Dogs

From about 1999 we have bred/raised these superior creatures called Rat Terriers. What a wonderful advendure. Our starters are gone but not forgotten. We have lost some precious friends and have supplied many more friends to people far and wide. We have slowed down and so has the pack. Teddy, bottom right, is now the oldest. His son, Louis, is next to him on the left. Above are Lucy and Lucky. They are the youngest. They are Ted's great grand kids. Missing from the pic are DejaBlue, Stetson and Malia. Yep, all of them live amongst us on the farm and it is glorious!

Gigi

I could not resist uploading this from Laura's blog. Gigi was diagnosed with leukemia at age 3.5. A 2.5 year ordeal for this precious girl. She is in remission/cured. A thriving 6 year old. All Praises to the Blood of the Lamb. May all the children be healed. Amen.

Rural living

There isn't a lot of rural life left. What will become of us now that communism is replacing freedom? Now that American culture has been eradicated into a minority due to mass migration from third worlds? How can we sustain the debt, the destruction and despair? It is a spiritual war. Liberty and Christianity have been replaced by lawlessness and police state tyranny and financial slavery. Same story, different century.

But, back to rural life. I learn truth not just from the Word of God but from living in nature. There is truth and there is deception and lies. I learn quietly from sitting on a porch swing, from riding my horse, from clearing a garden patch, from weeds and seasons and chickens and barn cats and nesting ravens, a warm cherry tomato and my sewing machine and from watching my grandchildren grow. We communicate from the past to the present via skype. My world meets theirs in an invisible zone.

From here I can participate in the seasons. From here I can join in with God's plans. From here I wonder what will happen next in the ever clashing human jungle. From here I am blessed not to be noticed. From here I perch with the wildlife and watch.

Winter winds down

This winter has been mild. Last winter, New Year's Eve, we hit -25 and the pipes all froze up for the first time ever. We didn't have any bursts but the pipes took all day to defrost enough to run water. I am pretty sure we only got into single digits a couple of nights this year.

The birds are working out there and the fields look greenish.

The precious Hawaii family. Cal, Laura, Gigi, CJ, Bella. We visit on skype on Sundays which is the biggest deal of the week for David and me. Here on the farm there are not a lot of high tech benefits but one is the WiFi that connects us to Hawaii.

January 2012.
This is really a fall 2011 post. We rode a lot this fall.

Summer's End

I have not ridden as much as I like this summer. I usually start in May with riding in the desert and end up on the mesa through October. The garden isn't anything special this year. Bugs ate up the squash. Weeds finally got the best of me in the garden. We are going to move the garden to the fenced in orchard area next year. It will be better. I will lay out plastic to burn up the weed seeds. I saw that technique on an organic website.

We are counting the days until the Hawaii family comes in on Thursday. I have arranged real horsemanship lessons for Bella and Gigi with Helen. How fantastic. David has not seen the girls in 2.5 years - before Gigi's diagnosis. He has not even met CJ yet!

We decided to breed 2 mares. I think Miha gave us the best foal we have ever had. She is 2yrs old now and at Helen's to be trained by the 4-H girls. Helen is the real deal. Bred SmokeyBelle, too. (Now called Cookie.)

Joys of the day

I will put up a photo of the raven family. They came in to nest this year. Chased off the magpies, the pigeons and robins! They set up shop on a tippy top branch of an elm tree and ruled over the place. Two young ones were soon hopping around the pastures and roosting on panels. They have moved on but once in a while they make some noises in the mornings.

I love to pick cucumbers warmed from the garden and eat them with balsamic vinegar.

I still sell my prim doll works at the Hotchkiss Creamery. What a fun blessing. I love to make things and someone keeps buying them.

The Hawaii kids are coming in a month. I arranged a real horseback riding lesson for the girls with Helen in Paonia. I can hardly wait. I am making lists of things I need to do and buy to make their visit happy. Maybe Mike and Shirley can come, too. I have some of Laura's fabrics to make a 9-patch quilt. I hope she and the girls will help me arrange the squares!! Shirley said she will quilt it.