Sunday, July 6, 2008

AROUND THE RANCH...I JUST WANT TO SHOW YOU A FEW THINGS....

Before I start the short ranch tour, I really want to share with you an exciting new blog that a friend of mine has opened. It's called Pam Warden Art and my friend, Pam, is such a talented artist I would love for you to take a minute and check out her blog! She already has a give-a-way set up - just comment on her post to sign up. And while you're there, check out her precious art! This is the first commercial I've ever done on my blog so go on, go check it out - you'll see that I have great discernment!

The second thing I'm going to tell you before we go on the wee ranch tour is this:
I went to Santa Fe this weekend with my sorority sisters. Everything is stucco.
Everything is brown.
I thought I would lose my mind.
For some reason that just drove me crazy.
I did buy some amazing beads for the grunge necklaces I'm going to be making and that was fun but other than that, give me San Antonio any day. LOL

Okay, so we start the wee ranch tour and of course, all of the pictures are out of order. I still don't get it - how to load them in order - so just pretend that you're at the ranch and not seeing it for the first time....in pictures. First picture...................


hmmmm, I pushed a button and lost the picture of Clay playing B-ball. If you think I'm going to look for it or reload it, you're wrong. Very, very wrong. Use your imagination:)


Clay spends most of his time on our basketball court. I'm not kidding - he lives it - always has. And he's good. Really good. I'm so glad we put the 1/2 court in several years ago - a great investment as most of the kids end up at the Thomason's because of the court, the pasture and the swimming pool.
I've always loved knowing where my boys are!
You know, I feel badly, I really should know this precious baby's name but I don't.
This sweet baby has been hand fed since she was a wee babe and now she thinks that Frank the Tank is her mother.
Isn't that cute?
We have some smaller barns, but this is the big barn.
It's really cool because it's been here since the late 1800's and it's just, well, cool.
Love to go into it. And when the kids were small, they loved to go up into the hay loft.
Frank the Tank and his brother, John, used to have to milk the cows when they were kids. To hear John tell it, it was more like corporal punishment.
Oh, my door wall along one of the pipe fences that runs along the pasture behind my old studio - you remember. The pink barn, two rains that flooded it in the spring of '07. Not a good thing for a paper artist! Anyway, I'm now cozy and all set up at the house in the breezeway. It's my own room - it's just a bit smaller! Anyway, this door wall stays put. I like it.
What you're seeing here (above) is the pool house to the far left and the ranch house as you drive up the lane. You don't really get any definition of the front of the house but that's for the best. The yard man is me and I'm not able to do yard work right now.
That's why my theme for our yard this year is "browns" - everything is in browns. (Get it???)
The barns as you drive up the lane. The pink one is the one in front.
Just kills the guys:)

The gate to the right of the entrance to the ranch. Do you love my pink bicycles?
The fence to the left of the entrance - more pink bicycles (you can't see one:).
Love it.

Oh, yeah, this is great.
Frank the Tank really wanted to build (do you build gardens??) a garden this year. So he took my now plagued chicken exercise yard and made it into his garden. One morning he came into the bedroom carrying one of his prize squash (no) and showed it to me and asked me, "Jan, did you know that squash is a fruit?"

"Why, no Frank, I didn't. You wanna tell me where you learned that??"

"I Googled it."

"You Googled it???" Crack me up! After I stopped giggling I asked him to please not google his okra. He's so funny!
Pretty cardinal in the tree next to the feeder.
An old metal gate leaning up against the house. It has *light blue* dryer lint in the 'brown' leaves for the birds to use to build their nests.
Old gate into the pasture behind our house.
Frank the Tank's tractor that I CAN DRIVE. Oh, yeah. I can drive this baby.

These next three pictures are of some of our hummers. The feeder hangs outside my bedroom window and I can watch these precious babies all day long if I want to! They're so sweet and it's looking like it's time to buy a second feeder! Isn't that great???

Thank you for joining me on this rather long post - but I wanted to give you a taste of what the ranch was like though we just touched on it! It's supposed to be just enough of a tease so that you, my friends (no stalkers)will decide that you just must visit the ranch so we can have some FUN!! woohoo!


xoxo,


12 comments:

Paula Clare said...

Hi Jan!
What a hoot your ranch must be! I just LOVE the whimsical little pieces of "you" all over the place! The pink bicycles are my faves...even the TIRES are pink. TOO CUTE!

Oh,and about all the brown in Santa Fe...SOME of us think brown is a COLOR...like red and pink...not just the color of dirt and mud! (LOL) In fact, my best monk robe is brown...and I wear patchouli perfume...which I've been told SMELLS like dirt. So there you go. I am Santa Fe incarnate. Or something.

Loved seeing the ranch

Shelly said...

I enjoyed visiting your ranch today! Maybe I can see it in person one day! I wish I had a pink barn!!! And thanks for all of your sweet comments on my blog! Have a wonderful day!

Altered Route said...

You crack me up! I enjoyed the trip about the ranch. The wall of old doorsn'stuff is super...I should do a tour of this ranch soon....you've inspired me.
No okra googling now...lol!
Connie

Anonymous said...

Sounds like and looks like it was a fabulous trip.
I LOVE the shade of red and the patina of the barn..
Have a great week

Loudlife said...

I am sooooo going to have to get a hummingbird feeder! We have some things they like, but I didn't get fuscias this year so they don't get as close as they used to.

Thanks for the tour! What fun!

xoxo
Laurie
(awwww, let Frank google his okra!)

kecia deveney said...

thanks for taking us on a tour of the ranch. it was fun! love the goat (please find out his name), the pink bicycles, the old gates, the door wall, frank's new garden and the barns! the barns are lovely. you are right, there is something very peaceful about barns.

SweetAnnee said...

Oh your ranch looks so fun
and I love all the pics..
Just wanted to say hi...and
thinking of you..Deena

Unknown said...

Jan...your garden looks like heaven. I lOvE the doors...must show hubby, he thinks I'm nuts. Every bit of it looks wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing. Wish I could pop on over a spend some time visiting. Oh and that gate...and...okra huh?? :)
hugs to you.

Rhondamum said...

i would love to be lucky enough to visit your ranch. thank you so much for sharing. i love it all and it just seems like a really great place to be and live and create.

i love the old doors. i have one that i want to make a table our of, but my husband can't stand it. i keep trying to get him to let me just stand it up in the backyard, but he thinks it is a weird idea.

have your gotten any of my emails? they keep getting returned to me.

i hope you will post more pics of your ranch. i really enjoyed the tour and i love the way you tell a story!

xoxo
Rhonda...

Pam Mattick Art and Stuff said...

Hi Jan
You are SOOO sweet. All the goodies for my birthday, (such a beautiful card that you made) and now this post where you are sending people over to my new blog.
Thank you so much dear friend.
Pam
p.s. Our Hummingbirds fight like mad. It was cool to see the 3 together like that. Fun pics :)

Heidi said...

Jan, I love your photos! How cool you've got the pink bikes! I have one lined up to paint pink....when I have time!!!!!! I love your barn, too.
*Heidi*

Angela Rae Barribeau said...

Wow! You are one lucky lady!!! I dream about having a country place again... right now "stuck" in the village of Fall Creek... at least it's a village. There's a corn field kitty corner from our back yard, and a creek and fields behind the neighbor's houses across the street... but it's still not COUNTRY. LOVE the pink bikes! SO perfect!

Thanks for the tour and don't be surprised if I ever found myself in your neck of the woods... driving up that driveway!

Love ya! Angela

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