Lulu as Photographer

Mary took this photo of me the morning of our branding.  Not my best side, but I really do enjoy taking photos.  Love my new leather chinks made by Papa. 

Found Arrowhead

While Brian was visiting, Papa took the whole family on a hike up the canyon, to a shallow cave with Indian marks on the wall.  As they were hiking uphill of the cave, Brian found a small arrowhead.  It is beautifully made.  A great find as we have found only a couple on Winchester Ranch!

Wall Street Journal Article

Papa was featured in an article about retirement in the Wall Street Journal in May 2010.

Wall Street Journal, May 15, 2010
Second Acts - Portraits of people who are changing their lives and taking new paths
By Kristi Essick

Tending a bit a land - a backyard garden, for instance - is something many people look forward to after leaving the office.  But Dale Henderson had a bigger vision in mind.

Journal Report
Mr. Henderson, 63, and his wife, Louise, own the 16,000 acre Winchester Ranch in southeast Arizona.  The couple purchased the property in 2003, shortly before Mr. Henderson retired from his job as managing director of RBC Capital Markets, and moved there permanently in 2005.  

"I didn't want to leave my retirement to chance, so I took stock of what I really wanted to do with the rest of my life," says Mr. Henderson, who spent 14 years as a partner at Ernst & Young and 22 years in investment banking at RBC.

Dale Henderson went from investment banking to Arizona rancher.  Not one to spend his days fishing or playing tennis, Mr. Henderson came up with a more active plan.  "I realized I wanted to be a rancher, and thankfully, my adventurous wife supported my new career choice 100%."

While still working at RBC in Florida, Mr. Henderson began scouting properties out West. He and his wife looked at more than 200 places before settling on Winchester. The couple was taken with the 100-mile views overlooking nine mountain ranges and the ranch's 200 head of grass-fed cattle.

"Winchester Ranch is not a gentleman's ranch, but a real working cattle ranch that's been in business for 120 years," Mr. Henderson says. "Part of our decision to make this massive change was to participate in a quickly fading way of life, because traditional working ranches are disappearing fast."

These days the Hendersons live in a house they built on a bluff, and work round-the-clock to keep the business running smoothly. They have a ranch manager, who is a retired professional rodeo roper, to help with day-to-day tasks, like moving cattle, fixing fences and laying water pipes. They use local cowboys to help out during roundups.

In addition to his own research, Mr. Henderson has learned about ranching from mingling with other cattlemen from the nearby town of Willcox, where ranchers and cowboys go to buy feed and supplies.  "Just maintaining the roads, fences and the water infrastructure of wells, pipelines, solar pumps and storage tanks is endless, but I love how tangible my work is now—the opposite of investment banking," says Mr. Henderson, who has also taught himself to shoe horses, brand cattle and repair roofs.

"I know my lifestyle is an extreme choice," he says, "but being connected to the land is everything I ever wanted, and I plan to keep working hard until I can't sit on a horse any longer."

Sunflowers

I had a bouquet of sunflowers in our home last week and then saw sunflowers in Tucson.  

Whether cut or growing wild, they are beautiful.

New Blog Name

This blog www.grandparentwithstyle.blogspot.com is changing to www.WinchesterRanch.blogspot.com.  Same blog, different name!

Summer Sky

Summer clouds over the ranch are incredibly beautiful. 

Dust Storm

A couple of days ago, I was looking out over the valley and noticed a small dust storm.  Clouds were low and it was stormy looking.  I went to get my camera and when I returned to the porch, the dust storm had grown.  It grew and grew before being consumed into a cloud.

Toad at the Door

We've been getting rain every few days over the past few weeks, which brings out toads.  We often get one or two on our patio that surrounds our home.  They jump to get bugs and often bump our glass doors.  It sounds as if they are knocking on the door.  These toads are giant!

Brian's Family Visit to the Ranch

Our son Brian, wife Amy, and their girls drove from Dallas and arrived at the ranch two days before the branding.  Papa had made chinks for the girls, so they tried them out soon after their arrival.  Amy pitched in and helped with food prep.  She chopped for two days!  Brian was my "go to guy," helping with everything on my "honey do list."  He moved furniture, took out the trash at least 20 times, made many trips to the fridge in the Rock House, shredded beef, chicken, and pork, and so much more.  Emily and Sarah raked the driveway, swept the porch, played outside, and hiked with Papa.  They were a little timid at the branding, staying mostly outside the corral, but they had a good time.

 

Lulu & Papa Photo

Mary takes her camera everywhere she goes, and over the past few years, when at the ranch, she has taken a photo of Papa and me that we use in our Christmas letter and various other photo gifts for family.  A photo from this year's shoot.  Thank you, Mary!

First Roundup

On Friday of last week, Colter led a roundup of cattle near the original Schilling homeplace and pushed the cows closer to the Rock House corral.  When everyone arrived at our house at 6 a.m., Traven got out of the truck.  Traven is 2!  It was his first roundup and he was so excited.  After his horse was saddled, Carly led him with a rope.  At 4, Colter Lee is now an old hand at roundups, and rides often with Colter.  Traven did really well, but tired after about three hours and started asking for muffins.  I often have muffins for the cowboys when they come to our house and this day was no exception!  Good job, Traven!

Savannah

Savannah is Colter's younger sister.  She was 11 years old when we bought the ranch in 2003.  While we were renovating the Rock House and then building our home, she would come over to visit, usually walking the 2+ miles from her house to ours.  When she arrived, often a surprise, I would stop whatever I was doing and enjoy time with her.  We made s'mores over the stove, baked cookies, went on short hikes, and just sat and talked.  As Savannah got older, she would bring friends over with her.  Madilyn and I hosted a "tea" for Savannah just before she left for college two years ago.

Savannah is at home on Warbonnet Ranch this summer.  Her boyfriend, Will, is also on the ranch.  Will has helped Colter on our ranch over the past few weeks.  Both Savannah and Will rode the "day before the branding roundup."  Its nice to share some summer 2012 moments with Savannah.

Branding Crew

Our branding crew has grown every year.  This year was the largest crew yet at 37.  We are so appreciative of Colter managing the ranch and making every day a good day on Winchester Ranch.  Branding Day 2012 was the best!

Branding Day, Part 3

Branding Day, Part 2