Shelman Horse Sale

Little guy waiting to go into the ring

This horse didn't want to walk across the pallet so he jumped.

Pulling a tire

A local horse breeder and trainer had a sale this summer, and I went to take photos. It was at the Bell-A ranch this time. I got to see some of the horses for sale who were identified with numbers on their flanks. Different buckaroos put the horses through their paces which included pulling a tire and walking over a pallet.  It shows how well the horses are trained.The little guy in the photos with the big hat someone said was 5 or 6 years old. Shelman trains horses for working with cows. At one of his auctions I went to last year one horse went for $7,000.

Bell-A Homestead

The Bell A is a ranch near Burns that was originally owned by Bill Hanley who died in 1933. I wrote an article on him for the Oregon Encyclopedia. (The link is http://oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/hanley_william_1861_1935_/)  The Shelman Horse Sale was held there recently, and I went to see the place and take photos. It is a truly gorgeous piece of property. 

Terry and Tim

Here's Terry at the Central Pastime Bar where she goes to watch her favorite San Francisco Giants pitcher, Tim Lincecum.  She can't get the Giants games on cable at home.  John and I joined her one Friday afternoon to watch Lincecum win the game. Terry likes his style of pitching -- very tai chi.

Art Walk Musicians

Kate Marsh (left in photo) helped organize an Art Walk in Burns where the work of over thirty local artists and artisans were displayed. One could walk from store to store to see the exhibits or drive to different locations. Some musicians sang and played on the sidewalks. Here are singers Kate, Jane and I with guitar and autoharp ready to entertain. It was fun but the traffic was so loud no one could hear us. It was probably better that way. 

Juntura Hot Springs

Oasis Cafe in Juntura

Dry thistle. So I thought it was pretty.

Note road entering and leaving river. We did not drive across.

Malheur River

Ugly River Shoes necessary for wading rivers

I don't really know if that is the name of these hot springs which are on an island in the middle of the Malheur River a few miles east of Juntura. You have to know where you are going to find them. Of course, John knew since he is a hot springs aficionado. We went yesterday, stopping first at the Oasis Cafe in Juntura for lunch and on the way back for one of their fabulous milkshakes. However, one has to pause on reading the hand lettered signs on the door of the cafe:  Restrooms for customers only; We cannot accept any trash; We have worms. Hmmm. We found the road into the hot springs and met a couple walking out whose battery went dead in their giant truck while they were listening to the radio in the middle of nowhere. Of course, we had jumper cables and they were soon on their way which left us the sole use of the shade of the lone juniper to park our truck. One has to wade the fast moving river to get to the island. John did but we had to find me a slower moving spot to wade across since I'm such a frail thing. I didn't take the camera across the river because John was afraid I'd take a tumble in the water and loose the camera. So no hot spring photo but just imagine the big pool at Mickey Springs and that is what this one looked like. By the time we left the temperature was 102 degrees. That milkshake sure tasted good.

Fire danger

Smoke cloud looking east

Smoke cloud looking south. Blue sky to the right.

Smoke, smoky and smokier

This past week and the week before John was called out to the Miller Homestead fire near French Glen and the Anderson Valley fire. Both are contained now. He volunteers with the Crane Rangeland Fire Dept, an all volunteer community organization.  A 1,000 gallon Rangeland water tank truck is parked in our yard. John maintains it, keeps it filled from a neighbor's irrigation well, and drives it to where it is needed when called. Photos are him leaving for the Miller Homestead fire and the smoke from the fire on our horizon which was 60 miles to the southeast of us. We postponed a weekend jaunt to the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge because of the fire danger in the area. Both fires were set off by lightening.

Blitzen

Blitzen and his mother, Harriet. Aunt Yoda is in the background

Blitzen is over three months old now and loves to bite and devil his mother and aunt. He seems to prefer the latter and spends a lot of time bothering her. Both mares seem to put up with him. He's loosing his baby fur and is becoming very sleek.  He spends most of his day eating, sleeping, rolling in the dust, galloping and playing.