Christmas Tree Success!

Taking two boys into the mountains to chop down a Christmas tree is a fun family tradition, right? We picked H-Bomb up from school at 1:00pm on Friday, ran a couple (from a list of never-ending) errands, and we were off. We drove up the mountain road from the town side, which is only plowed for a few miles up. We only passed one other truck, and they were headed down. We had forgotten to bring hot chocolate, but fortunately I remembered to grab the rest of the cookies! Sawed Off had fallen asleep on the way to town, so I stayed in the truck with him, crocheting a scarf, while H-Bomb and Number One took off into the forest.

The only tree they found was at least 20 feet tall, which is most definitely too big for the house, not to mention quite against the rules of Christmas Tree harvesting permits.

Number One decided he and H-Bomb would sled down the road. He suggested I call and order a pizza, which would be ready by the time we got back to town. Check. I was starving.

Incidentally, and this is pretty funny, I remember when I first moved here, driving up into the mountains in my little Festiva and encountering some kids on a sled. Their whole family was up there sledding, and I thought is was stupid and dangerous: sledding on the road??? we could have run over them! (not even close)

So now, my husband and my two young boys (because Sawed Off had just woken up at the critical sled-loading moment and did NOT want to be left behind) took off sledding down the mountain road. Despite what one might think, the sled did not go fast at all. There was absolutely no traffic, and we could have heard them coming for miles. So don't judge me. I followed behind, in the truck, inching forward so slowly that I was able to crochet AND keep moving. Indeed, sometimes Number One had to pull the sled, so I just parked and crocheted a few rows, then caught up again.

I had eaten more than my share of the cookies, and was still hungry. Thank goodness we had a pizza waiting for us down the mountain. When Number One and the boys had more than enough of the "sledding" and played in the snow for a while and threw some snowballs, we loaded up in the truck and went to the pizza place.

Over nice warm pizza, we decided that there was only one place to go for a Christmas tree. That is up the mountain road from our side, where we always go, but which is never plowed. We had seen some tire tracks on the road, and honestly we are usually the ones making the tracks.

It was getting to be late afternoon, so I was a little nervous about going too far on the road (especially knowing how slow our little sled travels) So we stopped when we saw some trees. We didn't find the tree for our house, but we did find a tree for the boys.

Now I have to tell you about this little tradition we have, that my dad started. When I was in college, he suggested that I take a little tree to school for my dorm room. I did, and it was so fun. My roommate said it put her little fake tree to shame. We even decorated our mini fridge to look like a fireplace and hung stockings on it. So much fun!

So anyway, when H-Bomb was little, we were in Michigan for Christmas, and Grandpa took him out to chop down his very own little tree, to put in his room (which is still decorated with the Super Sweet Semi-Truck wallpaper). We put lights on it, and a few ornaments, and H-Bomb was in heaven. Santa even left a present under his little tree! So special!

So every year, we let the boys choose a small tree and put it in their room. They love it. And sometimes Santa still remembers to leave a little present!


This year, H-Bomb hauled the tree over to the sled, and then the two boys pulled it to the truck together. Precious.


Hopefully in their selective memories, they will forget their crying about the sled not going "all the way" down the hill that occurred just after we loaded their tree on the truck. Number One said it wasn't a Christmas tree hunt until someone was crying about something.

We loaded everyone in the truck and headed up the mountain. The thing you need to realize about Number One is that he will just keep driving and driving if you don't say something like, "Ooh, there's one!" So we drove 8 miles up the mountain, to the turnoff to the lake, which is only 10 miles from town. In other words, we were just a few miles from the place we had started on the town side of the mountain. The tracks we were following kept going, but we didn't want to follow them all the way. Besides, Number One said we'd probably find the truck that made them, stuck up there.

The pickings were slim where we stopped, but everyone got out of the truck anyway so there was no turning back. I found a cute tree that was really too short, just over 6 feet tall. We figured it would look like a dwarf under our new 9 foot ceilings, but believe me, that tree was my backup plan!

Sawed Off was having a hard time walking through the snow. H-Bomb was getting frustrated because I had told the boys to stay together, but Sawed Off couldn't keep up. Number One was getting frustrated because he couldn't find a tree and it was getting late. This is the stuff of holiday memories!

I took a deep breath and this picture of the sun setting over the canyons below us.


I found a tree that I thought would work. We were putting it in the corner of our dining room, so I figured we could hide the hole in the back. It was about the right height, although Number One thought it was too tall. I said we could make it work. We all just wanted to go home for hot chocolate.

Number One chopped it down too quickly for me to take many pictures.

Let me tell you this: a 9-foot tall Christmas tree is a heavy mother.

And as we both were dragging this tree UP a damn hill to the truck, the screaming began in earnest. H-Bomb had snow in his boots, yet refused to walk to the truck OR sit down so I could dump out his boots. Sawed Off got stuck, or got snow in his mittens, or what I honestly don't remember. The decibels out in the middle of nowhere are exaggerated, so the deafening screams replaced the deafening sounds of silence. Number One and I wrangled the tree to the side of the road. I laid down in the snow, ears bleeding.

H-Bomb made it to the truck, still screaming. Number One carried Sawed Off through the snow to the truck. At least he wasn't screaming any more.

Somehow we managed to get that tree UP onto the truck bed. H-Bomb took off his boots, I gave him my heavy gloves to put on his feet, which of course he refused. I can't remember how I convinced him to stop screaming and crying. Oh my. I know this is the start of Seasonal Selective Memory (SSM), which will cause us to attempt the very same thing next year.

Let's just hope I remember the hot chocolate.

We got the tree into the house and up in the stand amazingly without incident. It is even fairly straight. Number One put the lights on, and we set up our new Christmas train! We should have gotten C batteries in bulk from Costco, because we are going to need them.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Tree Hunt

We had big plans today to find our Christmas tree. After school, of course. What we didn't count on was the time adding up for all our errands:

• a bag of spinach for dinner (and snacks for the ride home)
  
• a new pressure switch for the well
• a saw for cutting down the tree
• a Christmas Tree Permit (and a forest ranger wanting to chat for 15 minutes +)
• a sled to take to school and a new tube sled for pulling behind the four wheeler
• H-Bomb having to go potty Right Now.

And then it was 4:00 and the sun was already sinking behind the mountains. And it was cold. But, we really want a tree!!, so we went anyway.

We heard about a place to get a tree~close to town! trees close to the road! they got a fabulous one!~ from two different people, so we decided to go there.

It's a little slice of National Forest, sandwiched between two sections of private property. The road was plowed, but we didn't see much "close to the road." There was a road heading off the main road, but it wasn't plowed, and although there was a set of tracks, there's really just too much snow to try it in the truck.


We stopped the truck anyway, got the boys out, piled them on the new sled and took off. Slowly. The snow was a good 12" deep, we hadn't brought snow shoes, and the sled just sank into the snow with two boys on it. They got frustrated when they got snow in their faces. We got frustrated trudging through the foot of snow pulling a heavy sled.

We didn't see any good trees.

Sawed Off fell off the sled, landing on his face. We decided to head back to the truck and eat cookies and wait for Daddy.

Daddy came back empty-handed, so we'll try again tomorrow. (school is out at 1:00 tomorrow! plenty of time!)

At least we were rewarded with this glorious sunset all the way home.

A Little Cowgirl Quilt!

So I actually started this quilt back in June, 2008, for our friends' new baby. She's not so new anymore, has already celebrated her 1st birthday, but finally--the quilt is finished!

It's the same basic style as the 1st quilt I finished in May 2008, for my cousin Abbey's baby boy, just different fabrics.


This was for a little cowgirl! It had to be special. I initially thought of pink camouflage, but I don't exactly have an awesome fabric selection in town. So I found the cute flannel with litte pink flowers, alternated it with yellow flannel and backed it with a lovely sage green fabric. I even found a matching sage green yarn to tie it.


I honestly don't know why it took me so long to finish. The initial work went pretty quickly, but then it just sat in a big bag for the longest time. There was always "something else" to do. Now though, it is finished! It really didn't take me long to finish it, just over an hour of "real" work and it's done!


I hope little cowgirl Corinne likes it. And her Mommy and Daddy too!

Ranch Cookin'

I've been making food most of the week for the cowboys and crew, Tuesday was Shipping Day, and for lunch I made my Rustic Chili, several loaves of Artisan Bread, and the traditional Chocolate Sheet Cake to rave reviews all around.

Thursday and Friday, ABEG was here branding and sorting and preg-checking cows. On Thursday, I served lunch in the corral: Beef Brisket Sandwiches with our family's Famous Barbecue Sauce, chips, and Neiman Marcus Cookies. On Friday, I served another corral lunch of Cashew Chicken Sandwiches, chips, and Classic Peanut Butter Cookies. Friday was a very long day, so I also ended up serving everyone dinner: Sue's Pesto, pasta, a salad, wine, and some leftover cookies.

Last night, one of our old cowboys showed up with his son and a friend, and we also had another three cowboys show up to help move the cattle, which along with our regular crew and families adds up to 14 people. Now that the cattle are all branded, we have to move three large groups of them to three separate winter ranges. I'm not sure how we ended up with so much help this year, but that's the way it happened.

So this morning, CG asked me if I wouldn't mind making dinner for everyone--all 14 of us! I told her I'd think of something...

Stay Tuned!

Cars & Trucks & Fence Posts

Here are some little things we've been laughing about on the ranch this week...

On shipping day, after "lunch" which we actually ate around dinner time, I couldn't find Number One's new mini truck he got for the farm work. It's cute and small, and the steering wheel is on the wrong side of it, which means the stick shift is on the left, takes some getting used to. I needed it to take the leftovers from CG's house to our house, and it was already dark. Ranch hand told me it was parked over under a tree. I found it, even found the headlights in the dark, and drove it over near the door. Ranch hand said, "It's a weird little thing, it took me 10 minutes to find reverse!"

I said, "You mean where the 'R' is on the stick???"

So last night I was telling this story to our friend from ABEG, who came down to help with the branding and stayed the night in our new guest room. She laughed and admitted that she had also had trouble in the Dodge...Ranch hand was telling her to go somewhere and do something, and she said, "Well I would if I could find reverse!" (truthfully, there is a little trick to shifting the dodge into reverse, it's been a while since I've done it, but there is a button or some catch to it)

Last night, we all had some wine at CG's house after a big day of branding with our crew and a few ABEG greenhorns. (they call themselves that, so I'll take the liberty to repeat it) Before we left, CG insisted on a shot of tequila all around. (Ick). So then we were walking from CG's house to our house, three ABEG's and me, and it was very dark and we didn't have a flashlight and the moon hadn't risen above the canyon rim yet.

The ABEG's were trying to follow me (and I'm pretty sure I was wearing black), and they asked how they would find their way. I said, "Just feel your feet in the gravel. If they're not in gravel, stop and reorient." No sooner had I said "reorient" (it could have been less eloquently stated, but I'm telling the story here), than I ran right into a fence post. And then, disoriented at I was, I thought I was on the right side of the driveway, you know, where the fence is. I was actually on the left side of the driveway, you know, the side where there are, in fact, ONLY TWO OLD FENCEPOSTS. So as I was stumbling around, tripping over a piece of wire and running into the other fence post, going, "where am I?" and I'm sure everyone was laughing at me, I said, "Don't follow me!"

And then. Before the three ABEG guys headed for their hotel in town (lucky ABEG girl got to stay with us, remember), Number One's brother had drawn a map for them and asked them to pick up his truck at the repair shop and drive it back down in the morning. "The keys are in it," he told them.

Evidently, the guys decided that they had better pick the truck up that night, rather than in the morning. I'm not sure why, since there was only one mildly designated driver and the directions Bro and I gave them were "turn left at the jail." The truck wouldn't start, so they were trying to jump it, and in the middle of it all, the keys, which were in the truck to start with, got locked IN the truck. Sheesh.

So now ABEG girl has to go to town with me to pick up H-Bomb from school AND Bro's truck. She said, "that's another thing you can write about in your book." And I thought, why wait? Practically everyone is implicated in this story, so no one is singled out now! (no whining from anybody!)

I hope the ABEG's spend the night again tonight, and I'll have more stories for you tomorrow!

Squeals in the Night

Last night we woke up to the strangest sounds. Actually it sounded sort of like a baby giraffe or some other strange animal, squealing. And then there was running around, sounds of hooves and huffing and snorting. Right outside our window.

I had no idea what sort of animal makes those sounds. I did hear one of the dogs running around too, barking. I went to the back door with two flashlights and tried to figure out what the heck was happening out there.

I saw several sets of eyes, moving around. The squeals continued. Some of the eyes bounded away, and I figured out they belonged to mule deer. There was more squealing, and further away was huffing and snorting. I called the dog in the house, and he was panting, out of breath.

One set of eyes was near the ground, I heard the little deer sort of flopping around, not quite able to get up, and squealing. The deer must have gotten trapped in the new corner of fence created when our neighbors moved their garden, joined the fence with the fence on the field and took out the natural pathway from the orchard, where the deer clean up the fallen peaches.

In the distance, I heard the mother deer call softly, similar to a goat's bleating, to her fawn.

I moved away from the door as I saw the mother's eyes coming back. She was still calling to her fawn, and huffing. I'm not sure if the huffs were from running and jumping or just a sort of warning to me and the dogs.

I went back to bed, the squealing stopped, and the dogs settled in for the night on the carpet.

In the morning, there was no dead baby deer behind the house, as I'd feared we would find. It's mother must have gotten it to its feet and guided it out of the yard.

Shelving Maniacs

In the new master suite, which used to be a very small bedroom, there was an old, small closet. You know, the regular size closet that accompanies every small bedroom. We had a guy rip out the walls that framed in the closet (it only had one door anyway, the other fell off years ago and was never replaced), patch the drywall and flooring where the old walls came out, and it became...

...an Alcove.

It made more sense, since we just added two big closets to the master suite anyway, and didn't need a third, ugly little closet. Now, the alcove looks like it belongs, like it was part of the room originally. (I haven't had time to take a picture, sorry)

We decided the Alcove needed some bookshelves. Number One and my Dad went to town for wood and supplies, and got to work. You may remember the shelves Number One built for the new pantry? He's a good shelf-builder, but I wanted a different design.

Number One and my Dad came up with the shelving design. They ran the plans by me, but then while I was gone they changed them. (I'm over it now). Number One decided the shelves needed arches at the top.

They spent two or maybe three days building, then my Dad spent a day sanding and varnishing. And here they are:


I like how open they are, and I like the arches too. You can barely tell that space used to be a closet! They are just waiting for all of our books and things.

Now, we just have to do something about this light fixture in here: