Make a Miracle Today....

Well, you know you have fallen behind on your blog when the most recent picture on it no longer resembles the animal that is residing in your garage!!!  My ticks are so different looking it is amazing, they are almost Turkeys... and if I had a working camera right now I could show you...and I am typing this from a precarious position atop my freezer...but technical difficulties aside; I couldn't let my Royal Rebels go another day without an update!

Life at The Royal Ranch is never a dull moment...since I last spoke with you all we have taken in another rescue llama named Russel (no worries, introduction to come...), we have lost our potential adoptive home for two of our boys, but hopefully gained homes for four, possibly even five!  We have planted many seeds both literally and figuratively, I hope...and I am still working on simplifying.

Although I am running today, as I have my final dentist appointment, which you can read all about here; all in all this has been such a wonderful experience, but boy am I glad that all of that driving is over!  Anyway, since I am pressed for time this morning...I wanted to lay out my next few posts...for all of us.  That way I am committed to writing them, and hopefully you all are looking forward to them.

First and foremost, I am so excited to write about our new son Austin and our adventures into Legal Guardianship.  This has been such a rewarding experience for us and not that I think every family should go out looking for some kid to try and "save" or something, because that is not at all what Austin is to us; he is a member of our family.  But, really this story is worth sharing, and if it could encourage someone else to do the same thing...well even better.

Also, I have been wanting to post about some of the gardening things I have been doing and trying and testing.  This is between doctors appointments, my middle son turning 15 and needing a drivers permit, oh Lord yes, you heard that right, and dentist appointments.  My point being that a pretty busy person can squeeze in some garden time...even at 9,000 feet in elevation...even in April!

Last and certainly not least...my sister has been diagnosed with breast cancer...wow...just threw that one in there didn't I?  Well, I've sort of had a, okay really had a hard time figuring out how I want to talk about this.  So give me a few more days and that might be the last on the list....But know that my sister is one Hell of a woman and handling this with such grace and dignity that it is amazing.  She has DCIS and will be totally fine after undergoing a double mastectomy.  Sort of an oxymoron, right?

Well, from atop the freezer, in snowy CO...finally...I am happy to report that hopefully we are back on track...maybe not daily...remember we are trying to simplify here (LOL), but at least we have things scheduled, right?  So come back for some great pictures of my new son and my old son and their Prom dates (thank goodness Dad figured out how to get them off my phone!)...hopefully by then I can get my camera fixed!  It's been a really long time since I've said it, but make a miracle today!

Simplifying, cont.

 A "Tick" (looks like a chick, but actually is a turkey)!

Okay...so let's get down to the nitty gritty.  What do I really mean by "simplifying" and "healing with the ranch"  (as mentioned in my previous post)?  It doesn't at all mean just quitting things, like the recycling, and TV; oh no this place is a buzz with activity.  We have "ticks" (we have no idea what to call baby turkeys, and they look just like chicks, so ticks it is-ha!) in the garage, a beautiful lamb in the llama/sheep pen and all sorts of stuff being planted!  My goal is to reconnect with the old ways I guess you could say.


I have been doing a lot of thinking about our property, and how it could be used to it's greatest potential.  I want to use each and every animal to its highest potential as well; whether it be for egg, wool, meat or even guardian purposes.

I absolutely adored making my jams last year for Christmas and the response I got was unbelievable...so I am going to grow berries this year for my own jams!  Amazingly there are a few berries that will grow at our high altitude and we already have a lot of wild raspberries that grow around this area, so I can only hope.  I am also changing the formula of Naked~Nure, by happy accident, adding a secret ingredient that should make plants soar!  More on this in a future post.

The point is to make the very most of what I've got.  I don't feel that the economy is at all stable.  I don't feel that our government is at all stable.  It is time to use my property to raise what I need for my family and hopefully have a little leftover for my family and friends.  My goal is to barter...I really think this is the wave of the future...I already do it with many of my friends.  I trade eggs for some of my friend Tiffany's wonderful products.  I recently got some organic beef and traded some of that for my organic chicken feed....the list goes on and on...

I have always hated waste...and now I look at my property in a whole new light.  There are already many plants on it that I should have been harvesting for years...Chamomile, Currant, Rosehip, Chokecherry, even dandelion can be harvested and used....How about you, do you harvest and use any of Mother Nature's wonders?  And what are some of your plans in this unstable environment?

Simplifying

 With a herd of these guys as neighbors, who wouldn't want to spend the summer playin' in poo, er soil?

You know, I wasn't really sure how to write this post, or when I was going to write this post.  And it's funny because this post has really been causing me to have a writers block; it's as if I feel like once I get all of this off my chest...I will be able to post more frequently again.  Even as I type this..I notice that I have a very concerned, "knit" brow!

I want to be careful how I word this post for some reason...it feels as if it really matters.  It's all about simplicity...I am simplifying my life, and being darn careful to do it in a very positive manner.  I think it may have started with the carbon monoxide thing...well, that's not entirely true; I have always felt that your thoughts and actions impact your life.  But the carbon monoxide scare was the final straw I guess, that and the recycling as funny as it sounds.

I have practically killed myself for the recycling of the schools; literally in some cases.  I had lost a bag of recycling on the side of the highway....yes the state's deadliest highway at one point in time, and when I pulled over to pick it up at a later date I sank a foot deep in gopher holes and got stuck!  All signs were pointing to time to face the fact that I could no longer handle all of this stuff on my own.  And to be honest, I didn't want to, my family had been giving me a hard time about this sort of craziness for quite some time.

I found myself saying things like "my life isn't really this melodramatic" in phone calls and emails to people, as I was rushing here or there...and let me tell you if drama is in your thoughts or words....it is in your life!  So I quit saying those things, and I asked for help with the recycling.  And I made some really big changes here at home.

We quit the DirectTV habit.  Yes, you heard that right.  We no longer have access to the outside world unless it is through the internet or Netflix!  This has been one of the most amazing things for my family of two (yes, two; exciting news on that later!) 17 year olds and a 15 year old and an 11 year old.  We no longer deal with LOUD commercials that are totally inappropriate on some cable networks, I no longer am subjected to news that brings down my already overloaded sensitive senses nor are my kids and we are in absolute control of everything that goes into our heads.  It is such a sense of FREEDOM, once you get used to it.

I have decided to really concentrate my energy on The Ranch this year.  As I have marketed our great product Naked~Nure; I got the same question over and over again.  Why use llama manure?  So I am going to take a year or so and answer that question.  I am going to try all different sorts of methods of growing (indoors and out), all different ways of using the manure (teas and composts) and I'm going to feed my family and benefit my property in the meantime.  I just really feel like the ranch and I have some healing and growing to do together this year.

But, the biggest change of all is that my family is now six.  I finally have my son Austin.  I have spoken about him before....and he has been a part of my family since the first day he walked through my door with his rolling giggle....but as of Friday April 1, 2011, he is legally ours and I couldn't be happier.

I apologize for my absence; and I look forward to taking you along on my journey of learning to simplify in a world of fast paced living.  This should be fun.  Tell me, what do you do to slow down and remind yourself to really be a part of today?