Howdy! (Some Background Info)

I live on an actual cattle ranch in the middle of nowhere. (Yeah, right, you say, the middle of nowhere. Everyone says that. Well, I really do). The nearest town is over 30 miles in one direction. The next town in the other direction is 60 miles. Our nearest neighbors are 15 miles away. We generate our own electricity with a diesel generator. We have no telephone, and there is not a cell phone service in the land that works down here. We are in the desert, surrounded by red rocks and cacti and sagebrush, in the foothills of mountains in which we run cattle during the summer. The silence can be deafening.

I live here with my husband, a cowboy born and raised, (AKA Husband #1, or just “#1”), our two sons, little cowboys in the making, “H-Bomb,” age 4, and “Sawed-Off,” age 1-1/2, and some ranch employees and animals. This ranch was purchased by Husband #1’s Mormon grandfather, then came to #1’s dad and mom. After the divorce, it was sold to A Big Environmental Group (from here on out, referred to as simply “ABEG”). The whole sale of the thing saddens us for various reasons, mainly because our little cowboys have no guaranteed future here. Indeed, even our future here is in question at the moment. But this will be addressed in future blogs, I’m sure. It’s always coming up.

So we live here with my husband’s mom, who is about ready to retire. There is also a ranch hand (pushing 60, yet just learning the ropes) and his wife. (I’m name them all as I blog about them)

As for the animals, we have a-plenty. Countless cows and horses, of course. We also currently have 4 working dogs, 2 older Cattahoula pups (will start work next year) and 3 little puppies (just born in July). We have a house kitten, a female outdoor cat and two male outdoor cats, and a roaming barn-ish female cat who visits the house occasionally. (We need cats on account of the mice). That makes 14 animals in and around the house. That is too many. But, that’s what we’ve got.

The practicalities:

- We have to drive 10 miles one way to get a cell signal. Sometimes further.
- We have to haul our garbage to town, almost 70 miles round trip.
- Town is also where we pick up our mail and buy groceries.
- The “good” grocery store is 60 miles away (120 round trip). The nearest mall? Three hours. One way.
- The nearest Costco, four hours one way. Same for Target, Home Depot, you name it.
- When I worked, before I was a mom, I commuted 120 miles per day.
- We have satellite television, and temperamental satellite internet.
- That should give you a good start to understanding our lives…

The schedule and whatnot:
- I have two little boys. There will be no regular blog schedule, just when I have time. Hopefully more often than not.
- I plan to be honest, and hopefully no one gets offended. No guarantees, the disclaimer is: I’m not here to please anyone else.
- I reserve the right to delete comments if I don’t like ‘em.
- That’s all.