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On the other end of the day now, and it has been a day.  I spent it in Mesquite, visiting someone in the hospital, and quite frankly, I would have loved to of had some time out photographing the view from the window without the addition of street and parking lot lights in the way.  Still, I will show you why, lights and all. 

But first, my dinner…  This is ONE thing I REALLY missed about America while I was in the UK eight years.

Prime Rib by the Virgin River Casino.

Angel Peak from the North.

And of course this last one is my lovely daughter, who came with to visit someone in the hospital. 

Kelsey J Bacon

PS, if you would like to hire me to photograph your event, get in touch directly, on Facebook, or at kelseyphoto.com. 

Missus Bacon has avoided it, but not the boys, who brought it home from school.It isn’t homework, it is a cold virus.  Our little baby girl got it, and kept sitting on my lap…  What could a father do?  I would coddle her and keep her, and of course I got it.  I knew I would!  But she is worth it, right?  I have it, and it has kept me under the weather a bit, but most devastating is the cabin fever that has set in due to being locked down under the baby. I try to get out in the yard each evening when possible to get some exercise and some air in my lungs.  That’s okay because there is a project to work on out there anyhow.

The horses have done a fair job on the back fence, trying to get to the neighbor’s vegetation in the field between us.  At the moment, the fence is bent up and standing at a 45 degree angle.  Jordan has been helping me with the fix for the past couple of evenings.  We have a fair number of rail crossties in the yard that were put down for landscaping, but because of the wind and blowing sand here, most of them have been buried, some so deep that we have only just discovered them.  So we are digging them out in a dual effort.  One is to see how the sand goes after the air damming effect of the crossties are gone, and the other is of course to use them to stop the horses knocking the back fence over.  We are placing the ties 10 feet apart in three foot deep holes, making huge honkin’ fence posts out of them.  We are lining them up 14 feet from the back property line in order to leave a dead zone between them for the moment, and planning an abatement program when the area does grow in, such as a goat, or a roadbed.  The dead zone leaves an area wide enough to possibly bring the animal feed through when it is delivered, so there are possibilities there too.  Also, it fits in with the future plans of removing the metal rail fencing and replacing it with wire, and then putting it eventually all around the arena and making a longing circle.

Having a cold and mending fences does not mix well, especially when said fences require 3 foot holes, but it is coming along, even if slowly.

Yesterday we found one of our ducks laying dead in their watering bucket.  That was a bit of a bummer.  The only thing we can think of is that the other male must have killed it, and probably on accident.  It left a mess for me to clean up.  Pin it to the “oh well” wall.

Lately, a lot of our lives has been devoted to mending the fences and tending the animals.  The kids have really enjoyed it, and so has Missus.  As for me, after spending most of the last eight years pinned inside because of the weather, or because I did not want to go outside and be among some of those who lived around me, frankly, this has been just about the best time of my life!  It feels better than good.  Getting out in the air, and being with the animals fills my lungs and my mind with life.  (Yes, even when one of the ducks is floating belly up in the pool.)  The weather this winter has been very tolerable overall, and as spring rolls in, there is a lot of gardening to do, and plenty of sunshine will be about for horseback riding.  Jordan and I want to saddle Umber and Patches and go for a real ride out a few miles in the desert.  In fact, hopefully that will be sooner than later, especially if this cold lets up on us all! 

Ta for now!

Kelsey J Bacon

Today was a fine old day!  We got up this morning and got a lot of chores and cleaning done in time to take the afternoon off from just after 1:00PM.  After a quick lunch, and certainly not a healthy one, I went out to the arena with the boys and we carefully saddled up Umber and walked her around long enough to decide she is okay.  Dylan was first to brave her, and I walked him and Umber into the arena and around a little bit before letting them go on their own.  As it turns out, Umber is better with a saddle on her and a person on back than when she is being led by her lead rope. 

Both Dylan and Jordan rode around on her extensively, ahs she handled like a dream for them, apart from the one dash she made for a fence, which scared Dylan to the point he bailed out on her.  He hit the ground pretty hard, and tried to bugger off to his friend’s house after.  But I told him that if he were going to die of internal bleeding, it would be at home, and not at his friend’s house!  So he stayed long enough to ride again.  No more running on try number two. 

Now for the best bit…  Pardon the pun!  But she had only a halter on her head.  She didn’t even have a harness and bit.  If she rides so well without, then we figure that she will be even better with the proper gear. 

After the horsing around, and eating supper, Missus and I cleaned out her art studio and arranged things better for her out there.  I We also have come up with some more ideas for the place, and for The Prospering Peasant, such as making logs out of old card that she has recovered in our recycling but cannot use in her art. 

I also found some cast iron wares that I need to clean up and season tomorrow.  One bit is a Dutch Oven, which ought to make cooking interesting and fun as we learn how to use it! 

Kelsey J Bacon

Today I got on Precious and took her out on the trail.  She was not the only greenie on the trail today though.  Jordan got on Patches and took him out as a second rider.  It was the first time we have had any two people out on a trail together since we got here.  It was Jordan’s first time on the horse out of the arena.  It was Precious’ first time on the trail since we arrived here.  Patches behaved as expected, and Jordan panicked as expected too.  Precious behaved very well, which was unexpected. 

Jordan had been bragging for weeks about hoe he was going to get on the horse and ride like a cowboy from the moment he’s allowed to ride.  So today I had him put on his new helmet that he has to use as a precaution, and had him mount up on Patches.  As soon as I rode past him and said to come along, Jordan started saying “I can’t do this!  I can’t do this!  I can’t do this!”  I turned and said, “Yes you can JJ!  You have been going on for weeks about how great a rider you were going to be from day one, so kick that horse and let’s get out the gate!”  David had to come along and walk Patches along, leading him out the gate and down the road a couple of times to help JJ feel secure enough to go.  That done, we took to the trail across the street from the driveway and rode up to the top of the hill where you can see the whole valley.  We took it in, and I think Jordan was pretty glad that he got on and came for a ride. 

We took the horses out for about half an hour in all, and when we got back, I laid down in the sand to play with my daughter, and Jordan came along and pointed his accusing finger at me and said “That’s another thing you have forced me to do that I have really enjoyed!”  Well, that was the idea JJ!  Besides him learning to face things without fear so he can live a life full of the things he enjoys, and is unafraid to try new things. 

Patches is a great horse to ride.  His only fault is that he likes to reach for a snack.  If we cold break him of that, he’d be a perfect trail rider.  Precious was really surprisingly well behaved today.  I will like to try her again before long, and see how the two do together.  At the end of the day, if training her is a matter of riding her with Patches in lead, then so be it.  She follows commands well, and Patches is calm when the quad bikes and cars and such are around.  As a herd animal, Precious should do fine so long as Patches does. 

Kelsey J Bacon

A very dear friend has been online this morning, afternoon where she is at as she has traveled beck to the UK for work.  The conversation has provoked thought that I would like to explore deeper.  The question of identity comes into it, as does the question of how am I adapting?  There is family to consider as well as myself in asking “Where am I?” 

Being where I literally am, it is not easy for family to understand how living away from one’s native culture for so long changes who you are to a level beyond their comprehending.  I know that comes off as some sort of elitist self-pity, but it is the case.  I am grateful for it too, because it helps me to gain an understanding of what my wife and kids are going through now as they are new to my country, which, as helpful as my family would like to be, is impossible for them to understand!  Most Americans buy into the American Myth, and dismiss out of hand any troubles adapting or cultural longings because they think that everything is better here in America as though everywhere else in the world is defined as “third world.”  Even if it is better in quality or content here, the truth is, you think of what you are used to as better.  So better for my Brits is British on many things!  There are a lot of things here they have been truly amazed at, and have thoroughly enjoyed, and in many cases these things have been “as compared to…”  But there are also things that have been sent for from Worcester, Worcestershire, UK. 

Happily, because the lifestyle in the US allows for much greater freedom than it does in the UK, which can be quantified and measured, but not by the unskilled in such matters, such as me, I can say that my family are doing well here!  We are lucky to have gone from living in a 900 foot council house in the UK, to a 2.3 acre property, 1930 foot house with horses, here in Nevada.  I have my grandparents to thank for such opportunities and making this transition possible!  We are an hour from Las Vegas, so the amenities of the city life are at hand, but that hour separates us into the country life, plenty of space to move about, and only the lights of the city glowing on the horizon at night to even hint or remind us that it is there.  Missus is working, but not in the city.  She is contracting freelance work off the internet, so she is free to work when she needs to, and not commute from the bedroom to do it, though a laptop is available should she decide she needs the outdoor air, or to work on the road between here and the next small town up from here. 

So to the question of adapting, I think things are going swimmingly.  Some things are still in flux.  I expect them to be for a long time.  But some things have taken root quickly in my family, and in me, which help to remove the toxicity that a former culture can invade into a person.  The horses are a huge part of that.  Of the three here, we are working on a painted mare now to get her to the point she can be trail ridden.  Throw either of the boys on top of a horse that refuses to move when wanted, or who moves unexpectedly when not wanted, and memories of England are banished from the mind while fear and concentration take over.  Who can consider any kind of homesickness when on top of a beast who weighs more than seven times your weight?  There are many such activities here, such as my missus learning to drive a car, everyone enjoying quad biking, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, and horses to keep, more to plan for, and a landscape that is as foreign and stunning as Mars for them?  The strongest strings for any is family in the UK.  But the Internet has made it so much easier and cheaper to keep in touch with all of them!  As for the everyday things such as light switches and door handles, things work better over here.  In the UK, every vacuum cleaner we ever had would work great for four months from new, then begin to cut out after overheating during use.  It would have to be left to cool, and would cut out again before long whenever you went to finish the job.  It just has not happened to us yet over here.  And there is more floor to vacuum clean!  Things like that make adapting here very easy! 

I have a million other thoughts to consider in this, but frankly, it is time to get out of bed and get ready to train a horse today!  So I am going to do what has to be done, and get up and on with my day!  Typical of how we are getting on here! 

On Thursday I drove my grandparents and my eldest step-son to Northern Utah to stay with a relative overnight for a funeral in southern Idaho on Friday.  The Funeral was for the wife of a neighbor and friend of my grand-parents who had been in care for the last four years.  This particular couple had been married for (count them!) sixty-eight, yes, that’s 68 years! 

It is a humbling thought, and impressive! 

To boot, the the relatives we stayed with are a man who is in his final months with cancer, and expected to pass on soon, and his wife, who is bravely facing an almost certain future which could only be changed by some sort of trauma like a car accident. 

As a husband, and a father, this trip really did make me think about my wife, and my kids, and how much I appreciate them, and how I fill my roles to them. 

You could add to it the fact I was with my own grandparents and I watched them struggle with so many things on this trip. 

It has not been a depressing trip for me as I see the eventualities of life as inevitable.  There is always a risk of losing a spouse or a child, and I have seen it happen with too many people.  But I have seen those people carry on, and make a life that honors the ones that have passed away.  I have seen the opposite happen as well.  I know where I would rather be on that spectrum.  But for this moment I get to stand in the sun, no shade cast on me, I want to spare a thought for those I love, for those I have loved and lost, and include family and friends, and keep them in my heart as I fall asleep, to remember how thankful I am for each, and how important they all are to me. 

Kelsey Bacon

The Granary

How The West Was Won: Wire & Wood

The Tack Barn 1

The Tack Barn 2

Polar Opposites

Any favorites?  Comments?  Did you see a rat made of snow?

KB

Death is an eventual part of life.  If you live, then you must die.  So it is with a friend of the family this week.  We are sad at her passing, and wish her family well.  On Thursday I will be driving a small contingent from our family up to Idaho to pay respects at a service on Friday.  Saturday will return us home, and with any luck, in fair weather and safety. 

This will of course mean a break from all blogging and such for a few days. 

When I get back, I hope for fairer weather round here so we can get outside and put to use some of the reading the cold weather has allowed me time for!  There is still so much to do before spring breaks here if we are going to have any success at our adventures!  So much to do, and so little time!  Much of it learning, and much of it working..!!  Books out from the library now include books on horses, farm animals, and cheese making, as well as one classic Peanut’s comic collection for sanity’s sake. 

I think this week is going to be about getting some work done around the house, doing the drive up and back, and planning what to do next week after we are all back from the cold country! 

One last thing, since I am in a matter of fact mood, if you have not done it yet, go to The Prospering Peasant’s Facebook page and “Like” the damned thing!   

Ta,

Kelsey J Bacon

Logandale, NV