Shades of Grey

I am drinking beer while writing an article for March’s issue of the Nevada Rancher.

I have a side of rawhide soaking in the bathtub, which means that when Adrian goes for her nightly soak in the tub, I’m probably going to get my ears boxed.

My poor little Roo dog has a bad back and is currently sitting in my lap feeling poorly, and I can’t fix it.

I found my favorite braiding fid that I thought was lost forever in the move and I have some callouses finally starting to form where the rawhide strings rub up against my fingers.

The ground is parched and thirsty and every horse, cow and tree I pass looks miserable and ready to dry up. We need rain.

Life is never black and white, wonderful or terrible. It tends to be a shade of grey…and that’s all right.

Happy Hump Day, peeps! 

xo xo Liz

Editing a Rough Draft

Adrian trips out the front door in her little semi-squared toed boots. Red material swirls around her legs and the sounds of the concert she is going to attend is already occupying her mind.

I sit back down with pen and paper, the number of this rough draft is now lost to me, it has been revised so many times. I cross out entire sections, write a new chapter. My tea grows cold and I ignore the ache in my back and I try and keep the worrying thoughts at bay. Recently, they crowd ever closer.

Scratch, scratch, scratch….my pen flies and my thoughts wander…

Maybe the glasses I will be getting will help me not feel as unbalanced horseback, and I won’t be scared when I ride. Maybe I’ll be able to start driving again…oh can you imagine the freedom?!

Scratch, scratch, scratch….my pen is ruthless and efficient…

I need to unpack the rest of our shop things with dad, I want to make a video for YouTube on what you need to get started braiding. God, I love these people I’ve come in contact with from Buckaroo Barbie. They’ve touched me more than I ever realized was possible in a virtual world.

Scratch, scratch, scratch…my favorite pen’s blue ink is soaked up almost instantly…

Maybe I’ll ask Em and Trev if I can come and visit, stay for a while, roll around in the snow and maybe play cowboy a little. I hear Bill Confer is shutting down his rawhide business. Where in the hell am I going to get hides? I’m not strong enough to make my own rawhide all the way through anymore…damn my body for failing me, right when it feels like I’m starting to get my feet under me.

Scratch, scratch, scratch…it’s almost musical the way the nib traces out the skeletons of unformed words…

The people I really care about will love and appreciate this book. I’m pretty sure all my old friends will despise me. I don’t care anymore though, I just can’t.

Scratch, scratch, scratch….why in God’s name did I write THAT….but this is good…

The dance, the drag, the pull, it continues. I slowly get out of my chair, massage the kink in my neck. I throw out my cold tea and take the dogs outside. I lite a cigarette and all the thoughts I’ve kept at bay come rushing in and take over. I’m back in Alberta and you’re teaching me to cut calves and every night you sing “Sunlight On Silver.” I startle back to reality when I burn myself on the end of this stupid smoke stick. I’ll deal with all that later, right now, more editing awaits me.

xo xo Liz 

25 Things To Do When You're Bored Instead of Being Bored

When I was growing up, you had two options if the mums heard you say the dreaded “B” word (bored): you either cleaned the toilets or picked up rocks out in the horse pasture. I’m pretty sure we only ever said it once. To the mums way of thinking, the world is such an amazing, big place that a child armed with an imagination has the time to be bored, they just aren’t working hard enough.

I’m inclined to agree with her. I didn’t have the Internet growing up and I’m pretty sure that if I had, it would have been in very limited doses. I can’t believe all the posts I see on Facebook and Instagram from kids, even high school students, claiming they are bored out of their mind, so they take a “selfie” or beg total strangers to text them.

Please Dolls, don’t do that! There are so many other worthwhile, exciting, meaningful things to do, and if you are actually bored, don’t admit it to the cyber world at large! Here are 25 ideas of what to do if you’re lacking ideas on how to spend your time (notice I still avoid the dreaded “B” word!)

• Get off the computer.

• Bake something. Then eat the whole thing.

• Rope the dummy.

• Shoot hoops.

• Read a book. No, seriously, like an actual book with pages. And if you don’t know where to start, can I just say that Seven Wild Sisters by Charles de Lint is amazing.

• Write in a diary.

• Go for a walk.

• Lay on your bed with your pet and daydream about your dream job/life.

• Design all the clothes you want to own someday in a sketchbook.

• Find a sibling and hang out with them.

• Create an inspiration board.

• Write down 10 things that you are. Then cross out what you’d give up first, and what you’d give up last…an interesting exercise.

• Write someone an actual letter. Like with a pen and paper. Extra points if it’s to someone who doesn’t normally get mail.

• Practice your signature so that when it’s your autograph, it looks good.

• Ride your horse.

• Write out your life goals.

• Read this blog :) 

• Start your own blog!

• Make a project from Pinterest.

• Move all the furniture around in your bedroom.

• Have a tea party with yourself (I do it all the time).

• Listen to your favorite playlist and draw the images that come to mind.

• Have a spa day. Do a mask, paint your nails, take a bubble bath and give your feet a massage.

• Learn to play an instrument.

• Decide to learn a trade! Saddle making, braiding, cinch making, flatwork, silver engraving...there are so many different options out there. Not only are you giving yourself the skills to make gear and some money, but you’re carrying on old traditions and that is important.

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xo xo Liz