Denver's National Western Stock Show

Yes, it's that time of year again - this past Friday, long horn cattle, cowboys, cowgirls, horses, wagons, and stagecoaches paraded in downtown Denver, Colorado to announce the annual opening of the National Western Stock Show.  The NWSS actually began on Saturday, 6 January, and will close up on Sunday, 21 January.  Opening day saw a record attendance of 52, 696.  Besides cattle and llama judging, the first days of the show included the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza, the Invitational Free-Style Reining championship, and a Fiddle-Playing championship.  This week, almost nightly, the arena will be filled with bull-riding contestants.

Evening events, for which special tickets must be purchased, include the Pro Rodeo, Bull Riding, the Wild West Show, the Martin Luther King Jr African-American Heritage Rodeo, Xtreme Dogs, the Gambler's Choice Jumper Stake, the $40,000 Grand Prix Jumping show, and two evening so dressage with Dancing Horses shows.

 

In the equine areas, there will be certified classes for Quarter Horses and Paints; US Equestrian Federation Hunters and Jumpers; Reined Cow Horses; Working Ranch Horses; Draft Horses; and registered Mules and Donkeys.

 

The livestock classes and judging are broken down into breeds (of course) but they include cattle, yaks, llamas, alpacas, goats, lambs, sheep, swine (hogs and pigs), bison, and a huge variety of poultry.  There will be Stock Dog trials; and dog pulling trials.  And one can't forget the awesome strength to be seen in the draft horse pulling trials.

 

There is a petting area for children to reach out and be able to touch farm animals; and there are several other events for children that children can participate in, as well.  Last, but not least, are the vendors - food, drinks, clothing, fencing, equipment, and books...  Yes, books.  You know I love to read, and I'm always spending a lot of time at the book vendors' stalls.  Old veterinary books, hidden away first editions of westerns, fantastic illustrations in old magazines - the list is endless....   

 

Go to the National Western Stock Show - and enjoy!

2017 Denver National Western Stock Show

Guess where I've been spending my "spare" time?

No parade this year due to 14 inches of snow...

Snow Yesterday

Boulder had about four inches of snow fall Thursday night through Friday...  I stepped out onto the balcony to sweep it off at 3:30 yesterday afternoon, and found myself sweeping in a new flurry.  Nedi was having a ball - it was 18 degrees outside, and he had little snowflake spangles all over his black fur.  A couple of my neighbors looked at me like I was crazy - I was wearing a red Piper T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers - but I kept warm.  (The balcony isn't that large and I was vigorously applying the broom.)  Our little squirrel was sitting on the telephone pole eating Brazil nuts in the snow, and he's already been "top-side" getting a look around this morning.  Visibility was awful earlier - we had freezing fog - but it's cleared now, and I can see patches of blue sky.
  Today is the opening day for the Denver National Western Stock Show, although the Stock Show Parade took place in downtown Denver at noon on Thursday.  Longhorn cattle, cowboys, cowgirls, stagecoaches, wagons pulled by 6- and 8-horse hitches - mainly Draft horses, rodeo clowns, trick riders, drill teams, and bands....  It was a fantastic display, as usual.  I've got a free ticket, so I just might go down to see things.  If you'd like more information regarding the DNSS, please visit: http://nationalwestern.com/
   And this is also "Wild Card Weekend" in the National Football League.  There will be two play-off games today, and two tomorrow.  I have only one pick up-in-the-air for the games - tomorrow the Green Bay Packers will play the Washington Redskins.  I grew up as a Redskins fan - but I like Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews on the Packers side.  Who do I cheer for?
 

Thoughts

I was very disappointed by the come-back of the Seattle Seahawks yesterday afternoon in the NFC Championship game.   I really wanted the Green Bay Packers to go to the Super Bowl this year.  I watched the first quarter of the Patriots - Colts game and decided it was to painful to watch.  My interest has been piqued, however, by the information that the NFL is investigating to see if the New England team intentionally used footballs that were not inflated to the correct psi rating....   Hmmmmm...
   The National Western Stock Show is having a much larger attendance than they had last year - of course, it's been much warmer than usual, which helps in attendance numbers.  They do have more exhibitors and vendors this year, but they don't have the Dressage Horse Show (the Dancing Horses) performed with a live orchestra this year.  (And that's one of my favorite things...)  And it turns out the Colorado Horse Park has new ownership and new management - so maybe I'll be able to take in a couple of good shows this year
   I saw Kathy Saturday afternoon - she had on a scarf and knitted cap that our adopted sister, Bernie, has made for her.  She says she now has a little fringe of hair that follows her lower hairline from above her ear on one side to the other ear, plus a little tuft of hair in the center of her head.  Poor thing!  She says that, at the moment, I shouldn't think about shaving my head to show support for her - we'll see how she feels as time, and chemo, goes on.
   I've spent the last two nights at home, and Lovey has been stuck to me like glue.  She leaps up to my shoulder when I come through the door, and has to keep touching me, no matter what I'm doing - unless I'm in the shower.  Then she is sitting on the back of the toilet, watching me through the gap in the shower curtain.  Nedi?  He just wants lots of petting, stroking, and chin scratches.  And he's becoming much more verbal - not quite as much as Lovey, but he's certainly increased his speaking time.  The little grey marmalade tom kitten is still outside at odd hours, asking for Nedi to come out and play.  I have a feeling that Dave might be taking him home, if he continues to be ignored by his owners for such long periods of time.
   I just finished reading Designated Daughters and The King's Curse. I found the afterword of the latter very interesting, and have spent some time, since then, reading about Kell antigens and MacLeod's Syndrome...  t seems that researchers might have finally discovered the reason for all the stillbirths and deaths of Henry VIII's babies - and it wasn't syphillis, as has been widely speculated.  More on that later, however...
   I now have my eyes and mind set on 19 February - for the third season premiere of Vikings.  I can't wait to see the sack/siege of Paris - and to find out what happens to Floki and Athelstan...  

Bits and Pieces

It was nice and warm yesterday, and I spent most of the day listening to the sound of snow-melt pouring from the roof.  I also finished reading Cabinet of Curiosities, then read a Michael Jecks' Knights Templar mystery, and the started on The King's Curse by Phillipa Gregory...  Today should be nice and sunny again, as well as tomorrow.  The Chinook wind will begin Friday night, and is supposed to end sometime Sunday...  On Sunday, I'l be taking care of Tugger and my kits only, and I will be able to breathe easy again.
   I'm hoping that the Colts and the Packers will be winners this weekend, in pro football, so I can root for Green Bay in the Super Bowl.  If the Patriots beat the Colts, then I'll be rooting for whatever team is facing Tom Brady's arrogance.
   So...  Jack Del Rio, the Broncos' defensive coordinator, is now the head coach for the Raiders.  Adam Gase, the Broncos' offensive coordinator, has had six interviews for a head coach position, including one with John Elway, the general manager of the Broncos.  John Fox's new coaching berth is still an open question...  
   The National Western Stock Show is still bulling along, and has another 10 days to run.  I would love to be able to go and spend several days just soaking up all the exhibitions, all the different kinds of livestock, and all of the rodeos and horse shows.  The local news station has spent the morning with the Petting Zoo exhibition, and it's been fun watching "city girls" learning to catch, pick up, and hold baby goats, baby pigs and loose chickens.  I have to admit I grin like an idiot watching these ladies, dressed to the nines, and listening to their comments as they try to grasp and hold a live, wriggling critter.  (Is that mean-spirited of me?)  I mean, I really giggled when a reporter grasped a chicken, held it to her chest and then yelled, "Oh, crap!" when the chicken did exactly that....
   I hope your week is going well - and that your weekend is something to look forward to!

Weather, Stock Show, Critters

We reached a high temperature of 61 degrees yesterday - I went out shopping for my toilet paper (see yesterday's blog) in shorts and a T-shirt.  We're hoping for a high of 40 today, and the forecasters say the temperature "will drop like a rock" this afternoon, down to 8 degrees - and they are also saying we'll get 1 to 4 inches of snow overnight.  The weather folks also say to be happy if we get up above 25 degrees on Thursday.  Then we'll return to highs in the low 50s....  Our average high at this time in January is 42 degrees.
Since it's supposed to be frigid tonight and tomorrow, I have bird seed in stock, and I'll purchase more mixed nuts for the squirrels later today.  Gotta keep my outside buddies happy!  (And robins are already here, due to the warmth - I'm afraid they will die with this cold.)
   Yesterday, my snit day, was the free admission day to the Denver National Western Stock Show.  In the first week, there were over 345,000 visitors to the show grounds.  The show continues to run through Sunday, 26 January.  One can still see Pro Rodeo performances, a 9 News Super Dogs show,the Grand Prix Horse Jumping Show, An Evening of Dancing Horses, the Draft Horse Show, and the Pro Rodeo Finals.  And, if you want to pay homage to beef, the Grand Champion Steer will be on display at the Brown Palace Hotel and Spa in downtown Denver on Friday, 24 January, from 11 a.m. until 1 p. m. (MDT).
   I'm getting ready to head out to walk and play with Rosie, then walk Lucy.  I am supposed to feed and care for the Thore critters Thursday, Friday, and Saturday; and for the ABCs the following weekend.  My kits are quietly sleeping at the moment - Lovey is in the recliner and Nedi is on the top of the cat tree. Squirrels are running wild on the patio, moving the chairs around with their acrobatic leaps.
   And, while I'm happy and excited that the Denver Broncos are going to play in the Super Bowl on 2 February, I am already tired of all the Broncos hyperbole on the television, the radio, and in the newspapers.  Enough, already.  It's a game.  And it's being played on the East coast... not in Denver.  I did feel bad for the teen in Seattle, who works in a cinema - his boss told the employees to wear a football jersey to work on Sunday, and the young man, being a Broncos fan, wore in Demaryius Thomas's number 88 orange jersey.  The young man lost his job.  That is rotten.
  ** And, as a fun aside, if you like the Broncos, or Ellen Degeneres, or Zane Beadles, be sure to watch The Ellen Show today.   Zane Beadles confessed that he always has wanted to dance with Ellen, and I got to see a sneak peek of my favorite Broncos offensive lineman dancing with Ellen.  Watch!  It's fun!!  **

Denver National Western Stock Show

It's 2:30 on Monday afternoon - and the sun is shining in a clear blue sky, while it's 18 degrees outside.  Nedi is out chasing things, and Lovey is tucked up on my pillow, watching me blog.  I am home.  I came home last night, fed and loved the kits, and fell into bed, where I slept for 12 hours. I awoke frequently, as Lovey wanted to make sure that I was aware I was in my own bed - everytime I stirred in the slightest, she washed my chin and gave me head bumps.  Nedi just snuggled closer to my right leg...  It is cold here, but at the moment, we have yet to have the high winds that were forecast for today - and I'm thankful for that.  But, on the other hand, a good Chinook would clear half of the snow that's on the ground in about 6 hours...  Hmmmm.  Guess I'd rather have the wind than piles of dirty snow.  Our temperatures are supposed to be returning to their "normal" range for the rest of the week, with highs in the mid-40s.  If you are not offended by certain words, I suggest you view a North Dakota Native American weather forecast (done tongue-in-cheek, I'm sure):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8hGIF9FljM
  Only one team that I was rooting for won a play-off game this past weekend, even though I watched all four games.  Kudos to the New Orleans Saints for being a winning team for me.  Saturday night, I caught up on two of the TV shows that I had missed episodes on - saw "The Golem" episode of Sleepy Hollow and caught the last two episodes of The Blacklist.  I feel as if I've watched more TV in the past 5 days than I did in all of December.  -  And then we have the Winter Olympics coming our way in February....  Oh, boy!
  Tonight is the final BCS Championship NCAA Football game - the Auburn Tigers against the Florida State Seminoles.  I'm rooting for Auburn, because they are SEC members, and because I've always respected FSU (under Bobby Bowden) but I want to defeat them.  Tim Tebow made his ESPN announcing debut this morning - and looked very sharp; grey suit, white shirt, and a lavender tie and coat handkerchief. (One of the other announcers called it "fuschia" - but there wasn't enough pink...) Tim did very well - spoke smoothly, answered the questions about being in the BCS Championship Bowl, and threw out at least one word that probably had folks scrambling for their dictionary.  I liked his premiere, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of him.
   Right now, I'm gearing up for the National Western Stock Show in Denver.  The Show will "kick off" with the annual Parade, which will start at noon on Thursday, 9 January, at the downtown Union Station, and will proceed down 17th Street.  Riders, clowns, horse-drawn wagons, and a herd of 100 longhorn steers will participate.  If the Parade is too much for you, you can go to the atrium of the Wells Fargo Building at 11:30 that morning, and enjoy the National Western BBQ Lunch (for the cost of $10, which is donated to the 4-H International Youth Group) - and listen to country-western bands and see the latest in western fashions.  The Stock Show itself runs from 11 January through 26 January.  Much more information can be found at:  http://www.nationalwestern.com/
 

Dogs & the National Western Stock Show

I ended up with a horrendous migraine and went to bed at 5:20 yesterday afternoon; and the kids cuddled right up with me - since I had taken my medication, I slept until this morning. And I was amazed when I opened the back door for the kids to go out, for there was an inch and a half of snow on the ground and spilling over onto the patio. The weather folks this morning said it had surprised them, too; no one had forecast it. It was all of 12 degrees when I walked to the bakery for my blueberry bagel this morning - and the wind chill made it feel like 1 degree. The sun is shining and we're up to 23 degrees at the moment. Today was the day I was going to have to go to court and testify about the Chandler dogs, Victor and Xena, and about the Wessells and their dogs, Olie, Annie and Bentley. Thank goodness Pete and Blair consulted with a lawyer, and have decided to just pay the "dogs at large" ticket in court today. Had the Chandlers gone to mediation as the Wessells wished, any settlement would not have been covered by home owners insurance. The Chandlers' home owners insurance will settle with the Wessells... and the Chandlers premiums will go up, but at least they will only be out-of-pocket for the two dogs at large tickets. (Victor and Xena jumped the back fence last Mother's Day, and ran out to find someone to play with. They met up with Olie, being walked by Wendy, a family friend of the Wessells. Wendy is very frightened of other dogs and people - she is extremely timid, and not a good choice of dog walker - in my opinion - for the Anatolian Shepherds, who are huge dogs. Olie was wearing a cast on her left foreleg for a ruptured tendon sheath. Wendy freaked out when Victor and Xena appeared; they were dancing and leaping and asking Olie to play. Wendy was sure they were trying to attack both Olie and herself. No one was bitten, no one was knocked down. Wendy says she just barely managed to "escape" with Olie. Olie's tendon sheath did not heal correctly, and the Wessells were suing for $6,000+ in vet bills, plus unspecified amounts for mental pain and suffering and anguish that Wendy, and the vacationing dog owners, went through.) I take care of both sets of dogs, walk and play with them, and groom them. None of them are dangerous, other than the fact that Olie and Annie are Anatolian Shepherds and weigh 115 and 125 pounds each.....

  Besides getting close to Christmas, we're also getting close to the time of the Denver National Western Stock Show. Events begin taking place on Thursday, January 10, with alpaca shows, wool judging, and, at noon, the Parade of Longhorns and Horses in downtown Denver. The big Opening Day is Saturday, January 12, and they have tons of things to do and see - there are all the horse shows: breeds and disciplines; draft horses and mules; all the livestock judging; vendors; food; the Colorado Fiddle Championships; Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza; PBR Bull Riding and Pro Rodeos;the Wild West Show; the Junior Livestock Auction; Super Dogs; the Martin Luther King, Jr. African-American Heritage Rodeo; the National 4-H Judging Contest; the Coors Western Art Show; the Ram Invitational Freestyle Reining Horse competition; the Gambler's Choice Open Jumper competition; the USEF Grand Prix of Denver; the NWSS Horse Sale; and the Evening of Dancing Horses (dressage performed with a live orchestra). If you are interested in attending, please visit http://www.nationalwestern.com/  for much more detailed information. I can't wait to go!

Starting Anew

Rosie and Remy had a great walk this morning - other than the wind.  When I awoke this morning, I couldn't decide if the sound I heard was the wind outside, or the heat in the vents; turns out it was both.  Nedi and Lovey are very clingy, so I guess they will be that much more so when I get back this evening.  I was able to give a lot of the family dinner food away to several needy families yesterday, so I feel better about that - I was afraid it would spoil and I'd need to toss it.  Max and his family will get the brownies - I don't think that anyone ate them, except the two Kathy and I tried (to make sure they were good) when we were removing them from the baking pans.

We're supposed to be quite warm (60s) until Saturday, when another light snow is expected.  I hope that it snows yards of the stuff over on the Western Slope - the ski resorts need it.  Thursday we will have the Annual Denver Stock Show Parade in downtown Denver - herds of long-horns, riders, bands, floats, and clowns will liven up the day.  The Stock Show itself will open this Saturday - for more information, please visit: http://www.nationalwestern.com/ .  I can highly recommend all aspects of the Stock Show - I love to visit the show animals behind the scenes; the horse, mule, draught horse, and dog shows; all the 4-H stock shows; the vendor's exhibits; and to mosey around the food courts.  There are book sellers, antique book sellers, fencing sellers, art and crafts artists, hat and boot makers stalls, ...  just about everything anyone could want!

I was very excited to learn that Blaize Clement's seventh Dixie Hemingway book,The Cat Sitter's Pajamas, will be  released today.  I was greatly saddened by her death in July last summer. She wrote a very detailed outline and was able to write a few chapters of the eighth book before she passed away.  Her son, who helped her with this new release, has agreed to write at least two more books in the Dixie Hemingway series.

A lot of Little Things...

The sun is shining this morning, and I need to get back home quickly so Lovey and Nedi can go outside and play before it gets too cold and windy. We're expecting snow by 10 tonight, and the weather people are guessing it will be 3 to 10 inches that will fall through Sunday. That isn't any big deal - the problem will be that the highs on Monday and Tuesday are not expected to get above 15 degrees. That's mighty chilly when the wind blows! Nedi will probably eschew going outside, while Lovey will go out and make tunnels in the snow. Then I'll have to towel her dry... she hates the blow-dryer. Rosie and Remy, Suki and Boo were all fine yesterday - I never saw nor heard Mona while we were all playing in the back yard. Ooch wants to spend a lot of time in my lap, and I let him do so.
Polish Navy, the sire of Sea Cadet (the tail-less horse who won the Kentucky Derby under Jerry Bailey), has been put down at the age of 27. He injured his hip a couple of months ago, and had not been able to move easily, and the hip did not heal correctly, so the decision was made to let him go peacefully. ... Rachel Alexandra, who is now 5, will be bred to Curlin within the next few months. No decision has yet been announced as to the sire of Zenyatta's first foal. ... And for the 2010 Horse of the Year Award, the three finalists are: Zenyatta, Goldikova, and Blame.
The 105th Annual National Western Stock Show gets under way today in Denver. I first visited the NWSS in 1980, and was lucky to meet James Caan while I was there. The National Western Stock Show has something for everyone in the family - there are 4-H shows of all kinds of animals, horse shows, cattle shows, rodeos, dressage, a junior rodeo for the youngsters, and all kinds of booths and exhibits, from camping to fencing for your pasture or farm crops to training your horse. There are also a few specialty booths set up with old and rare books about the West and animals, a few clothing booths, and some jewelry booths, too. Me - I hang out in the stables and around the saddle shops... More information about the NWSS may be found at: http://nationalwestern.com/ And don't forget the Coors Art Show! It's at the NWSS, too.