And that was spring...
It's been a while since I've had a moment to just write...long enough I've almost forgotten I had a place to share! But I'm here now and I'm trying to remember what has happened since I was here last time. The answer is A LOT!
The song lyric that comes to mind is "I've had a beautiful time...." The rest of that song doesn't apply, but that line does! (I'll wait, while you pull it up on YouTube. It's Merle Haggard...)
Anyway! I'd bore you with a rundown of our events for the last couple of months, that seem to have flung us like an arrow leaving Hawkeye's bow, into August (close enough...see what day it is?!).
Instead, I'll wrap that up into a post about the 9 Things That Make Me Happy All The Time! I hope you'll share yours with me too!
1. Family and friends- This spring really was loaded with fun things. We attended a comedy show, went to brandings, birthdays and BBQs, spent holidays and mini vacation time and slow days with family and friends. We took road trips and boat trips. We laughed so hard that we cried and our stomach muscles begged us to stop. We coined the phrase "if it weren't for bad decisions, we wouldn't have any good stories." Yeah, this spring flew by, but at least we flew with good people!
2. Shopping - browsing - seriously...I love to scroll through boutique web sites and pages and make wish lists of the things they have that I need in my life. Who doesn't?! I've become a fan of the small biz owner and the western boutiques and try to spread the wealth to my favorites when I do pull the trigger! Now, when it comes to shopping for tractor parts or heading to the grocery store? That doesn't quite cut it. Those things feel like a job for sure!
3. Horses - Do I need to detail this one? I will...Maynard and Timmy specifically. Maynard got a lot of use this spring. I rode him to gather, while Weebeast rode Timmy. I roped at a few brandings on Maynard and would also switch to Timmy at times. Weebeast rode a lot which also makes me happy and he got to rope a few times. His face lights up and his grin is literally ear to eat when he snags two feet. He's going to be out-roping us before too long! My latest hobby is riding Maynard in an English saddle. I'm working on me and enjoying that change. I'm finding muscles I forgot I had and giving him a break from the usual.
4. Brandings - they always end too soon! We were given our first branding date in January and the race was on after that. Calves were barely on the ground and we and our friends were scheduling brandings around each other so we could go to all of them. We had over night brandings that lasted two days and we had those that were stacked up from one place to the next.
The best trip was the one we took to help my folks. We left after we helped a friend brand here, loaded with 6 horses and some caffeine and headed out for the 8 hour drive. We only made it about 3 hours from home when Husbeast's truck broke down. We sat on the side of Interstate 80 making phone calls for help before we connected with our friend Bruce. He made it to Napa and then back to us and we got pointed toward home again. The consensus was, get there, let the horses out, eat something, switch trucks, reload and go. So we did. We pulled out of the yard at 10PM. We switched drivers every 2-3 hours and drove all night. We rolled in to Mom and Dad's yard at 6AM, grabbed some coffee and drove another hour to the branding location. We saw old friends, made some new ones and slept really well that night!!
The best part of that, was being there with my folks and brother's family to help them brand their calves.
5. Warm weather- that one is easy. Sunshine and summer time. That puts a smile on my face!
6. Haying season that goes smoothly- I've been known to gripe about haying, yes, I know. But, it's what we do so if I had it my way, it would work smoothly. It did this year. Minor breakdowns that only set us back by a few minutes, brandings in the middle that broke up the days of tractor ass, and finishing a day ahead of schedule. Husbeast even finished hauling the same day. Those are the haying seasons I can appreciate and even look forward to. We were done in 12 days with 5 days of break time. Not too shabby!
7. Reading - Give me a good book and a place to hide and I can be there all day. Doesn't matter the season. I love to read! I just finished 11/22/63 by Stephen King and am on to Origin by Dan Brown. I love historical fiction best. I'm reading the Ruins of Gorlon series with Weebeast. I stayed up until 2 am when I first read that one! Be sure to tell me your favorites!
8. Turquoise and cacti- they are my spirit animals. Chunky turquoise or small and delicate pieces; it doesn't matter. It's taking over my jewelry box and closet. There really isn't any other color that matters! I relate to cactus on a few too many points; likes warm weather, can live where it's cold, but thrives where it's hot, has some pretty attributes and can be a real....yeah. Anyway, cactus print, stickers, clothing, home furnishings and a few that are growing well in my windows! Send me all the cactus and turquoise and turquoise cactus heehee.
9. Spontaneous trips- Historically I'm a planner. I am a fan of the who, what, where, when, why, how so being spontaneous is kinda hard for me. However, the trip we took this spring that had only one rule (no planning) was the best and most fun I have had in a long time! Doing things on a whim probably would wear me out mentally if we did it all the time. But, every once in a while, to just throw plans out the window and enjoy the moment, is pretty refreshing!
10. Cows - I know I said nine, but pretty much all of the things I mentioned above are possible because of cows. Yes it's true that they can be the reason plans get messed up and they are the reason we have to hay and they are the reason we drink (kidding. kind of), but they are also the reason we get to travel for brandings, ride good horses, hang with good people and take fun trips. So, yeah, cows get to be there in my list of things that make me happy, although maybe not "all the time..."
