Royal Ranch- Green from the "Bottom" Up!

Is it really over? Time for a new start. Period.

2012-01-13T05:08:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have been putting this post off for unknown reasons. And this morning I think I figured it out....I was not quite ready to let go of Christmas Break (and yes, I still insist on calling it that at my Ranches!!!). But it is time to GET REAL. It was such a wonderful time with my family...

Of course my sons were home from college, oh what a joy! With their smiles and messes and tons of friends and laundry we all had so much fun. But what I miss the most I think is my chats with my oldest redhead; he is an early riser like me and we have such wonderful talks in the wee hours of the morning. We talk about everything under the sun (or the moon as it sometimes seems) and often debate the problems of the world...

It was so very hard to let them go again, but to know that they are on their way to such great things makes it easier and to have seen their amazing growth in such a short time frame was a real eye opener. So yes, the tears flowed; some from sadness but many out of sheer joy to see my boys fly away on wings of their very own.

It is my family here at home that helps keep me sane; the wonderful, tolerant creatures that they are. With their jokes and helping hands and never ending support for all of my hair brained ideas we get by. And at the end of the day we know we are a team; a well oiled machine that keeps this ranch running and is preparing to build a whole new adventure together....

Which leads me to my new start for 2012; come on, we have all felt it. It is not some crazy end of the Mayan calendar or doomsday catastrophe. But it is a time for change and new beginnings. Time to open up to new ideas and become better neighbors and friends; more loving people all around.

And I have decided that where that starts for me is right here at home. It is time to concentrate on me and my family. What? Didn't she just say to become a better neighbor, friend and loving person all around? Yes, I sure did, and I have this odd feeling that I have gotten a bit off track.

I don't know where, if it was my back injury or just busy raising a family all the while fighting to keep it together financially in a crappy economy, but I have lost my way a bit. And when I say "my way" I mean my goals in general; and I had to take a look at those goals and re-evaluate.

And what exactly are those goals? Well, that is a good question, but I do know that I am headed for self-sustainability. Period. I am sick of depending on anyone. A boss for money a store for food a power company for lights....You name it, I'm done. Don't get me wrong, I am SO appreciative of all of those things for getting us where we are now, but it is time for us, The Jeute clan to move on.

Yes, those are totally lofty goals and they are going to take some time. But do you know what happened as soon as I realized that this is what was really bothering me lately? The loss of me and "my way"? Such a release and a wave of what I would call good fortune!

It started with me praying. Praying for nothing; because that is all I really knew what to pray for. "Dear God, I'm not very good at this and I'm not even sure what to pray for besides all of the usual things like the health and happiness of all of my (and your) children....but other than that I leave it up to YOU!"

And you know what else really struck me? Talking to my friend Lynley on the phone the other day she said to me "a person has gotta get out and do something, even if it is something wrong, at least you are doing something!" and she is absolutely right. I think fear stops too many of us from doing things that we really would love to try but are afraid we might do wrong. Well, who the hell cares? It is much better to try something and know that you did it wrong and learn from your mistakes than to sit around wondering if you shoulda, coulda, woulda.

So I'm praying, and letting go of the things I need to let go (you know things that take your time and are not healthy or productive toward your goal) and trying new things. And it has led me to two new Animal Consulting cases, one huge farm rescue (which I love due to the challenge and the joy of placing animals in a new loving, forever home!).....But most importantly it led me to doing something I didn't think I could do:

Build an incubator from scratch out of ALL recycled materials (the Judy way, of course)!!! Complete with 14, yes 14 turkey eggs from my spectacular Chocolate turkey hen who started laying eggs, well, two weeks ago. A turkey lays one egg per day so I had only 13 days to get this project together with a little help from who else but my wonderful family. It took a while to test it and get it just so, but her is the finished product:

And my girl really surprised me on the last morning because I had added the 13 eggs and then I went up on the 14th day and there she was just getting up off the nest after incubating an egg for me overnight. So that egg should be just about on the same schedule as the others as it takes 12-24 hours for the eggs to warm up to temperature and them to get fertilized. I gently grabbed it and ran down to the house like I was carrying the Olympic flame or something!

And this picture of my beautiful Chocolate Hen proves that dreams really do come true. If you all recall, I asked Santa for a camera for Christmas. Well I got one!!!

My Christmas Notebook

2011-12-23T06:40:00.001-07:00

Yesterday in my journal blog I mentioned my Christmas Notebook and I realized that maybe everybody is not familiar with that concept; so I decided to do a post about it here, for you Rebels. My Christmas Notebook is an old spiral that I have kept my Christmas notes is since the kids were tiny little creatures.

At the top of the page I simply put what year it is. I then make a column for each child; blessedly this year I got to add a whole column for our new son Austin. In previous years that was always a bit tricky as I had to buy him the same thing I bought the other "friends". Anyway, underneath each column (which takes up less than a third of the page in my family) I have plenty of room left to make a list of nieces and nephews. Underneath that goes all of the couple gifts to my sisters and parents. Lastly I have a list of neighbors and friends that I either bake for or have the kids make stuff for.

Originally, I just started the notebook out as a way to keep myself organized while I was shopping. And also to avoid the embarrassment of giving the same gift 2 years in a row (or more like I did with the wreaths a decade or so ago, I got really into wreath making and gave them away 3 years in a row and totally forgot about it, lol!!!); but I have now found that is a wonderful trip down memory lane each year when I pull it out to prepare for Christmas shopping.

See, I keep all of the kids' Dear Santa letters in there paper clipped to each year that they wrote them as well. So for instance the other day as I was going through and making my list and checking it twice, we found a couple of those old letters and now that the cat is out of the bag completely at my house; we pulled a few of those Santa letters out and read them as a family (well poor Dad was working, but the rest of us were here and boy did we crack up!).

The first one we read was so sweet from my daughter saying that she wanted a play pony (thank God for the "play" part, eh?) and something nice for her brothers. And then we open up one from my oldest son, whom of course by this time knew that I was on the receiving end of these and had only sat down to write one to humor my daughter. It said: Dear Santa, don't bring my sister or brother anything, not even coal, as they have been TERRIBLE this year. Also, I will leave plenty of Lima Beans for your reindeer so they can fart their way across America.

Well, all righty then. Merry Christmas to me. I mean we all sat here and laughed until there were tears rolling down our cheeks. Some were tender and sweet, okay only those from my daughter.... And some were funny as all get out, but they were all ones that I am so happy that I have in one place.

So make 2011 be the year you start your very own Christmas Notebook because it is so well worth it. You will never have another repeat gift again, you will have wonderful memories to look back on and it doesn't have to be anything special. Mine is an old spiral that one of the kids didn't use all of the pages in in school. Recycled!!!! Oh, and don't forget the secret column up in the corner for stocking stuffers and Santa gifts!!! That way even if the kids get ahold of your secret notebook, they will never know who S (for Santa) is....

Unbelievable!

2011-12-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

My Crazy Turkeys

2011-12-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

I know I have mentioned my Yahoo! groups before, but my very favorite is my Rare Heritage Turkey group. To be fair, I don't follow that many, but these folks don't have (or at least adhere to) too many rules, and they aren't stuffy and they really seem to have a great sense of humor,er, senses of humors?!?

Anyway, recently one of the gals, who really adds a lot of "color" to the group posted asking for stories about turkeys. On a different post, I had responded to her, accidentally misspelling her name which has started a name battle ever since. So, I felt bad that not many people were responding to her pleas for stories and in my oh so smart alecky way I responded to her.

It appears she has forwarded my silly story to a friend and that friend would like to post the story on his site; so I figured I had better share my story with my very own readers first! So here my letter to my e-friend is in it's entirety:

Okay DoRENE,
I have a story for you. I have a chocolate hen who is a bit, well....schedule oriented (spoiled). The other day my parents were up for dinner and were absolutely fascinated with the turkeys, who of course had surrounded their car upon their arrival with chortles of delight. That was until the turkeys realized that this company was going to interrupt their own dinner.

Mom and Dad had been just full of questions; the typical ones like how much do they eat, etc. But the very last one before we headed in as the turkeys followed us up the stairs and hopped up onto the railing of the second story porch was "turkeys don't fly do they?". They were quite concerned for their safety up that high (this of course is their favorite roosting spot as it looks over the whole valley, the road, the driveway, you get the point).

So we headed inside and started our pizzas and got busy with our visiting. The turkeys did not like the fact at all that we ignored their preening and pruning and gobbling and chirping on the front porch so they trooped down the stairs in a line. And I'm thinking to myself, "finally!!!"; as I figured they were headed back up to their pen to start their dinner without me like they sometimes do.

I'm standing in the middle of the living room telling a big story, flapping my arms about when suddenly there is a VERY LARGE THUD against the picture window (right behind where my Dad is sitting on the couch)!!! And there trying to balance on the 1/2 inch lip of the window is my beautiful chocolate hen calmly looking at me. When she realized there was no room for her she just gracefully swooped down to sit on the snowmobile with her Bourbon Red boyfriend (turkeys know no prejudice) to the utter amazement of my parents. It looked as if the two of them were threatening to ride off into the sunset (literally with the sun setting behind them) if I did not hurry up and feed them! And she had just nicely knocked on the window to make sure I knew that they were going...

Needless to say, they trumped my story so my Dad and I happily got our chore gear on and headed out to lead the pack up the hill for dinner. What the heck had I been thinking to feed company first?

JJ~

Santa, do you hear me, now even OTHER websites are requesting photos of my amazing animals???

I wish I may, I wish I might....

2011-11-30T07:55:00.001-07:00

Whenever Tom or I see a shooting star we think of one of our lost family members; his Mom or Dad and my Grandma. His Mom with the contagious, oh so loud laugh and his Dad with the quiet smile and German accent and strict ways. And my beloved Grandma that was such a part of my heart it is hard to put into words...

But we never fail to make a wish upon those shooting stars as well; knowing all the while that it may be a childhood fantasy, but we do it all the same. So when I heard this song it reminded me how truly blessed we are to live in a place where seeing shooting stars are a common occurrence; but that I still wouldn't mind the opportunity for a few more wishes... And that we are in a time right now, where everyone needs a wish or two.

Happy Humorous Monday

2011-11-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

Royal Ranch Royalty

2011-11-27T06:22:00.000-07:00

Not knowing exactly how much longer I will be representing The Royal Ranch has made me a bit melancholy, I guess you would say. There is a good chance that this could be my last post in this series as the official owner of The Royal Ranch; therefore I really wanted to make it one that counts and one that really gets the point across of what I am trying to do with my livestock and my homesteads, yes I say that in the plural.

As I have NOT made a secret of, we are adding to our homesteads with The Double J; and of course I will continue with my heritage breeds. I hope to even expand my heritage poultry business, raise pork for my family and anyone else who is interested and of course by now you Rebels know I am adding Yak to the mix. But what I have been secretive about is what we are going to do with The Royal Ranch, and for another week or so, that is still going to be kept close to home (until I have cleared everything with all parties of course).

For now our plans are to continue to live in it, probably as caretakers, while we build our new dream home on the Double J. I am spending my days learning everything I can...for now unofficially, but that may change. I may go back to school officially if I think a GC (General Contractor) and Mother, and Rancher, and Volunteer and other hat wearer can also be student.... But right now I am a student on a quest for knowledge of all things heritage breed.

Meaning any breed of livestock that this country (and many others for that matter) was founded on to put it quite simply. I am taking my homesteads back to their roots. With their animals and with their supplies and with their needs. I have told you I am going off-grid, and I'm not kidding, so I'm learning a lot about that too. So I go to bed at night with my head swimming with ultra-capacitors and old-fashioned pigs; all wrapped up in one image. How in the world am I going to make all of this work????

Well, I am going to make it work with websites like American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and Earthineer. Those are today's Royal Ranch Royalty's; I bet you were wondering how I was going to get around to that weren't you? Well, Rebels, it is very important for me to get my facts straight, and in one or two convenient, intelligent stops. And I have found that in these two sites. I can look up information about animals and capacitors and make new friends all at the same time. So if you are living a sort of mixed up crazy weird life like me right now...check 'em out; more than useful!

Happy Turkey Day, a bit early

2011-11-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

My Beautiful BBB Turkeys;

now THIS is how a turkey is supposed to look!

(If I do say so myself, lol!)

Amongst the recalls and rumors, here it is almost Thanksgiving and I don't have too much nice to say about the turkey industry, I'm very sorry. I know that the poultry industry really started out with good concepts, but it truly has gotten out of hand. Antibiotics were once used to treat infection; not prevent it. Hormones are a dangerous thing no matter how you look at it. If they are medically called for as is sometimes the case in the aid of recovery for human beings and they should be scrutinized very carefully. But who in their right mind wants to eat that stuff??? Not me.

The more I read, the more it convinces me that I am doing the right thing by raising our own food (or even hunting) , trying to buy local whenever I can and to really notice where my food comes from if I do have to buy it from the grocery store. There are a lot of ways to go local folks; even at 9,000 feet in elevation. You don't necessarily have to grow the stuff yourself.

You can buy direct from the farmers, at a drastically reduced price. You can go online and buy from someone like Door to Door Organics; which obviously brings the stuff right to your door. Or there are a couple of great websites dedicated to the eating local movement. Eat Local Challenge is "a group weblog focusing on the importance of locally and sustainably grown food". But the best one to get the whole family involved in is Eat Local. It has a great animated feel to it that the kids will love and a down to earth way of explaining why it is so important to buy locally.

So come on Rebels and GSO readers, let's send those government cronies a message and tell them we chose to eat locally and sustainably. Let them hear your message through your purchases, tell your friends to do the same, that is where we hit them the hardest...in the wallet; quiet and peacefully.

Have a great day!
JJ~

A couple of chuckles for us this fine Sunday morning... a cross post!

2011-11-20T06:29:00.000-07:00

And my VERY favorite of all:

Clearing out the house!

2011-11-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

Good morning Rebels! It feels like a Monday to me and you all are already half way through your week. I have had sick family members home all week and have not been all that well myself, so today I will spend the day clearing out the house just as the title says... WHEW!!!

It actually started last Thursday with my epidural. To be honest I really wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary; I have had this done once before and it wasn't extraordinarily painful when I got the injection, but it was pretty wicked that first week. So I tried to plan accordingly and you know, have myself somewhat prepared to be down for a bit. What I was not prepared for was the horrific pain of the epidural itself.

I am telling myself, and truly believing that the reason that this one was so much more painful than the first is because we had a bit more information this time and were really able to "zone in on" the exact targeted areas. So I am going to be up and running in no time flat! But what I will say is that this injection, for just a few seconds was worse than any labor pain or any other type of pain I could imagine, so if you are to have this type of thing, be prepared for that and maybe give yourself more than the 15 minutes of rest that they offer you. When I got in the truck I did sit for a few more minutes just to catch my breath for the long drive up the mountain.

So I rested over the weekend like I was told to do and then all hell broke loose with that darn wind storm I told you about...not only did it blow down all the old trees but it blew in some nasty bug, let me tell you. Tom, myself and my daughter all got hit with some sort of a flu bug and each of us got hit where we were the weakest. Tom in the stomach, Bella in the chest and stomach and me in the tummy; and I say it that way because luckily mine was a lot less intense because I was still dealing with recovering-GEEZ!!!!

On Monday we took our daughter to the doctor. And when I say we, that is something major because I can't even tell you the last time my husband took time off of work! But, anyway, the three of us, sick as dogs, load up in the truck and head for our friendly Evergreen Kaiser. Where they proceed to assuage my panic attack that my girl is not having asthma she is simply suffering from "flu like symptoms". I will not share with you all the words we had to say about that diagnosis. Awesome, is the nicest, and the most sarcastic.

Yesterday afternoon we (again, note the importance that The Big Bad Biker is still home, WHOA this is one nasty illness) started feeling a bit better and Tom filled the water troughs while I finally got some housework done around the pig sty, er I mean the house. Yes, just enough that today hopefully I can get a little down and dirty with some citrus and de-germ this place so that the last healthy Jeute that lives here doesn't end up with "flu like symptoms". Wonderful.

Oh, and by the way, I am no longer cross posting between here and The Double J Ranch (I reserve the right to do so if something is interesting to both blogs, or something I want to keep in my "journal" lol). As I mentioned in my first post over thar' at the new blog, I really want that to just be a Journal for me and my family. So, if you Rebels want to keep up on both you have to "Follow" both. There are multiple ways to sign up on both blogs; you can sign up for me to just pop-in to your e-mail box each time I post (upper left corner of each blog) or you can click on any of the follow buttons too. Either way your privacy is always protected with me, of course!

Have a great day!
JJ~

The Great Windstorm of 11-13-11...

2011-11-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

We went to bed the night before last to the power flickering and the wind howling. But as I lay there in bed listening to my basement bedroom window being sandblasted by wind from a direction that the winds never blow from; I knew we were in for some damage. I just wasn't aware of how much.

Between here (The Royal Ranch) and The Roost, our "nest in the woods" as we like to call it; are some very thick, very old forests, and even regular wind storms can wreak havoc on power lines, etc. We learned our lesson early on upon buying the ranch and the Roost; if the power goes out, chances are there is a tree down on the lines somewhere on Camp Creek road and we can find it and let IREA (our power coop) know where the problem is a bit faster to get it fixed a bit faster.

So when we awoke in the night without power it was not a big surprise, nor was it a big surprise to still not have power in the morning. The surprises started coming when we saw the AMOUNT of damage. Between here and our cabin, which means our soon to be home, The Double J, there were at least 20 downed trees! Many of them in the roadway to Camp Creek, along the power line, some on neighbors properties; like a roof and a classic Blazer.

The guys had a great day on Sunday "working" to clear trees and drink beer together. Our wonderful neighbors Dan and Steve pitched in of course and they all three went up to Sean and Rocky's (yes that is a girl's name and she is soooo cool!) because they are the one's that had the tree on the roof and that dang cool Blazer (Dad, it is the yellow of the Jeep that I tried to talk you into giving me-ha!); of course the tree went right down the middle of the hood and roof of the beautifully lifted classic!

We must say, that we are very proud of our power coop, IREA. Although they are not to hip on alternative power or rebates of any kind like that; when it comes to an emergency or downed lines those guys are all over it! They had Camp Creek back up and cleaned up in just a few hours; and we are talking some big trees with some major power outages. And each time we passed them they were always pleasant and had a smile on their faces. We even got a robo-call saying they were sorry for any inconvenience; last time I checked IREA had no control over the wind, but it sure was kind of them to call.

I was curious about all of the trees that were damaged. They ranged in size from about 6 inches in diameter to well over a foot. The large ones of course were old/rotten on the inside and will make great firewood and if they aren't on private property we will make good use of them. Many of the smaller ones Tom noted had either been damaged many years ago by lightning or something else, possibly beetles, but he didn't see many signs of those, thankfully.

One of the most amazing things about this storm is that these trees didn't just break off and fall to the ground like they normally do. Many of them we found multiple feet away. The wind had broken them off and then carried them 10-15 feet in some cases, simply unreal!!! We have walked through a lot of forests around here and not seen evidence of that kind of storm, I think this really was a once in a lifetime windstorm....at least I am hoping it was.

Meet (or is it meat?) The Meatrix....

2011-11-08T12:30:00.000-07:00

Go ahead, I dare you to check out this funny video about modern day meat production....no blood or gore and it really gets the point across!

Welcome Double J!

2011-11-02T07:47:00.002-06:00

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the newest member of the family...The Double J Ranch! You can find us at dbljdotorg (soon) and dbljdotorg.blogspot.com (NOW!).

Thanks Bubby!

2011-10-27T05:49:00.000-06:00

You know your children are becoming adults when they send you things like this!!! My son at college who always complained about my "greenness" now must remember it with a sense of fondness, I am thinking....

Judy's Garage Sale Cookies

2011-10-20T06:09:00.000-06:00

This is what the turkey's did while we worked at the Yard Sale; caused trouble!

(this is my chocolate hen, isn't she pretty?)

Picture courtesy of Teri, again.

Good morning!!! Hope your week is going well; mine is just flying by! Here it is already Thursday and I am just posting the recipe for my brilliant new cookie recipe, that I discovered last weekend. Doesn't my modesty just blow you away sometimes? No, really, this is a good one. Tried and tested by the entire neighborhood; and truly loved by all.

As you all know we had our Garage/Yard sale last weekend to recycle some household goods, but even better to get some new shoes for my baby...Yes, tires for my truck! We are leaving for Texas possibly this evening, but for sure tomorrow morning to deliver llamas and we were running on slicks. Nothing like cutting it close, the Jeute way, of course, but I got my new shoes yesterday and we got a heck of a deal on used tires for $100. So look around people when you shop for tires, because retail is NOT the way to go for tires, Baby. Try a savings of over $500 and not much tread is missing from these tires, again we got really lucky with this deal, but we really shopped around!

As a matter of fact, while I waited for my tires, I snacked on the last of the delicious cookies. Since they have oatmeal in them, I figured they were good enough for a snack food (as good as any of those snack crap items that put in wrappers these days) and packed 'em up to go! Oh, and thanks Mom and Dad for the dried cherries, I raided them from your pantry when I got your mail the other day....couldn't resist...they were just too tempting. But for most readers you can just get them at Costco or dehydrate them yourself; also you could substitute any dried fruit I would imagine, but the tangy taste of the cherry really added a nice flavor!

And by the way, we didn't make ANY money at all at the bake sale because some of our first customers were the local deputies, and were we really supposed to charge the badges for their cookies and lemonade? And then of course we had to give a taste to our neighbors who just popped by to say hello and take some pictures....!!!

Judy's Garage Sale Cookies:

1 cup soft margarine
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I would imagine regular would work just fine)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 generous cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped

Heat oven to 350*. Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy and then add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl, adding oats last; then mix cherries into this dry mixture and coat them well. Combine wet and dry mix, don't over-beat. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden, not golden brown or they will dry out too much in my opinion. Cool on cookie sheet for a minute or so and then move to wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen. You can also make this into a bar cookie in a 13x9 (also ungreased) I would think and bake it for 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!

Please excuse this interruption to your regulary scheduled post:

2011-10-12T05:30:00.000-06:00

Meridian Trail

Good Morning Rebels!!! I'm oh so busy getting ready for a garage sale; yes you read that correctly folks a garage sale in October! We still have beautiful leaves, warm weather expected for the weekend and I have a ton of things that need to get cleaned out of this ranch house. Garage sales are a great way of recycling and I am saving up for my tires so it is fun to have a goal in mind. I also have a neighbor who would like to share the work; even better-a multi-family garage sale.

So, if you are a local, and you are going to be around this weekend...pop on by. We are going to have all sorts of fun with my neighbors crafty stuff, the llamas and turkeys of course, baked goods at my daughter's lemonade stand, the garage sale....and as they say on the facebook page...The Royal Ranch driveway is the funnest driveway around!!!!

Join us Rebels, Tell the FDA to regulate GMO foods!

2011-10-05T05:58:00.000-06:00

Good Morning Rebels! Happy hump day; hope you are having a wonderful week; but even more importantly I hope you will join me in signing this all important petition. It is high time we know exactly what we are eating; and that people who are not yet even aware of how deeply GMO foods are embedded into our everyday diets, become aware and knowledgeable about what they are putting into the mouths of their beloved families!

Life's funny little bumpy roads.....

2011-10-01T05:45:00.001-06:00

":) Being a leader, especially a leader of conscience, isn't always easy."

Yes, read that Rebels and let that sink in for just a minute. I had to. Dear friend and Rebel, Daisy sent that to me when I thanked her for her support about my letter to Ms. McGee a few days ago. And it was funny because I got it on a day I had also taken on another llama big wig, the day I had to have another MRI on my back.

The day had been a hellish day anyway. I must say that sometimes it is easier to just count on yourself than to have partial support. Tom had told me he'd take me to the appointment, which is great, but then he had to go back to work....and it was almost worse than if I'd just counted on my own strength the whole time, you know what I mean???? I had had to go and pick up my daughter sick from school and that threw a wrench into the morning....

But the big tests these days seem to be coming from my so called peers. And what I have realized is that they don't know I am their peer; and that is where things went all wrong. I'll give you a bit of background on the story, although it really isn't all that important to my point, but over a decade ago when I first got into llamas I mistakenly bought 2 llamas. At that time I didn't know that there were rescue llamas that needed homes. Llamas were on the downhill slide of the fad I guess....

One of those purchased llamas is the only one that has ever given us much trouble. He is the only llama that I have ever had to spend vet dollars on other than maintenance because I have tried to figure out what the hell is wrong with him. He has knocked each of my family members down, he has bitten me and all of these things are absolutely NOT normal llama behavior.

In the decade since owning this llama I have learned A LOT!!! I have also rescued more than twenty llamas; many of them I (little old me at 120 lbs soaking wet as my husband would say) have trained to pack from being not even halter broke. I have no formal training in llama handling besides what my wonderful mentor Bobra Goldsmith taught me before she died; which was a lot.

She taught me to simply expect good behavior from my animals; and that is a theory The Royal Ranch has always had. When I train a llama to pack it is simply an agreement between the llama and myself....I'm going to trust you and you're going to trust me. By the time I put the pack on them I have been building a working, trusting, loving relationship with the animal for as long as I can. I don't stand for bad behavior and I never will; that is just the way it is.

Speaking of hunting camps..

Take for instance our first hunt camp ever. We had been getting advice from everyone that animals are afraid of the smell of blood and that our llamas were going to freak out unless they had been trained to be around meat, etc. We had even been told to stuff their nostril with some sort of Mentholatum so that they wouldn't smell anything; to me this sounded like abuse.

So Tom and I headed up the mountain with our very untrained pack train of llamas to pick up a huge bull elk for a friend. We figured since it was a good friend of ours at least if the llamas freaked, no biggy. We got to the camp and we did what we usually do; we packed up that elk and we put it on the llamas....that was that. They were a bit jumpy at first but when they saw that we just expected them to behave like any old job, and we weren't going to take any crap from them, it was the end of their nervousness. They knew they could trust us. One of them even had to wear the antlers and the cape (which is the hyde) of the elk down the mountain! It was sort of weird to look forward (I of course am always in the caboose position with Tom in lead) and see a llama with antlers-ha!!!

But back to my point, I am no llama schmutz. I know what the hell I am doing when it comes to these animals. I am the Co-Colorado Coordinator (it's an awful big state) for the Southwest Llama Rescue, and not by mistake, I was voted in. If there is an aggressive male within a four state radius of me, chances are he is going to end up at my place for evaluation and rehab if he is capable.

So it really surprised me when I called the breeder of that fat, lazy llama and had to get into a battle of wits with him over the behavior of said llama and what to do about it. Now that my spine is not quite what is used to be, I'm not really sure I'm comfortable, or really need a spoiled, over de-sensitized llama in my yard when I have spent the last decade of my life to saving llamas that really need homes. As I mentioned this man, like Ms. McGee is in the llama world...you know, people that give a crap what other llama owners think of them.

He acted as if I was still some newbie, the same nobody that had walked into his yard 12 years ago looking at llamas for the first time and offered to come assess the llama for me. Well, no thanks. I've been assessing him and paying for him and having to watch out for my family's and visitor's safety from him for ten years now. I gave him a very clear assessment of the situation, and simply asked if they were in a position to take him back now that my back is in such bad shape and he poses a real danger to me with his pushy behavior.

Well, needless to say, the llama will be staying where he is at. The llama breeder got told exactly what I thought of his assessment. And I kept thinking "Really? Two people in one week? My name is going to be $*@! in the llama world" But I don't give a rat's patooty because that guy had it coming. (Well, I sort of did, I actually threw a baby fit when I got off the phone with him he had made me so mad, but it was just a natural reaction-ha!!!!)

And then I got that sweet quote from Daisy worth repeating again, "Being a leader, especially a leader of conscience, isn't always easy."; and it made me smile. Thursday, I got a call from a gal on my rescue group who asked if I had a few minutes; I gotta tell you after the week I'd had with llama folks I thought I was really in for it now. Actually she was calling to answer a question I had posted about; but more importantly she was calling to ask me if she could gift me a sweater that she had cherished for years because it had llamas on it.

She wanted me to have it because I have added such "vitality and personality" to the group. All I thought I did was respond to the emails and try to help out a few llamas when I could-who knew? It truly was a wonderful phone conversation; one of those where you really just enjoy getting to know the person at the other end of the line. This amazing lady owned llamas from 1978 to 2008, and here I thought I was all that-ha! But the point was, I know it sounds silly, but I felt like the chosen one, you know?

Then last night I answer the phone to the cutest little southern voice you can imagine and she is just thanking me up and down. And it took me a second to figure out what the heck I had done. Oh yeah, email again, I had sent a positive, reinforcing email to a newbie llama owner. Amazing how far positive reinforcement goes, eh? Whether it is with ourselves, our kids, our dogs, our llamas, whatever; I think in this post alone I have given you several examples!

These new folks have been SO kind to adopt some llamas from Nebraska; the issue is that they live in Texas. Which as you all know is having a drought and heat problem. The Colorado folks took in the Nebraska llamas temporarily until we could get them down south. Well, somehow these folks got to thinking that our talking about expenses to get those llamas down there meant they were a burden (we should have switched to a more private Yahoo board in hind sight to avoid hurt feelings maybe!) and I tried to clear that up, right quick. Anyone sticking their neck out to rescue one (and they are taking in 11!) of my wondrous creatures is no burden to me, that is for DAMN sure!

So my week had turned from on the attack to on the receiving end of so many blessings. I do believe strongly in everything I told those people I had to tell off, but I also truly believe even stronger what I told those people in loving manners. Originally when I first started this post a day or so ago, it was called "Being kicked while you're down...", and then these crazy events just kept happening and I could no longer call it that, could I?

5 years ago today...

2011-09-27T21:21:00.000-06:00

Has it really been 5 years? In some ways it seems like a lifetime and sometimes it seems like yesterday that our little community was changed forever by a crazed gunman. You can read a parent's perspective here and a teacher's perspective here; either way it is a story that has affected this picturesque town in ways we never dreamed of...good and bad.

Dear Ms. McGee,

2011-09-25T05:57:00.001-06:00

You called here screaming at me last night due to an email I sent you. You were wondering (again and again) "just who the hell I am" to write you such an email, and how dare I suggest you give away your livelihood. Well, my dear, My name is Judy Jeute. And it is called a tax donation.

See, readers, I had emailed Ms. McGee that she should be ashamed of herself for attempting to make money on those of us who have stuck our necks out to save the hundreds of starving llamas from the Montana Sanctuary in the middle of winter. She is offering half price llama handling clinics to those kind folks who rescued llamas; and I told her "Half price? Gah!!!"

When I picked up the phone she almost immediately was on the attack and so I got the uncomfortable chuckle like humans tend to get, and that really pissed her off!!! But what I really realized is that what she was the maddest about is that how dare some unknown llama nobody suggest that Queen McGee get off her ass and actually do something to help not only the almost thousand llamas that came off that sanctuary but almost hundreds of HUMANS that helped them!

So, no Ms. McGee, I will not apologize for my "Nasty-gram", which really wasn't all that nasty, if it gets you to thinking about folks other than yourself. The IRS will thank you kindly. And I would imagine it would do wonders for your business as well, those friends would tell their friends, etc. Much better press than this!

Kind regards, er, not so kind regards,
Judy Jeute
Manager/Co-owner
Royal Ranch

The Recycled Garden/Small Victories

2011-09-23T10:20:00.002-06:00

Pepper

Well, this might be one of the most confusing posts I have ever written-ha!!! It is sort of a two part series I guess, but I didn't do it intentionally, you see. What happened is in early July I started a garden, a completely recylced garden; and one that I am darn proud of. But I don't have a camera right now....so I kept putting off this post. And for another, bigger reason; my garden is not NEAR the producer that I had hoped that it would be. But anyway, read on; these next few paragraphs have been sitting in my drafts folder since July 5th (I do believe):

The story of the Recycled Garden really began almost twenty years ago when Tom and I broke our backs soon after being married in a rather large garden in a very muddy rental that the slugs ate every bit of. I think we literally got three leaves of lettuce, but after seeing how many slugs had been on the damn things we weren't touching it!

Fast forward about 17 or 18 years and we try again on a much smaller scale and life and health and everything else gets in the way and not much came of the last garden we tried. But this year is going to be different, dangit!!! I have really thought and planned and planned and thought....

So, really it started out with a nice patch of land that we had tilled up. Then Tom and the neighbor got a little crazy cleaning the llama pens with the tractor one day and dumped literally three feet of composting material on top of my prepared garden. Now, that may sound nice, but this is stuff that may take a few years to break down properly...and again it is three feet deep!

But then my sister donated me these two lovely rhubarb plants that love composted material! Well, let's get to work on that pile of sh**! I spent the day Saturday raking it and leveling it all back out and it really turned out very nice. But the best part is the stuff I used to make my little "raised" bed; old bricks and concrete core samples (these are perfectly round concrete, I have always liked them and waited and waited for a use for them; they are heavy as all get out!). The bricks are kind of cool because many of them are not just plain bricks; one has a criss cross pattern in it, etc. Very artistic.

I broke the main garden down into quadrants. I had planted a rhubarb "crown" (we broke the original plants down into five plants) in each corner to prevent deer from coming into the garden. Carrots, corn, lettuce and spinach each got planted into one quadrant yesterday. Yes, it is a bit late to start some of these things, but on my organic, non-GMO seed packets it said to wait until soil temps are at 60*, which would be about now for my altitude; so between travel plans and that fact I figure I am not too far off.

At the head of my cute little garden I placed "The Gate to Nowhere" as my daughter calls it. It's just a cool old heavy metal gate with neat decorative metal that I can let my beans grow up. On either side of that is the head and foot board of an old baby crib that I got from a local church when I worked the food pantry;I'll have a second type of bean on those, Royal's of course. It's funny, they just don't make stuff as cool or as decorative as they used to it seems.

And then today I was walking around my little homestead; putting the llamas on various stake lines to finish mowing the fall foliage with the turkeys, dogs and cats all close on my heels when I realized we had a very successful harvest for our first year at 9,000 feet in elevation. I made a salad one night from my very own lettuce and it was delicious. My daughter comes home everyday from school and pulls a 4inch carrot out of the ground and then takes one to share with her favorite llama, Pepper. We have two neighbors who are so happy about their turkeys they are already looking forward to next years adventures in turkeydom!

So, with or without pictures, this was a harvest that was worth sharing and a victory for The Royal Ranch and it's Rebel friends. We didn't get much, but we did get some, and we got enough to share... And we will also use our knowledge and move on. Oh, and MOST importantly, I proved my son wrong who said I wouldn't be able to grow ANTYHING!!! HA!

A musical clue:

2011-09-21T06:17:00.002-06:00

Llamas and sheep and turkeys, oh my!!!

2011-09-20T08:17:00.001-06:00

Photo courtesy of Kevin, our renter.

It seems that my last few posts have continually been of me sort of apologizing for not being here for one reason or another...I realize that is because my life has really been in an upheaval of sorts lately. My sons moved on to college, my youngest started middle school, and I found out that my back "issue" is a permanent disability all at once; which led me to start making huge changes here at the ranch.

Well, this last week has really been a whopper if I do say so myself. It started last Saturday when we place three llamas; and I must say that those boys really moved up in the world! They now reside on 160 acres in a spectacular valley about an hour drive away; so I will be able to visit them often. The transfer of the boys went flawlessly thanks to my fellow llama wrangler and partner in life and all things crazy, my hubby.

The very next day we headed off to the sister in law's house; as she works at a livestock auction. I was going to take Paco, my ram, whom I was so positive would go as a fantastic breeding animal. We loaded him and Esther, my ewe up (just for company for Paco) and headed out for eastern Colorado. Monday was the big livestock auction, and when I say big, you must take that with a grain of salt because this really is a small town auction, but that is what I wanted for Paco and us since this was our first experience ever.

When we backed the trailer in there was commotion about our beautiful sheep and so I put Esther in the auction too; with a minimum. They both sold at a premium price for what sheep are going for these days; I got what I purchased them for two years ago! So, anyway, Annie (SIL), didn't have any help that day, so Tom and I pitched in and helped "load out". Meaning that we got to load out all of the animals that were purchased at auction that day. Some of them just a day old. It was quite a learning experience for Tom, Isabella, Nathan and myself; but it was really cool because I was able to tell some of the new owners "hey, this one has a cough" or "this goat needs to be milked right away" or whatever. I am hoping that maybe some of the new owners got instructions that they might not have gotten otherwise.

Esther had been one of the first to go. I was sad to see her go, and I am pretty sure that she went to a great home. And I say pretty sure because as the day wore on and I got more tired I saw some pretty crazy stuff. Like a guy stuffing 16 goats and a giant pig in a trailer on top of a load of lumber that he had purchased; but we got them in!!! All day I waited and wondered when Paco's new owner would come....and then a semi pulled up to the loading dock and my stomach sank. That's right Rebels; my beautiful ram was headed to PA to a packing plant.

And that is also why they don't let crazy chicks like me carry guns; because when I went to say goodbye to him I literally thought that if I had had a gun I might just shoot him dead right there to avoid him having to travel half way across the country to get the old hammer head. But I am a big girl, and I had made a big girl decision and I had to abide by it... Think what you want of me but that is truly the way I felt.

Tom didn't think I looked to good after that little shock and working so hard all day so he took us all to Carl's Jr. after the auction; and that is when he calmly reminded me that he needed to take Tia with him the next day; she was to have knee surgery. A dear friend was paying for her surgery and was going to care for her during her rehab so we were supposed to lose her for at least a couple of months; while she recuperated (I didn't think I was capable with my back). I lost it! I started choking on my all time favorite guacamole burger and was literally making a scene. I had forgotten that the days were so close together and just didn't want to talk about one more loss at the time.

So Tuesday dawns and I have to say goodbye to Tia. I get through that and take my son to the orthodontist and finally get his braces on. Now this is a really big deal. This kid has been waiting 18 years for these braces; he has a cleft pallet that has never been properly fixed and the clock was really ticking on this thing; if we didn't start now, there was no fixing it at all. Big emotions there (this is my adopted son). And then he's gone...back to college. Another goodbye.

I'm not ashamed to say, Tuesday when I was driving home, I have never been so tired in my life. I had said goodbye to my kids multiple times by now. My back was killing me from working the auction the day before, I couldn't get the fact that my spectacular ram was on that semi headed east towards a hammer that I don't even believe in and now I was contributing too out of my head.... And my beloved Tia was gone for months! At least, maybe more. I got the kids off the bus and went to bed.

Well, it's amazing what a nap will accomplish; because when I woke up there was a message. There had been a mix-up and Tia had to come home for a night....which led us to find out she really didn't need any lifting....she could still walk on three legs just like she did before the surgery! And do you know the most amazing thing Rebels???? My dear friend (actually Tia's breeder) still paid for her surgery! And sent us all sorts of meds for the dear patient, like stuff for her arthritis which she is sure to get, and pain meds that oh thank the Lord that she has had because this has been one very painful surgery for the girl.

Tia and I have had a very busy week, what with all the pain and biting at her knee; we didn't even realize it was getting so close to Saturday....Turkey Day! You know, I wasn't sure how to feel about Turkey Day, I was dreading it and looking forward to it all at once. You Rebels know how much I loved those turkeys. They were my pride and joy; they followed me all over the ranch, even to get the mail and when I laughed they gobbled. But due to human intervention, if we had not harvested these turkeys, they would have gone down on their legs (their breasts are too large, the legs can't support them), or they would have died of a heart attack.

Photo courtesy of Teri, our friend/neighbor/customer!

Of course I had done a ton of research and was all ready for the big turkey harvesting and we turned it into a big party. Check out some of the pictures on the facebook page if you want, still don't have a camera, thinking about putting on a donation button for that! The pics were taken by a friend/neighbor/customer. We were blessed that morning by our first visit by a big bull moose so I knew things were going to go well that day. (I may do a post on turkey harvesting for my own records and for those that are agriculture readers, so those that aren't beware!)

I can't believe all the changes we have made around here. Three llamas, two sheep, two turkeys... And we are not done yet. But I think that is enough for right now. My heart and head are still reeling from the loss of all the critters and kids. And I would like to say another thing, I always say that things happen for a reason and I firmly believe that. Like one of my turkeys getting killed by a neighbors dog and us not having one of that type to harvest for our family this year; well maybe our family is meant to have a heritage turkey (meaning not human intervened) for our first bird; who knows? And we were invited over for the turkey dinner at our friend's house...there sure is plenty to go around! Things always turn out the way they are supposed to...now wait to hear what I have up my sleeve! Please, stay tuned in!!! I have a music clue cued up for tomorrow as to what The Royal Ranch may be up to next....

Home of the FREE becasuse of the BRAVE....

2011-09-11T05:53:00.000-06:00

Photo courtesy of tattoodesign.me

A day to reflect, remember and appreciate all that we have, the freedoms we take for granted and those we hold dear.

My boys are home!!!

2011-09-03T07:06:00.000-06:00

(One of my favorite pictures ever!)

And almost that time of year again!

Here I said I was going to be back to posting more regularly and I have let my beloved blog go again; I just can't seem to get back into the swing of things somehow. I know I will get there Rebels, have faith...But this morning I woke up with my heart bursting with happiness as my house is literally jam-packed with kids!!! (I've even got 'em sleeping in the back of my truck, yeehaw!!!)

I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of my sons. Thomas has been working at his job for over a week now and Austin will be starting his job as soon as his new boss gets her health in order. They are both doing very well in their new classes....meaning that they haven't missed any with all of the partying they are doing! Which to be totally honest with you is all I can ask at this point in time.

A couple of times when we have spoken, each of them have been doing some type of homework so that makes me feel good too. But, I must say that most of the time that we talk they are doing some kind of enjoyable thing and meeting all sorts of new people. Like the roommate of one of the other boys from our little town of Bailey that is all the way from Hamburg Germany! They tell me they're having a hard time remembering names-ha!

The changes at the ranch are still making slow but sure progression...I think that is my mental hold up here on the blog...and in my routine. I am just not sure about this new life of mine-ha! I am working very hard on PT for my back; but more importantly I am working on staying positive and keeping the vibes of the ranch good! Tell me what all are you up to? How do you stay positive during big changes in your life???

Welcome back to the school year Rebels!

2011-08-25T07:59:00.000-06:00

I can't even remember what song I was searching for when this old memory popped up in the sidebar, but I thought it sure was significant timing with the beginning of the school year! So as I always say when I post a song; crank up your computer speakers and push back your chair and do a little honky tonk dancin' with Lorrie Morgan on this classic:

Royal Ranch Royalty: Shades of Change

2011-08-21T07:10:00.000-06:00

Shade

Well it is time to sit down in front of my computer and try to heal my broken heart with words. See, I have been telling you Rebels about changes here at The Royal Ranch and they have all really started to hit me these last few weeks; thus my absence from this blog.

We lost our beloved cat Shade a few weeks back and I knew it would be very symbolic of the times ahead. Shade was our nurse and one of my best friends here at the ranch. If any one was not feeling well, Shade was the first to let me know by laying by that animal or person and meowing insistently! It was uncanny his ability to know that a spirit was not well before they actually showed symptoms outwardly. I guess it was from his time living at the vet clinic for so many years; Shade had been a blood donor cat before he came to live at the Royal Ranch.

Which is how he became a character in my childrens book, Llucky Llama. His name in the book is no other than Cuddly Cat of course. Cuddly Cat is buried right next to Dedicated Dog; my first Great Pyrenees that was one of the greatest dogs I have ever owned in my entire life. As a matter of fact, that spot has not been used since Marilyn (Dedicated Dog) passed. Tom tried to bury another dog there one time and about got his head bit off by me-ha! Sometimes there are just animals that are extraordinarily special in our lives and Shade and Marilyn were those type of animals.

As I said, I knew the winds of change were blowing; I just didn't know how hard. That week I had gotten the news about my back. I had gone back in because my back just isn't making progress. It will be a year in October since my surgery and I have tried everything except chiropractic care. And I do mean everything. Walking, Pilates, stretching, yoga, acupuncture, etc., although it is all very good stuff it does not completely take away my pain. I saw multiple docs in one week, one of them a specialist on the field who then sent me to another ultra-specialist who all agree; this is a lifelong issue.

The good news is is that the last specialist I saw did give me a shot in the spine that sent me into a horrific tizzy for about a week; and boy was it a painful tizzy, but I am better now. So Rebels, please keep your fingers crossed that I can get these shots every three months for a little bit of pain relief!!!! The timing was perfect because my back was feeling better just in time for me to deal with my next big change....

Which is losing my sons. And to be perfectly honest, I suck at letting go. I know that they are going to college and that they are doing the best thing for them, and that this is what is supposed to happen, but it still really hurts my heart. I miss them sooo much it physically hurts sometimes. And I know I'm not the only one out there; maybe I am the only willing to admit it, I don't know.

We took them to Gunnison, Co; the home of Western State College on Friday. They will share a dorm room and will start classes on Monday. Thomas already got a job and Austin has an interview today; so their lives are just going wonderfully! My heart bursts with pride each and every time I get a text or a call or an email from one of them. I really can't believe that my 2 sons are at college; to be honest I wasn't sure it could really happen.

These are two boys that come from homes that are not made of money. As a matter of fact they are the first of both their families to ever have gone to college. Thankfully, due to Austins legal circumstances (our adopting him) his schooling is entirely paid for with grants and loans (mostly grants-yeah!); but it really came down to the wire with our Bubby. We have been selling things (anyone need a plow truck? ha!) and creative budgeting like no one's business. I even swapped for some of his text books (review of book swapping sites to come in the following days, there are definite differences!).

Speaking of Austin's other home, that has been a constant source of stress this week also. Since we have been a part of his life I have been very careful to include his other family and try to make one big happy family so that the boy does not feel as if he has to choose between the two. I know that he loves his dad and his sisters and needs to keep contact with them; it is very important. But this last week has just about killed me. His Dad has let him down one too many times in my book. As have the step mom and the sisters and the rest of them....I just couldn't take the hurt expression on my sons face any longer. On the way up to Gunnison, I kept asking Tom what I could do to make up for the terrible week he had had, and all he kept saying is "Hon, you've got to let it go, you are already doing the best you can. Just be who you are. He knows how much WE love him."

I was telling my sister that I was so upset that Thursday, the last day I had with the boys had been such a stressful day because we had been running to Austins last dental appointments and needed to get their toiletries, etc. And that at first I was wishing we had spent it differently, but when I looked back on it, I had been able to sneak in the fact that I had asked the dentist about cleft pallets and they are not related to fetal alcohol or drug abuse; a fact which Austin had grown up thinking and blaming his Mother for. And when his Dad told him he wasn't coming home to say goodbye to his own son before he left for college; well I was there to buffer the blow and explain to Austin that it was because he just couldn't handle saying goodbye.

So, sometimes even a harried, stressful day can turn into one that is very meaningful to those we love. That night when we got home, hours later than we had planned, our neighbors were waiting for us. They were here gathered to say goodbye to our beloved boys. They are the ones who truly love and respect these kids. It's not always blood that makes a family. We had my daughter's best friend and her Mom and sister. The boys' best friend who is one year younger (poor kid getting left behind) and his family, who have truly become our dearest friends; and our beloved neighbors Dan and Judy over. It was so perfect.

In the midst of all of this; I have been eluding to changes here at The Royal Ranch. They have been a long time in the making I suppose, but it sort of came as a shock to me. The biggest being that I have realized that I am probably not going to be doing pack jobs anymore. There are times when my back is bad that I can't even make it up the stairs so it is a bit concerning to make a reservation for a pack trip up a mountain that is six miles one way.

Which really means that I have way too many llamas than I need. And on top of it, I am losing my Great Pyr, Tia. She has a cruciate tear that needs surgery that we cannot afford nor take care of after the surgery. I am very blessed that the person who gave her to me is willing to take her back and pay for the surgery that I have arranged through a dear friend of mine and then care for her during her recovery stage....We will take it one day at a time after that. The problem with caring for a dog that weighs more than I do, is that she will need to be physically moved, etc after her surgery.

So, I am slowly but surely placing my llamas, Tia will leave around the 13th of September, Paco my ram is going to Auction where he should pull a pretty good price and will not get eaten because Rams are yucky to eat and so I can finally feel comfortable taking an animal to auction and seeing how it all works. I may replace the ram; the main reason he is going is because I would like to breed his daughter this year. But the whole ghist of the ranch is changing a bit...

As a matter of fact, I had decided that I was going to do poultry. That was until the neighbors dog killed one of my prize turkeys last week. Yes, in the middle of my crazy week; I was in filling out paperwork with the boys which is how it happened because normally when the turks are out I have my eye on them at all times. But this day, we were busy doing last minute stuff for the college, and I heard a ruckus and went out to find the dog eating my turkey.

Although they have offered to compensate me financially, it was very hard for me to determine a price on the first turkey. First of all, the turkey was not harvested properly so I was unable to save the feathers which on these types of turkeys is a good portion of their value. We, of course, were unable to save the meat after a dog had been eating it. But what really bothered me the most was the waste of the whole thing. I think you as Rebels know that I do not waste anything.

Let alone the amount of hard work and time and love that we all had put into these turkeys. We knew that the turkeys were going to die; as a matter of fact we all were quite proud of the fact that these three were going to be the first animals that we actually planned on raising from the get go and eating. Now we will not even be tasting our own hard work as the remaining two have already been sold to friends who have driven in our driveway, taken one look at those beautiful turkeys and asked if they were for sale.

So, my future business plans are as follows: I am going to continue my writing; I think I may even finally have time to take that second childrens book out of my head and put it onto paper! The ranch will continue to size down a bit, literally. The llamas will find the right homes as they come along, and I will slowly grow my poultry/feather business as I feel it is safe. The loss of my sons I guess I will get used to(?!?), but the loss of Shade....well, that was an indicator of times a changin' I'm afraid.

I would really love to hear from you Rebels. Have you dealt with losing your children to college and if so what helped? What about other losses and changes in your lives.....???

Twenty years and counting...

2011-08-11T06:23:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was our twentieth wedding anniversary. Two whole decades. I really couldn't believe it; it actually had kind of snuck up on both of us what with all of the changes happening here at The Royal Ranch that I promised you I was going to write about. And I still will write about those changes and the waves of havoc they have created for this family; changes like kids leaving for college and me finally realizing that my back issue is a disability and not a back issue. There is a BIG difference when you own, live and love on a ranch; it makes your life decisions a lot more important.

But anyway, back to our twenty years together and how something so significant can sneak up on a person. See, we have a tradition here at the ranch for birthdays for the kids; in the mornings when they get up I have printed out their names in big letters with descriptive words of them, usually with a pic of something their really into that year. Yes, teachers I know there is a proper term for this I just can't think of it; help a Rebel out in the comment section here....Well, it seems this tradition stuck, because on our pillows last night we found this poem from our 15 year old who had pretended to have forgotten our anniversary:

Mom and Dad you are so great

even though sometimes its like I don't appreciate

you're always there through thick and thin

so we'll be happy to the end

T*he best dad

O*ver worker

M*r. with a loving family

J*ustifiably Crazy

U*unbelievably great

D*etermined to help even when not needed (we have all laughed ourselves senseless over this one!)

Y*our son loves you

Tom and I said this was the kindest most rewarding anniversary present either of us had ever gotten.

Right back at 'ya kid:

'Nuf Said!

2011-08-03T17:42:00.000-06:00

Dear Rebels,

I recently went into my local feed store because I was entirely out of my regular organic/Non-GMO/no-soy feed for my poultry. I have to tell you I was so totally caught off guard by the owners total lack of knowledge and even defense on the subject of Genetically Engineered feed that I even had myself wondering if this was a lost battle. That was until I got back in the truck with my kids and my fifteen year old son said "Mom, I could tell you were getting really mad; and I understand your point. I just don't think I can explain it".

That is when I realized that I am so passionate about this movement and how it has affected the growth of our children (really, did girls used to have boobs and bums that size?) that I have a hard time coming up with the proper words. So, although I promised my regular readers a different post for next time, I read some wonderful news online today that really brings my point home; and PLEASE take the time to read the entire article; you don't want to miss paragraphs like this:

Many NaturalNews readers will recall the numerous incidents involving lawsuits filed by Monsanto against non-GMO farms whose crops were inadvertently contaminated by GM material. In many of these cases, the defendants ended up becoming bankrupted by Monsanto, even though Monsanto's patented materials were the trespassers at fault.

And:

But it appears that the tables are now turning. Instead of Monsanto winning against organic farmers, organic farmers can now achieve victory against Monsanto. In other words, farmers being infringed upon by the drifting of GM material into their fields now have a legal leg to stand on in the pursuit of justice against Monsanto and the other biotechnology giants whose "frankencrops" are responsible for causing widespread contamination of the American food supply.

Just like the title, "Nuf Said!

Metaphysical Monday

2011-08-01T06:38:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning thinking how ironic that it was Monday and August 1, the day that I had chosen to make the announcement about my Life Readings and Animal Communications. See, I've got to tell you, this has been one of the weirdest couple of months in my life; so weird in fact that I will probably split it up into two different posts so as not to confuse things much. My next post is going to be about changes and losses here at The Royal Ranch, mostly due to me facing the fact that my back is not getting any better.

But today, Metaphysical Monday that happens to be August 1, and the day that I had committed to announcing to months ago, I want to talk about a new phase of my life. You all know that I have a strange "sixth sense" that allows me to work with my Spirit Guides and communicate with animals. Well, on June 15, 2011 I had sent out some letters to friends and people I have worked with over the years (no family) to let them know that I had been nudged to share my gift on a professional basis.

My letter stated that I feel very strongly that I can help my community by helping those in it. I think there are a lot of souls out there right now who need the help and don't know where to find it. And I am willing to barter. We are a world that has lost it's spirituality and I would like to help bring it back one person at a time.

So anyway, back to the affects of the letter. I got plenty of calls and responses, just like I was hoping. And I did get to work on my "Spiritual dictionary" (I was a bit concerned that my Spirit Guides would not be able to help me enough on a professional basis; read=I was worried about charging people $$$, or bartering for my services), but the most amazing affect was on my confidence.

The letters revolved around the number 7. Our address is 7, of course lucky seven; and then I was doing 7 free Life Readings in the seventh month. My goal had been to send out 7 letters, but when I got to looking at addresses I coincidentally came up with 17. My first free Life Reading decided that she did want me to do a Tarot reading on her when we were done (I am careful not to depend on tools for my readings), and of course a 7 was the first card we pulled!

As the readings progressed and my confidence grew a bit, I found that I was not quite so shy about my gift. Like when we went to the Rivera's place to shear the rescue llamas and their dog had a nice long chat with me while we sheared away. A while later the owner of the dog was telling me about how she was feeling guilty about an accidental breeding that had happened; and I knew why it had happened but was not sure if the people would think I was a nutcase if I told them their dog had told me why.

Being the hesitant soul that I am, I sat on it all for a few days....and remembered how they were with their beloved bird, and how they had been with those llamas that they had lovingly fostered and I took a chance and sent them an e-mail AC (animal communication) consultation. I had written down everything I had learned while I was at their place from all those lovely critters. And you know what? They didn't think I was a nutcase at all, they truly appreciated the insight into their household.

It had all been so cute because the dog (a boston terrier) had won a battle to get to talk to me. The Rivera's have 4 Boston's and they all had come running up to greet me fighting over who got to talk first. Growling and snorting like flat faced dogs do, and then when the chaos was all over the group in general didn't have too much to say, except they sure were proud of their swimming pool! But one of them followed Tom and I when we went back to work and just chatted away, and when she was very adamant about something she would come over and quietly lick my leg and then go back to her corner and sit.

Again, an experience like that was one that I had to share with her owners. Especially knowing that they carried a bit of guilt when actually the whole thing had happened for a reason. I find that so often when I work with Spirit, which is why I have chosen to do this...there is a reason for everything, and we need to have some sort of Sprituality in our lives.

Speaking of spirituality. I had another hunch that I knew I needed to share with a friend. I hardly know this family; actually I really don't know them at all. This gentle man is the man who runs one of the Yahoo groups that I follow; an organic gardening group. He and his family recently suffered a terrible loss in their orchards, not only the loss of their fruit, but the stripping of the trees which of course means their imminent death.

He had been kind enough to help me via e-mail with a few of my very atypical and difficult high altitude gardening questions, but I still felt like some sort of stalker sending him and his wife a note letting them know that I had a very strong vibe that this was just not an orchard or fruit or $ issue like they were talking about on the group. I felt very strongly that it was personal and that he and his family needed to take some precautions.

You can NOT imagine my surprise when I received the story of his lifetime back. It is one I will read again and again. As a matter of fact I asked him if I could repost it here, and he is not comfortable with that. He did say that Creator told him to share the story with me, and I feel that it is because of the upheaval in my life at this time. Needless to say, I was correct in my assumption and they are taking all precautions; and they did appreciate my kind thoughts.

The seventh month has passed, and I had helped people that I didn't even think I might be able too. I will leave it up to the Spirit Guides and Creator, because obviously they have a plan for me. Thank you for the interesting few months; it's been a trip.

The Royal Ranch Visits Oklahoma

2011-07-29T08:56:00.000-06:00

Wow! Did we have a wild and woolly trip to Oklahoma!!! Literally. We started the trip off by heading to my in laws place in Matheson, CO where we spent the night and got to spend a little time with my wonderful BIL (Brother-In-Law) and niece. My poor SIL had to work that night, but we did catch her sleeping on the ground hoping to catch a glimpse of her nephews and niece that were happily all sleeping in her bunkhouse. They had all spent the night playing Wii and who knows what cousins do to all hours of the morning. I just about burst out in tears when I saw my almost grown kids all cuddled up in blankets out in this barn style bunkhouse and their Aunt keeping watch over them by the fire outside, with the rooster crowing and the horses grazing in the background...

We left the kids in the very capable hands of the family for the day while Tom and I went to shear and pick up some llamas a couple of towns away in Peyton, CO. We had such a wonderful time at the Rivera place...Really. Here we were there to work, and work we did, but we made some wonderful friends as well. We sheared seven llamas in no time flat thanks to their great hospitality, a fantastic chute (Tom and I have never worked with a chute before, interestingly most llama people will tell you you have to have one to work with llamas!) and the fact that they had so many helpers.

While we were there, we found out that Henry Rivera (sorry no link, contact me for his information) is a fantastic artist. And here we had just been outside swapping sweat with the guy! Ha! The Rivera's treated us like Royalty; they teased us that they had gone to the website and knew that we were The Royal Ranch and must be treated as such. Lunch was wonderful, the shearing was smooth as silk, excuse the pun, and the loading went as well as could be expected for ten wild llamas.

We headed back to the in-laws to get the kids and some much needed rest, we thought; and just when I drifted off to sleep my cell phone rang and it was the gentleman we were to meet in Oklahoma with the llamas. He was on his way. What???? Okay. So we loaded up the kids, oh yes, we were blessed with all our of our children this trip, and headed for Oklahoma!

See, these llamas had been adopted by a family in Washington, OK. We were to shear them and then transport them to Guymon, OK to meet the new owners halfway. I guess they got a little excited and I miscommunicated, but it all worked out because I wanted the llamas to travel in the cool of the night anyway. But, the problem with that is the storms. And let me tell you about the storms. I mean I thought we were in a tornado at one point in time, the lightning was crashing and hitting the fields right next to us. We passed a cow that had been hit even. It was crazy! And then once it got dark and the storms were bad, all you could see was when the lightning struck it lit up everything for miles....and then back to pitch black and that howling wind!

Amazingly enough, two people coming from six hours apart, arrived in the same little sleepy town of Oklahoma within five minutes of each other. And even better, the llamas were so tired and road weary and afraid of the storms that we had passed through (and thankfully avoided while we traded llamas), did not give us one bit of hassle. We found a hotel with a pool for the kids and piled in. Goodnight, ya'all.

Sunday the kids wanted to swim of course before we hit the road to who knew where (that's sort of how the Jeute's roll). My fifteen year old son went to jump in the deep end and couldn't get his footing because the bottom was so slimey. All righty then. Think I'll just stay walking around to get my exercise in the shallow end, thank you very much. Kids, please shower after this one...But we all were giving my husband a hard time because he just seems to attract the "locals", if you know what I mean; and can talk to just about anyone, including the guy who needed to wait for my kids to get out of the pool to shock it with four pounds of chlorine.

Or the guy on the side of the road in the middle of the night holding the road sign. Tom had decided to pull forward and ask him how he liked his job and about the local economy and such. Well, all we kept getting out of the guy was a "Yuup", and I'm thinking to myself, can we back up? How long could this wait possibly be? Ha!

So anyway, we leave Guymon, and again in Jeute fashion we really have no idea where we are going, but decide that we want to go home through New Mexico instead of the same route we had just come. We see a black road on the map that looks pretty good and we take it...not looking at the legend of course. Remember, these accidents often happen for good reasons. I had all of my family trapped right there in the truck with me. And we were on a dirt road...I was in heaven!

We saw turkeys and deer and elk and the plants, oh I was absolutely enthralled with the plants. We stopped at Black Mesa Nature Preserve where there was an entire ecosystem that you could just walk right up to! Complete with fish and cattails and dragonflies,etc. The petrified forest nature hike that we took was really cool, there were lizards for the kids to watch and all sorts of species of plants for me to guess at.

We made it to Raton, NM Sunday night and the kids gave Tom and I a hard time because of course we chose this little hillbilly looking motel across the street from the big name Hotel. While Tom was inside the boys were in the back just complaining away saying that this place was redneck and going to suck and be small and not have wifi, etc. Then we opened up the door to our huge room (with all amenities), and they both (the eighteen year olds) said the other place had nothing on this one-ha! It had a nice clean pool too; and we even got a late check out so that we got to spend some time there on Monday!

It was a tad bit of a bummer that the restaurant that they suggested was no good, they took forever and I got sick. Yeah, I got sick, and I never get food sick. And the day we were traveling home too. But it was quick and over, so I was pretty lucky.

The ride home was uneventful, but I will say that we are heartsick for the parts of the country that are experiencing drought. The little bit that we saw was devastating. I have been hearing about poultry houses that have lost thousands of birds due to heat stress and it makes me thankful every single day that my birds can free range to go where they need to go to adjust their own body temperatures. And I am so blessed to have had the rain these past few weeks. We drove past fields that were simply left because of drought...

So thank you America, for another wonderful vacation and the chance to spend time with my family.

Rebels; Today is OUR Day!!!!

2011-07-21T06:46:00.000-06:00

I pledge to start each day out listening to this most uplifting song ever:

Farmageddon; a great movie supporting local agriculture!

2011-07-19T06:26:00.001-06:00

As you all know, I am very dedicated to supporting my local farmers as much as possible. But for me, living in the mountains and not really having local farmers that is a little harder to do. It is a learning process (one that I am very much still in the process of), Colorado may not be the biggest agricultural state, but by golly it is an agricultural state by some standards; mine included.

I am very proud to be a part of the agricultural business, I say it is in my blood. It must have skipped a generation (my Mom is not really into the whole animal/growing thing-ha!). See, my Grandparents were farmers in Iowa; they moved here to leave the farm life behind, I do believe. But somehow it is just inside some of us, and I can't help myself...when I collect the eggs I am fascinated with the smooth little jewels of various colors. And oh, my wonderful sheep that bleat for me if I am late to feed them...

And as for my packing llama string...I recently saw some pictures on Pinecam (our local gossip emag-ha!) of our ranch with Charlie Royal doing pack strings with horses...Well aren't we just going full circle? I wish I still had that much land Charlie...But anyway, the joy that they bring me and our visitors is unparalleled; we get to teach our guests about our area, our way of life, but even better yet, how to be good stewards of the environment!

So to me, being a farmer these days is a lot more than just throwing stuff in the ground or raising organic animals. It is about defending our rights to do so. And teaching people about why we are doing it that way. And why it is so important for us to raise heirloom varieties and heirloom chickens and sheep so that we don't have only one kind of corn or tomato or potato (and that there are still some nutrients in them). No matter which way you say it; tomato or tomahto, potato or potahto, if there is no variety it would still suck.

Needless to say I was really excited to hear about this documentary:

Farmageddon - Movie Trailer from Kristin Canty on Vimeo.

Made by a Mom. Check it out, there are screenings in towns all over the USA, or you can buy the DVD. I have to wait for the movie....bummer!

Chronic pain and The Spoon Theory

2011-07-15T06:02:00.000-06:00

I read this "theory" a long time ago; it's been floating around the blogosphere a long time. But it took me some time to apply it to my own life. See I try and act like my life is perfectly fine all the time. And then it all catches up with me and my daughter will sleep on the floor in my room and catch me crying in my sleep...

So, it doesn't take not having Lupus for this theory to apply. Or any other label for that matter. Many of us need to live spoon by spoon; and that needs to be okay with us and the ones that love us. And here is my spoon to you, dear Rebels, because you mean a lot to me!

A powerful song with a powerful message

2011-07-12T05:20:00.000-06:00

Don't throw away that old garden hose!

2011-07-07T07:05:00.000-06:00

While in the process of finding and then getting my camera to cooperate, I thought I would do a quick post on how absolutely brilliant I am. Oh wait, I thought this post was about soaker hoses. That's right. See, this has some background to it, because the men in the family said I couldn't do it...So I, of course had to try all that much harder-ha!

For some reason this has been the year that a few of our hoses have decided it is their time to go. Take for instance this last hose. I was trying to water my new garden and was wondering what was wrong with the water pressure, when oh my, I turned around and my hose looked like Popeye! I didn't even want to get near the thing in fear of it exploding! Well, Tom had already insisted that one just like this was junk so I quietly set it aside until all the men were gone....

That is when the real fun began. My daughter and I got up early one morning and got a nail and a hammer and we went to town on that hose. I mean we just put holes in it everywhere, it was really a pretty cool project because there is no right or wrong about it. I then just hooked it up to the water and watched it go.

By this time the boys were up, so I had to do my happy dance....Too bad Tom wasn't here to see it, but believe you me, he heard ALL about it-ha! And we all got to be in on the fun of making little adjustments to the dripper system while it was running and add a few holes here and there and get sprayed in the face when we removed the nail. We had a ball.

PS: When I went online to look for pics I remembered that I needed to tell you that I had a sprayer nozzle that I used to cap the end of my hose, but I do intend to get some sort of more permanent cap. When time and money permit....get things as you can is my motto, and make do with what you have.

Rebels, You've only just begun....

2011-07-03T08:40:00.001-06:00

Photo courtesy of Northside Living

As I was doing a bit of "catch up" reading around the blogoshpere this morning, I happened along a song that really fits my life right now; what with the boys going off to college, a bit of a Spiritual/physical shake-up going on in my personal life, etc. The timing was great. Sorry folks, they wouldn't let me embed, but it is definitely worth the click on this link.

And have a wonderful, safe and food filled holiday; try to make it a recycled one. We are making a recycled garden...more on that next week when I can find a camera. What are your plans?

Dillon, CO

2011-06-30T07:17:00.000-06:00

Town of Dillon web page

We are sneaking a couple days off to visit with our family here in beautiful Dillon, CO. Tom was able to join us for the weekend and then we all ran home to get a bit of work done for the beginning of the week; and now the three boys and I came back up to pick up our girly and enjoy the end of the week in the wonderful condo my parents got us!

We sold our wonderful Executive a few months back (for quite a profit I might add), so we are unable to camp with the rest of the family, but the view from the edges of the Dillon Reservoir when I get up early in the morning and go for a walk before the kids get up is spectacular... This area was hit by Pine Beetle kill pretty badly a few years ago, and now in the early morning hours the dead trees look purple in the distance.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the great vacation!

Bailey Day 2011

2011-06-18T06:38:00.000-06:00

Entrikin Cabin located in McGraw Park

Photo courtesy of Gary Nichols

Well, here it is Bailey Day 2011; and boy did this one sneak up on me! I had to look up in the newspaper when we were expected to be there, now that is pretty bad....but you know what I told myself? I decided that that meant that I am getting so good at my job that I don't need much time to prepare for gigs like this anymore and no big deal; I can do them in my sleep practically. And it is true.

But that doesn't make Bailey Day any less fun. Or important. This is our towns big event; and it is important; it is important to our town and it is very meaningful to us as a Ranch as well. See, this will be our 9th year at old McGraw Park with the llamas; our historical park in downtown Bailey, CO. And it is a beauty. With cabins that have been carefully moved there from their original homesteads and then meticulously refurbished; a schoolhouse that received the same loving treatment all from our very own county.

Our town really does this celebration up right too. Lots of great vendors and food too. And it is so fun to teach people about the love of llamas... So, if you live in the area and feel like a drive today; head west towards the cool air of Bailey, Rebels. Consider this your personal invitation.

Jakoti has got it going on!

2011-06-15T07:58:00.001-06:00

I can not begin to tell you how much I LOVE these new shears. As a matter of fact, what got me to thinking about writing this post was the shears laying next to my computer. That's right Rebels, these shears have become my right hand tool.

I purchased them as llama shears. You know, to remove the wool from those fidgety creatures that inhabit my ranch...Well, let me tell you a little about shearing a llama at The Royal Ranch. I don't think it's like shearing at typical wool producers. We have to cut through hay and pine needles and whatever else is hidden inside that wondrous coat. So over the years, I have learned A LOT about shears; and that is that they are truly lacking.

A good pair of Fiskars, which is our next choice since we hand shear will run us around $13-$15 with a coupon, etc. If I sharpen it I may be able to get that one pair through one season of shearing, but sometimes they only last one llama! If you get cheaper scissors, they will wear out your hands (not spring loaded), and big electric shears usually scare the you know what out of rescues so that is out for us.

I do want to give you a bit of background here, just so you know that I am sticking to my Rebel roots. When I first heard of these shears, I was told that you could only get them in one place in the US; and that place is by a llama trainer that I don't particularly like. This woman had rubbed my "animal sense" the wrong way over the years, but when it came down to saving hundreds of dying llamas in MT and all she did was offer reduced price behavior clinics for new owners while the rest of us small farms struggled with the starving...

Well, it made me decide to look a bit further for those shears. And lo and behold I found them on the World Wide Web, funny thing about that...it covers the whole world. Better yet, I got two pairs, direct from the UK (yeah, I know, I'm normally a buy US only, but they just don't have this sort of shear...sigh), for a little more than I would have spent on one pair plus shipping on Ms. Behavior Clinic.com. Man, I hate it when people are buttheads.

But, anyway, these shears came and we have just been shearing our butts off. Well, our butts are fine, and it is Tom doing most of the shearing anyway. But dang do the llamas look nice. And when I got on the link to send it to a friend, because believe you me, I'm telling everyone I can not to shop at so and so's-ha!, I read that they are great in the garden.

So, I took them outside and can you imagine the cutting power of these babies on grass? Geez, if they can cut through that crap in the wool, grass and dandelions along the fence line is like butta, baby, butta! And the best part about it was that I wasn't polluting the air with a weed whacker either. I did go a little crazy and now the grass along the dog yard looks like it got a bad hair cut from Mom back in the sixties....

Well, I guess you get the point, if you're looking for either garden or llama, sheep or goat shears these are the ones. Spring action, self sharpening, yes you read that right engineers, I don't really get it, but it says it does it...They are the best. Oh, I do have one critique...they could use a "petite" size.

All is well on the shirtfront, er I mean the homefront.

2011-06-11T07:13:00.000-06:00

My biopsy results are back and they are negative! Whew! What a relief. Although I have been added to some sort of high risk group and will be welcomed back with open arms in 6 months for another mammogram (believe me, I will be getting more details on why later) I will just take the good news and run with it for now. But I do think it is a tad bit of karma for bucking the system (and my Dad) in this post that I have to have more frequent mammograms.

As a matter of fact, it got me to thinking....thinking about a show I used to watch as a kid. So, I did what any red-blooded American would do and I searched You Tube for it; I found it right away of course, but I decided that the show would have been much better off with three girls anyway (the make-up of my family) ha! But another video did catch my eye....(and of course the Guanacos had nothing to do with it-ha!), so I thought I'd share:

So, folks, I don't think I need to tell you what the lesson of the day is...

Girl Power

2011-06-09T07:56:00.008-06:00

It was quite ironic this morning when I got an e-mail from my husband that had this quote in it because I woke up feeling all full of "Girl Power" anyway;

'Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.

She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.'

Which is really funny, because just Tuesday I really felt like the world might be caving in around me. So, I called on my "Girls". And guess what happened? Miracles, baby, miracles!

Tuesday was my "new" sons first dental appointment; and this is a rather big deal as he has a cleft pallet that has not been properly cared for. I have joked my whole maternal life that the doctor forgot to cut the umbilical cord of my children because I can still "feel" them; well I must have grown a new cord with Austin because that day when he was in the dentist I KNEW he was having a rough time of it. So I went for a walk....And realized my Sister worked on that campus and gave her a call.

My Sister is a Registered Dietitian at University Hospital...and she has a few connections. But even more importantly she met me in between meetings and pagings and consults to give me a HUG! We were laughing at ourselves because this campus is huge and she was talking to me on the phone trying to find me and looking lost (at her place of work no less), and I was having to look at what I was wearing to describe it to her...it was all too funny. But she spared me those few minutes that led to amazing things for my son....

Yesterday was my biopsy. And well, I owe you Rebels an apology. I lied. I was scared Sh#*L##s. See, my BIL has Lip cancer; and when I went to look it up online for my SIL, I found out that breast cancer normally spreads to the bone....Which got me to thinking that I have breast cancer and that it had spread to my spine and that is why it won't get better. I also found out that I have all the symptoms of this type of cancer...like spinal pain, unexplained weight loss, fatigue, etc. But guess what, another one of my "Girls" came through for me, my Mom.

My parents had practically insisted on driving me, and to be honest it was a huge relief to have Mommy and Daddy there to take care of things. They took me to a great lunch and I didn't have to worry about telling them directions like I would with my new drivers...Whew! What a relief!

Mom was even able to come in with me for the biopsy itself and even at the age of 40 to be able to have your Mother there to hold your hand or to be in the room when your in pain is a salve in itself. To have the second set of ears was even better. We learned that even if these are cancerous cells, they are contained and would be considered pre-cancerous, which is fabulous news. They did have to do WAY (14 holes total) more than I thought they were going to do, but hey, at least it is over!

So anyway, back to more "Girl Power". My parents had taken me to Tom so he could bring me the rest of the way home; just a short time later I get a call from my Mom. Guess what? My Sister has already found a dentist that will help us with my son...Pro Bono. I mean it took some time for all of this to sink in. Just the day before I had been walking aimlessly around this medical campus worrying that my children could be losing their Mom, one of whom I had just adopted and may be losing a second mother, (and at the very least how in the hell were we going to take care of his mouth?)....OMG!!!!!! I mean REALLY my thoughts started to go crazy.

And just one day later...with the help of all my girls, we had solved all the problems of the world! Oh, and Dad did the driving-ha!!!!!! I think he's used to that role, he has done it his whole life...and I can't tell him what a wonderful job he has done "driving" us Girls...Driving us to do our best, and driving us to be our best and then driving us to our appointments when we REALLY need him.

So, if the world gives you a little crap ladies, be prepared to give it a Ton of Shit. Just sayin'.

Summertime...

2011-06-07T06:53:00.000-06:00

Summer means different things to different people; but to me it brings a sense of freedom and family. No more schedules to maintain, and lots of time with my kids. So the other day when I was driving down the road in my favorite black Ford, with my two favorite eleven year old girls in the whole world strapped in the seat next to me...and this song came on and all three of us were just belting it out; I knew it was summertime!

The really ironic thing is that it also happened to be my nephew's birthday that day and when we came home we looked that song up on You Tube before we headed to his birthday party that was after his Lacrosse game (man, do they really kick some you know what in Lacrosse!!!). Well, anyway, my nephew has had a really rough couple of years due to bullying at his school and just recently got accepted into a very science and math oriented school; which will put him on the path to "the Big City"!!!

To say the least, this song and this video have been stuck in my head since that day...it really hits home for a lot of people in a lot of different ways...So as I usually say, Rebels...make yourself some dancing room and crank up your computer speakers!

Breast Cancer; a family affair

2011-06-01T15:20:00.000-06:00

You know it's really funny that I chose today to write about the breast cancer story. See, my sister, Kelly, is recovering from a double mastectomy; and she has been so amazing during the entire process she deserves a book all her own. So when I wrote about her "journey", I really wanted the post to be all about her and what she has gone through; her family and what they have been through....and really to teach people a few things in the process would be wonderful.

But, what I hadn't realized is how her cancer would affect our ENTIRE family so deeply. My parents have never had to deal with a life threatening illness in one of their children before....you know the regular stuff growing up and even what some would consider pretty scary stuff as a parent, but nothing like the big "C" word. And they too, have handled things with grace and dignity. As a matter of fact my Dad has a blog also and has chronicled Kelly's "Journey" on his blog...well worth the read.

If I am totally honest, one of the reasons that had been holding me back from writing this article is my different opinion than my Dad's....Gee what a surprise, eh Dad???? As you will read in his blog, Kelly found her cancer with an annual mammogram and they are strongly encouraging folks to get their annual mammos. Well, sorry, but I felt that that might be a bit much radiation exposure for my liking. What about every couple years...that would cut a persons exposure to radiation in half in their lifetime and not make it too long in between screenings, right?

I also have another sister, Lisa. Between us three girls we have four daughters (Kelly has 2 and Lisa and I each have 1), so breast cancer in the family scared the s**t out of us. Lisa, ironically had had to have a second mammogram done the same day as Kelly's (second mammogram); and they had her scheduled for the ultrasound in case they needed more pics. Thankfully they didn't. So, I scheduled my damn mammogram.

Now, this is where the story gets a bit interesting. I would like to point out a difference between organized healthcare and private insurance. I am a Kaiser patient (organized). My first mammogram was 5 weeks ago, I just had my second mammogram and ultrasound yesterday and found out I need a biopsy. In the 5 weeks following Kelly's (private insurance) first mammogram she was already preparing for surgery. Just sayin'.

Thankfully due to some testing that Kelly had done, we know that our family (or at least Kelly) is not genetically predisposed to breast cancer. This to me, is a big relief...for ourselves, our Mother and our daughters. But why then, are 3 out of 3 girls suddenly needing second mammograms? And what about the biopsies? Is the medical field getting so far advanced that almost everyone is getting called back? And what does that say about our radiation exposure?

Even the gal who was taking the second pics yesterday kept apologizing to me if she had to retake the image. I finally asked her if it was due to the radiation and she said yes. Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe that we need testing like this to save lives, I am just wondering if there might be a happy medium. But, on the other hand, I have not had any imaging done in about ten years; the stuff that they will biopsy on me is a mass, while my sister who was good about getting hers done, caught hers at the calcification stage.

Okay, so what the hell is your point Judy? Check your breasts. Do your self exams and get the mammograms done as frequently as you are comfortable with (you know, probably more frequently than every decade!). Bottom line...they are there to save lives; that is what they are doing all over the country and they have just done so in my own family. As melodramatic as it sounds, it is true. We are all so appreciative of the fact that Kelly's cancer was caught early....

Cancer is a family affair, whether it is genetic or not. To watch my sister's family go through what they have been through is amazing (and heart wrenching); because I know that they will only be a stronger unit after this is over. It has brought us all closer in a way...as I'm sure it would in most families.

And No, I'm not too worked up over the biopsy thing (75% of all biopsies are benign). Not that I'm really looking forward to having a needle in my boob, but I do feel confident that the news will be fine. At least it got me writing about it....And I am very interested in your opinion on this matter. What do you think of annual testing and its risks/benefits?

A Party With No Trash...Okay Maybe Just a Little!

2011-05-25T20:31:00.000-06:00

I woke up this morning feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. My biggest commitments for the summer are already over, and it feels wonderful!!!! My sons graduated on Sunday and boy did we have a humdinger (does anyone still use that word? And if not, they sure should, it's a good one-ha!) of a party!

We also had a baseball game yesterday that was a big deal as my daughter and the choir that she is in sang the National Anthem for the Colorado Rockies; and they showed the town how that song is sang! I was so very proud. The group of fourth and fifth graders walked onto the field with a march in their step, took their places in the choir and belted out our National tune like any professional group could do....even my Grads were impressed! And that my friends is pert near impossible to do these days, let me tell you.

But back to the party with no trash; really it can be done; with a bit of preparation (and a bit of yucky digging afterward, I must admit). Now, if you have been a reader of mine, on either of these blogs, you know that I am not at all familiar with paper products. I do not buy plastic bags or paper plates or even paper napkins; my one downfall is paper towels and I do buy those very infrequently in bulk. So the paper product aisle itself was a bit overwhelming to me.

So, I headed straight to the party stuff. I knew I didn't want any "crap". You know what I'm talking about the kind of forks that break when you first put them into a bite of potato salad? Or the plate that dumps everything on the unsuspecting kid? Yeah, I wasn't having any of that. Party stuff it was, and blue and black to match the boys' colors, easy enough. From there, it is simply a case of turning the products over and making sure they are recyclable, if not, put it back. There are plenty of choices out there people, we do not have to fill up our landfills.

Okay now we are at the party and of course we have not gotten the trash cans and the recycle cans marked like I wanted. Actually there was a huge misunderstanding and we thought the neighbor was bringing some last minute supplies (like the grill, trash cans and bags) so we didn't have them to mark....but anyway; my point is is that it doesn't even matter if it all gets mixed up. I was able to nonchalantly grab the plates out of the trash as I was going by and put them into a different bag.

This all may sound a bit yucky, but to me it was well worth it. I had purchased cans for the kids to drink; we had recyclable cups for the keg (I even grabbed out a lot of the food trash for the chickens-ha!).....So let's run down what all was in my trash can when this party for about 75 people was over. Bags for ice, bags for buns, plastic silverware (and damn did I try and find some that is recyclable, I will try harder next time!) and napkins; that is about it. That is one small bag of trash for a very LARGE party. Now, we have two HUGE bags of recyclabes, but that is okay.

We had a wonderful party to help send the boys off right; we won't be filling up the landfills and polluting my beloved Mother Earth in the process and I am done with my major commitments for the summer. Now it is time to get to work on those campgrounds....keep those campers from burning down our forests and enjoy the time with my children. Wow, I truly am a very blessed woman.

Rebel with a cause...

2011-05-19T05:43:00.000-06:00

I am a Rebel with a cause...and I figured out this morning it is to avoid my emotions at all costs. Sunday my oldest two sons will graduate from High School and spread their wings and prepare to leave the comfy nest I have made for them. They both turned 18 last week, and I barely kept it together. Tonight I have to watch my Baby Girl go through her Continuation ceremony and say goodbye to the elementary years forever.

But at least my house is really clean. I have had boxes of recycling, and a ton of stuff for Goodwill go out of this place...and it feels so freeing I can't tell you. I feel like we have been sort of clogged since my whole back thing, and now doing this one big Spring cleaning, or actually pre-graduation party cleaning has been so healthy for my ranch it is unbelievable. It is almost as if I heard it take an audible sigh!

Now, no guaranteeing where that leaves me Monday morning when the house is all done, the boys are graduated, the kids are out of school and my thoughts are free to roam..... But for now I can NOT think of a better song to express how I feel about my FOUR children....

Legal Guardianship at its best ...

2011-05-04T11:30:00.000-06:00

My boys and their dates at Prom April 22, 2011

Learning to be a parent when your child is seventeen years old is a tad bit difficult to say the least; especially when that said child is a young man. There are just certain things that are sort of uncomfortable talking about. Like his medical and dental history, or getting used to riding in the car alone with him without my oldest son...I know that sounds funny, but we've always had the other kids around chatting and making noise.

Like yesterday for instance, I went to his track meet. Wow! What a runner this kid is. I was so proud! There I was in the stands, by myself, now that never happens, but my daughter was not yet out of school, and my dear boy made a point to come and hug me before his heat. What a great kid. But then that damn coach only let him run one event... and what am I supposed to do about it? Awkward.

This young man has been fighting his own battles quite successfully for most of his life. Is he going to appreciate input from me now? Can I call up his coach and kindly remind him that I have worked my a$$ off to get recruiters to look at my boy and now he is only letting him run one event????? Well, we did discuss it this morning on the boys' way to school and hopefully HE is going to remind the coach of that!

So, I guess you just start at square one. Which is what I have been trying to do. I'll take just a second to run you all through the legal guardianship process; it was really not as hard as I was afraid it would be. I will say this...have your paperwork in order! The state website had all of the information I needed to file the paperwork with the court, I got a court date; which was quite scary because I thought there was a chance of it going through without one. We then had to notify all parties....meaning the parent and there we were in court on April 1, 2011.

Now, that is a day I will never forget. We picked up Steve and Austin (Dad and our boy), so it was a tad awkward that we all drove together. I'm not sure how often the Plaintiff and the Defendant in a court case ride in the same vehicle, but I know it should be a good sign, right? But, I have to tell you, my nerves were on fire, I had been telling myself all morning long that this simply HAD to go through. By the time we got to the courthouse I was practically sick, in an overloaded pickup truck....what a bunch of hillbilly's!

In a small town setting, we of course were the only case on the docket, so we all got a few minutes to check out the inside of the court room and how it compares to those on tv...my kids were quite impressed and I of course couldn't have been more proud of my entire family. The judge came in with a rather stern expression on his face and asked Austin to step forward...my mother bear instincts took over and I reached out for him and I saw the judge hold back a smile...I knew we would be ok.

He then asked Tom and I to come forward and I of course hurried forward to sit near Austin as I didn't like him being up there by himself; Tom immediately took the seat on the other side of him. Man, did I choose a good husband or what? Anywho, he said that he assumed that this was to help get Austin off to college and that he had read all of the file and that he was impressed with my paperwork and the letter from the school, etc. The judge was also quite proud that people are doing things like this...

He then asked Austin how he felt about being a part of our family. And quite calmly he said "Well, I've been a part of their family a long time, sir. And I always have a place to go and a lot of fun...and well I love 'em a lot." You could have heard a pin drop in the room because Tom and I were so choked up we couldn't say a word; I believe even the judge was a bit taken back by his answer.

He then asked my oldest what he thought of the whole thing and he said, "well, it's pretty cool". He also was great to include my other two kids... like asking my daughter which high school she went to-ha! We got to brag about Austin being the fastest kid on the track team; and Steve even got to say a few kind words and then we were out of there. It was over.

The funny part was that I had held it together so well that I didn't realize that I had so many emotions inside me that I was going to lose it...And lose it I did. I bawled my head off. I was afraid the poor kid was going to change his mind and not want to be a part of my family I was such a mess. And then I had to get back in that packed truck and ride home with all of them. Crazy I tell you, Crazy!

So, now I am parenting a seventeen year old man, part time, as his Dad is still quite involved, which is a good thing most of the time. But, I'm taking care of the tough stuff, like dental and drivers licenses and insurance, etc. It's weird. So how do you ask a kid about their medical history...you ask the doctor I've decided. I'll take it one day at a time, ask for extra time at appointments, like people seem more than willing to give me, and go from there.

And as for that coach...he better watch out...cause Mama Bear is on the loose. I will give him time to fight his own battles, but he has done plenty of that I have decided....

Make a Miracle Today....

2011-04-27T06:00:00.003-06:00

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.

2011-04-07T06:07:00.001-06:00

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

2011-04-06T06:07:00.000-06:00

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?

A story worth sharing...

2011-03-22T10:29:00.000-06:00

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

A song worth singing

2011-03-22T06:00:00.000-06:00

Man's Best Friend

2011-03-17T05:11:00.001-06:00

This video was shot not long after the tsunami rolled out of Japan. Man's best Friend is also his own best friend...Thank goodness by the time this video aired the dogs had been rescued and were being treated at local veterinary hospitals.

The following is a translation of what the reporters are saying; it too is quite touching:

We are in Arahama area. Looks like there is a dog. There is a dog. He looks tired and dirty. He must have been caught in the tsunami. He looks very dirty.

He has a collar. He must be someone's pet. He has a silver collar. He is shaking. He seems very afraid.

Oh, there is another dog. I wonder if he is dead.

Where?

Right there. There is another dog right next to the one sitting down. He is not moving. I wonder. I wonder if he is alright.

The dog is protecting him.

Yes. He is protecting the dog. That is why he did not want us to approach them. He was trying to keep us at bay.

I can't watch this. This is a very difficult to watch.

Oh. Look. He is moving. He is alive. I am so happy to see that he is alive.

Yes! Yes! He is alive.

He looks to be weakened. We need to them to be rescued soon. We really want them rescued soon.

Oh good. He's getting up.

It is amazing how they survived the tremendous earthquake and tsunami. It's just amazing that they survived through this all.

The Ring of Fire: Japan and Hawaii...My prayers go out to you

2011-03-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

According to The Denver Channel.com Japan sits right in the middle of The Ring of Fire...no, not Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire, but a geological one; which in my mind makes it a damned dangerous place to be right now. Here is an excerpt from the best written article I could find on this darn tsunami that everyone is so rightly worried about:

Japan lies on the "Ring of Fire" - an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones stretching around the Pacific where about 90 percent of the world's quakes occur, including the one that triggered the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that killed an estimated 230,000 people in 12 nations. A magnitude-8.8 temblor that shook central Chile last February also generated a tsunami and killed 524 people.

The article says it much better than I could (follow the link, it's a great article); except that I am praying for those folks....

And if by the way, I got you in the mood for some Johnny Cash; here you go:

A New Definition for Snuggling on the Beach

2011-03-10T06:39:00.002-07:00

As you all know I am a sucker for a good video, especially one with animals...This one is so amazing to me I had to share it:

The video is at Greenfield Park Blog

Taped in Gold Harbour where Elephant Seals and Penguins migrate in the winter to breed along the glacial stream; this lady was a love magnet for this big guy! Thanks GPB for sharing this great work of art.

Buttercup...

2011-03-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

Her name is Buttercup, and she is the most precious thing ever:

I took these videos a little over a week ago, and she has grown quite a bit since then:

But the funniest thing of all, is that her new best friend since I took these is Avalanche the Rooster!!!!

Coming out of my carbon monoxide cloud

2011-02-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's right. The carbon monoxide saga continued after I posted that our carbon monoxide detector had saved our lives. See, my Dad had just written an article about testers and was horrified that this could happen to his kids...well the horror got worse!

Dad pointed out to us that our tester was OLD! We were lucky the darn thing had gone off in the first place; so he replaced it with a newer model...like any good Engineer Dad would. During this time, we were having chimney issues like no other. The darn thing was literally falling apart... The chimney to the woodstove, not the fireplace, and we were hardly using the furnace at all. But anyway, when the first alarm had sounded, we thought we found the problem, fixed it and then moved on.

A few weeks later, the new alarm started going off in the night. It was reading very low levels of carbon monoxide. It was coincidentally when the fire in the woodstove was going out, so we'd get up in the night thinking it was our bad chimney and open up the garage door and get the fire going again for good draw up the chimney and then go back to bed. This went on for a couple weeks.

One morning after a particularly bad night with the damn alarm I could not for the life of me do my e-mail and stuff. I couldn't think straight and was very confused, I kept forgetting what I was doing; and although this is a common problem for me with my seizure meds this was way worse. I looked up carbon monoxide poisoning and lo and behold...I had a match!

I was due for some labwork anyway and asked my doctor if she would ad the test. After some initial questions she did so, and a test that normally takes 24-48 hours came back in less than 18 hours with my blood level at ten times the rate of what it was supposed to be. Now, there is a bit of a debate about measurements of carbon monoxide in the blood, the only thing I know is that they were trying to talk me into going into "the chamber" more than 24 hours after exposure. What??????????

So, this is what we have learned. First of all, we were pretty much idiots for ever thinking it was the fire. A woodstove would have to be practically smoking into your home to do that to me. What was happening was that our furnace had a malfunctioning heat exchanger in it. When we opened up the garage door to get the fire going again, we were releasing the carbon monoxide and saving our lives! The rest of the family was leaving for 8-12 hours a day and cleaning out their systems, while I sit here in the garage (where the furnace and woodstove are both located) and work a good portion of the day.

And, as usual, I am going to say follow your instincts folks. When the first alarm went off, I quit trusting that damn furnace and quit using it whenever possible. I would shut it down whenever I could, but those weeks that we were getting poisoned it was like -20* here, there was just no avoiding using it. Well, I would have if I had known-ha! As a matter of fact, I was so sure it was the furnace, I had shut it down the day I had left to go get my blood drawn or I could have come home to a house full of dead pets!

The point is, is that we were not thinking clearly which is the first sign of carbon monoxide poisoning. Do not let low levels of carbon monoxide fool you. If your detector is going off, it means that there has been a low level for over eight hours. I will say it again, because this fact is so important. If your detector goes off, at any level, you have been exposed to carbon monoxide for at least eight hours!

Now, to the not so fun stuff. I have had a hell of a time getting this crap out of my system and out of my home. If you have better insurance than I do, by all means take them up on "the chamber" and get it out of your system in a quicker way than I did. If not, get out and get fresh air and exercise. This was not easy to do with my back, and I had to try and take it slow, but I just did it. It was great fun for the animals, and I know that the dogs really needed it too!

As for the house...now that almost is a story in itself! See, the men (the hubs and the oldest boys) all kept telling me that once the furnace was out; and believe me we had it out quick once it tested bad (in the nineties when you are supposed to evacuate at 9!) so was the carbon monoxide. Well, I could still feel it. That was until Hubs went back to work on Monday after being sick on the weekend and realizing that he had been showing symptoms....Thank goodness his sister was on her way to help me decontaminate the house!

And that is what I believe a person needs to do in a case like this. We took lampshades outside and shook them and you would not believe the black dust that came off of them. We did the windows, the sheets (which I think were the biggest contributing factor) you name it, if it was porous, we tried to clean it. Now, keep in mind, that our furnace had been off for days, and then out of the house for another few days.

As usual, I have to put a plug in for my friend Tiffany and her wonderful cleaning products that are available on Etsy. My SIL Annie and I got the giggles when we saw the name of her product that we were using...Mama's Crisis Cleaning Solution! Talk about nailing it. This product was easy on our hands and smelled delicious as it has a bit of lavender in it. I used it on my wood surfaces too and they really shined as well.

So God forbid this happen to you or anyone you know, but if it does, I highly encourage you to be aggressive about it. If your alarm goes off...get out of the house and find out what the problem is immediately! Then get your house cleaned; and I mean cleaned well. If you can afford it, even clean the vents because when we turned the new furnace on, we had symptoms show up again.

I still have some memory issues, and this has been a couple weeks now. As you can see I have taken a lot of time getting back into the blog and my computer work, and this has helped with my concentration levels. I have to really work at getting a lot of fresh air daily. Thank goodness I live on a ranch in beautiful Colorado; I have been blessed in many ways. To tell my tale...and to recover in the Rockies...Now those are blessings!

Royal Ranch Royalty

2011-02-20T03:52:00.001-07:00

Well, what a wonderful way to welcome us all back from my little break....A new lamb!!! It is a female and it has been quite an adventure for this little girl and her mommy; and their Shepherd now that I think about it. Tom says that I am a real rancher now that I have had my hands inside of an animal, but that is beside the point. I was unable to save her twin...but I did save Mama and as far as I'm concerned that is almost all I could ask for.

This little girl was born Friday afternoon, after a very long morning of laboring for my ewe, Esther. Although I knew that Esther typically has multiple births, we watched and waited; and waited and watched until I was frozen in position. No more babies and no more signs of labor. I checked with the vet and they said that not always do they have multiples and they couldn't obviously diagnose her over the phone, but that things sounded okay.

That was until I got up early to check on them yesterday morning and found her straining and pushing! A whole day later...which is not a good thing. We ran back to the house only to find that the vet had a morning already filled with patients...it was do or die time. My handy dandy vet kit, a bucket of clean water and the daughter, husband and I were off!

Husband held Esther, daughter held baby right where Mama could see her and I went in! Baby #2 was lodged in a breach position and was stuck in her pelvis, I had a heck of a time getting him out, but I did it! I cried and mourned when I got back home, like any good Shepherd would, but I am still very grateful I have so far been able to save my Esther Girl, and we were all thankful that this guy was not in position #1.

Now, I have learned a few things from this experience. First and foremost...call your trusted friends and neighbors in times like these. I called a neighbor about getting the new baby some raw milk in case we need to supplement her and she had a great pointer for me. When a female still has a baby in her belly, their tummies are still hard and when they are done with birthing, it goes soft; I sure wish I had this bit of info the day before. There is a simple way to test for this, by wrapping your arms around the female and sort of hugging her in a downward motion as you straddle her. This is something not even the vet had mentioned.

The other is to always trust your instincts when it comes to your critters, or anything for that matter (more on that and why I have been absent in future posts...), but especially when working with animals. They have no way of telling you when they are in distress, and believe me, I spent hours on Friday looking for signs of labor or distress and saw none. They are absolute masters at disguising any weakness. My gut told me that I should have gone in sooner, but who wants to stick their arm in a sheep unnecessarily? Not me.

Not only because of the obvious reasons, but for Esther's sake mostly. I didn't want to infect her unless I absolutely had to. I am also a newbie (second year) at Shepherding, even though it was my maiden name, and so I don't know if all sheep who usually have multiple births always have multiple births, you know? I wasn't sure I would even know what I was feeling for.

Lastly I would like to say that the internet was no help at all (about things like how far apart lambs should be born, etc.). Either people that have sheep spend a ton of money and really depend on their vets (they must not be hands on or in in my case-ha!), or just don't get online much. But, after talking with my neighbor, I did find a very informative website about goats that will help me with these endeavors in the future. Goats and sheep are very similar and so I will be able to take what I need and adjust and apply it where I see fit.

I say it time and again folks, trust your instincts, make a list of mentors and friends to help guide you through the emergency times, and then most importantly remember to use it! Oh, and don't forget to let everyone in on the fun, even Avalanche the rooster had to be a part of lambing season at The Royal Ranch!

Royal Ranch Royalty

2011-02-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

Chief

This is Chief...I had introduced him as Big Whitey before. The spots of war paint are under both eyes...and he always has this look on his face. The look of not quite trusting, and very aware...He is the Big Chief. Always on the lookout, and never quite at rest.

This is one of our Montana Large Animal Sanctuary (you know, it galls me to even call it that, but I have to for linking purposes...it certainly ended up not being a sanctuary for these guys!) llamas. We knew he had been a herd leader right away, because when the vet body scored him; he had a pleasant surprise...Chief is quite average on the body score scale, a 4 out of 1-9.

But then we got him here to The Royal Ranch. And we knew right away that he was the Big Chief; he was doing the alarm call whenever the dogs came out of the house. Which at our house (the house of Many Dogs) is quite often. The smaller, more fragile rescues followed him around like he was God, seriously! But the story he told...and I can't really describe how he told me...was just that of a weary Chief.

(See how they surround him? The red line down his back was a sorting mark from when they transported him from MT to CO)

So, that is why he is the first of our fantastic new rescues to be Royal Ranch Royalty. I do believe that this is one of the proudest llamas I have come across in my career of rescuing animals, of any variety. Welcome to The Royal Ranch Chief; I seriously hope you can find some peace here.

And the Winner is....

2011-02-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

Bandit!!!!

And Rebel Jose!!!

And in rebellion of all the crap these guys went through, here is what I did:

So, I am happy to report a win win win situation!!!!

After I saw this:

It changed how I look at "animal rescue" forever.

So as I was cutting off the hair off this magnificent creature;

kneeling in the snow and ice,

with my comrades of love and mercy,

I secretly hatched a plan...

He was not going to be the only fella losing his locks!

For informational purposes only: I have chosen Pantene Beautiful Lengths to donate my ponytail to this time. I have blogged about donating hair before, and thought I'd try something new. I chose them because I thought they might have a bit of a disadvantage since it is for women only and not for kids.

Pediatric ER's an Emergency Case Themselves?

2011-01-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

So Monday night (actually it was supposed to be in the afternoon but anywho) I had to take my daughter to the emergency room. Yes, that should be where I am putting the exclamation point, right? Wrong! The ER I think is in more trouble than my daughter (thank goodness, so far, we are blessed again!!!!).

I have thought and thought how to write this post without sounding like a racist pig. I am not one...a pig anyway, but I guess I have become a racist. I know I was not raised one that is for sure. I have never said the "N" word and don't believe that is ever, and I do mean ever, appropriate. But I am damn sick of the illegals that are draining our system.

After years of dealing with my cart being bumped into when I was shopping and when I gave a smile and an excuse me (even though it was not my fault) I got a frown and a shake of the head (no habla English) I got darn sick of shopping in those areas. I also got sick and tired of the screaming, out of control kids in those same out of control shopping carts. As a matter of fact I learned the demographics of our state as well as I could, so when it came to choosing a Pediatric hospital, I took all of this into consideration; a sad state of affairs, I admit.

Let me paint you a picture of the waiting room at the ER. A mid-twenties couple has their two young sons there; my daughter and I check in with my drivers license and insurance card and have a seat near this couple. I notice that my daughter is staring at them and take a look, that is because they are busily making out while their sons uncontrollably climb on the furniture and the tables! When the youngest starts feeling the pain of the obvious ear infection he is there for he goes crying to his Mama who has no blankey or favorite toy or anything and just continues to talk to the man; the child was pulling her hair to try to get her attention. I was dying to grab a blanket and wrap the boy up and walk the halls like I used to do with my kids when they were ill.

Another family that entered even shocked the guy behind the desk. The mom spoke no English so the oldest son was doing all of the talking. One of the younger boys needed to be seen because his leg hurt. What? No injury, no fall, no bruise, no nothing. The same gentleman that had been so sweet to my daughter, calling her "Sweetie" (and keep in mind he is of Spanish descent too), and gently placed the arm band on her; just tossed the arm band across the counter and said "put this on him and help your mom fill out this medicaid paperwork". I mean the kid was already racing around the waiting room in his wheelchair!

This trip to the ER took us seven hours! We got an ultrasound, blood work and some other various lab work done; nothing that should have taken seven hours. When my daughter was finally cleared to eat I ran to the cafeteria to get us something to eat and the waiting room was three times as full as when we entered; and I didn't hear a word of English as I passed through. The nurses said the wait time by then was four hours just to get in, we had been lucky.

As some of you commenters are going to point out, I have another none of my business point. I was thinking when I was checking every piece of medicine they put into my daughters IV. How could someone who doesn't speak English do this? Really? I checked everything. If they brought a new bag of fluids in, I asked if it was a brand new bag and if they had added anything to it. I asked questions of the Ultrasound tech. At the end when it was determined that we'd try meds, I double checked those. I don't know a young kid on this planet that knows medicine well enough that could translate that back to his Mama!

My last point goes back to my drivers license and insurance card that I had out before I even entered the hospital. I had even had it out earlier in the day when I had taken her to her primary care physician too. As a matter of fact, I have my drivers license out all the time. If I get stopped by a cop, I get it, my insurance and my registration out before the officer even makes it to the window. I get it out when I write a check too.... My point being that I have to prove who I am all the time, what is the big deal? If you have nothing to hide, you should be proud of your paperwork I would think...The folks that we know that have gone through the arduous process of becoming nationalized citizens are damned proud of it! And us, damned proud of them!

Montana Llama Rescue 2011!

2011-01-19T05:49:00.000-07:00

Wow! I have had one of the most amazing experiences in my life, really. Even the big, bad, biker, Tom, said so. And remember, he was my reluctant cohort in this rescue mission in the first place. Well, not once he got there and met these wonderful folks:

The guy in the middle (the driver), looking at the ground, he too is a reluctant participant; because he is used to working with steers. And until that trip, he thought llamas were sissy animals...I don't think he thinks that anymore; but he still didn't like his picture taken with a bunch of llama nuts!

This is the rig that he drove clear across Montana and Wyoming(in very bad weather, I might add) to deliver our boys to us:

Twenty llamas arrived on this trailer. It took them two days to get to La Porte, CO. Which is where we met them at our very wonderful host ranch. Four foster homes met up to pick up their allotment of rescue llamas, a few various wonderful llama lovers, and rescue friends to lend a hand and a small crew from CSU Veterinary School was on hand.

None of us had ever met before, face to face; but we had been preparing for the big arrival via e-mail for a few days...so we greeted each other as old friends would, with hugs all around (that poor cattle driver never knew what hit him...)! All was well...

Until we saw this!!!!

This poor guy was down in the trailer, getting trampled by the other llamas as they unloaded. We all held our breath...Was he alive? He tried to stand up, fell back down, stumbled out of the trailer and then fell again.... The group, collectively, had not taken a breath yet! He finally stood up triumphantly, and we all just stood there for a second in absolute shock! None of us had ever seen anything like it. His legs were so tangled up in his own wool, it had caused him injuries. We didn't know whether to cheer for him or cry for him.

After our initial moment of horror wore off, we all knew what needed to be done. An in field, on site shearing party it was. With scissors no less...the poor guy got one hell of a bad hair cut, but I'm sure he feels A TON lighter! After the shearing was done, we got down to separating the boys and figuring out who was going where. Tom and I had to laugh later that all of us had bonded with Big Guy (the one with the bad haircut), so when the straws were drawn, and yes, we used actual straw, or maybe it was hay...We all wanted Big Guy!

But, as you can see, there were plenty of great llamas that needed care and love. It was decided that Big Guy (his official name I heard via e-mail last night-ha!) stay near CSU because he has some very specific medical needs that I really don't want to take on. I have five gelded (meaning fixed, neutered, castrated, whatever) males from this herd at The Royal Ranch, and it has been an adventure getting them home and settled.

As you can see from the pics below, they are settling in. They don't like dogs...that is for sure! But, as my youngest son pointed out, in Montana they've probably seen wolves and a canine scent is a canine scent! When they see our Great Pyrenees, Tia, the big white one does the alarm call to warn the others of danger!

Big Whitey (so far)~ this guy must have been one of the herd leaders (Wow! out of 800 llamas!) because he scored 4 (on a body scale of 1-9), which is quite good, so he was getting most of the food. We also think there is a chance that this guy was at some point in time a herdsire, meaning that he was someone's top breeder. See the tag in his ear? That could mean that he is an import from Chile or Peru.

We got home well after dark on Sunday, and thanks to a good friend and neighbor's headlights, we got the trailer all ready to unload them, thinking they were just dying to be out after two days of traveling....and NOTHING! They were comfortably bedded down for the night and that was that. So we tied the gate of the trailer to the gate of their "Quarantine" area and left them be.

This is Jose and Shadow, Shadow is our most critical patient (scoring only a 1-2).

This is Mellow (so far) because he is Caramel colored and very mellow as you can see from this picture. He is also the only one that willingly got haltered and loaded into the trailer!

A better shot of Jose, if SWLR accepts us, we may adopt this rebellious boy, he pulled a muscle in the big, bad, bikers back putting him in the trailer, and he was the smallest of all! Leave it to me, to like the roughest one of the bunch!

A group (or butt) shot of the boys checking out their small outdoor yard. I wanted it small on purpose. I don't need these boys getting a ton of exercise and fighting right now. This is a resting and healing zone. On the other hand, they do however have a huge covered area that gets a ton of sunshine and fresh air, just what the doctor ordered. Maybe not the photographer though!

And this dear Rebels, is your llama. I thought it would be fun for you all to get involved with the naming game! I am sorry about the light with this picture, but he is a spectacular boy, because he goes from a cream color to a caramel color that gradates into a dark brownish rust. And then as you can see, he has some white socks too. Once we get this nasty batch of wool off of him, the wool that comes in, will be fantastic! I am hoping to find spinners for him, Big Whitey and Mellow, as they all have beautiful wool.

It really has been an amazing few days. Sunday was unbelievable. Those folks were wonderful and are friends for life now, even if we just e-mail each other for support from now on...which the e-mails have been flying! But to be a part of the nation's biggest animal rescue has been something I can't even describe in words...beyond satisfying? Now you too can be a part of it, help name our nameless guy...

On a much lighter note...

2011-01-15T06:36:00.000-07:00

Flash

(rescued 2006)

I never like to leave you all on a negative note, which I know my last post was, but it needed to be said. Anyway, as I have been busily preparing for my new arrivals from Montana, my faith in mankind has been restored! First and foremost, I have had multiple offers of help from neighbors and friends, but my family has really stepped up to the plate as well. One of the cutest calls I got was from my father, who had to deal with my rebellious butt for the first portion of my life and knew there was no stopping me if I was needed in Montana; and he just quietly offered to go along for the ride! None of the men in my life (Husband, sons or Dad) were too happy about me headed across the country by myself in the middle of winter~to say the least.

My husband too, has been a real gem. He of course started this whole thing out stating that we could help as long as none of them ended up on his property...Well today he has promised to help me move his plow truck out of his barn and turn it into a temporary llama barn as they will be quarantined away from our boys for quite some time. All of this without a word being said; I was really smart this time, I just kept forwarding the e-mails that I was getting from my coordinator, how could he resist?

But one of the biggest things was when I went to go pick up a nice load of hay for my new rescues. I had called my regular hay guy the night before and explained what was going on and since I had become a legal foster home for Southwest Llama Rescue would he maybe want to give me a break on the hay for a tax deduction? Thursday morning I headed down there, and start picking out the proper hay for starving llamas, not an easy task...when he informs me that the load is FREE, yes, 85 bales of beautiful hay was absolutely free!!! When I started to cry, he just hugged me and said "Aaaw, don't make an old farm boy cry."

He insisted that he remain anonymous, he said he usually raises the price on his pain in the butt customers. Trying to be an old tough guy. I had his ticket. So I drove up the mountain with my heart a little restored, and ready to take on the task of healing these boys. I have a wonderful support system that is for sure.

An Outsider's Perspective

2011-01-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

Jasper and Marcel

(rescued in 2002)

You know I'm really mad about this whole llama sanctuary thing. Over a decade ago, I started calling local llama farms to learn more about llamas. I met this very nice lady and as she was taking her llamas around to get bred she introduced me to all of "the right" people. And when I say "the right" people, I mean the breeders and showers and stuff, you know, the ones who really matter, the ones who have the money.

The last place that she took me though, was horrific. It was in southern Colorado and they had over 400 llamas at the time. There was a dead Cria (a baby llama) on the ground, and many of the llamas had parts of their ears missing from being born in the winter without shelter to keep them warm. She was there to drop off one of her llamas for a mating. I only saw her one time after that and it was when we hosted a calendar shoot at The Royal Ranch and she was mad I had not bought a llama from her. I will say, I can never be appreciative enough of her for introducing me to Bobra though.

I bring this up because it reminds me of the pics I am getting from Montana. But the names don't ring a bell. See, many moons ago, I got sick of playing the political game, and quit watching the tussle of power, and pulled out of the RMLA; the local llama association. So I have become an outsider of "the right people". I do, however, still know their names, and very few of them are on the helping list now.

Why did I get frustrated, you ask? Because I rescued too many of their animals is why. From people who had no idea what the hell they were doing. One couple had llamas so fat they were about to explode on the amount of alfalfa hay and pellets they were eating. They were surrendered because their home did not have the proper water well; the breeders never had the new llama owners check this or taught them how to feed and exercise them!

It has happened to us time and again. We load up the trailer to pick up a rescue, I ask where the people got the llamas in the first place, I recognize the name from my previous "right" life and think WTH, why are these llamas ending up as rescues? We load the boys, head home, get them in shape and either give them a job or get them a new home. But my anger lies in where are those "right people" now? Now that we have hundreds of llamas to save.

A Llama Emergency!

2011-01-11T05:13:00.001-07:00

All of these boys, except for the one on my left are rescues!

Today I will be doing things a bit differently. I have been madly working with my friend and mentor L'illette, who was my friend Bobra Goldsmith's right hand woman. L'illette has been rescuing llamas for as long as I've known her; as a matter of fact, that is how we became friends. But I'm not sure either of us ever saw this one coming folks. My dear friend put it all in an e-mail to me this weekend, and here it is for you in its entirety:

If you’re not up-to-date on this, please check out the http://southeastllamarescue.org website, Gary Kaufman’s YouTube video, and Jerry Finch (President/Founder of Habitat for Horses) blog report. Horrific in the most literal sense.

I’m also trying to keep my website at lillette.net updated with these links and any other info that comes along. And a Facebook page has been created: MLAS Llama Rescue. I urge you to cross-post my status update emails to you, the links above, any information you can. And if you have any press contacts, please get the word out to them, too. We need national coverage to get things going faster. Weather and road conditions in Montana mean we have to move these animals quickly.

TRANSPORT

The newly formed Montana Llama Rescue Coalition (MTLLRC) comprising representatives from llama breed and rescue organizations across the country, has been collecting money for transports and the ASPCA has promised a large donation, funds yet to be received.

We have one big load of 100 earmarked for points east, but need a big cattle hauler. Including below one of the latest emails on that topic for your reference. So if you know of any cattle haulers or anyone who might be able to take on some of these admittedly worrisome, starved, probably ill, and largely untrained llamas—yep, hoping for big miracles all around!—please spread the word.

Also have places for about 25 in Texas and a few so far in Ft. Collins area that can be dropped off en route to Texas. So far, I’ve found one livestock hauler out of Iowa who can take about 35-40 per trip, and 10-15 of the Texas-bound llamas can be dropped off en route.

RMLA AREA – WE NEED YOU! Only two farms so far have offered to help, and I really need more foster caretakers for here in CO. Ideally, of course, we’d like to get in at least one large group to some place where we can then get them initial care, sorting, etc. and on to farms in smaller groups. Our desperately needed miracles will hopefully include some sort of staging/temporary sanctuary area where a bunch could winter under shelter and with care and oversight. (This applies to all regions, not just RMLA.) FYI, these are mostly geldings and a few intact males at this point… hundreds of them still awaiting rescue, and dying as they wait.

Quick immediate and urgent needs lists (target is national, not just for my little regions):

· Cattle hauler with double-decker style rig to transport 100 MT llamas to Northeast Llama Rescue (NELR) – see email included below.

· Foster farms that can take in large numbers for immediate triage and distribution asap in smaller groups to other foster farms.

· Other foster farms: even if you can take only a few, if enough folks will volunteer, that adds up to a lot more lives saved.

· Donations of money via http://southeastllamarescue.org – all tax-deductible, initially for transport, with any remaining funds, such as if ASPCA comes through, going to veterinary care.

· Please contact your camelid vets to ask if they’ll donate services or reduce costs for this rescue effort.

· Knowledgeable llama folks who can be in MT to help load the llamas, or at the receiving ends to help unload, triage, distribute.

Please be aware that there will surely be initial costs to you angels who offer to take llamas. For my RMLA folks, I will set you up as a Southwest Llama Rescue, Inc. foster farm, which means your expenses may be tax deductible. Too, SWLR will continue to raise money to reimburse expenses incurred by foster farms. I’m sure the other rescue organizations are working along the same lines.

Again, if you haven’t been keeping up with the situation, please read Jerry Finch’s blog report from December 27. And know that the situation is much, much worse now. I don’t know how to tug any better at your heartstrings, but my own heart is breaking. Llamas are dying every day, and many may not even survive our rescue attempts. But some will! You can be part of this enormous endeavor to save as many llama lives as possible. I can only plead with you to help in whatever ways you can, whether it be a little or monumental. Nothing like this has ever happened in the rescue world, and certainly not to our beloved llamas. Please, please… please.
L’illetteL’illette Vasquez
SWLR/SELR Llama Rescues
LANA/RMLA/MTLLRC Llama Rescue Committees
L’illy Llamas at Rocky Mt. Llamas
7202 N 45^th Street
Longmont CO 80503-8844

I chose a Tuesday to post this because I cross post on Green Spot-On and I know that you my Rebels will surely get involved, if you can. Put the word out people, and if you know me, you probably guessed the reason for my absence the last day or so, yes I have a few tricks up my sleeve! I am hoping to get our local Environmental Action class involved with my rescue mission...ooops did I let that slip? Is the RR headed to Montana?

Is it the weekend already?

2011-01-08T06:02:00.000-07:00

On our way to Breck, we saw one of these...

Amazing!

(this is my pic taken in '05)

Wow! I can't believe the days have flown by like they have. This is going to have to be an all inclusive post, dear Rebels, as I have had a few things on my mind to write about this week; I just haven't had the time (or the will) to sit down and actually do it. The kids went back to school late this week, so we tried to make the very most out of the last bit of their winter break.

Which brings me to my first point. Never tie your lunch to the top of your car when you go skiing! I took the kids to Breckenridge on Wednesday, and due to my back I was sitting in the truck people watching when I saw a murder of crows (yes, that is the proper term for a group of crows) gathering over a neighboring car. I saw the small plastic bag tied to the top and hoped for the owners sake that it was trash, but since there were receptacles everywhere, I kind of doubted it. Those crows sure enjoyed the sandwiches and Funyuns that those people donated to them. Fifteen crows took about three minutes to empty the bag and close half of the peoples' ski rack. I wonder what they thought when they came back to that mess!

And you know what else? I am so glad that my Broncos have finally pulled their heads out of their butts! This coming from a girl who has been "crushing" on the Broncos for as long as she can remember. Maybe it was when Rich Karlis walked into my hospital room when I was a little girl getting my appendix out, oh yes, I've always been a big fan. But to see them cheating and going down the tubes like that was really a bummer for me...so bring on the Elway generation (and no, I'm not talking about my very lazy llama)! By the way, what took so damn long?

So, the kids just got back into school, I barely get the Christmas tree down to the llama pen for their enjoyment...and here it is the weekend! I hope your New Year is starting off great...I'd love to hear what is on your mind. And how 'bout those Broncos? Oh and watch your lunches in public parking lots, the crows can be just as bad as thieves, I was sooo wishing I had a video!

We Shall Be Free...

2011-01-04T05:12:00.001-07:00

Get ready to crank it up, Rebels! This is one powerful song! It'll help get you moving for your New' Year's intentions!

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

2011-01-03T03:42:00.002-07:00

This little device saved our lives Saturday night:

If you don't already have one, get one...Today!!!

Please read the comments below, my Dad has some very interesting input.

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T08:06:00.000-07:00

Image from www.soundoflife.net

Wow, we made it to 2011! To be quite frank, there were times in 2010 I wondered...whew...that is one year I am glad to put behind us and move on. Not that it was all bad, don't get me wrong, but I just feel it is time for a fresh new start. For everyone.

I got up this morning and did my regular routine of getting the fire going, checking e-mails, returning messages, pottying critters, and while on Facebook I noticed a recurring theme; I was not the only one happy to say goodbye to 2010 and "bring it" 2011!

So instead of looking back at favorite posts of the year, or favorite stories of 2010...I'd like to just welcome in 2011. I've never really been one for resolutions because I try to be working on something all of the time (being more green, eating more organic, save money, etc). But this year I do have some intentions. I intend to get back in line with my business goals and I certainly intend to get this back thing in order. I also intend to work on my marriage more; you know actually intentionally pay attention to it. My husband deserves the same time and attention I give the rest of the world/ranch/kids/animals!

I'd really love to have The Royal Ranch Rebels be a part of whatever resolution or intention you have going for 2011. I want to help and I know I could. What is the resolution, let me know and I can do a post about it...It all boils down to one thing; sticking to it! A support group like The Rebels is a great place to start. Let's stick together in 2011 and make it the best year we have all seen in a long time. I sure plan to.

Waste not, want not....

2010-12-31T06:06:00.000-07:00

My apologies folks, I left my camera at my parents house on Christmas! I will post pics as soon as I get it back~ooops!!! This just means you have to come back to see my amazing gifts. J~

I've got to tell you, this is probably one of my favorite expressions in life...And my kids' least favorite! But I mean it literally pains me to see things go to waste. Hence, this years Christmas gifts. What? Yes, I took things that were going to go to waste, and I turned them into Christmas gifts for my family and friends. Hold on with the hillbilly jokes for just a second, they turned out okay!

If you remember, pre-back injury, I worked at the food pantry. Even at a food pantry there is waste. Yes, it kills me to admit it, but it is true. There are berries that get put in a fridge in the basement that get forgotten, or herbs that are just not picked up, or whatever; well, not on my watch. I would take the stuff home and put it in the freezer, with my daughter/helper moaning all the while.

Well, as part of my post-back surgery physical therapy (boy am I smart) and to get some of my gifts made, I got myself moving by getting these things out of the freezer and seeing what I could make with them. I had enough berries for six jars of triple berry jam and six jars of blueberry jam. I made the herbs into a Tarragon vinegar. But the really fun part about this was that I got to use some of my very special bottle collection...

The bottles under the stairs.... They were a mystery when we first moved in; there were hundreds of them. Many of them beautiful, all of them old, and they at some point in time had been cleaned and very carefully collected. Medicine bottles, liquor bottles, round bottles, square bottles...you get the idea; they were everywhere! That is when we found out that old Charlie Royal had lost the original Royal Ranch to tax evasion for moonshining! He built our home in 1955 after that and apparently never lost his urge to collect bottles for his hobby!

So, even ol' Charlie would be smiling down on this years gifts I think; although it may not be moonshine, it hopefully will be just as useful! But one of the great things about it was that I received gifts like this too. One of my sisters and her family made us a calendar with all of our important dates on it; chock full of family photos! My other sisters family made us the yummiest green chile ever; and my parents brought tears to all of our eyes this year with extra touching gifts from the heart.

We all got pictures of our grandparents from their high school years and then each of us got a touch of the past. Mine was my birth card, the little girl card that they put on the bassinet in the hospital the day I was born! And then I also got some beautiful antique Christmas figurines that I have loved since I was a little girl and used to put them out every year; they are from my Dads parents; very special indeed!

It was a wonderful Christmas, and a great way to start off our 2011, not wasting a thing, and really letting those we love know how much they mean to us. I'd love to hear about your special gifts this year, or how you plan to not be wasteful next year!

Dear Santa,

2010-12-28T08:14:00.001-07:00

Thank you so much for the Christmas card with the money in it! Tom and I had decided to not buy each other gifts this year so that we could really make the kids' Christmas special. So, when we got the stack of cards out of the mailbox on Christmas Day (sorry we were a little late, it had been a busy week, but I know you had been watching...) it was like our gift to each other; we split them up and each enjoyed the gifts they brought.

I noticed the North Pole postmark first, and thought it was kind of funny, and then opened up the card and out fell all of that money!!!!! I'm very sorry, Sir, but you know how banks are, and they don't believe, so when Tom went to cash it...we found out that you bought it in Centennial, and have a bank in Grand Junction....So my dear Santa, we love you dearly, whoever you are....And please know, that we still believe!

It's Christmas!!!!

2010-12-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

I went to look for inspirational quotes for today's blog and I found a great list; one with authors like Laura Ingalls Wilder, Charles Dickens and Eric Sevareid. So it is quite funny that the one that really struck my heart was from Andy Rooney!

One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. ~Andy Rooney

Hope your day is filled with messes (that someone else can clean tomorrow) Ha!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2010-12-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

Good Morning and Merry Christmas Eve! Well, I think I have done it! I am hopefully done with the shopping, the shipping, the baking, and the making. Ooops, I have the final touches to put on one little project, but it won't take me but a few seconds. I am hoping to share some of my Christmas projects with you Rebels, but it will have to wait until all the boxes have been opened....

I got a really great e-mail from my husband the other day, and it has stuck in my mind, so I thought I'd share it with you all as a little Christmas gift. Reportedly, it is by a 90 year old columnist who wrote this list many years ago and it has been so popular she has republished it again and again. I liked it so much, I didn't even care if the lady was real or not; the stuff is just too true to life! So here it is in its entirety:

This is something we should all read at least once a week!! Make sure you read to the end!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio .

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more":

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is

special.

22. Over prepare; then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Number 40 is one of my favorites I think! Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!!!

Juggling...

2010-12-23T05:54:00.001-07:00

Cookie Day 2010

This has been a week of juggling for me. I had decided that I really want to try to get back to living life as normally as I could, you know try to act as if I didn't just have back surgery. It has been long enough it feels to me. But in the process, my beloved blog has fallen a bit behind!

I have been juggling many emotions as well. See, our community lost one of its teenagers last week; one that I used to teach when he was just a bitty boy at MOPS. He was a runner and trained by running past our ranch practically daily and he and my dog Gigi had a game; she'd run straight at him barking like the monstrous pit bull she thinks she is, and he'd run straight back at her! I always worried, and apologized, but he'd just smile as if he too had enjoyed the game. My heart and prayers go out to his family and friends....

Yesterday was my daughter's Christmas party, and yes, that is what I still call it. I was the room mother so I was crazy with preparations. We played Heads Up 7-Up, Christmas Style (filled bags with goodies instead of touching thumbs) and had a great time. But before the party, my daughter was awarded the SOAR award! That stands for Scholarly, Organized, Accepting and Respectful because she is an exemplary example of an eagle is what her teacher said at the award ceremony; I almost lost it. He said that all students should work to be like her because she shows those traits day in and out, no matter who is watching....

I have an old friend who is really going through a rough time right now, don't know if I can help or not. Could put myself in a pot of you know what if I do, so that's not really an option. I don't like feeling powerless....

Last weekend was Cookie Day! Boy, were we productive, but it took me a day or so to recover. Tom and Isabella delivered all of the beautiful plates to our neighbors on Sunday and lo and behold if we haven't been getting wonderful Christmas surprises left on our porch all week! It has been so fun!!!! One morning, I went to the mailbox, pulled out a fistfull of cards, one of which had a $25 gift card and a big package from an old friend. That very same morning while I was in the shower another neighbor dropped wonderful homemade jams and stuff off for our eating pleasure! Christmas spirit is alive and well in our neighborhood.....

So, as I said, it has been a week of many ups and downs, and every which ways. But you all have been in my thoughts, just not on my keyboard. I would love to hear about your juggling acts this time of season too, believe me, I know I'm not alone out there....'Tis the season! Here is to hoping your Christmas is a wonderful one and that you spend it with someone you love.

This one is for you Dad...

2010-12-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

We had lunch together yesterday, just my sisters and my parents and I. Which would have been a very nice thing in itself, but we also had a very touching thing happen as well. When my Dad was trying to put that into words today he was having a little bit of a hard time, so here you go Dad:

This song goes out to my parents, my sisters, my husband, and to my kids...all of them, born to me and not, they are such special people and they have all chosen their loved ones wisely too!

Sometimes all it takes is the clarity of a 17 year old!

2010-12-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

Every marriage has their pet peeves. You know the kind of thing that your partner does that drives you up the freaking wall. Like leaving the cap off of the tooth paste or leaving the lid up on the toilet; something along those lines. Well for me, one of those things was Tom driving up to do the barn chores. I mean he'd go out and start his truck, and let it idle to warm up, and then drive it up to the barn, and if it's cold, it idles while he does the chores and then he drives back down to the house.

Now, I don't know if you've spotted the title of this blog or not, but being "green" is something that is pretty close to my heart; so him driving back and forth to the damn barn was driving me flipping nuts! Especially since he has been having to do it on a more regular basis with helping me out since my back surgery; which really doesn't make a lick of sense. You'd think I would just be so happy for the help, it wouldn't bother me. But NO!

I'm a little embarrassed to say that my 17 year old son caught me mumbling about it the other morning. I was sitting in front of the fire, working I'm sure, when he came down to visit with me (and to warm up). But the funniest thing of all, is that he very simply gave me the biggest insight into his Dad's psyche that I have had in a long time. He told me that Tom is just trying to be like the big ranchers where the guys all go antelope hunting. Bam, simple as that. I got to thinking about it, and the boy is right.

These are guys that Tom has the utmost respect for. They are very conservative land managers, excellent at animal husbandry and huge on family (hey, lucky for me, all stuff I like too!). And their ranch is huge...so big that when they have to do their choring, they go out in their trucks, each with their own dog (that jumps through an open window, no less), and do their chores. Just like my husband...who hopes to have a great big ranch some day. So who am I to mess with his pretending?

So now when Tom and Rosie head out to start the truck, I smile instead of grit my teeth. Rosie may not jump through the window, but we're on our way to our own little dreams, in our own little way, and if we have to pretend a little bit on the way there, then who cares?

Sweetened Condensed Milk (Homemade!)

2010-12-15T05:47:00.001-07:00

Photo courtesy of ifood.tv

You know that ooey, gooey can of milk that you always have on your shelf for those extra rich baked goods...that is until you need it? Well, I needed mine yesterday, and lo and behold, my son donated it to the canned food drive. So what is a savvy baker to do? Google it of course. And I came up with a great second choice because I always have powdered milk on hand, doesn't everybody?

So here goes, it's easier than pie...

1/2 cup hot water

1 T. butter

1 cup powdered milk

1 cup sugar

Place all ingredients in blender and mix well. I must admit, that I thought I could get away with saving myself from washing the blender and just mixing this by hand. Big mistake. I had lumps and an exhausted arm, so use the blender and then this can be stored in an airtight container in your fridge or freezer. By the by, my lumps baked out perfectly in the toffee chip bars that I made, so it worked out fine, but it still would have been worth washing the darn blender!

Here's to you Mom...

2010-12-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

Wanted to post a Christmas Carol; and found this one and realized why he used to make all the ladies SWOON!

I'll be busy baking today, and listening to my new CD that my sister gave me, it's beautiful Christmas piano music, it will really inspire me I'm sure. Have a wonderful day...the countdown is on...but remember, home-made, handmade and bartering are all wonderful ways to Christmas shop (and eco-friendly to boot)!

Another Royal Ranch first...

2010-12-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

Good Friday Morning! Well, I have done it! The first ever Jeute Family Christmas Letter. Which really goes to show what a rebel I am because this has been my family's tradition for most of my life. My parents have sent one out for as long as I can remember; with each of us girls (3 of us) having had our own paragraph to detail the events of the last year.

Well, thanks for the idea Mom and Dad! As you all know the last couple of years has been filled with many ups and downs, and for some reason it seems that the Holidays have always brought about the downside of the money, time or health "case" (or maybe that is just an excuse) and one of the places I have skimped is with Christmas cards and postage. But I have come to realize that often times, that simple Christmas card is the only time you might hear from that dear friend, and that holiday cards are truly a meaningful way of staying in touch with the ones you love.

So, what is your holiday tradition? Do you send photo cards or do the letter? Is it a personalized card to each person? Up until this year (okay like I said, I skipped a couple years), I wrote out a card to each person and put a pic in each one. Times are tough, and people know that; I think the letter, that has four family photos on it, will be great. In holding with family tradition; I will have each family member sign it in a different color ink like we used to do when I was a kid! Ho, Ho, Ho!

The Perfect Christmas Tree

2010-12-08T06:06:00.001-07:00

Being an environmentalist really makes the Christmas Tree debate a personal one for me, especially living right in the middle of the forest and being as passionate about saving trees as I am. But I know what a HUGE carbon footprint those plastic jobbies leave when they are made and placed in your home. So where does that leave an environmental steward like me?

We looked high:

And we looked low:

And then we found the most perfect compromise ever! We took a tree that already needed to be cut down! This spectacular Colorado Blue Spruce was encroaching on the power lines at The Royal Roost, our "Nest in the Woods" getaway cabin for visitors.

It also was blocking some much needed sunshine from that very same cabin, so we knew it needed to go sooner or later, so I said why not use it for a Christmas Tree and firewood?

So this year, so far, my dreams are coming true. What is your opinion on the Christmas Tree debate? What are you doing this year to be green? Or maybe to save some "Green"?

Royal Ranch Royalty

2010-12-05T05:30:00.001-07:00

Photo courtesy of Rocky Mt. Llamas & Bobra Goldsmith

Today I will not even try to stop the flow of tears, I really deserve this cry. I have lost my friend and mentor Bobra Goldsmith. Three weeks ago she was diagnosed with Leukemia and Friday morning she passed away. That's that.

Long time readers will recognize the name, because Bobra gave me Thunderboy. And I have never been so proud of a gift in my whole life, especially now. Let me give you a little background on my relationship with this amazing woman. Many years ago, when I first decided to get into llamas I chose to take one of Bobra's training classes. Now, keep in mind that all of the people in the class were there to train their llamas, and I went to train myself. Which I think is what really impressed Bobra; she knew that I was taking this seriously and wanted as much information and knowledge about these majestic animals as I could get before I brought one (or ten...) home.

She was then the person who put me in touch with the organic farm that I rescued Marcel and Jasper from; as a matter of fact, back then I didn't even have a trailer yet, so she delivered those boys herself; in a van I might add. I'll never forget the compliment she gave me that day. Marcel (my lead llama and also the llama on the cover of my book) was not used to being handled, and had been very difficult for her to catch. She told me that she never, ever has left a halter on a llama, but was worried that we might not be able to catch him again if she didn't leave it on him for a few days. She said to me "Judy, I have the utmost faith in you, and I would never do this with anyone else, but you will have this wild boy in shape in no time flat. Work with him daily to get him calmed down, and get that halter off as soon as possible." And that is exactly what I did.

Bobra Goldsmith was one of the first people to bring llamas into the state of Colorado. She worked tirelessly with the Forest Service and her train of pack llamas to keep the forests around Boulder clean and trails maintained. She even developed her own line of llama equipment and pack gear that is absolutely unrivaled in its usefulness. And this is all after she was an accomplished professor at CU! But one of the main things that I really loved about Bobra was her sense of family. She had suffered the loss of her husband and mother, and cared for her ill step-father until she herself could no longer do so.

I told Tom last night that she was one of those people that you just assumed would never die. She was old when I met her, and although she had aged, she just was "Bobra". Even the boys knew how sad I would be...I had gotten the message via a text, and my sweet little daughter quietly made sure her brothers knew that Mommy was sad. It seems the whole llama community is probably really sad today, we lost a pioneer, a teacher, a volunteer, but most of all a dear friend. My hat is off to you, Bobra, you were one of a kind!

The Shameless Reminder...

2010-12-04T05:23:00.000-07:00

Here I have been completely neglectful of my wonderful Rebels (the butter up), and now I come on and post a reminder of what a wonderful gift my book would make (followed up by the snag)! But, it really would!!! The reason that it reminded me to post this is that a guy at Tom's shop bought one of my books for his daughters who live in another state. I of course autographed it for them, and didn't think another thing about it, until yesterday.

Tom came home with a big grin on his face because those very same girls get to come to our property for a Christmas tree...and when their Dad told them they were coming to The Royal Ranch, the very same place they had been reading about in Llucky Llama, they hit the ceiling with excitement!!!!

So, whether you get to pop by the ranch or not, people all over the country are enjoying learning about llamas through Llucky Llama. It's a wonderful story about love and tolerance and healing...things that this world really needs right now. Grab one for any of the kids on your list, and I'll autograph and personalize it for you! (If you order it through me, that is! $8 + $3 s&h )

America's Foreclosure Epidemic

2010-12-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, we have become a part of the horrific statistics. Blessedly, we were able to pull our beloved ranch out of the horrific word...foreclosure...in twenty five days! And it still cost us a bloody fortune. But that is not what prompted me to write this post. It is the two ladies that have told me of their impending foreclosures in the last week that have prompted me to write this post. To be honest, I was just going to keep my mouth shut out of embarrassment, really.

But then I got to thinking how this whole thing went down. And I delivered a load of hay back to a friends house in a sort of "poor" neighborhood in our area, and saw all of the empty houses. And then my neighbor stopped by to pick up an antler set that she had once given me; she needed it back to decorate and try and sell because her house was being foreclosed upon. The same house that she had cared for her dying mother in, and that she has about 15 animals in...All for $5,000.

Then I get a call on the RV that we have for sale, due to the foreclosure, of course...who ends up to be a gal that I used to work with at the food pantry. Her house has already been done, they're out. See ya. Well, gee, she's hoping the judge will be real nice and see that she's got a family and twenty years of stuff and let them stay through the holidays. Then they can go live in an RV somewhere nice, that'll be a great learning environment for three high school boys, I'm sure.

So, these are the reasons I write today. If I sound a little pissed off, well I am. I've got to tell you, we were funneled right into this system from the get go. Those modifications that they offer, be careful (and believe me, I was)...they are almost designed to fail it seems. I have heard that from almost every single person (including our attorney and the Colorado Foreclosure hotline, unofficially, of course) in the same boat. And never, ever make partial payments, or payments once you have been put into any legal situation. You will never see that money again, it goes into a suspension fund, luckily we learned this through friends and did not make that mistake.

I want to give you a quick example so you don't think that I wasn't paying attention like often happens. A year or so ago when I knew we were getting behind, I did the stand up thing and got us on a modification. We did all they said, went through the trial period, great... and then one day (perfectly legal, according to the hotline) before our first regular payment was due they told us it was $400 more. Well, already times were tight, we started off on a bad foot, they add a ridiculous late fee, my back, blah, blah...the story goes down hill from there.

But again, this isn't about just us, what's really breaking my heart is watching my little community waste away, and feeling like there's not a damn thing we can do about it. I actually caught myself saying to Tom last night "If we owned all of the houses, than the government couldn't." And as crazy as it sounds, it was the first thing that has made sense to me in a long time. What the hell does the government want with all of these piece of junk houses that only hold the love of one family, but the value to whom (or none for that matter)?

Is it all to make our trillion dollar debt look that much smaller on paper? So that they can say they have those assets with a dollar amount that they determine the value of? I mean it was all a big scam, the way we had to pay off the attorneys. One day it was one amount, the next day...$520 more. And Tom had to pay it through a glass box; I guess that is because so many people have gone nutso on the folks, they've learned they're lesson and put up choke proof barriers!

Now I know that we can't go giving everybody free rides...I'm not that much of a bleeding heart. But most of these people are hard working honest people that have just come across hard times, mostly due to this economic hell hole we are in. Which no one can really point their fingers at who's fault it is, and to be honest I really don't give a damn anymore; it's time to quit pointing fingers and getting our asses to work saving our neighborhoods.

And I don't really love the idea of the government owning all the homes in my hood, I don't know about you. I like real estate to determine the value of real estate, not the government, especially since I own quite a bit of real estate in this hood. But I do have a few thoughts rattling around in this head of mine to try and put a stop to this vicious cycle. We can't just stand by and watch the neighborhood go to the wolves, so to speak. At least I can't, or won't.

The things I am oh so thankful for...

2010-11-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all have had a day full of family and friends, turkey and fixins, but most of all I hope that you take just a moment to reflect upon what you are thankful for. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday I think because it is a day for celebrating, but with not expectations attached to it. Meaning it still has managed to not be commercialized; no gift giving expectations, no plastic eggs and baskets to buy and fill. Just a wonderful day to appreciate all that you already have.

So, here is my short list, in no particular order:

My family (immediate and extended)

My friends

My health (although I have had a few struggles lately, in general, I am blessed!)

My ranch and home

My critters...llamas, sheep, chickens, cats, dogs, you name it, I love 'em

My businesses

My humble little town

My country and the soldiers that fight to protect it

My oh so loyal Rebels!

A TENS Warning....with a reminder to take help when it's offered!

2010-11-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

I want to start today's post out with the biggest thank you I can possibly give to my parents. Something really scary could have happened to me the other day, and they jumped right in and pulled me out of my boiling pot of water, without even thinking twice or saying a word. Which is of course what parents love to do, but I didn't even realize I was in a boiling pot, so they're quick thinking was what I really needed.

Monday was my first physical therapy appointment and I was looking so forward to it! Finally something proactive I could be doing for this darn back recovery. I had met my parents and some out of town guests for breakfast; and these weren't just any out of town guests. They were family from Iowa, and you, my long time readers know how much my family from Iowa mean to me.

We had a wonderful time, they even gave me a more than generous birthday gift, and I headed off happily to my PT appointment. All was going well until she put the TENS unit on me. She had asked me if I wanted it, I asked what it was, and she said it was for pain management. At this point in time, I will do anything to lower the amount of Advil and pain meds I am taking, so I was happy to try it. When she rolled the machine in, I commented that it looked like an ultrasound machine and she said that it did that too.

I must say, I didn't even think twice when she asked me if I had a pacemaker. You must remember, this is through my regular medical system, she had my entire medical chart. So, she turns on the machine and starts turning up the dials and asking me if I can feel anything. That is when it hit me, this was electric shock therapy, and I was starting to slur my words...I was in big trouble and was going into a seizure.

Thankfully, I was able to tell her that I had a seizure disorder, and I could hear her tripping over the rolling stool as she was yanking the node things off my back and trying to get at the machine to shut it off. She is a great physical therapist but was not at all prepared for a medical emergency like we were facing and was horribly upset that she had made such a mistake. I, of course, was terribly embarrassed, which I am assuming is a typical response because I really can't figure out I was embarrassed about and just kept reassuring her I was fine, but to give me a few minutes.

Well, as quickly as I could I got the hell out of there, again a very uncomfortable situation all the way around, and called my Mom and my husband to tell them what had happened. The unanimous decision was that I definitely should not be driving my truck the hour home, I could kill myself or anyone else for that matter. As stubborn as I am, I resisted for quite some time. As you all have gathered by now, I am a bit of a rebel-ha!

Well, my Mom called back and said that Dad didn't want me to drive (we don't argue with Dad-ha!) and they were on their way to meet me. That was that. Pull over Judy. I called Tom so that he could quit worrying, and that is when he asked me about my breakfast with Jeanne and Bill...and I realized that my memory of the day was to say the least...sketchy. Good thing me and my big truck were no longer doing 65 miles an hour down the road, I guess.

The wonder of it all, was that my Mom had been with me for the time that I lost. So not only were my parents getting me and my truck safely home, but on the way there Mom was able to fill me in on all of the missing time. And for some reason I can make it through typing this whole post, but when I get to the words "missing time", the tears start clouding my vision. As a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a great niece....that is the part that makes me furious...and cry.

But, anywho, this post was also to talk a little about the Tens unit. And I'm not even going to do any research on it, I'm sure it's quite easy to google on your own, if you so wish. But, my brain, says NO THANK YOU. So, folks, I'll make it real simple, in my opinion, if you have any brain dysfunction like epilepsy or have had seizures, do not mess with this machine when you go for physical therapy. I was wondering if it might not have been so bad if my surgery had been on maybe my knee or my ankle; but Tom has a friend at work who has epilepsy also and goes to the same Crappy Clinic (ad lib, that is not it's official title) I do, and the same thing happened on his knee! So, there you have it, my very unscientific results-ha!

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-11-21T05:45:00.001-07:00

In honor of turning forty today, I looked up jokes...And this song came up. Pretty funny, I hope you enjoy and happy Sunday to you!

Keeping Perspective

2010-11-20T05:29:00.001-07:00

I am a stay at home Mom. First and foremost, and I am damn proud of it. My oldest is seventeen and my youngest is eleven; so I have been at this job for a little more than seventeen years, and I am very good at it. I volunteer at all of the kids' schools, I'm on all of the right committees, go to all of my kids' functions, and even quite a few for kids that aren't even "mine", but in my heart they are.

Over the last few years, okay maybe a decade now (my how time flies when you're having fun), I have decided to start various llama related businesses. All of them for various reasons, but each of them evolving from my passions; they come from my very heart and soul. My love of animals and the environment; specifically our little piece of paradise here in Colorado that I feel holds some sort of spellbinding beauty and tranquility. So, my love of writing fit in quite naturally.

Yesterday morning, the kids and I were talking about something that got me worked up, and I lost my words (a pretty typical side effect of seizure meds) and I saw the light bulb go off over the head of my seventeen year old son. He finally realized why I like blogging so much. He says "Mom, you don't have to struggle for words when you blog, do you? You can think it through, and take your time, right?" Bingo!

So, what does all of this have to do with keeping perspective? A lot, for me anyway. Because when you are going through a hard time in your life, and I'm sorry to say, but I don't know many people right now who aren't going through a hard time, keeping perspective is of utmost importance. Remembering what you are made of, and what you are trying to accomplish is of utmost importance. And doing what makes you feel good and keeping your thoughts straight is imperative!

This all came about in sort of a weird way. I have not made a secret out of our struggles, financially; and in a way, in my mind I had put the pressure on myself and my businesses to get us out of this rut that we were in. Big mistake. Too much pressure. Too little time. Many of my ideas like Naked~Nure and my book are too new to have gauged if they will be successful or not.

So, when Tom steps in, gets his overtime back and things start looking okay again; instead of me being happy, it sends me into a tailspin. What the hell is wrong with me? Most people would be ecstatic to know that they didn't have to work if they don't want to, right? Well, we all already know the answer to that; I do NOT fit the description of "most people".

I felt as if I had been banging my head against the wall for naught. As silly as that sounds, it's true. And I've got to tell you, it confused the hell out of my poor husband! But, give me a couple days of my pity party to think things through, and I realized that we were right back where we were supposed to be. This was our plan all along. My businesses are the type that take years to grow, and build on business relationships that may take years to foster.

We both knew this going in, we have openly discussed it many times, I guess I just conveniently forget those things when I feel like throwing myself a pity party. The point is people, keeping perspective may be difficult during, well, difficult times, but it is essential. And if you don't have years to build a business, than don't go into something obscure like llama related businesses or writing and publishing childrens books-ha! No really, I still believe that you need to follow your passions, and I am so blessed with the fact that Toms job has allowed us to do just that...so again, it's just all in the angle you see things.

Something to say...

2010-11-19T05:43:00.002-07:00

My Physical Therapy!

How many times have I said it? If you don't have anything nice to say...don't say anything at all. Well, it appears that theory has gotten me in a bit of trouble with my Mother-ha! That's right, I have been busted for not blogging by my Mom. I think she knows that something is up when I am not blogging, so I picked up the phone the other day, and immediately heard "Why are there no new blogs?" and when I told her I didn't have much to say, she told me I could even write about the weather.

Well, the weather here has turned cold and windy, fitting for my mood, since I last left you all. Surprised? I didn't think so. Last week I wrote a post about being appreciative, for family and friends; and all of the help I have received during my recovery time. And it never made it...because...well...I guess I wasn't feeling it. I didn't want to be a fraud. When I feel like crap on the inside, it's hard for me to publish happy crap, I guess.

So where does that leave me? It leaves me in the same place as the rest of America, and frankly, much much better off than many, so I better quit my damn belly aching and get my butt back to work. Lots of people are having financial and health problems. And millions (?) of people each year have back surgeries, that to be honest, are an absolute bitch to recover from.

Oh, and I wonder how many people turn 40 each year? That little fact could have something to do with this silly depression, I suppose. All this time I thought I was looking forward to being 40, but in the midst of life chaos, I'm not sure a benchmark birthday is a great idea. Do you think I can just skip this one? I promise I will still turn 41 next year.

So, I realized what a pity party I was having for myself, and how very stupid it all was, and put myself to bed at 7 the other night when I skipped one of my favorite classes ever; you know, the old cut off your nose to spite your face thing. I woke up yesterday morning, and wouldn't allow myself one negative thought. I also took back over my animal chores. Not because my back is up to it, but because I need my critters, as badly as they need me. The clucks of happiness, and the nuzzles of welcome back were all I had needed. Man I love my little piece of paradise!

How to catch a polar bear...

2010-11-05T06:00:00.001-06:00

Hey, do you know how to catch a polar bear? You cut a hole in the ice and then surround the hole with peas. Then when the polar bear comes to take a pea, you kick him in the icehole! (It's a good thing I didn't do this one via vlog, because I couldn't even hardly type it I was cracking myself up so hard! This is an old family joke.)

November is National Adoption Awareness Month

2010-11-04T11:30:00.003-06:00

In honor of my new nephew...

We are so proud to have you as part of our family!