Never quit...

Living in the back of beyond has it's rewards. It is too bad that those who have never experienced it have no concept of the introspection that can come from time spent there. Plus, the place is full of characters that don't know the meaning of quit.

Take the yoga/circuit fusion class I'm in, it's full of local country folk. There is the chicken farmer (3,000+ birds), that brought his dad to class. Dad wouldn't come back, not because he's a quitter mind you, because he said our instructor was a terrorist to ask so much of an ol man, lol.  The chicken farmer now brings his mother, who is never a quitter, rehabbing from surgery.  I get a kick out of the fact that he wears his board shorts with rubber barn boots to class, and he does the training right along with all the rest of us.

There are a bunch of grannies, that come when they don't have grandkids or family to care for, and  there are a couple of ranch women that come when they can get away for a few hours. There is an orchardist that comes when time permits. Not a quitter in the bunch.

I'm not really good at circuit training, among other things, though I have plenty of try. 

Another thing I never got good at was roping. No matter how I tried, I could not get all the many tasks going in the right sequence.  The Cowman was an outstanding roper, and often invited to the brandings at other ranches.  I got to tag along and ride the gather and work on the ground crew.  When the Cowman's shoulder got too painful, from a misplaced staple, for him to rope any more, we still went and helped, because you never quit... 

(make the video full screen for best viewing)

It runs in the family...

granddaughter Ali  driving tractor

 All Marymine's crew are well and busy with farming, school, and sports.

Haven't gotten to see my Sean since June, and that is a long time between hugs for his mom.   He is a workaholic, so it was great to see photos of him enjoying time away from the grind with family. He and his girlfriend flew to Vegas for the weekend, and he happened to meet up with two of his cousins (there for a friend's wedding). 

It has also been too long since Granny got to hug on Sean's girls. Photos are great but it isn't the same. His oldest, Jacey and her BF going to Home Coming 2016.

Miss B being the cutie she is.

~~~ 

I have been trying to stay out of trouble here, and for the most part succeeding, well other than punching my Yoga Instructor.    
We were doing the circuit training part, before the yoga part, and I was on the station that was: punch, punch, elbow, elbow, kick, kick.  (The punch part is a controlled move, not a wild swing.) That's what I was doing when my instructor said, "you need a target, here..." and Bless her heart, she stepped right in front of me, just as I punched.  Her reflexes are good enough that she was able to block the punch. (My control was such that I pulled the punch, and if you believe that you are way slower than I thought...) We laughed, all was good. 
Later my hand went a little cattywampus, but Doc says it isn't broken, Yay! Doc was funny: "Haven't seen you in two years! You take no medications! Still doing all the things I told you not to?" 
"Yep!" I said. 
"BP is 110/68, hand is badly bruised, but that's not your preferred gun hand, now get outta here." 
Next yoga class I'm going with a honking big fake cast on my hand and arm, cause warrior granny yoga is not for sissies, and attitude runs in the family...

 

Grinding on...

Warrior yoga is kicking butt, and she, who likes to torture ol warriors, has now added 45 minutes of circuit training with 12 stations to the mix. We are doing this to ACDC! What the heck happened to the soothing chanting music?

I missed yesterday's torture session, but after a whole day of grinding through this jungle of a yard, I'm not too concerned.

  

I figure I did most of the circuit training, what with lopper  pruning,

  

climbing the ladder with the hedge trimmer,

and re-positioning boulders.

 A little sore this morning, with the imprint of my Kindle on my face, and wild hair from falling asleep with damp hair while reading.  

Back at it today, only about another week's worth of this, and I can start over...

Boulders:  There are some large boulders in this landscape, only a couple are placed the way I like to see them. They usually show signs of how they sat in the ground originally, and need to be placed that way when putting them in the landscape. I have taken large boulders and buried half of them to get them to look natural. To have them setting on top of gravel, or mulch, or what ever makes them look like they just fell off the truck. They can still be barriers if that's what you need, just place them so they look natural.

 

Cowcamp news...

 I'm feeling much better, thank you very much! Finally getting my energy back, and can smell the gardenias on the patio.

 

 
Back to Yoga class, so I made a T shirt to wear... only to learn my instructor is on a yoga/message trip to Bali. A girl friend and I will be on our own for a while it seems.

On another note... 
 Gunny mentor T is back from a month in Africa (completing his Spiral Horn Grand Slam and para gliding over Victoria Falls).

 He said it was an amazing trip for him and his sons. Though I have no desire to go there it was very interesting to see his photos and read his comments on Africa. 

I now have a much coveted membership in The shoot'n range here. It has only taken T and two years to get it. I can hardly wait to go and take Dad. Haven't shot the trap & skeet parts of the range yet, and my shotguns are needing some action. Dad is looking forward to going, and instructing from the seat of his walker. 

Meanwhile Hank (the pickup), and I have been on a few missions for parts...

  
  

Cow Country Yoga...

I have to admit that I started yoga just to see what all the rah rah was about.  Turns out it's a workout, which I need.

Now, I live in a small town, and we tend to do things a bit western.  Take today for instance, we all came to the studio with a little more bite than usual due to the fact that most of us, including our yoga instructor Nat, had partaken of three days of rodeo. 

Nat's a cow country local, so she managed a track event all three performances and was given an assistant on the last day. An assistant that had never been near a horse or mule, much less on one, an assistant wearing brand spank'n new cowboy boots, an assistant that was try'n way too hard.  He was also wear'n the biggest, shiniest new spurs Nat had ever seen. She asked him why he was wearing spurs, since he wasn't riding. He said, "they came with the boots." Somebody saw him com'n... Anyway the poor guy kept being tripped up by those spurs, which caused him to run into horses, mules, fences, and Nat. She finally parked him, told him to be real sticky like in that spot, and went on to do her part. Don't know where he tripped off to after the last go round.

With all that behind us, my being a little sore, and all of us a little crazy we decided today was best known as Terrible Tuesday Yoga.  Namaste.

Here's a little video to give you some idea of how yoga's done in cow country...  

Cowboy Yoga: A New Brand of Stretchin' from Jason on Vimeo.