THE BIG THICKET RIDE

Truscott, Texas...about 100 miles north of Abilene in north central Knox County... founded in 1880, the community was originally known as China Lake, after a small nearby lake bordered by numerous chinaberry trees. When the county was organized in 1886, however, the community applied for a post office, submitting the name Truscott in honor of J. J. Truscott, a local pioneer. In 1907, much of the town burned down. The town was then moved a mile to its present site to take advantage of the newly constructed Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway.

The Wichita Divide (this area of Texas) was once a part of the Permian Sea of Texas. Indians (Kiowa, Apache and Comanche) lived along the Wichita Rivers about 10,000 b.c.. Texas was under Spanish Rule until 1821, Then under Mexico until 1836. The Wichita Rivers were known only to Indians and Fur Traders. Reports mentioned huge prairie dog towns and immense rattlesnakes near the South Wichita between present Truscott and King County. The buffalo were pushed west saving the grass for the cattle, In the 1870's , Indians swarmed frontier counties then retreated up the Wichitas and Brazos beyond reach.

Family roots, in this area, reach as deep into the red clay land as do the hardy mesquites. The Moorhouses called this pasture "The Big Thicket"...

Circle Bar Ranch (est. 1982)- Truscott, Texas

As I crossed the Pease River one early school day morning, I received a call from Luanne that she and Susie were headed to Truscott the next morning to gather cattle with the Circle Bar. As our conversation came to a close, I soon realized that consuming my mind was my mission to submit a request for a substitute teacher for the following day. It was a done deal...

We met at Susie's house the next morning at 6:00, loaded Shorty and made our way west and then south to Truscott. I had only been there one other time and that was for a street dance last summer! We were supossed to meet Eugenie at her barn around 7:15. We pulled in to the ranch and it was 34 degrees on the truck thermometer. Eugenie was cleaning a couple stalls, fed some horses and then we were off. We followed them way out in the middle of no where to pick up another horse, a saddle and met up with the cowboys that had been camping and gathering cattle for a week.

Following Jerry Bob and Eugenie to the pens.

Jerry Bob and Eugenie Daniel - owners of the Circle Bar Ranch

Heading out...Once we left the pens, we wound our way east through the cedars and rocky breaks at a long trot. I used one of their amazing gray geldings. He was so steady and sure-footed!

Topping one of the rocky points, Jerry Bob showed us where the cattle were and where we would be driving them back to the pens.

It's thick cedar country with lots of rocks, sand and rugged terrain. We went up and down some pretty crazy stuff! It we didn't have to pay attention negotiating the terrain as we went, I would have snapped a few "en route" pics...It was wild!

Back in "the day", cattle rustlers were known to hide stolen cattle in these hills and canyons...and marauding Indians wreaked havoc on settlers...it was like stepping back in time!


Several species of cacti grow out there, so we were glad to have our chinks on!

ON THE LOOKOUT...

We waited at the base of this ridge, so we wouldn't get a head of the cowboys who were driving the herd toward us.

Jerry Bob scouted from above...Perfect vantage point!

Bringing 'um in

At the pens...

Eugenie took us over to see one of their studs and the upcoming colt crop.

The original bank in Truscott.

The newly remodeled bank building, that is now the headquarters of the Circle Bar Ranch. This was where the street dance was held this past summer. Circle Bar has purchased the buildings that remain as the center of the Truscott community. The old church was totally overhauled and made into a spectacular lodge for hunters and guests.

THE CHURCH...PRE-RENOVATION

The side of one of the old Truscott buildings.

SANTA FE SANTAS!

HUGE thanks to a friend of mine, Cece, who is blessed to spend time enjoying life both in Vernon and Santa Fe. She graciously offered to take a couple of my Santas (samples) to show some of her friends in various design boutiques in Santa Fe. As it turns out, Trish, at American Country Collections (ACC), requested 3 of them on consignment in their store. With only a week of time to design, create and produce... I had a full weekend ahead of me!

After a jam-packed school day on Friday, I headed straight to Wichita Falls to stock up on "Santa makings". Arriving back home at 9pm, with a bag heaping full of Friday tests to grade by Monday, and several sacks of heavy tapestry fabrics, fancy trims and assorted goodies...I spent the next 2 hours grading papers, knowing that there would be NO time later in the weekend! With a good night's sleep and a very early morning wake up, "Santa's workshop" was opened!

In the dark morning hours, I found myself trudging through the dew covered pasture grasses- pajamas and boots- searching for the perfect wooden base for my project. Finally, as the sun winked on the horizon, my search ended. A 4' long, old and weathered, fence post. After hurling it on my shoulder, I grunted my way back up to the house. We had just had 2 days of rain, so it was heavy, and wet and I was definitely not in lumber-jack form! Setting it in the barn with the huge shop fan blowing on it to dry some of the moisture out of it - I headed up to my studio to get organized. Three body forms were cut out of 1x6 pine and with Dyke's help, the bases were cut. I was all set! I worked all day and all night - til' 1am - staging each Santa as I went.

As I slithered into bed, I quickly found that my second wind took over. Ideas swirled in my head so fast that I just knew that I was losing my mind and would probably need to be medicated...Sleep was no where to be found! No rest for the weary! I must have dozed off at some point, because at 5:00 the next morning, I seemed rested enough to get up and start again. Sunday was a blueprint of Saturday - although I found myself wallowing into bed at 10pm...I knew that I was ahead of schedule...so I could finally sleep. My efforts were blessed with God's hand and here are the 2 finished Santa Fe Santas!

PHEW - what a whirlwind weekend!

SHOOT 'UM UP!

This past weekend was the 3-day CMSA (Cowboy Mounted Shooters Association) Regional competition where I had my booth - (like last year)... It was great to see old faces that I had come to know 12 months ago, do some jewelry business, and completely enjoy the whole weekend of activities! Come Tuesday, they all head north to Amarillo for the World Competition! Good Luck to all those amazing, wonderful people that I have been blessed to get to know in the last year! A special thanks for Phil and Mark for their help unloading and loading all of my "stuff"! The entire weekend went to help in raising funds for the new Red River Museum extension and update!
Check it out on their website: http://www.redrivervalleymuseum.org/

My booth!

Two of the Mounted Shooters! Their 45 ca. pistols run @ 1,500.00/set and the custom leather holsters -depending on how ornate and tooled they are run close to the same!

They come from all walks of life and all over this glorious nation - from Texas to Florida, to Tennesee, to Washington to Idaho...Colorado...Oklahoma...Misouri....
Arkansas...Louisiana...Ohio...They're regular people in during the "regular year", from nurses, to air traffic controllers...Bell Helicoptor mechanics...ranchers...Viet Nam Vets...electrical engineers...lawyers...secretaries...retired teachers...horse trainers...commercial refrigeration business owners...retired coal miner...dog trainers ...ETC (JUST LIKE YOU AND ME!)

Cindy Duke - originally was living in Hawaii and spent her days on the beautiful golf courses of that delicious state! She met James Duke, a bachelor from Oklahoma, and left that golfing life for ranch life in Oklahoma, where they raise Black Angus cattle and Catahoula Cattle Dogs!! Riding her gorgeous Leopard Appaloosa with a perfect heart spot on his hip! She's from Big Cabin, Oklahoma and what a sweetheart! Check out her horse motel/ranch @ www.bigcabinhorsemotel.com. Her App is the grandson of Secretariat!

Here I am as a 10 year old (1974) in Lexington, Kentucky (Paris, KY) with Secretariat! It is a photo that I will cherish my entire life, but only have come to realize the depth of how special this photo truly is! With the new movie. " Secretariat", that I am really looking forward to seeing...it brings back all of those amazing memories of when I was in Kentucky!

My parents flew me (with them) to a wedding of one of my dad's college swimmers from Williams College. The bride's parents were good friends with the owners of Claiborne Farms (where Secretariat lived), so we had a private tour of the farm and were then introduced - up close and personal to Bold Ruler -Secretariat's sire, Riva Ridge -a Belmont winner and 4-5 other "big-name" Thoroughbreds that resided at that amazing blue-grass farm! As I have become a grown woman - always having that photo in my bedroom since it was taken - I have suddenly come to truly realize how blessed and amazing my journey to Kentucky, all those many years ago, really was! I am thankful, and praise God for allowing my path, and my parents path to cross with all of those wonderful people that I have come to know! (The photo was larger than my scanner, so I wasn't able to get it all in the scan!)

Waiting to hear their name!

The Videographer...

WAITING IN THE WINGS...

5 shots down and 5 shots back! 200+ patterns to learn! Using black powder and no projectile in the bullet, the hot black powder residue from the shot, is what pops the balloon targets that need to be reset after each run! The range boss reports with hand signals whether it was a clean run or not. A 5 second penalty is added to their time for each missed balloon or for a dropped gun. It's LOUD, but totally FUN to watch!

Men, Woman and Children compete...it's totally a family affair!

BADGER HENRY - A COWBOY/INDIAN ARTIST HAS MADE THE TRIP FROM THE TEXAS PANHANDLE, BOTH YEARS, TO DISPLAY AND SELL HIS AMAZING COMANCHE BEADED, BRAIN-TANNED LEATHER GARMENTS, BAGS, HIDE COATS AND ACCESSORIES ALONG WITH HIS GORGEOUS PALM LEAF HATS! WHAT A CHARACTER!

WE HAVE BECOME FRIENDS AND I CAME TOO CLOSE TO BUYING A BRAIN TANNED AND BEADED DEER HIDE DRESS! I COULD SEE MYSELF WEARING IT TO SCHOOL AND WOWING ALL OF MY KIDS (EITHER THAT OR THEY'D COMMIT ME TO SOME LOCAL PSYCH HOSPITAL!)

SATURDAY NIGHT WAS A BAR-B-Q FEED WITH A DANCE BY OUR WESTERN TRAIL COWBOY CHURCH BAND. GREAT MUSIC, GREAT FOOD AND GREAT PEOPLE! THAT MORNING AT 7AM WAS A CHUCK WAGON BREAKFAST TO START OFF THE FULL DAY OF COMPETITION! LIKE A STEP BACK IN TIME!

SUNDAY MORNING (8AM) WAS COWBOY CHURCH IN THE ARENA. THE WONDERFUL RANDY GUNN AND HIS WIFE HEIDI GAVE THE SERVICE AND IT WAS ONE OF THOSE A-HA MOMENTS FOR MANY. IT WAS DOWN TO EARTH, RUSTIC, AND ALL ABOUT THE ANALOGY OF THE WESTERN NIGHT SKY AND HOW REAL AND ALIVE IT CAN BE COMPARED TO JESUS AND HOW REAL AND ALIVE HE IS! WE SANG AMAZING GRACE, THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND AMERICA! GOOSE BUMPS GALORE! Check out their amazing and very blessed cowboy ministry: www. GunnPoint.us

WHAT A SUPER WEEKEND HAD BY ALL! NEXT YEAR IS THE "CLASSIC"...WHERE A $100,000 HORSE TRAILER RIG WILL BE GIVEN TO THE WINNER OF THE COMPETITION! SHOULD BE A GREAT TIME, ONCE AGAIN~!

FALL IS HERE...AT LAST!

There's nothing like a spectacular sunrise over the Plains of Texas on a cool, dewy Sunday morning! I lay in bed, listening to the roosters begin their morning serenading, and knew before I opened my eyes, that it must be sunrise. Yup, 'shore 'nuff, the gorgeous orangy-fall-melon-of-a-sun was peering over the horizon. It was also opening day for deer season - bow hunting only. Dyke and Zack had gotten up a couple of hours earlier to head to the lease, in hopes of bringing home some winter venison.

Church was amazing this morning and full of surprises... Two young rodeo cowboys from Vernon College had been baptized in the church pond last Wednesday and were going to make the journey back home to Kansas. The newness of Christ in their hearts was fresh, raw and glowing. Their lives had been changed forever. I had only seen them - never met them - but strangely felt like I had known them for many years. At the end of the service this morning, as people were heading home for the day, I felt that I needed to say hello to these young guys, and bid them a safe trip home. Earlier in the service,Pastor David had sent around a few hats to collect some traveling money for them. So, as I handed Tanner my meager offer of ten dollars to help them on their journey, he turned to me with his eyes full of tears. I could feel the depth of his story and all of the things left undone in his life. As I prayed with him right there in the aisle, as people were heading out the doors, I noticed that his tears were soaking his black felt hat that he clutched in his hands. I knew without a doubt that Jesus had a hold of his young heart and was now in control of his life, if he would only surrender it all to God. It was a moment in time that I will not soon forget and I pray that God allows their paths to cross again at the Western Trail Cowboy Church.

The other surprise was that we (our church) held a wedding this morning! It was beautiful, simple, powerful and without all the "to-do" that most American weddings involve. A young local couple who are obviously very in love and wanted to make it official in front of their church family. Starched white shirts, Wranglers and boots...perfect.

The weather has cooled off - 50's in the morning and 70's-80's in the day. Crisp, and cool! You can smell "Fall" in the air! I love to walk outside in the early dawn and sip on my hot coffee as the birds awaken from the night and the world lightens up with the break of day.

After church, I decided to get Zack to take a few pics to update my profile. We took the dogs up to our northern fenceline, snapped a few shots and then he and the dogs walked home through the lower pasture. It was a gorgeous late afternoon!