Purple Ranch is Taken it to the Streets!

The Purple Ranch Hands, minus the Mandy Puppy of course, just spent 3 fun filled days in the great town of Tomball, northwest of Houston. We set up the Purple Ranch booth with lightening speed (well if you think 4 hours is fast, then we did) and we were good to go. Mom, Dad, Sher, Bren, Cliff, and I were all selling, educating, and having a great time Friday night, all day Saturday and then again on Sunday. We were just pleased that we didn't start until noon on Sunday so that we could attend Sher's church, Fellowship at the Woodlands, on Sunday morning. http://www.fotw.org/default_fotw.asp. Anyway, we met a lot of great people and at last count had over 600 people in the Purple Ranch booth. No we didn't count the leaderhosen that walked in, that is based on the number of people that signed up for our free basket give a way. Of course we could have since there were definately a lot of German clothing to be had......

Each of us have specific duties while we are working a booth. Of course none of these were assigned, we just sorta fell into them. Mom is the lavender queen, so she sells and educates. Bren and Sher are lavender princesses and they are quite the sellers and educators as well. Dad helps with set up, tare down, and running errands for us.....must keep all the Ranch Hands hydrated and well feed at all times you know! Cliff helps with the art decoration, display, signage, and will jump in as well to educate the customers and never doubt at any moment that he will squirt some lavender lotion on your hands if you walk too close to the booth! I spent most of my time as the head cashier. Not sure how I got this job since I really am not that great with numbers, but oh well. During the down times (weren't too many this weekend), I hand wrote over 200 postcards thanking people for coming to the booth and for buying products. My hand is still killing me and the pretty blister I developed will heal in time. Don't you just love marketing?

Anyway, we will be in Rockwall in April, Dallas in May, and Waxahachie in June. So come see us....... Got Lavender?

Sad News at Purple Ranch

On March 25th, one of the beloved Ranch Hands passed on: Miss Amanda May II, a.k.a. Mandy Puppy. She was put to rest on Purple Ranch among her many friends and Mommy. We buried her with her blue blanket that she loved to curl under, her trademark blue collar and leash, her UT collar and leash, many bones, and especially her tennis balls. We all tossed a tennis ball into her grave out of respect for her and what she enjoyed the most......we gave her a 21 ball salute!

She was born on January 11, 1999 in Tyler, Texas and came to live with me exactly 9 years ago when she was only 14 weeks old. We instantly fell in love with each other and the rest is history. The photo above was taken on Easter Sunday, two days before she died. She was still so full of life, but unfortunately cancer had already taken its toll on her body. It happened very quickly and Dr. Murphy and Dr. Tate at City Vet did everything they could to save her and I will be forever grateful to them for that.

I am just now understanding how Mandy Puppy effected those around her. She was such a large part of my life and I took her everywhere with me. In doing such, she became an extension of me. She went to the store (loved getting those cookies at PetSmart), Bible Study, the gym, on roadtrips, to church activities, and especially to Purple Ranch. She loved to run around and be free to chase tennis balls (I would call her tennis balls "Mandy Crack"), squirrels, bees, whatever she could play with. The photo here was her just a few weeks ago, chasing a ball at Purple Ranch. She would do this for hours until you wore out, not her. Below you see a photo of her staring at her ball. She would do this until you played with her....never losing eye contact with the ball. She had amazing concentration.

Mandy didn't know she was a dog; she really thought she was a person. She cried when I cried and then did her best to cheer me up. She was happy when I was happy. She loved being with her Mommy, but most of all she loved being around people that would play ball with her. Over the last several years, one of her best friends was Brian. Brian was my life saver. Due to my job, I have to travel a lot and Brian's home became Mandy Puppy's other home. I used to tease him that when he was in the room, Mandy would forget who her Mommy was because all she could think about was how Brian would play ball with her, but she was always happy to see me come home from a trip.

The hardest part of the last few days, is that she isn't with me and I feel very alone. She isn't around to follow me from room to room; to sit at my tub and wait for me to get dressed in the morning or to go to bed. She never forgot that she needed to take care of her Mommy at all times; she was my protector. Of course, I thought I was hers, so it all worked out. I have often said that I gave birth to her....the front legs were easy to get out, it was her back legs that were the toughest! She had my big brown eyes and big feet. As I highlighted my hair blond, many people thought I looked even more like her. Often people would comment on how thin she was. I would say, "fat puppy, fat mommy, skinny puppy, skinny mommy". We would walk up to the gym almost every day. The walk was really for her, not for me, but I never told her that. As I worked out, she would watch me through the window to make sure that I was ok. I tried to work out yesterday and couldn't....I kept looking out the window to see her watching and she wasn't there. Needlesstosay, I wasn't very productive.

I have always called her my "miracle puppy" because she did many things that other dogs would not have survived. When she was 15 months old, she ran off a 25 foot cliff and fell onto rocks below directly on her side. She jumped up, shook it off and ran into the creek bed. Not a scratch on her. When she was 3 years old, she and I were training for a marathon, she twisted out of her collar and ran straight into a moving vehicle. She shook her head and kept going. Later that year she suffered from heat stroke (because Mommy was really stupid and had her run 8 miles with me in the Texas sun). I hydrated her and cooled her off. It was touch and go, but she shook that off as well. Also she ran away numerous times over the years but always made her way home. The scariest one was when she was 4 years old and she got out of the backyard a few days after we moved into a new home. She was very smart and typically a fence couldn't hold her if there was a lock she could figure out, she would. She escaped and went on a great adventure for 4 hours. I was panic stricken and even called the police. Eventually she sniffed out the house we had just moved out of. She was excited to see us; very tired, but safe. What I didn’t mention is that she crossed a 4 lane highway during the process!

I know that time heals all wounds, but a large piece of me died this week when Mandy Puppy died and it will take a very long time to heal from this. I thank all of my friends and family for their love and support and the many tissues and hugs they have provided. If Mandy Puppy touched your life in any way, please post a comment as I would really like to remember how my daughter touched the lives around her.

Rest in peace Mandy Puppy. I miss you and love you very much.

Spring Cleaning at Purple Ranch

This weekend at the Purple Ranch Lavender Farm was all about Spring Cleaning. We finished painting the exterior of the house (sure do love climbing a 50 foot ladder and hanging from the rooftop), pulled weeds in the garden, flower beds, and lavender fields. The wildlife is coming back as well......bees, fire ants, wasps, ladybugs, and the bunnies that live under the Purple Ranch Store. We planted some new baby lavender plants to replace some that didn't make the winter that will eventually grow into large, flowering plants by the summer. In a few weeks, we will plant the additional 300 lavender plants that need to get into the ground before summertime and a good time will be had by all! Got Lavender?