Goodbye to Mr Buttons, Beefy jerky, gift tags and Wilbur the baby ram

Mr Buttons new family took the 4-5 hour trip to come pick him up yesterday. He rolled in the mud all morning so Dude cleaned him up and made him handsome for his journey. Dude began to get misty-eyed and decided to take him for a long walk before they got here. He didn't realize the pang of letting him go would hurt like it did. 

They got here around 3:30pm. The little boy getting him thinks the family went to Kansas today to pick up a horse for their boss. He begged them to stop by and pick up Mr Buttons.  They told him they couldn't afford him right now and would have to pass and wave for now (wink). 

His sister took control right off and got Mr Buttons ready.  Mr Buttons was very excited. Whenever he hears a horse trailer he wants to go for a ride. He was showing he would do great despite the length of the journey.

They had no issues. Mr Buttons was ready to learn to drive cattle down in the Sangre de Cristo mountain area.  Much love to you Mr Buttons.  We will miss you dearly.  I know you will make a little boy extremely happy. 

Dude got right to work this morning drying beef jerky.  

It as been marinating more than a day. 

I am wrapping gifts and making tags to go along with them. If I have time I want to make pompoms to go on top of the packages instead of ribbons.

I did take time to go out with Wilbur our little ram. 

He is adorable.

Angelo is pouting.  The doctor put him on a diet. Oh, and Peppermint's tests all came out stellar. 

I need to get back to the gifts, then a big fat nap before family dinner and later, midnight mass. 

Merry Christmas from Dis-l-do Homestead! 

peace

Vacation begins... Chat with Mr Buttons, cards, books on tape.

Here it is my first real day of vacation. I am trying to get a lot of "official" stuff done so I can relax and play toward the end of the week.   I got my drivers licensed renewed, picked up straw for the animals to stay warm, went to see my new grandson and picked up a few groceries. 

Dude wasn't feeling well today but you know him... can't keep a good man down and he cleaned the stalls and laid down new straw. 

Mr Buttons is still here with us until Friday when they come to pick him up. The new owners called to ask us to measure his chest.  It was bitter cold out but we needed to go out and talk to Mr Buttons anyway.  He was glad to have company since the chickens refused to come out of their warm coop to play and all the goats do is complain of the cold. 

I finished my Christmas cards and listening to The Red Pony. True to Steinbeck... the ending just drops off. I hate that. Good story but giving me an ending man! 

Made the rest of the Christmas cards and popped them in the mail box in town. I didn't want the post woman to have to try and fiddle with all the cards I was mailing. 

Hey, have you seen or made one of these chicken pin cushions?  A lot of people make them or sell them. I have found a great use to them due to their shape. 

They hold my cell phone while I facetime with  my grandson. 

Pretty cool, huh? 

Drying oranges to string up . They smell divine. 

Started listening to Treasure Island while I knit hats and hand sew.  I am loving it. I grew up on the coast full of pirate stories.  My Dad used to read Treasure Island to us. I am not sure  I love the story because it  brings memories of my dad and life on the coast or if it is just that good of a story, but this now woman of the plains is breathing in each word. 

I got more movies from the library today. Time to get back to my embroidering and sit a spell with Dude. 

Peace!

Mr Buttons

We decide to sell Mr Buttons. We had gotten him for the grandkids to come ride but they don’t make out this way like we had hoped. Dude wants a horse for himself and since we deal in cash, something had to be sold. 

We thought his listing on Craigslist had expired when we got a call someone wanted to come out to see him. We have had a few people come out to see him but no one serious in buying.  These folks came out with the whole family, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad and the kids last night. We loved that right off.

The family have nine horses already but the youngest son didn’t want to ride a horse, they are too big (I certainly understand that).  He wanted a pony, something around 12 hands.  They were heading out to see one that was 11 hands and white. Well, not quite what he wanted. He wanted a 12 hand pony and black.  His older sister and rider of the Little Britches Rodeo was searching online yesterday when she found Mr Buttons. She was so excited she yell to her family that she had found “ the one”.   They are a cattle ranching family, they round up cattle for other people via horseback, not something you hear every day.  We loved that they knew all about ponies have their own mind and can be a bit temperamental.  The sister got on Mr. Buttons and controlled him right away. They love that he has been ridden. A lot of folks have ponies and use them as pasture buddies for their other horses and don’t ride them.  They loved how handsome he is and what a ball of fur he was…. They didn’t know he had rolled in the mud earlier that morning and we had to gussy him up.  It was great to see them ride him and how Mr. Buttons showed off for them.  Dude shook hands and they made a deal.  The mom whispered something to Dude and as her son came running over with Mr. Buttons she said … okay, so here is half payment now and we will make payments and pick him up in February.  The boy hugged Mr Buttons and rubbed his own cheeks say, “I can’t stop smiling. This is the best day of my life!”  His sister kept saying, “this was meant to be!”  The family all loaded up in the car and drove off.   Dude later told me the family paid for Mr. Buttons in full.  A friend of theirs will be picking him up around Christmas Eve to deliver to the young man Christmas morning.  Mr. Button, they said, will be in a cushy barn until it is time to drive cattle.  Wow!  He won’t have to be bored with a couple of old goats… not us .. Angelo and Peppy.

I love this one when they said goodbye until next time. 

peace

Baseball, a walk and re-purposing

I took time off the homestead to attend a Rockies Baseball game.  It was so much fun. The weather was perfect at 77* most of the game.  There were home runs, high flies and alot of laughter.  The Rockies won against the Dodgers 7-0.

Back on the homestead we did go our for an evening walk with horse, goat and ... chicken? 

This chicken loves Mr Buttons and follows him everywhere. 

The girls wanted to go on the walk too but needed to stay behind.

I convinced Angelo a walk would be good for him. So armed with our rosary beads, Angelo and Skippy joined us on our walk. 

The electric fence will be completed tomorrow and Mr Buttons will be able to roam free.

Re-purpose

When I think of Colorado I think of mountains, lodges, snow and a hot cup of something in  your hands. I like to make sure I have enough cups available for tea, coffee, cocoa, or whatever someone needs to keep them warm. So they have to be easy to get to , so I re-purposed a hat rack to hold mugs. 

The other re-purpose was from an old rake I had. I was our working in the garden one day when it just went flying off the handle. I didn't want to throw it away and I eventually came to use it for my mugs. 

This is a rack for toast but I never used it for that. 

But it is very handy for my patterns that I want to make.

Well, it's been a very long and fun day. Time to settle in with a new book I got in the mail to add to my kids/faith section of our "library". It's the story of St Elizabeth of Hungary. Can't wait to read it.

peace, health, and happiness

Canning Pickles and Mr Buttons makes an entrance

Our day was super busy.  We went to town for a kraut burger to start the day.  

Then home to finish  our fall cleaning. Dusted, cleaned , pulled furniture out and vacuumed couches. Man, it was tiring.  Next was a quick 20 minute nap and then canning pickles. Today I made dill - whole and sliced. I am pooped. 

I bought a bushel of pickle cucumbers. I canned about 3/4 of them.

Dill from the garden.

Our garlic.

In the middle of it all Mr Man thinks he is 13 again and brought Mr Buttons in the house. I immediately put a stop to that!

Back to the pickles. I like garlic and dill in the jars first.

Packed them in tight. 

I worked in batches. 8.5 cups of water, 4.25 cups of white vinegar, 1/2 cup pickling salt, handful of peppercorn, handful of dill seed from the garden. Boil up and remove from the heat. In each sterile jar I put a couple cloves of garlic and a dill weed. A few jars were spiked with hot pepper flakes. Pack tight with pickles. Pour the pickling brine over, put on sterilized  seals and rings. Since we are at higher sea level I water bathed mine for 20minutes.

25 jars canned.  Time to eat and sit for a bit and relax. 

Hope you had a great day. 

peace, health, and happiness.