A Good Year to be a Rancher

 Since moving to the mountains, it's been difficult to tear us away from home. Especially when tearing us away means being in town. But this weekend found us at the fairgrounds for a 2 day ranch rodeo. A good friend coordinates and produces this annually and he always asks DH to be a judge. 

It is good to catch up with ranching friends we rarely see and in this year of plentiful rain, abundant grass, soggy calves-fat cows, and soaring beef prices; our conversations are filled with grateful hearts. We know all too well that this is an incredibly rare season and an immense blessing and it is not taken for granted.

If you ranch for the money, you may as well go do something else because more often than not, the bottom line is red and not black, but most of us don't do it for the money. In this line of work, it's not what you DO. It's who you ARE. It's faith and family. It's tradition and heritage. It's legacy and values.

                                        

Through the years I've written countless posts (most of those are tagged under ranch life if anyone wishes to read more) about wind and drought, the challenges we've encountered, and about my love for this way of life through it all.

So even in the rough years: when the rain doesn't fall and the prices tank, you pray through it and ALWAYS give God the thanks and glory for allowing you to be a steward of the land and livestock He has placed in your care because from where I stand, there isn't a better life. 

Well that certainly wasn't the direction I saw this post taking. LOL. But the words just fell out and I'm leaving it as is and honestly, every year is a good year to be a rancher. 

Under the Needle: September

 Closing out September already? That doesn't seem possible. It was a busy month both in and out of my sewing room. 

I spent one day in a place I hadn't been in over a year. I used to work at the Livestock Sale Barn on Mondays out on the block next to the auctioneer for 10 years. I quit when we moved, but my boss asked me if I minded filling in when she knew she'd be shorthanded last week. I told her I'd be rusty and she replied that it was just like riding a bike. My reply: I'm pretty rusty at that too. 😂 But I took Jesus to work with me and all went well. 😉

Funny side note: The gentleman circled in the photo is now a cow buyer. Super nice guy. He was a bank president for years. He was also my boss in a different part of the state when I was first married over 38 years ago. 😂

Then today I had to shake off the town-itis and spend some time outside

And then I spent a little time stitching on the binding to the I Spy quilt for our grandson so I could hand stitch it down in the evenings

I recently picked it, and another quilt, up from Jackie

This month I finally finished all the blocks for my S'mores quilt. I'm making it queen-sized so that translates to a lot of blocks. I also got the top together which was a huge undertaking for me. This quilt is on point and I spent lots of time on the floor pinning sashing to rows

 I also started and pieced a 16-patch quilt for a friend's daughter 

And then I decided her brother needed a quilt too so I pulled out these 3 fabrics 

I settled on this 3 yard quilt. I've never made one before, but I think this will be perfect although I'll make it bigger.

So, no finishes this month, but tomorrow is opening day for DH's elk hunt so I think I'll be spending some time out on the deck, stitching that quilt binding and procrastinating about cleaning out the chicken coop. 😉

A Houseful of Blessings

 Last weekend our Okie family blessed us with a visit! 

Everyone gathered on Saturday to celebrate Granny's 87th birthday. And sadly, this is the only group shot anyone took. Baby L was napping, but we had 12 in the house that day.

E helped Granny with her birthday candles and then performed Zip-a-Dee-Do-Da for her.

It was a treat to see my BIL whom we all adore. He no longer drives but my SIL brought him and it was really good for all of us to be together.

And it just melted my heart to watch these 2 cousins interact

The sandbox was a busy place

And a favorite place to play                                      

As folks visited on the deck

Baby L spent every spare minute on his balance bike

                                           

He seriously racked up the miles

            

And the old 25 yr old wagon is still going strong

 and rolling into the next generation 

Our boy has always had a passion for bugs and snakes and lizards and he caught a garden snake to show the littles

Cousin charades kept us in stitches

It truly was a precious weekend

And yes, there will be a 2nd post. 😂

The Mountains Are Calling

 I found this kit on sale earlier this year and couldn't resist it.

I never looked at the instructions until the other day and KRIKEY!

 I am completely overwhelmed and intimidated! I know this is a piece of cake for many of you, but HOLY SMOKES!

The quilt is rather small at 51 x 60, but there are 20 pages of pattern instructions. These fabrics are great and I know I will love the quilt, but I'm going to need some hand holding to tackle this

I'm going to have to clear all the spaces in my sewing room (and in my head) and maybe set up a table to dedicate a place to keep everything organized and labeled. 

I picked up some template plastic and will get those made. Simple tracing. I can trace. No need to hyperventilate... just yet.

O.K. Deep breath. I'm diving in. 

Giving myself a pep talk. I can do this.

New Project

 Sharing a short backstory to fill in the blanks for this post. DH has been a ranch manager/foreman since he graduated college in 1985 (Gig 'em Aggies). 

We worked for one ranch owner (on 2 different ranches - when he sold one, we moved to the other) for 27 years until the ranch sold 2 years ago and we built a little herd of our own and moved to the mountains.

The ranch we managed for 20 years was 128,000 acres. There were times it was difficult to find help and DH and I tended to things on our own, but through the years we had a few good folks and we've stayed in touch with them. One family has 2 children. Their daughter graduated high school this year and I wanted to make her a quilt as she headed off to college. I still think of her and her brother like this.

Talking to her mama and looking at the things she had on an online list, I settled on a collection called Blush & Butterscotsh

I have nothing like this in my stash, but I think this will be perfect. I should have already had it made, but it's still super hot in Texas so I think they'll give me a pass. 😉

I chose to make a simple 16-patch because I think these fabrics lend themselves to some fun contrasts.

I don't know why this colorway never occured to me because I like the way these are playing together

I've got all the fat quarters pressed and cut and have 2 blocks finished.

 DH had some high school buddies he's recently reconnected with out tonight. He graduated in 1981 so there was a lot of catching up to do!

And our girl, SIL, and baby L will be here on Thursday. Hip Hip Hooray!!

We'll have 12 here on Saturday to celebrate my MIL's birthday so working on this will have to wait. Family first and I am looking forward to it so much, but I'm glad I have a plan for this project and will move it forward after the dust settles.

Circling the Wagons

 We're all feeling out of sorts and heavy-hearted around here and at the same time we're excited to see God moving in such a mighty way so we're doing what I've always called 'circling the wagons'. Soaking in family and spending more time on our knees. Living here, it's easy to shut the world out and let our hearts heal and be moved.

The kids came out on Saturday and hung out. I just made a big pot of stew and they brought ice cream to go with the apple crisp I made. 

Our son and DH worked on getting some mounts up on the walls

                          

We hung out on the deck and had a rousing and hilarious game of jump rope out by the barn

 when Emma asked to learn

I laughed so hard that I could hardly hold my phone to snap pictures

When E awoke in the morning, I heard her climb onto Pap's lap. I was in the bedroom and stayed there for a bit to eavesdrop when I heard her little voice, " I want to watch rodeo and eat applesauce, Pap." Yep. She's definitely one of us. LOL

Deck dining 

Egg gathering

Roping lessons

Dirt castle construction

And saddle time

with Pap

All good for the soul

And the dried apples rings I make each fall will now forever be known as 'apple cookies'. 😂