Important visitors to the Johnson Ranch

Today the Johnson Ranch was fortunate enough to have two very important visitors.  Our visitors traveled a long ways from Wisconsin to make it to the ranch and here they are...  My boss "Wild Tim" and my team member "Angie Oakley"...  Ha ha!!

Now Tim is not normally so "cowboy-ish" but it was apparent he was ready to ride a bronc!  :-)  We really enjoyed Tim's western outfit right down to his sheriff's badge...

We went out back and Angie gave out a few treats.  I contemplated what devilish bronc I wanted to saddle up for Tim.  I wanted to give him the full western flavor.  (If Iowa has western flavor :-)....

Would it be Charlie, would it be Rev??  Ultimately, I decided to put Tim on the cowboy killer....  Lucy...

check out the belt buckle!

So we got Lucy all saddled up...  We posed for a picture prior to having to take Tim to the emergency room as his imminent demise was only moments away now.  We don't call Lucy the "cowboy killer" for nothing you know.

Now Tim hadn't done any bronc riding for about 20 years or so...  He decided to ease himself into it so he got warmed up a bit while Lucy got warmed up as well.

And finally Tim was ready.  Lucy gave Tim her hardest broncing trying to pile him into the dirt...  But Tim rode her out for 8 seconds and won the Johnson Ranch Bronc riding contest July 31st, 2011...

yee-haw!  Is that all ya got??

After all the bronc riding...  it was super hot so Tim helped unsaddle his wild steed...  It was so hot, I'm sure Lucy was happy to get the saddle and blanket off....

and then, as any responsible cowboy would do, Tim gave Lucy some treats, thanked her for the bronc riding, and put Lucy away in the pasture with the other horses.

It was a great visit from the "easterners"  :-)  It's always fun to have visitors to the Johnson Ranch....  especially hard core cowboys like "Wild Tim." and "Angie Oakley"  :-)

Scrubbin' on a Sunday!

Mike was in the mood to work work work on Sunday so I hid most of the day.  :-)  It was a cleaning day for him I guess and anything that was within spraying distance of the pressure washer got a once over... Now I spent Saturday cleaning the house so I was really wanting to relax on Sunday but that was out of the question now.   First it was the barn...

Then the johnnie was the next victim... 

Then he was off to get the dog slobber out of the truck.  I'm pretty sure Oscar was offended!

Molly and Rasmus were hiding from Mike so they didn't also get the pressure washer...  :-)  Here they are running around in their yard while Mike was pressuring washing everything!

One good thing that happened though, Mike actually sprayed the barn for spiders.  I was going to do it but Mike decided I probably wouldn't do it quite right (I was okay with that because spiders hold grudges and I didn't want them to associate me with the spraying for fear of retaliation :-)  So I did decide I would try to help Mike but that was short lived as it didn't take long for him to spray me in the face with it...  At least I know I won't have spiders on me now...  I'm pretty sure.  So I left Mike alone and let him do his manic cleaning.  Oscar and I went and did some practicing instead.....  Eventually Mike decided to take a break and took some pics of us.

I know you want my Quimby T-shirt don't you!

Check this out!  Oscar with a free stack (no collar)...  He's such a good boy!

Rasmus enjoyed some running around up front too.  He came up to keep me company while Mike went back on his cleaning binge...  See why we call Rasmus Melon Head??  :-)

Then Oscar decided he was hot so I did eventually fill the pool for him.  He messed around there for awhile splashing.  He's funny to watch....  just like a kid.

And that pretty much sums up a quiet Sunday here.  See ya next weekend!  There's lots of exciting stuff coming up!  Stay tuned.  :-)

ps...  K, K, K....  I miss you!  :-(

Karley's Monday

Well, there is nothing going on today except for me cleaning the house.  Those pictures would be pretty boring...  So thought I would share my last Monday with you instead.  Karley was still home so I took a vacation day and spent it with her.  We didn't do much but mess around outside.  Karley actually got Molly convinced to at least stand in the pool...  As hard as we tried, we couldn't get her to sit down though...  So at least she cooled her feet off.  Karley hosed her down so Molly was feeling pretty refreshed.

Oscar was a bit jealous but Karley fended him off so Molly could continue to enjoy her cooling feet...  I think Oscar liked the water too.

As hesitant as Molly was about sitting down in the water, Rasmus won't come anywhere near the pool if it means we want him to get in.  He prefers hanging with Mike I guess...

Karley also kept my flowers watered on the hot day.

Oscar was only temporarily put out by having to share his pool  He picked up his new ball and enjoyed some outside time...  He's getting pretty good at playing fetch but it's kind of tough getting the ball away from him sometimes.  And!!  His new ball floats in his pool so he really likes that.

We had a fun last day with Karley but now she's off to band and soccer and all those activities.  Seems like they start earlier and earlier every year.  We miss you Karley! 

Bucket List..... Dog Show..... Check!

Well, it was on my bucket list to show a dog in a real dog show so I can check that off my list.  Gotta move onto the next item which is championing a dog!  :-)  The second day went just as well (and as quick) as the first day.  Oscar again did fabulous...  We started the day from our luxurious hotel room.  By this time, Oscar absolutely owns the place.  He liked to watch all the other dogs from the air conditioning.  :-)  He's no fool.

What a view!

We got to the Qwest center at about 8:15 a.m.  Our new buddies Jill and Kruz were there again.  We started the second day with a new judge.  Aunt Kira and her spouse Alan also came to cheer us on again.

Again, we got first place in our puppy class 6 to under 9 months old so we got to show against Jill and Kruz again who handily beat us but heck, who cares.  We had a blast and Oscar just did marvelous.  The judge told me that Oscar is a very nice puppy and he felt we would do quite well when he gets a little bigger.  I was just happy I didn't trip and fall.

So here we are with our ribbons again.

Now, at this point you might note my sensible shoes.  I'll have you know I researched, studied and hunted for the right pair of shoes...  And here they are...  Cute....  I know!  Mike gets a kick out of my shoes...  Karley just finds me embarrassing.  :-)

After we were done, Oscar's fan club approached him asking for autographs and some of his attention.  Oscar gladly obliged by allowing belly rubs free of charge.  :-)  Oscar...  people magnet like always.

So we were done around 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.   Time to enjoy the show.  We wandered around and watched all the obedience, rally, agility...  it really was fascinating, plus watching all the conformation classes and grooming going on.  I'm glad I only need to stress nails!  We did sit down to relax and have a bite to eat...

Then we started pooping out.  I could tell Oscar was ready to crash (and so was I).  So we loaded up the car and headed home.  Oscar had a great time in the big city.  I'm sure he will miss his luxurious hotel room.

So long big city!

We decided to stop by in Quimby to pick up Karley, Apple, and Dora.  Thanks to Mom who volunteered to let all three stay with them..  and thank you Karley for being Apple and Dora's mom for the weekend.  We got to Quimby and sat down with the folks for a bit and let Oscar stretch his legs for awhile.

We got home and Oscar headed right for the cool kitchen floor.  He was beat and happy to be home.

But, not surprisingly, after a nap, he was ready to get outside and run around and be a dog for awhile so we brought Rasmus and Molly up to the garage for play buddies.

free!  I'm free!

melting.....

It was so hot and humid out, I had trouble keeping my camera from fogging up.  I don't know about you but I'm ready to ditch this humidity..  I don't mind the heat so much but the humidity is a real bummer!  It can leave any day now.  Molly and Rasmus weren't much for being play buddies and didn't stray too far from the fans.  Oscar didn't get too far away from the pool. 

And now today (Monday) we are hanging out spending time with Karley before she heads back to Minnesota for soccer practice.  I wanted to take a quick minute to thank my wonderful neighbor Sandeanne for keeping my plants alive in the heat and Kenny who did all our animal chores for us while we were gone.  Thanks a ton!  Send us good karma in August.  Our second show will be in Albert Lea.  See you later!

Oscar's first Dog Show!!

The day is here!  We are all ready to go!  We made it over to the Qwest Center at about 9:00 a.m.  It was a little overwhelming at first.  We've never seen that many dogs in one place...

dogs as far as the eye can see!

hmmm...  I think we are in over our heads!

Just like I had been warned, AKC shows move very quickly so before we knew it, our class was up.  At least we didn't have too much time to pace around and be nervous.   Lucky for me, I met a very nice gal named Jill who decided to give me some pointers.. (thank God!  Someone sent me their good karma when Jill showed up to help me out!)  Jill has a gorgeous 15 month old mastiff named Kruz who we got to show against.  But first our puppy class was up.

The judge was a very nice person and also gave me lots of encouragement.  We ended up with the blue ribbon in the Mastiff puppy class.  Then since Kruz won his class also, we got to be in the next class together.

Jill and Kruz.....  Jeri and Oscar

Kruz won the class, Oscar ended up in second..  Thanks to Mike's help and Jill and Kruz, our first dog show was a success and even more important...  a load of fun.  the judge told us it was so nice to see two such well bred dogs.  I was so proud of Oscar!
We were also fortunate enough to have more friends show up and support Oscar on his first day out.  Aunt Kira, and friends Kent and Tanya were able to come watch us and cheer us on.  It really made it a lot of fun!

Omaha, here Oscar comes!!

Friday, we took a vacation day from work (while I attempted to recover from the Harry Potter all nighter) and packed and scrubbed up Oscar so he would be overwhelmingly handsome for his first dog show.  We jumped in the truck about 2:00 p.m. and hit the road...

Are we there yet?

If any of you have been watching any kind of news at all, you know that the flooding in Omaha has been horrible.  We were a little anxious to see what it was like and it was shocking the amount of water...  I've never seen anything like it before...

The dog show was at the Qwest center.  There was actually water right up to a dike right behind the center.  But no water threatened our show which was a relief.  We decided to stay at the Hilton which is attached right to the Qwest center.  At first Oscar was a litter nervous but he quickly caught onto things like the elevators and the automatic doors..  He was (like always) a people magnet and had hotel patrons coming up to him all the time...  No one can resist those soft ears!  :-)  We made our way to the third floor to our room.

What was our room number??

Oscar checked out the room and quickly moved right in.

What do you mean this is your bed.  I didn't get a chance to try it out yet!!

This room is sweet!  :-)

Oscar claimed the bathroom as his own...  He felt it was the coolest room....  literally the coolest..  The marble floor was ultimately too hard to resist.

ahhh...  cool......

And then it was time to go explore outside a little bit.  Potty breaks were a little challenging.  There isn't that much green space around the Qwest Center but we made due.  :-)

Is this the right spot??  How about that spot??

And then eventually it was time for bed.  So Oscar settled down to get some beauty sleep so he could be in top form for Saturday. 

Night Night!