Ponies

As a horse-mad child, I scorned My Little Pony. I liked my toy horses to have some verisimilitude, and purple ponies with long pink manes had nothing to do with the animals I adored. For me, there were no pink ponies, only strawberry roans. Commercials for the toys annoyed me, and I never discovered the TV series.

Now I am less horse-mad, and three of my four brothers watch My Little Pony. In my defense, it's not quite the same as the MLP I despised. The theme song has changed, and the ponies are even less realistic. I still twitch occasionally, I admit. The characters are just a little too dextrous with those hooves, and some of the poses bother me a bit. For the most part, though, I can relax and enjoy it. It's become so unrealistic that I can dismiss most standards of reality while watching it, doing my best to suspend all disbelief while Pinkie Pie and Apple Blossom make cupcakes, or Rainbow Dash herds clouds to shape the weather.

Rock Ledge Ranch

Well, we had Linda, Carole's supervisor, here to talk to Mom and Grandma about things. Lark and I sat in on it. I can't really say they really arrived at much of a decision, but it was informative. After Linda left Diane came for therapy, and I pulled weeds out of the rock path in the shade until they finished. Philip called me on the cell during this to say that if Jenna (Steve Boonzaijer's wife), who was coming to buy an iPod from him, didn't bring some baked goods along the deal was off. She appeared a little after noon with three bags of goodies, now a little depleted. She was so determined to get a new iPod, which she needs to keep her feet going when she jogs, that she had the check all written out when she got here. I do like her. 

Started doing pushups and sit-ups yesterday. I'm at a pathetically small number of reps, but my abs hurt. *moans* Starting out with five at a time.....ooooooww......This is ridiculous.....

Once everyone was cleared out, and the chores were out of the way, Mom and I headed out. We were going to Rock Ledge Ranch. They used to be called White House Ranch, but then they found out there's lovely stone under the white stucco on the namesake, so they stripped the stucco, restored the stone, and changed the name--"on account there're no white houses anymore." Well, this explains why I couldn't find their website a couple of months ago--I was googling the wrong name. Anyway, we got in free this time, on a lucky chance. You see, they're--someone's--in the process of putting up this really big, fancy white tent over in the meadow by the blacksmith's shop. It's not historically accurate--downright anachronistic, one might say--so they aren't charging people to get in while it's up. One really does wonder who came up with that. Well, we were happy, anyway.

We started out with the livestock. They have five horses, two of which are new. They're a matched pair of big black Shires, half-siblings, named Victoria and Winston. Victoria wasn't terribly interested, but Winston was happy to talk to me, if a little mischievous. The others--Percherons?--ignored me. I rather think Victoria's the only mare on the place--we saw three other horses, the two big drafts and a light roan, and they were all geldings. Interesting. The sheep were all conked in the shade, looking rather depressed. They were shorn June 6, as the opening event for the season, and some of them came out the worse from a comparison to Doug's shearing. They also have a peacock there, a lonely fellow who utters the most obnoxious shriek from time to time.

From the barnyard we went into the ranch house, for a tour of the place. A young man who seemed to be a fellow cold-sufferer gave us the tour of the downstairs, and for upstairs we had a self-possessed little girl of perhaps twelve to explain to us about bone toothbrushes and rope-spring beds. She was pretty good. 

We wandered from the ranch house to the Orchard House, built by General Palmer for his sister-in-law. The housemaid took us over the house, pointing out status symbols such as wall-to-wall carpeting as enhanced by built-in sideboards and the like. I think she was just a bit nervous to be doing the job of the housekeeper or the cook, but she did a good job. I liked her, anyway. She did have trouble remembering what the back porch was called--the likely word occurred to Mom as we were leaving. "Do you think it was terrace?" Maybe. We went from there to the blacksmith's shop, where a young man was just finishing up a demonstration as we arrived. He started on a hook next, first hammering the end into a point and curling it, then twisting the length. Finally he hammered the other end into a spike and bent it at a right angle, to drive into a wall. He handed the finished product to the group with us, then, finding upon inquiry that Mom and I weren't with the others, he gave me one he'd made earlier. Thank you!

After the blacksmith we walked back along the road past the Orchard House to stop at the Coach-house, where a lady was working on beading a deerskin shirt in the Indian style. She herself was dark, with a very aquiline nose. We looked at the various exhibits, mainly to do with gold mining and the general settlement of the area, until she asked us if we lived in the area. I explained that I was staying with my grandmother, who lived in Colorado Springs, and added that I was with my mum. We chatted a little, and then I asked about employment versus volunteering. She told me that they have both volunteers and employees, and you can volunteer until you're sixteen, at which point you can get a job there. As we were leaving, she added, "We need more people." Well, sure, but I need to be able drive first. Again.

From there, trying to find the path to the parking lots, we followed the path to the Galloway Homestead. It's a little log cabin, chinked with adobe clay, but the feature that immediately captured our attention was the lovely little Jersey cow. She was adorable--and surprisingly soft! More like a kid than a goat, really. She wasn't very big, either. I wonder if they plan to breed her; she wasn't in milk, but I don't think it was because she was too young. Maybe someone's cull was the perfect display cow. I don't know. I talked to her for a few minutes, and then we moved on, past a little girl washing wool, to the cabin. There were various textile-crafts in stasis there, from someone's crocheting to a rag rug on a loom. The lady there pointed out the finished one on the floor, which presented a very irregular appearance, due, she told us, to the children's always taking the warp off the nails on the frame that keep in straight. Well, good luck with this one.

We managed to find the right path from there to the parking lots. We encountered a pair of girls with bikes in sight of our goal. One looked familiar, and as we drew even I realized who it was. "Elle Reese?" It was, rather unsure of who I was, so I promptly identified myself as Philip's sister from church. We chatted for a bit, discussing the ranch--she said the tent might be for the Art Festival--and then we went off in opposite directions.

Mom had some errands to run, and we dropped into Claussen Books while she was trying to get to the jeweler's. They had Charity Girl, which a) I already own a perfectly good copy of and b) don't like much, on the outside racks. I was a bit mad. Sigh. Mom was happy, though, because she found a bunch of Landmark books, which she's collecting, she says, for her grandchildren. Okay. The jeweler's, next to Safeway, took six links, as requested, out of Grandma's medical assistance bracelet, and after doing some shopping for dinner at Safeway we went home.

I called Sid to see if she could go shopping with me while Mom takes Grandma to the doctor. Granddaughters coming over cancelled that plan, but she had a story to tell me: This morning, she let the cat out pretty early, left the door open for her, and went back to bed. She woke up again about seven to the feeling of a warm mass on her bed: furry, tentative, little tail wagging. At this point, telling Doug about it, he said, "Oh bleep." Actually, what I told him was that there was a dog in her bed, so maybe it wasn't that hard to guess. I was getting a slight sinking feeling myself at that part, though. It was the "little tail" bit, I think. Maddy has a pretty long tail for her size, after all. Sid thought it was pretty funny. 

Well, after making it all the way through the ranch without sneezing once, I am back to groping for Kleenex with watering eyes half-shut. One advantage to a small house: Kleenex boxes at all the strategic points still does not necessarily add up to that many Kleenex boxes.

Got home from Colorado Springs on Saturday night. Spent a little over a week there with Grandma Jane and Philip. Actually Philip spent most of the time in Golden, taking Peter with him. He goes to school at Mines there. He, unlike me, was blogging through the visit, at Plains of Hesitation. It is beyond me why he called it that.

Anyway, been home about five days. Dad was home when we got here--actually he was the one who had Phil bring us home before two weeks were up--so I haven't been able to watch much One Piece. On Monday, when Phil was still here, they all went somewhere, so I got to watch eps 229-234. I'm in the middle of 234 right now. We're in Water 7, and Robin has just gone somewhere with a member of CP9. I'm pretty sure it's Blueno. Also the Galley-La foremen have broken the news that Merry can't sail anymore, and Usopp is trying to get the money back from the Franky Family, which has stolen it. It's not going so well for him.

Yesterday I spent most of the day in the basement filling five-gallon buckets with various non-perishables, filling in the gaps with carbon dioxide, and sealing them. It took a long time, and I have sore muscles from lifting bags of rice, but it's not a bad job. It's not difficult, at least.

In Colorado we went to the library a couple of times. Watched V for Vendetta a couple of times on DVD--liked it--got the latest Patricia C. Wrede Regency, which is Cecy and Kate again. The title is The Mislaid Magician, or Ten Years After. The two couples have children. And there was The Raven Ring, which is set in Wrede's own universe Lyra, which she visits only in fiction for adults. Which reminds me of a complaint about the Co Spngs libraries: they seem to have difficulty with the concept of putting the science fiction in the science fiction section. Drives me nuts whenever I think about it, which isn't often.

No chores assigned yet today. Mom and Owen went to town this morning. I didn't go, because getting up at eight isn't worth it when the libraries are all closed for the holiday. Bah. They did go to Barnes and Noble, since Dad wanted Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival (very good), but retail is too expensive. Tonight Grandma B and Darrel are coming over after dinner to see Owen's fireworks display. He's the only one who spends any money on them these days, and this time it was quite a lot. While Peter and I were gone he and Doug made a pile helping Darrel with hay. Peter is put out about the fireworks because he was hoping to get Owen to buy a computer game with the money.

The livestock is all doing well. The pigs don't seem to have gotten loose since I came home, and they're all big enough to slaughter. The only hitch is that we can't afford to pay the butcher right now, so they'll have to wait. Such a pain for Doug. My main complaint about it is that I can't sell my lambs until we have the truck and trailer for the hogs. That's another thing: I'm told Darrel has a new truck. Big, expensive, and Grandma can't even get into it for lack of thing to hold onto and step on. And as far as I remember, the old truck still even has air conditioning. Mystifying. B wants me to come over sometime soon and help get Bunny and Babe ready to sell. Babe is tall and brown, except I think she has some white on her face. I don't know her very well. Bunny I do know, because she shares a pen with Hoshi. She's not all that tall, but she's a lovely reddish brown with white patches. I think this is sorrel overo. Anyway, she's a beauty, and she's not too terrible about me petting Hoshi instead of her. Actually, most of the time I pet them both. A bit difficult, but manageable.

The boys have been monopolizing Battleaxe. Dad's home full-time, and all they want to do is play Tribes or Runescape, or watch Bleach. So I'm stuck on Della, praying that Dad stays on the couch. I also have Amazon up in my room: no Internet, the only word processor is Notepad, no speakers, ack. I have been using Notepad, but it's annoying. The font, the lack of margins, no bold or italics. The main plus is that I can do it in the middle of the night.

I'm gonna go read Philip's blog now. Gonna go through the archives. : )