And Another Week Goes By

Mr Potamus is still suffering from being trapped, so he has been confined to the sheep pasture by himself…well…by himself with the sheep and goats that is, with his leg wrapped to keep him as quiet as possible hopefully allowing it to heal. I brought him in to check on it. He was being a pitifully pathetic Potamus, hiding in the bushes when I wanted him to come inside. I called him again to come in the house so I could unwrap his leg.

He made it three or four steps and then….

I think this was his way of saying his foot was killing him. Not that he is a drama queen or anything…

 Bruno relentlessly teases, chases and wrestles with him, so Bru is usually confined to the house or yard. He’s been climbing over the fence at night to patrol alone, which causes me more than a little stress and apprehension…and I guess, technically, it also means he isn't confined at all…but I digress. There really needs to be at least 1 other LGD with him, to back him up against the predators we have here, so having one dog down and injured really concerns me. It’s already tough enough for Potamus when he ISN’T injured, because he has to somehow keep close to protect the stock and still back up Bruno, if he needs help. I am praying for an answer to this dilemma. Stress just messes me up on all sorts of levels.

Because of a 'Potamus hug' deficiency, I sometimes switch dogs and put Bru in with the sheeple while Potamus comes to sit with me on the couch for awhile. Bru comes in to visit, but he isn't as needy as Potamus, therefore isn't quite as much into the touchy-feely thing. He'll come and ask for a belly rub, and of course to pay attention to his ears, but then he is satisfied to go outside on his loveseat for the rest of the day.

There are days you just need to be able to squeeze someone big and fluffy in order to get through it.

We had some pretty nice weather for awhile, then the inversion layer made it here. I think it caught Cowboy the rooster by surprise.

We really need snow on the mountain and rain down here in the basin. The county has been declared a disaster area because of the drought. I can only imagine what it must be like down in California.

I took a little road trip last week. I haven’t seen my brother or his family for several years and they only live about 5 hours away so I have been anxious to go visit. After mentioning this to TheMan, I found out that he couldn’t get away until sometime this month but the sheep are due to lamb soon, so that wasn’t going to work at all. I decided my best option was for him to feed the critters for me, while I went on to make the drive alone. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to MOST of you, but consider the fact that we own ONE vehicle and we always do everything together...this means I myself, have not driven for over 8 years. I used to pull a big gooseneck trailer full of show horses all over through traffic, with no problem but now, 8 years is a long time, especially when we have been living where there is NO traffic at all. So, it was a pretty huge undertaking for me just to drive our little old truck.

I packed my bag and carried it out to the truck. As soon as I opened the door, Cider tried to stow away. This was not a trip he could come on and I had to use a lot of cheese to get him back OUT of the truck, because even warning him about my deteriorated driving skills wasn't enough to scare him out of the back seat. He's either very brave, or very foolish. Perhaps both.

The boss passed by on his way to somewhere and said he'd go get TheMan so he could say goodbye. I waved goodbye to the Maremmas, who were devastated that I would even consider leaving the house, and headed to Reno. I turned an audiobook on the iPod and tooled on down the road. Three hours later, I was slapping myself in the face, trying to stay awake on the way into Winnemucca, NV. I wondered how on earth I was ever going to make another 2 hours to Reno without falling asleep. I stopped to top off the tank with diesel. My credit card got declined. I had no cash. So I called the company to find out what was wrong. As we usually use our card in Idaho, not Nevada, they flagged it as possibly stolen. I assured them that it really was me trying to use it. After that was straightened out, I found a cappucino machine that said “French Vanilla ALERT”. Sounded like just what I needed. I also had a revelation. Everytime we go to town, we turn on an audio book, I go back to sleep and TheMan drives...I realized I am like Pavlov’s dog. The book was putting me to sleep, even though I was enthralled by it. So off with the book, on with the music and I rocked out for the next two hours, wide awake, with a death grip on the steering wheel as traffic moved at 85 mph. I was sooo happy to see my brother when I finally made it there.

We had a good time. We were hoping to go out and play in his ‘gator’ but it rained all day the next day. My niece and her family came for dinner both nights. I brought down lamb and some homemade applesauce so we had a lamb roast one night and laughed at u-tube videos. It was great to see my family, but the next morning brought heavy snow and the forecast said snow at our house later, so I figured I had better hit the road and try to beat the storm home. There was no way I was gonna be able to make that drive in a storm. 5 hours later, as I came up the road to the house, a bunch of deer stood up to welcome me home. Well…probably not intentionally, but it was nice to see them anyway.

 When I finally arrived, there were two big white fluffy dogs bouncing up and down, ready to have a full on puppy party with me. It feels good to be loved.

Being the only cook in the kitchen again, it is time to restock the pantry. I got some meatballs canned and chili is on the stove today. We’ll probably have that for dinner and I will can the rest tomorrow for future dinners. No one in MY crew seems to be wanting to help out much…

UPS brought me packages today. Some new fragrances for soaping, more Himalayan Salt for Salt Bars and the meatgrinder finally got here from Japan so I can get the rest of the tallow rendered for Body Butter.  Spring will be here before long and I need to have the spring scents ready to ship.

One of the guys walked in the house today and asked “What scent do you have in that thing there, now?” (Pointing at my tart warmer)  I told him what it was and he said “I like your choices”  Who knew guys were fragrance fans?? At least when it smells like food, they are.

The Ranch Rustics webstore is still evolving. I think it is going to be a long process to figure this all out, but there is a ‘gallery’ showing photos of most of the products ( I still have pictures to take) and there is a ‘forum’ for customers to leave their ratings and feedback. If any of you who have used  Ranch Rustics products have a minute to take the time and leave a review, it would be much appreciated, and helpful for those who have not yet tried them. That’s http://ranchrustics.com.

Hope you all have a great week!