Unearthing a Forgotten Treasure

Those of you who stay close to Bogle news know that we finally closed on our new Texas country home a couple of weeks ago. We are now the proud owners of 32 acres of Texas country. After closing we bought some BBQ at Big Daddys, drove up to the top of our hill, watched the sun set and toasted our good fortune with a couple of cold long necks. Things are moving quickly, or as fast as laid-back Brenham allows. We have pretty much settled on the architect's homestead design but decided to lay-out the barn/workshop ourselves to keep it simple and affordable. Work on clean-up started last week and we've made great progress clearing the site of a 100 years of junk, filling one 30 cubic yard roll-off and expecting another full load next week. But among the empty feed bags and plastic barrels we have found some gems, the best being an old horse drawn farm trailer with iron spoked wheels. It was an amazing find, made even more so by the fact that it was easily wheeled out of the barn!

We were also surprised by a major omission from the realtor's property description. We discovered we have some wonderful neighbors and were honored to be invited to dine at our next-door neighbor's home last week. This couple breed and train cutting horses. Now being from England where I imagine there are few if any requirements for cutting horses, you must excuse me for being a little ignorant of the purpose of these lovely animals. I thought they were the beasts that race around the barrels, as seen at the Houston Rodeo which until now has been my only exposure to horses. Well other than those pathetic little ponies that used to patrol up and down South Shields beach carrying snotty nosed kids on their weary backs. After confidently expressing my misplaced beliefs to our neighbors they were, well, somewhat taken aback. So they showed me a video of cutting horses in action and patiently explained how these horses were used to "cut" individual cows from the herd. Which, if you know anything about cows, is a rather difficult task given the stubborn nature of cows combined with their predilection to stay with the herd. Anyway, these horses and riders are magnificently skilled and it's a thrill to watch them do their thing. If you want to see the video go to YouTube and search for "The Thrill of Cutting Horses".

Next week we'll be attending the 4th July celebrations in Independence which, I've heard, is where all the action will be. My partner has strongly advised me not to express my personal view that this holiday is to celebrate England's independence from a troublesome colony. Some people have no sense of humor.
                 

Don't Pop The Champagne Cork Yet!

Aggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Sorry, did I wake you? Three months of waiting and when the week of closing arrives it turns out that one of the sellers had an undeclared lien on a little piece of the property. The company holding the lien couldn't get the paperwork turned around in time so everything was postponed until next week. We had a locksmith, a builder, a bee keeper (don't ask!), an arborist, the next door neighbor and good friends from Houston all poised in the wings waiting to descend on this little piece of Texas just as soon as the ink was dry. Well it wasn't going to happen so we came home.    

I wanted to mention the state of the property. By that I mean the state that the sellers are leaving for us to clean up. I can't believe that people are so irresponsible. I can't imagine that people don't feel an acute sense of embarassment having people see them live in such conditions. We stopped by the property on the way out to dinner last night and noticed that a gate was missing. Not the puny garden variety, but a large please-close-it-or-the-cows-will-get-out type of gate. Turns out the sellers just wanted an extra gate - you know how you can never find one when you need it - so they simply took one home with them.                          

We spent the night at the Captain Clay, a wonderful B&B in Independence, Texas, population 125. This historic house is owned by a darling, mature lady called Thelma. As well as managing a B&B, Thelma - who is remarkably sprite despite her frail size and advanced years - keeps goats and minature horses. As if to prove she takes no shit from anyone (and she is refreshingly forthright) she also drives a Hummer. Thelma is an Anglophile and takes pride in her British heritage over that of the Germans and Czechs who also settled the area. In fact Independence was settled by the English, who for once in their history didn't plant a Union Jack in the ground and declare war against the locals on behalf of the empire. Perhaps it was because Texas had several flags already. Formerly known as Coles Settlement and established in 1824, Independence was the place to be in Washington County until Brenham beat it out by two votes as the seat of the county government in a county-wide vote . And yes, they changed the name to celebrate Texas' independence from Mexico. The Brits are never far away from a good fight are they?