Category: Monday Musings

Monday Musings ~ July 20, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 83 Comments

Welcome to Monday…and a big Monday it is. Eight years ago this fluffy boy entered the world to create good old fashioned chaos and cuddles. Happy Barkday, House Pony! How about a photo to comemerate the occasion?

Wilson - birthday

Ok, let’s try this again, knucklehead. Let’s shoot for more of a “All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my closeup” kind of photo, okay?

Wilson - birthday

Ahhh, that’s better. Hope you have a fantastic day, sweet boy.

Even though it’s Wilson’s birthday, we still need to start the week out with a smile. We hope your Monday is totally wonderful.

Here’s to doing diddly-squat.

Monday smile

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ July 13, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 82 Comments

We’re hunkering down for the next few days while triple digits visit us. We only hope our few potted plants survive. Gardening this time of year has it’s unique pitfalls. Here’s Vince, the sign guy’s take.

Monday smiles

We hope everyone stays safe and hydrated. Keep smiling…autumn is a mere 71 days away.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ July 6, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 60 Comments

We hope you survived the Fourth of July weekend. It was surprisingly quiet in our neighborhood for which we were grateful. I’m sure the high temps and wildfire smoke may have had something to do with it, although I know in various parts of the metro area, some stupid people were setting them off in crowded, dense neighborhoods. Obviously the heat melted any sense they may have had.

Anyway, we found a few smiles that indicate how hot it’s been. The forecast is calling for triple digits by the weekend and temps are expected to linger around the OMG level of hot for three or four consecutive days. Oh joy, I can hardly wait. On the plus side, autumn is scheduled to arrive in 78 days.

Monday smile

Monday smile

Monday smile

Stay cool, hydrated and keep smiling. Have a great Monday.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ June 29, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 76 Comments

Here we are-it’s the last Monday of June which means we’re heading toward the back side of 2026. Where has the time gone this year? Our weekend was jammed with activities. First there was the Dog Fair on Saturday that was great fun for both the two and four legged. On Sunday Wilson and I hosted a birthday BBQ for the family which meant that the great granddaughter cutie pie helped blow out candles (repeatedly) for her Daddy and Grandpa who both had recent birthdays.

Halia

The woman with the pink hair below was with the event organizers, the rest of the group were some of the volunteers who helped man the both. Sweet Hadley is always a super chill and model pup.

Denver Dog Fair

We had loads of visitors stop by to meet the sheepdogs and generally chat with our rescue volunteers.

Denver Dog Fair
Young and old enjoy meeting our volunteer sheepdogs (I think this sweet boy was Ralph)
Denver Dog Fair
A fellow sheepdog owner and her family dropped by
Cutie pies of all types stopped by
Even non-sheepdogs swung by

Denver Dog Fair

Another dog rescue group located next to ours had a very cool photo booth and took photos of some of the volunteers and their dogs.

Denver Dog Fair Denver Dog Fair

It was a swell event on a very hot day (officially it was 97F/36.1C) with lots of visitors and dogs eager to get out of the heat.

And because it’s a Monday, we still want to share a smile. When I say there was lots of sniffing among the dogs who attended the fair, they might have benefitted with name tags like today’s smile to make the meet and greet a bit easier.

Monday smile

We hope everyone you meet today has a smile on their face. Have a wonderful Monday and try to stay as cool as you can.

Monday Musings ~ June 22, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 74 Comments

Hope all the Dads out there had a great day yesterday, which coincided with the arrival of summer. Got to spend a day with my Dad in triple digit heat but the joy it brought to him was well worth it.

Unlike many of you, summer is my least favorite season. I don’t do heat and it’s been hot here. How hot you ask?

Monday smile

Maybe I wouldn’t mind it as much if there haven’t been so many power outages. In the past eleven days, we’ve experienced six outages (two yesterday, in fact). Grrr. It’s been so hot, I’ve been thinking of making some special flip flops.

Monday smile

We hope you’re staying cool, or at the very least, comfortable with plenty of electricity. May your Monday be great and that your power stays constant during the hottest days this week. Enjoy the first full day of summer.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ June 15, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 53 Comments

Greetings, peeps. We hope today’s morning smile doesn’t involve anyone to be unnecessarily dressed up…just a straight up delivery of your favorite wake up beverage. Happy Monday.

Monday smile

Make it a terrific Monday!

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ June 8, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 79 Comments
OES Picnic snacks
OES themed snacks

Happy Monday, peeps. We enjoyed the rescue picnic over the weekend although a smaller than usual group attended. There was a rodeo just down the road from where the picnic was held and I’m sure there were many other events that competed with our get together but I think we did decently well with the silent auction baskets and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Here are a few photos from the event.

It’s never easy getting everyone in the frame let alone getting them to look at the camera. It’s always for a good laugh though.

As you can see it was a glorious day, but very hot. Most folks hung out in the shade.

OES picnic 2026

OES picnic - 2026

OES picnic - 2026
Playtime for sheepies while their parents bid on the silent auction gift baskets.

There were lots of wrestling matches and/or dashes around the acreage, but everyone was well behaved. A small doggie pool was set up that helped cool off panting sheepies and frequently turned into a good sized drinking fountain for them. Trust me, that sight was not pretty since as soon as dogs cooled off in the pool and took a long drink, they were back chasing one another. The dirt build up in the bottom of the pool required multiple cleanings. Too bad we didn’t have something as pretty as this one.

Monday smile

Temperatures reached 90F (32.2C) and let me tell you, it was hot whenever you were in the sun. I was ‘James Brown hot’ with sweat pouring down my face despite wearing a wide brimmed hat.

Monday smile

All in all, everyone had a great time (Wilson opted to stay at home to avoid being too stimulated with all the high energy from the attending sheepdogs) but he apparently had a good time too. He was a good boy and didn’t get into anything.

Wilson

We hope you had a terrific weekend. Stay cool and enjoy a fabulous week.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ June 1, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 83 Comments

Whoa, welcome to the first day of June…I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around that little facct. Since the temps will be rising this week, I guess it’s safe to say we’re cruising in overdrive toward summer.

We had quite an encounter with a coyote Saturday morning. I think it was a female being protective of her pups; she went after a couple of folks with little dogs along the path. She took one look at Wilson and said, “umm, exit stage right.” It was definitely interesting and if you were slightly sleepy, it was quite a wake up call. Everyone kind of laughed it off but I think it would be safe to add coyotes to the “what outsiders think” column particularly in spring when there are new babies everywhere. Including Canadian geese…which makes them even more dangerous.Monday smile

Here’s hoping all your wildlife encounters this week are good ones.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Memorial Day – 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 59 Comments

Memorial DayToday is Memorial Day in the U.S. where we remember and honor all those who gave the ultimate sacrifice serving their country. Now a national holiday,  it was originally known as Decoration Day back in the years following the Civil War and only became known as Memorial Day in 1968 and Congress added it as a three-day weekend for federal employees in 1971.

On May 30, 1868 General John A. Logan, head of a Union veteran association spearheaded the decoration of the graves of fellow comrades who died in defense of their country. Many of the Northern states held commemorative events and reprised the tradition in subsequent years so that by 1890 each one had made “Decoration Day” an official state holiday. Still bitter about the loss in the Civil War, many southern states refused to officially recognize the day until after WWI and many southern states (Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Tennessee) held separate days honoring their Civil War hero’s. Memorial Day did not become the preferred name after World War II.

Memorial Day is also the ‘unofficial’ beginning of summer and as is often the case, been turned into a shopping fest. We however, will mark the day with quiet reflection. Have a safe holiday.

Wilson - Memorial Day

Live, love, bark!  🐾

Monday Musings ~ May 11, 2026

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 62 Comments

We hope all you upright and pet moms had a lovely Mother’s Day. Wilson said our family BBQ was a huge success, in fact, he’s started tracking for the next family get together. Notice he had the dinner timer at the top of his smart watch although I would have expected him to rank the squirrel finder higher.

Monday smile

Here’s hoping your week tracks beautifully. Happy Monday.

Live, love, bark! 🐾