Author Archives: ramblingsofaperforatedmind

Rodeo Saturday

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Saturday rodeo and my day off…..it was a miraculous sort of day! I got up a bit earlier than my body wanted, but after a pep talk and a cup of coffee (not in that order), I managed to shower and get out the door by 7:40. Hyannis is about 45 minutes from home, and I wanted to be there early enough to get a good parking space. I also knew that Deb and Scout had to be ready by 9. It was a bonus seeing other people from my (adopted) town once I got there.

I love taking pictures, and horses are always fun to photograph. I figured out how to take video with Bela’s camera, so it was a fun day.

Crow's nest

Crow’s nest


Bernice is ready to roll.

Bernice is ready to roll.


I've never seen an ugly horse. :)

I’ve never seen an ugly horse. 🙂


Another beautiful equine specimen

Another beautiful equine specimen


Warm up time in the ring

Warm up time in the ring

Double R

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For the last two months or so, I have been cleaning cabins for Pat Bridges, owner of the Double R Guest Ranch. The scenic cabins are about 20 miles outside the small town of Mullen in the Nebraska sandhills.

Pat is a charming lady with a great sense of humor and a definite idea of how her business should be run. Her housekeeping standards are high, but she wants to offer her guests a quality experience. (I now know how to make a bed with hospital corners!) This attitude keeps guests coming.

When you see this, you're almost there!

When you see this, you’re almost there!

Pat and her faithful sidekick.

Pat and her faithful sidekick.

Rules to live by!

Rules to live by!

Large cabin (upstairs)

Large cabin (upstairs)

The large cabin has plenty of room.

The large cabin has plenty of room.

One of three beds in the large cabin

One of three beds in the large cabin

Living room of smaller cabin

Living room of smaller cabin

The bath house is located between the cabins.

The bath house is located between the cabins.

Looking toward the main house from the cabins.....

Looking toward the main house from the cabins…..

If you feel the need to roam and want to visit the sandhills, the Double R is the place to be. See Pat’s website (below) for rates and more pictures of the activities that await you!
http://www.sandhilldoublerranch.com/

Ruins

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My friends, Rosario and Judith, took us to see some ruins near Tekax (Yucatan, Mexico) a few years ago. I had a lot of fun, but Ysabela and I were sure tired when we got finished! It was awesome to meet their families and enjoy some great cooking!

Victory!

Victory!

Beautiful scenery near Tekax!

Beautiful scenery near Tekax!

Sinister, isn't it?

Sinister, isn’t it?

Rosario and her dad

Rosario and her dad

Rosario and her mom

Rosario and her mom

Judith and her mom

Judith and her mom

The Chicken Chick

Ideas!

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I was waiting for laundry to wash and dry this morning at work, so I let my mind wander to blogging. As any writer can tell you, sometimes blog ideas dry up after writing for a while. Just for fun, I did a Google search for blog ideas, and came up with hubspot. There are three spaces to enter nouns that you are interested in using as topics. I entered some random things: dogs, chickens, Mexico. With a click, there were five suggestions.

If you blog, you should at least check out hubspot. You might be surprised!

http://www.hubspot.com/blog-topic-generator

Firefighting and Facebook

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Gear is ready to go!

Gear is ready to go!

After taking the Recruitment and Retention workshop at fire school in May, I realized there’s a lot of pieces to the puzzle. I feel pressured to keep reading and asking questions. We have a lot of experienced firemen in our department, so the newbies should take advantage of that knowledge. Most of the guys have forgotten more than I will ever learn! That being said, we all do monthly training so we will be sharp when a call comes. Having the gear ready is the easy part!

Many hours have been put in to create a training center for our department and firefighters in the surrounding area. The guys want to be able to practice rope rescue skills along with everything else.

Training Center

Training Center

Our department has a brand new Facebook page: Mullen VFD Community. Go check it out. There are quite a few pictures already there, and more will be added as time permits. The new page is part of our marketing effort, so feel free to share the link, comment, etc.

4H Fair

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Bela decided to try her hand at a new category of exhibits this year—Heritage. I like the category because it’s something she knows well—her family and traditions. She put together a family grouping with photo albums and a book about Melungeons. In the category Other Cultural Exhibit, she made a small display about Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Nobody else has done exhibits like these. I was proud to see that both of her projects were chosen to go to the state fair this month in Grand Island! Those fancy purple ribbons make the tables look so much nicer!

Day of the Dead table

Day of the Dead table

Family grouping

Family grouping