(This will be updated often btw)
June 12th - 4th July
We're both really excited and she has her to-do list at the ready! She is traveling unaccompanied , as now it's only now a 2hr flight from Vermont to Denver. So I will be at the airport 2hrs before flight lands, check in, do TSA/Security and go to the gate and greet her as she comes off the plane!
12th June - a bit of a snafu there for travel. Long story short - she was put on the next day's flight instead
Travel Day Part 2 :: June 13th
Beastie was boarded and on the flight this time- I had to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight landed - to check-in, get a pass and then thru security then onto the gate .
As the landing time got closer a really nice rep came over and we chatted , he had Beastie's information and he kept me a breast of the flight details. It landed on time but there was a huge electric storm all over and around so all planes had to be parked on the runway till given clearance by the planes already at the gates to depart. This was about 45 - 60 mins she was last off as her seat was near the stewards bay and very very excited. Then saw me, ran and clung around me . She was 'perfectly delightful" on the flight but did get upset and agitated when they had to stay on the plane on the runway, she had to get to Nana (and this was not part of the plan!) and how could she tell Nana what was happening and not leave the airport - understandable We got the baggage claim, her case was already there, going round and we headed out for the drive to the ranch
She loved the sunset and the rays and it was non stop chatter all the way home and alot of giggles We got home around 10pm and we passed Jay at the gates so he could go home after watching / feeding the dogs and horses for me
After unpacking , into jammies it was both straight into bed for the both of us - both exhausted
Day 1 :: June 14th
I was awake at 530 - espresso machine on, dogs outside then fed and then surprisingly Beastie was awake and up by 6am! and by 7am - it was makeover time - just about finished first coffee!
once breakfast was done we went outside for a walkabout first to see the horses.. then it was 6by time - we went around to look at all the flowers and the ranch - once she has acclimatized we'll walk about we went down the canyon too and saw loads of flowers, new aspen trees and butterfly bushes with loads of bees and butterflies everywhere. while looking at those Barney must have visited next doors ranch as he was covered in thick wet cowpats! ugh.. so he needed a shower rather badly! so we hosed and washed him outside - then inside again and finished Harry Potter Book "Goblet of Fire" and then realized that Barney needed another shampoo and hosepipe session! After that it was lunch and now its a HP mini marathon - so we build up to the Goblet of Fire movie (there are loads of pics in this gallery so click and scroll)
Day 2 :: June 15th
A later start to the day for Beastie and after breakfast it was straight to work in the kitchen! First it was make Nana's Mac n Cheese with Bacon. First I taught her how to prep everything before hand and that was make sure we had all of the ingredients ready , as once we start the sauce we cannot stop . So first was grate the cheese - first we tried the grater but that was awkward so I showed her a better contraption - a Mouli, alot quicker and easier to use
After all the cheese was done , we started to make the Roux
I did nothing but instruct on this process - she did so well and no lumps! perfect, then it was fry the bacon chunks and boil the pasta .
Then once they were done it was mix it all in the big dish and put in the broiler to crispy up. So tonight all we have to do is heat it up .
This was all done to music to dance and sing along too - her favorite (again) is P!nk's Funhouse
This was all done to music to dance and sing along too - her favorite (again) is P!nk's Funhouse
She wanted to show that she knew the chorus !
Then it was do her diary (I had already printed off the photographs for her to cut and stick and write about . We did make a cake after that - no pics on this ... but its vanilla!
We will eat that tonight wen we watched the Goblet of Fire!
Day 3 :: June 16
We had alot of fun today, not many photographs . A later start and once breakfast was done (Bacon and eggs) we went outside before it got too hot. First we did the horses water troughs and then we took the 6by and harrow into the arena and dragged weeds all around. She thought that was hysterical, as Barney was in the middle as we went round in circles. He was barking and a huge ring of dust behind us. It must have looked really cool from above After that we parked the 6by and went for a hike up into the rocks high above the canyons , exploring and climbing up boulders.
When we got back inside it was arts and crafts (to music) for most of the day and also Goblet of Fire again too
At 3 she and I prepared the horses porridge - she now counts and adds the feed into each bowl before I add the water and then after a while it thickens and we add more water and take it outside at 4pm - Dakota and Champ are already at the spot waiting. While they eat we go around on the 6by. To practice - I sit behind her as she learning to drive it. (I hold the handlebars and cover the brakes while she does the accelerator lever and steering) Her face was like a cheshire cat - a grown up ranch kid! She is doing really well and as we have to open and close gates - I get off, do the gates and she drives through them on her own
Last night after dinner it was make a birthday card for GrandDad and also a little birthday video for me to send first thing tomorrow morning for him
Day 4 :: June 17
After breakfast it was straight outside before the heat kicked in and we did some yardening together - we weeded and removed pine cones from the bouldery for about an hour . the game emerged of her throwing the cones into the buckets under the deck - like basketball hoops!
Then it was time to do the diary - she did 2 days worth as we didn't do it yesterday - so I printed off the photographs I had taken , she cut them out, stuck them in and wrote about each photo
After diary time it was art stuff and time for lunch. We couldn't do much after lunch as the storm arrived no rain tho :( to break the heat - yet. Forecast says on Monday it will be 20 degrees cooler and we can bring Champ in.
We did more art stuff then at 3pm we made the horses porridge and at 4 we took it out for Dakota and Champ and it was 6by lesson time. She waits for 4pm as she looks forward to this. (NB : I will always be behind her and teaching - she's loving this 10 minutes of special lesson with Nana while the horses eat their food)
630pm - Dinner is something new and LOVES - Nana's homemade Pastie and homemade fries
Day 5 :: June 18th
A quietish day for us today - it was town this morning as I had PT . So we got some groceries - some art stuff to make our own tshirt designs on sunday (or monday) and while I had my session with Caroline, Beastie hung out with Nadia (Caroline's daughter) and they played with 7 week old puppies for an hour (Caroline is fostering a Res dog who promptly gave birth to 8!)
At 2pm Beastie and I made cake - red velvet - and while it was baking she measured and prepped the horse porridge (she builds up her excitement around this time because she knows what happens at 4pm! )
Yep , while Dakota and Champ were eating their bowls of porridge, it was lesson time on the 6by. Today was full control around the whole track , with me getting off to do the gates, and also some off roading thru one of the pastures !
After dinner - Spaggi Bolognaise (cleaned its real name there haha) , and her arms did not fall off or her skin turning green because it had peppers and onion in it, she ate it all it was cake time!
Day 6 :: June 19
A very slow start for us this morning, my coffee was definitely broken and took several before the caffeine levels rose
While Beastie was eating breakfast I had to wash some carpet , then I dysoned as P!nk in concert was on
Uncle Jay arrived around 9.45 and Beastie was excited - it was Star Wars time
First is was down into the crawl space and get the remaining boxes of figures and parts. The vehicles and characters are already in the spare room on shelves
Return of the Jedi movie is now on and the battles will commence
after some battles Uncle Jay and Beastie went outside with the puppies and did some rock climbing , I was in the kitchen doing the main meal she has been waiting for ... a lunch / early dinner and I swear there's sleepy drugs in the sauce - now I'm ready for a nap!
During the Tstorms Beastie had an imagination boost and has been writing silly little stories , with no help from me, (this I'll leave to her, her words, spelling and ideas
it was her idea to video her reading them and wanted me to post them up for our blog ...
2 have been done and videoed - 3rd is being written as I type this but trying to explain internet and data limits is very hard for her to understand , we do not have dsl / cable - so i'll upload #3 when its 'free data' - (2am-8am)
Day 7 :: June 20th
Busyish day planned once Beastie is awake and has breakfast - first it will be to call her dad for Father's Day, Ive just send pics of her card and a video message. Then its straight outside to do water troughs and hay for the horses. Then the to-do list is to do her diary (3 days worth) and then make / design Tshirts. I was going to buy the Tshirt with the slogan but decided this would be more fun.. just uploading story #3 - #4 is written !
we've just done the water troughs - tipped out and cleaned them and filled them up again. We also bought in Tink and Shoshoni into the corral and we put bug lotion on them. Shoni would not come in ( he knows if i have the halter it's time to play hard to get and catch me and runs off!) so Beastie walked out to him with some hay in her hand and he followed her up into the corral .. she was so happy with herself that she got him into the corral so he could have bug lotion on
Now the fun part - Tshirt time! She was so happy she didn't make any mistakes and could do something else on the spare t-shirt
and now they're dry
Day 8 - June 21
A cooler night as we had a storm with some rain and the temperature dropped 40 degrees. It was wonderful . Plan today is to bring Champ in and ride
Beastie is still asleep so here are the next 3 stories for you
I have just made her own Playlist on my channel :: https://youtu.be/GEMw0-H_Iwo
After breakfast we went down to the arena and bought Champ in for some fun, well for Beastie and me , Champ gave me that look. I worked him first to shake out any awkwardness out of him, to which there was plenty, then swapped over saddles from western to english - i never use it now but its better at stirrup adjusting for little legs ..(altho later this morning i did bring the saddle home and punched in alot more holes for child length - and no leather punch insight) He was good with her for about half an hour then he started to make it quite known that he was done thankyou very much but after explaining to Beastie about moods and horses have them too, we also have to respect them and they are not a machines. So we gave him another 5 minutes and made sure we ended on a positive for both note (always have to or next time wont go so well) We then did bug lotion on him and took him back out to the pastures
we then did yesterday's diary entry as I was punching new holes into leather stirrup straps and then lunch on the deck, P!nk playing on the turntable, and chatting about genetics and eye color, dna what makes us, us etc she says wanted to know the real facts After lunch it was outside with the puppies as I washed yet another carpet (long night with Cookie again) then Beastie thought of a game we could do - pine cones, fill a bucket, empty the bucket in a pile next to each of us and then throw them into the bucket - 7-8ft away (ish). who ever got the most into the bucket wins - we are 1:1 at the moment
It was chill time for a while and made horses porridge for 4pm
Alot cooler today by 20 degrees so the heatwave has gone for now
Day 8 - June 22
We had a fun filled day - after breakfast it was straight to doing art stuff.
Paint bubble painting - sadly this didnt work as all paints are pre made now and hard to do anything with - this works better with the powder paint (which I will definitely get for next time. But it was alot of fun doing this and she wanted to blow bubbles and mess about with them regardless
We played outside again for a while with pine cones and then inside to do diary entry for yesterday and then 'hanged out' before lunch - while she was eating lunch I started the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We did 2 chapters by the time she finished
The afternoon was coloring and more art while a Tstorm came in . We did the horse's porridge at 4 and a 6by lesson too Beastie had asked me a few months ago to doo her hair so it was flat. So before dinner she had a bath, hair washed and i then did some hair oil and did her hair with hair dryer and made it as flat and straight as I could. End result was she loved it as she wanted one side to look like it was shaved (like mine used to be) and loved how soft and silky I had made it and it looked long
Dinner was steak and homemade fries and that disappeared really quick too and then to end the day with the 2nd nose pop! no clue but she likes it as she says it means her body is adapting to the altitude and living on the ranch . (everyone's nose pops / bleeds when staying at this elevation while blood adapts to it)
Tomorrow we will probably go to town early as we need some more art supplies
Day 9 - June 23
It was up and out early this morning so we could get to town before it got too hot. so waffles for breakfast and one for the road! and coffee and benedryl for me - hayfever eyes are really bad today we got some more art supplies, hair stuff and some fruit and veg
As we drove out we talked about the haze all around, the ranch, the drive to Laramie, we couldn't see the mountains it was quite thick. When we got out Beastie told me it was smoke (I still cant smell or taste) and now I know why my eyes are so bad today
We did the shop quick and back home by 930.
As we can't go outside it was hang out indoors instead. sealing all windows shut and AC on and i checked inciweb and yep there is a moronic control burn going on.. why do it in heatwave, bone dry and windy conditions - idiots. Everywhere is covered with a thick blanket of smoke and Beastie said she could taste it outside too
After Beastie had lunch we made burgers for tonight. Quite an experience for her, after the complaining about using hands to mix, she got stuck right in and added with dollop of Dijon, big squirt of Ketchup , as I chopped the bacon, added egg yolk and made 6 burgers and she put them in the freezer
now its back to hanging out till we do the horses porridge
there's a big Tstorm coming in too for next few days which better bring rain this time
Day 10 - June 24
Late rising for Beastie this morning a full 12hrs - i envy this skill
After breakfast it was straight to it and out with the paints, washing liquid and straws and bubble painting part 2 .. this time it worked! yay me
So we did bubble painting , then paint blowing , then spatter for about 2hrs of messing with paints!
The afternoon was storms and we did coloring, story writing and hanging out as the weather was being nasty - no rain tho and she made her fox family into karate students
Day 11 - June 25
Today was town day for PT session and get some bits from Safeway
Whilst at PT, Beastie hung out with Nadia - saw the puppies and spent time outside with her doing some trampoline, then came down to chat with Caroline and then back outside for more trampolining A huge Tstorm started in Laramie and we had to go to the cell phone / tablet repair store. Beastie's tablet would not charge and the usb charging port is loose. We left it with him , as we went to leave the sky opened up and torrential rain. We ran to the Jeep - drenched from only a few seconds and the roads were already flooded and drains overflowing, fast rivers running down the streets, it was crazy, hoping it was doing the same on the ranch - as we drove out of town it stopped.
We got home and went down to the barn to fill the water trough and hung out with Shoshoni and Tinker, then back for lunch (and this has been on her must do with Nana list for a while)
We did a Wallace and Gromit lunch - A pot of real tea and Cheese and Crackers
4 kinds of cheese - Old Croc cheddar / Dubliner Cheddar, Colby Jack and of course - Wensleydale - annoyingly they only had Wensleydale with blueberries - she did try it tho which is a Nana rule - always try new things. She loved this spread - learning how to butter a cracker and place cheese on top - then another new experience - English tea with a teapot and cup and saucer . She liked it but as she wanted more milk it lost its taste
We had a great little 'tea-party"
"CRACKIN CHEESE GROMIT"
After lunch the sky opened up over the ranch - YAY - huge thunder booms and torrential rain
Now its chill out, movie and coloring . After movie we'll bake a cake , then feed the horses and we're doing pasta bolognaise for dinner
It rained all afternoon and all night - it's amazing and so happy we got so much finally, the ranch can recover from the heatwave , the pine pollen has been showered on and the smoke has gone After dinner we watched a movie and had some moist belgian chocolate cake we had made - we also added chocolate chips ... it was still warm and the choc chips were still gooey - SO GOOD NANA .. then suddenly Beastie went to get the writing pad I got her and became fully engrossed in writing/ After 5 minutes she stopped said Nana do you want to listen? She started to sing what she had wrote - "It's story, in a song, like a poem all in one Nana" The pad is now a song lyrics pad - it was really good too. We'll be videoing today to put up tomorrow
The power of chocolate!
Before bed she planned out tomorrow's activities - first we drag the arena because its really wet, then go and find puddles to jump and play in and get very wet and play in the rain (we have storms and rain all weekend yay so happy...even tho its so painful .. the ranch needs it)
Then indoors we will record video of the song, then write more, plus do some more art
Beastie's Stories #7
Re Video - Every time Beastie takes Barney out to play ball, he is exhausted and comes in with her announcing - I'm back and I bought a steamtrain with me !
Day 12 - June 26
It was a grey and gloomy day. After breakfast we took the 6by and harrow down to the arena and we dragged it and the round pen while it was still damp from all the rain. After an hour the big grey clouds had thunder and lightning in so back to the house She then wanted to do her song for video and had to rehearse and make sure she could do it without stopping
I also taught her how to have power in the voice and the difference with that from shouting and controlling volume. She got used it but said it made her throat hurt. So then some science kicked in about vocal chords and keeping them lubricated and a drop of honey helps
She wrote the song herself with no help at all from me, her words
Song #1 - I'll find my way ::
After the song she spoke with home for an hour which took us to lunch and then we did some art and waited for the rain - she wanted to play outside when it rained
We played hair dressers and she wanted to mine mostly
We did porridge and still no rain just storm clouds. We did some more art stuff and had some dinner - just a cheese and egg salad
After dinner the rain started , a very happy Beastie - so outside we went and she took the ball out for Barney for while
Then we had hot chocolate and watched Charlie and the chocolate factory before bed
Day 13 June 27
After breakfast we went outside and bought in Champ. We only did the english saddle today . We had a good session and he behaved so well with her. When we were done I drove the 6by and I lead Champ (with Beastie on top) out of the arena up to the barn. Where we untacked and then took him back to the pasture. We then checked the water trough and it needed filling so we did that and did some hay for Tinker and Shoshoni and they were running up and down the pastures at full speed - it sounded amazing and they looked so pretty. The thunder was booming and it started to rain
We then did hay for Dakota and Champ and came back inside for lunch and some David Attenborough before doing diary
the afternoon saw more storms, rain and thunder, which made Beastie very happy for outside when it rains play inbetween doing coloring and painting After dinner - ribs and corn - we started to watch a movie before bed and another storm with rain - by the time we got ready it had stopped but we went out for a walk about anyway - took horse cookies with us and Barney's ball
Walking the track as sunsets and after a storm
Day 14 June 28
Today is town again to go and pick up her tablet and see if he was able to get it fixed - but Nana has printed off drawings and shall get her some color pencils, writing book and stuff to do on the plane journey back anyway just in case
Beastie also wants to do Apple Bobbing so shall be doing that this afternoon!
She's still asleep (730am) so I'm working on my caffeine levels still!
We went to town
- I did some refi paperwork stuff, then to the store for some more grocery bits (coffee beans mainly!) some ice cream as a treat for last week here and art stuff that Beastie could do on the plane home just in case - then to collect Beastie's tablet. The guy soldered the port back in place, had it charging all weekend and nope - it was dead. It would not take any charge Got home and first thing was ice cream into the freezer and DRY ICE time - She had never seen or heard of it. So a quick playtime. Wahing up bowl and water and dry ice in ...
She was enthralled and played with it until it had evaporated
Then I cleaned bowl and the main to-do thing today for her was Apple Bopping. Or Babble Apping as she kept saying with excitement - we took turns and after a few minutes of apples being too big I quartered them and we took turns!
Lunch was a huge bowl of Vanilla and Mint Choc Ice Cram with Choc sauce (Nesquik as anything Hershey's is vile) and sat and watched a movie and then painting all afternoon.. Inbetween she had a Wallace and Gromit snack! Then as we were doing that Granddad and I were chatting back and forth and we bought Beastie a new tablet - her face was utter astonishment - it shold be here by the end of the week but sadly wont be able to set it up with movies for flight home - we dont have netflix account let alone the data to download movies but I will see if I can transfer from my movie hard drives.. doubt it will be that helpful - shall see. he said she wanted to give us her money she's got to go towards it but I said no, only thing I want you to do is be the best YOU, you can be, keep your brain strong and powerful.
We did horses porridge, a 6by lesson and the big water trough was nearly empty again.. weird, so maybe deer, the bear are drinking from it aswell as the horses. or, it has a leak.. So we filled that up and shall check in the morning
Dinner was Snags , homemade fries and beans , then more coloring, movies and chatting till bedtime
Day 16 June 29
Yesterday after breakfast we went down to the barn and the big trough was nearly empty so as we filled that one we cleaned another trough and put beside it and filled that one too
Whilst they were filling we did hay for them plus started filling up the water trough for Dakota and Champ
When we got back inside a couple of hours later, we baked another cake (red velvet) and added choc chips .. and whilst it was baking we did some art. When the cake was cooling but still warm we had some with Vanilla ice cream- another first - warm cake and icecream - that vanished pretty quick.
In the afternoon we had a water fight , we were both drenched and dripping and this year no tears or whinging that I got her wet - (seemed that that water fight last year was supposed to be one sided!) Not this year. Once inside it was change, hot chocolate and wrap up in a throw
After doing the horses it was more art, then dinner and movies. When it was dark I took dogs out and asked Beastie to come and told her to look up to top of the door porch - there were 2 little brown bats - another first. She fell in love with them
Then a Charlie Chaplin short before bed .. she loves him and the slapstick .. she wanted me to video these for you
Day 17 June 30
Day hasn't started yet as she's still asleep and Granddad comes home tonight - she is beyond excited ...
730pm - we had a good day of baking - first was the bread - I made a loaf and Beastie did 6 rolls, then while they were on their last rise we made Granddad's cookies - well she did I gave her instructions
Then after the cookie slab was out and cooling the bread went in
We spent the rest of the day tidying up , doing the horses and picked some wild flowers and then for dinner it was burger! She made the burgers the first week she was here and now a bread roll to put it into! I think we've watched nearly everything Charlie Chaplin has done too! She thinks he's brilliant
She has been asking constantly what time Granddad will be here (about an hour ish and its an 11hr drive from Eureka NV) so we're practicing time and how long till - she thinks he'll be here at midnight and is counting the time for that - so she'll have a shock when we go and do the gates .
Day 18 July 1
A busy day for all of us, Granddad was very tired after a long work shift away and long drive.
Beastie helped him with unloading the truck and then we did some weeding before lunch.
Then a huge storm rolled in and she finally got her wish of playing out in the rain and storm - she and Barney were drenched and dripping. Both towel dried afterwards. She had a blast and alot of fun
Evening was steak and salad , then after it was movie with warm cake and ice cream before all of us collapsing into bed early!
Day 19 July 2
It was town day for PT, get some bits for 2moro (a fun day ahead) after getting some groceries, picking up Corvette tags we went to Caroline's. She played with the puppies again and cuddled Filepe .. then outside with Nadia on the trampoline too! We got home and Granddad had gone to Longmont to get the new trailer and we started making Granddad's favorite meal - Shepherd's Pie (Lamb not ground beef because that's cottage pie) - she chopped the onion and the potatoes while I did the lamb .. then lunch and laundry while that was all cooking
The flowers are what Beastie picked from around the ranch for GrandDad
Additional :: She's got Robert's Blood - so proud
She even asked and had 2nds! Wolfed down 2 decent portions of Shepherd's Pie - even with Onion in - she chopped it and put it in - it tastes soooo good Nana
Day 20 July 3rd
Last day and a fun day planned - first will be go with Granddad to lLaramie to drop off his truck for new tires - Uncle Jay will pick them up and they'll go for breakfast before coming back to the ranch to baked a real cake with GrandDad, play star wars with Uncle Jay and we'll probably have ribs and corn aswell and I'll be packing her case, getting her backpack sorted - plus things to do on the plane as we haven't got the speed nor the data to download the movies from her cloud.
Very early start tomorrow - have to be out the door by 4.45-5am - she's going to bed with her clothes on she said and I'll be needing alot of coffee - get to airport by 7.15am for 3+hr check in and security and then find her some food for breakfast before boarding
Sadly no breakfast - airport was overcrowded and every place was queue for 1/2hr and by the time we got to counters they had sold out of what she wanted - so ended up with junk - overpriced brownies/shakes and stuff for the plane - which was delayed half hour parked with a technical difficulty . the drive home was mad - very hot and by the time I got over the hill for home a major hail storm hit - resulting in 4-5" hail and a 3hr T-storm (she would have loved it haha)
The house is so quiet and strange - miss her terribly but so glad she had such a wonderful time
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