Welcome to "Ranch Dressing"

On August 25, 2009 we moved to this five-acre paradise and named it "Chestnut Pinto Ranch." We needed to bring our horses (chestnuts and pintos) onto the property before the first snow but there were no stalls, no shelters, no paddocks and no fences.

Watch the videos to the right on this page for various poems and readings.

 

 

The above tabs will take you to the following areas:

• Words, words, words: Writing information plus: my poems, prose, and stories
• New Building Added:  Tuff shed comes to the ranch. See how it developed
• Garden Tips 2012 - 2016:  Some "How To" in the garden with photos
• Garden Tips 2016 - 2017: First 2017 crop to go in is Garlic
• Prose by pros: (Shakespeare, Chekhov, Mark Twain, etc.)
• Milestones:  Personal milestones
• Ranch recipes:  My personal recipes for a healthy life.  "You are what  you eat."  



Summer

Winter

                                                                    

Spring

                                                                                                                   

Fall

  Please enjoy the various words, images, and voices.



Poetry/Prose/Recipes

To the right are videos of: Me rehearsing for John Neeley's Memorial, "The Crabs of Vũng Tàu," the first section of my Non-Fiction piece published in Crab Orchard Review, a piece from The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, a recipe, four poems, and a speech from Shakespeare.  From top to bottom:

• How To Use Compost
• Rehearsing for John Neeley's Memorial
• "When the Frost is on the Punkin" by James Whitcomb Riley

• "The Crabs of Vũng Tàu"
• A page from The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
• Brian's recipe for porridge (one he's used, in one variation or another, for 40 years).
• To read the complete recipe click on "Ranch Recipes" above.
• This recipe was entered into the 2012 Bob's Red Mill "Spar for the Spurtle" contest. 
• Was not one of the three finalists.
• Bummer!
• Hamlet's speech to the players from Hamlet by William Shakespeare  
• "The Black Horse" by Archie Fisher
• "When the Poet Goes to Indiana" by Mary Oliver 
• "A Barred Owl" by Richard Wilbur

Please feel free to comment or make requests.

New Horse arrives at Chestnut Pinto Ranch

General George arrived at Chestnut Pinto Ranch on May 30, 2016.  George is a Mustang from the Paisley Desert and went through the 100 Days of training Competition with Stacey Riggs and won RESERVE CHAMPION! 

Vicki is no stranger to Mustangs.  She lived on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in her twenties and had Mustangs.  She ran the stables at Kah-nee-ta Resort taking out rides and tending the horses (all Mustangs) and on her free time she road the rim rock above the Deschutes River. 

Vicki has ridden him and lunges him on a regular basis. 

2018 Garden

Winter, late February 2018

Prune, Weed, Repair, Prune Weed, Weed, Weed, Prune, and weed:

Rose before pruning

 The theory is to prune your roses right after 
 President's Day.  Cut way back since they will
 grow to be bigger than the end of last season.  



 

Same rose after pruning to about 8 inches high

Last summer (2015)



Rose Garden around patio before pruning and weeding







Rose Garden around patio after pruning and weeding

Writer's Night out at the Ranch - 2012

A beautiful August night for writers to gather

Co-Host Jackie



Laura & Mary checking out baby pics



Sherrie (in a great mood)



Vicki (stunning as usual)



Harold and Laura



Joanna (our mentor)

Writers Night out at the Ranch

Saturday Evening, August 20, 2011, eighteen writers and guests assembled in the garden of Chestnut Pinto Ranch for a gathering of friends and a reading of original "Pastoral Poems or Paragraphs."  Good food, good words, and a good time.


                                                                           Jackie reads a poem

Hosts Brian & Vicki enjoy the evening

                                      

Stevan, Tony, Mark, &
Michael dish up.
                                                       

Kate and Jackie, friends forever



                                                                             Vicki and Kate

Liz reads a poem       

Michael, Harold, & Anne relax

Stevan, Rick, Sherri,
Vicki,& Cheryl