If there is one thing that ranch life has taught me over the years it is that the only thing that is constant is Change.

Winter covers the land in its frozen blanket of ice and snow and just when you begin to despair of ever feeling the sun's heat… Read full post »

As told in part one of this story, we awoke the other morning to discover that our four-month old filly had been attacked by a cougar the night before. Though still alive, the poor little horse was doomed by her massive wounds and loss of blood so it was left to… Read full post »

Yesterday I wrote about a small joy but today I need to tell you about a serious and darker side of ranch life that many here might not understand. What follows is a true, and graphic account of one of the down sides of ranch life complete with pictures. Please be… Read full post »

On the front porch an hour before daylight, I sit with the first cup of hot coffee of the day. Off to the west a storm is brewing and I watch a continuous flashes of lightning like some cosmic artillery barrage. The air is still and heavy with the pending rain… Read full post »

My old daddy always told me, “Boy, expect little from people and you will rarely be disappointed.” I have always taken that advise to heart and, like he said, I have rarely been disappointed or surprised. This is the story of one time that I was surprised, but certainly not disappointed.… Read full post »

As most of us already know it is Buffyw's birthday and that is enough reason to throw a party, but I have further reason to celebrate. Today is me and Mel's tenth anniversary.

 Ten years ago Melinda made me the happiest man on Earth by consenting to be my wife and… Read full post »

Doniphan-----AP(Almosta Press)......Yesterday the citizens of Doniphan awoke to a freak of nature, a cold front in August. The Arctic blast rolled down from the north and caused the local temperatures to plummet all the way down to eighty degrees.  On the interstate there were reports of massive… Read full post »

Today, at the eleventh hour, the 112^th congress of the United States and the President have delivered the American people from the jaws of an Artificial crisis the likes of which has never before been perpetrated upon this country.

Yes, it was an artificial crisis. The debt ceiling has… Read full post »

A few nights ago Mel and I were relaxing in the living room, watching a little mindless entertainment on TV before bedtime when I noticed Sherman, our old bloodhound/Lab mix who was, as usual, sleeping at the foot of my chair.

He was stretched out, on his side and his legs… Read full post »

Sometimes you just gotta laugh....really....you do. We all go through dramas in life; people we love pass away, friends drift away, illness strikes you down.  We spend so much time in worry or sorrow or anger that those things threaten to take over your life.  So why not do what I… Read full post »

With the deadline quickly approaching for the country to either raise the debt ceiling or default on our loans and with the President, the Senate, and the House  deadlocked in an orgy of name calling and finger pointing I find myself griped with such an overwhelming sadness. 

The realizati… Read full post »

I decided to take a break from writing my current series on ranching here on Almosta Ranch and tell you about a non-horse member of our little herd.....Jeremiah, the miniature donkey.

If ever there was an animal equivalent to Tink, it has to be Jeremiah. I never know what he… Read full post »

There is an old saying that is supposed to be funny, but anyone who has ever been a horse rancher will tell you they swear by  it.

“The one sure way to make a small fortune raising horses…..Start with a LARGE one!”

Nobody that I know has… Read full post »

 This is the second part of my series: An Explanation of Us in  which I try to explain what it takes and what it means to be a very small operation Horse Farm like we have here at Almosta Ranch. You can find Part One here.  In this second part I… Read full post »

Of course the person who… Read full post »

Okay, I will be the first to admit it....I am cranky.  No. I don't mean I am the well loved blogger, Cranky, I mean I am one ticked off SOB whose last nerve has been trampled like a slow mouse in an elephant stampede.

Two days ago I smoked my last… Read full post »

I'm not sure exactly when it happened, maybe it was as long as a year ago when I saw the end of my work career drawing to a close, or maybe it was yesterday when I decided I would feed the horses early, but at some point in time I have… Read full post »

Took me forever to get in here (Thanks Gen. Cranky Dubya) but as I type this very short note, we have tornadoes on the ground to the North, South, and East of us....all within a thirty mile radius.

The sky is dark and the wind is howling. The goats are trying… Read full post »

I am sure that there are many of you on OS who get tired of reading all the sunshine and touchy-feely entries I do regarding life on Almosta Ranch.  Well I'm here to tell you today that life on the ranch is not all sweetness and light and yesterday was a… Read full post »

We are all aware of the four seasons; Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall, but in this part of the country they have what you might call a sub-season which, though it doesn't happen every year, does manage to appear with some regularity. It is called Blackberry Winter.

Blackberry Winter occurs near… Read full post »

 Two young ladies waiting for school to begin...

 Life is about to get a whole lot more hectic here on Almosta Ranch.  Since I retired, back in the Winter, we have pretty much been coasting and now the Spring is upon us and it is time to go to work.… Read full post »

The rain has ended here at Almosta Ranch and most of the state of Missouri, but the flood waters keep rising. The threat of lightning and tornadoes have past, only to be replaced by the ever rising waters of the Ohio, the Mississippi rivers and, locally, the Black and the Current… Read full post »

Today marks the eighth day of almost constant rain storms and scattered tornadoes training through the Mid-West and into the South.  Yesterday, for almost three hours, we here at Almosta Ranch were blessed with clear skies and sunshine between the fast moving storms and we took advantage of the… Read full post »

We all hear about the "Big Picture". We see it unfold on the nightly news and in Newspapers around the world. Weather-wise the big picture, the big story, is that with all the severe weather we have been experiencing, the Ohio, the Mississippi, and the Arkansas rivers have all reached flood… Read full post »

In the wee hours of the morning the other day I was awakened by the gentle rap of my sweetie's elbow against my ribcage.  The doctor says they should heal nicely. Her voice, like an angel's choir, interrupted my fight for breath.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what, my ribs cracking?"… Read full post »