Jack Of All Trades

I am married to a jack of all trades.

Really. He can build or fix almost anything.

Smarty pants

And if he can't build  it or fix it, he can do wonders with bailing wire and duct tape. (Two very important staples in this part of the country)

A few years ago, he decided to add a greenhouse to his Vocational Ag Program. Building it became a project for him and his students.

Would you put that camera down and help me?

Uh...um... would  you put that camera down and help me?

This is his, "okay, I have had it" look.
He doesn't really need me to help.
He just wants me stop with the pictures already.

His students and their busy hands preparing seedlings for the greenhouse.

And  fast forward to this morning.

We still have a couple of months before we can put these darlings out, but I can't wait.
There are hanging baskets, bedding plants, and vegetable plants.  I am gonna buy some of everything!
This is a project for my husbands FFA kids.  One that we all can enjoy!

The Lost Marbles

I need your help.  It seems I have lost my marbles.  I would have loved to post a pretty picture of  them.  They are wonderful.  But I can't find them.

I miss my marbles.

The five year old cowboy who resides in my house, assures me, the only marbles he has, belong to HIM.

They aren't mine.

The fourteen year old says, "Nope, haven't seen 'em."

I asked my smarty  pants husband.  His response, "Honey, you were missing a few marbles when I met ya.  But don't worry, I still married ya."

Smarty pants

Called my twenty year old daughter.  She says, "Mom,  you lost your marbles right after my fifteenth birthday.  Thought you would have found them by now."

Still looking...
Please help me.

Little Old Lady Fun

Recently, a friend celebrated her 50th birthday. I don't know if celebrated is the correct description. I do know that the rest of us celebrated. Someone came up with the idea of dressing up like old ladies, and going bowling. She knew we were all going to take her bowling, but she had no idea about the little old lady dress-up thing. We arrived at her house to pick her up. She, looking as cute as always, and us all decked out with gray wigs, support hose, slips hanging out, and anything else we could come up with. She was mortified. And made it clear she was not going ANYWHERE with us. Oh, but wait. There's more. We had brought her a little old lady outfit too! That way she would fit right in. It took some convincing.




Since we don't have a bowling alley here, we had to travel 47 miles. They were expecting us, as we had reserved several lanes, however, they weren't expecting what they saw when we all walked in.




Dead silence. The instigator of this party had neglected to tell any of us, that this just happened to be men's night at the bowling alley. A tournament, no less. The men got a huge kick out of us. The best part was when one of the gals came out of the bathroom with toilet paper trailing out of her skirt. She calmly got her ball, and gracefully threw a strike.




That pretty much did it for the guys. They could not be serious about their tourney any longer.




They grabbed their balls and went home.

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

Can Horses (and Teenagers) Really Sleep Standing Up?

Well, it seems so.

A little nap before the ride never hurt anyone.

Holy Mother of....Nature

I have been so looking forward to spring.  The last couple of days have been warm and sunny.

This is what we woke up to this morning.

And this is what I drove in to work.

My smarty-pants husband tried to tell me.  This is what he says, "so they have cancelled school, we are in a winter storm advisory, we can't even see the road from here, haven't seen a snow plow, and your gonna go to work?"  "Not to mention the vehicles that have made it this far, stopped at our driveway, pondered the situation, then turned around and went back from where they came.  Yea, I'm sure those roads must be fine."

Mr. smarty-pants.

Thinks he knows everything.

Hey, I'm thinking-what good is 4 wheel drive, if you don't use it?

With that, off I went to town.  I'll show him how it's done.

Turns out smarty-pants was right.

I hate it when that happens.

ME? A COWGIRL?

Wrangler Man has been trying to make a cowgirl out of me.  Well, I love the country.  I love cows-at a distance.  I love horses-at a distance.  I can do chores-pretty good.  Doesn't that make me a cowgirl?

Apparantly, I need to be able to ride a horse pretty darn good.  That shouldn't be a problem cause I love horses.  Right? 

I just have to figure out how to keep my knees from shaking while I am in the saddle.  I think the horse can feel that.  I am sure he can sense it.

I read that somewhere.

So, I haven't really told anyone, but for the last month or so, I have been riding horses with the guys. 
Sort of.

Wranglers says, "Yur' doin' real good there hot pants."  He calls me hot pants.   I don't know why.

But I like it.  It's his own little pet name for me.  Not buttercup, or sugar, or sweetie pie.  It's "hot pants".  He uses that name so much that it just rolls off his tongue before he even thinks about it.  Like the time my whole family was setting around and he said, "Hey hot pants, will you, uh,..."  You should have seen his face when he realized what he had said.

Priceless.

Ok.  Back to my equine training.  I have a short attention span.  Easily distracted.  Maybe it's ADD.  I will have that checked.

Ok. Back to my equine training.  So, on the few nice days we have had lately, I have been going out and taking pictures of the guys riding.  I like that part.  Then, before I know it, Wranglers has talked me into riding too.

I really do enjoy it.

As long as my horse doesn't buck.

Or go too fast.

Or snort.

Or stumble.

Here's the living proof.

The Table of Knowledge

 

In our family business we have a freight table.  We recieve freight every morning-it actually arrives before we open up for the day.  We open six days a week, at 7:00 am.  Sharp.  This is the 50th year anniversary-my daddy would be so proud...Anyway, back to the story.  There is a select group of men, who have turned our freight table into "The Table of Knowledge."  It's really just a long table with mismatched chairs, which just happens to sit near the coffee pot.  Now, this all started years ago.  Probably  50 years ago.

Every morning this group of men shows up, some with their own cup, some not.  They sit around the table, drink coffee, shoot the bull, and gossip.  And argue.  Politics and religion will almost alway spark a fight.  Sometimes one of them will bring a box of cookies.  Or, if we're real lucky, something homemade.  Get this-on several Mondays throughout the year, one of them brings a deep fried turkey and a loaf of bread.  At 7:00 in the morning.  I don't remember how we started this tradition, but it's the real deal.  When it's "Turkey Monday", we all eat fried turkey and bread like we haven't ate for a week.  At 7:00 in the morning.  Nothing like it.

Over the years, we have watched the "men" age.  We have also had to grieve.  But, most of the chairs remain occupied.  Now, while my brother, dubs them "the free-loaders", they do have to work a little for us.  Well, they don't have to.   They just do.  On the first day of the month, we send out statements to customers.  Usually around five hundred.  The guys fold, stuff, and lick envelopes, then sort into towns.  This is serious business.  At least that is what they tell thier wives.  "No honey, I can't help you run errands today.  I have to go to work.  It's statement day.  They need me."  This can get entertaining.  One of them could not resist telling the story about cockroach larvae in the envelope glue.  "Whatever you do, don't cut your lip with the envelope.  I heard that happened to someone and he got a big bump where the cut was.  Went to the doctor and he opened it up, and there was a big cockroach getting ready to hatch."  He says this to the whole table never missing a beat.  Fold.  Stuff.  Lick.  Sort.  Geez.  Everyone else stopped mid-lick.  Horrified.  They made me promise to start getting the peel and stick envelopes in the future.  No matter what they cost. 

Recently, we got a scanner to check in the freight.  Yes, we have been checking it in by hand, the old fashioned way.  But now, we are shooting right out there into the future with everyone else.  My coffee drinkers did not like the scanner, and they let me know right away.  "Can't you shut that thing off?  We're trying to visit here."  Or, "Doesn't that thing have a volume control.  Why don't you wait and do that after we leave?"  Oh boy.

You gotta love 'em.

Come On Spring

I can't wait to do this.

And this.

And look out and see this.

And this.

I want Spring to get here.  Now.  Please.

Poker Play

Whenever we get together with my in-laws, you can bet there will be a poker game.  Or two.  Or three.  Poker in the Cash Family is serious business.  There is no age limit.  I am new at it, but beginners luck has been with me the last few times.  Both in Oklahoma poker, and in Colorado poker.  It does not matter if they travel here, or we travel there.  You can be sure.  There will be poker.  And lots of it.

I pulled off a great bluff.  I won.  The End.

Spring Break?

Ok.  So this is what Spring Break looks like here at Cash's Casa in Colorado.

I knew we should have went to the beach...sigh

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

I thought I would share this chicken recipe-it's one of my crew's favorites.    Especially on a cold, snowy, windy day.  Which is exactly what we have here today.  And it's supposed to be spring break???  So, this is what they ordered for dinner tonight.  I ran home from work at noon and threw it together in about 15 minutes.  That is the best part.  No, the best part is it will be done when I get home from work, and the house will smell yummy.

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts (boneless/skinless) I put them in frozen, cause I never can remember to thaw ahead of time

2 cups carrots-I use the bagged baby carrots-saves time

1 medium onion coarsely chopped

3 medium potatoes peeled and chopped

1-2 cans of cream of chicken soup, mixed with one can of milk.  ( Use one can of soup if you're only using 4 breasts)

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Throw everything in the crock pot, starting with the chicken first.  Cover, cook on low for 5-6 hours.

This is so good and easy!  Serve with hot biscuits and it's almost like a pot pie.  You can add frozen peas to the pot, which I would do, but my guys are happier without them.

ENJOY!!

p.s.  let me know if you likey likey.

Some of our Critters

Introducing...Daisy and Lilly.  They are the cutest little goats.  I think they will be good "weedeaters" this summer.

This is Daisy.  I think.  Not sure.

And this is Lilly.  I think.

Ok, I have one more critter to show today.  This is my owl, "Hootie".  He knows I am taking his picture. 

  

He is always watching.  Always.

You gotta make your own fun

Around here, nothing is off limits for roping.  Around here, you have to make your own fun.

Poor Lilly.  Poor Daisy.   Fortunately, they were a liitle quicker than the rope.

I feel so blessed that our kids find ways to "make their own fun."  And that they know how to work hard-and play hard!  So many kids don't have the opportunity to experience country life and all the lessons that are learned here.  Even though we don't raise crops personally, our kids know first hand about growing wheat, corn, and milo, and the harvesting of those crops.  They also know about raising cattle, pigs, goats, you name it.  All of this, we feel, provide such great life lessons.  Now, it's not all pretty.  In fact, it can get quite ugly at times.  There's the castrating.  Ugh.  The artificial insemination.  Ewww.  The millions of tumbleweeds.  Arrrgh.  The never ending dusting.  The list goes on and on.  And on.  Ah, the country life.  You gotta love it!

Horse Sense

Today we are introducing Lefty to Dandy.

He was THRILLED.

She, not so much.

Fence Building

I love days that start like this-what a sunrise!  Well, this is the first day of Spring Break, but around here, there is no "Break".   We have a new member of the family, and his name is Lefty.  He's a cute spunky little horse.  He is the reason for the fence building project which is going on right now. 

We already have a horse, a nice big mare, Dandy.  Before we turned Lefty out to the pasture with Dandy, Wranglers wanted to put up a new fence, cause there's sure to be a little conflict between the two at first.  This is Dandy.

Ok, now for the fence.  First, you have to round up some help. 

There is no minimum age requirement around here.

More help.                                  

Next fire up the post hole digger. 

      

He loves that thing.  A lot.

 

Next, set posts.

Then.  And only then...

Take a break.  Not a Spring Break.  

 

Just a break

Time to stretch some wire.  This is nasty business.  Barbed wire is nasty business.

And next to the word "tired" in the dictionary, you will see this