Ranch Living

Rebecca Loses The Love of Her Life

2008-08-29T21:20:00.002-05:00

Rebecca our 18 year old daughter lost the love of her life, well, he is not lost -- we know where he is, he is in another woman's barn in Michigan. We sold her first love, her horse, Fred, that was a sad day around here, we all loved Fred, but not as much as Rebecca did. Since she is going off to school and wouldn't be here to smother him with attention, he needed to find a new home that would. He has a new home now in the arms of a woman that loves and rides Fred more than Rebecca could have hoped for.

As a Hen Gathereth Her Chicks

2008-08-29T20:46:00.002-05:00

Maybe you've never seen a hen gather her chicks under her wings and protect them from predators and cold or hot weather. It's quite something to see the natural instincts of hens. But this isn't a common sight in our world today like it would have been for almost all recorded history. This photo is of a hen with older chicks (she's down to two in this picture) and she's roosted up on a fence outside of the dairy barn. It's totally dark and it has started to rain. So she is protecting her chicks. The white spots you see in the air are raindrops.

The Johnson's Go To Colorado

2008-08-07T22:22:00.010-05:00

We took a week long camping trip to Colorado this Summer. We went to Westcliffe and stayed in the Alvarado Campground. There were no hot showers at the campground, but we had everything else. Including a bear that walked right into our campground on the last day. I've got pictures of that bear check it out right here.

From Colorado Camp...

We hauled our 4 Wheelers up there (Noah calls them fourlers). That was a lot of fun. We also hauled our canoe with us. I swear we looked like the Beverly Hillbillies on our trip up there we had so much stuff piled on the 16 foot trailer! But we ended up having a great time.

We took a train ride through the Royal Gorge one day. That was spectacular. We followed that up the next day by going river rafting down the Arkansas River. The older kids braved the Royal Gorge and the younger ones took a slightly lesser Big Horn Canyon trip. But it was thrilling for all concerned.

The nights were in the 50's and it was so nice. We left (and returned to) temperatures in the low 100's so we were loving the change.

Now we're back and it's nice to be home. Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors who made sure all the animals were taken care of. What a blessing!

Eric Takes A Mighty Fall

2008-08-07T22:12:00.003-05:00

If he had gotten hurt, it wouldn't have been as funny. But since he was fine, then there's no problem putting it up here right?

The setting is the Horn Creek trail, near the top. Eric and I have been hiking for several hours in mid June, 2008. We encounter a lot of snow obscuring the trail. We tried to make the best of it, like a couple of sea otters or something.

Check it out here!

"Catastrophic Power Outage in Houston" Means SteakBurger Website Down

2008-06-02T09:42:00.003-05:00

I noticed on Saturday that we weren't getting any SteakBurger emails and then Sunday night I got a call from my brother informing me that the website was down. I tried but could not even get to the hosting company's website. I tracked down the Admin's gmail address and sent him an email asking for a status update. I got this reply last night at 2AM.

Hello Andrew,

There was a major power outage in one of the data centers where we maintain many of our servers in this case the H1 data center in houston. Although we own our servers and have our own datacenter staff we lease access in the datacenter to supply our access poin to the internet backbones (level 3, savis etc) and to provide us with power for our server racks.

The Datacenter has N+1 redundancy and does have UPS battery backup and Backup generator capability but a completely unusual occurance happened where the main Stepdown power transformer shorted resulting in an explostion and small fire in the electrical interface room. Normally when Power goes out the network swiching swiches over to the UPS which is a short term 2 hour battery system while the backup generators go online and are cut into the master power buss.

The problem was that the explosion destroyed the Power panels where the generators connect to the main power busses. This outage effected not only Lowesthostings servers but 40 other major hosts and over 9000 servers so it was a major unexpected outage.

The good news is the new Transformer has finally been aquired and installed and the switches and routers and hvac have been restored and power is now being restored in the data center. We are told it will a systematic powerup and various switches & routers brought back online and tested before power is sequenced to our server racks so it should not be more than another 2-3 hours from now (12:10am pst) before your server comes back online.

Once power is back, your server and all data will come online as before. Anyones mail server that has attempted to send you emails during the outage window will automatically attempt redelivery so you may get a few 18 hour old emails but none will be lost.

Our main Lowesthosting.com website does have an emergency backup server in our other Datacenter but it takes 24 hours for that to propagate so our main customer portal has been down which has frustrated our staff and many cleints for our inability to post news or reply to tickets during the propagation to our emergency server.

We appologize for this window where you were unable to reach us and although we have never had a catastrophic outage in 8 years and pride ourselves on average a 99.84% cleint server uptime we will be installing a new high availability cluster on our main website so should we ever have a major outage our website and news and ticketing system would not go down for even a minute.

We realize the problem is not that the server is down so much as our main site being unreachable and many people didn't print out our phone number.

You should know that we not only backup all of your data in our data center but maintain an emergency archival copy off network so we really do maintain the integrity of your data.

Again we appologize for any inconvineience. Its been a long difficult sunday for our staff as well and we will be posting a full story and pictures on our website shortly.

Regards,

Ray Alin
Assistant Manager
Lowesthosting.com

I did verify for myself that there was such a catastrophe. Here is the AP News Story from www.allheadlinenews.com:

Texas-Based Server Provider Explosion Affects 9,000 Servers, 7,500 Customers
ShareThis

June 1, 2008 12:50 p.m. EST

Amy Beeman - AHN
Houston, TX (AHN) -- An explosion Saturday evening at a Texas-based, privately held server hosting provider has caused server outages effecting 9,000 servers and 7,500 customers.

According to The Planet's website, at about 5 p.m. Saturday electrical gear shorted, creating an explosion and fire that knocked down three walls surrounding their electrical equipment room.

No injuries were reported and no servers were damaged or lost.

The Houston company, which provides servers for small and medium sized companies, said it has its entire support team working around the clock to get the servers back on line.

They estimate they will be up and running by Sunday afternoon.

Rebecca and Russell Run the Cattle Thru the Scales

2008-03-26T21:59:00.002-05:00

Two or three times a year we run the cattle through the chute and weigh them and look them over carefully to see if they need any particular care. Maybe they just need to have their ear tag renumbered.

Sally Working the Cattle

2008-03-26T21:49:00.005-05:00

Sally is one of our mini Australian Shepherds. She has a strong herding instinct and loves to get involved any time we move cattle. She's quite the fast runner too. She's a real sweetheart.

Diane's Cakes for the School Fund Raiser

2008-02-07T21:29:00.001-06:00

This one looks like a giant SteakBurger.

This one is a perfect likeness of our milk cow, Sugar.

You Just Have to See this Snow

2007-11-07T23:25:00.000-06:00

I thought I lost this picture, but here it is. It was taken in April, 2007. The Blue Bonnets were in full bloom, the trees had all their leaves. Then this snow storm hits and it snows all day, the day before Easter. Diane and I went out that evening to get some pictures. I was amazed at how hard it snowed that day.

Prepping for the MHS Homecoming Bonfire

2007-11-07T23:21:00.000-06:00

The football players and cheerleaders wanted to make this year's homecoming bonfire the greatest of all time. They also did a nice service to come over our place and gather up loads of fallen limbs.

Not everyone was up to the work. Avery was suffering from a massive toothache and had to take a break.

Eric took a couple of the guys around on the Ranger, "looking for more wood". But a lot of wood got collected. Unfortunately, the bonfire was cancelled because of high winds that day. It will be rescheduled for a pep rally preceding the playoffs.

Noah Turns Five and Eric 15

2007-11-07T23:16:00.000-06:00

This is exactly the creature Noah requested that Diane put on his birthday cake. He's thrilled!

Eric's also happy about his "football" cake; don't let that expression fool you.

Friday Night Lights

2007-11-07T23:13:00.000-06:00

Eric (#42) is one of the players on the sidelines taking a knee while an injured player is cared for out on the field.

Rebecca and her cheerleading squad pose for a picture while there's a break in the action.

The Milford Band performs during halftime and throughout the game. A few members of the band also play football so those guys have to lose the shoulder pads during halftime and run over to the band and help with the show. Eric is the Tuba Man. If he misses a note, it's pretty obvious, since there's only one tuba in the band. A few of the cheerleaders also play an instrument in the band.

6 Man Football - Eric Plays JV

2007-11-07T23:06:00.000-06:00

I wanted to capture this picture of Eric (#42) playing nose tackle on defense for Milford High's JV team. This game was played against Blum High School JV. They won :-(

When You Live Out in the County, This is What Can Happen to You

2007-11-07T23:04:00.000-06:00

You probably can't tell what this picture is unless you look real closely. But a few weeks ago, I was sitting in the driver's seat of our van the Waxahachie YMCA parking lot, minding my own business. Well actually I was waiting for Diane to come out. Then I felt something kind of hit my foot by the brake pedal. I couldn't imagine what that would be. When I looked down, I was a little shocked to see this rather large toad. I'm not sure how it got there. It would certainly fit Noah's profile to have brought the toad into the car in the first place. But the old ticker did skip half a beat while I tried to process what live animal just dropped out of the steering column and onto my foot! I can only imagine if that had happened while driving at full speed on a crowded freeway!

Can You Trick or Treat in a Horse Arena?

2007-11-05T10:16:00.000-06:00

Our indoor arena provides a great place to trunk-or-treat. Rain or shine, the show goes on. This time we had perfect weather, but as soon as I took these pictures, we turned off the lights and turned up the atmosphere.

The Blankenships had a scary trunk!

Here's Eric and Rebecca's age group posing for a picture after they participated in the costume process.

Homecoming Royalty

2007-10-28T22:58:00.000-05:00

At Milford High School and maybe lots of places, I don't know, they have two big sets of awards to be given at homecoming, one is for "Cheerleading Sweetheart" and "Cheerleading Beau". I'm not sure what those are, but, Eric was one of the nominees for the "Beau". The other set of awards is for the more familiar Homecoming Queen and King. Rebecca was nominated both Cheerleading Sweetheart and Homecoming Queen.

Well, surprisingly enough, Eric was voted Cheerleading Beau! The surprise on his face when his name was announced told the whole story. This picture captures that look, that says, "What? Me?" Whisper Thomas was given the Cheerleading Sweetheart award. And she's a great cheeleader with lots of school spirit and enthusiasm. Good for her!

Rebecca was nominated as Homecoming Queen and was escorted by Ruben Garza. She told me that Dad's weren't invited to escort their daughters for this event. I felt like it should be a Dad's privilege, but she assured me that it wasn't her choice and if she did have the choice, she would have asked me first. Oh well, I'll take her word on that!

And believe it or not, she won! And Derek Williamson was crowned the Homecoming King! How cool is that?

Milford Dominates Morgan High School in Cruising to Homecoming Victory 48-0

2007-10-28T22:35:00.000-05:00

Here's a cool banner created by the Milford Cheerleader squad. This was a nice production with lots of music playing and the crowd making some good noise.

The team blasted through the banner and then throttled Morgan High School's varsity team. Earlier in the day at the pep rally, the coach told the fans that Milford's team is ranked second in the state in Division 1 (6 man) and it's not hard to imagine it's true. Our team is really fast has at least 3 quarterbacks that can really run and throw the football -- a real embarrassment of riches compared to most teams.

Milford Homecoming Parade

2007-10-28T22:26:00.000-05:00

This was one of the entries in the parade this year. Sky and Sapphire and yours truly at the helm. This year we carried school dignitaries, including the Principal, Mrs. Byrne. What an honor!

Hay Maze is Complete!

2007-10-28T22:14:00.000-05:00

You'll have to click on this picture to see it better, but here is a part of our hay maze or Haytrix. I'm standing on the roof of the arena to take this picture and have positioned Robbie, Peter and Noah inside the maze so you get a sense of the size of it. If you could see it from their perspective, you'd realize you couldn't see over the tops of the bales, since they're 5ft tall (the bales). So it's great fun for all kids. We tell them over and over not to get on them and mess around, but sometimes the warnings go unheeded ...

The Mud People

2007-10-28T22:01:00.000-05:00

I reported in earlier posts about how much rain we had this summer. Well, I knew I had this picture somewhere on my computer but couldn't find it til now. This is Justin Parr, Kirby Buchanan, Eric and Rebecca after going for a somewhat wet and muddy four-wheeler ride this past summer. What a mess!

Road Work is a Constant

2007-10-22T22:40:00.000-05:00

Pot holes just seem to show up in certain spots constantly. We fill them up and after a while there they are again! It's a good job for Russell to work on.

Bountiful Hay Harvest

2007-10-22T22:39:00.000-05:00

We made about 600 round bales this year. That's a lot of hay -- maybe 600,000 to 900,000lbs of hay (or 300 to 450 tons). Consider that probably our previous biggest harvest was about 200 round bales and you'll see what I mean. And this is really good stuff, baled from a non-fertilized, non-pesticized mixture of bermuda and Johnson Grass. The cows are going to love this. Now what do we do with all this hay.

You have to put it somewhere where the animals can't just get to it whenever they want, or it will become a giant mess. We stash it in lots of places around the ranch, but right now, with the Halloween party coming up this Saturday, we ought to make a maze for the kids. How about it?

Time to Start the Hay Maze or Hayze or Haytrix

2007-10-22T22:38:00.000-05:00

We'll take about 150 rolls and make a hay maze for the kids to play in. We've done this several times and the kids really love it and it's a big hit at the Halloween party. I came up with some names for the hay maze -- how about "hayze"? Ok, what about "haytrix"? That's all I could come up for names. A Hayze or Haytrix is time consuming to design and put together, but it's worth it. Even in the early stages it's fun. Here's Noah hamming it up.

Benjamin and Zachary are over for a visit. Looks like Russell is about to pounce.

Red even jumped up on top of the bales. He didn't stay up there for long. The bales are about 5ft tall by 5ft wide.

Making Hay in the Sunshine

2007-10-09T23:27:00.000-05:00

This has been an extroadinary year for grass growing. We've been making hay as much as the weather will permit. And when it is dry for a few days, we get busy. This is my brother Steve coming through with the wheel rake and making windrows. You cut it one day and let it dry for a day or two. Then you rake it into windrows in preparation for baling.

This particular hay pasture is across this creek. So I wanted you to see the baler being towed through the creek.

Now the baler kicks into gear. It's really an amazing piece of machinery. It sucks up all the grass and starts a roll spinning and keeps adding hay to it until it's a giant cylinder weighing about 1200 to 1500 lbs. When it's fully formed, the alarm sounds and then you stop to let it wrap up with twine. Then you're ready to eject the roll and start again.

Here comes the finished product out the back of the baler. It's a marvel of engineering this baler.

Naval Air Museum Pensacola

2007-10-09T22:35:00.000-05:00

We took a quick trip down to Pensacola, FL this past summer to pick up a van. People told us we needed to see the Naval Air Museum down there. We are glad we listened.

They have lots (and lots) of incredible airplane and helicopter exhibits there. The kids can climb inside and imagine themselves as fighter pilots.

Outside the museum was an actual aircraft just recently mothballed. Wow!

And here's an current Blue Angels aircraft on display. We didn't have nearly enough time at this museum.

The Ridge Trail at Snowbird, UT

2007-10-09T22:29:00.000-05:00

It's been at least 3 hours of hiking. I am spent but have enough energy to snap some pix of Diane's Dad and Katie. We are the last of the hikers to make it up the mountain.

We're trying to make it up there to the very top where you can see the Tram arriving. The Ridge Trail is about this narrow for a good portion of the time with steep, deathly cliffs on each side. Hiking is one thing, but to imagine people skiing on this is scary.

Proof positive that at least we were by a sign that said Ridge Trail!

2007-10-09T22:24:00.000-05:00

This was the view from our room. Spectacular! We would go hiking in those mountains the next day.

Robbie and Peter (and all of us) started out fresh, but it's a difficult climb.

I was amazed that Diane's father joined us. He didn't know if he would go all the way up to the top. It's a rigorous climb for most folks going up 3000 feet in elevation (from 8000 to 11000) in a 5 mile hike. Diane's dad is 76 years old but set the pace at least for me and Katie. We hiked up the Ridge Trail, which offers spectacular vistas at every turn. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Here we are at the top!

Once Again it Was Reunion Time

2007-10-09T22:18:00.000-05:00

Every two years we hook up with Diane's family up at Snowbird in Utah. This is our family picture there but we're missing Ryan who is in Stavropol, Russia on his mission. The kids are growing up.

How Many Waxahachie Firemen Does it Take to Install a Lightbulb?

2007-10-09T22:15:00.000-05:00

Or to Operate the Ladder Truck? Maybe they're all Aggies? Ahh, just kidding, these guys can take a joke :-) They must have been getting some hands on training when I happened to spot them! Thank goodness for the Police and Firemen.

Cows Doing Greens and Fairway Maintenance

2007-10-09T22:12:00.000-05:00

Speaking of the golf course, I forgot we had the herd turned out down here. They're doing an excellent job of keeping it mowed and fertilized. They're prefer the new tender growth to the tall grass (it's too woody -- really I've tasted both myself and I agree with them). They like to eat mowed grass too.

Russell and the Zero Turn, Not Making Much Headway

2007-10-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

Russell is on the Zero Turn but even though it is a powerful machine at 38 horsepower and a 72“ cut, it has a great difficulty with 3 ft tall grass and weeds. We'll have to attack this piece with the 15ft batwing shredder. Russell will continue on to the golf course and mow it. We keep that grass at a reasonable height so it's easily maintained by the zero turn.

Eric Doing Some Pasture Maintenance

2007-10-09T22:09:00.000-05:00

Eric is nearly 15 and nearly 6ft tall now. He can operate the big tractor easily and compared to a lot of other work around here, he's realized this isn't such bad duty. We're trying to kill the more noxious weeds by mowing them. The bermuda grass is flourishing right now and if we can get the weeds knocked down, we think the bermuda will take over and choke them. Anyway, this is also our way of adding organic matter back into the soil. Building the soil is our long-term goal.

Supervising the Pasture Mowing

2007-10-09T22:05:00.000-05:00

The younger boys and I got out on the Ranger to supervise some mowing being done by Russell and Eric. Sally and Sam love to come for the ride. The bigger dogs are old enough to realize that running along with us is too tiring, and Sally and Sam, still want to run, but their legs aren't fast enough to keep up. They just jump in for the ride

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

2007-10-09T22:01:00.000-05:00

The boys and I made it out to a Rangers game a couple of weeks ago. The Rangers easily beat the A's that night anyway. Good times. My boys don't know the game of baseball too well. I loved it as a kid growing up, but kids these days don't seem to be as passionate about it. I grew up playing baseball every day of the summer with the boys in our neighborhood. It's a whole different world now and we don't even live in a neighborhood anyway. I was a pitcher growing up and spend a lot of time practicing and thinking about pitching. In fact, I still catch myself (no pun intended) thinking about making certain pitches like the high inside fastball and the big breaking curveball that would buckle the batter's knees (or hit him in the back!). Field of Dreams is one of my all-time favorites.

Here's a True Win Win Situation

2007-10-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

Rebecca went out to feed Legolas today and found Legolas' good friend Plucky the chicken perched on his head. Plucky stays pretty much in Fred's stall and spends some time in Legolas' stall. It's a good situation for both of them, because Plucky eats the bugs that dare to come around and Legolas provides some nice leftover hay for Plucky to use make a nest. Also, Plucky manages to grab some of the oats that fall to the stall floor. But it's rare to see Plucky in this spot. Luckily Rebecca had her phone cam ready.

America The Beautiful

2007-07-02T21:59:00.001-05:00

Love this Slideshow I found on Youtube of America the Beautiful set to the music of Ray Charles.

Water Water Everywhere

2007-06-29T15:29:00.000-05:00

Robbie, Peter and I were out walking around this morning. Naturally, they found their way into the creeks!

Ryan's Fall's is a great place to play on a hot day.

Better than a Water Park

2007-06-29T15:25:00.000-05:00

You may have heard the news lately about how the Dallas/Fort Worth area is getting deluged. After years of drought, we are just grateful for the moisture. This year has been extraordinary. It looks like a tropical rain forest. We love the rain. Here are some pictures of Robbie and Peter taking advantage of the constant flow of water over Ryan's Falls.

Ahhhh.... what a relief from the heat!

It Sounded Like a Freight Train

2007-06-26T17:59:00.000-05:00

The same storm that blew the Chicken Dome away was powerful indeed. They say that there were 90 MPH or more winds blowing through. Here's a few pix of some big trees that were felled by the wind.

This is down at Nauvoo where some large branches were snapped. Good thing no one was camping down there when it happened.

It's like this tree behind Eric just exploded. We suspected lightning, but my guess is the tree was weakened by years of drought and just couldn't withstand the heavy wind pressure.

Here's a nice Pecan tree that was literally snapped off by a powerful westerly wind. The force of nature is impressive.

The Chicken Dome is Done! Really!

2007-06-26T17:50:00.000-05:00

Well, here is the finished product. It was a monumental effort by all members of the family and it was beautiful to look at.

But the winds of change were about to blow.

I was a little concerned about it blowing around and getting beat up, so I went to Home Depot and purchased some screw in anchors out of an abundance of caution. The day I went to HD was a stormy day. I got a call literally as I was leaving the cash register. It was from Russell informing me that a major windstorm had blown through and the Chicken Dome blew away.

I couldn't believe it.

This is proof that not everything turns into a fantastic success here on the ranch. This dome was only a success in the fact that we worked together to build it. But it would have been better if it didn't blow away.

This is what was left in the pasture where the Chicken Dome once stood. Apparently the wind picked it up and flipped it upside down snapping a lot of the support struts. (That we so painstakingly cut at certain angles and then predrilled for the screws). Oh the pain.

The dome leaped this fence in a single bound. Or something like that. You can see it in the above picture lodged in another fence across the driveway.

And there it remains today. It's just too much to face. Maybe another windstorm will blow it away to OZ.

Meanwhile, we'll have to come up with another mobile chicken coop. Stay tuned.

The Chicken Dome Takes Shape

2007-06-26T17:39:00.000-05:00

We spent a lot of hours working on this geodesic dome structure that was to be the Chicken Dome. I came up with an ingenious method for attaching the tarps to the structure so that in any wind, it would not blow away. It was put on in layers and it was loose at the bottom of each layer. I can't say I invented the method, because it was inspired by those umbrellas that don't flop outward in a windstorm. We tested this method extensively before adding the final levels at the bottom. We had a number of fierce windstorms blow through and the dome performed flawlessly -- it didn't move an inch. So now it was time to add the final bottom layers and move the chickens into it.

This was definitely a family affair. No telling how many hours were spent on this project. If I had hired it done, we would have no memories of working together to build it.

All the dogs enjoyed the shade while watching us work. Like my Dad always says: "I'm fascinated by work ... I could watch it for hours."

Robbie and I probably spent the most time working on this. We made a great team.

Building the Geodesic Dome

2007-04-28T01:46:00.000-05:00

I had this vision of what would make a perfect chicken coop. A geodesic dome. But just how does one build a dome coop? Well the first thing you do is go to Ebay and find someone who is selling the plans. At least that's what I did. It turned out to be a massive undertaking. A dome built out of 2x2's and pvc pipe and screws (tons of screws). First you cut a million 2x2's and a 10ft pvc pipe according to the detailed instructions, taking care to do it precisely.

It turned into a family affair. Even my mom and dad showed up to supervise. I sort of felt like Noah building the arc. Alot of people looked at me like I was crazy. Yeah, I thought, crazy like a fox.

Noah adopted the cordless drill. He claimed it as "his tool".

Peter and Robbie contributed major efforts to the building project. Robbie distinguished himself as a truly hard worker who did not seek to give up or complain.

And the Floods Came and Beat Against the Dam

2007-04-28T01:39:00.000-05:00

Robbie is standing in the remains of what once was a proud dam but is now only 50% of its former self. It is still holding back the lake, but we're going to need to rehabilitate it for sure.

You can barely make out Eric standing in the breach there. He is not crouching but standing tall.

Sammy looks over the torn up grass where we had to make some emergency repairs to the dam, so that it could survive another big rain.

Here's a good picture of Red with the full lake in the background.

Crazy Weather on Easter Eve

2007-04-28T01:26:00.000-05:00

The weather this spring has been crazy. I know people say that all the time, but this time it's really true and I have the proof right here.

It was the Saturday before Easter and we had a get together planned with friends and we weren't going to let the weather stop us. The forecast called for 41 degrees and rain. That's a lousy forecast. But it dawned a colder day than that and guess what?? The snow started to fall. And it snowed like a blizzard. Here are Rebecca and friend Katie C. going out to the pasture to catch the big white horses.

This is further evidence that giant flakes of snow were falling on the fields all green with the spring greenup and with all kinds of wildflowers in the mix as well.

Yes, that's snow falling on Bluebonnets!

Here's a picture of snow accumulating on said Bluebonnets. What a crazy day. And it snowed like this all day long. We had no accumulation because the ground was too warm but it did accumulate on the flowers and on the trees. Amazing.

Bluebonnets Redux

2007-04-28T01:21:00.000-05:00

This is a good representation of what it looks like around here right now. It's truly spectacular.

Sammy in the Bluebonnets

2007-04-28T01:19:00.000-05:00

These mini-australians are on the go nonstop. It's like catching lightning in a bottle to actually get a good picture of them in the flowers.

Knock Knock Who's There?

2007-04-28T01:17:00.000-05:00

It's Sugar. Sugar who?

I think she's probably wondering what's taking me so long to get out of the house and to the milking barn.

Texas Bluebonnets in Full Bloom

2007-04-28T01:13:00.000-05:00

This has been a great year for bluebonnets. They are tall and full and plentiful all over the place. Especially the highway shoulders are full of them. We have some good stands in certain places all around the ranch.

Sunset After a Rain Storm

2007-04-28T01:11:00.000-05:00

Diane got this picture of an incredible sunset we had about a week ago right after a rainstorm. See the basketball hoop is blown over in the pool area. We get a view of some beautiful sunsets right out our back door.

Boy Scout Lake is Full Again

2007-04-28T01:08:00.000-05:00

Some people probably thought they'd never see the day, but here it is. The lake is full to overflowing once again.

Noah Can Milk the Cow

2007-04-28T01:06:00.000-05:00

Some people don't believe it but, yes, Noah can actually milk the cow. Even left-handed. If you look closely, he's getting a stream of milk out of that teat. He's got good technique, but not a lot of stamina :-)

Grandpa and Russell Out for a Spin

2007-04-28T01:03:00.000-05:00

Diane's parents were in town for a visit and most of the days they were here was bad weather. Unseasonably cold and windy. But this particular day was a glorious day and Russell got Sandy out and hitched her up for a ride.

Ryan's Falls Cascade Down

2007-04-12T21:48:00.000-05:00

This is more than the usual flow, and certainly more than we've seen for quite awhile. But it's a nice site. We call this Ryan's Falls because he discovered them when we first moved here.

Steven on Nauvoo Dam Checking the Breach

2007-04-12T21:46:00.000-05:00

This is the evidence of the volume of water that flowed over the top of this dam. It was something to behold. The turbulence on the back side really did some damage to the dam. As you can see here, the dam was almost breached. According to our measurement, we got 18 inches of rain in a two day period and that came on the heals of a 5 inch rain a few weeks earlier.

Steven Surveys the Flooding Damage

2007-04-12T21:45:00.000-05:00

Yes, this lake is way above normal. It's probably 25 deep in the middle. I wonder how many gallons of water is in there now. We had to get the JD Skidsteer out for some emergency repairs and to try to dig a channel for the overflow to go through so the dam wouldn't be breached.

Brittany Among the Spring Flowers

2007-04-12T21:43:00.000-05:00

With all the rain the blue bonnets have been incredible this year. I'll put some more up for your viewing pleasure.

Future Bull Prospect

2007-04-12T21:39:00.000-05:00

Here's a yearling Hereford bull that has caught everyone's eye lately. I got him to stand still and pose for me. He's just thick all around and has a nice straight back and a good look to him.

New Baby Calves

2007-04-12T21:38:00.000-05:00

There's been a bunch of baby calves born lately around here. Here are a few black baldy calves. These mostly black calves with a little white on their faces are the product of a Hereford mama and a Black Angus bull.

Bring In Sugar For Milking

2007-04-12T21:36:00.000-05:00

Sugar, our lone Jersey cow is out on some lush pasture right now. She has a 70 acre pasture all to herself and roams it searching for the most luscious clover. But it means we have to find her in the mornings when it's time to milk her. Here's Russell and Robbie leading her to the milking barn.

New Baby

2007-04-12T21:31:00.000-05:00

There's another new baby horse on our place. She was just born a few days before this picture was taken. She is the daughter of a Thoroughbred mare and a Quarterhorse sire. We have high hopes for this little one.

2007 Family Picture

2007-02-08T08:44:00.000-06:00

Since we had the whole family together this year at Christmas time, we asked James Drysdale of Timeline Images come out to the ranch and take some group shots and individual shots. Here is one of our favorites taken down by Nauvoo Lake. The Drysdales do excellent work and we recommend them highly in case you're looking for photography services. Just email me and I'll get their contact info to you.

Milford Homecoming Parade

2007-02-08T07:51:00.000-06:00

I had wanted to write about the Homecoming parade and the surrounding events but I couldn't find the pictures from it. I just found them now. The Homecoming parade was in October 2006. Our assignment was to carry the 5th grade class taught by Mrs. Sessums (Russell's in that class). So we hitched up Sky and Sapphire and drove the wagonette down to the school where the kids were eagerly waiting.

Mrs. Sessum's class had made a banner which they attached to the wagonette.

Everything went great on the ride from the school down to the center of downtown Milford where the city park is located. There we unloaded so the kids could attend the pep rally with all of the football players, the cheerleaders and the band.

Rebecca is in the band and is also the mascot for the varsity football games. Yes, it's the Milford Bulldogs! She says it gets mighty hot in that suit. I can see why.

Noah is trying to see inside the Bulldog's head and see if Rebecca is really inside there.

Eric is the lone tuba player in the band.

Well, the parade was great and the pep rally was fun. Then it was all over and time to head home. A few of our kids jumped in the wagonette and we were going head on home. Leaving the park, we went through a ditch which is not too big a deal, but coming out of it I noticed that the tongue (metal bar that you hitch up to the draft horses and is used to steer the wagonette -- in other words, a crucial item) was now hanging at a wierd angle and the wagonette wasn't steering right. On further examination I realized that the tongue had actually broken off the wagonette where it was welded to the steering (fifth wheel) mechanism.

Yikes!

We got the horses stopped and dismounted the wagonette with no disaster, but I had to call my brother back at the ranch to bring the welding truck into town so we could make an emergency repair. About 2 hours later we had it reasonably patched up and figured we could make it home (about 3 miles or so). I was glad that if the tongue had to break, it broke after the parade and while we were going slow and that no injuries had occurred.

After the repairs, we headed out once again. We got to within about a mile from the house and the tongue broke again. At this point I decided to just leave the wagonette parked at the side of the road and tow it in with a truck.

Diane came and picked up the kids in her car. The horses (and trusted companion Red of course) and I just walked home.

The long and winding road...

Now we have a new tongue that my brother made and the wagonette is working great. Another good lesson learned on something to examine before a parade.

Goat Intensive Care

2007-02-06T08:11:00.001-06:00

One of our Rebecca's goats had twins a few days ago. It's been cold at night lately and she's been worried about them. Saturday, she went to check on them and came hurrying back with one of the babies that was not doing well. It was alive but barely.

She and Noah worked on the goat to warm it up. She put a heat lamp nearby and went and milked the mama goat (while Eric held it) to get some milk for the baby.

Diane did her best to help the goat survive.

But it would not drink the milk from it's mama and although we gave it the best care we could, it did not make it. Sad, but there was nothing more we could have done.

Diane's Cakes

2007-02-06T08:11:00.000-06:00

Decorating birthday cakes has been a labor of love for Diane over the years. She usually asks the kids what picture they would like on their cake and then does her best to create it. It takes a long time to create and very little time to consume but with pictures, the memory lasts.

Robbie gallops along with guns ablaze!

It seems like everything Ryan owns has some tie in to Superman!

Noah got a colorful Rooster design for his latest birthday cake.

Grass Fed vs. Feedlot Fed

2007-02-05T20:48:00.000-06:00

Note the quantity of green grass vs. the quantity of cattle (you can see them in the upper left hand corner). Now contrast this picture with a picture of a cattle feedlot below. See what we mean when we say our cattle are fed 100% grass? They've never been to a feedlot.

The rain has been great

2007-02-03T21:04:00.000-06:00

It's been raining for several days and I know I'm supposed to be glad about it, but I'm looking forward to the sun.

I'm Dreaming of a White ... Ranch

2007-02-03T00:14:00.000-06:00

It iced and snowed here a little bit. Amazing eh? This was a few weeks ago. For a few days prior to this icy/snowy mix, we had multiple inches of rain and the ponds we built finally started to fill in.

This is Peter and Robbie riding an innertube down one of the hills.

Ryan and Jordan are about to jump in this old feed trough which makes for a pretty good ride on icy ground. Hard to steer though.

Here they go down into parts unknown and dangers unforeseen.

Icicles forming on anything are a huge fascination to the kids. I guess it would be since they've grown up in Texas and don't see this kind of thing very often (for which I'm glad).

On a rainy/icy day it's hard to resist bundling up and putting on the goggles for a nice family 4-wheeler ride to check out the lakes and see if they're filling up. We've been waiting for 2 years to see these new lakes get full and finally it's happening. But there is a price to be paid for going out in these conditions -- it's called mudhead! (Plus it's mighty cold -- at least for us here in Texas!)

It's a New Look to the Blog

2007-02-02T23:41:00.000-06:00

We'll see what people think of this new look. If no one likes it we'll change it up.

Grass Fed Dairy Products -- Real Milk

2006-12-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

Diane and I are in Pennsylvania this weekend. We came here with the idea that we'd look at some Haflinger horses and we'd attend a convention on grass fed dairy. We didn't tell the family we would be looking at horses since it might come into play on Christmas. But, as it turns out, we spent almost no time looking for horses (we did hook up with Ben Godfrey and he says he may have what we're looking for), because we couldn't pull ourselves away from the grass fed dairy conference. My goodness this is exciting stuff. There are about 200 grass farmers in attendance at this conference and we're hearing from a panel of speakers on all things grass fed.

Allan Nation, the Editor of the Stockman GrassFarmer magazine was the host of the conference and spoke first. He spoke on seasonal milk production. He gave an interesting talk on farming methods used successfully in the past. Here's some interesting facts about the typical American farm in 1916 we learned from Mr. Nation:

80% had dairy cows as the centerpiece
67% sold farmstead butter as their primary product

A lot of good information from Allan. Time well spent for sure.

Today we are listening to Sally Fallon, President of the Weston A. Price Foundation which operates the website at www.RealMilk.com. I'm starting to understand why people are so passionate about raw milk. We have been enjoying our own raw milk for a year now since we have our own dairy cow as we have talked about extensively on this blog. We have also been enjoying free range eggs as you know. And of course we eat grass-fed meat. But according to Sally Fallon, raw milk from cows eating green grass and meat (fatty meat) from grass fed animals and wild fish from unpolluted waters is absolutely critical to good health.

This has been an eye-opening conference for us. We'll have to look at horses later!

It Takes a Village

2006-10-24T06:58:00.000-05:00

We thought this past Labor Day would be a perfect time to go out an round up all the cattle and have a look at them closeup and personal. When we round them up we usually bring them into a set of corrals (pens) up by the main barns and separate them into various groups. The Mamas go in a group, the little babies stay with them, the older babies that are ready to be weaned go in another group and the bulls go in another. SteakBurger candidates go in a whole 'nother group.

Rounding up cattle can be done using a lot of different approaches. We've done it on horseback, on foot and then the most effective method by far is by four wheeler. One or two people can round up all the cattle in a very short time, especially our cows, using four wheelers. We don't rush them, we don't yell at them, we usually just call to them from ahead and follow them up at the rear. They are used to the process and usually in short order they're all penned up. But that doesn't mean we don't invite whoever wants to participate to join in on the fun. Unexpected things happen all of the time and this was no exception. Read on and you'll see why I said it takes a village to run this place.

This is my Uncle Norrie from Prescott, AZ with Tess Clark from Italy, Rebecca and Eric. Uncle Norrie had stopped by with my Aunt Donna to visit my Mom and Dad on their way back home after serving a mission in rural Illinois. Of course my Mom's family (the Busby's of Tucson, AZ) had been involved in the meat business back in the day owning a meat packing plant there and Uncle Norrie in years past had been heavily involved in ranching himself. So they were no strangers to the cattle business. But I'm sure they weren't prepared for our methods of roundup!

Here's the best tool for rounding up cattle. The Ranger. This time we had it loaded up pretty good with yours truly at the wheel, Aunt Donna and Uncle Norrie in front with me and my sisters Cheryl and Evelyn along for the ride in the back.

Our good friends and now neighbors, the Corbrans have been wanting to bring their horses over and help us with rounding up for a long time. But since we are not very good advance planners we could never hook up. But this time, it all worked out. So Wally got on Turkey and Katie got Tip and they came over. Notice that Wally is riding bareback. Now how many cowboys are willing to do that?

Here's something you don't see very often. This cow had broken down the fence enclosing our (precious) hay and in the process of chowing down and pressing forward for seemingly better and better tasting hay deeper in the rows, got itself stuck. Not being able to back out and not being able to turn around it only pushed further in and got more stuck. What a dilemma. Each of those rolls of hay weighs about 1200lbs and stacked together like that, there is no easy solution. If we could only get her to back out but not being able to turn around and then feeling a bale of hay sort of blocking her, she just knew she had to go forward. We tried all sorts of approaches to getting her out. But there were more problems than just her.

Yes, there was a bull involved also. That's a Black Angus bull there (weighs about 2000 lbs) and he's even more stuck than the cow. My goodness, doesn't it figure that there'd be a boy and a girl involved in this mess?

Naturally, a crisis of this nature, tends to stop down all other pursuits. The roundup came to a grinding halt, while my brother and I tried to figure out how to get this bull and cow out of trouble. We couldn't be sure how long they had been stuck -- maybe a day or two? They had to be thirsty if not hungry. That's Diane trying to get a view of the action from atop her 4 Wheeler. No one want's to get too close to the action because there's a bull involved and he's feisty and probably angry and anxious to get out of the situation. We're just as interested in getting him out.

So my brother Steven finally resorts to the shocker to try to get them to just back out of there. We only resort to that tool if absolutely necessary. But they would just back up about 20 feet, feel the blockage and then bolt forward.

Steven is in a precarious position trying to convince that cow to move back. But her pal the bull as already moved past Steven in the opposite direction and she is not moving anywhere except forward to be close to him. If only they could see what we could. Freedom was only about 50 feet away but behind them. We were going to have to come up with another idea. We decided to get the tractor and remove all the bales of hay blocking the way and let them out. A time consuming job, but there didn't seem to be any other alternative. But we had no idea what this bull would do and if I didn't have pictures of it no one would believe it. But here's the undoctored evidence:

Yes, when the tractor started moving bales and making noises this bull barged forward even farther. I was wondering what he was going to do and worried about him also. There was simply no where to go and he was only getting in deeper trouble. He just needed to wait and soon he'd be totally free. Well why wait? This 2000lb animal got to the seeming end of the line and then decided the only way to go was UP! I could not believe my eyes as he clawed and scrapped his way up on top of these 5 foot tall bales (where I was standing). The bales are probably a foot taller than he is. Yet that is exactly what he did. I couldn't think fast enough to get my camera out to get a photo of him scrambling out of the hole he was in, but you can see how he tore up that bale where he's standing.

Now what would he do???

Now I had a whole different concern. Would he kill or injure himself trying to get down from here? Or would he turn in my direction? I figured I was more nimble than he on top of round bales of hay, so I wasn't too concerned about that, but all prior assumptions had to be reevaluated in light of these unexpected developments! Well, he just walked to the end of this column of bales and simply let himself down sort of down the side of the bale. Simply AMAZING! Meanwhile, Steven got enough of the other bales moved at the other end of the column and the cow was finally able to turn around and remove herself quite readily. There's bound to be a lesson in all of this that I could learn about human behaviour and how closely sometimes it seems to follow animal behaviour. We can be stubborn sometimes can't we? And the way out of our predicaments, while not apparent to us, are quite apparent to others who would guide us and even prod us if necessary.

But now back to the work we set out to do. Round up the cattle and run them through the chute to tend to them and sort them. This can be done with a few people, but with a crowd it's a whole lot of fun.

That's Evelyn and Russell verifying weights. Evelyn said she'd help as long as she could stay clean. Yeah right!

Diane supervises all action at the squeeze chute while my primary role is taking pictures. Ok, well that's not all I do. I have primary responsibility for getting cattle sorted and loaded into the crowd alley. I'm good at that because I'm a cow whisperer. :-)

There's Katie Corbran taking her shift at the squeeze chute. The cow comes in here and is restrained by this squeeze chute while we tend to it so that it doesn't injure themself or us in the process. These cows realize that there's nothing too scary involved and generally do not resist the process. The calves, on the other hand, are new to the process and have to be exposed to it a few time before they learn that it's ok.

Rebecca is quite the expert at working cattle. That's Maji (sp?) in the background, a friend of the Corbrans from ______, Africa who was a great help to me in sorting cattle.

Here's Russell with the rattle pattle. It makes an annoying rattle sound that the cattle generally want to step away from. Bulls pay it no mind.

Aunt Donna, Uncle Norrie in the back observing the action along with my Mom and sister Cheryl who is performing record keeping activities. Cheryl is much more likely to get right in to the middle of things compared to Evelyn.

This is a joint effort of Gary Clark, Rebecca, and Steve with Eric looking on catching a young male calf and "banding" him. This young bull calf is probably a couple of weeks old, but even a few days old they are very strong and difficult to just catch like this. You really need roping skills, and we don't have that yet :-) Until then, we use the team method.

Family Picture August 2006

2006-08-29T00:03:00.000-05:00

With Katie and Ryan heading off to college in distant lands (Utah and Idaho), this might be the last chance for a while to get the whole family together for a photo. The kids are all growing up so fast. Diane's looking even better with the passage of time.

The Slippery Slide

2006-07-18T23:07:00.000-05:00

Here's a cool picture of Peter going down the slippery slide.

Really Cool Waterslide

2006-07-18T23:04:00.000-05:00

We got this really cool waterslide at Wal-Mart and set it up in the backyard by the pool. The kids have spent hours on it. Here's Robbie going in with Russell watching from behind.

So You Want to Ride a Horse, eh?

2006-07-11T23:11:00.000-05:00

We thought we'd give a the big horses a chance to see how they'd do just riding them. We were pleasantly surprised. They are so used to being together all the time though that I don't think it would be wise to try to ride one of them somewhere alone. He or she would probably panic.

Unloading the Hay Truck

2006-06-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

We had 660 bales of coastal bermuda hay for the horses delivered a few weeks ago. Hay is double the cost this year as it was last. This is the biggest single load we've ever gotten. It called for some creative unloading.

All hands were on deck for this one. You can see, we incorporated some rollers in the job. These have been sitting around here for 7 years waiting to be used.

Eric is positioning the rollers for optimal hay rollout.

The Red Barn

2006-04-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

This barn has needed refurbishing since we moved here 7 years ago. But other things needed refurbed even more. So we're removing all the panels one by one and replacing them with new ones. Quite a job, yes, but quite a nice difference it makes.

Family Reunion Spot Revisited in the Winter

2006-03-31T22:56:00.000-06:00

I blogged in the Summer about Diane's family reunion at Snowbird in Utah (Iron Blosam Resort) and how nice it was there. Well, we made another road trip up to SLC on March 31st and thought we head up to Snowbird and see how it looks in the Spring. This picture is taken outside the gate to the family pool. It's covered with about 10' of snow!

New Baby Horse

2006-03-26T22:49:00.000-06:00

Diane and Rebecca haven't named this baby yet but it was born on March 23 to this Thoroughbred mare named Coors. This baby is registered as "Appendix" meaning it's half Quarterhorse. (So the foal is 1/8Horse then?)

Anyway, I thought you might like this photo showing Mare and Foal out for a run. The baby is only 3 days old. Any suggestions for a name?

Stuck in the Mud

2006-03-24T22:53:00.000-06:00

Ryan got in a little too deep this time. He can usually get himself out of trouble like this, but with worn out tires it wasn't going to happen.

Puppies -- They Grow Up and Leave Home So Fast

2006-03-17T22:46:00.000-06:00

Diane got this great shot of Noah playing with a few of the puppies.

We had another batch of puppies right before Christmas. They're all sold now but one that we kept. Here's an interesting picture taken from above.

Puppies are so fun to have around. I expect we'll have another batch in the summer.

Born Again Goats

2006-03-17T22:38:00.000-06:00

Oh I forgot to mention that we had a bunch of new goats. Baby goats are the coolest. Most of the nanny goats had twins this year. This particular baby was one of two twins that couldn't move it's back legs for a couple of weeks after being born. Diane and Rebecca splinted it's rear legs and made sure the nanny goat stood still long enough for it to get some good drinks. Finally, it gained the use of its legs and was fine on its own.

Sugar to the Rescue

2006-03-15T22:55:00.000-06:00

Well this baby hereford bull calf was born to a Hereford mama a few days before this picture was taken, but the mama never recovered leaving this orphaned calf. We had to feed the calf ourselves by bottle for a few days but then decided to see if Sugar would adopt him. After a few hours of him chasing her around the corral, she took him under her udder. What a nice girl that Sugar is.

We sacrificed about a gallon of milk a day in production, but we would separate him at night and milk Sugar in the morning. We still had plenty of milk for our own use and the real nice thing was we could just leave the calf on her on Saturday night and not have to milk on Sundays! Hey now, that's a pretty good plan.

Tom Sawyer Would Be Proud

2006-03-05T22:52:00.000-06:00

Anyone who comes for a visit is likely to draw (and some seek) an assignment to milk Sugar. In this case, Alden Porter actually came from an hour away just to milk her. Said he wanted to see if he still had the knack after all these years. It was just like riding a bike.

If Your'e a Grass Feeder, Why the Grain Silo's?

2006-03-03T22:57:00.000-06:00

Hey, good question, but these preceded us, let me tell you. We have had these silos sitting around for years. We don't feed (or store) grain so we have no use for them. I finally decided we could make storage units out of them at least. First we had to clean them out good with a power washer. Then we had them coated with an inch thick of foam insulation.

These guys are prepping to spray the foam.

We even put a window in one of them. That's going to be our Ping Pong silo.

Maybe We Won't Need Tractors Soon

2006-02-26T22:50:00.000-06:00

We actually hooked up Sandy to the manure spreader to see how she would do. She did great. That's me and Russell and Noah on the forecart to which the manure spreader is attached.

Season's Must Change

2006-02-24T22:48:00.000-06:00

Final baketball game of Ryan's high school career. We have to admit to not suffering from too much disappointment when the Milford Bulldogs were knocked out of the playoffs. Here's an article in the local online paper http://neotrib.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2168

Scoggin Comes to Town

2006-02-20T22:53:00.000-06:00

Andy Scoggin, my old pal from teenage years and college came down from Idaho on a business trip and was nice enough to pay a visit. We had to get out Sky and Sapphire -- naturally.

Russell Gets a Horse

2006-02-12T22:26:00.000-06:00

We had this horse hidden in a back paddock for a week or two before Christmas. Russell never noticed her. She's a Halfling. Halflings are a draft breed but they're small. Now we have Shires and a Halfling. It's a bit ironic for us LOTR fans. Her name was Robbie, but Russell changed it to Sandy. He just felt too wierd having a horse with the same name as his younger brother.

For Russell's birthday in February, he got a forecart for her to pull and the necessary harness. He couldn't have been more thrilled.

She can be ridden or driven. She's a real sweet horse and a hard worker. Russell loves her.

Pinewood Derby Rules!

2006-01-27T23:02:00.000-06:00

It was Robbie's first pinewood derby this year. He made a real cool looking car. I figure I will help make about 24 pinewood derby cars between my 6 boys. Man, it doesn't get any better than that! That's nothing compared to the Duggars. Have you heard about that family?? Wow!! They are something else -- what an inspiration!

Raw Milk Anyone? It's Jersey Time!

2006-01-17T22:16:00.000-06:00

One of our goals for the year 2005 was to get a milk cow. Well a few weeks before Christmas we went to visit the Godfrey's down in Bryan, TX to look at a horse for Russell and we found not only the horse we were looking for but this sweet Jersey cow. We decided she'd be a great Christmas present for Rebecca. The cow's name is Sugar.

We got some instruction when we picked her up, but then it came time to milk her ourselves. We struggled for a while, but got the hang of it eventually.

Robbie and Peter look on hoping to get in there and participate.

Ryan tried his hand at it.

Russell has been one of the better milkers.

Everyone that comes for a visit gets a chance to milk her. She's so patient with all the different inexperienced handlers. Here, Adam Jones is getting some milk to flow. Adam is a frequent milker.

Sugar gives us about 2 gallons milking her once a day in the mornings. She makes about a pint of heavy cream. We drink it unpasteurized and unhomogenized. We do drink it cold. Man is it good!

Lacey get's her chance to shine.

Jacquie is enjoying her opportunity.

Scout Winter Camp 2006

2006-01-11T23:04:00.000-06:00

The Boy Scouts had their annual winter camp here again this year. They upgrade their attractions each year. This is their new and improved zip line. It starts at the top of this deer stand and goes across the lake to another tree on the other side. No one got hurt too bad this year! That's good!

The rope bridge (over the dried up lake this year) is always a big attraction. Here's Korey Hughes making his way across.

Waxahachie Christmas Parade 2005

2006-01-10T06:41:00.000-06:00

We did participate in the Waxahachie Christmas parade this year. We took Sky and Sapphire and the wagonette and plenty of family. That was a blast. If Katie had been home by then, we could have used this for our Christmas letter picture.

We're at the staging area getting ready. It wasn't easy finding a place to park with the 40 ft. horse trailer which was towing the 16 footer all towed by the Dodge Dually, but obviously we made it. Ryan and Rebecca are harnessing the horses in preparation for the parade. Of course, it took us about 2 hours just to get them bright and shiny white like this.

Russell and Rebecca hook them up to the wagonette.

Can you see these jingle bells? We got these in the day before the parade. Surprisingly, they make a very joyful noise. We got these from Jim and Katie Dingman of the Lignite Carriage Company in Fredonia, WI. They make a wonderful product and they're great to work with. But you gotta see the bells Diane got for me from them for Christmas: That's a whole 'nother level.

Once all the prep work (that I've feverishly slaved at photgraphing), I climb up into the driver's seat.

We met our friends the Corbrans at the parade. That's Rebecca with Katie (the Corsicana Central Quarterhorse Association English High Point champion for 2005 -- we just call her "Champ"). Notice the fine belt buckle. I think Katie and Rebecca were neck and neck in that competition and Katie won it at the wire. Good job Katie! Katie's dad Wally is looking on.

We're out on the parade route now. I've got Robbie and Russell up front with me and a full load of family and cousins and Grandma and a few Aunts and Uncles in the back. My goodness!

I didn't get any more pics than this. It takes way too much concentration to be messing around with a camera :-)

The parade wasn't without incident. It's nerve-wracking driving a rig like that with these huge animals pulling it. Hauling the rig to the parade route with two trailers in two and about 80 total feet of equipment rolling down the freeway was nothing in comparison. The animals behaved so well. There were times when the route took us through some narrow streets with people stacked 3 and four deep watching and making all kinds of noises and flashing their cameras. Once when we were going up a hill and then stopped, I stepped on the brake and didn't feel it stopping well enough so I stepped even harder. Well, next thing I know, the brake pedal gave way and it was pedal to the medal, but not in a good way. Yikes!

Thank goodness the horses are so well mannered and didn't panic, or that could have been some trouble. They just stood there and bore the load and stayed right with the parade. All in all, it was great fun.

Trampoline Hair

2006-01-09T22:43:00.000-06:00

Aubrey South popped over for a visit on Thanksgiving day. Naturally, the trampoline beckoned.

The Final Pond

2006-01-09T21:01:00.001-06:00

Time to make the Piece de Resistance on the Johnson Ranch. We start with this uninviting stand of brush and bramble. Then we bring in Ken Cheatham with his bulldozer/loader. Ken's been a good neighbor over the years.

Ken Cheatham clears all the bramble and starts making the dam.

This is Ken with his loader. If this dam holds the water (if we ever get any more rain), then this will be a beautiful lake in a beautiful setting.

Deacons Quorum Presidency of Waxahachie

2006-01-09T21:00:00.000-06:00

President Eric Johnson in the middle with Wyatt as First Counselor, Zack as 2nd Counselor and Josh as Secretary.

Now That's a Sand Box

2006-01-09T20:56:00.000-06:00

We got a whole bunch of sand delivered to the indoor arena. Hopefully it will be less dusty in there and better on the horses. But before we spread out all the piles, it's time to get out the trucks and enjoy all the sand dunes!

The indoor arena is about 200x75, so now we have a giant sand box. Actually, we moved the portable volleyball standards in there and have played some good Vball in there a few times. We've also played Ultimate Frisbee in there. That deep sand will tax a body, let me tell you.

Ryan had a get together with some friends at the ranch. They played Ultimate Frisbee in the indoor arena then headed out on a hayride to cook some 'Smores. This is Jordan's team. With Tommy, Dani, Marlee, Dana, Jordan, Sabrina, Aaron and Holly.

This is Ryan's team with Kris, Kelsey,Melissa, Ryan, Mackenzie, Trinity, Talisa and Adam.

Fall Colors Tour

2006-01-09T20:38:00.000-06:00

OK, so we don't get a lot of the fall colors tourists' dollars here in Texas, but there is the occasional tree that makes a good show.
We don't get a lot of color, but we appreciate the effort by this tree.

This was an unusually colorful year for us. Maybe because of so little rain or the timing of the very little rain we did get.

Puppies?? Again already?

2006-01-09T20:31:00.000-06:00

Oh boy, here we go again! Mary and Red are the proud parents of 8 new puppies. More pics to come.

The puppies are growing up.

Wild Turkeys in Flight

2006-01-09T20:29:00.000-06:00

One day we were on our way home from Church coming up the driveway and we spotted a flock of about 30 wild turkeys just moseying through the pasture. We went real slow and got up close to them before they took off running and finally to the air. I was glad I had my camera with me and was able to snap these pics of a few flying over the driveway.

We see turkeys fairly frequently on walks and such, but they are very alert and any noise makes them take off. They are exceedingly difficult to catch on film or on a memory card.

If You Feed Them, They Will Come

2006-01-09T20:22:00.000-06:00

Grandma Johnson on her way over to the Dome to do some SteakBurger shipping. In the short time they've been here, she's made friends with the chickens by throwing out corn to them. Now they follow her around!