Almost Gypsy Soul

I'm a little sad to say that this blog is dying.....for a while. I've got too much on my plate right now and something has to give. I'm going to keep writing, just with much less pressure, so when I come back there will be lots of stories about what I've been up to.....and hopefully they contain more than pictures of me sitting at my desk. So until I resurrect....you can dream of the 12 days of summer....which is what I plan to have ready for my grand re-opening. Hasta la vista....for a bit.

Am I fancy? no. Do I dress up often? no. but for some reason I've just been wanting a string of pearls. Yeah, I don't really know where that came from either.

photo by Phil Lambert Photography I just love this picture! I don't remember what we were laughing at, but I can honestly say I'm the happiest I've been in  a long time and I think this picture will quiet any doubts.

When picking up the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"  I couldn't help but wonder about the effectiveness of the self-help self-discovery book. When I finally took time to set down and start reading, I made it all the way to page 2 of the FORWARD before I realized I'd better be taking some notes because this book was already speaking to me, calling me out on some of my worst fears, traits, etc.....call them what you want. Covey calls them "human challenges". I want it now - people want things and they want them now. Looking for today results because competition is fierce; survival is at stake. How do we balance the need to meet today's demand with the need to invest in capabilities required for tomorrow's success? Some of my favorite quotes: "A thousand mile journey begins with the first step" "borrowing strength builds weakness, it reinforces dependence on external factors" What else is in here to bring m

'The Big Boy', one of the largest steam locomotives in the world made its way across the western United States, coming from California to its final destination in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Rock Springs just happened to be one of the depots it stopped at on its journey. 'Big Boy 4014' is going to Cheyenne where it will be restored to its original operating condition. 25 'Big Boys' were built for Union Pacific Railroad, starting in the 1940. Each steam locomotive is 132 feet long and weighs in at 1.2 million lbs....that's a dang big train! And since this sort of thing doesn't happen that often, I headed down to the railroad depot to see the big guy for myself. I was really hoping they would pull it up so we could see it move, but it stayed on the edge of the depot. Little Boy and I were able to get pretty close though.

Q: What is the percentage of twins that are born? A: We usually expect about 115%, this year is looking better because of the great weather we've been having...I wouldn't be surprised if we dock at 130%. Catching a nap in the warm sunshine Q: What happens if a ewe has trouble lambing? A: If we find her, we will help by pulling the lamb. Any that don't breed, don't take a lamb or have trouble lambing get a permanent marker. They get two chances to raise a lamb before they are culled. Any ewes that have had trouble before or have big bags get cut from the main herd before lambing and are kept at the ranch where we can keep a closer eye on them. Its easier to help them there than it is on the open range. Q: How does this range lambing work? A: After shearing all the sheep are trailed to the lambing grounds. Once they start lambing, each day the 'fixer' will cut out the ewe and her lamb(s) and they are put into a 'bunch'. The 'bunches'

I think this month I’ll keep my chatter to a minimum and just play some fun songs, some old some new. I’ll try to incorporate some appropriate tunes from recent blogs and then just make some sh@# up. Here we go…. Automatic, Miranda Lambert Pistol Packin’ Mama, the Willie Nelson version Oh Lord, It’s Hard to be Humble, Mac Davis We Are Tonight, Billy Currington Pour Me a Vacation, Great Divide (for you Red Dirt folks)  There ya have it, Enjoy!