Sunset

Over this past week, we've had beautiful days, with temps in the 60's.  We've had winds up to 38 mph on two separate days, stirring up dust in the air.  Dust and clouds, produced this spectacular sunset. 

Sierra Grande Lodge

On our trip to New Mexico a couple of days ago, Papa and I stayed overnight at the Sierra Grande Lodge and Spa in Truth or Consequences.  I stayed there a year ago, on a trip with Mary.  Upon arrival, the receptionist asked to schedule time in their private geothermal pools.  We were ready within fifteen minutes after our arrival, and relaxed in the 107° mineral water.  Ahhhhh!

The Sierra Grande was built in 1929 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It had the first bathhouse in Hot Springs, NM, which later changed it's name to Truth or Consequences.   From National Geographic Traveler, "Landmark 1929 adobe lodge atop mineral waters, surrounded by salamander-speckled cactus, succulents, and desert willows. Cowboy and Native American art panels adorn sunlit rooms fashioned to soothe. Alfresco geothermal hot spring tubs, mineral pools and spa treatments."  Sierra Grande Lodge is a find!

Bosque del Apache

Yesterday morning, Papa and I got up very early to drive to Socorro, New Mexico.  Papa drove the truck, pulling the horse trailer, to pick up 400 t-posts, 40 rolls of barbed wire, post clips, and stays.  I rode along to keep Papa company, but my ulterior motive was to go to Bosque del Apache.  

Papa played along, so we stopped in San Antonio for lunch at the Buckhorn Tavern, 

then we drove to Bosque del Apache.

We stopped when we saw lots of sandhill cranes and ducks.  With my camera strapped on, I walked along a dike parallel to the road, and got as close as I could to the birds.  I clicked away!  The setting and the birds were beautiful!  The birds were noisy and across the road, just out of sight, there were thousands of squawking Canadian geese.  What a special place!

Audrey Turned 30!

Audrey and Mom on day of birth, January 24, 1982

Today is Audrey's 30th birthday!  

It's hard to believe I have a child that is 30 years old!  

But, oh, what a life!

Audrey was born in Tucson.   She weighed 6 lbs. 1 oz. and was 19" long.  She smiled at 7 weeks.  She laughed aloud at 8 weeks.  She took her first steps at 8.5 months, soon after we moved to Dallas. 

At 1 year of age, I wrote, "Audrey is very independent." Over the years, Audrey has had a full life.  

Preschool at The Lamplighter School in Dallas, ages 4-5.

Started playing tennis at age 5.

Took ice skating lessons, swim lessons, played soccer, played t-ball.

Started piano lessons at age 6.

1st-4th grade at Bradfield Elementary in Highland Park/Dallas,

4th grade through high school in Sarasota.  

Audrey continued playing tennis and was on her high school varsity team, editor of the yearbook, vice president of Sarasota High School Key Club, and lieutenant governor of Key Club Florida.  

Audrey spent high school summers playing tennis 

and attending programs at Brown, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins.  

She graduated from high school in three years and went to Johns Hopkins University in fall 1999.  

She played tennis at Hopkins and co-chaired The 2001 MSE Symposium.  

After interning with PR firms over two summers, Audrey graduated early from Johns Hopkins.

She accepted a job in Washington, DC, with Burson-Marsteller PR, January 2003.  

After two years in DC, Audrey moved to Los Angeles to work for Ketchum PR.  

She moved to NYC with Ketchum in fall 2005, and met Dan in January 2006.

Audrey and Dan were married in NYC on April 28, 2007. 

They moved to San Diego a few months later, then to Santa Monica, 

where Audrey founded Henry Grey PR.

Audrey and Dan moved to Chicago in January 2010.  

They bought a home in late 2010, 

and they welcomed baby Lauren on December 5, 2011.  

I am so proud to be Audrey's mother!

Happy 30th Birthday, Audrey!

Audrey and Dan on their wedding day, April 28, 2007

Audrey with Lauren, December 2011

Tooth Fairy

As I was looking for something in an upstairs closet this morning, I came across a clear plastic bag of teeth.  A rather macabre find!  The teeth belonged to Audrey, Claire, and Whitney, and we apparently saved them over the years.  There was also a note in the bag, written in very early block letters, probably around 1988.  It read,

"Dear Toothfairy, I have lost a tooth, but someone took it and I can't find it.  

I will try and keep open my mouth so you will really know.  Please believe me.  

I'm sorry that you can't put it with all of my other teeth.

Sincerely, Claire E."

Too cute for words!  I bet the tooth fairy left something under her pillow!

Laughing

The positive effects of laughing are well known.  Laughter improves blood flow, it raises the level of infection-fighting antibodies in the body, and it improves relaxation and sleep.   Laughter improves our quality of life!  I love this photo of Papa laughing!

Hike in Rattlesnake Canyon

Papa and I hiked from our house, up the hill and down into Rattlesnake Canyon.  There were many potholes of water, flocks of birds hanging in the canyon, a bit of ice in shady spots, beautiful evergreen trees, brightly colored rocks covered with lichen and moss, grasses waiting for cattle to feed, all while the sky was gathering more and more dark clouds.  We had an invigorating hike and were inspired by nature and the views around us.

Clouds and Rainbows

 

On my return to the ranch from a trip to Tucson, a rainbow appeared.  Rainbows remind me of promises and always make me smile.  As I drove on toward the ranch, the Winchesters were covered in clouds and were beautiful!  Just after I came through the gate and onto our ranch, I looked over my shoulder at water still in our little pond with clouds filling the sky.  Fills the heart of any rancher!

Redecorating a Bit, Part II

While in Tucson last weekend, I went to Home Fabrics and chose several fabrics to recover pillows 

in our bedrooms at the ranch.  I spent a couple of days this week moving things around a bit and 

sewing new pillow covers.  I ran out of thread when I got to the pillows for our master bedroom.  

With the nearest fabric store over 2.5 hours away, those pillows will wait for another day!  

The results of my redecorating with pillows...

Our Horses

Our horses, Oscar, Pablo, and Hank are quite spoiled.  Papa goes down to the corral every afternoon around 5 to feed them.  He gives them treats of sugar cubes.  He brushes them and he lets them lick his hands.  They are quite affectionate with Papa, resting their heads on his shoulder and following him around as if they were puppies.  Hank has not yet been broken and cannot be ridden, but Oscar and Pablo are work horses on the ranch whenever Papa needs them.  He is proud of how they have developed.  We love our horses!

Whitney's New House

We are happy for Whitney and Corey, as they have moved into a new house (actually built in 1948 and updated) in Austin, TX.  They are pleased to be new homeowners of a house with plenty of space for Toby and Greta to grow, inside and outside.  Happy New Home, Whitney and Corey!

Anniversary 31

Papa and I celebrated our 31st Anniversary last night, over dinner at the Arizona Inn.  We had four course dinner topped off by a dessert platter with various two to three bite desserts.  We feel very fortunate to live where we want, how we want, and with each other.  Our wedding reception, 31 years ago, was at the Arizona Inn, and we try to get back once a year to celebrate.

Over the Moon

Waking in the middle of the night to find the moon high in the sky and lighting the mountains never ceases to take my breath away.  It's even more beautiful on those rare nights when there are clouds in the desert sky.  I took this photo looking west from our house, over the ranch, with the Santa Catalina Mountains in the background. 

Bluebirds

I caught these bluebirds sitting on a branch, not far from our house.  It was a particular treat because Western bluebirds are quite skittish and don't sit still for long.  Also because they are migratory birds and we only see them in winter.  The rest of this flock flew away as I got closer. 

Weather

It seems that the weather is ever important regardless of where we live.  When we lived in Sarasota, we watched the weather for tide times and wind speeds.  Living on a desert ranch, we watch for rain and temperatures.  Our favorite weather website is www.wunderground.com.  It has a link to Wundermap which has the weather superimposed on a google map, so we can zoom in to see our house. 

Hike to Hunter's Camp

Yesterday afternoon, Papa and I hiked up the mountain toward Hunter's Camp and past it, to a rock outcropping, where we sat to enjoy a few moments.  Clouds filled the sky with the sun peaking through to cast light sporadically on golden grasslands below.  I took this photo from our perch on the rocks.  We feel incredibly fortunate to live on Winchester Ranch!

Papa's Saddle Work

Over the past six years, Papa has made seven saddles.  Each saddle takes several months and hundreds of hours of work.  He's also made several pairs of chinks, chaps, rifle and gun holsters, and lots of tack for the horses.  In other words, he's made lots of ranching gear! 

Military Drills

Not long after we bought the ranch in 2003, we noticed helicopters every couple of months, flying low over the ranch.  After flying around the ranch a few times, they would fly up to Bald Ridge, hover for a few minutes to three hours, then fly away.  We've hiked to Bald Ridge and Papa has ridden on a horse up to Bald Ridge.  On our few visits, we've noticed a giant tractor tire, that could only have been left there by a chopper, ie. to be used as a landing target.

Once a couple of years ago, when hiking under Bald Ridge, near Nueva Dam, we saw a cave and went to explore.  It was a shallow cave, that had been inhabited during a rain shower, as someone had carefully placed rocks around the entrance and built shallow ditches to direct the water away.  Inside the cave were several cans of food and a five gallon container of water.  With the terrain on the ranch as rough as it is, and the cave not close to a road, clearly there was something going on!  The choppers are military and we believe soldiers are dropped off as part of a survival military drill.  Just yesterday, I was out hiking and heard a chopper.  It was flying low and away from the ranch. 

Sweetest Words

Yesterday morning, Claire called from Jordan.  She held the phone for Emerson and I said to her, "I love you."  Emerson said back to me a couple of times, "I ou."  Then she said, "Emmy, I ou, Mama."  Translated, she said for the first time, "I love you, Mama."  So sweet!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Over the past week, I have spent most of my time inside our home at the ranch.  I've cleaned the closets, looked through old magazines, and redecorated a bit.  Yesterday, I looked around and smiled at so many things that give me joy in our home.  A few of my favorite things...

Sunrise as seen from living room

Grass Chair

Apples in wood basket on marble countertop

My hat

Leather director's chair

Tree stump table, love the rings!

House Beautiful magazine

Pot made by Janet Kuhn and wooden bowls

Seashells

Ladder built by Papa

Sunset as seen from living room

The Case for Calling Mom

Audrey sent this article from the Washington Post:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-case-for-calling-mom-in-one-chart/2012/01/06/gIQAv0c1eP_blog.html?wprss=ezra-klein

Wired flags a new study that proves many mothers across the country right: For your own sake, you should call home more often. The research comes from Evolution and Human Behavior. It finds that a phone call to mom provides significant stress relief while instant message conversations won’t quell the nerves.

The study author tells Wired, “the results suggest that mom’s voice — its tones and intonations and rhythms, known formally as prosodics — trigger soothing effects, rather than what she specifically says.”

To summarize in non-chart form: Call your mother!

I'm grateful to each of my daughters for calling their mother!

They Said it Best!

I came across an article in the May 2006 issue of Western Interiors, titled "The Brokaws Montana."  Tom and Meredith Brokaw summed up their feelings about their life in Montana after living in New York City, with many of the same feelings Papa and I have about our life on Winchester Ranch.

A few excerpts:
Tom Brokow, "Throughout our long, happy life together I have always trusted her (Meredith) judgment and tried to accomodate her wishes... our western life has been the perfect complement to the hurly-burly pace of New York.

Whenever we approach our ranch on a long, winding gravel road... our hearts skip a beat as the vast grassland, the mountains, and a sky full of birds come into view.  It never fails to be a humbling experience.

That perspective, that here nature rules is a constant during our time in Montana.  We mark our days by the bison calving season, the summer storms that nourish the grass...and the sightings of bear or mountain lion.  When night comes late in the day, the big, black sky explodes into a panorama of stars and constellations, a great arc of light that is the only illumination as far as we can see... 

It's a privilege to be a small part of this great American landscape."

Meredith Brokaw, "The ranch is on a dirt road, well known for its washboard bumpiness, seventeen miles from the nearest town.  By the end of that first day on the ranch, I knew that owning the ranch would turn into a love story, and it has.  We soon discovered that this wasn't just a place to inhabit; it was a world of its own and a way of life.

It seemed odd to use the word neighborhood to describe an area where the houses aren't within sight or even walking distance of one another.  When you live in a remote place, you're maybe even more drawn to company, and because meetings are less frequent, each becomes something of a celebration.  Hospitality takes on a new meaning when someone drives forty miles to have dinner at your house, never mind just to stop by and say hello.

We also brought our world to Montana.  The ranch has proved to be a great gathering place for our three daughters and their families...  Like most of America, we no longer all live in the same town or even in the same state.  We keep track of one another's major life events, but we don't see one another regularly.  The ranch became our remedy, Ranch Camp, a loosely organized and usually rather chaotic event that every two years brings together as many of us as possible for a three or four day reunion... 

The horizon seems endless... and you can spot different weather patterns all going on at the same moment.  On a clear night, with no ambient light from any towns and at our elevation of 5,500 feet, the Milky Way appears to be a wide, white ribbon stretched out overhead.  You can almost touch the Big Dipper...  The universe feels so alive with shooting stars and orbiting satellites and an ever-changing moon..."

Redecorating a Bit

Over the past couple of days, I've moved things around a bit in our four bedrooms and am working toward a different look in each one.  I am going to make a few new pillow covers, have a couple of photos printed and framed, and hope to find a new sculpture for the ledge above our kitchen.  

Photos of the results will follow in a few weeks.  Having fun! 

Love and Peace

The  
Love 
that begins
in our hearts
and homes
becomes the

Peace 

that fills
our world. 

Day of Rest

I left on my trip to Chicago after Lauren's birth on December 5.  I got back to Tucson on December 18, and Grammar arrived for the holidays on December 20.  Mary, Whitney and family arrived on December 24, and Claire and family arrived on the 25th.  The last family left yesterday morning, January 3, and our winter roundup was in progress with meals to prepare for cowboys.  Papa and I enjoyed the time with family, mealtimes, and playing with grandchildren, but I am tired.  I relaxed all of today, thumbing through old magazines and taking a soaking bath.  I will be ready for normal activities tomorrow!  A day of rest is good.

Winter Roundup

Papa was up by 4:30 yesterday.  He had breakfast and was out the door by 5:30, to feed the horses, load them into the trailer, and then he drove to Colter's by 6:30.  Eight men met there and drove their trucks pulling cattle trailers to the far west end of our ranch, about 45 minutes via Muleshoe Road.  Over several hours, they rounded up the cattle in Patterson pasture, then separated calves from mother cows.  The calves were transported to the corrals on Warbonnet Ranch for weaning.  It was a long day, with Papa getting home around 9.

Today was a new day, meeting at Colter's barn by 6:30.  Again, eight men gathered at the Patterson corral to pregnancy check all the cows and to separate those that were bare, to take to market.  I took lunch today, arriving by 11 at the Patterson corral.  I watched the last hour of preg checking and took photos.  I made chili for lunch, with cheese and chips, fresh oranges, and derby pie.  Papa and I are privileged to live and work on our ranch!