Retirement

 Lots of folks have been asking if DH is retiring. This is my response. 🤣🤣🤣. 

Those that know him, know that 'retirement' is not in his genes. After all, our first project is putting in 2 miles of new fence in the mountains.

Our broker is a friend we've known for over 37 years and even she wondered. She's good friends with a ranch owner we know and when he found out we were moving to the area he told her, "Have him call me!" She said she left it open, but she didn't think DH was looking for a "job ".

He just spent 10 days in Texas gathering our cows and weaning our calves. Spent 1/2 a day at home and then spent 2 days as a judge for a ranch rodeo.

Friends are inquiring in disbelief, "but what is he going to DO?" We're still working. Just working for ourselves now. After all, ranchers don't retire.

But never fear - there is a list of projects.

There are welded, pipe horse pens to build. Old fence to tear out and roll up. 2 shops and a barn to clean out because much was left behind. An old chicken coop to break down. A new chicken coop to construct. An orchard to plant. Wood to cut. A garden to grow. Roads to build. Horses to work with. Cows to tend. Country to explore. A fishing pond to dig. Brush to clear. Weeds to spray. A fire pit area to install. A yard to make. A shop to set up. Sheds and old wire to break down and haul out. Friends to visit. Hunts to plan. A house to turn into a home. And most importantly, family to enjoy and grandbabies to spoil.

In other words: memories to make.

If he worked as hard as he did for someone else in his former life (80 hour weeks were the norm), he'll work just as hard, if not harder for us so, I think it's safe to say we won't be twiddling our thumbs, but we ARE going to make time to sit and enjoy the view along the way!

Making a House a Home

 The kids all came for a visit a few weeks ago. I absolutely treasure every moment when the house is full! They began arriving on Saturday and the last of them left out on Thursday. I neglected to get a group shot, but these two stole the show

My in-laws came on Tuesday. My MIL was turning 86 and although she never wants to celebrate her birthday, we did so in an understated way. No singing of Happy Birthday allowed (although when it's sung by a 3 yr old great granddaughter, it brings joy), but a day filled with family, good food, and great grandbabies made the day celebratory nonetheless. 

All hands on deck to feed the crowd

This little one melts my heart.

He's pretty lovable

We bought a table and chairs for the deck and with the help of the Director of Assembly, DH and our SIL were able to get it all put together

                                

Good job buddy!

Grandbaby love is the absolute best

The first day I said, "Let's go to the barn" and without any prodding from me, she began to sing, "Old McDonald" and my heart melted. It melted a lot that week.

Champion egg gatherer

and chicken and guinea feeder

Horsey kisses are the best!

This sweet child has a wild mane and she does not like to have it combed

Uncle Ty-Ty was smitten with Baby L

Who can resist that face?!

Love this shot our girl captured

Yes, the tub was a happy place

As was the deck

The perfect way to begin the day

Mountain baby!

I walked out one morning and saw this

E exclaimed excitedly, "Gram! Pap and I saw a Mama bear...and a Daddy bear...and a baby bear!" 😂

These 2 cousins bonded over blocks

And books

and towers

And our hearts were filled to overflowing with each and every moment

We christened the property with grandbaby love and laughter for 5 days and began filling it with treasured memories that make a house a home

Skeet's Mountain Home

 I knew many of you would be inquiring about Skeet. 

Does he like it here? 

He's probably wondering what took us so long to bring him here. LOL.

He's by our side each and every day

He's made a new friend in the resident gopher that lives just off the deck. DH has named him "Pockets" and Skeet is absolutely transfixed by him. Each morning as we linger over tea and coffee, he lasers in on Pockets and Skeet is entertained for as long as Pockets plays hide and seek, which lasts about 45 minutes. It's the funniest thing to watch.

Each and every project we tackle is accompanied by our project manager

He's taken his job very seriously and is just as exhausted as we are at the end of the day

Deck duty is a tough job

He likes to ride down to wherever we're working each day

And lead the way back to the house when the job is completed 

Between keeping us in line, as well as deer, elk, bear, coyotes, fox, squirrels, gophers, chickens, guineas, cows, and horses; he's got his paws full, and I think he likes it that way.

Our Mountain Adventure Begins

 August 21st was our 1st night in the mountains. We were living with a house full of boxes and rumbling tummies so I scrounged up a light supper. We wanted to commemorate the occasion with a toast, but were unable to locate the box with the wine opener so DH improvised and wine was decanted

And we had our first meal out on the deck

DH was up early the next morning (some things never change 😉) fixing breakfast

And once again, we convened out on the deck

And consequentially, we've eaten every single meal out on that deck since. Only when the weather chases us indoors, will we gather around the dining room table which actually has the same view.

Yes, thank you Jesus for bringing us here!

I will say that I've never worked this hard or been this tired. I'm chalking it up to a combination of general moving challenges, age, a lot of physical labor, and the change in altitude. We're 1600' higher here. The first few days we worked on putting up a temporary fence for the horses.

My job was to clear a path for the fence which included lots of sawing with a pretty view

Then we worked another 4 days picking up and rolling up old abandoned fence across the property so the horses wouldn't get cut and tangled up in it.

We did spend one afternoon exploring and picking our way across an old road in the UTV that is really no longer traveled. It took us over an hour to travel 9 miles.

Then I helped DH put up a temporary electric fence around the headquarters to keep the horses out of that area. 

The skid steer has already proven to be invaluable

And the horses are now much happier now that they are no longer cooped up in a tiny paddock.

Any and every other spare moment was spent taking apart these barbed wire cages the previous owners had put up around trees they had planted. They had put them up to keep their horses from eating the trees. There were 10 cages protecting 10 little trees, but we put up a fence surrounding the headquarters so we removed the individual fences in order to clean things up.

Anyone interested in a barbed wire wreath made by old, tired hands?

My hands were SO sore! And then we had to pull all of the posts and they were cemented in.

The previous owners are the dearest couple and they offered to pay for a couple of dumpsters to be delivered so we could clean up things they had left behind. So that's an ongoing project as we clean out the barn and shops.

They left us 2 chickens and a very sweet rooster 

And our chickens and guineas got along with them instantly. There are two old abandoned chicken coops that DH crushed and put in the dumpster. We are currently using a coop that was built into one of the horse stalls but a new coop and chicken yard is on the list.

We've also inherited a herd of hummingbirds that may eat us out of house and home, but we love these incredible little birds and will enjoy them until they migrate south in a few short weeks.

So, needless to say, the house, that is really nice and clean, hasn't been getting much attention. Boxes are only getting unpacked as we hunt for things we need as we need them because we are working outside all the time. 

I've managed to cobble together kitchen necessities and am cooking simple meals that will give us leftovers. 

This Bacon Green Chile Quiche was delicious. I made 2 because the previous owners have been making trips back to pick up some outdoor equipment and it's always good to be prepared.

I also made a batch of Rice Krispie Treats and when I turned around for literally 2 seconds, they were gone. I laughed and said, "Tell me you didn't bring those out onto the deck", as I walked outside. DH's answer, "They'll cool off faster out here". 😄

We are working hard, but we begin and end each day out on the deck and we're so tired when we come inside, it's all we can do to take showers and fall into bed. There is the most amazing bathtub here, but I'm afraid to use it because I'm pretty sure I'll fall asleep and DH will be asleep so he won't hear if I go under. 😂

So we're excited, exhausted and  extremely grateful. We've had mountain showers many afternoons and the first morning we woke up to a rainbow as we lingered over a 2nd cup of coffee and tea. I'd say that's a pretty darn good way to begin this journey.