Talking and its Benefits

I'm not a social person. I hate parties and other large gatherings of people. I prefer one-on-one interaction with people. Brett is slightly more outgoing than me and he loves to talk. We both sit in a corner at parties, checking the time to see how soon we can sneak back to the quiet of home. But, if Brett finds someone to talk to, one-on-one, it is hard to pry him away. This has been invaluable to him in law enforcement (people tell him all sorts of stuff), and it is a definite help now. He's talked to people in feed stores, in restaurants, in bookstores and across the fence. We met our neighbors at Oak Creek Ranch yesterday. Brett and Marv talked and talked. And talked and talked. Marv's wife and I stood watching them, water dripping from the end of the hose in her hand, and their cat curled up in a corner of their garden. Brett learned a lot while I stood in the shade, shifting from foot to foot. He learned how the water flows through our property (we have a seasonal stream), how deep the snow gets in winter, and how hot it gets in the summer.

A number of years ago, Buffy and George were our neighbors at Aspen Meadows. Before they moved to Nevada, we would talk to Buffy over the fence every morning. We covered for each other, feeding her horses when she was gone and vice versa. We rode on the trails together. Buffy and her QH mare, Pistol, loved trail trials so Brett and Flash had company when they competed as well. Buffy also introduced Brett to mounted patrol work although he ended up working with a different agency than Buffy. We were very sad when they moved.

Today, Buffy and George drove over from Nevada and met us for lunch. We are only an hour and a half away from each other now. After lunch, we drove out to Pleasant Valley. The first stop was Narrow Gate winery, which is just down the road from the new place. When Brett and I first found Oak Creek Ranch, we went to Narrow Gate as part of our "getting to know the neighborhood" research. Theresa poured us wine and Brett talked. He told Theresa all about our upcoming move and our fear that we wouldn't be able to sell Aspen Meadows quick enough to buy Oak Creek. Theresa said she would put our names on the prayer board in the winery office, -- if that was okay with us. So, today we wanted to stop by and give her an update. She recognized us as soon as we got out of the car and immediately asked about the status. We went inside, drank some wine, and Brett filled her in.



Afterwards, we drove over to Oak Creek and parked in the shade.



Buffy and George walked through the barn with us and looked in the windows of the house. Buffy wanted to see the pastures and the dressage court. George (who isn't as excited about horses as the rest of us) said he was going to sit on the porch swing.

Buffy loved the round pen, especially.



Here's a picture of the barn from the front:



And from the back.



After tromping around, we went to Holly's Hill winery just up the road. We sat on the deck, sipping our wine, and gazing out over the Sierra Nevada mountains. Buffy and Brett talked about moving the animals up. Buffy has offered to help us move them.

We have the best friends. Ever.

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