Mini Vacations Rule

We don't do vacations very much, generally a few days here and there in the off-season of ranching. This means the weather is usually unreliable but there aren't many crowds either.

We decided on a mini-vacation this weekend, to celebrate with dear friends at their wedding.

 They chose the Oregon coast as their wedding site and were favored with the gift of most magnificent weather, at least for the days we were there! We hadn't been to the coast in the summer for years and while we did have to contend with a few other folks on the beach (I know, we're such hermits!) it was fun to watch them enjoying the day.

After the wedding festivities were over and we got back to our motel for a cup of tea in the afternoon, we decided to keep the car parked and walk on the beach instead of exploring the forest around Devils Lake. Everyone must have been feeling the love because there were no idiots, louts or badly behaved dogs. It was as though the sunshine put a haze of mellow joie de vivre around us all.

My grandmother lived on the coast around Lincoln City for many years and I have some sweet memories of time spent there. There are a few particular places I always like to go.

One is a headland at the end of Lincoln Beach, where Grams' last home was (and still is) located. As a girl, I'd hike down the beach, climb up to the rocks and sit on the one that had a survey marker on it, watching the ocean breathe and thinking long thoughts.

When I finally returned to that rock, ten years ago, after a thirty year absence, my heart whistled a happy tune as I gazed down into the churning surf and realized the ocean's breath hadn't changed at all. It felt like a circle had been completed, and now, no matter what the weather is doing or what I'm wearing, a few moments on Fishing Rock is required each time we visit the area.

Lincoln Beach itself is no longer my favorite for walking. Goddy and I have created our own special memories at Beverly Beach, and so another one came to be today. All that unmarked, unpeopled sand was to tempting, and with Goddy's warning of "Don't hurt yourself," I couldn't resist...

Welcoming New Family Part 2

Ben wasn't the only one recently getting acquainted with our house. Evan and Crystal brought Piper for her first visit to the ranch. If you read Crystal's blog, www.thegodsifffamily.blogspot.com you'll see many more photos than I have.

But I get to talk about the special times that grandparents have with the kids. Those moments when the parents are in the shower. Or talking to each other about something other than the baby. These are the snippets of time that help us create the shining memories of our grandchildren's lives intertwining with ours.

It's usually something simple, such as sitting by the fire, holding the baby while she watches the flames leap and glow. Or holding her while she's still in a 'milk coma,' both of us slowly waking up to the day.

 Later on it'll be walking down to the farm, tossing rocks in to the creek, petting the soft noses of the horses and laughing at the antics of the goats. All small moments that add up to something pretty grand.

Piper is just beginning to discover her world. She is very content to let it swirl around her at this stage. Soon she'll join in wholeheartedly. But for now she watches, smiles, gurgles and sleeps.



 Oh, and lest you think she's too perfect, she does cry occasionally. Sometimes very loudly.

Welcome to our world, little girl.

Welcoming New Family

We have a new member of the family. Spoiler alert...it's not a baby. No, he's a dog named Ben. We've had him for two weeks now, the official trial bonding time for dogs. Amazing that people in 'relationships' take months or years to make a commitment and our dogs will do it in a fortnight. I think we could learn something about living decisively from the hounds.

Goddy really is happy about it. Really...

We didn't intend to get a full-size Australian Shepherd. Our intention was to one day, maybe, consider or at least talk about, a mini-aussie. One day. Well, one day came sooner than expected when my friend, Becky (love you, pal) sent me a Craigslisting for a mini. To shorten a longish story, the folks who were fostering that pup got all bonded with him and couldn't bear to part company. But they had Ben, who they'd raised from a pup but weren't so attached to. Gentle Ben, they call him.

And he really is. Eccles the cat might disagree but they're still working things out. When Murphy gives Ben what-for by leaping at his throat - not a dangerous situation since she is nearly toothless and gags on his fur - Ben ducks his head and turns his eyes away, slumping into a patient puddle of adolescent angst. I know that's an oxymoron but that's what it looks like.

Goddy, bless him, wasn't too keen at first and still isn't too sure about the cat chasing thing (he does love his cat time) but Ben is working his doggy charm and I think we're good to go.

I love having a larger companion in the woods, one who doesn't get sidetracked too much with his nose and disappear behind small bushes and twigs like Murphy does. She's gotten to the age where a few minutes of snuffling around just about does it for her daily fresh-air time.

We had our annual walk on the Grasslands today. I guess that makes it official for Ben, since he's been included in a tradition. Welcome to the family.

Keeping up with the other Godsiffs

In keeping with all the photos of my grandchildren that are floating around out there, I thought I'd better add some to the collection.


 We recently enjoyed a sweet visit from Logan and Alyssa and their happy pair.

Katie is only too happy to help Goddy hone those washboard abs.

It was Goddy's first view of Logan since he'd returned from deployment, so that's always cause for celebration. They did some bonding over the cribbage board and a bottle of beer and took Rowan down to the farm a few times.  He's getting to the age where being a helper is fun and the wheelbarrow was a big hit.

I was in charge of the nature hike. Always one of my favorite things to do with the boys when they were younger, I'm tickled that Rowan is approaching that curious age where a spot of lichen on a stick is fascinating. To my mind, there aren't many things better than a treasure hunt on a weekend morning.

Unless its climbing a tree...

Becky, Logan and I trekked up to the snow on Monday morning. Its awfully handy having a man with the strength of a mule and the agility of a whippet to get a kiddo and gear up to the top of the hill in knee-deep snow. My main job was the cheering section. I think I did rather well.

Start em young...

Show em how it's done...

Then let them go!!

Katelyn's first birthday was this month, so in the spirit of celebrating even though it wasn't the actual day, we had a little party.

Ahh, life is full.

And The Winner Is...

It's calving time again. That time of year when anxiety tickles as we watch for switching tails, aimless wandering,  and a cow lying down, then standing up, then lying down again, then standing up, wandering around...you get the picture. The anxiety turns to guarded relief when we see the calf on the ground and the cow earnestly licking it. A few minutes later a small smile appears when ol' wobble-legs find his way to the milk bar. And then, in several days when the calf is running with gawky abandon, the smiles turn to LOL moments.

Every year Goddy and I play "spot the first calver." This year, a nice breakfast was on the line so we chose carefully. Now, Goddy sees the cows every day when he feeds; me, not so often. But I was willing to pick my cow on the basis of one objective look rather than the gradual changes Goddy sees happening.

We named all the cows this year, just for fun. The numbers were starting to seem a bit institutional. (FYI, we don't name any that are going into the beef program.)

So, on the basis of proven scientific observation - udder development and floppiness of vulva, if you must know - we chose. I picked Betty because, as Goddy said later, "You could drive a truck through her vulva." He selected Echo because her udder looked, well, I don't know just what the term is. Springy? Fullish?

Echo and her really full udder

Betty had a lovely heifer that will likely stay in the herd

Echo and Betty were put into the calving paddock, and they hung on for a few more days through a late snowfall, unseasonable cold and then a muddy melt. Finally, the happy event occurred. And it was...a tie. They both calved on the same night. Bonny, healthy calves that are up and running around and causing smiley moments.

Now we just have to decide where to have breakfast, Dutch treat.

Daydream Nonbeliever

All the snow-bunnies in central Oregon are hopping with delight at the latest snow, so I figured if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. It was either that or spend another afternoon inside. Dislike of cabin fever won and inspired by the sun poking out from the clouds, I hauled out my snowshoes and headed for the forest out the back gate of the ranch.

It's been a couple of years since my last jaunt out there. For some reason, last year's snowshoeing just didn't happen until well into March, and then it was one afternoon's worth at much higher elevation than our own forest. After today, I'm going to head out on a regular basis. Really. I am.

There's something about having the forest all to yourself. The first quarter mile or so was all untracked, soft powder. About then I realized that my aerobic fitness is, well, bad. Have you ever felt your heart beating so hard it makes your ears pound? I wondered if this was a silly idea, but my heart soon settled down and the regular stops I made were nice for appreciating the all-aroundness of the trees.



It was also fun for setting up my camera for some timer shots. Goddy gave me one of those gorilla-pod things a couple of years ago and its very handy for hanging the camera from a tree. Though I do like the challenge of setting up a shot using a 'natural' tripod. Sticks, logs, big rocks and the hood of the car have all come in handy.

So much easier to hang the gizmo from a tree than try to arrange it on a snowy stump.

I noticed things that I've ridden past many times. These tree whatevers blend in when the snow is gone. Today they yoo-hooed as I plodded along.

Getting into a rhythm, I found myself daydreaming about things such as sleeping on the deck in the summer (not that we've ever done that, but on this cold, snowy day it had a certain appeal.) I thought about the fun times we're going to have with the family this summer and imagined our house full of laughter and games. In my daydreams we were all wearing strappy sun dresses or shorts.

Reality check!

And then my imagination took a bizarre twist. It played a little scene where a power line came down in the pens where my horses live and they were all electrocuted. Where in the heck did that come from? As I came to out of the daydream and looked at the snowy serenity all around, I realized I hadn't done this for quite some time. For me, this mind game is normal and happens when its just me and the wide open spaces. It comes from a place in my head that lets these wild imaginings happen, that lets me feel the emotion of it because the reality is that I'm safe and loved. In my imagination, I've escaped bear attacks, planned funerals, entertained mega-stars and been lowered off a cliff in a stretcher. Oh, wait. That last one really happened.

Wild imaginings notwithstanding, a walk in the woods is a grand way to spend an afternoon. Especially since the weather didn't look too promising for the next day...

The Expanding Heart

Looking forward to the day when we can have Grandkid Camp at the ranch

Yesterday Goddy and I were discussing the phenomenon of bonding with grandchildren, the way the heart creates a new room for each precious life. We both felt tears prickling the first time we've held our granddaughters. 

We've been spending time this weekend with Evan and Crystal and Piper. She's seven weeks old and this is our first opportunity to hold her, so we're taking advantage of E & C's confidence and have kicked them out the door a couple of times so we can have sole charge of Piper. Funny how after just a few weeks the parents grab any opportunity to flee! 

They're working on figuring out a routine for Piper which I'm sure doesn't involve sleeping for hours in the arms of a doting grown-up. But such is the joy of being the old folks. You can bend the rules to fit. And we promise to keep candy to a minimum and only dole out cookies made with organic whole wheat flour, non-GMO sugar and real butter.

We all love having a great-grandmother around!

This is going to be an interesting journey. And one of the side roads will be observing the ways the grandkids display "family" traits even though they come from very different families. This is the joy of being paired with the present day patriarch  of the Godsiff family. 

Stripes and plaid - a meshing of culture or just what happened to be in the closet?

Having time to sit with our daughters-in-law and hear stories of their childhoods, and then listening to the girls' parents talk about their lives is creating a mosaic of lovely colors and background. The grandchildren give it its sparkle and glow.

 And my heart just keeps on making space for it all.