Rooster On The Farm...

 

 The Rooster has such a great eye for photography!

Dinner Time At Rancho 25...

A couple of nights ago, The Farmer and I headed to Rancho 25, 

 to take some fresh hay to the Longhorn Herd ;) 

The feed on the ranch isn't so good as the weather has gotten hotter. 

 We haven't had our rainy season yet, once that happens, the natural grass will return. 

 For now we are taking feed to them until we can get them moved to a different pasture.

 

They get pretty excited when the fresh alfalfa arrives...

 

After they were fed...

we headed up to the top of a nearby mountain and enjoyed a beautiful sunset... 

It was a very good evening at Rancho 25.

 

When A Baby Tiger Comes To Visit...

The Rooster has a friend who owns a baby tiger... yes...a baby tiger. 

He brought it to our house for us to see... 

What an experience that was! It was pretty darn cute...but it was still a wild animal. 

 Everyone was either bitten, or nipped at...

but it was really fun to be up close to such a beautiful animal!

 

All Together Again...

A few days ago The Boy loaded a few of the Longhorns in a trailer to move them to 

Rancho 25...where the others have been living for a few months. 

 He asked if I wanted to go along for the ride to drop them off. 

 I do love those Longhorns of mine...so it was an easy yes!

 They haven't all been together for awhile and I wondered if they would 

be happy to see each other;) I like to believe that they

 know each other and are friends!

 

When we arrived at Rancho 25, the Longhorns there, were grazing and seemed 

uninterested in what we were doing... that is until the Longhorns in the trailer

 began to make sounds. Before we knew it the trailer was surrounded by one

 group of Longhorns...

waiting to see their friends/family inside of the trailer.

 

There was alot of excitement when those trailer doors opened!

 The Longhorns were reunited!! 

The whole family! It was so fun to watch. 

They seemed pretty happy to be back together.

 

Next The Boy showed me the ground that he had spent all 

night preparing to plant. All night on a tractor... He has been such a great help to us... 

We are sure glad he is here.

 

Carne Does It Again!

I spent the week in New York City, last week...It was a wonderful week! 

While I was waiting in the airport...getting ready to board 

the plane a text arrived from The Farmer....

 

A little Bull calf was born to our Carne! 

I told The Farmer that he had missed his calling in life...he should have been a Rancher...

our herd is growing without any planning on our part! That's a dream for a Rancher.

 The Farmer was there when the little calf was born. He said that Carne was please to

 bring the calf to him to show The Farmer what a good job she had done.

 I thought that was so sweet!

 

Snow Day!...

Today we awoke to beautiful snow!

 It was unexpected but welcome. 

The Rooster is developing into a fantastic photographer! 

This was taken by him at Rancho 25 early this morning. 

The cows don't seem impressed...in fact, they seem pretty bothered!

   

 Another great picture from The Rooster...

   

(Shauna Nielsen)

Wondering Why It's Called...Rancho 25??

Wondering why it's called Rancho 25??

If you were...it's a pretty good question.

 Last December The Farmer and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary.

 We were together for about 3 years before we married so we have been together for a

good amount of time...and it has been an adventure. For the most part it has been a good one...

but we have also had our share of sadness and struggle.

 That's life, right?

 

So as December neared, The Farmer asked me how I would like to celebrate

 this milestone of ours. I told him that I just wanted a wedding ring. 

 Last Summer as we were traveling home from a wonderful family vacation, 

our car was broken into while we stopped for dinner and most everything was stolen. 

 My wedding rings were stolen.

 It was heartbreaking. 

 So when I told The Farmer that all I wanted was a wedding ring...he totally understood. 

Now The Farmer isn't really a jewelry kind of guy. 

 Me on the other hand... I love a pretty adornment;) Don't all women??! 

 So, went went to dinner, he had researched rings, found a few that he thought

I might like and even had some photos to show me. 

 Now...this isn't like The Farmer so it was a very tender and emotional thing for me. 

 I just couldn't believe that he was so committed to the idea of a new wedding ring.

   

 Well, a couple of weeks passed and one afternoon The Farmer came home very excited.

 With a big smile on his face he told he that he had just bought a piece of land and 

he was soooo happy with it! He said it was going to be great and then he 

went on to tell me ALL the plans he had for that land. The more he talked 

the more my heart sank...and when he could see that I wasn't feeling

 his same joy...he asked me what was wrong. I said..."what about my ring???" 

and then he said..."the ring...oooohhhhhh....the ring....ooooohhhhh...." 

And then he got it! He remembered. 

 It was pretty funny actually...but it made me sad too;) 

 So he invited me to go on a ride to see this new piece of land...he was really sure 

that I would fall in love with it right away and I would most likely decide 

that this was a much better purchase than the ring.

 

So off we went. 

We arrived...I know the area well. We actually own another piece of land close by, 

so I began to understand why this purchase thrilled The Farmer so.

 As we drove, The Farmer said things like..."this is way better than a ring...don't you think?"

 hoping I would agree I am sure. He must have said it 10 times.

 He told me about all the plans he had for this spot and how it 

was going to be a great addition to our life;)

   

 The previous owners had great plans to use it as a little retreat and so they built 

a small house on it. They even dug a large hole in front of the house preparing

 it for a swimming hole. There were some corrals for cows and a beautiful 

view of our area...it's on a little hill. While we drove around the property I told 

The Farmer that I had the perfect name for it and excitedly 

he asked me what it was...hoping I had caught his vision and he 

was forgiven for forgetting about my ring. I announced..

."we will call it Rancho 25...

since this is how were are celebrating 25 years of sheer wedded bliss!" 

 And it stuck.

 

And thus it is. Rancho 25 (Viente Cinco) 

Everyone knows the story...our workers think it is really funny... 

and within the last year the 25 has become a sweet place for us.

 It is our project at the moment. Many changes have been made in the last few months...

great changes. One of which was we changed the names on the title. 

 When we went to the Notary to make the change we noticed something pretty special.

 The previous owners had never changed the name from the original owner...

it simply cost too much money to do so, so they had left it as they had purchased it.

 The Farmer decided that he would put the property in the name of the Aggie Boy...

and so when he was in town we went to sign the papers. 

 As he signed The Farmer noticed that the 25 was in the name of his father. 

It was a sweet moment. So the ownership of the land transferred from

 Grandfather to Grandson of which they share a name. It thrilled the Aggie Boy...

and made The Farmer all that much happier with his purchase.

 And I might add...my heart softened a bit too;)

 

Now it is the winter home of our horses...who could care less if we visit them;)

 They are so happy there!

 

It is also the home of our dear Violet the Longhorn...

who runs to The Farmer's truck when we visit the ranch. 

 She also stands by the gate hoping we will take her home to her pasture

 close to our house.

 I don't think she is liking the 25 so much! ;)

   

 These guys LOVE a trip to the 25! 

They even smile when we take them...;) 

So there it is...the story of why we call it Ranch 25. 

We love it! It is fun! I am glad we have it.... 

But, I am still hoping for a wedding ring.... 

Sigh....