Tuesday, January 5, 2010

2010 A brand New Year

Happy New Year!
Obviously I'm not a very good blogger, since the last entry here was a year ago, with much the same entry as above.
Well, except for the tractor.
That's my tractor, "Bruiser".






I must get inspired each year at this time to get caught up on things and then it just gets away from me all over again. I had at first thought I would use this blog to create a journal of the progress we have made out here at the Shady B Ranch. But that turned into a HUGE and OVERWHELMING task that I just didn't find the time for, so I'm rethinking that. I'll post photos of our past work from time to time because it truly is a remarkable thing we have done out here. There is still much to do, but every now and then, I like to look back at those old photos of what we tore up and what we rebuilt, and think about how dreams can become reality.

Living in the house of our own creation makes us forget the endurances we came through.







Living in the RV with only 6 gallons of hot water for a year and a half was the biggest complaint I had. It was hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but we survived, and it strengthened our relationship living eyeball to eyeball with each other. We spent a great deal of time outdoors.










I sort of miss that now. That outdoors thing. Even though our house sits in the lovely middle of the same outdoors, I find myself content to spend each day in my roomy studio and each night comfortably cloistered in my climate controlled gigantic hot water heater almost finished home.


The year 2009 was a sensational year. I reconnected with a lot of old friends on facebook. I turned fifty in November and my brother Glenn and I went to Italy to celebrate. It was bene!
The year started with a trip to Breckenridge with my other brother Russell and my sis o bliss in law Becky (two of my favorite people) to celebrate HER birthday, and here it is time to celebrate her again! We skiied and had a most marvelous time.
On the way home we stopped at the Cadillac Ranch to put our mark on the art. What an amazing thing to witness. We've driven by it a number of times, but finally took the time to stop. Some people were leaving as we arrived, and handed us a bag of spray paint. This is the thing you do. You put your mark on the art. There are so many layers on those cars in places it has fallen off in three inch thick chunks of spray paint. You can see the striational colored layers. In the middle of a cow pasture. If you look closely in that one photo, you can see a herd through the window.....

Then three weeks later another trip to Taos with Larry's cuz David and skiied again. Taos is a little trickier to ski and I loved it, but on the very last run, I twisted my knee and that was all for me. I didn't know if I could make it back to the bottom. So that's all for me in the ski department unless I can get my knee looked at. I've been too busy this year to bother with it. And the only thing it can't do, is ski.


So, onward.
In April, I had an opportunity with the airfares being so low to go to London with my sis o bliss in law Becky so I took it and went for four funfilled shop till you drop days.

She was going out to pick up her daughters wedding dress, which cost almost as much to MAIL as it did to go and GET it herself!

I mean airfares were incredibly low. We were also on a mission to find her something fabulous for her mother of the bride outfit. And we did, at a most amazing place in London. Another story, another blog post (maybe:) It was fast and furious and oh so wonderful. My favorite town was Rye on the coast. I loved Canterbury and the little village that Becky grew up in - Charing. We had lunch there. And we shopped till we dropped. But we didn't. Drop that is. :)




Somewhere during this summer - can't remember when it was, Larry and I went on a trailride with our cowboy church. To make a long story short, we were riding two very inexperienced horses. One, spoiled, and the other, young. Although she has been ridden many times by our neices and nephews and even our grandchildren, she chose this day to chunk me off. I landed on that same old knee, and when it went out from under me, so did my ankle. What is it they always say? You gotta get back ON that horse and ride! So I did. Thinking it was just a fluke - she had never done that before and wouldn't do it again.

Of course you can guess what happend next.
From a complete stand still position, she jumped all four feet off the ground and chunked me off in one ploop. I sat there stunned for a minute or two and this time, I learned my lesson. I got on my galfriends horse with her and rode back that way. Haven't been on a horse since. And my knee, well, its even more unskii-able now.






This is how Dreamer cools herself off in the summer. What a smart horse. She's the one that chunked me.



Around April or May, Larry and I went to Fredricksburg Texas withour friends Kim and Don and their kids, and rented a farmhouse on the river. We had a great time together eating German food, and meeting new friends.
This is Kimy with the kids.
In June, we went on yet another trip to Colorado for my neice Georgina's wedding. What a grand event that was! We drove my parents out there and they got to see Russ and Becky's mountain treehouse for the first time. It is my favorite home away from home.





I usually pick up a rock from the places I go. Larry wouldn't let me take this one. I thought it would look GREAT in my garden!


Then in July, I went with my two galfriends, Kim and Beth, to Arrowmont School in Gatlinburg Tennessee. We spent the fourth of July there and saw THE most spectacular fireworks show I have ever witnessed. It was heart pounding and absolutely brilliant, right over our heads from the grounds at Arrowmont, a most beautiful place and dear to my heart. There, you can sit on the grass without fear of fireants. We took our blankets out on the lawn and watched the most amazing show, almost wishing it would end because I thought my heart would stop.













My friends took a two week clay class, and I took one week of weaving, and the next week in bowl turning. I learned how to warp the loom I've had stored in my garage for - ever and made some pretty cool little wooden bowls on a mini lathe. The bowl turning part was fascinating, however scary weilding those sharp tools, but not something I want to persue. Weaving on the other hand, is mesmerizing and I am enjoying using my loom immensely. Right now I am weaving rag rugs with many bits of fabric I have collected over the years. My grandmother made mens silk ties and I have all the silk scraps from her. I plan to weave them into a silk rag rug. We shall see. I can't throw anything away.......
The next trip I took was with my dad. When I was returning from my trip to London, I had a layover in Charlotte NC. I spoke to my dad on the phone while I was there and he said it was a place he had always wanted to go to because the Billy Graham museum was there.

Hmmmm, I thought. Maybe I should just haul him out there sometime. So, I got my brothers together and we bought him a ticket. I bought ME a ticket, and made reservations for a wonderful lunch somewhere closeby, mapped out a wonderful day, and surprised him with it for fathers day. It was a GRAND day in October. The weather was perfect and the angels were watching over us as we flew out and back in one day.
Everything went perfectly synchronized.
We left at 6 am, found the airport, found our gate, parked the car, checked in, walked right on our flight, had a terrific flight, got off the plane, found a cab, took us straight to the restaraunt where I had made reservations, they knew our names, why we were there, gave us a lovely table outdoors and a free dessert. Called the same cab to pick us up, went to the museum, spent four lovely hours and shared a cab with a fella back to the airport, perfect timing all day. The museum is quite impressive and we could have spent even more time there! We were home by ten that evening and it was a great memory of me and my dad.


Which brings me to Italia. Two weeks in Italy. The first four days were spent at the Cinque Terre right on the Mediterranean Sea. Oh my - those were absolutely my favorite of all the days there.
Just me n Glenn.
Two days in Monterosso, and two days in Vernazza. I plan to return and spend even more time at Vernazza in the same little bungalow, take my paints, sit and watch everything, hike the trails, eat more seafood.
It was glorious.
Two more days in Florence, then a week in Tuscany at a nine bedroom farmhouse on an olive oil farm with 14 of my friends and relatives. One honeymoon, two anniversaries, two birthdays, an adoption, and lots of people to toast with.












Florence


My mom flew over to celebrate with us too. What a delight she is - never complaining about a thing - just happy to be wherever we took her. She became mom to my friends as they adopted her and took her along on daytrips here and there. A great memory with my mom and my brother.
One more day in Florence and then the journey home.



















Ah Home. At last. I am content.













Until the next opportunity comes along! Wonder where I'll go next?




































































































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