Mud Season Monday from Drowsy Water Ranch

I know I've sort of fallen off course with the Monday at the Barn thing. Don't worry, the barn is still here. And as for life on the ranch, I'll say it has been typical for this part Colorado in April. Warm. Then Cold. Then sun. Then snow. You know where that leaves us? With mud. This family ranch does a Jeckyl and Hyde transformation in the next few months. From a mud covered  squishy and squashy patch of brown, to a green, blooming, beautiful mountain valley.  We're all anxiously awaiting the latter. In the meantime, we'll be here, in the mud. 

Mud Season Monday from Drowsy Water Ranch2009-04-06T19:18:00+00:00

Mud Season at Drowsy Water Ranch

Around Drowsy Water Ranch, you get really excited for spring. You start dreaming about flowers and budding leaves, sunshine and baby animals.  And then the sun actually starts shining, the days start warming up and what you end up with is a whole heck of a lot of M-U-D, mud, mud, mud! What you forget when you live in the city is that concrete and asphalt are really wonderful things. You can walk out your front door and not step in mud. You can drive your car down the road and not step in mud.You can let your kids play outside and they won't come [...]

Mud Season at Drowsy Water Ranch2009-03-09T17:29:00+00:00

Gearing Up at Drowsy Water Ranch

Like I mentioned last week, it seems like summer is years away.  We've grown accustomed to the cold and the relative solitude of the winter.  But then you look at the calendar and you start to count. . .one month. . .two months. . .three months. . .That's it! Three months? That's all the time that is left until staff start arriving again and we get going on another great summer?And then you start to panic a little. There is so much to do! Our staff starts arriving in May to help get the ranch put back together after the long winter. That means we've just [...]

Gearing Up at Drowsy Water Ranch2009-02-09T22:08:00+00:00

Colorado Ranch Monday

It's happened. Again. It does every year about this time. I've started to forget. It must be the snow or maybe it's the cold.  Every year about this time I get so entrenched in winter that summer seems like it was just a dream.  Some far-away fairy-tale place called Drowsy Water Ranch where the sun shines warm and bright, friends laugh and sing, and animals frolic in the green fields.  Does such a place really exist or was it just me and my wishful mind again? 

Colorado Ranch Monday2009-02-02T18:50:00+00:00

Dude Ranch Monday

I can't help but love living on a Colorado Dude Ranch in the winter.  The snow gently blankets the ground and all the buildings that, in the summer, host dudes from all corners of the earth. It's like the whole ranch is napping.  Resting up for the tireless hours of work coming in the warmer months.  This is a typical Monday here.  Here is what is going on:Here a few of the horses that are wintering at the ranch gather in the corrals for some hay.  The entry to the ranch is a different site from the summer. Tire tracks wade through the snow, [...]

Dude Ranch Monday2009-01-26T18:57:00+00:00

Colorado Dude Ranch Monday at the Barn-new snow

Around here, the snow creates a lot of work and it creates a lot of play. That means Ken is out plowing snow,  Randy Sue is out feeding horses and cows, Tyler is permanently wearing coveralls, and I, the lazy one, am drinking a lot of hot drinks in front of the fire.  But we all downhill ski, cross country ski, snowmobile, and snowshoe when we can - that is the best part about the snow-so it is not all bad. In the next few weeks I'll be doing my best to explain two things. First, the question we get so often this time of [...]

Colorado Dude Ranch Monday at the Barn-new snow2009-01-12T21:25:00+00:00

The first Monday on a Colorado Dude Ranch

Greetings, earthlings.  Welcome to a new year.  Around the ranch, we have plenty to look back on and a lot to forward to.  Here's a few highlights from our ranch photo log from the last year, in no particular order.  Fall in Grand County.Moving cows to summer pasture.The spring flood. Ranch friends. A Friday night tradition.Logs, logs, logs. Getting ready to ride.

The first Monday on a Colorado Dude Ranch2009-01-05T19:53:00+00:00

Monday Barn Shots

If you've been here during the summer, you know that Mondays at the barn are one crazy scene. Wranglers are running every which way, Ken is talking, Randy Sue is riding horses, people are meeting their horses, some rides are in the arena, some rides are leaving down the road, some rides are headed to First Point.  It is one heck of a busy day.  What happens when it's all over? What does the ranch even look like without the hustle and bustle of summer? That's what we're going to find out. On Mondays, I'll post pictures from around the ranch.  And, just so [...]

Monday Barn Shots2008-12-01T22:45:00+00:00