"The Darling Ranch"

Dear has gone to much length over the years to keep the squirrels out of this pear tree. It seems this year he may be successful.
This is my favorite cow. She is such a good momma. She is the boss cow. She follows Dear around like a dog. It is so funny.

The kids tire swing. My very talented friend Bonnie paints them. The kids love to play on it and twist each other around until they get sick. We had one when we were kids and we did the same thing. To this day I can't get on a swing without getting nauseous.

More cows. The little one in the front is Taxes. Can you guess why? The black one behind the tree sealed her fate this weekend and will be in the freezer soon. Dear went to the cattle auctions this weekend and she was supposed to go too. I guess she had other ideas.
This is my "great dane" Ram. He is a great dog. He goes out and lays in the field with the cows while Sadie the "cow dog" runs around barking and acting like an idiot. She knows she is supposed to be helping she just doesn't know quite what to do. Ram on the other hand just trots out and lays down wherever he is not in the way.
This is Tom. He thinks he is a dog. He laps around following wherever you go. He has lost a lot of weight this summer. I think he is pineing for a lady friend. Poor Tom.
Great story behind this outhouse. The people who owned this place before us were here for at least 40 years. At one time they brought out an alcoholic uncle to sober up. It is too far from town to walk anywhere so they hid all the keys to the vehicles and left him here. He built this outhouse out of sheer boredom. When he was finished he unhooked the tractor and took it to town and got on a good drunk. We now use it for target practice.

This really is a great place to live. I am happy my kids have a place like this to grow up. In the words of Hannah Montana "It's the best of both worlds."