Fire and rain...

What we fear when a storm cloud appears, happened yesterday.  Lightning was flashing from dry clouds and hit several times on our range.  The guys noticed the smoke which seemed small at the time but as they approached, the high winds fanned the flames and in no time it was a raging prairie fire.  Within minutes from the time they left the house, I got the word on the two-way radio to call for help. 

In our country, ranchers are volunteer firefighters too.  We have a community fire department and plenty of good equipment that is placed strategically with ranchers in the area.  At our ranch we have a 300 gallon pumper and a tender truck that holds 1000 gallons of water that is meant to refill sprayers when they are empty but can also be used to fight fire.  At 4:30 yesterday afternoon our men went out with sprayers and started in fighting fire and as the minutes and hours ticked by, one by one, our neighbors showed up with their pumpers and sprayers.  You can't imagine the feeling of seeing help on the way when your ranch is burning -- good neighbors.

I was driving the Ranger (4WD) out to the fire to get NumberOneSon and he was going to go back to get the tractor to plow a fire line, but by the time I got there they realized there was no way  they were going to get ahead of the fire with a tractor/disc combination so that idea was abandoned.  We've had fire here before, but I have never seen anything like this prairie fire.  The winds were pushing the fire onward and the whole horizon was lit up like an orangey-red sunset, but it was fire.  All I could do was to pray to God for help.

The men sprayed down the edges where they could reach and the fire ran on ahead with the wind through pasture after pasture paying no mind to fences.  I went back to help direct more trucks up to the fire, and as I was taking one rancher up, a big crack of thunder and lightning hit and it began to pour.  Rain!  Blessed rain!  We stopped and radio'd up to the guys and they said they were getting rain too but they weren't sure how long it would last.  We drove up to the corner gate and waited, but it was so muddy we felt it best to wait until they called us up.  It kept raining and all the firefighters came back to the gate and we drove back home.   We were all so thankful.  Hubs said, "There is no way we could have caught that fire.  It would have burned to the highway without the rain."

As the men stood around pick-ups discussing what they had just been through, a plane flew over.  It was a fire jumping plane.  Our local fire chief recognized it, and all of them watched the plane circle the fire again and again.  The chief turned his radio back on and he heard them say that the fire had reignited on the north side.  The wind had changed and blew from the east.  Where the rain had not fallen, the fire had re-emerged and  the men hustled back to the line to fight on.  The good thing was that they were present and ready to go. The BLM firefighters showed up and came to sit on the fire site and watch it through the night.  The majority of the land that burned was BLM lease and so they came to help with it and make sure it stayed contained.

This morning Hubs and I went out to look things over in the daylight and to bring hot coffee to those left watching the fire.  Ash, soot and remnants of sagebrush remained along with needle-less cacti and a few sturdy fence posts.  The cows and sheep that were out in the pastures were fine.  They evidently found their way to safety so there was no loss of livestock.  Five trucks and their men stayed on site all day today and left this evening as they felt confident the fire was totally contained.  The state department flew down to measure the area of the fire and their figures were:  1008 acres burned within a 14 mile perimeter.  When we drive out into the pasture now, I think, "This could happen again.  Anywhere, anytime."  On a positive note, with a little rain this fall we hope to see a lovely green pasture come back.  Fire so often improves the land it burns like nothing else can.  This evening I heard on the radio that a prairie wildfire has broken out in Oklahoma.  My heart aches for them.  God, be their help and strength, and please send them rain.

He won! He won!

Our golfer-son went off to a junior college in AZ this past year --his first year of college and his first time EVER in school.   He has put in lots of hard work both in school (to make grades) and in golf.  This past week J. went with his team to their regional tournament and after four days of play, our boy WON the tourney! 

 

We are so proud of him!  We didn't get to go to the regional tourney, but we will be heading for the national junior college tournament in a couple of weeks.  First he has final exams and then.....

....his final golf tournament of the school year. 

(these photos taken last summer)

from the Arizona desert to the lambing shed....

The Man and I took a little time away from the ranch and flew down to sunny Arizona to watch our youngest son play in his first college golf tournament.  Even though he didn't play top notch, he placed 15th among 60 players.  Not bad.

 We enjoyed driving the back roads between Phoenix and Tucson and I couldn't resist taking some desert pictures.

 

  

Handsome male Gambel's Quail.

We got back late last night and there was business going on in the lambing shed.  (These are the crooks we use to hook the lambs or ewes to bring them inside.)

 This mama ewe had herself triplets!  We've already had two sets of quadruplets, four sets of triplets, and several sets of twins.  It's a busy nursery!  I have two bum lambs right now to feed since one of the quaud-moms and two of her babies didn't make it.  The two left behind are good little lambies.  If we keep on having quads and triplets, I'm afraid the bum pen will be very large, and I'll get my old job back -- bottle washing, bottle filling, and bottle feeding.  I don't mind.

It was fun to get away and play, but as the saying goes,

 "There's no place like home." 

Arizona beauty...

We had a wonderful week in Arizona, but we didn't eat a single nacho.  You know it was on My List, but then again, there were lots of things on My List so I'll share some of those with you instead.

We took a nice walk through the desert.  Isn't this a perfect saguaro cactus?

They say that it takes fifty years before a saguaro cactus will grow one arm;

that's amazing to me!

We visited Arizona's first Spanish mission called Tumacacori Mission,  begun by Jesuit priest, Father Kino in 1691 and continued by Franciscan monks.

We visited the Santa Cruz Spice Shop nearby, and I added jalapeno jelly, prickly pear jelly, and pico de gallo spices to my shopping bag.

 

This lady-saint was found in the San Xavier del Bac Mission also established by Father Kino.  It is just a few miles from Tumacacori.  I think this Native American woman reflects the simplicity and faithfulness of her people.

Nuestro Senor El Desollado (Our Lord, The One Who is Flayed)  2004  by Paul Pletka

The Phoenix Art Museum was a treat for this country girl.  I love art and it was exciting to see some of my favorite artists displayed there.  Of course, we only saw a fraction of the art, but it was wonderful.  The piece above was totally captivating!  The red curtains draw the eye right into the scene.  The friendly and smart docent explained how the Catholic religion incorporated the culture of the native tribes into the celebrations of the church to draw them to the Christian faith.  The painting further depicted the history we learned at the Tumacacori Mission just a few days previous.

 The painting is approximately 8x10 feet in size.  It was created in three panels.

 

Claude Monet, Flowering Arches

1913

 

"Madame Lucy Hessel Working at a Dressmaker's Table" (1908)

by Edouard Vuillard

I feel as though I am standing at the door of this room, looking in on Madame Lucy.  I'd like to bring her a cup of tea and peer out the windows.  I wonder what she was working on?

There was so much to see in this piece,  

"Flowers, Italy" by Joseph Stella.

We played eye-spy with it.

This was another very large painting, measuring approximately 6x6 feet.

Talavera Mexican Pottery
(for my afternoon coffee)

More descriptions of our Arizona stay....

Warm days, cool nights, golf, golf, golf, Sonoran Dessert, cactus, sand, rocks, sunshine, bottles of water, making new friends, catching up with old friends, quilt show, Tubac, Rio Rico, border patrol, Trader Joe's, taquitos, fish tacos, pico de gallo, chimichangas, hearty breakfasts, the theater, art museum, and so much more.  It was lovely to go visiting,

but there's still...

no place like home

(even at 20 below zero).

Country Church...

A road well-traveled......by a few.



I've been wanting to take a drive for several days to photograph this old Norwegian church that my Hubby was raised in. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to get here, depending on the road conditions which, today, were muddy but not too muddy to drive. Services are still held at the Little Missouri Lutheran Church with a pastor who travels about 60 miles to this church and other country churches a couple times a month. Many of the same families whose ancestors established this church in 1889 are still attending.

Back when Hubby and I attended church here, we could pack 50 people inside comfortably. But when there is a wedding or a funeral, you might squeeze 75 (several standing) and the rest must stand outside the door and listen closely. It really is a charming little church.



There's a cemetery alongside and to the back of the church. There was recently a death in the community so if you look closely, you can see the backhoe off to the left. You'll also notice the green outdoor toilets to the right.

It's been a soppy-wet and chilly day here today. The wind is blowing and the thermometer won't reach 40 degrees. We're expecting more rain and snow in the coming days. We've been blessed with such warm Indian Summer days and now, I suppose, all good things must come to an end. Goodbye Autumn.

100 Push-ups....

Good Form Push Up

First, let me make it perfectly clear, I am NOT an exercise freak. I mostly despise it except for my daily walk, but I don't consider that exercise, I consider it therapy (mental, physical, spiritual). But when I saw this challenge over at Bessie's Simple Days, I just had to take it on. After all, if ONE exercise was good for my WHOLE body, then that's the exercise I pick! Hey, if it's good enough for the Heisman Trophy Winner (1982) playing for the U of Georgia, NFL running back for Dallas Cowboys and later the Minnesota Vikings, -- Herschel Walker -- then it's good enough for me!

Walker said, "I didn’t grow up with a lot of money. My high school didn’t have a lot of money to afford a lot of the expensive weights. You know all this stuff. They used that as an excuse. I started doing push-ups and sit-ups during commercials as I was watching TV. And started doing about, sometimes 2,000 push-ups, 3,000 sit-ups, 1500 pull-ups, 1000 dips, or different things like that. I started creating different hand positions for all that, and I learned that could work you out."

In an age where physical fitness is all the rage and most people own a weight machine, an eliptical, a Nordic track or some other gizmo to exercise with, it's refreshing to me to hear someone say it's a good thing to use your own body to strengthen your body. If it works for the US Marines, it's good enough for me!


Alternative method push ups.



You can begin with wall push ups.

Now, onto the place where you can get information to start on your 100 consecutive push-ups in 6 weeks: One Hundred Push Ups. I'm going to be honest with you here. I could only do 2 of the Good Form Push-ups (and it killed me) and I think I did 9 of the "Girly Push Ups" with knees on the floor. So I'm a wimp. I decided that if I was going to do this, I would have to begin the process doing girly push ups (alternative method) and I don't aplogize for it. I figure, if I get to 100 push ups doing them the girly way, then I'll try for the Good Form Push-up later on. After all, the challenge is against my self and no one else. So far, I'm done with week one, level one, and I am already stronger than I was when I started. Is it hard? Yes. Can I do it? Yes! So far.

Do you want to join me? Let me know if you do in the comments.

"Strive to be the very best you can be. Run the race against yourself and not the guy in the other lane. The reason I say this, as long as you give it 110 percent, you are going to succeed. But as long as you're trying to beat the guy over there, you are worried about him, you're not worrying about how you've got to perform."
~Herschel Walker

Pictures borrowed from One Hundred Push Ups and Grrl Athlete

Got Corn?

How about 30 dozen ears of corn? We've got corn!
A friend called me yesterday, "Hey Jody, do you want some corn?"
Now here in farm/ranch country that is a loaded question and you best be careful before you answer.

It could mean:

1. I have 5 dozen tough old ears of field corn for ya.

2. I bit off more than I can chew -- would you take the rest of this 5-day-old corn that I can't finish canning?

3. The birds pecked the tops out of the sweet corn we picked and we can't sell it. Would you be interested in 30 dozen ears -- FREE?

If you chose number 3, that was the correct meaning of the question, "Do you want some corn?"
I hemmed and hawed about what answer to give. I really wanted to freeze some corn, but 30 dozen? I'd have to get back to her. As it turned out, my folks were out for a couple days and my dad was helping the guys haul hay in from the hayfield. Gramma said, "Let's do it!" So I called my friend back and said we'd take it.

Thankfully, the men took an extra-long noon hour and shucked all the corn for us and put it in coolers and clothes baskets. We took the raw corn and cut it off the cob using an angel food pan for a cob holder. You stick the pointy end of the corn in the middle, hold the top and cut off the corn. If you have an electric knife, it works even better, but we had some good serrated bread knives that worked slick! After we cut off all that corn, we began to boil it in batches. Here's my Grandma Kathryn's recipe that we used.

Grandma Kathryn's Sweet Corn

9 cups sweet corn (cut off the cob raw)
3-1/2 c. water
1/2 c. sugar
1 T. salt

Mix this all in a large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Cool. Measure corn (with juice) into freezer containers or freezer bags. Freeze.

By the end of the day, we had 46-1/2 quarts (can't forget that little 2 cup bagful) of corn; 50 some flies on the ceiling; a quart of corn juice smeared on the floor, table, and chairs; 10 dish towels, two dish rags and 6 hot pads ready for the washer; and two tired women ready to sit down and rest AFTER the supper was made for the hungry menfolk. Yep, it was a productive day. Who knew we'd wake up to 30 dozen ears of corn yesterday?

VEGETABLES

The country vegetables scorn
To lie about in shops,
They stand upright as they were born
In neatly-patterned crops;

And when you want your dinner you
Don't buy it from a shelf,
You find a lettuce fresh with dew
And pull it for yourself;

You pick an apronful of peas
And shell them on the spot.
You cut a cabbage if you please,
To pop into the pot.

The folk who their potatoes buy
From sacks before they sup,
Miss half of the potato's joy,
And that's to dig it up.

~Eleanor Farjeon

Springs of life...

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes.

~Revelation: 7:16,17



Hubby and I took a day trip after the wedding. As we were out driving, we saw this water wheel alongside the creek that ran next to the road. The creeks in the area were newly refreshed and recharged with all the rains of May and June. I just had to have a picture. I wonder what the story is behind this water wheel?

All my fresh springs shall be in Thee.
~Psalm 87:7

2nd place isn't all bad....

The FifthBorn played in a qualifying tournament yesterday to try to earn a spot in the USGA Jr. Golf National Championship. In our area, there was one tournament with one available spot. You had to win to get that spot. My Boy gave it all he had and received 2nd place. The cool thing is that he's 15 years old and the winner is 18 years old and this same young man took 2nd place in last year's National Championship!


Not only that, but My Boy really played his heart out and had scores he was very proud of. They played 2 rounds of golf in one day. Par for this course is 72. His scores were 73 and 76. He was really happy with his play and totally enjoyed the competition. He's a true competitor in every sense of the word. (He gets that from his dad)


The other guys in the tournament had caddies to carry their bags and give them tips and advice throughout, but My Boy had none. His friend/coach couldn't make it so he had to go it alone. Dad was there, but the rule was: "No parents may caddie," so he was on his own -- carrying his own bag and making his own decisions about each hole. That's how he always plays so it really was nothing different for him. He thoroughly enjoyed the experience, the players, a new golf course, and the golf itself. He's got something to aim for next year!

I know what you're thinking.... "How does a ranch kid grow up to be a good golfer? Well, it's the sport that everyone at our house enjoys, and he simply grew up with the game. We have lots of open space for hitting tee shots and chipping so he practices that part a lot. The other thing is, he is a determined individual, so even though he's not on the golf course every day (he does have chores and ranch work ya know) he makes the most of his time on the course when he does play.

Let me just say, I am One Proud Mama!

FORE!!!!
That means, watch out in golf talk.... there always next year!

(these photos were not taken at the qualifier, but at another tourney this spring)

Guess where I've been.....

Click pictures to enlarge....