Water!

Life on a ranch in the high desert revolves around water. Our property is crisscrossed with ditches, some big, some small.  The ditches carry water to various parts of the ranch.

Our water comes from water rights that originate in the Deschutes River, a major 250+ mile long tributary of the Columbia River.  We direct the water to various parts of the ranch by using irrigation dams.  The dams are nothing more than tarps with poles stitched into one end.  Through the course of our nearly 6 days of water week, the dams are placed in various parts of the ditches which forces the water to overflow then pulled so the next dam can direct the water to another spot.

This is the beginning of our water week.  Most of this morning I will be setting dams such as this one all over the property.  It seems sort of silly since we had an inch plus of rain yesterday but in this country, you need to use your water or lose it.  There will be one night where I need to get up a couple of times to do moves but happily, only one.  I hate water weeks but without it our desert property turns back into a desert

instead of the lush pastures and hay fields that we have now.

so I guess it's worth it.

Starting again

Thanks to an old MySpace and current FaceBook friend, I've been invited to start blogging again. 

Most of my blogs, when I get a chance to write them, will be of the "slice of life" type.  I have written hundreds of blogs, all sitting on MySpace, sharing our life on the ranch here in Central Oregon, some woes and drama, a few beginner astronomy blogs, many announcement-type blogs and also a series called "Group Blogging Experience" which is what Elizabeth Grace is starting again.  I may even try my hand a bit with political posting (I'm an independent conservative).

I've missed writing.  I tried to blog daily about the mundane and exciting.  Maybe I'll get back into that habit. 

My life right now is consumed with the horses here on the ranch (we had a new baby this morning--YAY!), the family and an online game called Rappelz.  Summer being right around the corner, the star party season is beginning and will take me down into California, up to Washington State, and over to Idaho through the weeks up to Labor Day.  There are several local star parties including one which will happen next weekend.

A little bit about me:  I've been married to the same wonderful woman for nearly 33 years.  Maryann is my best friend as well as my wife.  We have a wonderful pain in the rear 13 almost 14 year old daughter who is a delight AND a challenge.  We also have 19 foster children all of who are adults now and have their own families.  We are integrally involved with several of them still and one, who lives around 100 miles away, has three children who call us Grandma and Grandpa.

We live in an old farmhouse with now five dogs and four cats.  The youngest dog, Dietre, is a border collie/blue heeler who I hope will become my working side-kick.  On the 16th he'll be 12 weeks old so there's a little bit of time before he really starts learning.  There's also a couple of birds and some fish to complete the household.

On the ranch we have around 65 horses of various types--mostly miniatures and ponies.  There are also 3 llamas and a donkey.  Our daughter, Brianna, just informed me tonight she wants us to get (another) goat.  Sigh.   In the barn right now we have three brand new foals and a pair of Mallard (rescue) ducks.

I'm not working at the moment but I'm praying that something will fall into my lap.  I used to transport horses around the country but with the economy, that market collapsed.  I do write for a newsletter or two and edit one as well.  So I do keep my hand in writing a bit.  The farm could keep me majorly busy but as I mentioned above, I'm addicted to a computer game.

Finally, I'm just delighted and excited to be writing again.   Hope you enjoy the ride because I know I will!