Fixing Fence

So on holiday weekends it is a dirtbike nightmare out here. You can see the trail they have made going up the hill on PRIVATE PROPERTY!!! I was in town running errands (making sure we had beer for our New Years Eve at home) and I come in the back way sometimes looking for dirtbikers trucks and checking the cows. I happened to see Jeremy off in the distance fixing a fence. He had been out all day on different horses hanging up new "no trespassing" signs all day. He said once he was up on a ridge when he saw a couple of guys go right up to a sign he just put up and kick it down. Real nice.......

This is Knight, Teri's sweet gelding. He is pretty tired here, they had been out for a couple of hours by the time I caught up to them and got their picture.

This is when I was leaving (duh) and I just love this picture.

Heading up the mountain

Jeremy and Steele looking in the window of a run down cabin I was in.

The cute town of White Oak. The on the front right is what they used to call the Lodge. I think it was a store and post office. There is a big fireplace in it. I can just see people gathering in it and socializing. Nowadays people would just hole up and not socialize cause they don't know how to get along and take each other for what they are.


Toni, Jeremy and the kids in front of Toni's place. The snow didn't look that deep but on the roads it was pretty deep. Plus the wind was blowing the night it snowed so it drifted up in alot of places.

Yesterday our friend Toni that has a cabin up in White Oak which is about 4 miles up the mountain from us, needed to get up to his place. He only has a 2 wheel drive truck and it has been snowing off and on for a few weeks now and the first snow they had has never really melted. So he parked his truck as close as he could and we drove him up the rest of the way. There wasn't alot of snow but the most of it was drifted on the road. I think it was at least two foot deep or more in some places just on the road. We saw the wild horses and a coyote.

Has anyone seen my gloves?

Just a hint........they are black and hanging out of his hat!

Here piggy piggy........

I hear the dogs barking that familiar bark as I am cleaning up the kitchen. No, I am NOT one of those freaks who cannot sit down until the kitchen is clean after a meal. So I grab my camera, slip on my crocs of all shoe choices in the wet, melting snow. I tell Jeremy as I fly by the couch and out the front door, "I am going to get a picture of that pig!" Of course as I run off the porch the other dogs figure something exciting is going on and they don't want to miss it. As I scramble over the fence into the pony pen the poor blind pony turns around and runs throwing mud all down the front of me..........blech blech. Now the dumb dogs are barking and chasing him. And I am on a mission to take his picture so I am not paying as much attention as I should of the fact the pig might catch wind of me standing there in my pj's and crocs, not good running shoes by the way. I am perched up on the bank of the north pond taking his picture while the dumb dogs are circling him when I notice him spin around look straight at me. Well, I have seen them chase Jeremy, (while I stood on the tramoline to be safe and laughed my butt off) so I decided I had enough pictures and ran as fast as I could to the house.

Sweet muffins

Sharing the new MP3 player. Sage is driving me crazy with it already. She wasn't listening very well before. Now she just can't hear me. I wonder if it will still work if I cut off one of the ear thingys. It is hilarious to hear her singing without realizing the whole hoouse can hear her. And the words that she doesn't know and sings some crazy word that sounds like the word..................I need to charge up the video recorder!

Big boy and his toy

I got the big boy ( I am still working on the code name!) a new toy for Christmas. He has to wait til today to stretch it out and get to play with it.

Grandpa's manicure

So he let me get a picture even after I told him I would have it all over the internet by morning! Notice out the window there is no snow. I was still getting dinner ready. By the time we were done eating there was at least an inch on the ground. We got to watch it fall as we ate. It was so beautiful!

Christmas morning

Sage and Daddy when she opened her TInkerbell playset.

Me and Steele after he opened his remote controled Mater.

Notice Sage with her new Hannah Montana MP3 player Grandpa got her. And the silly cat Gus in the middle of Steele's Thomas the Train Action Canyon set.

Cookies for Santa

I wanted to point out how Steele's cookies looked like little turds and Sage prided herself in making them perfectly round. It was very funny. Santa thought they were delious I am sure.

Kate

Last Christmas about this time our house was filled with sweet, bouncing puppy love. Jeremy had a heck of a working dog named Fly. He could stand on the front porch and send her out across the creek and send the cows back over the hill with her. All he had to do was whistle. I even used her one day, a huge no no, to use a cowboys dog. Well, that cowboy was out playing (roping) at the Tejon while I am home with the wayward cattle and the kids. So me and my trusty Jeep Liberty go trekking across the pasture, kids in carseats and Fly in the middle boucing all over the car. We had about 25 head on the wrong side of a fence and it was getting close to dark. Cattle on the wrong side of the fence can usually be traced back to where some dirtbikers have cut a fence because they either want in or need to get out. I knew Jeremy (why does everyone give their spouse and kids code names in blogland?) was on his way home but I did not want to wait for him so I pull Fly out of the car with the kids directing me from the car. Hearing Sage say "that'll do" is hilarious by the way! Fly was such a darn good dog. I don't know the signals to work a dog. I know I should know but I rely on Jeremy (I really need to think of a cool code name for him! I think that would be funny!) to work the dog if we are out working. So I know "away to me" but I don't know which direction it sends her. So here we are in the pasture and I figure I had better get this figured out in a hurry if I want to get this bunch back through the tiny hole I just cut to put them back. I yell to her "go by!" just to see which way she goes. I still can't remember which way that means but at the time I made a mental note. The rest came pretty easy since I know "down" to stop her, I paid that much attention thank goodness! Long story short, since this was supposed to be about Kate, we got them put away just as Thor........(just kidding!) Jeremy comes flying up the road with his horse in the trailer. I was just putting the finishing touches on the fence repair using pretty red and blue bailing twine when he got there an said "wow, how did ya get em in?". "Fly and me did it" I proudly say, hoping he wasn't mad I used his dog................"oh and you will have to come back tomorrow and fix the fence better" I say. He must have been glad it all went well and I wasn't going to strangle him for not being here cause all he said was "it looks good, I'll bring some better wire tomorrow though". Anyhow, she was a great dog. And she is no longer with us. So last year about this time of year I wind up on a website with some pups for sale..............in Oklahoma. Jeremy fell in love with the one they had named Kate. So me and Mom fly back there in the middle of December to pick her up. She was six weeks old when I picked her up and we flew home on the plane together. I thought there couldn't be another great dog..............

Rascal under the table

It is just a darn shame I don't have of picture of the story I am about to share.........So tonight we had a Christmas dinner with our friends Jim and Linda. Sage was a doll as usual and Steele is still struggling through the terrible threes. I don't know what they were talking about when they said terrible twos. They were nothin. So after our meal and two trips to the back room with the little muffin. Both kids had gone into the living room to play with their new toys. The adults visited at the table. There was a small table where the kids were playing that had appetizers and candy on it. Steele was refusing to eat and I only managed to get a few bites in him and he was told he could not have dessert if he did not eat. I thought I was so smart and took the tray of candies to the table where we were sitting. It is one of those moments when they are too quite and I should have know he was up to something. Kind of like the time when Sage cut her beautiful long hair to the scalp. He played and played under the table and we visited. Then the little rascal emerged with a ring around his mouth. So I say to him, "what are you doing down there" He says to me "I dunno". Well, that little rat had stock piled the candy down there under the table at some point in the evening and was enjoying his loot. I think the actual moment I completely noticed was when he offered one of the other guests a candy sandwich with the miniature sourdough bread. I heard him say, "what is in that, candy?". That's right, that is when I noticed the incrimentating ring around his mouth. Now that is a story I will be telling his wife one day.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Some of our cowboy ornaments. The two on the top of the picture are Sage and Steele's we got them for Christmas last year. The little cowgirl angel is the sweetest. And then there is Steele's, too bad you can't see the face. It looks just like him the little rascal. Lately he thinks it is cute for some reason to do what I tell him not to do RIGHT after I tell him not to do it. AAARGH!!

This adorable snowman is one of my favorites. For the longest time I wouldn't even risk putting him on the tree for fear the kids would knock him off and break him.

Here is our Christmas tree we got today. We don't like to rush into things around here.....

Knight the handsome morgan gelding

This is Knight. He is a very handsome boy isn't he? In the background is the snow that is left around here. I have taken to making Jeremy ride by the house for me to get pictures cause I am a sissy and it is cold out there! Not to mention my golf cart is broke down right now and I would have to walk to wherever he is, the horror!

Here is the kids' room. I should have taken the before pictures so you could see the Thomas the Train bed that belonged to the little rascal before today. He is very proud to have a big boy bead finally. Now lets just hope he doesn't fall out of it! And of course that is Sage's bed on the left. We got it at the antique store last year. She loves it.

When the cows come home.......

It always cracks me up when it snows or even rains pretty hard the cows will come home. I am pretty sure they are just begging for an easy meal. Or like these two in the first picture, making a beeline to the feed barn trying to steal a few scraps before the wonder dog, Kate gets them out of there while Jeremy sits in the truck out of the cold.

California snow

So the weather channels were right for a change. The wind is nowling and the snow is flying. Bad thing is is that it is not pretty big fluffy flakes. They are small flying flakes that are not really sticking anymore. The wind chill factor is the main thing keeping them frozen I think! This morning when we woke up I said to Jeremy, you had better get out there and get to riding. You should have seen the face I got! He told me when he came in from feeding that if I want a picture of riding in the snow I had better get out there an saddle my horse! Chivalry is dead!

Family pictures

I was browsing through all the great pictures we took last week. There were so many I liked I just have to post them somewhere. I have already mailed the Christmas cards out and I had to pick only two. Of course I didn't order enough..........so I figure I will just post a few everyday just because I can!

The grulla mare

This is a training horse also. Jeremy is VERY happy to be able to be out of the roundpen. Seems like most of the summer he had horses that were so troubled they couldn't be trusted out of the roundpen or arena. I have been busy tonight getting some clinic dates up on our website, check it out.

Snow

Lakota-Training mare

Isn't this girl as cute as can be? I took these pictures the other day (I really need to change the date on that camera) and forgot about them till this morning when I ran outside to take pictures of the snow before the rain washed it away. This mare just came into training and she will be 3yrs. old this spring. She is a very nice girl and has great owners. She was a bit worried about crossing my little stream that runs by the house. I need to post pictures of the cute little stream and pond by the house. The old man that lived here for years before us made so many cute additions to this old place.

Pacific Crest Trail and dirtbiking

Here is something I find very interesting. The sign clearly says on it "no Motorized vehicles". What is so hard to understand about that? Why is the PCT people or the BLM not doing something to make a difference? This is my big question. Why are people not raising their kids better these days? I cannot imagine being so disrespectful to another person if I am clearly in the wrong. The one that really annoys me is "we are lost, can you tell us how to get out of here?" Yeah, Maybe they could take the mine shaft trail? Why don't they ever fall in there? I am not saying I want to rain on anyones weekend fun. But do you have to breach fence lines to do it? Oh yeah, they say they don't see a fence line or a sign but we know they do. They just don't care. Sorry about my rant. Jeremy was out feeding tonight when we hear the loudest nose and dirtbikes sounds. The really loud noise turned out to be a dunebuggy. Jeremy had to stop what he was doing and run for the house to get the four wheel drive truck. I met him at the driveway with the .45. I had heard them too but Steele was asleep so I didn't want to drag him out of bed to throw him and Sage in the truck for a wild ride up the hill. I went ahead and called the sheriff and waited to see if I could hear anything. The sheriff has been very responsive and helpful and we are well on the road to getting the laws changed to include stiff fines to be able to put a stop to this crap. I guess I am not really telling the story in order either but in the past we have caught different groups of these idiots chasing out calves down and when they were bawling for their mommas with their tongues hanging out of their mouths, then the mommas would get on the fight so they thought it was fun to chase the mommas. What is wrong with the up and coming society today? It is just sick. Anyhow........so I could not just sit and wait. So I went out and finished feeding and still nothing. So I climbed the hill on the east side of the property in hopes I could see something, nothing. I headed over to the house since I was pretty sure Steele would be awake by now. If not on his own Sage would have woke him up. She just can't stand to have anyone sleeping peacefully around her. Another story for another day! I loaded up the kids in the feed truck and headed down to see if I either ran into the sheriff or Jeremy. Course I had to grab my weapon of choice (camera) and away we went. I finally find Jeremy and he said he caught up to them and they flipped him off.............nice upstanding folks in the community I am sure. So I left the rikkety old feed truck at the bottom gate and rode with Jeremy to meet the sheriff. He took a report and was going to check out a few camps that we had scouted out and told him about. I sure hope they got to cuff an stuff them for something! Now I am off to warm up my hands...burrrrrrr They say we are in for 2 inches of snow tonight.

Christmas Picture

So I have been wanting to do pictures of ourr family on our main mounts for quite some time. I finally got in gear and asked our friends to come over and take the pictures for us. My dear, sweet and patient husband got out of bed extra early to feed and get our horses brushed up and saddled. I drug the poor sick coughing kids out of bed and got them dressed. I fretted and worried about what shirts we would wear to match sorta. It wound up being so friggin cold we just left our jackets on! Well...........I did make them strip their jackets for a couple of quick pictures. I have orded them and if all goes well I should have them in the mail next week. Now I need to try and get all our addresses together so I don't leave anyone out. Please wish me luck!

Over the Hill and through the Pines.......

Today the kids and I packed up and headed over the mountain to Tehachapi. We are very lucky to be able to pass through several private land owners properties to go into Oak Creek via the mountain route. It is a........gosh, I can't think of a word that describes it best.......breathtaking is the only way to put it to words. It is a breathtaking drive. On any given day you are likely to see any variety of wild animals. I love to see the fat little bobcat but I missed him today. What I did see was the wild horses. You can see the stud out in front. He will always put himself between whatever "danger" there may be. The first picture is just one of several I took looking back down from where I had just come from. You can see the road I was on. Obviously the date on the pic is wrong............ugh. One of the many small tasks that seem to go undone on the Broken Arrow. I have been trying to paint the living room for four days now.

Here is just a snippet of the pictures that our wonderful friends Diana and Jan came over and took for us this morning. I will pick up the disks tomorrow and hopefully get the pictures made into Christmas cards and mailed out asap. I never give myself enough time for a project. It's just not as much fun that way. Today I told myself all I wanted out of my day was to wash dishes, vacuum the floor and paint the living room. I got none of it done...............but the kids and I made some Christmas decorations so I figure that trumps dishes anyday!

Hunting a Bull

So this is what I get when I ask the kids for a picture. We were waiting for Jeremy while he walked through a pasture somewhere in Hart Flat to look at a bull for sale. The sun was shining so pretty through the oak trees so I asked them to sit on a log that was there so I could get a picture. I should have know the second kid would not be near as easy to get a picture of as the first. My sweet girlie couldn't smile any bigger and my little rascal couldn't muster a dirtier look.

Pioneer Village Candlelight Tour

Just look at him thinking, how can I build this outta willows.........

A yard full of horses at home and we pay $24 to take a 10 minute ride through Pioneer Village. I am not complaining really. There is NOTHING like the sound of the jingling of the harnesses. I WILL have my own team someday. All I lack is the harness and a wagon of some sort! Let me know if anyone has some they want to get rid of!

This is the Howell house at the Kern County Musuem. It is one of the few you can walk through the entire thing and the busiest attractions of the Candlelight tour. I wanted to see everything so we got there at exactly 3pm when it started. They have people in every room giving you history on the home and then have cookies for you as you walk out. It was very cute.

My boys went flying and lived!

So my guys went flying with our good friends, Jim and Linda on Friday afternoon. Me, I am not big on flying so I told my girl how scary flying was so I would have company at home and the boys went. My sweet little rascal Steele thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it I am told. Even telling Jim as soon as they landed, "let's go up again"! I would have had my head in a barf bag the entire time. Not to mention I would have been scared half to death. I cried as the plane left the ground when I flew to Amarillo last year to pick up our sweet pup Kate. Again, another story for another time.........but as you can see they had a wonderful time! He thought it was the coolest thing to talk and hear himself through the headset. Jeremy told me he kept telling him he loved him. Awwwwww............

Loading wood

Today the kids and I spent the day loading wood over in Oak Creek. Last year the White fire ripped through the canyon killing tons of Oak and pine trees. As well as leveling quite a few cabins. They say the fire was started by dirtbikers. Lovely. That was just about two weeks after we had picked up Ojos, the mustang Jeremy trained for the Mustang Makeover. Barely halter broke we had to load him in a trailer to evacuate. Along with 30 other horses. That was a scary night, taking pictures off the wall, the driving wind and sand. Friends just showing up because they knew the fire was close and they just wanted to help if they could. I can't even begin to express our gratitude after that deal. It usually takes over an hour for a person with a trailer to get here, if they are coming from the closest town. Within and hour of making the phone calls saying that we thought it would be a good idea to get out we had eight trucks and trailers lined up in our driveway. We sure love all of our wonderful friends! Along with Ojos, we had four 2yr. old stud colts that were not halter broke. Several old half crippled horses and ponies. I think we had eight training horses at that time and my sweet stud muffin Cody. You would have thought on a dark, windy night watching the mountain glowing red it would have been chaos loading horses left and right. That couldn't have been further from how it happened. Everyone worked very well together loading who they were assigned to and taking them either to their home or where they needed to be. Not a one animal got hurt or loose. Oh my have I gotten off track! My point was............there is tons of wood that the fireman had cut and stacked and we just need to pick it up and split it. So that is what the kids, some more wonderful friends and I did today. We hauled four truck loads of wood. That sure should keep us warm this winter! It is a beautiful drive over the mountain to the canyon where the wood was. Several miles up and over the mountain. We got to see our cattle out basking in the sun and the calves playing. They better soak it all up cause I hear we are in for some snow soon. Further up the mountain we saw the fatest bobcat. He was so cute! You could see him flipping his nub of a tail. I think he was mad we spoiled his hunt. I tried to take a picture with my phone an now I can't figure out how to get the picture out of my phone. Does anyone know how to get a picture from a razr phone to my email?

Hauling bulls

So we have been needing to replace our bull. Especially since he has gotten quite hooky when we are trying to work them. Jeremy worked his training horses all day yesterday while the kids and I did some much needed grocery shopping. Later in the day Jeremy and his trusty pup Kate (I will have to tell her story some other time) gathered the cattle. Jeremy has gotten used to doing things on his own since we don't always have a babysitter on the ready at a moments notice. The price you pay when your 25 miles from town, 7 1/2 miles of it on a dirt road. My portion of the job came today, driving 55 miles to Acton to pick up another bull and hauling everyone to Chino which it about an hour and a half from Acton. I decided I just did not want to take the kids with me for a total of five hours in the truck. Call me a wuss, go ahead. I was beginning to think I should just completely wuss out and stay home when my day started out when I smashed my little finger leaving a bruise clear through my nail. UGH. Okay okay I can deal. So I arrive at the last gate leaving the property when I see Moose, Sage's trusty dumped off on us dog. Damn thing ran 2 miles chasing the trailer. I guess he has nightmares of being left behind again..........so I have no choice but to throw him in the truck and take him with us. Which would have been fine if he could have behaved himself! So I arrive at Opal's to drop off the kids and I roll the window down a few inches to make sure the mangy mutt has some air. That being my second mistake. Cute little Lexi wants to see what I have in the trailer (they live in town) so as I am carrying her to the trailer I see Moose, stuck hanging half in, half out of the truck flopping all about. Oh crap! Can you imagine poor Lexi's face? I am checking all my pockets for the keys since I can't free him without getting bit. Of course, in my excitement to show Lexi the bulls in the trailer I had set the keys down in the house! Argh! I finally get the keys, all the while Moose is screaming his fool head off. I cram them in the ignition and hurry to put the window down forgetting to catch stupid Moose. He crashed in a thud but was no worse for the wear apparentley since he ran straight for Sage. I get him caught up and chuck him back into the truck only to discover the ragged little son-of-a-you know what expressed his anal glands all over the truck in all his panic. If you have never smelt anal glands please avoid it at all costs! It is RANK! Just remeber this, baby wipes work for everything. I don't think we helped him any with his anxiety issues today. With Moose rescued and the kids happily tucked away at Opal's I get back on the road heading for Sallie's (my stand in Mom) to pick up the other bull. We were culling them all! Thankfully the loading went well and we were on the road in no time with their godzilla bull. We got everyone dropped off without further incident thankfully.