During this past week around the ranch we once again got up to a high of 70º and mid-week I got some more gardening done by tilling, putting in tomato and pepper transplants. Today we are getting some very nice and steady rain so I hope maybe by Thursday, I can put in the remainder of the garden with sunflowers, more corn, squash, carrots, cucumber, beets, pumpkin, okra, and sweet basil seeds. The asparagus seeds I planted a couple of weeks ago have now sprouted and are about 3"-4" tall. With our lack of 80º-90º temperatures and rains this spring, I think my gardening will be right on track for warming temperatures and growing season in June.This past weekend was rather laid back with horseback riding for Kittee and downriver Robert starting Friday, while I took the MacHi tennis team to tournament in Tri-Cities, WA. While in Tri-Cities I did indulge in a marvelous catfish feed at Granny's Country Buffet. Yes on the all-you-can-eat buffet bar there was whole (heads off) golden brown fried catfish. It was all I could eat, with a little room left for cherry covered cheese cake for dessert. Mmmm good stuff. It was almost dark before I returned home, so that was the day in a nutshell. Our high temperatures for this day got into the mid-80's... spring has broken through.
Saturday, started out pretty fast with a hearty breakfast of wheaty hotcakes, sausage and coffee, as this day we were going to visit Goldie and I planned to take a ride with her, my first. Not a big ride this day, but a chance to climb in the saddle and get a feel for what she had learned by working with Chad Henry for the past 20+ days or so. One thing we learned from Chad when we got to his place was Goldie was not a happy girl to be ridden when she was in heat.We should MAKE A NOTE OF THAT.
This Chad learned last week, as Goldie got kind of bucky with him. I told Chad that around the ranch
Goldie is sometimes referred to as the "blond bitch" when she is in heat, so I knew of the attitude he was talking about. Anyway, Saturday morning we got to Chad's arena as he was bring Goldie out and prepping her to saddle up. Thereafter they headed for the arena and Chad took a few rounds in the arena to warm her up and settle her into a frame of mind to ride. Goldie is half Arabian, half Quarter Horse and some day her hot blood Arabian side shows. A fine horse, and dam of Summer. After Chad got Goldie into the easy riding mood, he brought her into the round pen and there I got to ride her. -see videos below- I found that Goldie is very light on the bit, and responsive to rein and leg cues. She is going to make a great ride, if I can slow her down a bit. I am not a fan of speed.After leaving Chad and Goldie, Kittee and I made a beeline back to the ranch by way of Bordertown Tack store to pickup a few things and when we got home we grabbed a bite of lunch and saddled up Misty and Nugget for a ride up Cache Hollow /Kennear Rd to the lupine meadows of Lincton Mtn. Temperatures this day were in the mid-80's so taking a ride across the mountain felt great.
After making this ride, we came home, washed off, backyard fed Nugget and Misty and headed to the Hopwood's for dinner. With Dennis and Sharon we strolled their farm petting their Mammoth Jack donkey - Sage (who has ears over twice the side of our mule Miles' ears), their horses, and visited with their flock of sheep and new born lambs. After dinner we sat round the table talking and again staying out way past our bedtime enjoying their good food and company.
Sunday, a.m. I turned up with a GI bug - hit me hard. Maybe one like Chad had been struggling with this past week. But it put me down for most of the day, meanwhile Kittee worked with Rosey, Raji, Shaiela, Derby and Nugget. Our -Dynamic Duo- now make quite the set of shiny pasture palomino bookends. By the end of the day Kittee was whipped, or maybe she was beginning to feel the GI bug. I grabbed my boot straps and pulled myself up and out of bed late in the afternoon and went out and spread about 1500 pounds of fertilizer over the back 10 acres of pastures. Rain is in the forecast for the next few days so I had to make my move as turning on the irrigation is not the same as rain when it comes to putting fertilizer into the ground.
Last week some of our flowering trees and bushes were on the wax and wane. We have had some crazy weather this spring, April and May have been more like a usual March, while February and March were much like our normal Aprils.
This year the lilac bush bloomed very poorly,
the Hawthorn tree is trying to make a showing,
and the Dogwood is doing better than last year.My video time... My first ride on Goldie.
And that's the way things have been going around the ranch this past week.
Peace
Dale
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