Sunday, September 27, 2009

buck-tation

You know what really sucks about starting a new job, particularly a dude ranch job, in September?

It's not quite as hot as the summer.

Buck arrived a few weeks ago, but for those of you who are my friend on Facebook, you know that we've already had some snow on the ground. However, it seems like we're getting a bit of an Indian Summer right now.

We decided to take advantage of the warm weather.

And get Buck oriented to the ranch.

We told him we had a staff meeting in the parlor. He came walking up the hill ranting and raving. All I picked up was, "A woman can tell me to take my pants off, but YOU canNOT tell me to put my pants ON!" I think he was talking to Nate, who told him to come to the meeting.

He was so busy with the pants issue, he didn't notice that everyone was heading to the parlor at about the exact same time. Specifically near the water trough.

He got tackled.

And check out the dog's tail. It's wrapped completely around Dana's leg. Isn't that funny? Ok, well, um, I thought it was.

They weren't even nice enough to take off his boots!

But he was threatening that everyone was going in with him. It was a good effort.

Since the hose is still running in there, I'm assuming it was pretty cold.

This picture just goes to show that Buck is a pretty good sport!

And more than anything, the man holds true to his word. I told him to take his pants off.
Nuff said.

Friday, September 25, 2009

pictures

I know I need to do Dizzy's meet 'n greet and I have about 5 other people leaving in the next week, but I just want to show you pretty pictures from the last couple of days. Well, because I can.

And bear with me. They're through my car window. It was too cold to roll the windows down!!!

I was driving back from Denver and looked over.

This is a snow storm in the mountains.

It's pretty cool how you can see it moving in across the Front Range, huh?

And this was the sunset driving back up towards the ranch.

Although it kind of reminds me of the pictures they always put on the front of funeral programs. Sorry! I can't help it!

Ahhhhh..........

And this is the sunrise from this morning.

For purple mountain's majesty, right?

I guess this is why I love Colorado so much. And fall. You don't have to get up so early to see the sunrise!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

what's next

So, as many of you know, my contract with Sundance ends September 30. That's exactly one week from today for those of you counting. Many want to know what I'm doing next.

That's a great question.

Here's what I've found about myself. I love what I do. But I'm allergic to winter. Who knows which came first the chicken or the egg, but I live in Florida because I do NOT like cold.

I spent April with Justin learning about training horses, which I found really interesting and useful. He continued to come up once or twice a month this summer to give me lessons and I found that I just really, really enjoyed it.

Then, the girls and I went down to join Gordon the Farrier at Summer Slide, a reining horse show. Sorry I don't have pictures, I think they're all on Sandra's camera. Anyhow, I got this guy to let me ride his horse.

And that was it.

I was hooked.

I'm hoping to, at some point, get a video posted so you'll understand what I'm talking about, but these Horses. Are. AWESOME. They can pivot around on one hind foot so fast it will make your head spin. And they do these sliding stops where their hind legs will leave what they call "11s". They are continues parallel lines about 20 feet long, because they just drop their hind ends when they come to a stop. Youtube it. It's fascinating.

Anyhow, this horse just had me so in love that I decided that's what I wanted to do. So I am currently in the process of calling every reining or reined cow horse trainer I can find to see if I can hire on with them. If you know of any, let me know!

As for now, Dan and Ellen have agreed to let me stay until I find a job, so I will still be at Sundance for the time being...or the rest of the winter if it's up to them.

So again, what am I doing next?

To. Be. Determined.

Monday, September 21, 2009

boulder

Last week was our last week of dude season and it couldn't have ended with a better group!

Ann reminded me of my crazy aunt and I loved her to death. I talked her into joining Amy and me on our trip to the Celestial Seasonings (tea) plant in Boulder last Friday.

Our plan was to leave early in the morning, drive down to Longmont to check out a place for me to live, go to the Celestial Seasonings plant, go to Pearl Street in Boulder, then go back to my aunt's house where we had left Amy's car and where I would stay for supper with my cousins.

As usual, things did not go as planned.

We left around 10.

On the way down, I had to get out in my white skirt and help a guy lift his trailer back on the ball, because it popped off right in front of me. I watched him fishtail twice. Now that's scary!

The guy in Longmont didn't answer his phone. Oh yeah, and I called the guy who I had the job interview with to make sure the job was still open. He said he hired a girl from Ft. Collins so he didn't "have to mess around with this finding-a-place-to-live stuff."

Ouch.

Guess that worked out for the best!

As we were driving, Amy said, "Oh there's the best little bakery in Longmont! Let's stop in there for a pastry."

So we turned off and went to this deli/bakery place. And wouldn't you know it!

It was Oktoberfest!

They even had a live, um, what are they called? It's not mariachi. I dunno. A live band.

And Amy asked them if they could/would yodel for her. They said they couldn't.

Soooooooooo.................

Yep, you guessed it!

Amy got up there to yodel "Cowboy's Sweetheart". For those of you who know me, Amy is even more outgoing.

Ann got an Oktoberfest beer and gave me a taste.

Amy suggested I get a photo with the gentleman behind us. Remember how I said she really likes matchmaking? Ummmmm.........

Anyhow, we finished our lunch listening to the old German music, then headed to Boulder.

It was already 2 by the time we got there, so we headed straight to Pearl Street, foregoing Celestial Seasonings...the whole reason we were going to Boulder!

Ann loved the hammock store. Those are her feet.

And did I mention Ann fit right in here? Ann and Amy checked out how the hammock would work for 2 people.

Except Ann had some issues getting out....

We went to a few more stores then headed out. We called the guy with the house in Longmont and swung in there pretty quickly. Ann about told the guy he'd need to pay me to live there. Not really a viable option.

We went back to Ft. Collins, but found out supper was going to be in Firestone at my cousins' house, which is clear back down from where we came. So I bailed.

And that, my friends, was our last Friday of dude ranch season. Phew!


Sunday, September 20, 2009

worms

Today was worming day. What's worming day you ask?

Well, sometimes horses get worms. I know humans who want to get worms, but it's not good. When horses get worms, the worms eat all their food and they get really skinny. Now you understand why some humans want them?

Anyhow, every couple of months you have to give horses a worming medicine which comes as a paste in a syringe.

Today's formula was apple flavored. No, I do not know that because I tasted it. It says so on the box. And it smelled like jolly ranchers.

The thing is...horses don't really like wormer, so it can be quite an experience. And a good lesson on horse training!

I couldn't help myself. I had to show you some pictures of the green apple wormer aftermath.

Some horses do a fantastic job of keeping it all in and staying clean.

Some horses get away with just a little dribble.

Some horses are a little messier.

Some horses wipe the mess off on their leg, then rub their faces on their leg, which then just puts it all over their face. (Sorry the color contrast isn't better.)

And some horses. Well, some horses.....

Some horses will fight and fight not to get wormed, with half of the tube ending on the ground, half of the tube ending in their mouth, half of the tube ending up on their face, and half the tube ending up on the human.

I bet you're thinking that it's a good thing I'm not an actuary any more, huh? Well, smarty pants! Duff had to use 2 tubes, so there were, in fact, 4 halves.

So. There.

The donkeys have to get wormed, too.

This is Little Joe. He actually LOVES the stuff. He bit down on the dispenser and wouldn't let go.

Once he did, he kept trying to get more from us!

And that's about all there is to it. Worming.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

ottem's autumn

I can't believe it. I have been here long enough to see three seasons. I didn't think it would ever happen. At least not for a long time. It's been almost a decade since I've seen all of Colorado's seasons. Although, I guess really, you can see all four seasons in a day since Colorado weather is so crazy.

So here it is.

Beautiful fall pictures.

All of the wildflowers have died off.

But man, oh man, the changing aspen trees are absolutely brilliant.

Ok, so maybe these pictures don't do it justice because I take them when the sun is high in the sky instead of at sunrise or sunset, but cut me some slack.

That's when I'm out riding.

Autumn is my favorite. Who knows, maybe it's a name thing, but I just LOVE the weather!

I went out to watch the full moon come up a few weeks ago (don't let me fool you, this is still a sunset...I forgot my camera that night) and it was just amazing. It's still warm (with the exception of the two cold days) during the day, but in the evening there's a cool breeze behind it. And a slight hint of humidity. With a good blanket to keep you warm, that weather can't be beaten!

And I love to cook during this time of year. I'm looking forward to some of my favorite fall recipes, like Frosted Pumpkin Cake, Beet Soup, and Apple Cider Pork Loin. Ok, let's just be honest here. I love all things pumpkin and all things apple cider in the fall. It just makes it fall.

Oh, man. I tell ya. I've really missed fall.....

Monday, September 14, 2009

the irishman

The Irishman was a man after my own heart.

He was 28. He has always loved everything country. He finally decided it was time to give it a try. And when he went home, he still had no clue what he was going to do with his life.

It's really comforting to know there are other people like you.

The Irishman was an intern here, which means he basically worked for his room and board and got experience in exchange. Except that he didn't really like the same old boring rides where you have to walk with guests who don't know how to ride. So I'm not sure how much riding he did.

Until, of course, he had a nice cowgirl to take him out on more interesting rides...

I have to say, the Irishman was always a good sport. Up for a bit of a crack, as he would say.


Here, he and Dizzy are riding "Speedy" for arena games on Saturday morning. Of course, "Speedy" is our fastest horse, so they had to make sure they were wearing helmets!

He even made us play soccer in the arena. Not too many of us were really soccer players...

But above all, he LOVES country music. Cheyenne Frontier Days might have been the epitome of country life to him.

He begged me to take him to Cheyenne for a George Strait concert. So we went up there without tickets, found a scalper, and that might have made him the happiest man alive. He was grinning from ear to ear the entire time.

The whole night he kept saying, "I can't believe I'm in Cheyenne! I can't believe I'm going to see George Strait! Don't you know that all the country songs are about Cheyenne? And I'm actually here!"

Although, I think the beer man might have made him even happier. He is Irish after all!

Here's one more fun little tidbit about the Irishman.

He used to model.

Can't you tell?

As I drove him down to Ft. Collins one final time, I asked him what he thought he might do when he got back to Ireland.

He thought he might try to get a visa and move to Georgia.

Hmmm...try and figure that one out!