Balloons, Fish and Plants

The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta started Saturday morning. Even though the weather was good both days, the winds took the balloons to the South so we couldn't see them very well.

This morning, Monday, the winds were more to the North so the balloons came up our way. We didn't have a lot land close to us as in the past, but we did have a few.

In the early afternoon, Betty and I went over to the Galloping Grace Youth Pumpkin Patch to volunteer for three hours. The Ranch is moving toward an agricultural experience for kids. One of Max's projects is Aquaponics.

Max built a demonstration of aquaponics for the Pumpkin Patch. Our goal is to have several, larger functioning aquaponics units for the Ranch next summer that will produce a lot of produce.

The process starts with fish and, as we all know, fish, like most animals, poop in the water.

This poopy water is pumped up to the plants where the poop ingredients act as nutrients for the plants.

Once the water has flowed through the plants, they absorb the poopy nutrients and the water, now clean, is returned to the fish tank. And the process continues on and on.

Pretty cool, huh?

 

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Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch

Need a pumpkin, or two or three, for your Fall/Halloween decorations? Need a fun place to take the kids for a couple of hours?

The Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch is open for business. It's at a new location and is bigger and better than ever. The city of Rio Rancho invited GGYR to hold the Pumpkin Patch at the Santa Ana Star Center (not the Casino). There is much more to the Patch for all ages and the parking is much larger than the old location at the old Rowlands Nursery on Irving.

So, bring the family and come on out - and buy a lot of pumpkins. You're helping a good cause.

 

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Return to the Pumpkin Patch

This morning the granddaughters said they wanted to "go back to the corn" which meant a return to the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch.

Wade Daniel and I did the noble thing and took the girls to the Pumpkin Patch while Betty and Marie went to the Balloon Fiesta craft fair to spend our money.

The first stop was the corn bin which included the ritual burying in the corn. No one else was doing it until Wade Daniel started with Juliet. Then every kid in the corn bin had to be buried in corn.

The girls also did the duck races, checked out the animals, watched the mini-goats get loose and caught and really enjoyed the pipe slide.

We finished with snow cones and the girls had to show off their red tongues from their strawberry snow cones.

A fun morning for us and the ladies didn't spend us out of house and home. Not bad at all.

 

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Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

The two greatest places to go during the month of October in Albuquerque are the Balloon Fiesta and the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch.

We hope to go to the Balloon Fiesta tomorrow morning if the winds cooperate and we went to the Pumpkin Patch today.

The Patch is better than ever. Max and Michelle and all the volunteers have done a great job creating a new and bigger experience than ever before. If you haven't gone yet, you definitely don't want to miss it - especially if you have kids.

Our granddaughters, Juliet and Leah had a great time.

And a short video shot by Betty.

 

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Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Dinner/Auction

Last Saturday night, Galloping Grace Youth Ranch (GGYR) held its third annual Dinner and Auction at the Santa Ana Star Center. The theme this year was a County Fair.

Here's a video overview of the night that includes a pregnant cow, hundreds of people, a petting zoo with ducks, chickens, rabbits, goats, miniature goats and miniature horses (all from the ranch), a silent auction, a live auction and good old-fashioned country music.

However, the most exciting event took place before the dinner and auction started. Max asked Betty and me to use our small horse trailer to get the animals for the petting zoo from the ranch to the arena. This included two miniature horses, two full-size goats and two miniature goats.

With the help of our good friends, Laura and Jerry Burton, we were able to get them into the trailer at the ranch. However, we had a little excitement.

Betty and Laura were getting the full-size goats from their pens on a lead line. As they were taking them out the pen gate, the two miniature goats made a mad dash out the gate. Betty, with one full-size goat in one hand managed to grab the collar of one miniature goat. Laura did the same with the collar of the other miniature goat.

There they both were, being pulled in different directions with a full-size goat in one hand and a miniature goat in the other.

I was close and was able to grab the lead lines of the full-size goats so they could get the miniature goats back into the pen and hook up their lead lines. With a little control back, we were able to get them over to the trailer and loaded with the miniature horses.

Once in the trailer we had to unhook their lead lines so they wouldn't get all tangled up in the ropes while we made the trip to the arena.

At the arena, we had to organize an orderly way to rehook the lead lines and get the various animals out of the trailer and into the arena. Laura volunteered to get into the cramped trailer with the six animals, get them hooked up and coordinate getting them out of the trailer in an orderly way.

Here's a video of that amazing process. There was a thunderstorm close so there's a significant amount of wind noise, but I think you can still appreciate what was done. I suspect military landings such as Normandy didn't have any more coordinated planning.

All in all, a fun and exciting night for all and a successful fundraiser for the Youth Ranch.

 

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Junior Volunteer Training

Betty and I volunteer at Galloping Grace Youth Ranch. Over the last two years we have had a Junior Volunteer program where kids, 12 to 18, volunteer and help out the adults. This year we decided that we would devote Mondays to working with the Junior Volunteers to help them become better horse people.

We started last Monday with the basics - catching a horse, haltering, leading, grooming and saddling.

Yesterday, we reviewed the basics. Then we took them into the round pen and worked on some basic ground work to warm up the horses. They worked on some desensitizing, flexing the neck slightly, backing the horses up and moving the hindquarters.

Then we taught them how to mount correctly, maintaining control of the horse during the mounting process. We taught them how to do an emergency dismount. We taught them how to do a one-rein stop. And finally we taught them how to maintain control while safely dismounting. They all got to practice these with the horses - wearing helmets of course.

For most of them this was a first time experience and they did pretty well. The horses did pretty well considering how windy it was - see the trees bending in the picture above.

Next week, we'll start teaching them how to ride properly at the walk and then the trot. It's a fun experience.

GGYR Pumpkin Patch

It's time for me to promote one of my favorite events - the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch.

Betty and I were there this past Saturday to help out with the horse rides. This year's pumpkin patch is three times larger than last year. Besides the horse rides on the weekends, there is a tractor ride area for the little ones, duck races, pumpkin bowling, bean bag toss, real chickens, turkeys, ducks and goats, country crafts, pumpkin carving, and even more.

Additionally, next weekend there will be a craft fair and BBQ meals available, plus a woodcarving demonstration every hour. Plus, you can find some of the best pumpkins in the Albuquerque area lat good prices.

Here are a few pictures from this past Saturday:

If you're looking for a fun time - with free admission - come on out to the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch on Irving just West of Coors.

Getting Ready for Pumpkins

The season at Galloping Grace Youth Ranch ends next Wednesday.  So, that means that Max Wade’s mind is now focusing on the upcoming Pumpkin Patch.  We’re fortunate to have the old Rowland’s Nursery spot again.

Last year we used less than half of the available space – this year Max has plans for the WHOLE space.  Last year we only had a few weeks to get the place cleaned up and ready to sell pumpkins.  This year we have the whole month of September.  We started today with clean up – about 30 to 40 people showed up to help.

We had people cutting bushes down with Max’s expert supervision, of course.

There were plenty of people who were there to pick up trash (which is what I did).

Max’s wife, Michelle, also helped – usually she’s the official camera person for the ranch.  Here she is with Wanda.  Michelle and I have an agreement – no butt shots.

The best job was these kids who hauled a heavy cooler of water around to give to the thirsty workers.

If you live in the Albuquerque area, be sure and get your pumpkin from the Galloping Grace Youth Ranch Pumpkin Patch.  There are games available every day for the kids.  On a couple of the weekends there will be bands playing music, food vendors and craft fairs.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.