The Mini-Bull Competition

These were 11 and 12 year old boys from around our county competing on mini-bull riding to win a big belt buckle. They were so amazing and ALL BOY! They had on chaps and some wore special vests to protect their neck and head, and also helmets. And some just went out there with a beatup cowboy hat and hung on for dear life. These bulls did not look very "mini" to us - but we are so new to all this. And the attitudes and self-confidence of these youngsters was wonderful. The older cowboys are all around making sure everything is as safe as it can be under the circumstances, and always make sure that one of them speaks to the little guys after they get off with words of encouragement. Most of the little cowboys would go down on one knee after the ride, in an obvious moment with God. It was all so great to watch - this little microcosm of America at its best.

We had a second meeting with our builder to finalize our budget. He should have all the numbers by tomorrow. The mortgage rep is just waiting for us to set a meeting to get started on the construction loan. It's all coming together. We will probably travel to Sherman today to look at some stone and brick for selection. And we also need to pick out the composite shingle. (The red tile roof was just too expensive!)

Last night we experienced some high winds. It's always a little hard to sleep when this happens. But the old trailer really weathers well. We finally had to turn the heat on last night for the first time this year.

More later. Love to all.

Trash container half full :( Yukky stuff

Our own small grove of trees

These are our new trees! Some of them were terribly damaged in transit (we did not pay for those) so we will be using the "sick tree treatment" organically to revive all of them. And hopefully in the spring they will all have healthy new foliage. We may plant some this winter depending on what equipment we have to help dig the holes.

We travel into Dallas (again!) today to finalize kitchen design, pick up a "military" looking fireplace mantel we found on sale for the living room and four "sun tunnel" skylights we bought through the Dallas Homeshow at two for the price of one. We will be putting these light saving devices into our master closet, bathroom and my studio where they will provide natural daylight.

On the way back home, we are loading a Bobcat walk-behind loader to help us get the last of the trash loaded on the trash container. It is a much welcomed assist to a hard job!

More later - vaya con Dios
:)

Why does the chicken cross the road?

There should be a great joke here! This chicken (rooster, we think) has adopted us after he escaped from the rodeo some weeks ago. We are putting out food for him, but he is happier as a free-range rooster and does actually roost in our treeline out by the gate. Ginger has not discovered him yet :) We have named him "Rodeo" for obvious reasons. Rodeo is our first official farm animal!

We have been very busy (and tired!) pulling out trash these last weeks. We had a 40 yard trash container delivered and are filling it up gradually. We try not to think how angry it makes us to see what people have so carelessly done to the land. But dump sites are very common on ranches, sometimes to correct erosion issues and sometimes just because they can. We are sure this property lay unused for years with open access from the hardtop road, and either people got permission to dump or did it anyway. Some folks just bury it but we would like to get it out of here! And eventually we will dig out a second pond in that area for the cattle.

We also bought 30 shade trees from a tree farm that was liquidating its inventory. We got 10 live oak, 10 chinese pistachio, 5 burr oak and 5 red oak. All of these, except the live oak will have great color changes and grow into 40 - 50 foot shade trees. The live oak stays green all year and in the spring, the new leaves simply push the old leaves off. All these trees are drought tolerant and will do well in our soils. I need new batteries for the camera, so I'll post a picture of the trees tomorrow.

We will travel into Dallas today to meet with the kitchen designer and the folks from the Ft. Worth Brick and Tile Company. They have the saltillo tile we will be putting through most of the house. We'll get their estimate today after they look at the houseplans. Our builder has the final plans now and is coming up with the budget for construction. We are making decisions now about the windows, doors, flooring, fixtures etc. It's hard to sleep at night imagining all these different elements. I could do this forever! (And sometimes it seems like we have been!)

The Rodeo Club is having a miniature bull riding contest on the 21st - will try to include some more pictures.

More later! Vaya con Dios!