Havent missed much..

The rain is really putting a damper on things, although Saturday we were very fortunate and it did not rain at all on our Dutch Oven Cooking Day!

The horse club put on a day of instruction and cooking with Dutch Ovens. Derek and I had always had the impression they were a pain in the ass to deal with so we took the opportunity to learn and spend the day with friends and food! :)

The information, food, learning, cooking, socializing.. was all GREAT! Derek and I each cooked a seperate dish and we realized in the process how we would spice up the meals differently for the future and how EASY it was! Here are some of the things we ate, ALL out of Dutch Ovens:
Cinammon Roll type bread
Cheese Pizza Bites
Chicken & Rice
Chicken & Dumplings (2 versions)
Awesome Potatoes
Meatloaf (Fantastic!)
Veggies w/Cheese
Apple Cobbler
Chocolate Cherry Cake
Pineapple Upside Down Cake

THAT was A LOT of food to sample!! We all were stuffed and enjoyed de-bloating in front of the bonfire!

We made plans to ride on Sunday however we awoke to pouring rain... by 2pm the sun was out, but we had already made other plans to go Dutch Oven shopping! No we did not buy one, just wanted to shop around at the sportsmans store to get an idea of the cost, but we did buy our Fishing Licenses, the time/season is upon us. We have not figured out yet how to balance out fishing, horse riding, bike riding, cooking/cleaning, yard work and other numerous projects to get done.. Nothing to figure out when it is raining all the time though!

I've had this dilema for the past 2 weeks, our club was also hosting a Brand Inspection Day this past weekend. Basically you take your horse to the inspector, he looks at your paperwork that proves you are legal owner of the horse and creates a lifetime card that you carry on you at all times when hauling your horse, so if you get pulled over, you have WA State approved proof you own the horse. Your horse does NOT have to have a brand, it actually is much simpler if the horse does not have one. Well I found out that because Edgar DOES have a brand and because I did NOT know who branded him, I was unable to get the inspection done. Bummer! I have been researching for the past 2 weeks trying to find the ranch that branded my horse which is quite the project.

Basically I have had to email each state I think he might have come from individually and contact the brand dept for that state and ask them to research their brand books to see if Edgars Brand was registered in their state. I did find his brand in CA and OR, 2 different ranches have the same brand.. very common. I did not find the brand in any other states in the West. The dept's could only send me addresses, no emails or phone #'s. About 10 days ago, I sent 6 letters off to the 6 different addresses I could find online for the 2 ranches that might have branded my horse, never expecting to get a response.

Yesterday I get a phone call and I noticed it was an out of state # and almost ignored it, but thought.. well MAYBE it was a call about my horse! Am I GLAD I answered that call.. Sure enough, it was the ranch in OR and the ranch manager said that my horse came off that ranch and they branded him!!! WHOOHOO.. I was overjoyed! He didnt have email, so basically I have to mail to him a letter indicating what I need from them, they will write it up and sign it and mail back to me so I can then get my horse inspected and get legal paperwork through WA State to haul my horse! :) Chances are even if I haul out of state, I will never get pulled over, but it is worth the $85 cost to be safe and not sorry.

And the other great news is that although the ranch manager was not there when my horse was there, he does know someone who was and will try to get me some history on my horse, maybe even find out when he was born etc.. I'd love to know who his sire/dam are if possible as well, but I'd be happy just knowing what year he was really born.. I HATE not knowing the exact age of my horse. Okay sorry Derek, I keep calling Edgar MY horse, but we all know he is YOUR horse! :)