In two days I'm getting on a plane and flying to Seattle. I know, it's a simple 50 minute flight, but I wanted this to be an actual VACATION, and if I had to drive 6 hours each way, it would seem like work instead! When I land, I will be picked up at the airport by someone I've never met, who will take me to a hotel so I can meet 19 more women that I've never met! Hence, the name "Big Fat Meetup".
Actually, if I have the story correct, there was no such thing as a BFM a few years ago, and it all started like this...
A company called Sonlight began a forum for homeschooling parents to discuss homeschooling. It grew and grew, and became so much more than a place to compare notes on the joys and sorrows of homeschooling. It became a place to meet people, make friends, pray for people, discuss hard topics with people, and just generally socialize and have fun. For the homeschool mom, stuck at home all the time with her kiddos, some secluded in other countries, and/or in a country setting in the states, this was a true place to get adult conversation and to not feel quite so alone in this journey of homeschooling.
Soon women began to discover that they lived near someone and they would "meet up". Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but one lady, or possibly a few, thought it would be fun for lots of women to "meet" in real life, so the BIG FAT MEETUP was born, planned in a city somewhere in the US (I really should have researched where the 1st one was), and a group of women showed up, never having met IRL life before, and they spent the weekend together. It was so successful, that it has become a yearly tradition, and the rest is history!!
In my limited knowlege I know there has been one in Huntington Beach, Virginia, and several others, and this year it's going to happen in Seattle (and next year in Chicago, which I totally plan to attend as well). So, in two days, I will settle into a hotel room with 3 other women, share a bed with a stranger, and probably have the time of my life hanging out with other homeschooling moms.
I can't wait!
I'm so excited!
I have a shell of an idea what I'll do with everyone to fill up the time, but a lot of it is still unplanned and I will just "go with the flow" as much as possible! There are plans to go to the top of the Space Needle, Ride the Ducks, Cruise on the waterways, go to the Aquarium, eat dinner at a hardcore seafood restaurant (this will be VERY interesting as I am vegetarian, almost vegan, and the last time I sat with someone eating lobster, well, it wasn't real easy to watch!!), walk in a famous market in Seattle, dine on the rooftop of someone's condo, jacuzzi in the hotel pool, and just generally take in the sights and sounds of Seattle. And all this with just WOMEN. Sounds like a REALLY good time to me!!
I have been doing my laundry, and thinking about what I'll pack. I expect the weather to be much like home...still needing layers and fleece in the evenings. I'm going to pack light, but will check my bag so I don't have to deal with travel size bathroom items. I hope I will learn everyone's names before it's over!! I think we might have nametags, which will be very helpful!
Anyway, when pictures appear on my blog of total strangers, now everyone will know why. And by the time the weekend is over, they will no longer be strangers to me!!
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
A Work in Progress
MAN, it's tough making a blog look good. This is it for now, but not where it's going to stay.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Why I Should be in Sales
Now, I'm not going to tell you that I can sell a freezer to an Eskimo. I'm not sure I'm THAT GOOD at sales. But today's experience found me walking away rather pleased with myself, and it reminded me of another experience I had a few years ago, (which I'll tell about another time).
The truth is, I AM in sales already, selling cute, fuzzy, cuddly puppies, but I was thinking that there must be a job out there that pays BIG bucks for the skills that I have. I was at the pool today, visiting with some friends, when it was finally time to head home. I had to stop by the feed store to check to see if any of my 3 kittens were still there, as I would need to bring them home with me. I was really hoping they would all be gone, the last of 6 unexpected kittens that were born in our garage attic.
The feed store is the place to go to get a kitten. Everybody around here knows that if you need a barn cat, or a cute, sweet house cat, the first place to check is the feed store. They also know that if you are trying to get rid of cats or kittens, you can leave them for the day at the feed store, and hope when you come back later, your cat or kitten has been taken to live in some one's home or barn. So that is where I was today, crossing my fingers and hoping all my kittens were gone.
As I pulled up and parked, I saw out of the corner of my eye little orange ears. I couldn't be sure if I saw one or two sets of ears, and when I got out of the car, I could see there was just one of my kittens left in the pen. Ahh, 2 had found homes, and now there was just one. It was a cute little light orange kitty, that we found out was a female, after one of the farm store workers, who was the master cat sexer, told us. This particular kitten was not happy in her pen alone, and was crawling up the sides trying to find her escape. I REALLY didn't want to bring her home to be alone in the crate I have here (otherwise she'll disappear into the woods, become #10 or #11 barn cat that we have around here...I've lost count), so I began plotting how I could find someone to take her.
So, I stood in front of the store, next to the cats, in my innocent white skirt, and navy tank top, and smiled at each person as they came from their vehicles and asked them, "Did you come here today to choose a kitten?" I refrained from batting my eyes (I wasn't that desperate, and really don't have those type of flirting skills anyway), but I smiled sweetly at each person and tried to engage them in conversation regarding the benefits of a new kitten. Pretty soon a young guy, probably in his 20's came up the steps and I asked him my question. He said no, he wasn't here to find a kitten, and I told him about my desire to find a home for this last little creature.
Then a store worker came out asking if the kittens were males or females (that's when the other store worker came and worked his kitten sexing magic), and said he had a lady on the phone asking and wanting barn cats. I told him to really promote the ORANGE kitten, and also tell the kind woman that there was a lady out front (me) with several adult barn cats if she needed any more than a couple of kittens. I was working every angle I could as we would be very happy to just have the ONE spayed female that we actually like. I guess he went back to talk with the lady and returned to tell me she was coming to look at them and would talk to me if I was still here.
During this time, I was still engaging each newcomer to the store with my happy question about why they had come today, and engaged yet another lady in the discussion about my kitten. THEN, the next thing I knew, the young guy, who apparently had made a quick phone call to his wife, said he'd take my kitten! SCORE! I then talked him into getting the grey kitten as well so they would have companions, and helped him plop both kittens into the box, close the lid, and send him on his way.
This guy, when I originally talked with him, hadn't come for a kitten, and then he left with 2 of them!! Now before anyone gets upset with me, forcing people to take an animal when they didn't really want one, he did tell me that they had been talking about getting a kitten, so it wasn't a completely impulsive decision on his part.
The main point of my story is that I wasn't going to leave with that last kitten, and planned to stand there, engaging people, promoting my sweet kitten, until I found it a good home. I figure there must be a job out there in the corporate world that needs those types of skills, and maybe I could actually get paid for my perseverance and communication skills!!
I also learned that there is a cat spay/neuter clinic that comes through town and will alter these little creatures for $15 each. I'll definitely be calling that number, 635-MEOW, so we can solve our abundant cat problem. In the past, whenever I've had a cat fixed (except the Calico female that we like), they have always disappeared, and my $60-75 investment disappeared as well, leaving me very discouraged. At $15, I'm willing to take the risk. When you live in the country, cats seem to be sort of disposable, not due to carelessness, but simply because if they live outdoors, it's not always safe. But in spite of that, ours seem to have beat the odds and are reproducing faster than we can deal with them. But not anymore!!
The truth is, I AM in sales already, selling cute, fuzzy, cuddly puppies, but I was thinking that there must be a job out there that pays BIG bucks for the skills that I have. I was at the pool today, visiting with some friends, when it was finally time to head home. I had to stop by the feed store to check to see if any of my 3 kittens were still there, as I would need to bring them home with me. I was really hoping they would all be gone, the last of 6 unexpected kittens that were born in our garage attic.
The feed store is the place to go to get a kitten. Everybody around here knows that if you need a barn cat, or a cute, sweet house cat, the first place to check is the feed store. They also know that if you are trying to get rid of cats or kittens, you can leave them for the day at the feed store, and hope when you come back later, your cat or kitten has been taken to live in some one's home or barn. So that is where I was today, crossing my fingers and hoping all my kittens were gone.
As I pulled up and parked, I saw out of the corner of my eye little orange ears. I couldn't be sure if I saw one or two sets of ears, and when I got out of the car, I could see there was just one of my kittens left in the pen. Ahh, 2 had found homes, and now there was just one. It was a cute little light orange kitty, that we found out was a female, after one of the farm store workers, who was the master cat sexer, told us. This particular kitten was not happy in her pen alone, and was crawling up the sides trying to find her escape. I REALLY didn't want to bring her home to be alone in the crate I have here (otherwise she'll disappear into the woods, become #10 or #11 barn cat that we have around here...I've lost count), so I began plotting how I could find someone to take her.
So, I stood in front of the store, next to the cats, in my innocent white skirt, and navy tank top, and smiled at each person as they came from their vehicles and asked them, "Did you come here today to choose a kitten?" I refrained from batting my eyes (I wasn't that desperate, and really don't have those type of flirting skills anyway), but I smiled sweetly at each person and tried to engage them in conversation regarding the benefits of a new kitten. Pretty soon a young guy, probably in his 20's came up the steps and I asked him my question. He said no, he wasn't here to find a kitten, and I told him about my desire to find a home for this last little creature.
Then a store worker came out asking if the kittens were males or females (that's when the other store worker came and worked his kitten sexing magic), and said he had a lady on the phone asking and wanting barn cats. I told him to really promote the ORANGE kitten, and also tell the kind woman that there was a lady out front (me) with several adult barn cats if she needed any more than a couple of kittens. I was working every angle I could as we would be very happy to just have the ONE spayed female that we actually like. I guess he went back to talk with the lady and returned to tell me she was coming to look at them and would talk to me if I was still here.
During this time, I was still engaging each newcomer to the store with my happy question about why they had come today, and engaged yet another lady in the discussion about my kitten. THEN, the next thing I knew, the young guy, who apparently had made a quick phone call to his wife, said he'd take my kitten! SCORE! I then talked him into getting the grey kitten as well so they would have companions, and helped him plop both kittens into the box, close the lid, and send him on his way.
This guy, when I originally talked with him, hadn't come for a kitten, and then he left with 2 of them!! Now before anyone gets upset with me, forcing people to take an animal when they didn't really want one, he did tell me that they had been talking about getting a kitten, so it wasn't a completely impulsive decision on his part.
The main point of my story is that I wasn't going to leave with that last kitten, and planned to stand there, engaging people, promoting my sweet kitten, until I found it a good home. I figure there must be a job out there in the corporate world that needs those types of skills, and maybe I could actually get paid for my perseverance and communication skills!!
I also learned that there is a cat spay/neuter clinic that comes through town and will alter these little creatures for $15 each. I'll definitely be calling that number, 635-MEOW, so we can solve our abundant cat problem. In the past, whenever I've had a cat fixed (except the Calico female that we like), they have always disappeared, and my $60-75 investment disappeared as well, leaving me very discouraged. At $15, I'm willing to take the risk. When you live in the country, cats seem to be sort of disposable, not due to carelessness, but simply because if they live outdoors, it's not always safe. But in spite of that, ours seem to have beat the odds and are reproducing faster than we can deal with them. But not anymore!!
In Case Anyone Was Wondering
I'm trying to redesign my blog and can't figure out how to make my picture narrower and wider without stretching and schewing it to look out of proportion. So, in the meantime, you all can enjoy this huge photo, that I took myself!! Personally, I think it's a great picture!!
 |
| Never knew there was a spider until I saw the picture big like this!! |
Thursday, July 21, 2011
I Just Joined Twitter
Social Media. I blazed a path through Facebook for myself and my business, but I've been dragging my feet on Twitter. But today I finally began the new journey. I'm @CuriousKristy if anyone cares to "follow" me. I want to figure out how to link it to my Facebook so one posts to the other if possible.
That's all I have for now. Just thinking about keeping up with all the different sites is making me tired!!
That's all I have for now. Just thinking about keeping up with all the different sites is making me tired!!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Gymnastics
I"ve been learning about blogging, sort of like getting crumbs that are falling from the table, bits and pieces here and there from others who are taking blogging very seriously, evening planning to go to blogging conferences to learn more. I feel like I'm getting left behind, but I am eager to hear what they have learned. I would go to a conference, would LOVE to go to one, so maybe I can find something local.
In the meantime, I can see that these other women have given their blog a more decisive direction, have focused on exactly what their blog message will be, and it seems they are moving in an organize direction with their posts! I've been thinking about what direction I want my blog to go, and have been contemplating again, just how vulnerable I want to be out here in this public place.
The truth is, I have 4 blogs that I post in regularly, one for business, 2 for pleasure, and 1 that is completely private. By doing this, I can cover all areas of my life, but the reader really only sees me in parts, and not the whole. Somehow I want to change that, but haven't gotten the courage just yet, mostly because most of my readers actually KNOW me IRL, and SEE me regularly. It would be easier if most everyone was a stranger, or just an acquaintance, or if I could somehow be anonymous.
So, as I figure out where I want my blog to go, and I figure out what I want to write about, how much I want to share about my struggles, and how much I want to invest in my blog...while I figure all that out, I needed to do something that was enjoyable and relaxing. And this is where gymnastics comes in.
I LOVE GYMNASTICS!! I was a gymnast as a kid, and would still be, if my body would cooperate. I love flipping and twisting, twirling and spinning, dancing and moving to music, and the discipline that gymnastics requires. Since I can't do gymnastics anymore, I have to be satisfied watching it. And so, I share with all of you, my favorite gymnastics montage of all time....RUSSIAN GLORY. This montage was brilliantly put together, the clips and music seemlessly intertwining together, the movements, the emotions...everything in sync, depicting the heartache and power that goes hand and hand with this sport. Whenever I need a pick me up, I go to this montage and watch it over and over. It makes me happy and gives me motivation. Enjoy!!
In the meantime, I can see that these other women have given their blog a more decisive direction, have focused on exactly what their blog message will be, and it seems they are moving in an organize direction with their posts! I've been thinking about what direction I want my blog to go, and have been contemplating again, just how vulnerable I want to be out here in this public place.
The truth is, I have 4 blogs that I post in regularly, one for business, 2 for pleasure, and 1 that is completely private. By doing this, I can cover all areas of my life, but the reader really only sees me in parts, and not the whole. Somehow I want to change that, but haven't gotten the courage just yet, mostly because most of my readers actually KNOW me IRL, and SEE me regularly. It would be easier if most everyone was a stranger, or just an acquaintance, or if I could somehow be anonymous.
So, as I figure out where I want my blog to go, and I figure out what I want to write about, how much I want to share about my struggles, and how much I want to invest in my blog...while I figure all that out, I needed to do something that was enjoyable and relaxing. And this is where gymnastics comes in.
I LOVE GYMNASTICS!! I was a gymnast as a kid, and would still be, if my body would cooperate. I love flipping and twisting, twirling and spinning, dancing and moving to music, and the discipline that gymnastics requires. Since I can't do gymnastics anymore, I have to be satisfied watching it. And so, I share with all of you, my favorite gymnastics montage of all time....RUSSIAN GLORY. This montage was brilliantly put together, the clips and music seemlessly intertwining together, the movements, the emotions...everything in sync, depicting the heartache and power that goes hand and hand with this sport. Whenever I need a pick me up, I go to this montage and watch it over and over. It makes me happy and gives me motivation. Enjoy!!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Shinanigan's Dust Cover
Kaelyn is going to her first horse show, and one of the events is Showmanship. This is where they judge how the horse looks and how well you handle them on the ground with a halter and lead rope. Kaelyn will be scrubbing Shinanigan until she shines, and she wanted something to put over her to keep the dust off of her while she traveled to the arena. So Kaelyn started hunting, and found this old blue sheet.
We bought some double stick interfacing to stick the letters to the fabric, so Kaelyn could sew some decorative stitches without them sliding all around.
When this girl sets her mind to something, look out! She will make it happen!
It was a fun project. I'll be sure to get a picture of it actually on the horse!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Irises
I took these pictures for the Woodman, because he was away working, and I didn't want him to miss the beauty of his Irises. He and his mother truly enjoy this flower, and I will admit, they are a beautitful flower! We're still trying to decide where their permanent home will be in the garden, but for now, they line a part of one side of the garden fence. I think the deer do stick their little noses through and nibble on them just a bit, so we may end up moving them away from the fence. I'm loading these photos after the Woodman has been home for the weekend, so I'm too late, but everyone else can still enjoy them.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Crippled Garden
The garden seems to be hibernating. The weather has been cold, cloudy, and drizzly. When these pictures were taken, this was the ONLY sunny day, sandwiched between gloomy and cool weather. Since we had put plants into the ground, and especially the warm weather loving plants, like the tomatoes and peppers, nothing had grown a bit. For 3 weeks, things just sat, looked ill, cold, and very unhappy. It's warm now, so I'm really hoping there is still time for things to ripen up before the first frost in late September or early October.
Kids are weeding the corn. Tomatos are on the left, path of lettuce volunteers, elephant garlic, and the regular lettuce patch on the right. Beyond the kids is one patch of beans.
Lettuce, peppers, a bed that our neighbor is using, and more garlic beyond that.
Potato patch is coming along nicely. I think we have 4 x 92 ft of potatoes planted this year.
Peas are fairly happy despite the cold weather.
We never harvested the garlic last year, so it's a very full patch this year. I'm not sure what to expect when we dig it up. And don't ask me what we're going to do with all that garlic. I don't know.
Raspberries almost ready to blossom. Hoping the wasps won't be too bad this year. We always have to compete with them for the berries. Normally, we win, but it's much nicer when there aren't so many of them!
First Strawberries. I need to go up there again and soon. This picture was taken a week ago, so there must be enough for a small breakfast bowl by now.
Strawberry patch is scary big...4 x 46 ft, times 5 rows. Once they start, we'll have berries all summer. I"m looking forward to having a freezer full of frozen strawberries and jars of strawberry jam in my pantry! Now that the sun is shining, we will have to really begin to battle with the weeds. It's a daunting task, that's for sure.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The Kitchen Was Clean
I finally came into the house and the kitchen was clean, the kids had followed through with their assignments AND had made supper, which I hadn't asked them to do. I immediately felt better. After supper we enjoyed some music together, and then I did 2 math lessons with Darien. He lost the paper, but we did more math than necessary today, to meet our August 3rd deadline, so maybe we didn't lose ground.
I plan to help him with his math everyday, to try and pull his grade up. He has failed 2 units, and if we have time, I'll request that he be able to re-take those two tests in hopes that we can get his grade up for each unit. I think a kid has to be pretty "mathy" to be able to read it in a book and "get it", without additional explanation. This kid is not "mathy", so I will lend my help where I can. I'm decent at Algebra, so I've been able to explain things in this pre-algebra course.
I finally got the pictures to load on my blog from my iPhone. Garden pictures coming...
I plan to help him with his math everyday, to try and pull his grade up. He has failed 2 units, and if we have time, I'll request that he be able to re-take those two tests in hopes that we can get his grade up for each unit. I think a kid has to be pretty "mathy" to be able to read it in a book and "get it", without additional explanation. This kid is not "mathy", so I will lend my help where I can. I'm decent at Algebra, so I've been able to explain things in this pre-algebra course.
I finally got the pictures to load on my blog from my iPhone. Garden pictures coming...
Monday, June 27, 2011
August 3rd is the Deadline
I want a new life. I want to run away and hide from my reality. I just spent the last 2 1/2 hours at a friend's house using their Internet because ours is so painfully slow due to over usage on our bandwidth, and Darien needed to do his online schoolwork. I left my other kids to take care of the one kid. In all that time, he got one computer lesson done and he wrote 2 paragraphs of an essay. It was getting late, and we needed to let our friends have the privacy of their home back. I told Darien to back up his paragraph, copy and paste it to a new document, whatever it took to save it, before shutting down his computer. INSTEAD, he tried to just save the work online, but the Internet connection was giving him issues, and he ended up losing everything he wrote.
It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take this child an hour to write a paragraph. I'm so angry right now I can hardly see straight, and at the same time I just want to give up. He is NOT going to finish these classes in time. He has until august 3rd that is the deadline and the last day he can submit any work Maybe I should just accept that he will not finish. He needs 60 units to be considered a sophomore next year. He will have 54. If he could finish the computer class, he'd have 59, and that could get by. The problem is that I AM THE ONLY ONE STRESSING ABOUT THIS.
Sorry, rant coming...
I don't want to be the only one that cares about his education.
I don't want to be the only one home raising the children.
I don't want to be the only one taking care of the dog business this summer.
I don't want to be the only one taking care of the garden this summer.
I don't want to be the only referee overseeing my children so they will help with all these things this summer.
I don't want to be the only driver this summer.
I don't want to be the only house keeper this summer.
I don't want to be the only one noticing that the lawn needs to be mowed this summer.
I don't want to be the only one noticing everything that needs to be done this summer.
I'm still sitting in my car writing this blog post. If I just sit here, I don't have to face my reality I don't want to go into my messy house. I don't want to face my messy kitchen. I gave the other two children instructions to clean the kitchen while I was gone with Darien. I don't want to have to come into the house and find that they didn't do it, and listen to their excuses of "he/she didn't do thus/such, and so I couldn't do my part of the job." I don't want to have to be the only one thinking of consequences for lack of follow through.
I'm tired of having everything resting on my shoulders.
Maybe I'm too intense about everything. Maybe I need to "chill". I just want my kid to get through high school, and then I want him to be able to get a job and support himself. That's all. I don't think it's really very much to ask.
Thank you for listening.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take this child an hour to write a paragraph. I'm so angry right now I can hardly see straight, and at the same time I just want to give up. He is NOT going to finish these classes in time. He has until august 3rd that is the deadline and the last day he can submit any work Maybe I should just accept that he will not finish. He needs 60 units to be considered a sophomore next year. He will have 54. If he could finish the computer class, he'd have 59, and that could get by. The problem is that I AM THE ONLY ONE STRESSING ABOUT THIS.
Sorry, rant coming...
I don't want to be the only one that cares about his education.
I don't want to be the only one home raising the children.
I don't want to be the only one taking care of the dog business this summer.
I don't want to be the only one taking care of the garden this summer.
I don't want to be the only referee overseeing my children so they will help with all these things this summer.
I don't want to be the only driver this summer.
I don't want to be the only house keeper this summer.
I don't want to be the only one noticing that the lawn needs to be mowed this summer.
I don't want to be the only one noticing everything that needs to be done this summer.
I'm still sitting in my car writing this blog post. If I just sit here, I don't have to face my reality I don't want to go into my messy house. I don't want to face my messy kitchen. I gave the other two children instructions to clean the kitchen while I was gone with Darien. I don't want to have to come into the house and find that they didn't do it, and listen to their excuses of "he/she didn't do thus/such, and so I couldn't do my part of the job." I don't want to have to be the only one thinking of consequences for lack of follow through.
I'm tired of having everything resting on my shoulders.
Maybe I'm too intense about everything. Maybe I need to "chill". I just want my kid to get through high school, and then I want him to be able to get a job and support himself. That's all. I don't think it's really very much to ask.
Thank you for listening.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Friday, June 24, 2011
My First Rodeo
Every year on Father's Day weekend, Colville hosts a Rodeo! Since my daughter is thoroughly, and completely a "horse girl", I thought it would be fun to check out what other "real horse people" do for fun. I'm glad I did!
Cowboy hat, plaid shirt, blue jeans, cowboy boots (can't see them), great friend, and a dog! What else does a Rodeo girl need??
I dragged the boys along. I think they enjoyed the bull riding the best!
When we first arrived, I felt like I was in a story book! There were cowboys and cowgirls EVERYWHERE! Not all of them were rodeo competitors, but people were just in the spirit of coming to a rodeo, and dressed for the occasion! I loved it! It completely had that small town feel, good wholesome entertainment, and country music was blaring over the loud speakers. This is my kind of place!! As I took everything in, lyrics from country music songs began to fill my head! The "girl in the ticket line with the mini skirt" was there...the "boy with the stain on his shirt" was there...the "big green tractor" was there...people who lived in "the house that built me" were there...and I'm sure lots of "broken hearts" were there!! I grabbed a bag of kettle corn, after passing up ice cream cones, cotton candy, hot dogs, and barbecued ribs, and then headed towards the stands. There were people dotted all over the stands, and everywhere we looked was someone that we knew! How cool is that? It's another perk of small town life! We found some friends, and claimed our seats. Before the show began, two more groups of friends found us in the stands, and we had a large group of familiar faces surrounding us!!
I had some mixed emotions about the other events. The barrels were fun to watch. Seeing a horse turn on a dime, and lean into the turn like a seasoned motorcycle rider taking a tight turn was quite impressive. But I did not like the calf roping events. Those poor little creatures, lassoed at the neck, just to have the horse and rider abruptly stop, resulted in a terrific pull, often spinning the calf around in the air, twisting the head behind it's body in a very unnatural and painful looking angle. Whenever a roper "missed", I was secretly glad!! I also didn't really like seeing the horses bucking around. I didn't seem to mind the bulls, because they are mean, but the horses seem like innocent victims. I'm sure I'm just a softie. I will say that I'm looking forward to my next Rodeo, and will definitely go again next Father's Day weekend to the one in Colville. Kaelyn wants to ride the different events in the rodeo, barrells, poles, etc., so I guess I better get used to this environment!!
The bull riding was first. MAN, those guys are CRAZY!! I seriously think they have too much testosterone flowing through their bodies. Those bulls are mad, and they want revenge. Only 3 riders the entire evening stayed on for the required 8 seconds. Many were off after the second jolt, and one was sort of crumpled under the bull when he fell off. While it's exciting, it's a little bit difficult to watch. I certainly don't want to see someone get seriously injured.
The rodeo clowns are amazing! One of them had headphones and a microphone, and he would banter back and forth with the Rodeo announcer. They were downright funny, and added so much to the entertainment. The rodeo clown brought out a mannequin dressed in the most vivid and wild colors, nothing matching, and everything clashing. It was meant to be a distraction for the bulls, and it definitely did the job. One of the bulls, after ridding himself of the rider, tore around the arena, looking for a way out. Suddenly, his eye caught "lady gaga", and he stopped in his tracks. He eyed that spectacle, pawed his foot, lined up his head, and charged forward, sending the colorful dummy in 5 different directions. He smashed her to smithereens, each appendage landing in a different direction, like a tornado had come through town. I wish I had a video of the actual impact! It was classic, like an explosion, with pieces going in all directions! Of course, it was a huge crowd pleaser, and after that, the clown had to settle with a pile of parts. He put the legs sticking up out of the ground, and the torso sticking up a little distance away, and then the jokes never stopped about how long waisted she was, how much pain she must be in, etc. I was glad we made it through the bull riding without seeing any blood or broken bones, on a real human!
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Incredible Snake Tale
I will probably never witness anything like this in person again in my life. It was one of those experiences that you only see on National Geographic Channel!! I was driving home, and was on the very last stretch of the road, when I came around the bend of the corner. Flying through the air was a HUGE Red Tailed Hawk, with a snake dangling in his talons. I could see him flying, against the blue sky, gaining altitude with his soon to be dinner lifting over my head.
But then he saw me, and before all the details of what was happening actually registered in my mind, the bird dropped the snake, and it flopped onto the ground, just a few yards from me. The hawk landed in the tallest nearby tree, and both of us surveyed what just happened. Reality began to take hold, and I couldn't believed what I just witnessed!! If the angle had been eerily perfect, the snake would have descended into my open window and landed smack in the middle of my lap.
Curiosity got the best of me, and I wanted to see if the snake was alive or dead. The hawk and I both had the same wish...get to the snake first, but he let go of his desire, and promptly flew away when he could see that his dinner was gone, and another predator, bigger than himself, was on the scene.
I drove up to the snake and he promptly coiled himself up and swayed his body gently in each direction. His eyes were piercing my own, and his tongue was in motion. I edged the car closer, and he struck at my tire. I took a good look at that snake and was horrified to see a triangular shaped head, skinny neck, and the behaviors of a Rattle Snake. I was told there were no Rattle Snakes where we lived, but this was a living, breathing, very rattle-snake-like creature, and he was just under a mile from my house.
I grew up in California. I know what Rattle Snakes look like, and I know what they are capable of doing. I DID NOT want a Rattle Snake that close to my house. But while he had the mannerisms and look of a Rattle Snake, he didn't rattle, and that was very puzzling to me. I backed up the car and pulled forward again. He coiled, swayed, spit his tongue, gave me the evil eye, but he did not rattle. I threw a few pebbles at him. He was not happy. But he made no sound at all. Something wasn't right!
I called Daryl. I knew I could take care of the snake and squash him, but if he wasn't poisonous, I didn't feel any need to kill him, so I wanted a second opinion. Soon he arrived with our friend Rob, and both of them confirmed that they thought the snake was probably a Bull Snake.
If you look closely, you can see a bit of blood on his mouth. I'm sure he had struggled with the Hawk, before experiencing his rude landing. He did not like me one bit, and acted in a very evil manner towards me. He actually should have been thanking me, because I saved him from becoming lunch.
See that head?? That is triangular if I've ever seen triangular!
I was quite happy to be safely up in my vehicle!
A picture of the girl who was tormenting the snake with pebbles! We ended up guiding him away from the road and into the woods. He took refuge under some bushes, in the deep grass, and hopefully found his way home! It was a bad day for the Hawk, a good day for the snake, and a mixed day for me. I was glad he wasn't a rattler, but I don't like knowing that there ARE snakes in my neck of the woods. Ewwwwww!
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But then he saw me, and before all the details of what was happening actually registered in my mind, the bird dropped the snake, and it flopped onto the ground, just a few yards from me. The hawk landed in the tallest nearby tree, and both of us surveyed what just happened. Reality began to take hold, and I couldn't believed what I just witnessed!! If the angle had been eerily perfect, the snake would have descended into my open window and landed smack in the middle of my lap.
Curiosity got the best of me, and I wanted to see if the snake was alive or dead. The hawk and I both had the same wish...get to the snake first, but he let go of his desire, and promptly flew away when he could see that his dinner was gone, and another predator, bigger than himself, was on the scene.
I drove up to the snake and he promptly coiled himself up and swayed his body gently in each direction. His eyes were piercing my own, and his tongue was in motion. I edged the car closer, and he struck at my tire. I took a good look at that snake and was horrified to see a triangular shaped head, skinny neck, and the behaviors of a Rattle Snake. I was told there were no Rattle Snakes where we lived, but this was a living, breathing, very rattle-snake-like creature, and he was just under a mile from my house.
I grew up in California. I know what Rattle Snakes look like, and I know what they are capable of doing. I DID NOT want a Rattle Snake that close to my house. But while he had the mannerisms and look of a Rattle Snake, he didn't rattle, and that was very puzzling to me. I backed up the car and pulled forward again. He coiled, swayed, spit his tongue, gave me the evil eye, but he did not rattle. I threw a few pebbles at him. He was not happy. But he made no sound at all. Something wasn't right!
I called Daryl. I knew I could take care of the snake and squash him, but if he wasn't poisonous, I didn't feel any need to kill him, so I wanted a second opinion. Soon he arrived with our friend Rob, and both of them confirmed that they thought the snake was probably a Bull Snake.
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Garden
Again, these photos were taken a few weeks back! I was excited to see blossoms on the strawberry plants. It means only one thing....berries are coming!
When these really get going, we will have a hard time keeping up with picking them!
The one that actually enjoys his time in the garden!
Albino Pea Plant. I think there was something wrong with him afterall, because he did end up dieing.
We had a nice time together! More garden pictures to come!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sabbath Afternoon
I just discovered that I have 6 drafts waiting to become actual blog posts. I take pictures with my iPhone and then blog them with an app to blogger. Then I finish the post on my computer by doing the typing and story telling on a regular keyboard! So I have 6 groups of pictures, all waiting to become posts!!
A few weeks ago, when the river was still so low, we took a walk along the river. It was a bit cool and cloudy, but the kids had fun looking for fish hooks in all the rocks. It was a bit windy and it started to sprinkle right before we left, but it was a nice and refreshing walk overall.
This is our "jumping" place, where the kids jump off the rocks and into the water during the summer. I may have mentioned before how glad I was to see that there are no large, hidden rocks, under that dark water. They can jump all they want with no worries of striking something under the water!
Kaelyn was the chief fish-hook finder.
The sky was warning us that rain would be coming soon!
When it did rain, we took cover in the car!
Self Portrait! I just had my hair done the day before, so was getting used to the new highlights!
We drove around a bit after the rain started, and there were these sweet, little yellow wildflowers. I wanted to get a picture, and was completely delighted when I took a close look at this one! I loved the raindrops on the petals, but on closer inspection, I realized there is a tiny spider walking down one of the petals. I'm going to enter this photo in the fair! I wonder how it will do. I think it's a great shot! (and with my iPhone at that)!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
A few weeks ago, when the river was still so low, we took a walk along the river. It was a bit cool and cloudy, but the kids had fun looking for fish hooks in all the rocks. It was a bit windy and it started to sprinkle right before we left, but it was a nice and refreshing walk overall.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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