#GoodBoyHeath !!!

I’ve been keeping busy trying to get jewelry made for the store and soap and stuff to fill orders. Heath is used to me either being strong enough to go out and do stuff or debilitated enough to remain on the couch for a week at a time, while he remains on constant watch and has my undivided attention. This is something quite new to him and he’s just not sure he likes it much at all.

While I sequester myself in my little work corner, he goes out and patrols the back yard, making sure the cats and raccoons stay out of it. I appreciate it more than you might imagine as I am deathly allergic to cats and until I got Heath, I couldn’t even sit outside as they got dander all over my outdoor furniture where they constantly slept. They also sat in the windowsills and it would blow in the house. But he does his job well and there’s been no more wheezing or itchy eyes.

I hear the back door slam, which means he just came inside. He sighs audibly and settles into one of his sleeping areas (he has several. The N end of the couch, the papasan chair, and the giant dog bed that the Maremmas don’t like.

I continue at my task until he says something. Heath doesn’t bark much, but he does vocalize a LOT. In his talky voice, he complains and lets me know he isn’t happy. He gets up and takes it out on the giant exercise ball and sends it smashing into me. Then he roots his nose into my leg a couple of times until he is satisfied has my attention. Then he smiles. Yes, he really does smile. I take a break and spend some time with him. I can count on him to keep my priorities straight.

Last night Heath was running through the house, collecting all his toys and putting them in the toy basket. He thought he was done and looked at me for confirmation. There was still a disc behind him. I asked him to back up, which he did, still looking at me. Then I thought for a minute, checked my hands and turned to the side, then told him to look left. He immediately did, and saw the disc. He picked it right up and put it away. TheMan was laughing at me, because it took me so long to figure out which was right and which was left. Heath had no such problem. Sometimes it’s tough having a dog smarter than me.

I've got Lemongrass, This Suds' for You (beer soap), Honeysuckle and HoneyMoo soaps currently curing, waiting to go in the store. A few jewelry pieces are done and this week I plan to work on some new jewelry techniques as well as some liquid soaps.

 Lemongrass colored with turmeric which has anti-inflammatory properties.

Beer soap with cocoa butter is a super good cleaning soap, that also conditions your skin.

The Honeysuckle has added turmeric and paprika.

 Heath continues to aid and entertain me each day, with his antics. He daily brings me his empty bowl to let me know he is likely to starve if I don't give him a snackie... and has also brought me his bowl FULL of dogfood that he didn't particularly like!

"halp me..."

"dis stuff is yuk"

"Need snackie plez"

Here's hoping you all have a good February. It's leap year, so there's no excuse not to get everything done, cuz we get an extra day :)

'Til next time,

Me N Heath

Mid November 2014

Another hard day. Everyday brings choices. We try to make the best ones we can, some have been good, some bad, some glorious and some painful. I'm grateful for a man who has a heart not just for me, but for our animals. He's been a gentle rock for us to lean on and I wish I could show him how much he is appreciated. He is the best choice I ever made in my life. He's been more patient and kinder than I could ever ask anyone to be, as he has tended to not just our outdoor critters, but to me, in my infirmity and to my much loved Golden Retriever, Cider.

As many of you know, my dear and faithful Cider was failing. At 14 yr, he suddenly started aging and quickly went downhill. Keeping him with us as long as possible, he finally awoke early one morning whimpering and unable to get up. We made the difficult decision to put him down as we knew he was never going to get better and we did not want him to suffer. He kept his attention on me whenever he was wakeful, as I had given him a strong painkiller that made him drowsy as well as kept him comfortable for the long drive to the vet. As long as he could see me, he was quiet, but when I was not in his line of sight, he cried pitifully. He died with me holding his paw. My heart is so broken I wonder if it will ever mend. He was my best friend aside from TheMan, but unlike TheMan, he was my constant shadow, keeping me company everywhere I went, from the bathroom, to long rides across the ranch. His absence is felt far more deeply than I ever imagined it could and as this has been a difficult year already, with much pain and much loss, I am kind of reeling with it all.

On a happier note, as I have been wheelchair bound for over 2 months after a joint injection gone wrong, TheMan bought me a powerchair so I am no longer trapped in a recliner 24/7. I am able to do a lot more towards taking care of myself and am able to resume making the soy tarts, candles, body butter and with some difficulty, soaps for the online store. I've had to be creative about things, such as spot cleaning carpets…but I have found that if I can get my sock off, I can spray the rug, use my toes to sort of agitate the carpet fibers, then pick up a rag with self same toes to blot up the spot. Works pretty good. Who knows what other skills I might discover?

The Maremmas' little flock has thinned down considerably, as the 9 lambs all went to sale and SushiMoo and her wild heifer are out with the ranch cattle for the winter, they’ve only the 4 ewes, ram and a handful of old chickens to care for. Coyote activity has been pretty heavy around here, though, so their job hasn’t actually gotten any easier. They’ve done a great job and since putting up the radio fence, they are content to stay within the boundaries we set for them, which makes me feel they are all much safer. I miss seeing them, as they are outside working and I am inside, waiting for surgery. I can occasionally catch a glimpse of my old horse, Mister, through the bathroom window, but it’s always brief.

The ducks are the main entertainment, as they are in the yard and I can sometimes see them through the window, splashing and playing in their water or grubbing for whatever they find in the lawn, even though its been below freezing for a week or more. The poor blind drake, Magoo, has been a pretty good sport as the others seem to find it amusing to ‘ditch’ him and run behind something impassable then quack at him to get him to run into stuff. Kids can be so cruel.

One of them has begun to lay eggs, so I am anxious to try them out.

I’m still awaiting word on when they can do the knee replacement for me as there have been some complications, but I am anxious as it means I will be walking again soon after and can resume my life.

We have a new grandbaby down south and hope to see family soon, but again, all depends on the Dr.‘s decision.

Meanwhile, I hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. Hug your loved ones, both human and non as they are not with us here forever.

Visit the etsy store for Ranch Rustics soaps/candles/body butter. They make great Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers, but order early, before inventory runs out! 

Yours,

Petey

Wild Wild Weekend

We had esteemed visitors last weekend. My brother, who has never been here before came up to see us. He is the only one of my childhood family that will ever be here, so it was pretty exciting. We’ve had many losses over the past couple of years and I don’t see either of my citybred sisters wanting to experience ranch life. He brought his nifty little Ranger ATV that carries 4 people easily so it was pretty fun because I got to go everywhere with him. My niece and nephew came up the day after his arrival so it was exponentially more fun. Usually I pretty much stay at the house while everyone does there thing and get to enjoy their company at meal times. Feeding them good, at least, is something I can do most of the time. We still managed to eat pretty well, even though I was gone most of the day.  The night he got here we had some lambchops, brown rice and Arkansas green beans, along with a salad and homemade bleu cheese dressing. It was a good start.

The first morning I got up early for me, as I knew he is a very early riser, waking about 4:30 each day. The cowboys were sorting and shipping cattle on the other side of our rock wall in the big corral and I thought he might like to watch. I ran over to the cabin he stayed in and knocked, but no answer. I tried the door and was surprised to find it locked...not so much that I found it odd he would lock a front door, as living in the city, it would be a natural habit, but surprised that one of the buildings on the ranch HAD a locking door! I took some pics of the cowboys working for him. 

Eventually he staggered out of bed 5 hours later than usual surprised he could sleep so long. I think the lack of sounds had something to do with it. Just another one of the perks living so far from civilization...plus he was situated in probably the ONLY place on the ranch one doesn’t hear my rooster.

We ran up the mountain to the weir, which is always an amazing view. After bouncing off of the rocks on the way up and the way back we went to see the pivots going in across the ranch. It took most of the day with TheMan driving and answering all the technical Y-chromosome questions while I sat in the back seat enjoying the scenery. We drove out to the processing corrals and passed a pair of pheasants, which are always beautiful to see.

We brought the sheeple in, locked up the calves so I could milk EmmaLouMoo in the morning, gathered eggs, picked some strawberries and raspberries and BBq’d steak for dinner. My niece and nephew arrived that evening.

The next day, the kids wanted to ride their dirt bikes so we went North of the ranch headquarters back into the canyon. Just after we passed a natural hotspring we looked back to see a cloud of dust moving along the edge of the mountain. We stopped and as the breeze changed and the dust reorganized we saw a herd of wild mustangs that passed us up. They stopped after awhile and we pulled ahead of them so we wouldn’t be pushing them as it is a drought year and we were afraid they might be searching for water and it was a very warm day. They began running again, catching up to us once more. We stopped again and they continued on, crossing the dirt road right behind us, then pulling up ahead to charge into the valley for which we’d been heading. We could hear their hoofbeats and almost feel the thundering in the ground, even though it was a small herd of only 13 horses. We decided to turn around so as not to excite them, but not before we got a few pictures. I think it was probably the highlight of the trip as it’s not something you see everyday.

The last day we went out on the dry lakebed. There is no way to describe how vast it is in size, except to say they set the women's land speed record there in the 60's in excess of 500 mph. The views are astonishing and camera shots cannot do them justice. All in all, I think it was a pretty good first trip.

We made Boule Bread and 4 loaves of Sourdough so the kids know how that is done. I had the bathrooms stocked with Ranch Rustics Soaps and Whipped Tallow which came in handy after being out in the dust and dirt all day.  They all purchased a dozen or so soaps to take with them. 

I fattened them up with Sourdough/Buttermilk Waffles made with homemilled wheat flour and some BIG dinners, and the "Coup de Grace" was  Beef Kebabs followed by Bananas Flambé on homemade crepes with homemade vanilla ice cream on top. Ahhhhh….Sorry, we were in too big of a hurry to eat them to take any pictures for you.

 I suspect they will all be back. I'll be looking forward to it.

...And So Forth...

The heaters are plugged in on the water troughs, the shelters are up the hay has arrived and we are pretty much ready for winter. I was worried about Madge, the last of my original original Dorper ewes. It has been a year since she lambed and I thought maybe she wasn’t able to have anymore as she has had trouble lambing every time and I have had to intervene. I was glad to notice her little lopsided udder suddenly evened out. In less than two weeks time she went from looking not bred at all to absolutely enormous. She is currently in the lambing shed, lonely and uncomfortable. She’s taking her sweet time too, but I am glad because she is a sweet thing and I didn’t want to cull her.  In fact, night after night I have been watching her, although she doesn’t have the classical signs I usually am able to pick up on, such as hollow flank, tight, shiny bag and going ‘slab sided’. No, instead, her Madge-esty simply enjoys eating copious amounts of hay day and night and rocking back and forth in her attempts to get up and get down. She backs up to the wire grill door, with her ever so itchy derrier just out of sight of the camera and does the mambo, as I sit on my perch in the warm living room rocking with laughter at the sight.

The cougar still haunts the houses up above us, walking around the ranch compound without fear. He is still spotted in broad daylight, often not far from where the guys are loudly working in the shop. He avoids capture or destruction time after time. The cowdogs sound off at him as they back their way to safety, one reason I think he is so bold. The LGD’s would not be so easily intimidated, but as they cover much ground on their perimeter patrols, they still risk being caught in one of the traps the cougar has NOT stepped in. I’ve heard some of them could be lethal. At least one trapper will be here until January. It’s going to be a long, long 6 weeks, regardless of how very much we like him and enjoy his company.

EmmaLouMoo is about 4 1/2 months pregnant now and should calve in March. I was hoping to have SushiMoo bred but there wasn’t a bull in at the right time. Then they brought a bull up with some calves for some reason and had them in the back pasture. I asked the boss if I could put her out with him and he said “sure, but he leaves in 10 days.”  I watched everyday to see if she was in heat. She was coming in the morning they came for the bull. I just hope she got far enough along to be bred before they moved him. I hate having to wait over another year to see what kind of milk cow she is going to be for me.

Meanwhile, I’ve been making lots of soap. In addition to my normal inventory I have added Jasmine, which is fast becoming one of my new favorites. I have also made a couple of batches of Salt Soap which is exceedingly nice. It has incredible lather and I love the way my skin feels after using it. It gets things really clean without drying my skin out and the Himalayan Sea Salt in it does its work detoxifying and nurturing. I think it’s going to be a pretty popular soap. There are tons of different varieties cured and ready to go for Christmas gifts. They make great stocking stuffers! If anyone cares to order, please remember our pony express here is a little slow, so get your orders in soon if you are wanting them in time for Xmas. Soap is currently 3 bars for $12 but prices will be going up after the 1st of the year due to the rise in shipping and supplies. Salt soap is currently $5.50 a bar. They are very large and very heavy bars.

Health issues have kept me indoors much more than I would like lately, so I went out into the small sheep pasture  to visit with the Maremmas. Bruno is getting stir crazy and REAL crabby. He was complaining at the ram so badly I had to yell at him to stop. I had just fed everyone, and as usual, when I went to toss the hay over the fence, the sheep made sure to all be right in the landing zone. I watched as Annie-goat’s baby “Shugar” grazed all the leaf off the backs of her lamby companions. The dogs left their food bowls to visit with me and to keep the neighbor dogs at bay, as one Border Collie was taunting them with the famous BC ‘evil eye’. Next thing I knew, one of the young wethers had snuk over to their dogbowls and was helping himself. Now the Maremmas work hard at disciplining the sheep to leave their food alone. They roar and charge and run them off, which is okay, as they would otherwise starve. They never injure the animals so I see no reason to put a stop to it. The sheep know better...even this guy. I was curious to watch, as instead of running along the fence to run him off, they instead circled around at top speed through the middle of the flock. Instead of scattering in terror (because none of them are afraid of the Maremmas, instead they run TO them when frightened) they all watched as the dogs ran between them with the look on their faces of “Oh boy, Joey is REALLY gonna get it!” And he did.

The dogs clown around, wrestling and knocking each other down until someone gets mad...

Then, of course, Potamus wants to kiss and make up, much to Bruno's humiliation.

Next up on the entertainment list was Cowboy the rooster. He has adopted the sheep as his ‘flock’, grazing and foraging with them by day and sleeping with, or in many cases on them by night. He particularly enjoys riding around on Thyme’s back. She was waltzing across the pasture to the water trough when he hitched a ride and apparently he’s due for a pedicure because she took to pitching and bucking until she unseated him. He landed gracefully behind her and picked someone else to sit on. It’s funny to actually watch as the sheep stretch out their necks and sniff his face while he stands and allows it.

This evening, as usual, I fed the horses, captured my recalcitrant milk cows, fed them, fed the sheep, then in turn, fed the dogs. Once again, they had to run sheep away from their bowls. As I was heading for the house I noticed them return and with confused and forlorn looks on their faces, they looked at one another then just sat down, staring in the direction of their dog bowls without eating. Curious, I walked back to find the rooster and a friend had decided to help themselves, and gobbled up kibble unimpeded while the Maremmas looked on sadly. The LGD’s sense of honor is beyond fault.