Magpie swims!

I got the toy!!!

This little cutie pie loves the water! She will even jump off the dock!  We go every evening after work to swim and play in the reservoir.  Her brother, Bear, loves to swim too.

Jumping off the "dock" before the dock was put in

Willow, not so much.

Oh my God! I think they splashed water up my nose!  MOOOOMMM!

And of course, their cool chariot.

1965 Ford Ranchero. Yeah, I know, it's cool.

This is what we do for fun in summer.  After we do this.

and this.

Yes, this is me riding my horse. With bald chemo head. You can't even tell with my hat on, I just look like a bad-ass cowgirl!

and this.

Which leads to this.

Magpie enjoying the big stack of loose hay in the barn.

We pack a lot into a day out here.  Good thing it doesn't get dark until 10 pm!!!

Small Farmer's Journal Auction/ Swap Meet

Yay!  We made it!

Ok, so it has taken me a while to post about this.  It's not because it we didn't have a good time (we had a GREAT time!) or because there aren't any photos (I remembered to take some!!) or anything like that.

What happened, as happens so often to all of us, is that life got in the way!

First, I only had one week home before we took off on our next adventure (Wyoming, with our horses. and yes I will post about that one next!) During this week I had to catch up on work from the previous week and then get things wrangled for the next week when I would be gone.  And throw into the mix that my boss of 7 years suddenly decided to throw in the towel and pursue a different career...(meaning I had to move my whole office space on top of getting used to the change).  Well time just slipped away.

So back to the story: 
We brought our horse trailer to sleep in and the puppies slept in it too!

Comfy nest, no? 

Although Willow really doesn't have any problems sleeping, anywhere...

Pooped pup

And we actually didn't sleep in the straw nest, we slept up front.  On a mattress.  I know, spoiled...

L.O.V.E. this trailer!!!

And the days were filled with this:

and this:

and this:

Lots of cool vehicles for sale there.

This was my favorite

Look at the bunks inside!!

and tack.

and mowers

even a windmill!

Some assembly required...

This beautiful team of paints were for sale.

(they did not come home with us)

and there was a sheep dog presentation.  It was super interesting to watch, but this is the only photo that I took that is any good (it's kind of hard to capture the sheep dog action...)

We ate.

Brian talking to the bears in front of the Black Bear Diner!

I spun.

This one got sick :( 

(and costs us a bunch of $$$ for "dietary indiscretion" - stinker)

Doesn't he look sad? He is all better now!

and this was the find of the auction!!! (yes Brian was the successful bidder)

Cool, vintage barbed wire.  Stuff we have never seen before!!!

I went to an educational seminar by the cheese makers at Cada Dia Cheese and bought some of their yummy feta and cheddar.  I crocheted a bunch while watching the auction.  All in all we had a super trip!

Well that's the story!  Hope you enjoyed it (and the photos).

Aren't we cute?  We've been thinking about a mini van, but maybe a Prairie Schooner would be better???

Headed to Madras

We are going here:

Madras, Oregon

to look at this:

and this:

and hopefully, not come home with any of these:

but, you never really know.  and we are bringing the horse trailer, (so that we can sleep out of the weather- but really, how convenient would that be...).

Yes, you guessed it- we are headed to the Small Farmer's Journal Auction this weekend.  Oh? you didn't guess that?  Well, now you know.

It is an awesome place for horsey types to co-mingle with others with common interests.  There are workshops and seminars on everything from horse training to blacksmithing to raising chickens.  There will be a sheep dog trial and a social event on Friday. Here is the link to the schedule: SFJ Auction Schedule.

Lots of neat horse-drawn vehicles for sale (these are all from last year):

Everyone needs a horse drawn hearse.

Water, anyone? That is the main man Lynn Miller in front of the water tank!

Coolest little dump-bed cart

And you see this all day:

And there is always a little political discussion:

In my mind, no truer words have ever been spoken...

Last year I met a wonderful couple from Halfway, Oregon who have Stonehaven Farm- a Shetland sheep farm!  I had to buy some of their beautiful roving (which I still haven't spun up-oops) and I think this year I will bring my wheel and sit and spin with them awhile.  I hope they are there again!!


So pack up yer wagons and head on down!  Sure to be enlightening and tons of fun!

See you next week! (and yes, I'll take pictures... geesh you all are demanding.)

how about some photos?

Smokey, aka Cutest Cat in the World with his mouse toy

So in looking back through here recently it seems too text dense!  Here are some photos that I never posted:

At the Hitchin' Post

These are the boys, getting ready to pick up the elk that Brian got, the day before end of season this year!  You can see they are very excited to be put to work.

Here they are- Mule loaded up and ready to roll. (figuratively, not literally)

Um... the coat makes me appear a bit larger than life, Really.

 These two were taken in our back field, just as we were approaching the final stretch.  These were taken after Episode One, in which the mule broke loose from us, bucking and running, managed to dump EVERY bit of meat out of his packs and get his pack saddle wedged under his tummy.  Luckily, he is not a dumb mule and stopped at the gate for our assistance.  We obliged by re-loading everything back on him...

Ahhh, the drafties...

These sweetie-pies helped my husband move this ENORMOUS tree that had fallen and blocked our road.  Brian cut it enough to move it and they first dragged it into the front field.

Then, since there was still not much snow on Thanksgiving weekend, Brian hooked them up to the logging arch he constructed and they hauled it out to the burn pile.

Good boys!

 And these last ones are for anyone that is feeling like the snow should go away, or anyone in a warmer clime that might be gloating about how pretty it is where they are:

Pink sunrise, from our front deck

Photos can't really capture how surreal and beautiful this was

Ice fog tree

Well, Lisa and I are making soap tomorrow- Hurray!  I'll let you know how it goes and I also have some handspun to show off!!

Happy Valentine's day!