New critters

Here is our new foal, Ocho, just a few hours oldMeeting new friends at about 2 days old.

One month old...yes, it has been a long time since I've posted!

My new critters.

More backstage at the zoo

Did I fail to mention that the "backstage pass" came with our own paparazzi?

I really think the Cheeta is giving me the evil eye here...or maybe its Eric. Whomever it was, there wasn't much getting by this cheeta.

Petting the handsome rhinos.

Flamingo feeding

More flamingo feeding.

Red Kangaroo - I couldn't believe how soft these critters were - incredible!

More fun with the Rhinos

yikes. Hand sanitizer was also provided!

Long eared kitty, also a magnicifent creature.

While the zoo does a fantastic job with their animal ambassadors and with conservation of critters, nothing was more breathtaking on our trip than to have the dolphins jumping near our kayaks in their own wild habitat, where I was an intruder on their waves. I wish I had taken my paparazzi so I could share that as well.

Spring Break

Tess has been wanting to see the ocean. So over spring break we loaded up on a big jet plane and headed south and west to see the ocean in San Diego. We went to the San Diego Zoo. We went on a "backstage pass" tour where we got to pet, feed and see animals up close. Brushing the rhinos. They love this...almost as much as alfalfa cubes.

Cheetah with his golden retriever friend. Some of the ambassador animals are raised with dogs so that they won't be so nervous in crowds. It must work since we didn't get eaten.

We had to go behind this zebra's exhibit to get to another and he couldn't resist coming to see what we were up to.

We were feeding flamingos! Did you know flamingos eat dog food soaked in water.

Here is Tess feeding one.

We got to howl with this Artic wolf. Their sound is haunting, even in a zoo, I can't imagine hearing one in the wild. He was also incredibly big.

Not only did Tess get to see the ocean, she got to go sea kayaking in La Jolla. Eric had I had such a good time doing this in Sept we went back with Tess. Eric and Tess rode in a two man kayak and mom took a single. The waves weren't too bad and the tide was low enough that we could go into some of the sea caves. But the highlight was there were three dolphins swimming nearby, and they came about 25 yards from us. Spectacular! Tess wasn't so sure at first, but she ended up having a great time. She was outfitted in two wetsuits, and got her own paddle.

Of course we saw Shamu!

At Seaworld we also had a penguin back stage pass. Here we got to see the penguin exhibit up close. It seemed like there were a bazillion penguins in all shapes and sizes.

We also got to pet a penguin. Tess knew that this was a macaroni penguin, she must've learned that in school because her folks are penguin illiterate.

Our hotel was downtown right on the ocean so Tess got to walk along the piers and see the USS Midway and other boats and ships.

If you ask Tess what her favorite part was she says "All of it, silly!"

That must be the sign of a good trip.

The cowdog union

Trig is starting a cowdog union. The first order of business is to pressure cowboys to start using small squares again instead of large rounds. The elimination of pickup loads of small squares makes it much less fun for cowdogs riding atop.
Somedays Trig gets lucky and we pick up some horse hay in small squares.

The second order of business will be automatic dog doors in the winter time.

Tessin' Around

Life is NEVER slow with a five year old in charge. We do a lot of Tessin' around. Here is Tess at a school program celebrating the 100th anniversary of Platte County. The kids sang and showed pictures they had drawn representing all the things they love about Glendo.
She had her 100th day of school in January.

She still likes birds and owls. This is a big bird nest we found up in the corral pasture.

Lots of cool trees to climb on.

And ponds to explore.

Clean up and go to town

My mother won the Governor's Arts award for her contribution to the arts in Wyoming. Many of our friends and relatives joined us for a glamorous evening.
Mother on stage

E & T and Mrs. Chambers in the background.

The weather

Around here has been rather strange. We've had -27 the first week of Feb, then again on the second. My folks thermometer said -36.

Then 4 days later, it was 60. This creates floods.

But, strange weather also makes for spectacular sun rises.

Which sometimes make the morning trudge to the school bus worthwhile.

This winter has been below zero one day to 40 the next. Since this makes it difficult to plan anything we have just been hunkering down and life keeps moving along. Tess and Eric have still been trying to get in as many rides as possible. Here is Sugar (in foal for the Spring) with Clay, her colt from a few years back, and a dog the size of a horse! For the record, a dog the size of a horse eats like a horse.

And needs a giant dog house, which E and T put together the other day.

Tess and I went ice skating the other day with some Douglas friends.

Surprise! sometimes there is even a picture of the mom.

Its not Halloween anymore!

Merry Christmas from the Palen house, Eric, Wendy and Tess and a few four-legged critters. Since we have been absent from the blogosphere for a time, here are some very random photos of some of the more interesting (I hope) things we have been up to.
It was chariot race time again in the Horseshoe Valley and Santa made a special visit.

A person just can't dress warm enough for the chariot races!

MEAT! This is the prime rib I cooked up for Thanksgiving dinner. I tried to have a mostly local food Thanksgiving and this nice prime came from one of our steers. I had our neighbor Frank feed him with some others that he was feeding and now we all have a freezer full. I also have a pig and a goat that I bought at the 4-H sale. The fact that I have announced that we will be having leg-of-goat for Christmas dinner is likely why everyone is going to Herb and Phylis's this year again. If you are afraid of expanding your culinary tastes, please don't come to my house when we are having meat loaf. "Goat Loaf" as my dad calls it, is actually very tasty.

Tess performed "on stage" at the Glendo School Christmas program. She is in the front row on the left. We were happy to report that she did not fall off the stage and the little guy to her left only suffered a few elbows to the nose. He started it.

This summer we got an additional 10 chickens and they finally began to lay a few weeks ago. Well, at least those that aren't roosters started to lay! This was the first tiny egg that Tess found.

We are already thinking about our garden for next year. Eric is quite the green thumb..here is one of his artichokes that we let flower. Notice the bee.

Have a peaceful holiday season.