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| Life on the Ranch |
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In a nutshell:
- We live on a small ranch in the mountains of Southern California,
elevation: 5800 feet.
- Yes, we get
snow. In the winter of 2000-2001 we had six feet
on the ground.
- It is a secluded forest setting with hundreds of trees:
80-foot pines, firs, cedars, and oaks.
- I do mean secluded. We can't see any buildings from our
home except our own barn.
- We are avid animal lovers.
- Our current menagerie consists of
3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 horses, and a parrot.
- Each of our animals "talk" (through us of course) in
various voices that we have concocted for our own amusement
- Many people tell us that when they die they want to come back as
one of our animals. (Sorry, but there is a waiting list.)
(If you simply must see bigger photos, click on the smaller
ones.)
Enjoy!
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Chris & Keno |
How
she loves that horse! Frankly, I think she survived the cancer just
for him. In fact, that horse is the reason that we
built the ranch in the first place; so we could have him on our property
and she could hug him whenever she wanted. When we first purchased the land (1 2/3 acres), we found
out we could legally have 7 horses. I told her, "You can have 7
horses... or 2 horses and a husband." After
giving it some thought (!), she chose option #2. I'm so glad she
did! (She says I'm a good ranch hand.) |
"Kate" |
Kate
has been my assistant since 1990. She is loyal, smart, and hell-bent
on doing whatever she can to help me succeed. Frankly, I don't know where I'd be without her. A great man we know
says "Kate is great!" |
"Simone" |
According to our veterinarian,
Simone is
the "perfect dog". We couldn't agree more. She is a
black Standard Poodle born in 1994, and is 50 pounds of pure joy; always friendly, happy, and playful. She "talks" in an
outrageous French accent (after all, she IS a French Poodle). She
may look prissy, but is tough as nails. She can and does outrun the
horses when we go galloping through the pines. |
"Emma" |
Emma is another black Standard Poodle,
born in February of 2001. Technically, she is Simone's dog because
we got her to keep Simone company when
Sarah Jane
(our beloved Saint Bernard)
died just after Christmas, 2000. She is a doll and she also
"talks" with an outrageous French accent. We can tell them
apart, however, because Simone calls us "Ma-ma" and
"Pa-pa" and Emma calls us "Muzer" and "Fazer"
(that's "Mother" and "Father" as pronounced with the
outrageous French accent!). |
"Jesse" |
Jesse is our third black
Standard Poodle, who is the happiest most loving dog we've ever known. She
came to us from our groomer, who received her from a couple that said that
she got "too big" for their daughter so they didn't want her any more
(UNBELIEVABLE). Chris brought her home for the night; we were baby sitting
for another black poodle at the time and I went into the kitchen and was
greeted by all the dogs when I suddenly noticed that I didn't recognize her
and I said, "Who the hell are you??" Because of her wonderful spirit and
happy demeanor we didn't stand a chance and fell in love with her instantly.
Now the three poodles, Simone,
Emma, and Jesse are known in our circle as "The Supremes!" |
"Keno"
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Keno is the
world's luckiest horse. The day he and Chris found each other was
truly a glorious one. When he came into our lives, I didn't even
know how to spell hoarse, and now I'm a fairly decent
horseman!
He truly changed both of our lives, for it was because of him that we
built the ranch on which we now live. He's like a big dog, has lots
of personality, and likes to "hang around" us when we are
working in the yard; he loves to nuzzle your ear and smell your hair. |
"Kelly" |
Kelly is billed as my horse, but
technically is Keno's horse because we got her so he wouldn't have to be
alone all the time. Keno and Kelly are inseparable; in fact, it is
almost impossible to ride one and leave the other behind because they both
go nuts when the other one isn't nearby. |
"Grace" |
Grace came to us as a gift from
a neighbor who had too many horses. Kelly passed away in July, 2009 and Keno
was going crazy by himself, so Grace kept him company. She is a thoroughbred
and raced until she was four. She has quite a personality and is very
entertaining, running and jumping for no apparent reason, very friendly, and
"bombproof" which is a equine term meaning that she isn't easily frightened. |
"Lily" |
AKA "The Urinator",
Lily "talks" like Arnold Schwartzenegger in "The
Terminator". Unfortunately we found out that Lily is a 3-cat
cat after we got our 4th cat. We are back to 2 cats now, but she still
has an occasional relapse. Lily is the 'character' of the family...
most of our best stories involve her. Let me put it this way:
she's on a feline version of "Prozac". I'm not kidding. |
"Phoebe" |
Soft as a bunny and sweet as
can be, Phoebe's job is to lie around all day. She does it
well. She was rescued from the center divider of a freeway in Los
Angeles by a very brave friend. Phoebe "talks" in a
southern accent, and is proud to be the least trouble of any of our
animals. |
"Poncho" |
Poncho was a birthday gift to
Chris from her father in (are you ready for this?) 1957! He is
very mean to everyone except Chris. He has, does, and will bite
anyone except her, even if they feed him; we're talking about major flesh
removal here, not just little pecks. He also talks, er, uh, screams
periodically, and when he does it is advisable to leave the area in order
to protect yourself from permanent ear damage. Of course, this is
only my opinion. Chris loves him, though, because they grew up
together. Poncho loves to listen to wind-up music boxes |
"Henry & Gladys" |
There
are two ravens that allow us to live on their turf. We always
considered them to be rather tame, and now that they are used to us and
the food we leave for them (old rolls, dead mice, etc.) they have begun to
follow us as we move around the property (moving from tree to tree),
and also when we walk the dogs in the forest. They even come when we
call them. About a year after Chris named them 'Henry and Gladys', she
discovered that they had been hand-raised by a neighbor whose name is,
believe it or not, "Henry!" |
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