7 Random Things

"Flowers from my boy."

Today was the first day of our sixth year of homeschooling, and so my brain is very tired this evening. We also have a HUGE week ahead, filled with tons of excitement so I can hardly concentrate to sit down and write a real blog post in paragraph form.

Instead, I'm going to haphazardly list some random thoughts in no particular order:

1. I think that my frazzled nerves are mostly recovered enough to tell  you that my husband had to weld on a natural gas pipe that holds a gazillion pounds of pressure on it...and he lived to tell the story. It involved flames the size of the Olympic torch, death defying feats, and other things that are dangerous. Jesus must work over-time to protect that man. I'm constantly praying for his safety. He thinks the whole thing was exciting, and I think he's crazy. The End.

2. I think I possibly have a small addiction to those Sonic Strawberry Island Breezes that I mentioned a while back. This came to light when I realized that I was subconsciously buying grain a few bags at a time instead of in bulk, in order to have an excuse to drive to the feed store which happens to be down the street from the Sonic. I wish I could buy Strawberry Island Breezes in bulk.... that would solve all of my problems, save me some diesel fuel, and support world peace.

3. I bought a jogging skirt... technically I think it's more like a "Skort" because it has shorts underneath. I haven't worn "skorts" since elementary school, and now I'm feeling like this may have been an impulse purchase. Would it look silly to see a 34 year old jogging down a dirt road in a skirt? Shoot. Now I'm having second thoughts about the whole thing. Maybe I should take it back.

4. I'm jogging about 3 miles every other day.  I fell off the jogging wagon after my race in February because of my battle with wretched shin splints, but I've been back at it for two months now.  This time I built up my distance very slowly using the C25K app on my iPhone as a guide, and it's made all of the difference in the world. I used to just run long distances cold turkey, but my shins revolted. With this new training method, I'm completely pain free.  Now, I'm going to continue with my torture training, and my next goal is to be able to run a 10K.

5. I haven't lost a single pound by jogging. That's the hard truth. It's a cruel, cruel world.  Strawberry Island Breeze consumption has nothing to do with this. Nothing at all.

6. I'm in the market for a new pair of boots. I have a complete vision of what they look like in my mind, but can NOT for the life of me, find them at a store in Arizona. I'm scared to order them on the internet. I'm a strict "try them on in the store and walk around in them" kind of girl. Some things are just better when purchased in person. 

7. My neurotic hen, Oreo, got into the garden today and devoured a zucchini that I had earmarked for making zucchini bread with. That bird drives me crazy! First the pecking of the wood stove in the kitchen, and now this?!? Who does she think she is?

I'll stop there because 7 is the number of  Biblical completion and all good lists have seven things on them.

I'm off to re-consider my jogging skirt purchase,

Nell

Hog Scratchin'

Do you know what the difference between a pig and a hog is?

I'm testing your swine knowledge, here.

A pig is a swine weighing less than 120 pounds. A hog weighs over 120 pounds.

That's your useless fact for the day!

A lady never reveals her weight, but it's safe to say that Beulah is a hog and has been one for quite some time. *Wink, Wink*

We have five weeks left until our county fair, and the kids have been dutifully walking their pigs hogs twice a day to give them exercise.

  Hank looks forward to his time to run wild and free!  While he's out for his walk, our son brushes all over him.

The hogs are just like dogs. They'll lay down and roll over so you can scratch their bellies.

Beulah, on the other hand, hates exercise.  She throws an ever lovin' fit when my daughter comes to retrieve her from her mud hole.  She squeals, snorts, and shows attitude when she has to be walked.  When she finally leaves the pen, she takes her sweet ol' time, stopping to root up everything in her path.

She reminds me of some of the girls in my Jr. High gym class.

One thing that Beulah DOES look forward to is her daily pampering.  When my daughter pulls that brush out and starts scratching on her backside, all Beulah's cares melt away, and she takes on the posture of pure relaxation.

She lays there like a dead hog.  She lets my girl groom her feet, and she becomes putty in her arms.

She thinks that having her belly scratched is simply divine!

Personally,  I think it's therapeutic to scratch a hog's belly. It does something for the soul. It adds richness to your life. Just try to do it without smiling. I dare you. You can't scratch a hog's belly without grinning. No matter how bad your day is, you will get a warm, fuzzy feeling. Guaranteed!

Beulah is such a diva hog.

( We're in deep trouble here, folks. The kids' attachment to these market hogs is growing by the minute. I foresee tears shed at the fair. If they weren't so gosh darn cute, and hilarious, and personable, and loveable, and quirky.... oh no! I think I'm attached, too! )

Have you scratched a hog's belly, today?

Nell

Workin' for the Boss

While the rest of the world was sleeping in on Saturday, lounging around in their pajama pants, I was working hard.  My boss doesn't pay any over-time on weekends, either.  Can you believe that guy??? Luckily, I can kiss him any time I want because there aren't many other perks to the job. In fact, it's quite poopy...literally. (Just a little cow manure humor there!)

We had to do a few odds and ends, apply some pour-on to some cows, put in some fly tags, brand some cows we bought last winter, castrate a bull calf, work some calves etc. etc...

We also had to move a little group of cows from one pasture to another on the other side of the mountain.  Ideally, we'd bring a horse to work the calves, but the trailer would be filled to the max with pairs and we really didn't want to have to drive separately pulling two trailers over two hours if we could avoid it. There was just no more room, so we left the horse at home.

Big mistake.

The day started with a flat tire in the truck. We picked up a screw somewhere, and had to pull into the tire shop to get it repaired. That was the first thing to go wrong. Not a fabulous beginning.

Then we gathered the pasture and started working cows.  (My girls snapped a few pictures.) We could do most of our work in the alleyway, but we had to brand a few big cows in the chute.  The last cow to be worked, literally broke the squeeze by busting the welds on the chute.  Game over. 

Score:

Cows-1    Squeeze Chute-0

I couldn't believe my eyes. As I witnessed her little tantrum, I was thinking, "You have got to be kidding me." (My daughter really captured my expression well in this candid pic.)

Actually, not much surprises me anymore. The chute is archaic, and was practically free so my husband has to repair it from time to time to keep it limping along. It works fine for doctoring the occasional cow on our lease ground, but we desperately need to buy a new one. It's next on our "Put it on the List" list.

You are not going to believe this next part! After the last cow was pushed out the gate, my husband boss roped the bull calf that needed to be castrated... on foot. No horse.  

Then... (Here's where it get's hilarious)  a small rodeo ensues, and my husband yells, "Hurry up and flank him!!!!"

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!

Dream on!

Do you see the size of that calf in the pictures???(FYI, my husband is 6'3" barefoot...for size comparison purposes.) The calf is barely 4 months old, but he's GINORMOUS! 

He must weigh 400, 500, one MILLION  pounds!!! (Said in the cackling voice of Dr. Evil.) I might be exaggerating a  tiny bit.

Who, exactly, does my husband think I am? The Incredible Hulk? Mr. T? The Terminator?

Let's just say that although I gave it a valiant effort, it wasn't going to happen.  

That's when my husband handed me the rope and said, "You hold him, I'll flank him."

Before I even had the opportunity to dally the rope to a post, or really sit back on it, the calf took me for a ride, and the second rodeo of the day commenced. As I was trying to tame the bucking bull, our son was yelling, "Can I heel him, Dad? Let me heel him!" 

I may, or may not have said an unkind word, turned in my resignation, and gave my boss the stink eye. It's all a blur. Who's to say how it really went down?

(There was picture documentation of the actual event...thanks to the photography skills of my 9 year old daughter. However, because of the unflattering angle of my rear-end region, expression on my face, and outcome, I will not be sharing it with you, my dear readers. I burned the evidence, metaphorically speaking.)

After things calmed down, my boss could see that it would be wise to just abort the mission and save the marriage, so he let the calf loose.

We loaded the pairs in the trailer and drove away from the scene of the incident. We turned onto the highway and my husband received a call.

It was from his buddy...who happens to know that my husband's motley work crew consisted of a wife, three young children, and no horse.

He asked my husband how it went. (All along, he knew perfectly well how it was going to go.)

My husband got a giant grin on his face, said that it went alright, and then laughter ensues on both ends of the line.

I don't know what was said on the other end of the phone, but the conversation ended with plans for the two of them to work the calves on horseback this week.

Hopefully, without me having to pull out my Wrestle Mania moves.

I think I'm going to call in sick on the day they work the calves, just to be sure.

The moral of this story:

When working cattle with your spouse, Remember..."Happy Wife, Happy Life.

I'm off to eat more Wheaties,

Nell

The Canadians come to Arizona!

My cousin and her family flew all the way from their farm in Quebec, Canada to come and see us this week. Yes, they traveled to Phoenix in July. Crazy, I know. Who comes to visit the inferno at its hottest???

Since they took the time to fly across North America, I felt that it was my duty to take them around our great state and show them the sights.  We dubbed the trip, "Tour-de-Arizona" and logged nearly 1,000 road miles to show them Arizona's diverse landscape.

While down in Phoenix, we stayed submerged in water as much as possible because the key to surviving temps of 111 degrees Fahrenheit ( that's about 44 degrees Celsius for my Canadian peeps)  is to stay wet.  My dad made us a feast of smoked primerib, and  pork ribs, and we partied in the air conditioned house. 

The next morning, we were off on our tour of the high country.  We drove through Flagstaff and up to see one of the seven wonders of the world: The Grand Canyon.  It was spectacular! 

Here's a self portrait at the edge of a cliff. I'm thinking to myself, "Don't step back, don't step back, don't step back."

Here's a picture of my family pretending to be happy about having their picture taken when they'd rather just look at the Grand Canyon.

Here's a stranger from a foreign land who was swinging his tripod and video camera in a circle to get a panoramic view of the canyon, and subsequently forcing my children to "duck and cover" for their safety.

Did I mention that the canyon was filled with folks from foreign lands who spoke exotic languages and wore European shoes? It's a real melting pot of tourism.

Here's a picture of my daughter "Photo-bombing" the cousins pic. She thinks she's soooo funny.

Here I am saving a teeny tiny man from falling off of the edge.

Here's a picture of the sign above the toilets at the Grand Canyon. I'm pretty sure that if you drink water from a toilet, you're going to have issues whether it's "reclaimed wastewater" or not. Just my opinion, though. I don't know about other countries, but here in America, drinking water from the toilet is definitely frowned upon. 

Here's a woman standing in a thunderstorm with lightning striking all around and her umbrella being blown backward, acting as a lightning rod. Not the smartest choice.  It rained for a few hours that afternoon, putting a damper on the canyon sight-seeing.

After the Canyon, we drove through another storm to get to the Indian Trading Post in Cameron. The Canadians experienced their first dust storm, or Haboob...as we call it. I didn't get a picture of it, but there was a wall of dust approaching us like a freight train.  Arizona's finest weather.

Then, we drove through Winslow, Holbrook, and off to the White Mountains.  We took them near the New Mexico border to experience authentic Hatch Green Chili, Chili Rellenos, and Mexican food.  I'm afraid they weren't a fan of the spicy stuff.

We went to Western Drug, visited Sunrise Ski Resort, toured Greer, and showed them the damage done by the Wallow Fire.

After an exhasuting car ride, we relaxed and ordered some pizza. They taught us how to play a Canadian card game called Euchre, and I'm pretty sure that I'm terrible at it.  

After a good night's sleep, they traveled through the Salt River Canyon, saw the copper mines in Globe and Superior, and then it was off to Maricopa to tour an Arizona dairy farm.  

We enjoyed every second spent with our Canadian family.

It was a whirl-wind trip, eh?

Nell

The Grandest Of Canyons!

Placing my toes at the edge of this vast and rugged canyon awakened senses dulled by the monotony of ordinary life.  Its depth, and detail, and breadth induces butterflies in the stomach. One can't help but breath deeper with eyes wide open in a feeble attempt to take in all of its splendor.

.....either that, or I was overwhelmed with absolute terror at the thought of plunging to my death over its sheer walls and mile long depths. Haha!!! Regardless, our visit to the Grand Canyon was a trip to remember!

More Details to come,

Nell

Wordless Wednesday: Exploring the Watering Hole

Phoenix in July For the Sake of the Family

I've been scarce around here because we've had family in town, and I've been too busy enjoying my time with them to click the computer keys. My sister-in-law and her family flew in from Chicago and we all left the 72º  pristine mountain air to go down to Hades Phoenix where the sweltering heat radiates from the concrete, and the sweating never stops. Ever.

While in Phoenix....

-My in-laws treated us all to a Diamondbacks game. So fun! We won 13-8 and saw fireworks afterward.

-We lived at the hotel swimming pool and let the cousins swim the day away.

-We got severely sunburned but wouldn't admit it so we called it a "base tan".

-We huddled around the air conditioner.

-We changed rooms because the air conditioner broke down. It couldn't handle our demands.  "You can't HANDLE the heat!"

-We drank Strawberry Island Breezes from Sonic. I highly recommend them. They are worth the brain freeze that might occur if you consume them too quickly!

-We shopped at the mall! (Totally lame to those of you who have one close, but like water to a thirsty man for those of us who don't.)

-For the first time ever, I was professionally fitted for new undergarments, and now realize that I have been buying the wrong sized bra for half a decade! That's a whole lot of ill-fitting bras, ladies! (Now that I've shared this personal information on the web, I can never ever run for president or it will be used against me in my opponent's campaign.)

-We ate at restaurants we don't have up here...Red Robin, Cafe Rio, Texas Roadhouse, Dunkin Donuts... (Every restaurant we ate at represents one meal that I didn't have to do the dishes after. That is a vacation in itself.)

-We were interviewed by the police for a crime that took place two doors down from our hotel room, and the kids got police badge stickers for our "Cooperation". Nine policemen at our hotel dusting for fingerprints and removing "evidence" from two doors down = Totally Creepy. I don't know what the crime really was, but I have a great imagination.....

-We stayed up late watching shows on TV because we don't have them at home. My kids got a real education watching " Hillbilly Handfishing". (We only let our children watch the "highest quality" shows at hotels. Wink, Wink.)

-We went to Costco to eat the samples to stock up on things we can't buy in bulk around here, namely Charmin Toilet Paper, and Ranier Cherries.

-We enjoyed every scorchingly hot moment of the weekend with our family!

Nell