bouts, we will hook the trailer onto the truck and head west to WYO for the summer. I would like to take a week and camp and fish at Boysen Res. just outside of Shoshone WYO. Bob hasn't given me the OK yet,,,just will wait and see.

The weather is getting warm here. We have had the temps in the 60's and will hit 70 soon.

We miss everyone in Q!
But next fall,,,we will be there!

More lambs

2009-03-16T18:11:00.002-06:00

We are having many lambs on the ranch. We had a set of triplets, 2 sets of twins and 2 singles today. The 2 singles had to both be pulled. One was breach and he came out after a lot of hard work on the boss's part. He weighed probably 20#'s. Heck he's 1/2 grown already. He did have a rupture on his belly probably from being pulled and we had to sew him back up. We grafted 2 other lambs on the ewe that needed more milk. She accepted them all.
We also went west of town and had to take down electric fence that we had put up in October. All went well there.
The usual chores have been done daily. Elton got 4 new geese the other day. He's going to see if they will lay eggs and hatch some goslings.
I guess I'm going back to 1/2 days again. I was told this tonight. So with the time off, I will get the items ready for the auction we will hold in hopefully a month or so.
I went out to the 5er yesterday between chore times and got it cleaned well, packed some of my craft items, getting ready for the trip to Wyo for the summer.
It's been in the 70's for the past few days. I love this weather. As far as I know, it will last until this weekend. I haven't checked the report past Sunday.
We got an email from Terry and Ron and they are getting ready to leave Quartzsite. They will be heading thru Tuscon and spend 4-6 weeks at Navajo Dam, NM...I wish I was going there for a month or so. It is a wonderful place to be, great fishing, good hiking, beautiful campground. This fall, hopefully we can spend a few weeks there.
Till my next post, stay happy and healthy and ENJOY life!

ICY WEATHER

2009-03-11T19:28:00.002-06:00

The last couple of days have been icy cold. The temps are in the teens with wind chills making it below zero. I don't like this!
The bulls were taken to the sale barn in Ogalalla on Tuesday. They were bedded down with straw and fed their corn and hay. Wed. brought more cold weather and the auction for the bulls. The bulls that sold were brought home except for one that was taken by the new owner. They will be fed and kept at the ranch until approximately April 15th when they will be delivered to the new owners.
It was a long day after the auction ended. We got done with chores about 6pm and the bulls still haven't been delivered back to the ranch.
No new lambs were born today. We have warm weather coming the next few days.
Here are a couple pics of the icy snowy conditions here.

Bob is headed out tomorrow to WYO to go fishing with his kids. He will have so much fun.
Have a great week!

SNOW

2009-03-07T18:12:00.003-07:00

We have SNOW today. It started about 2pm and now at 6pm it has dropped about 4 - 5 inches of the powdery white stuff. It was not fun doing chores while the big flakes were coming down, walking thru the snow, trying to find the white sheep.

Yesterday we got some ewes sorted off from the bunches that were getting ready to lamb. We have about 75 up at the barn and shop. I spread straw in both places, got feeders put in the pens and all is well. So far there are no lambs as of tonight.

We loaded a flatbed trailer with 11 round bales of hay. I drove it to town to weigh it afterwards and then it was unloaded at the ranch.

It looks like none of us will be getting any time off for a while till all the lambs are born. Lambing will continue thru April.

I took a picture of the backyard and one of the birdhouse out front tonight so you can see how much snow we are getting.

Another nice day

2009-03-05T06:03:00.002-07:00

Today will be up in the 70's again. It will last thru tomorrow and then this weekend promises rain or snow and down into the 30's. I'm sure getting tired of the cold weather coming back to visit.
Yesterday we got the shop area ready to put ewes in that will be lambing as soon as next week. We got some calves moved to another pen, Holly the milk cow was changed to a different pen.
Two loads of cattle were taken to the livestock market which will be held today.
After chores today, we will go to the north pasture and separate calves from cows and bring the calves home. We've had a couple new calves born in the last 2 days.
We haven't heard any more on the parties interested in buying our house. Hopefully something will happen soon. We have to think of getting ready to be out of here next month. Plus if we have an auction, we want to have it a week before we take off for Wyoming.
I talked to Mom the other day and she now has 13 bum lambs she is feeding. I will be going up at Easter time so I'll be able to help her with chores.
Hope you all have a great day! Enjoy the weather Arizonians!

Ultrasounds

2009-03-02T18:09:00.003-07:00

Today we ultra sounded the bulls going to the sale and the heifers. The ultrasound determines the back fat, rib eye and marbling of the meat. Joanne came from Valentine, NE., about 230 miles from here. She was able to do 45 heifers in 2 hours. We did the bulls this morning and the heifers this afternoon.

The weather was perfect for the day--topping around 60-65 degrees.

Here's a couple of pictures from the ultrasound.

Find of the day!

2009-03-01T15:08:00.004-07:00

I went to Sidney to get a few things today. My kitchen drain is plugged up, so drain cleaner and a plunger was top priority. After visiting Cabela's, Walmart, and Safeway I was headed out of town on Hwy 30, drove past a mini mart that sells gas and diesel and had to do a double take and turn around. I pulled in and immediately had to fill the diesel truck up. I only paid $20 to fill it. That was the cheapest in 2 years I believe. Here's proof!

Can you believe it? $1.96 for diesel when we are still paying $2.29 in Oshkosh...

I was so happy that even the clogged drain is no longer a bother!

We're to have weather in the high 60's this week. Spring is on the way... Next weekend is Daylight savings time except for you lucky people in Arizona.

Hope you have a great weekend!!

Where's spring?

2009-02-27T05:31:00.002-07:00

On Tues. and Wed. the weather got up to 60 degrees. We got to shed the coveralls and jackets and work in our shirtsleeves. The fence in the alley finally got finished because the ground had thawed and we were able to dig post holes without a lot of effort. We got some cattle sorted, banded some ram lambs and really enjoyed the nice weather.
Yesterday was another story. The temps dropped to 30 with a light wind. It was pretty cold. Chores were done morning and night but other than that, I spent the day at home.
My mom called me the other day and asked us to come up to Cody, WY for Easter on April 12th. I would have to take 3 days off because it takes between 9 - 10 hours to get there from here. I talked with Bob about it and he said it would cost too much so I couldn't go. I only see my mom and sister who lives in Riverton once or twice a year so I really want to go. My other sister from Laramie will be going also. I have a nephew in Sheridan that will come down also.
Bob is planning a fishing trip with his kids soon. I think they will go up around Thermopolis to fish.
Today at work we will fertility test the bulls that are going to the sale. It is supposed to be cold today, so we might have to set posts and panels in the shop area. That will take 2 - 3 hours to complete before we're ready for the vet to begin on the bulls.
Monday will be the ultrasound on the bulls and heifers.
Hope you all have a safe and happy weekend!

Shearing day

2009-02-24T06:01:00.003-07:00

Marv shearing!

We had 2 1/2 days of sheep shearing over the weekend. 215 sheep were sheared, ewes, ewe lambs and rams. 2 shearers were working. Marv who is 72 years old and he said he started shearing Feb 20, 1958. That is quite a few years of work. He said he normally sheared 20,000 sheep a year but had a record year once of 50,000. Over 51 years that is a lot of sheep. He still is going strong and handles the sheep like he is 20 years old. The other shearer, Robin, is 38 years old and weighed about 100 pounds. She did really well handling the 300# sheep tho. Here's a couple pictures of the eventful weekend.

This is Marv and Henry stuffing the wool sack with wool. Robin shearing.

The before and after pictures.

Feb 18, 2009

2009-02-18T20:33:00.003-07:00

Here's a pic of the flowers I got from Bob on Valentine's Day. They are called the Blue rose, but are a light lavender in color. My favorite color and I collect teddy bears, so it was a great gift.

It's been a while since my last post, only because my computer has been in the shop. I wasn't able to get onto Internet Explorer or go anywhere on the web. Dee Dee who works on computers here, has finally fixed the computer...Thanks, Dee Dee....

We have had some good weather the past few days. On Sun we trimmed bulls that will be sold on Mar. 11th. A few pics with my new telephoto lens. I don't know if I like the lens, it shows the inside of the sleeve of the lens and doesn't get a good photo. They trimmed the bulls and then used the torch to burn off the hair left over. The bulls looked good after they were done. 34 bulls were trimmed and it took about 5 hours to complete.

This is a shot of the bulls after they were trimmed.

A calf was brought down the other day because the mother died. We are now bottle feeding him 2 times a day.

We have cleaned out the shop, moving stuff to the pole shed and stuff from the pole shed to the shop to get ready for the sheep to be moved into the shop. The shearer that will be coming this weekend will need the sheep to be penned up for the night before. We have about 200 sheep to shear. The shearer will have someone helping him and will be able to shear about 140 per day.

We had to move horse carts around, pull tools from the shop to the pole shed, move pallets of feed around and make way for anything else coming in.

We put up an electric fence for the bulls since some bulls got into a pen they were'nt supposed to. We tried to tag 3 new calves but the tagger is broke and have to wait to tag them till we get a new one.

Here's a pic of one of the new calves. He is about a day old and 80 pounds.

2/7/09

2009-02-07T05:53:00.003-07:00

We have had some beautiful weather for the past few days. It's been getting up to about 65 degrees. That is shirtsleeve weather and put the coats away! This will all change tomorrow (Sunday). A nice cold front is coming in with rain and snow.

Bob has been helping a friend who was contracted by the railroad to clean up coal from an 11 car derailment. Some interesting information is that each of these cars carry approximately 200,000 pounds of coal. That would be about 1 million pounds per 5 cars. In this case, 11 cars would be about 2 million 200,000 pounds of coal.

Most of the trains that come thru here are pulling about 100 - 150 cars hauling coal and they come thru about every 20 minutes, 24/7. Now that's a lot of coal!!!!

This coal is coming from the Gillette, WYO area and headed east.

If we can find the price of a pound of coal, it will be an interesting figure to report in a future log.

If you look above the Railroad Crossing sign there is a string of Canada geese that flew by to see what was up...Goose hunting season ended yesterday so they are safe for another season.

The other photo shows an excavator, yellow, used for loading coal into dump trucks for hauling it away.

Bob and I went to Lisco, NE last night, a small town 15 miles from Oshkosh. We went for my birthday dinner of prime rib. My birthday isn't until Monday but they only serve prime rib on Fri. so I was able to get an early present. It was wonderful and the place got really busy with the end of the goose hunters.

Feb 4, 2009

2009-02-04T18:41:00.002-07:00

Not too much to post these days. We've been having some warmer weather, it was 64 degrees today.
We moved heifers that are calving, to a corral near the house. They will be easier to watch if problems arise. We have had a couple heifers have some hard times with the first calf.
I am now feeding 4 lambs. The mothers don't have enough milk and I have to supplement them. They are so cute and know when it is time to eat.
I am now going to work every morning for a while till lambing season ends. We have to get the barn ready and shop ready for 110 ewes to lamb. On Feb. 20th we will have the shearer out to get all the ewes sheared.
Bob is going to be going to work tomorrow at 5:15am. He was asked to be a flagger up by Bridgeport. There was a train derailment and the cleanup needs flaggers. So, gotta pack a lunch and lots of water for Bob tomorrow.
Have a good week!

COLD WINTER DAYS

2009-01-26T20:23:00.003-07:00

Here's Henry...I had to make sure the camera was working good..And he didn't even break it!!!

Oshkosh, NE on a Sunday afternoon.

We are having horrible weather here. Today is is around 7 degrees above zero. Tonight when I got off work, it was ZERO...Too cold for me...We have about 8" of snow on the ground also. It was a bad day for calving. We had 2 calves born and got them ear tagged. Henry noticed a calf on the other side of the fence that had been born yesterday. He evidently couldn't get back across and he was so cold. We loaded him up in the truck and turned the heater on high, he was so cold. We then scouted for more calves and found one at the other end of the corn field. He was new born and not doing well. Well, he took a place on my lap and we headed back to the house. Henry brought them inside and we got them under a heat lamp. Elton tubed them, putting warm liquid into them. He was going to get them to the barn after they start reviving.

Picture of some ewes weathering out the snow..

I have a couple lambs I'm feeding till the ewe starts producing milk. One is so small, she doesn't even look like a lamb. But she is thriving and drinking milk replacer. She doesn't eat much but tries hard. Her sibling is doing great, drinking milk replacer with gusto. Here are the 2 lambs I'm feeding with me in my work uniform..

We have been breaking ice in water tanks, feeding the animals well to get them thru the cold spell.

I have been making quite a few greeting cards since I got my Cricut card machine. Bob told me to order another cartridge for it for my birthday. I have one coming in the mail.

I now have to do my taxes. I received my W-2's today and will file as soon as I get new printer cartridge for my printer. Don't know if I'll get any back or not.

Hope everyone is staying warm! The sunset at the end of the day.

Busy days

2009-01-21T17:49:00.005-07:00

This was in the yard of someone by the lake. For a minute I thought I was back in Arizona!

I've had a few busy days this past week.

At work, we are starting to have new calves. 3 have been born so far and they now have ear tags. Henry has been doing a good job getting that taken care of. The sheep are still waiting to lamb. The real heavy lambing will take place the 1st 3 weeks of March.

We moved 73 cows to a north pasture yesterday. We drove them from one pasture up the road to some corrals and then trailered them to the pasture. It did take all day. We could only put 11 cows in one trailer and 7 in the other so we had several trips. The weather has been good, up in the 60's to move the cows. The weekend was warm but the winds were horrible. We had gusts to 35 mph.

I went to a bull sale on Monday. They were selling Herefords at the Van Newkirk ranch. It was televised and drew a good crowd. The top 2 year old bull sold for $9000 and there were a few that sold for $6000 - $7000. The top heifer sold for $3500. It was fun to go to. Before the sale they provided a BBQ'd brisket luncheon.

I received an email from my sister, Donna, in Laramie, WY today. She and her family have made reservations to go to San Diego over spring break in March. They will be going to the zoo, seeing the sites, walking the beach and just relaxing for a week. Wish I could fit in her suitcase!

Bob and I went to the Oshkosh auditorium today to visit the Farm and Ranch show. There were a few vendors there, nothing like the big tent in Quartzsite tho. They served lunch of BBQ beef sandwiches. Afterwards we grabbed the camera and headed toward Lake McConnahay. There is an eagle viewing area on the south side of the lake. We saw probably 60 - 70 bald eagles in the trees. It was amazing. We also saw a heron, some pelicans and ducks. There is a nice little campground just east of there also. When we get ready for our auction in April, we were thinking of taking the 5er down there for a week or so and just spend time by the lake before heading to Wyo for the summer.

I noticed in the paper that the 4-H Citizen Washington Focus delegates are taking orders for pizza to be delivered in time for the super bowl. I called one of the boys I know and have one ordered. One less thing I have to make for the super bowl and it does help the kids out!

There is a church in Keystone, NE just south of the lake we visited today. It is divided in the middle, half being protestant and half being catholic. They do hold regular services also.

Jan. 17, 2009

2009-01-17T18:33:00.003-07:00

This is some history of John Hollman. This is about a mile south of Oshkosh.

Today we were supposed to do a cattle drive, but the wind decided to come up in gusts to 25mph and plans were changed. We had to drive them when the temps are cool with a slight breeze so they don't get overheated.

We got the sheep sorted so the ewes that will lamb next are at the barn.

Today we all did chores and had the rest of the day off. Bob and I went to Chappel to a garage sale, then headed over to Ogalalla to the Antique Mall. It was nice to get away and do something different.

Carley and Bob...

We took pics yesterday of some geese flying into some corn fields south of Oshkosh.

Jan 14, 2009

2009-01-14T19:28:00.003-07:00

Today was COLD. The temp was in the low 20's and later in the day it started snowing. Henry and I worked on a fence in the lower pens. The ground was frozen about a foot down and it was hard to dig post holes. We only got 2 dug and it took a long time.

We had another lamb born this morning. The ewe didn't want to accept her, but after I got her in the barn and penned up in a smaller pen, she finally did. The lamb is black with a few white hairs in the face.

We have some more ewes that are going to have lambs soon. We will sort them tomorrow and get them to the barn so we can watch them closer.

I will go to Julesburg, CO tomorrow about 40 miles away to get chicken feed. After that, who knows what will happen.

Lauren said she is going to get some Muscovy ducks tomorrow. These ducks don't have a Quack. They just kind of squeak. I used to have a bunch of them and they are fun to have around.

I made a beaded hummingbird and here is a picture.

Jan 5, 2009

2009-01-05T18:12:00.003-07:00

This will be a short post tonight. It was 0 degrees when I got up at 5am. But during the day, it warmed up to about 36 which was tolerable. I was again dressed in coveralls, gloves, hat, etc. I cleaned out the barn this morning, fixed fence this afternoon in 2 different sections, helped fill the grainary from the grain truck with the auger, did chores 2 times. It was a good day.

When I first arrived at work, I checked on the ewe that was lambing when I left last night. She had 2 beautiful lambs. I tried to take some good pictures but they kept moving too fast. Finally got one when Henry came in the barn and asked, "Are you playing with the lambs again?" I said "Yes ,I am", and had him hold the lambs while I got a still picture. Here they are! Enjoy...

Sunday Jan 4, 2009

2009-01-04T16:49:00.004-07:00

It is a bit frosty out right now. It got down to 3 degrees in the night but warmed up to 30 degrees during the day.

When I did chores last night a ewe had a lamb in the frigid weather and lost it. She had one soon after, I ran it up to the barn and got them into a pen. Everything was fine when I left, got her fed and watered and she was taking care of her new lamb.

I went out this afternoon to do chores, checked on the lamb and it had been buried under the straw and was gone. It broke my heart. She is crying for the lambs tonight and nothing can be done about it. Another ewe was starting to lamb when I left. I did get her into a pen in the barn and hope all goes well. I plan on getting the barn cleaned out tomorrow with new straw in case we have some more lambs coming. It will be about 42 degrees tomorrow, so it will be a good day to get that done.

Bob took a picture of downtown Oshkosh, NE today. This is a quiet town on Sunday.

Also a local mascot for the town that claims to be the goose hunting capital of the world. The North Platte river valley is home for lots of migrating waterfowl and hunting seasons are always productive. It also has lots of cover and vegetation that provides good habitat for numerous flocks of turkeys and deer.

Much of the North Platte river valley is leased for hunting purposes and many non residents purchase property here to build hunting lodges and have a place to go during the hunting season. One such non resident that has purchased land here is Steve Farris. He was with the band "Mister, Mister", in the 1970's. He is a great person, friendly, always willing to help out when needed.

Anybody wanting his autograph, let me know and I can get it for you.

We also have a Roastery here. The town smells so good when they are roasting coffee beans. I get my caffeine fix that way without drinking coffee. They sell the coffee in the small shop for about $9.00/lb. It does taste exceptional. You can also buy it off the web at Mark Ferrari.com. It is well worth the price!

Jan 2, 2009

2009-01-02T19:39:00.002-07:00

Hello all,
Today started out with the usual chores at the ranch. I drove up north to the corn fields where some cows are pastured. I filled water tanks and came back and worked on some fencing projects. We had to dig post holes in the frozen ground, only about a foot was frozen so it didn't take too long. After lunch we continued with fencing. I moved cable from down on a bunk line so calves wouldn't escape the corral. Chores were once again done in the evening with the sun setting and making a beautiful sunset. Of course I didn't have a camera with me. Not as good as the Arizona sunset but really nice.
Today the temp got up to about 55 degrees but by tomorrow it is supposed to be down to 25 degrees again. Sure am looking forward to spring!

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-01T11:44:00.003-07:00

Happy New Year to all!

We spent from Dec 21st - 31st at Woods Landing Resort. It is the spot where we work in the summer just outside of Laramie WYO. The owners were away for the holiday and we were able to house sit for them. It was great to be back there. But the weather was cold, windy and snowy. I didn't like that part. I helped out in the cafe and cleaned cabins that were rented out. Bob was running the snowplow when needed. We hauled all of out Christmas presents over from Nebraska and opened them over there. Picture of several deer roaming around Woods Landing.

Bob and Carley with their matching coats.

We had a steak and shrimp dinner for Christmas. Bob cooked and it turned out great.

We took Carley with us too. Before we left she got an ear infection and didn't seem to be getting better. We took her to the vet in Laramie and he gave her an Rx that started working in 6 hours. She is doing so much better. She lost her appetite and didn't seem interested in anything. Glad to have her back to her old self.

Here's a picture of my sis, Donna and me by her Christmas tree.

My sister, Donna and brother in law, Jim.

I went back to work today. We vaccinated some lambs and then I went home until chore time tonight.

Dec 17, 2008

2008-12-17T17:36:00.003-07:00

This is Lauren, one of my bosses and a great friend. She was decorating for Christmas!

So many days have passed since my last post. I've been busy ranching! I've had a couple ewes have some lambs, been pushed under a gate by an angry cow. Got some bruises on the backside and leg with that one. Also that day a heifer ran by me that we were sorting out of others and kicked me on the right thigh. It was a rough day at the office.

Our birdhouse decorated with lights!

We have had bitter cold here the last week. It is below zero at night, we have been plugging in our trucks and putting in diesel additive to keep the diesel from gelling up. During the day the temps have not gotten above 15 or so and with the wind chill, it is very cold to work outside. The water tanks for the animals are freezing up and we work all day to thaw water.

Thanksgiving dinner- left to right is Gary (ranch hand I work with, Bob, Jim (brother in law) and Donna (sis).

We have to get some cows and heifers bred tomorrow so we will be working them thru the chute. I just hope I don't have a run in with cow K577 again.

Loading bags of wool to take to Scottsbluff.

On Sunday, Bob and I and Carley will load up in the truck with all the Christmas presents and head to Woods Landing, just 25 miles SW of Laramie, WY. We are going to house sit for the owners of Woods Landing thru the 30th. It will be nice to be over there. We'll get to spend time with Justin, Karl (Bob's sons) and their families,as well as my sister, Donna and family.

Our house with Christmas lights.

I am also going to work in the cafe and clean cabins while I'm there. So it will be a working vacation.

Dec 3, 2008

2008-12-03T18:44:00.002-07:00

Since it has been a while since I posted, I tried to post some pics, but couldn't do it. Maybe next time...
Over Thanksgiving, my sister, Donna and brother in law, Jim came over for the holiday...They got her last Wed. evening, we had dinner and enjoyed some time together. The next morning, I woke them up at 6am to go out to do chores with me. They went with me and I think they had a good time. Jim had his camera and got some good pictures. Donna pitched in and helped me with chores. After chores, we went and checked cows on the cornstalks, noticed some cows that had gotten out. Henry showed up and said we should take a trip south of town to check out the elk. After we picked up Jim and Bob, we headed south. There is a herd of elk that we got great pictures of.
We headed back to the house to find it filled with the wonderful aroma of turkey baking in the oven.
Gary showed up before dinner and got to meet my family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Thanks to everyone who helped...

This week has been busy. We had to fence another 2 circles of cornfields to pasture cows. We finished that today and trailered 5 loads of cows, approximately 40, to the field today. We also moved cows and calves from one pasture to one closer to the place.

The weather was wonderful the past few days, in was in shirtsleeves yesterday. This morning, a cold front moved in and it didn't get above 30 degrees. It was so cold. Days like these, I sure miss the warm weather.

Nov 24, 2008

2008-11-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day at the ranch. After chores, the vet showed up to preg check cows and heifers. We got them corralled and proceeded to run them thru the chute to get checked and vaccinated. We had some wiley heifers! A couple ended up in the chute wanting to climb over the top. Some just didn't want to cooperate and get in the chute. We did finish with them and had 5 heifers that weren't bred.
Afterwards we got the sheep in the corral to sort. We had to tag ewe lambs that Elton wanted to keep and sort the others out that are going to the sale barn. We finished that and sorted the rams he wants to keep also.
Right before lunch Elton got a call saying that some cows were out that were put into the corn stalk field. We had lunch, then Elton and I headed out to the field. Gary and Henry stayed at the ranch, worked on the horse trailer and then ground some feed for the bull calves and heifers. We found the cows that were out of the field, pushed them back in, fixed the electric fence and tried to move a cow to another pasture where she wouldn't get out of. 1/2 way there, she found a way back in the corn field. It was dark by then, so we headed back to the ranch. Tomorrow we will try to get her back into a pasture that she will stay in.

Dinner tonight was deer tenderloins, mashed potatoes and green beans. Bob didn't want to cook them after all, so I ended cooking them after working a 10 hour day. They turned out great. Thanks to Ed and Pam for giving us a deer...

Nov 23, 2008

2008-11-23T22:14:00.003-07:00

Today was my day off and I had some time to go to an auction. There was an estate auction of a lady that worked at the courthouse and we had become great friends. I will miss her. There were a lot of great items at the auction. I ended up with some serving bowls (needed them for Thanksgiving), I paid $5.00 for 7 bowls...I also got a southwest clock with turquoise stones for $5.00. Then a crystal creamer and sugar came up and I only paid $7.50 for both of them...Don't know what I will do with them, but the price was right.
I got to see lots of my friends and had a great time.

My hairdresser, Pam, came by this morning and asked me if we wanted a deer that her husband, Ed, had shot this morning. I accepted and we now have a deer hanging in the garage to be cut up. We are having backstraps tomorrow night for dinner. Can't wait for that. Bob even said he would cook them...Can't beat a deal like that...

I also had time to make a rope basket today. It turned out great...

The weather is supposed to be fair this week thru Thanksgiving...At least in the 50's...Sure am missing Q!!!

Nov 21, 2008

2008-11-21T18:56:00.002-07:00

No pictures today but we all had a great day on the ranch.
We went to the section where the heifers were and a buyer came and looked over some heifers that were bred. He chose 25 to buy. We got them sorted for him to load and take to Colorado. We then gathered the cows that were in the pasture and had a cattle drive down the road to the corn stalk field for them to graze for a while. Henry rode the horse and I took the 4 wheeler. All went well and we had no problems.
We went back to the ranch and did chores. I had to vaccinate a sick lamb and put him in a separate pen. Henry brought back some heifers that hadn't been bred.
It was windy and cool in the morning but later on it turned out nice. The temp got to about 50 with no wind.
It's supposed to be nice thru Thanksgiving. Sure hope it holds true...

Nov 20

2008-11-20T19:56:00.004-07:00

The above pictures is of us with the cows, I am in the 1st picture on the right, my boss, Elton on the left of me.

I had a busy day today. After chores at the ranch, we headed to the pasture to bring the cows and heifers in. The vet arrived with his assistant and we proceeded to run them thru the chute to preg check them. We had a great day, with the weather about 30 degrees, and things went well. The cows passed thru the alley to the chute without many problems.

This picture is of Henry, pushing cows to the chute...

After they were checked we sorted them, pushing heifers and non bred cows to a different corral.

We started about 11:30am and finished about 4pm...

I then had a hair appt. about 5:30pm and got home about 7pm. My hair looks great and am ready for tomorrow...

It's supposed to up into the 50's tomorrow and higher this weekend. I guess I won't complain about one day that is in the 30's.

I got an email from a friend in Arizona who is now going to semi-retire. He is going to be enjoying the easy living in the desert for a few months. He will have fun, there are so many things to do there.

Have a good night...

Nov 18, 2008

2008-11-18T05:56:00.002-07:00

This weekend was good for me. Sat. was a regular day at the ranch. Chores, etc...We then had to go to the south pasture a few miles out of town to sort cows. Dave owns the pasture and had some calves in with Elton's. We got them sorted and trailered them to the pasture NW of Oshkosh. There were 76 cows total to transport. I hauled the smaller trailer that held 7 cows each time. I took 3 trailers full. They moved so much and it was hard to pull them. Elton had the goose neck trailer that held 11 cows. It was a lot of trips to get them moved over.
Sunday, I had the day off and I got my house cleaned for turkey day. I put a lot ow winter stuff away in the sheds, hoses, tubs, etc. It was in the 60's that day and just great to be outside.
Monday, chores were done and then I took the truck and went to Arthur. It is about 60 miles away. Nothing but pasture land to view on the drive over. I had to go and pick up a beef that had been butchered for Elton and Lauren.
Henry, Gary and Elton got the grinder repaired and got some feed ground and mixed for the heifers and bulls.
After work Gary came over to pick up the 26" TV we gave him. We decided to get rid of the heavy TV out of the trailer to lighten the load. We're going to put a smaller 20" one in there when we get on the road again. Who wants to watch TV anyway when there is so many other things to do???
I talked to my sis in Laramie yesterday on my drive. We're planning a trip to hike the Pacific Crest Trail starting next summer. We might take a couple weeks and hike somewhere in Oregon. I want to take a month but she suggested we start out a little slower since it will be the first hike. Great idea, Donna...
They will be here next week for Thanksgiving. I am really looking forward to seeing them. I haven't seen them since Oct. 1st. Sure do miss my family!!
Gotta go to work,,, Have a great day!

More winter weather

2008-11-14T17:44:00.003-07:00

On Wed. we did load up rams and fat lambs at 6am to go to the auction. We made it out of town by 7ish. Got to Ft Collins, CO around 11am and unloaded the sheep. Then we went in to watch sheep sell. Prices were good on some and low on others. Elton's sheep did ok. When the sheep came in the auction yard had a couple goats trained to take the sheep in the auction pen and back out. It was fascinating. After sheep sold, there were 500 goats to be sold. We watched some of them sold and I wanted to bring some of the baby goats home so bad. Too bad I don't have a farm to raise some on. But in the fall next year they probably wouldn't travel too well in the 5er...

Winter is nasty today. The wind has been blowing all day. We did chores this morning and then checked to see if there were any new calves. We found 2 new babies. We got them ear tagged and weighed. One bull calf was born with a cleft palette. Elton called the vet and took him to Ogalalla to have surgery done. He is doing ok so far.

After chores we had the day off till evening chore time.
I spent the day cleaning the house, making pumpkin pie from a pumpkin patch pumpkin, trying to install a new towel hanger in the bathroom and making a few greeting cards.

I have to complete some Christmas presents soon also. Can't say what they are in case some of you are watching this blog...

We are having scalloped potatoes and pork chops for dinner tonight and baked squash. Also homemade pumpkin pie with tons of whipped cream.

Till tomorrow, stay warm and enjoy the night...

Winter weather coming

2008-11-09T19:32:00.006-07:00

The wind was blowing & all the tumbleweeds had a place to land. Nebraska fence line with nature's catch...

Winter weather is here. Today we had snow but it was fairly warm. This afternoon it warmed up more and just made the place mucky...

Gary and I worked in the shop today, straightening it up, putting things in their place. Looks better too.

This afternoon we worked on Lauren's chicken pen. We had to enlarge it and put a cover over it so the guineas won't fly out. The geese got a new pen with a used dog house to take cover in when the wind blows or the snow gets too deep. Lauren got 3 turkeys the other day from a lady that moved to Arizona.

We also sorted sheep today. We are taking a load of fat lambs and rams to the auction market in Ft. Collins tomorrow. We load at 6am and will try to leave by 7am. That will be a fun day.

This is a picture of 2 cows babysitting all the calves in the pasture.

Nov 6, 2008

2008-11-06T17:45:00.002-07:00

The last few days, we finished fencing the corn field. It is now ready for the cows to be transfered over. It will take a few trips to get them all over to the new field.
Gary has been installing a new gate in the lamb pen. I helped him with a couple of posts as well as Elton. We had to take turns tamping the dirt in. I am really out of shape for doing much of that.
Another project was to shovel all the stuff away from the wind breaks. That I can handle and I had an audience of 53 bulls watching me.
Today I wanted to just hitch up the 5th wheel and head to Arizona. We had 35 degree weather and wind with gusts of 50 mph and SNOW! I am not ready for that. While scooping hay into tubs to feed the sheep, it was blowing so hard and I couldn't keep my eyes open. I probably ate 2 pounds of hay and another pound in my eyes. The second trip to get hay, I put on goggles. I may have looked ridiculous but they were very helpful. This afternoon was a little less windy, but still blowing snow and biting cold.
I had to go to the store that sells coveralls and coats (the lumber store) and get a coat today. My zippered sweatshirt just won't cut it in this weather.
I also had to give a 300 lb. calf some pills today. They were the size of peanuts before you break the shells. But hope he feels better tomorrow.
Bob got 1/2 day off today. The whole town was without power from about 11:30am till 2:30pm. The house sure got cold fast without heat.
We're not going to get a break in the weather till this weekend. Another cold windy day tomorrow...
Sure wish I was in Q!

Daylight savings day

2008-11-01T14:31:00.006-06:00

Did you all make it thru Halloween? Bob had carved a pumpkin and put a candle in it so the trick or treaters could see it when they came to the door. But--we had zero come to the door. Bob was happy about that--now he gets to have the candy he bought.

Yesterday at work, chores came first and then Gary-the other hired hand worked on getting a grinder apart. New parts were ordered and should be here on Monday. We use it to grind corn and mix feed with it for the bulls and heifers. Today a load of feed came for the bulls and heifers to tide us over till the grinder is repaired.
I worked on painting some poles that they will use to finish building a fence at the entrance to their place. I also ran to town and picked up a 55 gallon drum of oil for the tractors. I filled some feeders with salt and mineral for the sheep and still need to get one more feeder for the heifers mineral and salt.
A couple days ago I had to milk Bessie, she had too much milk for just 2 calves. I was able to take it home and use it. My cereal never tasted so good! Sure brought back memories of growing up on the farm.

Today, I went out and did the morning chores and then went with Elton to check the cows with calves. No new calves today! We did have two calves on the other side of the fence we had to move over. After that was done, they sent me home till 4pm.
I stayed busy cleaning the house, doing laundry, made lunch for Bob and me, ran to the grocery store (twice), the first time I forgot dish soap. Then to top off the afternoon, I made a cranberry orange quick bread. I just took it out of the oven and it smells heavenly! Toasted with cream cheese is the best way to eat it.

It's about 70 degrees here today. Bob got the leaves raked up in the yard and hauled off. He got out trailer parked to the south of the house yesterday and winterized it. He told me that next fall we will be back in Arizona. I'm happy about that.

This is Daisy nuzzling up to the lambs.

If you look to the SW there is a crescent moon with Venus close by. I'll try to enclose a photo.

Another day at the office

2008-10-29T19:48:00.004-06:00

This is Tony Llama..

We had to say goodbye to Scott today. He was here for 2 weeks helping out on the ranch and he will be missed. He was great to work with and always found the fun in the job! But...I don't think he will miss the sheep too much.

We have been vaccinating sheep & calves that have gotten sick. We moved some cows to a pasture just west of Oshkosh yesterday.

Today we got back to fencing a cornfield where more cows will be turned into probably later in the week.

Lauren, the owner, has Tuesdays off and yesterday she made sloppy joes, pistacio salad and these wonderful date bars for lunch. She is a wonderful cook and we look forward to Tuesday lunches! Thanks Lauren!!

We had to wean 4 calves off of the milk cow today to make room for 2 more calves that need a nurse cow. They were crying all day.

I took some pics of some things on the ranch. Enjoy a bit of Nebraska!

Pumpkin patch

2008-10-24T07:12:00.004-06:00

I had a day off on Tues. and I drove to Chappell to pick up a friend to go to the pumpkin patch with me. We drove to Big Springs and had a great time. There was acres and acres of pumpkins and gourds. We collected some and then headed back to her house. She and her husband had me join them for lunch.

I also did some geocaching and found 2 caches.

Thurs. was a busy day at the ranch. We have an extra hand for another week. Scott lives in Omaha and came out here for 2 weeks to help out. He purchaced some property from the owner earlier in the year and comes out to help on the ranch when he can. We sorted sheep, placed rams in pens with ewes, seperated cows and calves, vaccinated calves, moved cows and calves to a different pasture. It kept us busy all day. I hopped on the horse and rode her, I hadn't been on a horse in about 8 years. When I was leaving, a ewe was having her lambs.

We did get a little snow yesterday and it has been bitter cold with wind for the past 2 days. It is supposed to be warmer today

Lambs, lambs and more lambs

2008-10-21T07:07:00.004-06:00

At the ranch, where I'm working, we have babies all over the place. Also a pic of the water tower with the beautiful sunset.

23 ewes have lambed and we have about that many left to lamb. We've had to pull 5 lambs and have lost 3 lambs. Also lost a calf the other day.

We're doing fence rebuilding now so we can wean spring calves and get the cows onto new pasture.

One of the hired hands will be leaving the end of the week for a month so we are trying to get all these things done before he leaves.

I have learned how to drive the bobcat and the tractor now. It was a little intimidating at first but now, it's just fun!

I got a phone call from Phyllis who is in Quartzsite last night. It was good to talk with her. She said the count of people coming in is down about 25 from last year.

Today, I have the day off and I'm headed to Chappel to pick up a friend and we are going to the Pumpkin patch. Need some decorations for Halloween...

Oct 12

2008-10-12T07:25:00.003-06:00

Hello from Nebraska! We won't be going to Quartzsite Arizona this fall due to having to reclaim our house in Oshkosh Nebraska. The renter failed to pay rent and we had her evicted and are now living in the house. Breaks my heart to have to stay here and not be with my friends in the south. During the month of August and September, Bob came over and spent a lot of time at the house. I came over several times and we spent a lot of time in the court room trying to get some of the money back that was owed. The judge ruled in our favor so now comes the hard part, getting the money. If necessary, we will take her to court again..
My sister, Donna, and I spent a lot of time this summer on hikes. We only completed one overnight hike. That was the tough one! We each carried about a 33# pack on our backs and the hike was tough. But we made it and I felt good about it. Our longest was the Thursday before I moved over to Oshkosh. We went on an 11 mile hike. It took about 6 1/2 hours. One spot was tricky, we had to cross a ravine that had been washed out and only a small log across it. I froze in the middle but eventually made it across. The next 2 days were kinda tough, the muscles I hadn't used in a while sure talked to me.
Since moving to Oshkosh, I got a job working with a rancher and his wife. They were friends before and asked me to help them. I am helping with lambing, calving, chores, fencing and general ranch stuff. I am dog tired at night but sure sleep great.
I'll send pictures when I get some of the lambs we are getting every day.
Miss everyone in Q!

We're back

2008-08-17T19:59:00.003-06:00

It's time to start posting on the blog again.

We have some changes this year. Bob and I are going to be moving back into our house in Oshkosh, Ne in about a month. We had to evict our renter and now have to get it back in order to put back on the market to sell. I will miss going to Quartzsite so much. Hopefully we won't spend too much time there and can still get down there. Bob thinks that we will spend the whole winter there. I don't even have any winter clothes and we will encounter quite a bit of snow very soon.

We had snow flurries at 8500 feet a couple days ago. At Woods Landing we are at 7600 feet. We also have been having a lot of rain and cooler weather. This morning it was only 37 degrees.

A couple weeks ago, I went to Cody WY to help my sisters with a surprise birthday party for my mom. She turned 75 this year. She was not expecting it and really enjoyed the party.

I also met up with a couple old classmates that I hadn't seen since 1972 and we got reacquainted. We had a great time, taking a 6 mile float trip down the Shoshone river. We got totally soaked since we were in the front seats of the raft.

Here's a pic of my sis and I before we headed out on a 2 day hike. Also a pic of the Snowy Range above Laramie, WY.

I'm headed over to Oshkosh, NE tomorrow to take a few things over to the house. We have to go to small claims court for the 2nd time to get some more back rent owed by the renter. Seems like it never ends.

I'll be posting more now that I will be getting Internet all the time.

2008-07-10T13:57:00.002-06:00

This post is long overdue!
We are in Woods Landing for the summer. I have been working non stop at the cafe, store and cleaning cabing. I'm putting in close to 100 hours every 2 weeks. Not much time off for hiking which I was going to do a lot of this summer.
I have done some hiking with my sis tho. The hike up sheep mtn. was an 8 mile treck. It felt like the Grand Canyon all over again. Then yesterday we went up on the Snowy Range and hiked from Northfork Campground to Brooklyn lake. It was a 5 mile hike.
Next week Bob and I will be headed to Oshkosh, NE to take care of some business with our house. We recently put it up for sale and have to talk with the realtor and sign papers to list it.
August brings a 4 day hike with my sister. I think it is about a 40 mile hike. It will be good just to get away for a few days.
I don't have internet service or cell phone service where I'm at. Just the same as last year so when I go to town, I catch up on emails.

WYOMING

2008-05-04T18:57:00.004-06:00

I forgot to post a great picture after we took a ride up the canyon along the Colorado River the other day. We stopped at a forest service campground and had lunch. I loved the Flinstones picnic tables!

We left Moab this morning at 9am. Bob drove to the interstate, I drove to Rifle, CO and he took over again to the next interstate. Then I drove into Rawlins.

Got some pictures along the way, and we are glad to be here. We pulled into the RV World Campground at 5pm. So it was a 8 hour day. It wasn't too bad until we quit driving and sat down in the trailer. Now we don't have the energy to do anything.

While driving from Meeker Co. to Craig, CO. there were so many deer and elk hit by vehicles alongside the road. I counted 15 elk and 40 deer in a 45 mile stretch. After Craig, CO. the numbers increased.

Snow is seen on the mtns of Colorado. We ran into some construction outside of Rifle, Colo.

We made it to WYOMING...YEA!

Our campground in Rawlins Wyoming. We will spend a few days here, check out the North Platte River for fishing and just enjoy being back home to Wyoming.

Leaving Moab

2008-05-04T07:00:00.002-06:00

After spending a week in Moab, visiting Arches National Park, the Canyonlands and a few shops around town, we are headed to Wyoming today.
We were going to leave last Thursday but the weather in Colo. and Wyo. kept us here 3 more days. Lots of wind and snow settled in during the week.
Now we have warmer weather, the storm has moved east and we're on our way.

We're going to try to make it to Rawlins, WY tonight. About a 10 hour drive. We'll be tired and grumpy but at least we'll be in WYO.

Bob caught a terrible cold a couple days ago so he isn't feeling too well. I keep trying to have him take something for it, but he won't. So I guess he will just wait it out and get better when it's over.

On to Moab Utah

2008-04-28T19:15:00.004-06:00

We left Navajo Dam NM this morning about 10am. Headed thru Farmington, Shiprock, NM and then onto Moab Utah.. I took these photos of the scenery along the way. The Mtns. into Utah were snow capped. One shot is with a truck that just passed us with a load of trees going to a nursery. We also were able to get diesel at Cortez Co for $4.09/gal.

We got to Moab about 3:30pm, long drive because of traffic and slow driving.

It is beautiful here, 80 degrees and all the leave on the trees are out.. We BBQ'd hamburgers out tonight and Bob is sitting outside having his usual whiskey drink.

Hopefully tomorrow we will head into town to see if I can sell some of my hummingbirds to local store owners. Might head to Arches National monument in the afternoon.

Love the weather here.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last day in NM

2008-04-27T07:55:00.002-06:00

This will be our last day at Navajo Dam, NM. Headed to Moab tomorrow.

Bob will be saying his goodbyes to his friends at the fly shops today and get to the river for one more day of fishing.

Yesterday I dropped him off at the river, there was a fly fishing seminar going on. I headed to town and got the laundry done. When I got back I joined in on the seminar. It was very interesting and well done. There were quite a few people attending. 1st picture is an entomology class down by the river.

2nd one is instructors demonstrating the use of the fly rod.

It's been about 27 degrees every morning for the last few days and warming up to low 60's in the day. And the wind---it never stops blowing.

But as we head north it will be warmer in Utah and then onto Wyo where we will probably hit snow.

We went geocaching yesterday after the seminar. There was a cache up by the lake. We got to within 249 feet of it, had to cross the road and hike up the hill, straight up. I made it to the top and found the cache. Coming down was the hard part, ended up on my backside a couple of times. But mission accomplished!

April 25, 2008

2008-04-25T07:44:00.002-06:00

We have been out of touch since we landed in Navajo Dam, NM. We moved out of Cottonwood campground yesterday to Abe's Rv park. Our 21 days ran out at the state park to camp. We do have Wi Fi here at the RV park. Finally, in touch with the real world again. This place is just west of the dam.
Bob has been fishing a few times and the fishing has been slow. The river is down some but filled with trash from the bottom of the lake. He is discouraged with fishing!
I have been doing some carving on cottonwood bark. I'm making whimsical houses and they are turning out pretty good. Bob has also started carving these things.
While here, we spent some time with Ron and Terry (our friends from Q). They took off on Thurs to head back to Iowa. We sure will miss them.
We're going to a fly fishing clinic tomorrow down at the river. It is put on by the San Juan fly fishing club. Might learn some new techniques for fishing!

Navajo Dam NM

2008-04-08T12:27:00.003-06:00

Update!

We left Quartzsite, Az on March 30th. Went to the Grand Canyon and spent 3 days up there. It is still breathtaking! I did go on a hike on the Bright Angel trail. I had my pack, water and hiking stick and started the long climb down into the big canyon. I went down 1 & 1/2 miles to the first marker. It was a little scary because there was still snow and ice on the trail. But the hike up was incredible. It was so steep. I rested quite a few times but made it to the top. It took me 2 & 1/2 hours to complete the 3 mile trip. And of course I had to buy a T shirt that said I had hiked the canyon.

While camped at the campground just out of the Grand Canyon, I noticed a shed where some people had a couple of goats. I walked over and they were trying to get a brand new baby to get his first meal from his momma. These guys said they had never had anything to do with animals cause they were from the city. They were also taking care of the goats for their boss. Well now, me being a good old farm girl, offered my help with the new baby goat. I got it to drink and kept tabs on it while we were at the campground. The guy, Ruben, was the manager for the Spaghetti Western restaurant. He told me and Bob to come over on Wed. evening and they would give us a meal for helping them. What a nice gesture from them. We went over and had a wonderful spaghetti dinner.

The next day we headed to Navajo Dam, NM. We left about 9am and got here around 4:30pm. It was a long drive but we had fairly good weather, only got rained on once.

We have seen Ron and Terry twice since we've been here. They are parked up at Navajo Lake. Bob and Terry might go fishing tomorrow. The river is running too high to wade out in it. They had to release a lot of water from the dam because of heavy snowfall this year so it has put a damper on fly fishing. The drift boats are still taking customers down the river but not catching as many as last time we were here.

Today we are in town doing laundry and ran to Walmart to pick up a few things.

We might go out geocaching this afternoon. I went out the other day and had to climb a steep hill about a mile up and then over boulders and thru bushes to find a geocache inside a hollowed out boulder. It was a fun find.

Have a great time till I post again...

Last post from Quartzsite

2008-03-29T19:32:00.004-06:00

This will be the last post this winter from Q !

We are headed out in the morning, going north. We have the trailer all packed except for a few items we need to put in tomorrow morning. And the dreaded thing of saying goodbye to friends we have spent the winter with.

We're only going as far a Lake Havasu, AZ tomorrow. We will camp in the free BLM area just north of the airport. Then onto the Grand Canyon for a few days.

I won't miss this 90+ degree heat. Tomorrow in Lake Havasu it will be 80 degrees so we'll be fine.

Bob borrowed Thom's compressor today to get the trailer and truck tires aired up. They were all a little low. Then he used his ladder to hop on top of the roof to make sure the solar panels were tightened down good.

He even cleaned out the truck interior, got it all shiny for the trip.

When we worked last Wed. Larry uncovered a scorpion. Of course I had to get a shot of it. They are very fast moving critters and UGLY! This was the first one I have ever seen.

John and Marie left Wed. also. Marie worked at the check in station Wed. and Thur. and John worked across the hwy the same days. I went to Mexico a couple of times with them.

And last but not least---Bob and Ranger Clyde. Bob and him have become good friends over the past 2 winters. Clyde is storing our tent for us this summer and will be glad to see Bob again this fall. I think they are one of a kind. I'll post along the way and keep everyone up to date on our travels back to Wyoming.

Hope everyone has a great summer and safe travels.

Getting closer to leaving

2008-03-23T19:19:00.004-06:00

We had a nice Easter dinner at Mountain Quail Cafe today. Bob had the ham dinner and I had the chicken fried steak dinner. There was enough to bring home for supper.. We went for a drive around after dinner and I got some snapshots. Here's a few.

Some cactus's blossoming in yellow and fuchsia.

A grapefruit tree ! ! I wanted to stop and get some grapefruit. Maybe I will ask him if I can have some before I go.

This is the bush that is causing my allergies to flare up. The flowers are blooming so much and I am constantly sneezing...

A lizard once again. And a dove atop a palm tree.

I got some more packed into the trailer and if Bob said "GO", I could be ready to hitch up the trailer and be outta here. We are both itching to get on the road. I am anxious to hike the Grand Canyon and he is ready to do some fly fishing on the San Juan River. Next week it will happen too.

Hope you all had a good Easter.

Easter EVE

2008-03-22T18:27:00.004-06:00

Easter eve is here...I imagine all my nieces and nephews are helping their kids color eggs today. Then the hunt is on tomorrow to see if they can find them all. My mom and step dad had their Easter last Sunday since my nephew Chuck was in town for spring break. Him and his family live in Easter South Dakota where he is attending school in forestry. So it will be pretty quiet at mom's tomorrow.

I ordered a tent from Cabela's for my summer hiking trips and had it sent to my sisters house in Laramie WY. It got there ok, so now I am ready to go hiking. 3 months from today we begin the hike. I've been doing a lot of walking to condition myself. But the elevation is a lot higher there and I will probably notice it some.

Judy (fulltime roadrunners) took this picture of a desert iguana today. She said he was huge, at least 8 - 10" long from nose to the back end. The tail was probably another 10".

Here is a picture of the hummingbird I just finished. Also I made some ears of corn earrings.

March 19, 2008

2008-03-19T18:31:00.003-06:00

Sunday was the usual dump and get water day. I got the water for the trailer and put it in and after Bob got up we dumped the trailer. Carley loves to go on rides so she rode along on this fun chore.

Monday and Tuesday were the usual, working in the check in station till 1pm and then Bob headed off to the rock shop to work on a silver pendant. I stayed home and started another hummingbird. He also went today and worked some more on it. I went over to a friends house and helped her with a hummingbird she is making.

I took this picture of a desert iguana today. Boy, was he ever cool. He is also very fast. After I snapped shots of him, he darted away and was gone in a flash. He was about 1' long from nose to tip of tail. He just stood there while I took some candid shots. There are quite a number of lizards and other reptiles out this year. The heat is bringing them to the surface.

We're bbq-ing sirloin steaks tonight. The wind has died down so they should cook in record time.

Till next time--enjoy life!

Windy day

2008-03-15T17:29:00.004-06:00

I finished taking down the tent frame today and had to have Bob's help to get the top frame off. After that I pulled all the pipes loose, taped them into bundles and bagged the fittings. It was a bugger getting the 12'' spikes out of the grounds too. We found someone to store them for the summer.

Bob worked on tying flies for the San Juan River today. He finished about a dozen of them with size 22 hooks. You can barely see them, I don't know how the fish do either. But they really bite on his flies he ties.

I spent the day reading and when I got tired of that I grabbed the camera and got a couple of shots taken. The first one is from a couple days ago. I had a Gila Woodpecker drinking out of the hummingbird feeder.

Next is a baby hummingbird, Judy came over and said it an immature Anna's hummingbird.

And finally a Western Whiptail lizard. He was about 6-8'' long and I had to keep circling the bush to get these 2 shots.

Packing up

2008-03-14T11:06:00.003-06:00

I started to take the tent down yesterday. Got all of it except the frame. Now we just have to figure how we are going to store it in the trailer for the ride to Wyoming. When I took the tarp off the ground a lizard darted in and grabbed a centipede and another lizard darted in and tried to take it away from him. He wasn't successful and the swallowed it up quick. I did go grab my camera and snap a shot of him after he had his lunch.

It is getting warm now days, out thermometer registered 90 degrees yesterday. We had high winds last night and they are supposed to continue today and tomorrow. Flowers are blooming everywhere!

Snakes are still being spotted around campsites.

We are also supposed to get some showers on Sunday. That might take the dust down a bit.

We have a pancake breakfast to go to on Sat. at the rock club. It will be the last one until fall.

More and more people are pulling out of here. My friend Dave Peterson, left last weekend and got home to Nevada just fine.

We'll be leaving about the 30th or 31st.

March 11,2008

2008-03-11T21:19:00.003-06:00

Short notes tonight. I finished one hummingbird and here's a picture.

I also finished a hummingbird that I was making trying to copy a Rufous Hummingbird found in Washington. He is a little to orange but next time I will try to tone down the colors to a light cinnamon.

We worked today and only had one renewel. Today was slow, got a lot of time on the computer, Bob almost finished his book.

We have decided not to go to the Vulture mines tomorrow. Bob wants to finish the ring and pendent he has started. I will try to get in a long walk. I bought a day pack off of Ebay and hope to get it before I leave on the 30th or 31st. I'm going to take a hike on one of the trails in the Grand Canyon when we get there the end of the month.

Mar 8 2008

2008-03-08T19:12:00.003-07:00

I haven't posted for a week and don't have that much news to post with tonight.

Diesel prices are outrageous! It's up to $3.65/gallon. When we leave in 3 weeks, Bob thinks it might top $5/gal. Sure hope not!

I have started walking daily. I try to get at least 5 miles a day and try to increase it daily. My sister, Donna, and I are going to do some hiking this summer. Quite a few day hikes and at least one long hike. We plan to go from Steamboat Springs, Colo to Rawlins, WY. It will be over 100 miles. Got to get in shape for that. Next year we want to start the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada. That would be a 5 month backpacking trip. I've got a bid on a day pack on ebay. When I get to Wyo, I will have to get fitted for a larger backpack for the long hike. I am so excited to do this.

Then I have to find a light weight sleeping back and 1 man tent. I will take pictures along the way and a journal so I can post after our hikes.

I finished another hummingbird today. Picture tomorrow!

We had a BLM picnic on Monday with all the camp hosts and volunteers and rangers. It was a great turnout and wonderful food.

We were invited to Larry's and Phyllis's place today for lunch. Several others were there also. Larry made Posole soup with salad & tortilla's. Terry made homemade rolls from scratch and John and Marie made dutch oven peach cobbler. All of it was very tasty.

Bob is working on a ring and pendent at the rock shop. He should be able to cast it Monday afternoon. The stone he is using is Ellenberg. It will be beautiful when it is finished.

We went to Bouse on Thurs. afternoon. We were looking for an arts and crafts fair that was supposed to be there. We didn't find it but I came across this yard that was loaded with these beautiful flowers. They were covering the front yard and back yard.

We then stopped along the way back and took this silly picture of me in front of my favorite cactus.

It's hard to believe that in 3 weeks we will be heading northwest. We will spend a couple days in the Grand Canyon, one day I will hike one of the trails, then onto Navajo Dam NM for 3 weeks. Bob is anxious to do some fly fishing on the San Juan River.

Mar 1, 2008

2008-03-01T19:14:00.003-07:00

Yesterday, Bob worked on his income tax and I tried to stay out of his way. He took a break 1/2 way thru and went and visited the Gold Prospectors Shop. He spent a while in there and came home and finished his taxes and mailed them off the the accountant.

I worked on a wire tree with beads yesterday and it took a long time to finish.

But here is a picture of it!

I took a book over to Ron today and on the way home I stopped to talk to Thom and Judy and her mom. Curt was packing up and said he was leaving on Monday. He is going to Lake Havasu for a couple days and wants to take his ATV in the sand dunes. He is anxious to get home to his kids and grandkids. He will be home by Mar 12 - 15th.

On my way home, I was casually walking along and noticed something in my path. It MOVED! Come to find out it was a 4' Diamond back rattle snake...Scared the Heck out of me. I went over to Dennis's and Rachel's motor home and told them. They came out and I ran home and got my camera. This is the 5th snake seen so far in just a few days. If camping in the desert, be careful, watch woodpiles, tarps on the ground, etc. AND when going out after dark take a light and something for protection. Bob has a hoe next to the door. I guess I won't be taking Carley out for walks after dusk. Last night I got home after dark after walking her.

We have high wind warnings for tomorrow. We should get winds 20 - 30 miles per hour with gusts to 50 MPH. Good day to stay in a catch on my beading or reading a good book...

Watch for SNAKES!

Feb 27, 2008

2008-02-27T19:33:00.003-07:00

1st picture is of Carley with her new haircut and toting a new rawhide chewy...She was enjoying the warm weather today.

Yesterday we checked in 8 people to La Posa North. 2 renews and 6 new people.

I spent the afternoon working on a new hummingbird and finished it this afternoon.

We went to the laundry today and brought home the wet clothes to hang out. They sure smell good after drying on the line.

Judy came over and showed me her flower that she beaded on wire. It is beautiful and she said it wasn't that hard. She is on to another project soon.

Here is a necklace I also finished the other day. There are some spirit beads in the project also...

I had a fire going tonight while Bob was over at Ron and Terry's. Had to leave it as soon as he came home as he wanted to run the generator and watch his millionaire show. It was nice while it lasted.

It got to 82 degrees here today. I talked to my sister, Donna in Laramie, WY., and she said it was in the 40's. She would love to sit out with a fire in 80 degree weather right now.

Feb 25, 2008

2008-02-25T10:10:00.005-07:00

We had a fun day yesterday (Sun). We drove up past Parker, AZ 5 miles, turned right on a dirt road and went to the Desert Bar. 5 miles on the dirt road it dead ends where the parking lot was filled with cars. Dozens of people were there, live music was playing and everyone was having fun. This place is open on Sat and Sun from high noon till sunset. What a fun place!

You can look at their web site - thedesertbar.com

Here's some pics of this place.

Feb 22,2008

2008-02-22T17:09:00.003-07:00

We have had rain most of the day. Nothing extreme, just a light drizzle. It stayed warm so it was a nice day.

Bob spent yesterday and today at the rock shop finishing his silver ring he cast. He set the stone yesterday and the ring looks pretty nice. I will post a picture after I get one taken.

Here is my 3rd hummingbird I beaded. Also I made this necklace and was happy how it turned out.

The vendors have vacated Tyson Wells area and it is now being set up for the Bluegrass Festival and the Chile Cook off.

Not much else in the news for now.

Feb 19, 2008

2008-02-19T21:35:00.003-07:00

Just a quick post tonight. I have been working on beading some hummingbirds and got a message from Judy that someone might be interested in looking at them. I took them over for him to look at and he said he will buy them from me. I am now making more in hopes that they will sell as well.

I finished a necklace with a peyote stitch with a navajo feather pattern in it. It turned out good.

Terry suggested that I make some hummingbirds and try to sell them to shop owners in Moab, Ut. when we pass through there. I've got about 2 months to get some made. I think it is a great idea...Thanks Terry!!!

Here's a picture of the hummingbirds. These guys are about the size of real hummingbirds, about 2" long. It takes me about 12 hours to complete one bird.

There are patterns out there for eagles, cardinals, owls, etc. I hope I can get these patterns as well and make some of them.

Tomorrow, Bob is going to spend the day at the rock club finishing his silver casted ring he made. He is going to put an elk ivory in the ring to complete it.

We worked at the check in station today and checked in 7 registrations in 4 hours. Working 1/2 days goes by fast and doesn't seem like we work at all.

Most of the vendors have left for the season. We have the Chile cookoff on the 23rd. It is supposed to be 3 times as big as the one last year. I plan on going to see how it turns out.

John and Marie Harris have invited us for breakfast on Sat. about 9:30am...It will be fun to get together with them and other friends.

Feb 12, 2008

2008-02-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

On Feb. 9th I enjoyed my birthday. Bob took me out to breakfast at the Mountain Quail Cafe. Great food there. We then took a drive over to Blythe and washed the truck and got a latte at Starbucks. We headed back on the interstate, turned off at Erinberg and headed to Parker. It is a pretty drive that way. We stopped in Parker at Bashes for groceries then headed home.

Bob got the grill going for dinner and he grilled some wonderful New York Strips. Besides the good food, the weather was great and we also enjoyed a nice fire.

Sunday was laundry day again and dump day for the trailer. Always fun chores.

Monday and Tuesday we worked at the check in station. We only had 3 registrations on Monday and so far today no one has checked in. Sure makes the day long. But I take the computer and do things on it. Bob has almost finished reading his book that he started yesterday.

Tomorrow we will check out the vendors to see how many have left town. On Sunday we also went to Tyson Wells vendors. Judy called me and asked me if I wanted some craft wire. She found a vendor who was leaving the next day and had a wonderful price on some. I got a box of 12 spools, 24 gauge wire for $5.00. I usually pay $5.00 a spool at a craft store in town. I made a great deal on this wire. Thanks again Judy!!!

Feb 6 2008

2008-02-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

We have been down and out with terrible colds. Bob got his last thurs. and is still bothered with it. He coughs all day and all night. Mine started Monday, I missed work yesterday because I felt so awful. Today, I'm on the mend! I have been pouring juices and water down and just keeping hydrated and resting. It works and usually my colds will be overwith in 3 - 4 days.

I got a call from Terry on Sunday when we had such strong winds. He said the big tent had blown down. I grabbed my camera and headed to the scene. I felt like a reporter getting the first scoop on the event. Here's some shots of the sunken tent. At least all the antique cars had all been moved out.

Our good friends Joe and Donna Wallingford left this area to head further south today. They stopped by to say their farewells. They even gave me an early birthday present. Thank you for that Joe and Donna, I won't open it till my birthday tho. I was sad to see them go. We have become great friends this year after meeting just last year. Hope to see them in the fall.

I finished my beading project. I made a 3 D hummingbird and then did another one just so I wouldn't forget how to do it. They turned out good. I'll get some pictures when I get them hung in the window.

Bob is off to the vendors this afternoon. He is going to buy some leather and make a sheath for my knapped knives I make.

Feb 1, 2008

2008-02-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

February 1st---can't beleive it is here already!
More and more people are starting to leave. Now it's becoming the desert we saw when we 1st arrived in Oct. Kinda nice not to have so many people here.

I took my job application up to the Super 8 motel. Come to find out the guy that owns it is also owner of Big Market (grocer) downtown. He said he would hand it over to the shift supervisor and have her give me a call.

I have been taking a beading class since last Thurs. I took 3 classes and finished my project, also while doing some of it at home. I made a 3 D hummingbird. It was a difficult thing to do but fun too. I counted up the hours and it took me 12 hours to complete. I was working with seed beeds and boy is that a challenge, might have to get a magnifying glass next project.

John, Marie and I are headed to Mexico today. John has a dental appt. and I am going to get my eyes checked.

Bob ended up with a cold yesterday morning. He spent most of the day in bed and will probably do the same today. Sure hope he doesn't pass it to me.

UPDATE 9:16pm
I did go to Algodones Mexico today. I had a blast. I got new glasses at Algodones Optical. $119 total cost for transition lenses, bifocals, frames and exam. They were done in 2 hours.
John had some dental work done. While he was there, Marie and I went shopping and had lots of fun. Got some Rx's and had lunch of fish and shrimp tacos. They are wonderful! I'm hooked!
It took 2 hours in line to get out of Mexico. Not a bad wait.
We then went to Mr. Lu's Super Buffet (Chinese) 1960 E Palo Verde, Yuma AZ. for supper. My gosh the buffet was huge. It is well worth going to. The food is fresh, tastes great and you go away very full.
It was a great day and I thank John and Marie for allowing me to tag along with them.

Jan 28 2008

2008-01-29T07:49:00.001-07:00

Well, today Bob and I went to work at the check in station. The day started out nice, calm and sunny. By mid morning the wind had come up and blew all day. One guy stopped in to try to find some people (he was on his bicycle). He said the wind was blowing so hard that it just stopped him in place and held him up. He couldn't go anywhere. Now that is WINDY!
We only had 13 to check in, very slow day. We watched RV's leave all day long. They are leaving as soon as the Big Tent RV show is over. Now we don't have neighbors back to back.
After work, I had Bob take me up to the Super 8 motel. He wants me to get a higher paying job than the volunteer job I'm working at. I picked up an application and will take it to them on Wed. when I have off.
I came home and made Shepherds pie for dinner. Sure was good and today we will have leftovers for lunch.
It's starting to get nice and sunny out and supposed to be calm today. Hope the weather forecaster is right.
Might write more tonight after work.

Jan 26, 2008

2008-01-26T08:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting too much lately. We've been working at the check in station and while doing that, nothing exciting happens in our lives.

One day last week we checked in 149 people, all for a short time (14 day) permit. Larry and Phyllis were kind enough to help us.

Bob got some new tires on his truck. We went to Blythe and got them at Valley Tire. It only took about an hour to get them all on. While Bob was getting that taken care of I walked over to Starbucks coffee shop and got a couple of lattes. My sister, Donna, gave us a gift certificate for Starbucks for Christmas and I'm still loving it.

Here's the new tires on the truck.

Also some pics of palm trees.

I started taking another beading class. I'm making a 3 D hummingbird out of seed beads. It is difficult to do, too. There is one vendor that is selling them for $250.00 each. It will take several classes to finish this project.

Bob and I went to Beaudry's RV yesterday and had the free lunch that they were having. They are only going to have it 2 times this year instead of 4. It was good, we had BBQ chicken sandwiches, macaroni salad, baked beans and cookies.

Bob then came home and took a nap and I went to the water site and got water and filled up the trailer.

Bob got some more trade beads yesterday at the pow wow. Some he got were made in the 1700's.

This morning about 6:30am I headed to town to do laundry. I like going at that time and miss the crowds. Now, I just have to let it dry on the clothes line outside. And today, the wind isn't blowing so it will take longer.

We had some terrible news the other day. Jim Canody, who had been down here for several years and last year worked at the check in station with me, Phyllis and Larry, had gone back to Alaska in Nov. to be with his family. He was diagnosed with cancer and last Monday passed away. I am going to miss him greatly. He was a wonderful friend. Jim will always be remembered as a truly caring person.

The big tent

2008-01-19T17:28:00.001-07:00

Just a few pics tonight of my walk to the Big Tent opening.

The little yellow car looked like it would be fun to drive.
How about an inflatable hot tub? It stores in a bag and can be taken anywhere you travel!
Some of the trailers and motor homes on my way to the Big Tent.
Last picture is a motor home with a fold down big screen TV on the outside of the RV. How cool is that?

I brought home some reading material for Bob to look at tonight. And picked up a few free items. The one I liked the best was a free aerosol can of pancake batter. It's called Organic Batter Blaster. It comes in an 18 oz aerosol can. How can you top that? Just hope it tastes as good as it looks.

Bob and I are going back on Monday since the check in station is closed. Maybe he will find some new things too.
I did get a jar opener at one vendor and come to find out they were promoting nude recreation. The guy asked me if I wanted to learn more about skinny dipping. I politely declined.
I won't go back to that place!
I'll get some more pictures on Monday and post again.

Jan 18. 2008

2008-01-18T18:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the Famous BLM Ranger Clyde. He is working on putting a carbon monoxide device in the check in station.

2nd pic is of a Quartzsite Police car sitting outside the courthouse. Didn't know they came in these wild colors!!

This week has been very busy and I haven't been keeping up on my posts.

We worked at the check in station on Mon and Tues. This week the number of check ins ranged from 30 to 150 per day. Bob and I worked again today and checked in 120. Thom and Judy and Phyllis and Larry worked with us. We worked well together. Pic of Larry and Phyllis!!!

On Wed. I went to the concert of the New Christy Minstrels. They were popular back in the 60's and 70's and are still going strong. I was able to get all their autographs after the show and shake their hands.\ Here is a picture of the mayor and Dianne Abbott on stage with them. I talked with Dianne and she said it was hard to negotiate a contract with them. They wanted to sell tickets at $17.50 each but she fought it and said it was a retirement community and they couldn't pay the higher price. After negotiations, she got them to bring it down to $10.00 per ticket. I talked to Randy Sparks ( head of the New Christy Minstrels) and he said he hopes to come back next year for 2 days instead of one. They were a great group and put on a wonderful performance. But they were still older than me!!! ha ha

Wed. during the afternoon, I attended the Rock club meeting. It was important that I go, I had to cast a vote for Terry to be voted in as a trustee. HE WON! He has the term for 3 years. Congrats Terry===You will do a great job~!!!!

Yesterday (Thurs) I was able to show Judy and her friend Misty how to make wire wrap trees. They were great students and did a wonderful job. The town is becoming so busy. This will last only about 2-3 weeks and then everyone will disappear until next year at this time.

I am watching an MP3 player on ebay. I have some CD's that I want to put on one. Ron said he would be able to help me with it if I win the auction. My sister, Donna, has helped me to pick out one. Since I thought Sony Walkman was still just a radio with a cassette player,,,this is a big adventure for me...Just hope I can operate it when I get the tunes downloaded. My sis told me to get with the times and not stay back in the 70's...Guess I'd better take the advice.

Here's a picture of a roadrunner I captured while working today. I need to get together with Judy and find out how to make this bird bigger. I couldn't figure it out tonight.

Jan 13, 2008

2008-01-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Bob and I went to the Bad Boys Cafe at Rice Ranch for biscuits and gravy. This will be a short post because it is all related to pets.

These pets are inside the outside cafe.

Wilbor and Hambone, the pigs..

There were a few of the dogs and puppies that people were walking with thru the vendors. The one guy was walking his dog in the stroller. We see everything down here. Some people even have the baby carriers strapped to the front of themselves.

Jan 11, 2008

2008-01-11T17:34:00.000-07:00

While Bob is outside tending the fire, I will post tonight.

I went to the post office today and there was no line. I walked in the door and immediately the girl behind the counter said,"I can help you here." That is the first time that has happened. With more and more people coming into town, I thought I would be there a long time.

Bob changed the oil in the generator and put some Sta-Bil in it. We then went and got some things in town and I walked home from there. He went out prospecting. I took a couple pictures that I will now share with you.

Picture 1 is of some carved bears a guy does with his chainsaw. He does good work.

Picture 2 is the overview of the vendors at Tyson Wells area. You can see the big tent in the background that will be busy starting the 19th of Jan.

Picture 3---What happened to this guy? He looks a little grey around the gills. Thankfully he is just a prop.

Picture 4--I found this little go cart on my way home today. Some guy walked up to me when I was taking the picture and said it is electric. Wouldn't that be fun to take out in the desert?

Jan 10, 2008

2008-01-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

I spent the morning making Iris Folded cards. Bob headed to town, dropped the truck off for an oil change and then went to Wax carving class. He has been working on a ring and hopefully will be finished with it by the time we leave here. He still has to do some more on it before it will be ready to cast in silver.

He came home and then picked me up to go to lunch. La Casa del Rosa is where we ended up. We have had good food and service in the past, but today...different scene. They were extremely busy and we had ordered hot beef sandwiches. The meal came and the beef was so tough we couldn't chew it. Bob talked to the cashier about it and she just said "We're to busy to do anything about it." She didn't charge him for the meal.

We then headed over to Sweet Darleen's for lunch. The special was Hot beef but we passed on that. We ordered Reuben sandwiches and they were very tasty!

I don't think we will go back to La Casa...

Bob then went home and made out bills. I took the truck and cruised the vendor tents. I was looking for a portable CD player but didn't find one yet. Got some great pictures tho.

These pictures ---If you need SILVER ware, here's your table. I couldn't believe the amount of flatware. Next, If you need a good pair of used cowboy boots, here's your vendor on main street. 3rd pic,,,lots of foxes, coyotes, and any kind of wild hide you would ever want. Last picture--Now how would I get a John Deere tractor home? Anything is available here...Name it and you can find it...

Stay tuned for more pictures in the next few weeks...

Jan 9, 2008

2008-01-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

The morning started out with a beautiful pink sunrise. I usually don't like pink but in sunrises it is great.

As I was walking thru the vendor displays in Rice Ranch today, I came upon this beautiful motorcycle. The vendor was detailing motorcycles. He was talking to some bikers and telling them to bring their bikes over and he would detail them right there.

This vendor has barrels for sale. You might need one for dumping your grey and black water or hauling water. He has a couple different sizes and buckets also.

This next vendor was selling handmade wood products. Bet he won't sell too many to full timers as we don't have room to put these. The items were beautiful tho.

I made a couple of glass bead necklaces last night. They turned out great and I have already sent one off in the mail to my friend, Jane Baldwin, in Casper WY.

Better make more tonight. I love doing it and get great results.

Jan 8, 2008

2008-01-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

We spent the last 2 days working at the BLM check in station. 9 checked in Monday and 13 today. We were glad we had some people to talk to. Ron came by and visited yesterday and today. Judy also stopped for a bit today.

On Sunday we also went to Tyson Wells and I got a few pictures when I went to pick up my Manzanita roots that I didn't post. This will be a short post tonight as we are both tired from working today.

The 1st picture is iron art that is cut with a torch. He does beautiful work and prices are reasonable. 2nd picture,,,bunches of animals. 3rd picture--Want to buy a giraffe??

This last picture was taken Sunday, the wind was blowing as you can see by the snow goose flying. But in the clouds there was a sun dog...It didn't come out in the picture but it was pretty cool to see.

Jan 6, 2008

2008-01-06T20:11:00.000-07:00

We had to do the dreaded dumping of the trailer today and get some water. We also ran into town and washed clothes. I did bring them home today and we think we finally got the clothesline so it won't blow down. Boy is that ever frustrating to have the line blow down with wet clothes on it.

After that, a trip to take a picture of the big tent being set up.

I also got some manzanita roots for my wire tree bases. Here is a picture of a Manzanita tree.

The description says it is native of California, but the roots I got today were from Wisconsin.

At the end of the evening, the sunset was a golden ball descending over the horizon. It was beautiful!

I gave Bob a haircut in the wind tonight. It had been 3 months since he has had one. Sure cut off a lot of hair.

Jan 4

2008-01-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Bob and I spent a good part of the day walking around visiting vendors. It seems like in the past few days they just popped out of nowhere. Bob found some padre trading beads from a guy from Africa. The price was good and he will go and get more later. Here's Bob's new girlfriend he found while strolling around the vendors. Next picture is tables and tables of glassware. Makes me wonder how they pack and travel from show to show...

I filled my 1 gallon propane tank today. I was making beads last night and ran out of propane. Stopped me from making beads! I will get back to it tonight.

We're supposed to get some rain this weekend. Today was overcast but very warm...probably got up to 65 degrees.

Jan 2, 2008

2008-01-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR ! ! !
The new year came in and it hadn't changed from last year...I was in bed reading and Bob was out watching TV and we didn't even celebrate the new year.
The day before on Dec. 31st, we went to Mexico with George Eppler, who is parked next to us. We got some Rx's, I got a new purse and bracelet that a guy made for me... He weaved my name into the bracelet in about 4 minutes. We had lunch down there, as you can see by the previous posts. Bob got sick on New years day and most of the night. Might have gotten some bad food. George and I didn't have any problems tho.
I sure wished Shannon, George's girlfriend, could have been down there with us, we would have had so much fun... Maybe next time...
Bob was down almost all day today...He finally got out of bed this afternoon and went out about 3pm... He walked around and looked at prospecting places. George and him are going out tomorrow to check on a spot that George found today.. He found a target and needs to finish checking it out.

I got some crushed glass from Thompson Enamels today and spent the evening making glass beads. I made some beads to make a necklace for my friend, Jane Baldwin, who lives in Casper WYO...I talked to her today , it had been a while since I had done that. I hope to be able to visit her when I get to WYO this summer. I met her back in 1979,,,gosh 29 years ago... Nice to have a friend that long...
George is going to get some solar panels put on his 5er tomorrow. During that time, Bob and him will probably be prospecting.