Just So You Know

When you move to the country: you don't get trick or treaters.

Fall Flowers

We've haven't been on the ranch long enough for me to decide if this new color is seasonal, or due to the wonderful rainstorm we had a few weekends back. Either way, we are enjoying some beautiful new blossoms around here!

I noticed these beauties while I was watering last week. They just came out of no where! I'm not sure what they are, but they are a beautiful yellow - and they are thick!
These beauties are right near the sidewalk to the front door. They are breathtaking! So numerous, it looks like a giant purple piece of fabric draped across our bushes
So pretty!
I just thought the sky was particularly blue and pretty this day
You know who else loves moisture and mud?

Our New Corral

We decided a few months back that we were going to need a corral. Currently, the goats and pigs have been occupying our garden. It was our intention to let the animals roam free on our fenced 5 acres when we first got them. Come to find out, the goats just love to eat my roses, climb on my van, and basically find mischief of one kind or another. And the pigs, given the choice, would hide out and never be seen again. So, they ended up in the garden.

It was a temporary way to contain them. And it worked great. During their stay, they cleaned the garden of its weeds, churned up the earth, and fertilized, fertilized, fertilized. But, the time had come to relocate them and reclaim our spot for our coming strawberry and carrot plants! :)

Originally, this was going to be a JL project. However, through a bit of advice from our local farming friends, we decided to hire the work done. Our ground is basically rock. Rock with a tiny bit of sandy dirty sprinkled here and there in a thin layer on top. Digging the holes for the fence posts would have most likely sent JL into an early grave. So we had a local company come out and give us an estimate. Turns out, they could do it for about the same cost, and in a fraction of the time!

The main reason we hired this project: To have a cool Tractor parked on our ranch. KIDDING!
Actually, it took a tractor to dig into our rock dirt! I'm so glad JL didn't try to do this with only a pic!
Although, once he saw the tractor, all he wanted to do was drive it!
What does it take to dig in our soil? 5,000 lbs in each tire, and a bunch of torque.
Tah-Dah! We had 15 of these.
We got our estimate on a Tuesday, they began work on Wednesday and by Friday they were mostly done! They had 2 other jobs over the weekend, but bright an early Monday morning they showed up and completed their work. The animals moved in that afternoon!

Isabel was the first one in to test out the new space.
Shot from the south side, looking into the smallest of the two areas. This is where the goats/pigs will live from now on!
JL doing a quick walk through. He removed the protective coverings we've had on our perimeter plants. They were suppose to keep the deer from eating them, but instead the deer just ate around the covering. With the billies going in by them now, we figure they might as well have at 'em.
James doing his impersonation of a goat.
The billies took to it right away.
Shot from the front - looking up along the longest side of the corral.
Everyone tried it out! Turns out, a corral is great for kids too!
At this rate, I figure we won't need a babysitter. Ever again.
Luke saying hello.
After a little encouragement, the pigs are loving their new home too!

Timber

JL Felled his first tree two weekends ago. He had been talking about it, and I'd been doing my best to ignore him. But he called up his buddy Dario, fired up his saw, and cut 'er down. Why now? Well, we had plans to put a corral in that area, and the tree was dead and eventually would need to be cut down. We figured it was better to do it before the fence went in so we didn't have to worry about the tree taking out our new investment on its way down.

The tree. It's hard to see in the picture, but it's the big tall dead one at the front of the pack. It's an old Cedar Elm that the Oak Wilt people fessed up to killing 2 years ago when they treated the area for oak wilt. They dug a huge trench to separate the oak roots, and accidentally cut the roots to this tree.
My fake out picture. Here's James ready to "catch" the tree as JL pretends to be cutting it.
Here's Dario giving JL a few tips before they begin.
Making the first cut.
Timber! I actually have this moment on video. If you ever really want to see it, let me know and I'll fire up the ol' player.
After it was on the ground, all the kids had to run over to tell the guys how awesome it was!

And here they are cutting off the limbs for our fireplace and smoker.
PS: We FINALLY got rain on the ranch! About 10 minute before the guys got done with the tree, it started to rain. It rained the rest of that Saturday and all day Sunday!
We got over 3 inches!! What a difference that tiny bit of rain has made too! Things are brighter and flowering and coming back to life around here lately!

Project Time

IF the weather ever breaks (and at this point, that seems like a really big IF!) I am going to start on my painting and decorating! I am really excited to start throwing some paint on the walls.

First up - the Dining Room.

This has quickly become my favorite room in the house! Not just because we gather there every day to eat as a family and talk and laugh, but because... well, actually I guess that is why I love that room so much!

But it is also a great space! It's at the front of the house (the first room you see as you walk in the door) so it sorta sets the mood for the entire home. It's an important room. We spend a lot of time in there and I want to get it just right.

So, lets talk colors. I love a good fall palette! And, I'm inspired by nature - especially here on the ranch. I love the idea/feeling of bringing the outdoors in. Up to this point, the colors in the dining room are green, chocolate brown, and gold. I had 4 beautiful green panels from the CP house that I have put in this room and they are lovely!







However focused I feel, I am having trouble narrowing down my paint search to just one color. So far - I am back and forth between 3 favorites. So, I'm looking for some input on paint colors!! Here are my leading contenders:

Princeton Gold

Urban Nature

Pale Daffodil

Feel free to come up with your own suggestion. I sorta have a vision in mind already, but input is always welcomed!!

PS - I have decided that the chandelier must go. It just isn't me. Despite protests from my husband and my eldest son.... !! I have in mind something a bit more rustic looking. Like something you'd find in an old ranch house (well, one that has electricity!)

PPS - The deadline for this project is the week before Thanksgiving!

Bring on the Cold....

Because we have a fireplace again! Ever since we moved, our tv has been sitting in the living room on two end tables. Waiting for the day when I'd by a flatscreen and mount it in the rightful spot above the mantle.

Well, about a month ago, I sold our old, super huge 65" tv. While I was shopping for a suitable replacement, we brought down our 42" tv from the playroom and hooked it up. (right back into the same, ugly spot infront of the fireplace that the huge one was.)

It's been bugging me ever since. The living room was a sea of wires. Not to mention, the tv would be hit and tapped and nearly knocked over by the children.

So I set off two Fridays ago to get this project D O N E. And I'm happy to report, (after much delay and aggravation from Best Buy) JL and I set up the TV over the weekend.

Before (complete with child touching the screen)
See all those wires?
Here's a closer view...
After! No more wires on the floor. Tv is nice and high away from sticky fingers, AND you can see our beautiful fireplace!

Now if it would just get cold so we could test it out...

In Memory

I've learned a lot in these last 5 months living on our ranch. The biggest lesson: water is the MOST important resource. The most painful lesson: dogs and fowl don't mix.

Fergus, our 11 yr old Malamute (make that 11 yr old ARTHRITIC Malamute) tends to find his youth when the weather cools off. It's cute, really. He gets his spring back to his step, he takes off running after deer with Pancho, he even howls with the coyotes in the evening.

But one of the things he also does is kill things. Mainly, anything that he can catch. Remember the armadillo's? That was this past spring, when the mornings were still nice a cool. Well, fast-forward through the WORST summer on record, one that included 90 days of 100+ temperatures!, to the first cold morning in a LONG, LONG time.

The family and I are inside cooking a feast of a breakfast. I step out onto the back deck to throw out some trash when I notice Quack alone at the pool. Now, our ducks are NEVER alone. The two of them are inseparable! They have become like a little clique around here lately, whispering and quacking their judgements on us :) So, I thought it was weird that Quack would be alone. I walked to the edge of the deck and noticed that Click had been mauled and was laying dead not 20 ft. from Quack.

I ran into the house (thinking the coyotes had visited us) to tell JL to get the shovel and a bag. We all stepped outside to inspect the situation when who should show up? A malamute with a mouth full of white feathers!!! ARG! Dang dog! He was quite pleased with himself. As if to say "look what I caught!!" Like it's a feat to catch a poor, flight-less duck that can only waddle and quack in defense! Still - Fergus was happy.

The rest of us took it pretty well. James' response "Well Mom, things like this happen when you live on a ranch." Izzy's response "Well, too bad for Click." Wyat's response "duck!" :)

What's worse than a cold morning with death? A second cold morning with death. Sure enough, the very next morning..... I lay in bed listening to Cogburn crow. In the distance I can hear Quack doing his quack thing. Not 2 minutes later, Fergus who was laying on the deck takes off running. I knew immediately what was about to happen! :( JL confirmed it, not 10 minutes later.

So, we are a duck-less ranch now. It's sad. I hate to lose any animal. Especially in a sense-less, and somewhat violent way. Poor things.

We've decided - no more fowl until Fergus dies. He's just too much of a predator! He's always been this way - I just underestimated him due to his age and crippled legs. But, he can still bring his A-game when he wants to.

In tribute to two silly ducks: We'll miss you!

This Isn't a Joke

How does something like this happen?
We get the thunder, the lightning, the clouds and impressive show. We just don't get the RAIN!
So we are forced to continue to do this.
And this.
JL and I walked the property a few weekends ago. We counted 42 trees (cedar elm) that we have lost. These are trees that we are 90% sure are dead. Our arborist told us not to cut them down until we make sure they don't come back this spring, but looking at them, I'm pretty sure they won't come back. That's 42! As in FOUR TWO! :(

This drought has been a big learning experience for us. I just hope the end is coming soon, because the few remaining elms we have left won't survive a dry winter.