It's only a matter of time ...

... before she bites a bee ... again.  She did it when she was a 7 week old pup, and apparently has forgotten what it was like.  I keep trying to tell her ... if you mess with the little nasties, you get stung.  Perhaps not every time ... but when it happens, you realize just how nasty they can be (no pun intended).  Sometimes the little nasties don't even realize you're there ... or ... sometimes they see you and they know you're there and just ignore you; that's good, consider yourself lucky and walk away.  She doesn't listen. 

Reese has now figured out how to get out of every enclosure there is around here (other than, of course, a crate).  She jumps over just about anything.  Or under it.  Or through it.  And not to run away, either.  She gets out, runs around the front of the house, and looks in the French doors ... waiting for me to let her in and compliment her on her achievement.  And most of the time ... I do.

Zip's coat is ridiculous right now.  I really need to bathe him and brush him out.  He's leaving pieces of himself all over my house ... on top of the thick black layer that just came off the Monster herself.

Mark took me to the Owyhee County Fair last night.  What a blast!  Started out with the mutton busting -- something I had never really seen before.  What a crackup!  Then went on to bronc riding, etc. One side of the arena was all shaded, and the other side was all in the sun, so everyone (practically) was sitting on the shady side.  Once we figured out which end of the arena they were going to do the bull riding from, we gave up our thoroughly shitty seats and found much better ones just as the sun set on the other side.  It's amazing how much work goes into putting on a rodeo, and I am just talking about running the event itself ... and only what I could see.  I'm sure there was a ton more behind-the-scenes, and even more preparation than I could wrap my brain around.  The Owyhee County Rodeo is by far the best rodeo in this part of Idaho.  Two years ago, Mark and I hit the rodeo circuit, only missing the Owyhee County, and this one blew all of the others (Snake River Stampede, Caldwell Nights, etc.) away. 

After the bull riding, they did a Wild Horse Race.  Five teams of three guys ... five wild horses with only a halter and lead rope attached -- each in a pen ... and five saddles.  The object?  Be the first team to go get the wild horse, put a saddle on it, and have one of the three ride the wild horse from basically one end of the arena to the other.   The buzzer blew ... and off they went ... all five teams ... all at the same time.   There were cowboys being dragged around, horses bucking up a storm, and lots of "oooohhhh!!!" and "aaaaaahhhh!" from the stands.  In the end, three teams were able to complete the task, surprisingly.  Amazing!

Afterwards, we took a nice casual stroll through the park while everyone else hurried to their cars to get out of there.  We headed over to the area where a band was playing.  Despite the lack of talent of the band itself, the dance floor was full of people having a great time ... almost as if they've been waiting for this all year.   Will definitely be putting the Owyhee County Rodeo on the calendar for next year! 

On the way home, we stopped at one of the local Homedale bars to see another band.  Mixed reviews.  Some good players ... some not so good.  Had a couple of drinks and headed home.

Another very fun evening!  Thanks again, Mark!  You rock!  ;-)

Me