First Father's Day

I apologize in advance to those of you who want to be updated on Homestead projects (which there are PLENTY, including one happening right now), or the doggies, or our equine children, or the rest of the wedding, or the honeymoon we took last year, or anything else I've alluded to but never posted about. We kinda have baby fever over here, and well, its gonna spill over into this blog.

But at least I'm blogging!

For the first time, Cowboy H celebrated Father's Day with a fur-less, two-legged being this year. And it just kills me dead.

Too bad Baby H has such a sad face in this photo

And lest you think Hank has been kicked to the curb…

Hope y'all had a wonderful Father's Day as well!

Two Cities, Two Trails

Since most of us are either under 2 feet of snow or 8 inches of rain, I have some trail eye-candy to share with you. (Nevermind that these photos were taken last month…)

First up, Cowboy H and I rode out from our ranch into the local State Park with a few other residents boarders. It was a gorgeous day!

From January 16:

Love the snow-capped mountains nearby!






Here I am on my mount (Maria was lame). Isn't he handsome? I am five and a half months pregnant here.

A week or so later, Cowboy H and I headed out to the desert for a little ride with the Desert Rose. We lucked out and landed another gorgeous day!

From January 25:

Cheers! Of course.


Isn't she fabulous!


Cowboy H and I borrowed horses instead of hauling ours all the way out there. I am nearly six months pregnant here. Photo courtesy of the Desert Rose.




There was water everywhere; it was so refreshing!

Hope y'all enjoyed a glimpse of what all this stormy weather will give way to in a few months. Stay safe and warm!

Tap Tap… Is This Thing On?

The most recent photo I have of Cowboy H and I, taken in September of last year.

Hello? Anybody out there?

Anybody?

As I begin to write my first post in, oh, seven months, I wonder if I will even show up on anybody's feed anymore. Heh heh, that's okay, we'll all gotta start (over) somewhere.

This is seriously the first time I have even logged into my blogger account in about 6 months. It took me approximately 7 tries to get my user name and password combination correct. Then I couldn't remember how to navigate my account once logged in. Lastly, I can't remember how to write html format anymore!!!

I'm surprised my account is still active…

I never, ever intended to stop blogging, but once I had been MIA for so long, I felt weird coming back. I didn't know where to start, what to say.

Then, I lost all motivation. My schedule calmed down and I actually had some time to blog, but I just couldn't talk myself into logging in. I didn't feel like a blogger anymore.

Not sure if I even can call myself a blogger anymore…

Moving on. I miss y'all!! (Seriously, is anyone still there?)

I'm not sure if I'm back for good, but I really really really want to be back. So much has happened that I haven't documented (you know, its been almost a year) that I'm starting to forget it all. And really, while establishing wonderful connections with all my readers/commenters has been a big plus, the main reason I started this blog was to record and remember the story and adventures of The Homestead.

Speaking of The Homestead…

Its still standing. It didn't get washed away or flooded out during the Southern California Christmas-time Downpours.

But that's about all that's stayed the same.

Well, the number of family members has stayed the same.

But, that too will be changing soon.

Oh yes, we are doing it again.

Only this time, the newest member won't be here till May.

And he'll have 2 legs instead of 4.

And (hopefully) he won't be covered in fur.

ALOHA!!!! (Or My, Oh My, How I've Missed Y'all!)

I'm back! I'm back!

Of course, no one knew I was gone since I never bother to tell anyone anything anymore.

But, I'm back. I'm back online. I'm back to blogging (I promise). And I'm back from a whole entire week in Hawaii (with Cowboy H of course)!

I've written post after post in my head over the last several weeks and am finally going to get them published. I've got the yard project to update you on, I've got more pictures of Crow, I've got a plethora of prints from my photography class to share (and give away!), I've got the wedding recaps to wrap up, and most importantly, I've got our overdue Honeymoon to share now!

For now, enjoy this sneak-peek of the vacation and stay tuned for anything and everything else!

Tag, I'm It!

Okay, so about three weeks ago now, I was "tagged" by both 'City Girl Turned Country Girl' at A&MD Ranch and 'Growing up a Country Girl' at Livin' It Up Country. The deal is this:

Post your tenth photo that you downloaded into photo folder or picaso and blog about it. Then tag 5 others to do the same.

Well, since I don't use picaso, and I have oh, about 50 photo folders, I had to improvise a little bit. So, I selected the very first photo folder on my desktop and picked the 10th photo out of it. Here ya go:

My handsome cowboy and his equally handsome new horse. This is the first trail ride Cowboy H took Crow out on since having him at our boarding ranch. You may remember that Cowboy H had ridden Crow several times elsewhere before we actually owned him. The evening was just beautiful. The blue of the sky and green of the grass were amazingly vibrant. The photo is completely untouched; the colors really were that bright. It ended up being a pretty nice "first" ride.

And so, I have to tag a few of you now, most of you whom have probably already been tagged by others I'm sure. I pick:

Choleesa at Choleesa's World
The Desert Rose at JessesDesertRose
Stephanie at Momma's Soapbox
Cousin B at She Who Rides Many Ponies

I'm only tagging four, because I really want to tag Pony Girl, who apparently QUIT this blogging thing. So, in mourning, I'm leaving an empty spot for her and Pony Girl Rides Again.

P.S. Maria decidedly approves of Crow, if judged by her, ahem, forward behavior towards him on our ride. Seriously, she was rubbing herself all over the poor guy. Yes, I have a hussy of a horse.

P.P.S. Sorry for not linking to all the blogs I mentioned, but its midnight, I have to get up at 6 am and I think you all know who each other is. If not, all the blogs can be found on my side bar.

A Text Message I Sent Cowboy H

Let me give you a little back-story first. As y'all probably know by now Hank loves Cowboy H. I mean loves him. When I let the dogs back in the house after their morning potty-break, if Cowboy H is not awake and walking around, Hank runs around the bed, looking to see if he's still there. Then, if he sees or hears him still in bed, he runs around the bed even more, trying his hardest with his three little good legs to get in bed with Cowboy H.

This morning, Cowboy H left early this morning right after putting the dogs out. When I let them in later in the morning, I had pulled the covers up on the bed, so it really looked like someone was still in bed. Hank came running in and started jumping up on the bed, crying and well, looking for his dad. It killed me!

So I sent Cowboy H this text message:

"Dad please come home. i miss you. i looked for you in bed and you weren't there"

Ahahaha, I crack myself up. Seriously, who does this crap?

Please, if you are guilty of sending text messages on behalf of your pet, 'fess up. We may need to seek help together.

Welcome To My Life, Ed. 3 Vol III

Last night, Huey swiped an ENTIRE piece of pizza off Cowboy H's plate AND snarfed the WHOLE thing before either of us even knew it was gone.

Seriously. Nobody even saw it happen.

It was hilarious. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.

The funniest part was, Cowboy H trying to blame me for stealing his pizza because I had no idea what he was talking about.

HEY! Where'd my? Did you? I had four pieces!

For probably the first time ever, Hank was sitting innocently at my feet.

And Huey? He was hiding behind the couch, licking his chops, all evidence properly destroyed by the time we figured out what happened.

A Homemade Wedding Homestead-Style: Dance! Dance! Dance!

There were three (or four) very important factors to Cowboy H and I in regards to our wedding. One was that the food be amazing. Check. Another was that everything have meaning to us, i.e. not doing something just because its "tradition". Check. Third, we really wanted that down-home, casual, relaxed, spontaneous atmosphere. Check.

And, lastly, we wanted a rockin' dance party!

Our swing dance pretty much set the tone, and pretty soon the dance floor was hopping.

Cowboy H and I danced and danced. I actually was able to two-step around the entire dance floor without screwing up. It was amazing. The two-step is not my strong suit.

Pretty soon my dad sidled up to me and stated, "Everyone says we need to dance together."

So, you're all thinking, Wha?! No father-daughter dance?! Well, I actually had a song all picked out, and I asked my dad, "Do you want to do a father-daughter dance?" And he replied, "No, I don't think we need to. I mean, you're already married, its not like this is the real thing." So, father-daughter dance was scratched. Or so we thought.

I don't even remember what song the band played, but I know it was a good one. For your information, I had picked out "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" sung by Judy Garland since Wizard of Oz is my dad's favorite movie.

No matter, I'm really glad we danced together after all, even if my dad is a horrible dancer.

Photo by my Nina

It was a pretty sweet moment. And pretty soon a bunch of sets of 'father-daughers' joined us. I loved it.

At some point, Cowboy H was caught dancing with his mom, even though we didn't do an "official" mother-son dance.

Photo by my Nina

Even though they weren't planned, I'm glad we got all these special moments captured.

Because, pretty soon, we were back to tearing up the dance floor.

Up Next: All The Details

(I swear, I'm almost done, but if you missed anything, check it all out here.)

All images by Applemoon Photography unless otherwise noted!

And We Said Goodbye

Its been two weeks since we said goodbye to Bella, and well, I kinda miss her.

I'll be honest with y'all, I never really bonded with her, but by the time she left us I had really come to appreciate what a nice little horse she was.

She became probably one of the best trail horses I've ever come across. Nothing, and I mean nothing fazed her. You could always depend on her to cross the water, or the bridge, or the ravine, or the whatever when no other horse wanted to.

Saying goodbye to her was bittersweet, to say the least. I know without a doubt, without the slightest bit of doubt, that she has an even better home than Cowboy H and I were giving her.

But still, I can't say that there weren't a few choked up throats when we loaded her into the trailer.

I mean, its not like we were crying or anything. Geez, cum'on guys.

I swear! I didn't shed a single tear.

Okay, okay. I may have sniffled a little bit.

Especially when Cowboy H gave his final goodbye.

Feel The Love

Last night Cowboy H asked me to email him two photos.

One of him and Crow.

The other of him and Hank.

I obliged and asked if he needed full res images or if I could send him smaller, email-friendly versions.

He responded, "Um, I don't know. I want to use them as the background for my desktop, so whatever you think."

At first, my heart melted. Awww, how sweet, he wants photos of his horse and his dog at work, I thought.

Then, something clicked inside my head.

"HEY! You want photos of your dog and your horse, but what about YOUR WIFE!?!?"

And the punk that he is, just smirked and laughed at me.

Talk about feeling the love.

Portrait of a Cowboy and His Dog

I snapped this a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure this one's going on the wall (someday).

And for those of you who haven't witnessed Cowboy H smile and laugh like I have, this one's for you. Notice even Hank is sticking his tongue out at me!

This man loves his dog so much it makes my heart want to burst.

I'm working on so many other photos and posts; I swear I haven't gone anywhere! Enjoy these for now!

Trail Riding On Our Turf

Finally. I know, this post is pretty much two weeks overdue. But, I'm trying. So, hold on to your hats, this is going to be a long one.

Can you guess who's who?

After days and nights of rain, our planned ride day dawned bright, beautiful and clear. Cowboy H and I got out to our ranch fairly early and brought our ponies in from pasture, gave them each a bucket of grain, tacked up and waited. The girls waited patiently too. It was a sight we'll never see again. Lastly, Cowboy H put the finishing touches on his outfit.

By now, those of you who follow Jesses Desert Rose should know that EVERY ride is an excuse to get dressed to the nines, with matching tack as well. Well, a handful of years ago, the DR bought this pink striped shirt for Cowboy H. Every time we ride with DR, Cowboy H tries to remember to wear this shirt.

However, this time around, we added the tie. Yes, its pink and yes, its paisley. I don't know about anyone else, but I love a man in pink. Mmmmmm...

Anyway.

Soon, we heard the diesel truck rumbling down the drive. Once parked, there was much commotion as the handsome Crow was unloaded and fawned over, mimosas were handed out, magazines were presented and horses settled. Before too long, the mimosas were gone and we were in our saddles.

We rode out from our ranch, into the cow pastures and up the hill I broke my arm on. Just before dropping down into the state park, we stopped for the first photo op.

Wow, we were a colorful group! Also, I would like to mention that this photo is SOOC. I swear! I still can't believe how vibrant the colors are!

We rode into the state park on a trail that Cowboy H, the ranch girls, and I had made ourselves. It was a muddy, mucky, sloshy mess. The entire time, our ponies were ankle deep in mud or over-saturated soil. The ground sunk about four inches with every step. We crossed water about five times, none of them easy ones. Honestly, we should not have gone out that day, the ground was so bad, but that wasn't discovered until about 30 minutes into the ride. The first 40 minutes really were not that fun.

We finally made it to the actual state park trails and had to make our first pit stop. And yes, the DR was caught on her own two feet again.

Look at that strut!


I'm sorry guys. I just can't help myself.

Poor Cowboy H got stuck holding three horses!

Of course, we also took this opportunity to top off our glasses. Thanks Bossman!

And, we were off again.

Yes, the Bossman provides us with REAL glasses out on the trail!

The day was so beautiful we had to stop to take lots of photos.

Or, just take in the view.

We continued up a long hill, and were able to divert our attentions from the ground since the footing was a lot better. Much story-telling ensued.

Once we got to the top, we filled up our glasses, err I mean, let our horses blow a bit.

Please forgive me. Just look at him!

The ponies also got their fair share of trail treats. It was a lot of work just to keep their heads above their knees!

But can you blame them?

Eventually we worked our way down into the main area of the camp, the same place we started out when we gathered cows last time. We got stopped by a park ranger, because well, those dang cows were out again, and she wanted to make sure we knew where those dang cows were (apparently she was tracking them). Uh, cows? Lady, we're just here to ride. Then we were informed that the state park was actually closed to the public, but since we were "here for the cows" she'd let us slide. Aww, thanks. So, we pretended to look for cows. (None were spotted.)

Before long, we were at our lunch spot! The state park has a horse camping ground complete with pipe stalls, porta-potties and picnic tables.

And lunch was served!

Side Note: The Bossman supplies everyone with NEW wine glasses for lunch, because serving wine in the same glasses your champagne was in is just not acceptable.

We definitely took our time during lunch, telling more stories and finishing off two bottles of wine between the five of us. We also decided to head back home through the front entrance of the park and along the city streets. We really didn't want to slop through all the mud we had come in through.

If this doesn't show how small Bella was, I don't know what would.

Riding through the streets was not ideal, but also pretty uneventful with our group. If nothing else, it was a good experience for all the horses.

From there we were back at the ranch. All in all we were out on trail for about six hours, including the one hour lunch break. It was a really great ride, minus all the mud. Maybe in a couple months time, we can do it again?!?!

Anyone else want to join??