|
|
|
|
2009
| 2010
Havano
Ranch is located on 30 acres just north of Elfrida, Arizona, which is
in the south east corner of the state. We have a very small equine rescue,
that is privately run. Our goal is to see Havano Ranch develop into a
horse-oriented facility and be able to host over-night travelers with
horses, weekend seminars and clinics, as well as take in abused/neglected,
abandoned and/or "forgotten" horses. Slowly but surely, things are falling
into place. We know it won't happen overnight, but everything we make
on our sales goes toward the horses, achieving that dream and reaching
our goals.
In
addition to making and selling our soap products at the Bisbee Farmer's
Market, we are also branching off in a tiny division called "Salado
Farms". This is Rick's baby, but still part of the Havano family.
Salado Farms is (so far) contained mostly in the backyard. This is where
we grow the loofas and other vegetables that we hope to sell...or a least
consume ourselves. Our goal this year is to have all our neighbors lock
their cars by August so we can't deposit our abundant zuchinni crop on
their front seats!
Also
contained within Salado Farms is our worm farm. That's right. WORMS. We
raise them for their vermicompost and as a way to take care of the piles
of horse poop. They love it! We started out with a pound of worms in April
2009 and now have about 75 pounds out in the manure pile.
|
Currently,
Havano Ranch is home for two horses—a paint named Shiloh and a red
gelding named Beau, several outdoor cats (the count varies), four indoor
cats (Bark, BD, Trixie and Mo), one outdoorcat "at large" (Hemi—who
checks in every 4-6 weeks for a day or two) and two humans.
Eventually
we will be adding chickens to the family, not only for their fresh eggs,
but for bug control as well. We will also be getting a few goats in the
future, but that's down the road.
We still continue
to have our little "adventures" ...and in some cases, "mis-adventures"
around the ranch. However, for the most part, we've managed to maintain
our sense of humor. The frontal lobotomies have helped a great deal.
We still continue
to find pieces of pottery shards all over the place. Every time it rains or
we have a wind storm, more pop up and we're now close to filling up our third
coffee can. I still do research as time allows, but haven't had anything new
to add that's worth mentioning.
January,
2010
The year
has started off quiet. We've actually managed to have a couple of weekends when
it wasn't raining or the wind was blowing at 50+ MPH and got some of the scrub
brush burned off around the perimeter. And mysteries still abound...in the course
of prepping for one of the burns, we found a "mystery pipe" sticking
up about a foot out of the ground. The pipe is about six inches wide, made of
PVC and capped. Dropping a rock down inside tells us it goes down about 12 feet...into
what?
Like all
the other mysteries around here, this is one that we've walked and ridden horses
past hundreds of times and because of the way the brush is growing, never noticed.
The pipe is about 200 feet from the house and does not show on any of the building
diagrams for the property.
We think
it might be an additional septic, which would be nice if we ever have guests
stay with an RV. I know the previous owners had a travel trailer...it was still
here for about a month after I moved in.
Well...we
shall see...
Back
to top of page
February,
2010
Another
quiet month. We are starting to dig up last year's garden and get it ready for
planting. However, we are going to wait until about mid-April this year to start
flinging seeds around. Last year we got in a hurry and planted too soon. This
year, we're going to try to do it right!
We've also
had one of the rainiest winters in a long time. Seems like it's been raining
just about every weekend. Why is that? We have wonderful weather during the
week when everyone is working. And crummy weather on Saturday and Sunday. When
I become Queen of the World, that nonsense is going to stop!
I also had
a funny thing happen one Saturday. Rick and I made our weekly trip to the feed
store. When I walked in, the owner, Annette, handed me one of her business cards
with a lady's name and phone number written on the back. "This lady is
looking for you," Annette told me, "but you don't know her. It's something to do with your soap."
Okaaayyyy....
When I got
home, I called the number on the card. Juanita answered the phone. Come to find
out, she had been all over the county looking for me! Wow. At Christmas, Juanita
had received a bar of my soap from a mutual friend of ours. She loved it! Juanita
is also a member of the Douglas Art Association. She asked me if I would be
interested in putting some of my soap and artwork in the museum art gallery
giftshop. I took some soap and a couple of my painted horseshoes down the following
Saturday. That's pretty cool!
Back
to top of page
March,
2010
Rick is no longer allowed to buy new tires for ANY vehicle that we own or will own. Back in late October/early November, he put new tires on the mini van and that's when the donkey totaled the car.
At the end of February,
he put new tires on the El Camino. The first day of March, the engine blew up
on his way to work. A new engine was found on Friday and ordered, so it's just
a matter of hurry up and wait for it to be delivered and installed. He missed
about three weeks of work...two waiting for the car and one week of spring break.
UGH.
Why not rent a car,
you ask? Let's see...he makes about $300 a week. A rental car would run at least
$350. Stay at a hotel? $250 a week...plus meals. Neither option is economical
to our finances.
A friend of ours,
Bob, recently moved to Elfrida and is starting a badly needed towing business.
He had planned on opening a state-of-the-art automotive repair shop, but between
the state and county red tape, decided to go to "Plan B", which is
the towing and impound yard. Up until the 14th of March, we had been his only
customer!
While Rick was off
with the car, Bob put him to work at his Elfrida homesite. Rick put in water
lines for Bob's garage and ran the tractor around the property and did some
other work. Bob had to go back to Phoenix on some business for a few days and
asked Rick if we would take the tow truck calls while he was gone. So the tow
truck was parked at our house. The joke with the neighbors was, "We see
you have a tow truck parked at your house." Our answer was, "Yes...we've
broken down so many times, they let us keep it." We now have the truck
every weekend. At least for the time being...
We also borrowed
a friend's roto tiller and have most of the garden tilled and ready to plant,
which we'll start doing the first week of April. Last year we planted too soon.
Hopefully this year we'll get it right!
In the meantime,
we've been trying to quit smoking. At least he has. I've slowed down quite a
bit. Of course, not having any wheels (or money) to get into town helps.
Back
to top of page
April, 2010
The days are getting warmer and most of the planting is done. For the most part, it was another quiet month. I have yet to make it to the Bisbee Farmer's Market, which started on the 24th and missed the Pearce/Cochise Days festival because we had to take care of the El Camino, which developed ignition problems. Since it's our only source of transportation, taking care of the car is a priority. Like Rick is fond of saying, "Everything happens for a reason." I could smack him up the side of his head when he says that, but 99% of the time, he's right.
So in the meantime, I've learned how to make bagels. Yummy!
I also started taking care (somewhat) of Rick's worms and I am running several planting experiments with the worm bins and some of our garden items.
How many of you play FarmVille on Face Book? I never had time. Rick would come home from work and tell me about some of the folks he works with who rush home during their lunch break to play. "They're crazy! They're obsessed! Don't you DARE get involved in that game!"
Yes, dear. I won't, dear. Don't have time, dear. We have
our own FarmVille right outside, dear....
And over Easter break, who do you think started playing FarmVille? Who gets to monitor the farm while he's at work? We are currently at level 31....
Back
to top of page
Home |
Rescue | Horse Shoes
| Art Shoes | Cards
'n Prints | Horse Bling
Soap | Horse Tales |
Fly Masks | Light Switches
| Memories | About | History | Contact
