#rimrockranch

[seaweedandgravel]

The best fitting denim is Seaweed & Gravel jeans. The Straight and Slim fit are made in the U.S. with Cone Mills US denim. #rawdenim #denim #rimrockranch #elcamino #pioneertown (at Seaweed & Gravel) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIn8rRKFjtm/?igshid=150fxqug0g53m

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"What's that? Do you think we should get up?" "Nah." #mismatchedpairdontcare #newdoginthehouse #desertdogs #rimrockranch #ranchdogs

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Sigh. Not a bad way to end the day. #highdesert #womenwhoride #desertlove #pioneertown #rimrockranch

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@djumami gettin people to get it. #rimrockranch #desertlife #desertwedding

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Fall wedding season has begun! Love this couple. Congratulations Jlam and Matt!! @rimrockranch #rimrockranch #desertwedding

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Month 4, Complete.

I never thought I would be so bad at updating a blog…how do people keep these up?

Anyway. It has been 4 months at the Ranch, and right now I should be emptying wet laundry, hanging them out to dry (b/c the dryer broke weeks ago, but I just don’t care enough to fix it), I should be checking to make sure the pool filter hasn’t backed up and started blowing sand back into the pool (bc that’s something I’ve seen now).  I should be cleaning at least the Airstream, Hatch House, Cabins 1 and 2. (bc we have a wedding here this weekend and I have three days to turn things over).  I should be watering (bc Cole, our helper is gone dealing with a family emergency), I should be raking dirt (that’s a thing here).  I should be paying bills, answering emails, catching up on voicemails (7? How could there be 7 voicemails already?) .  I should be figuring out how to put away the tables that are out in the sun, but are two heavy to handle by yourself.  I should be counting the profit/loss (likely loss, but that’s okay!) of having our first concert here. I should be reconciling expenses for the last month, and filling out paperwork for our accountant and…oh yeah. Going to the county to handle a mound of paperwork.  Which I SWEAR I was going to handle a month ago, but then San Bernadino County caught on fire, and it didn’t seem like the best time to be banging down their door.

Eric is up in Oakland at the moment, handling moving the last of his things, and pushing to get his truck working again, and working on getting his house ready for an open house.

So that’s how it has been.  

Sounds exhausting? It is. It is a level of mental power meets physical strain we have not experienced before.  (Bonus—we’ve lost weight. This is a great diet plan)

But in the middle of all those “should do’s” I’m taking a moment to listen to the birds chirp, look around and see if Ellie Mae decided to chase after a bunny, and I’m looking at the dusty blue skies over the Pioneertown Preserve “Sawtooth Mountains.”  The breeze is blowing right now. Taking the edge off of the building heat.  It’s 9:30am, so its fixing to be a hot one. Our guests are walking around enjoying the place with a cup of coffee in their hands. And that always is a nice beginning to the day—seeing people get a smile on their face from the things we work so hard to upkeep.

Art, our friend and contractor just showed up to work on electrical. Eric and I manually dug a trench for wiring about 3 weeks ago. Me. Wielding a pick axe. Can you imagine?! HA.

But I’ve done lots of things I couldn’t imagine doing—fixing a leaky faucet, draining a pool filter that was backwashing sand into the pool, assembling cedar tables, elbow deep scrubbing a toilet, understanding wiring and how it works, pulling a bunny head out of Ellie’s mouth…yep. gross.

Eric has learned how to plaster walls, plumb a new sink in a day (with the help of his dad), decorate on a budget (ha!), go Caddyshack on a bunch of squirrels, do electrical work, sprint after Ellie chasing bunnies…

And things are going well!  All of this reflects success. Things break because we have people here using them. We want to improve the cabins b/c we have guests regularly.  I have booked more weddings than I counted on in our year 1(already!) I have a yoga retreat I’m working on organizing, we have family reunions and friend getaways.  We are sold out every weekend until November 2016.  So we’re happy. Very happy. Very tired, but very happy and fulfilled.

Oh yeah. We aren’t in conference calls at 8 am, I’m not being asked to do things better, faster, cheaper. And when I am…I have the power (and have said) “no.”

But, enough patting ourselves on the back.  Time to clean toilets, and hang up laundry…and…

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No filter, the view from #rimrockranch at #sunset. #weddings #ido #desertwedding #weddingvenue #desert

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Preparing roll away for a 4 year old. #addeserters #hatchhouse #rimrockranch #dreamsweetdreams #latergram