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.