Thursday, October 25, 2007

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell Oct. 16, 2007

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell Oct. 16, 2007
People are made up differently- I am not a postal person. I really do not know why- I have been the recipient of many thoughtful and kind letters and cards in the mail. But the thing that really annoys me is chain letters. I hate to be threatened and that is exactly how a chain letter affects me. I know there are the neat recipe chain letters and if you do not break it you will receive all kinds of different- delicious recipes. There were the ones where you were to send a dollar bill to the person at the top of the list and it was guaranteed that you would receive hundreds of dollars for your one dollar investment IF no one broke the chain. Then there are the ones that would tell you that just by making twenty copies of the letter and mail it to twenty different people you were to have instantly good luck. If you were to break this chain you were doomed to all kinds of sadness and horrible luck. Why if you were to break the chain someone in your family might die. I have received two of these kinds of chain letters and the thing about them is that you do not know who sent it to you. The two that I received was when I was about 2 weeks from giving birth. I did not find any humor in the letters at all. Maybe some pregnant woman would find that entertaining, I was not one of them. In fact, I was upset and wondered where the letter came from. Since I have an awful time getting any letter to the mailbox sending chain letters are not one of the things that I do even if I could get it to the mail box. Now that the internet has come along and I really enjoy getting e-mails. I have received many funny and thought provoking items, but the chain letters are worst than ever. Now not only are you threatened that if you do not send the letter on to twenty different people you are either a bad American- unfaithful Christian- your selfish- or just an around jerk. Insulting me is not the way to my heart but it seems to work on some people. I guess that I have had enough bad luck without getting a chain letter that they do not threaten me as much as they might to someone who has lived a more sheltered life. The first one I got in the mail worried me a little- but after thinking about it and knowing that I had and all kinds of scary things happened before I ever received such a letter. I am, after all, the daughter of an accident prone farmer/rancher. My family could write a book on bad luck- here are just a couple- Never chase an egg-sucking dog in the barn - you might experience a great fall. Never grab a wire that is connected to the chicken house while riding on a horse bareback-you will having a shocking turn of events- I can tell you for sure both of these things are a painful experience whether you sent a chain letter or not.

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell Oct. 31, 2007

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell Oct. 31, 2007
Home remedies are something that has always been around. Each family has their own thing. My Grandma Cary liked to use menthol and camphor. But my dad’s family remedy was to use laxatives for everything that was wrong with you. It did not matter what ailed you, from headaches, upset stomach, sore muscles, fever, coughs, colds, flu, poor vision, the cure was always the same, a laxative- if it did not work, you did not use enough of it.
Lately, I have had some neck problems- it was a kink that would not go away. Not really a stiff neck but it was getting there. I have been whining around the house, especially in the mornings. It felt like I had something out of whack. I hate to go to the doctor so I have been putting ice on it, and making Jim rub out the kinks. I even considered Dad method, but had not gotten that desperate. Now I have a remedy for my problem. I would not promote this particular method as I think that maybe the side effects may be worst than the disease. In fact- I am telling you this should not be tried at home- but this is what happened. We gathered our calves this past week to send them to market. After we got the calves loaded on the truck we were going to work the heifers that we kept back. And since I had a couple of baby calves we would work them also. When we work calves my job is to catch the head and Jim pushes them down the alley and into the chute. Well, the heifers were too big and I am not as strong as I once was, if I could catch the head she kept lifting me off the ground while I was trying to pull the head catch down. So Jim and I traded jobs- he would catch the head and I would get the heifers in the chute. This was working great until one heifer decided that she was going to back up- that was not so bad as I had put a pipe behind her so she could not go too far back- but I was on top of the corrals and so how- I do not know how this happened - but she some how knocked my feet out from under me and I was falling backwards and my knees caught the pipe so I fell backwards with me on one side of the pipe and my knees and feet on the other side and a heifer that kept going backwards and forwards again and again. When I hit the ground I first thought that maybe this was it- but after seeing the heifers behind coming at me, I was sure that I was definitely still among the living and I was about to get in real trouble. The heifer did not, however, go over the pipe, for which I am very grateful. Every time she came back I kept kicking her forwards. Finally she went in the chute and I got up and dusted myself off and took inventory of all of me. I seemed to be alright. That night I had really bad muscle spasms in my neck and I took some pain relievers and went to bed. The next morning my neck was better and I now I feel much better. So if you have a neck problem just fall off the top of corrals and land on the back your head and shoulders and you could possibly knock whatever is out, back in. This is not a perfect solution and again may not work every time but does anyone know how do you get rid of double vision?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell Oct. 16, 2007

People are made up differently- I am not a postal person. I really do not know why -I have been the recipient of many thoughtful and kind letters and cards in the mail. But the thing that really annoys me is chain letters. I hate to be threatened and that is exactly how a chain letter affects me. I know there are the neat recipe chain letters and if you do not break it you will receive all kinds of different- delicious recipes. There were the ones where you were to send a dollar bill to the person at the top of the list and it was guaranteed that you would receive hundreds of dollars for your one dollar investment IF no one broke the chain. Then there are the ones that would tell you that just by making twenty copies of the letter and mail it to twenty different people you were to have instantly good luck. If you were to break this chain you were doomed to all kinds of sadness and horrible luck. Why if you were to break the chain someone in your family might die. I have received two of these kinds of chain letters and the thing about them is that you do not know who sent it to you. The two that I received was when I was about 2 weeks from giving birth. I did not find any humor in the letters at all. Maybe some pregnant woman would find that entertaining, I was not one of them. In fact, I was upset and wondered where the letter came from. Since I have an awful time getting any letter to the mailbox sending chain letters are not one of the things that I do even if I could get it to the mail box. Now that the internet has come along and I really enjoy getting e-mails. I have received many funny and thought provoking items, but the chain letters are worst than ever. Now not only are you threatened that if you do not send the letter on to twenty different people you are either a bad American- unfaithful Christian- your selfish- or just an around jerk. Insulting me is not the way to my heart but it seems to work on some people. I guess that I have had enough bad luck without getting a chain letter that they do not threaten me as much as they might to someone who has lived a more sheltered life. The first one I got in the mail worried me a little- but after thinking about it and knowing that I had and all kinds of scary things happened before I ever received such a letter. I am, after all, the daughter of an accident prone farmer/rancher. My family could write a book on bad luck- here are just a couple- Never chase an egg-sucking dog in the barn - you might experience a great fall. Never grab a wire that is connected to the chicken house while riding on a horse bareback-you will having a shocking turn of events- I can tell you for sure both of these things are a painful experience whether you sent a chain letter or not.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell Oct. 9, 2007

Last week we had to say good-bye to my Aunt Alma Haas. She was the last of Dads sisters to leave this ol’ world. Aunt Alma had a hard life- but she was a fighter she had gone thru many hardships, which was not uncommon for those who grew up during the depression. When we had family reunions she was always on top of the game-, she was a great cook and always looked like a million bucks. She worked hard and she never broke a sweat- I could do the same thing and I would look like I had been drug thru a knothole. I never knew her secret. Alma had two children - one boy - Jim Huddleston and one daughter Liz Dean. The neat thing about having children is that you are never really gone. You leave a little bit of you behind when you go.
This past weekend Mom and I got to be a part of the city wide garage sale- this was due to Deanna and John Chenoweth. Deanna wanted to bring some things to sell from Texas, so she did all of the legwork to get in on the city wide sales. They brought some awesome stuff. Mother decided that since Deanna was selling some stuff that she would sell some of her things as well. We had a good time Saturday visiting with all of the shoppers. Everyone looking for a good deal- and we were willing to give them a bargain you could not refuse. Some were looking for that one certain item; others just seeing what was there. People are so much fun to watch. You can see sisters and friends shopping, it is a way for mothers and daughters to have a good time. Some of the men look like they would rather take a beating than be there, but they are smiling in the hopes that the torture will end soon. No telling what the women had to promise to get them to go and to carry all of their numerous treasures to the car, time after time. Of course, the car had to be parked several blocks away. You can tell the husbands that are not crazy about his wife’s purchases as they are muttering to themselves about where they are going to put this new acquisition. Some men are mumbling about having to build another shelf- Others are just softly sobbing and quietly praying that this will be their last trip to the car or if not maybe, they could be hit by an on-coming car and get them out of their misery.
When I go bargain hunting I love find pretty dishes, plates, bowls, etc… - Jim likes tools- Jennifer likes drinking glasses- Jeff is not a shopper, but he does prefer garage sales to auctions-
What is surprising is what sells- the things that you are certain will sell right off are the things that end up in the free pile and the things that you think are a waste of time to even set out are the first things to go. Life is funny that way-

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell Oct. 3, 2007

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell Oct. 3, 2007
Fall is in the air, I do believe. The air is getting crisp-fall means many things to different people. To some it is the football season, some people just feel better as the cooler weather starts to some it is the fear that the snow is just that much closer that they are going to have to work in. For me it is a mixture of feelings-but the best thing about fall I that loved growing up was ‘fall round-up’. I liked the ‘fall round-up’ more than the ‘spring round-up’ because in the spring we had to work the calves and pair them back up with their mothers. Fall round-up you gathered all of the cattle from every nook and cranny- every little gully and out of the brush- every cow, calf and bull must be brought in.
I can remember my first and only pair of chaps- it was getting close fall and we were at the Coldwater Sale Barn and a man was there selling tack and other assortments that a cowboy might need. I had never even thought that I would ever get a pair of chaps - but Dad thought it was time - maybe he thought that I might not get much taller and this pair would last me for many years to come. I was so excited to get them I could not to wear them. Dad knew that we would be going to Stewart Carthraes and that the chaps would be beneficial for me.
Stewart and Marion lived near Aetna and Dad had helped them gathered cattle for many years. The Friday night before we were to go, as usual, I could hardly sleep, but knew that I had better since we had to get up in the wee hours to make it to Carthraes by sunrise. I think it must have taken up at least 30 to 45 minutes to get there, if the roads were not muddy. Sometimes we would stop and pick-up Short Goebel- Short was fun to ride with, he was almost as ornery as Dad. We would get to our appointed spot and unload our horses. The only worry I had was getting lost. Dad would give me a landmark to follow and told me to listen for the truck horn that would be honking to help lure the cows in- My landmark was Carthraes TV antenna. It was very tall and you could see it from almost everywhere on the ranch. Dad would tell me to ‘push’ the cows toward the antenna and the sound of the horn and I would find everyone else, eventually. Dad would go one way- Short would go another and I would go somewhere in-between. Gathering cattle for the Stewart was more of a challenged as he had brush that went up and down the river. That to make things even for exciting was the fact that there was quick sand in the river, as well. In the fall, the brush was filled with heavy dew in the early morning hours and when you would disturb it you would get soaked to the skin. So I thought since I had my new chaps I would hardly even notice the heavy dew- but that was not entirely true- my chaps were leather, of course, but they had the rough out and not smooth like Dads. Because the rough was out I think that the leather just absorbed the water, instead of shedding it. It was still better than not having them as they protected my legs from the thorns and sharp limbs. Since I had the shorter horse Dad would send me in under the brush and trees to get the stubborn cows out. Some of the cows would let you ride right over the top of them and not budge hoping that you would not see them. Once a cow gets in the brush and likes it there it is very difficult to get them out. Stewart tried many different ways to get the cows out of the brush, but that is another story entirely.
I was sad to hear that Marion passed away last week. I know her daughters and family are going to miss her terribly. But as we all know, we do not live forever and she has gone to a better place- For me- if heaven is no more than a beautiful valley with a ridge. The mornings are clear and still, the air is crisp - you can sit on top of a rim rock on your favorite, faithful pony. You look down and see the morning fog rise up out of the river bottoms and the cattle are grazing unconcerned, you watch as the deer come out of the river brush, - you can hear nothing but nature waking up to face the day and the occasional calf cry for his mother and your horse is relaxed watching to sunrise with you- what more could you possibly want?