Back up part 3 Rodeo

Every year, we cap our summer off in serious Western style . Out come the flashy tops and sparkly belts, tiaras and buckles, canned beer and sno-cones. Horses are washed and trimmed, pigs are srubbed and shaved, animals are hustled into the fairgrounds where they will be shown and sold to charitable customers.
Its all fun and games until the last day when the kids prepare for the truck that comes early in the am and takes them all away. Except ours. You see, i have a pet lamb who is now a very fat sheep, and have recently been adopted by a goat who enjoys the afternoons on the chaise lounge on the deck. I am not a rancher - in fact , i'm a weenie. So when the truck comes I feel just as traumatized as the little girls who get in their lamb pens and snuggle their goodbyes with their summer friends. Every year I think "what am i doing ?! "
But then i think...well, we aren't vegetarians so why not really learn where it all comes from?! If it were left up to me to harvest my own meat i'd become a vegetarian immediately. My kids pigs are still here at home.
Its a tradition in this little cow town to end the summer with a rodeo and 4-H fair complete with a spotty attendance of macrame entries, a few pies, canned goods and "art". This year I didn't enter a thing. who cares! Rosie, my daughter,the Rodeo Queen's Attendant dramatizing about something

The husband and Blue who is Red watching the Labor Day Parade in Ridgway

Roscoe showing his hog "Bonnie" for the 4-H judge. He had blue fingernail polish that matched his cowboy shirt. We Rogers like to shake it up a bit. "Clyde" missed the show, he was too fat and stayed at home. It's true, a pig can be too fat.

Did you ever think you'd see this? A chicken getting a bubble bath. Now, all she needs are some diamonds and a raspy voice like Carol Channing.


xo milady

Catching Up

finally, my girls are laying eggs again!

Hello friends. Let's catch up. I've been a little busy. its spring in the valley and babies abound.
I did go and feed the bum lambs on my birthday. they are so sweet, so fragile, so in need of a warm hug and milk. i fed a little brown one that looked like a tiny elk toy. when i returned to feed on another day i saw the unfortunate pile of those who didn't make it. i like to believe my little elk was part of the robust group now feeding from a bucket ringed with nipples.

i also went to see about some baby goats. one in particular decided she liked me. alot. for some odd reason, my husband won't let me get her. (though he will kiss a pig...) speaking of pigs...we had quite a day yesterday. remember Morgan's painting Horse Chase?

well, it came to fruition. the kids picked out their show pigs, we drove for miles, and then, they escaped from the trailer. one got ended up in the horse paddock relentlessly chased by our frisky colt until the poor little thing ran right into a fence. Tate grabbed it while the stars were still circling around its head. the other ran into the the great wood and headed up the mountain. Roscoe and I gave chase, bushwhacking and tripping over and empty rugged river bed. we lost sight of the little guy when we heard a distressed squeal coming from the neighbor's property- which meant only one thing....Otis. Otis the giant slobbering loverboy with the head the size of a cow's was on the piglet, head in his mouth. i was sure that was the end of that little piggy. But Otis actually saved the day. he kept the pig in place until i could get to it at which point i flung my body over it to keep it from darting off into the wild west one more time. i picked him up like a baby and tried to calm him down as i carried him to his new home.
we all made it home okay and i am grateful.
Thanks Otis, thanks for not killing the piggy. Thankful that i didn't poke my eyes out on the scrub oak branches or twist my ankle on the rocks while trying to chase a pig into the wilderness. thankful that our investment is still alive.

more on my lamb obsession Blossom & Dot

Have a lovely day!

xo milady

Into the Blue

We picked up our piglets yesterday. Drove miles out across what seemed like the dried up bottom of a lake with mobile homes stranded on cinder blocks. Dirt, dust, more dust and then the pigs. I am still struggling with this whole deal, the committment to 4-H, the inevitable exit of my new farm friends...the dusty, nasty image of pig farming etcetera, etcetera.

Now that the 3 little pigs are here I am feeling a little better. You can't deny that they are CUTE and I guess its a good thing that they don't really like me. I am slowly learning how to let go of kissing everything and be a real farm girl who by the way is not a vegetarian - yet. Im getting so hard and rough that i've decided to raise a few turkeys and chickens too. Stay tuned , i may have ALOT of pets come fall.

UPDATE - they are starting to like me. uh oh.

xo milady