On the Ranch

     This past weekend we drove 140 miles south to Uncle Tommy's ranch.  He has 130 acres, cows, horses, the tank (a pond), fish, more dogs than I can count, chickens, and plenty of wild rabbits.  We arrived around 9:30 PM Friday night and spent the evening on the back porch with guitars and singing.  Uncle Tommy is quite the country musician and we enjoy listening to him play (we REALLY wanted him and his band to play at our wedding reception but it didn't work out).  As we sat on the back porch, it sounded like pigs were joining in with the music.  I wondered if they had pigs in the brush behind us but didn't ask for fear of sounding silly.  Turns out they don't have pigs.  Just TONS of very LARGE bullfrogs!  I had no idea bullfrogs could sound like full grown pigs.
     The next day we slept in and then ate some delicious peppered bacon with eggs and toast and then Jackson and I headed out to the tank to go fishing.  I haven't been fishing in at least 12 years.  Luckily Jackson knows what he's doing and taught me the basics.  As we walked down there Jackson told me to watch my step for rattlesnakes.  Earlier in the cabin I had been shown lots and lots of rattlesnake skins hanging on the wall.  3 of them had been killed last week.  The snakes were all at least 3-4 feet long.  As we walked out there I felt a little overwhelmed at having to watch my step for rattlesnakes, cow pies, AND try to keep an eye on all of the bullfrogs that were entertaining us with their high pitched screeches before jumping into the water to escape us.
     Jackson discovered his old boat that was docked at the tank.  It looks like it has seen better days:

     Jackson baited up his line with some chicken to attract the catfish and I put some corn on mine to attract the perch.  The perch were biting like crazy, we could have caught at least 20 of them.  But, after I caught the first one, I decided we should leave them alone.  They were too small to be worth the trouble of cooking them.  So, we threw mine back.  After some time, Jackson had a good tug on his line and he reeled it in.  As he brought it up out of the water he saw that he had caught a catfish that weighed at least 1.5-2 pounds.  He was so excited!  Unfortunately, as he reeled it in, the fish hit the dock and was knocked loose!  Sadly, I didn't even get to see the fish because at the same time a bunch of the horses had come down for a drink and being the horse lover that I am, I was distracted watching them instead of my husband and his great catch. 

     Jackson was a great teacher and I learned all sorts of things about fishing.  Who knew there was more to it than just throwing your line out there and reeling in the fish? 

     Here's the bass that I caught.  This one was really exciting to me.  But, it wasn't big enough to keep so I threw it back to fatten up some more.  Yes, I actually grabbed it's lower lip and tossed it back.  Maybe next time I'll actually unhook the fish I catch too.  This time, I left that to Jackson and Aunt KK. 

    After an afternoon of fishing and getting really bad sunburns, we ended the day at a barn yard bbq for a cousin's wedding shower.  I met lots and lots of family and further impressed my husband with my name memorizing skills.  

   Sunday afternoon we had a big family fish fry.  It was so nice of everyone to come over just because we were in town.  The catfish was delicious as were all of the sides! (Especially the peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!) 

     Just to prove the immense name learning task I had, here's all the people I can remember meeting:  Aunt Sherri, Aunt Susan, Aunt Mary, Aunt Linda, Aunt KK, Uncle David, Uncle Richard, Uncle Tommy, Uncle Patrick, cousins Brittany, Pauline, Kayleen, Sherman, Richard, Daniel, Will, Brian, Daisy, Erin, Taylor, Jake, Jennah, Charlie, and Edna.  Also, cousin's kids: Adelle, Claire, and Bailey.  There are also 1 or 2 uncles that I can picture but can't name and one cousin whose face I can also picture but can't name.  

     Count it up. That's 30 people!  And that's only who I remember.  I remember meeting lots of other people at the BBQ too, but I only have faces for them.  Here's a picture I snapped of Uncle David: 

     Jackson and I weren't wearing the cowboy boots and cowboy hats like so many of the Calame's but we still fit in just fine.  It was a beautiful afternoon with a nice breeze and plenty of time to visit with family, eat good food, and enjoy the scenery. 

     Before heading back to Austin, Sherman gave us a tour of their property, as well as Uncle David's adjoining property.  While driving around, Jackson spotted a rabbit and shot it.  Sherman finished it off before throwing it in the truck.  It was my first time to see an animal shot.  I handled it pretty well although as of yet I have no interest in doing the deed myself.  We took the rabbit back and gave it to the dogs.   Just helping to keep the food chain in place, I guess.  Either way, Jackson's shootings skills impressed me.  

     It was a fantastic weekend.  Not only was it great to get away and relax, but it was a very important trip for me.  It was really nice to finally meet the Calame family, only some of whom I had met for only a few moments at our wedding reception.  It meant a lot to me to meet the family whose name I have taken and whose name my children will carry.  We're grateful to Uncle Tommy and his family's hospitality this past weekend!