Tuesday, May 31, 2011

When she grows up...

She will probably want to...

Be a whale.

and eat dirt.

Or maybe wrangle puppies in her pajamas,

or fish for cats!

Or maybe she will be a motorcycle mama.

Or shark bait!

Or a duck handler.

Or a ballerina.

Or maybe she'll just be a completely adorable

Sweet little

Cowgirl.

Congratulations Bec! Now it's time to lasso your dreams.
I love you.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Pomp and Circumstance....and Snow?

Becca graduates on Friday. 3 pm in the football stadium.
She just called to let us know that it is snowing again.
With more snow expected tomorrow.
Good Grief!!


Goin' once Goin' twice...SOLD!

Auction day came and went. Here is Becca showing-off her 2 ponies in the auction ring.

It was a sad day for her because she has poured her whole life (for the last 9 months anyway) into these 2 horses. But, the auction was always the goal. So it was good-bye to Boots and Whizard. Sniff. Sniff.

I don't know how you feel about auctions, but I like them. They are fun and out of the ordinary for me. It is like a different little world. The auctioneer is completely not understandable, the stuff for sale is usually interesting and then there are the crowds of people looking for a bargain.... just a fun time. As long as you are not buying, that is!!

And in this case I wasn't. I just came to see my baby and experience the fun of a good ol' horse sale. Auction style.

At least that is how I had planned the day.

Turns out my baby had registered me as a buyer and when I walked up to the barn she pressed this into my hand!

"Mom, I want you to buy Ticket for me!"
"What?!?!"
"I want you to buy Ticket for me! I already signed you up as a bidder".
"Oh man Becca, I was not expecting this," I say as my heart starts to race. So much for the fun little experience. Now I am up to my ears in responsibility.
"I know Mom, but I really love her," she says as her friend Melissa nods agreement.
"Ok, what is your top price?"
We discussed this for a bit.
Then we prayed about it. Becca was prayin' for a horse and I was prayin' that I would be able to pull this off.
And then I was thinkin' that auctions are not that fun at all. I mean really, it is IMPOSSIBLE to understand what the auctioneer is saying. And then there is all this stuff that may or may not be as great as you think it is. And let's not forget about all those people who also want to buy the same stuff you do. And the price just keeps going up and up and up. What is so great about that!!?? And if all of that is not bad enough, whenever I start bidding on something...I go a little nuts. My hand keeps going up and up and up, and the next thing you know my guy is dragging me out of the building and tearing up my number in an attempt to avoid refinancing our house to pay for a crockpot from 1962!!

Oh good grief.

So, in hopes of avoiding all of that, I applied myself to staying focused and trying to understand the auctioneer and the callers and all of their hand signals.

But the time my lot came up, I had learned a lot. The auctioneer always started by saying "Who will give 5 thousand, 5 thousand, 10".

At first I thought, good grief who is gonna pay 10 thousand when 5 thousand wasn't getting any hits. Then I realized that 10 must mean 1,000 because the next thing he said was " 12, who will give 12 hundred for this Blah Blah Blah horse.

Then it was the hand signals that I needed to know. Bent fingers, crossed fingers, thumbs up and down. So confusing! But I did not want to be bidding on some mysterious price. So I kept watching, and eventually it started to make sense.

When Lot #23, more affectionately known as Ticket, hit the ring I was ready.

And then just like that, we were at our limit. And then over it. But my baby wanted that horse. She loved that horse. Oh, what is a mother to do. Keep bidding that's what. Who cares if we are $600 over the limit!!

But, thank goodness it came to an end. Just as I decided to flash my number one last time, the auctioneer called "Sold", and Ticket went home with some other family.

And my baby, well she was fine with it. "It wasn't meant to be Mom."

But my guy...now that was a different story. When I told him what I had done....
"You did what!!??!!?? I can't leave you alone for a minute!!"

Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

Friday, May 20, 2011

The Cowgirl Rides

The end of another school year is upon us.

Our little cowgirl is about to graduate with her degree in equine studies.
And this weekend is the culmination of a year's worth of work. The big "Sale", where the students sale the horses they have spent the last 1-2 years breaking and training. Our cowgirl had 2 horses in the sale: Whizard, a tall sorrel gelding and Boots a short little dark bay gelding. Today was the preview, where the students showed off all that their ponies could do.

Step one was to cross a "creek", and I use the word creek loosely. It looks a lot more like a river to me! Just last week it was too high for them to cross! None-the-less, here comes Becca with her tall horse. I was so proud of her, she just rode up to it like it was just another routine part of the day. And, let me just say, it was her very first time ever crossing a creek! Brave, that's what she was, Brave!



He walked right out into the water, easy as you please.

Now here she comes with her short horse.

He was having NONE of this water business!



She could not get him any further than this, he just kept turning around and coming back. Then he really started to act up, but I don't have any pictures of that because I was too busy praying. Specifically, I was asking for an angel. And good angel to lead them across, safe and sound. (And I am not kidding about that either!!)

And low and behold, God sent us an angel. And hot dog! He was dressed up just like a cowboy and he was ridin' a horse! And as soon as Boots saw him step into the water, he followed suit. Easy as you please.

My heart survived too, but I am gonna need another box of hair-dye, pronto!

Then it was off for some arena work. This is Whizard, the tall horse.



Cowboys/girls are big on this log dragging thing. I see it happen at every horse show I go to. But I don't really get it.

Time to work a cow.



WOW! Look at that cowgirl ride.

Time to show off Boots, the short horse.



And let him work his cow.

And how about a little ropin'. Go Becca!



That's my baby girl. She ROCKS!!


PS: The angel turned out to be another student. His name is Jeremy and he was riding a horse called Cole. He just rode in to help my girl out of a tricky situation. I love Jeremy.


And let me just end with two videos of Becca riding her sale horses. The first one nearly gave me a heart attack!! I did not send her off to college to learn to "trick ride".

Link One (Whizard)

Link Two (Boots)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The Booth

Spring Market 2011, Salt Lake City.
Our home away from home.


We had such a great time. We met lots of wonderful quilters, shop owners and other designers. And, there was inspiration around every corner! Color and texture and energy. The whole convention center was just abuzz.

But, I must say it is good to be home!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Off To Market

I am off to Spring Market.

Come and see me if you are gonna be there too!!
I will be in Booth #243.