Kittee turns 50-something

As I sit and write this blog update, I look outside and see the wind is blowing - hard. When I flip to TWC for weather conditions in Milton-Freewater it says that our current temp is 83° with a 29 mph wind and gust up to 36 mph. I see that our eastern and western horizons are brown out of view with blowing dust. I think I shall continue to sit by the computer, until the winds subsides. This morning at 6:30 I did take Shaiela to the vet in Walla Walla for a hormone shot to push her into a heat cycle with hope that she will be ready to breed this coming weekend. This evening when Kittee returns home I will go out and put Rusty and Kootenai together for them to again have a close encounter of the first kind. Their last encounter of 6/25-26 didn't work for us ~ them.

Looking over my shoulder at this past weekend, Kittee and I took it pretty easy, laid back. This was not our plans, as we hoped to be horseback riding most of the weekend, and had talked to downriver Robert about riding with us up into the timber on Lincton Mountain to beat the heat of this past weekend. We had thought about going trout fishing in a lake at the summit of the Blue Mountains on Sunday to beat the heat. All of that came to a SCREAMing halt, when Kittee (standing on a concrete floor) got her foot stepped on by Kootenai Saturday morning. We were at the vet's office in Walla Walla having Misty and Kootenai's pregnancy tested when that happened, and from there we came straight home. I put the mares out, Kittee came into the house, took an Aleve, a glass of wine, another glass of wine, and put her foot in the air for the rest of Saturday, Sunday, and another glass of wine. An unusual weekend of being totally kicked back, and laid out around the ranch, but with afternoon temperatures in the upper 90's I guess it was time to take a break.

Friday after Kittee's birthday, we just spent the day communing with horses, resting, and going to town to get Kittee's new OR driver's license. Gee did she have a tough time getting those things. I will have to have YOU talk with her about that situtation;>) I found it amusing being like a fly on the wall at the DMV.

Last Thursday, it was Kittee's birthday and she turned 50-something. I had invited some special friends to the ranch for a BBQ dinner and to celebrate Kittee's day. Most everyone started arriving around 5:00-5:30 and we had a most pleasant evening sitting around chatting, snacking, drinking, laughing, talking with horses, eating, sharing our warm evening and just getting another day older with each other.

The golden hue of this pic comes off the folks sitting here
and our natural western sunset lighting.

At our age it is kind of nice to think of days in golden terms, having fun. Older we all are, hopefully wiser, and happy.

Anyway that sizes up our past weekend.

It was last Tuesday and Wednesday that we had a contractor and crew come out and do a little work on our horse chewed barn. Each of the past few years, we have horses and goats trying to eat our barn during the winter when they have full access to it. This horsey chewing of wood is mostly due to horsey boredom. It will be interesting to see what they do now for winter boredom when the ground is covered with snow. We hope they won't be eating the face off of our 100+ years old barn any longer.
Since the 4th of July, hot and dry weather has come to our northeast Oregon Territory. Many of our days have now been in the upper 90's for the past week and a half, and I have run irrigation most days. Thank goodness for our push-button pump, my multi-valves system, and Big Gun delivery of irrigation.
Last Monday the 5th Kittee and I gave pony rides to the children and grandchildren of two of my co-workers. They came out about 11:00 a.m. and everyone gathered around and fell in love with Jasmine.

and then it was time for pony riding...






















































After the pony rides everyone gave Jasmine a hug and then went out to meet and pet the rest of the herd (except Rusty) and take a walk beside the river.

Sunday July 4th, Kittee and I rode horses around the ranch, before the heat of the day arrived. First there was Derby in English,

and then there was Sunny in western, this was Kittee second time for riding Sunny (a boarding mare)
and then there was my second ride on Goldie in western. Since coming back from the trainer, we have had such poor weather, or she was hormonal that I have not saddled up Goldie to put time in the saddle. She was again a very good girl and very sensitive to the bit and leg pressure. Maybe needless to say that I ride Goldie very carefully as we learn to connect with a saddle between us.And that is the way it is around McKuster Ranch. Wish you were here.

Happy Trails and Peace be with you,





Dale

PS. Kittee's foot is doing much better, even though she now has a hitch in her Gittyup, and a portion of her foot is still purple.

PPS. Did you have a chance to see the first blog posting I made today --- June 2010 recap