More residents to the Chacra

Another mare and foal have arrived. Mother foals are only a couple of weeks old.  They are so sweet.  Could it be that I mentioned to Ginny that there was mention of new born foals in her correspondence and yet when I got here there weren't any?  Well all I had to do was ask!

And the other baby posing for a picture.

Here is Jorge's favourite mare.  He and Cedar are heading out for a ride.  They are going into town to pick up some groceries.  My turn is coming soon.....surely I have earned it from mucking out corals, feeding and watering the horses and planting the garden!  However I am not 22 and beautiful!  What can you do!!!

Cedar on Magante (17 yr. old stallion)

New residents at the Chacra

Yesterday I picked up Cedar at the bus station in El Heucu.  Cedar is one of the volunteers here at the Chacra and she has come from Victoria.  Unlike me, Cedar speaks some Spanish which is so helpful.  Her plan is to stay approx. 2 months.  I am so pleased to have her company.

Now that Cedar will be sleeping in the main house I have moved to the ranch house which is separate. These are my new digs.

Also arriving yesterday to take up residency at the Chacra were three more horses.  These consisted of two mares and a new foal.  They were brought from Butta Mallin by Jorge and a friend.  The foal is so sweet!

Everyone is settling in just fine!

Busy day....

Well today Jorge set off on his horse to go to Buta Mallin for a few days to help Sky with all the work up there.  They are terribly short handed so Jorge said he would help out.  It would take him about 1-1/2 hours to ride there.

So then I decided to get busy in the garden before it got too hot.  Ginny has been wanting to get some plants in the garden before they died so I accomplished that.

Next Ginny and I enjoyed a leisurely lunch in the shade.

Then I finished up the day with mucking out the paddock.  Note the nifty outfit!  Cool and comfy but I've got my safety boots on!

Dinner under the stars....

Last night a friend of Jorge's dropped by for a visit.  This man is a real Gaucho and dressed the part.  Very nice.  Jorge asked me to make a beer run and I wasn't sure where I was going as Jorge explained to me in Spanish.  'Just go down the driveway to the end, turn left on the road and walk a bit.  There is a house on the right.  Not that one but the next one.  He will sell you beer.  And here are two empty bottles to take with you".  Now keep in mind this is my interpretation of what he is saying with many hand gestures.  It is almost dusk and I have never noticed a store so am a little wary.  Jorge's friend decided to walk with me and sure enough at the back of the property there is a small building and he sells beer!  Ice cold.  40 pesos for two large bottles.  Things are looking up!  We head back to the ranch where Jorge has built a fire to roast chiazzo sausage which is our supper with bread and salad.  Just like camping.  The moon is out and the stars are plentiful!

Dinner being cooked...

On my own for the day

Jorge and Ginny went to a place called Buta Mallin today.  It is supposed to be very beautiful with wonderful views.  Jorge leaves tomorrow To go back to San Martin so they wanted to have a chance to spend the day there.  I hope to go at another time.  They have to take quite a few things so that the trip is comfortable for Ginny.

While they were gone I pretty well had the place to myself so I just puttered around.  I decided to clean some of the tack that was hanging around.  Brought back memories of when I had my horse.  I'm just sitting in the shade on the porch.....it's really warm today and for once the strong winds have abated and there is just a gentle breeze which makes it perfect.

This is my view from the porch looking over at a couple of the corrals.  I also enjoy 'shovelling manure' so I cleaned both these corrals today.  Anything "horse".  Loving the peace and quiet.  No sirens here!

El Heucu....the town

Well El Heucu is definitely more than a one horse town.  It would be quite common for a gaucho to ride into town with his saddle bags to pick up the groceries.  These horses are beautiful and I can't get used to seeing them standing, tied up with their saddles on for long periods of time.  As Ginny says "gauchos treat their horses like a car in the garage....they just leave them until they need them".  I guess they adapt as this is the way of life here.  This young lady rode over to the ranch for a visit.  I told her she was beautiful and she got so embarrassed I wasn't able to take another picture of her.

Here we are at the entrance to El Heucu

The town Firehall.

The bus station.

One of two local grocery stores.....Costco lookout!

Nice town square....it's lovely and green thanks to constant watering.  Good place to sit and have an ice cream.

The local hospital so maybe I could get a job???

An interesting bird I spotted out back of the house.

New Years Eve

Loving this big guy!  He's 17 years old and very gentle.  Might be the one I will ride down the road.

Jorge (the resident Gaucho) showing off his riding skills.  What a ham!

In Argentina when they have a BBQ it's called an Asado.  Jorge, who is the main gaucho at the ranch prepared the Asado and cooked a rack of goat.  This was heavily salted (heart attack on a stick)!  We didn't eat until approx. 10:30 pm.  Sitting around the fire sipping on sparkling apple cider was an experience I will always remember.  Jorge's sister joined us and thanks to my IPad and google translate we had a wee bit of conversation.  Fireworks went off all around us at midnight sending a flock of parrots soaring over top of us.  The horses were a little restless as well.  Poor babies!

Some of the crowd.  Here is another Jorge (a friend visiting from San Martin de Los Andes), Esther (one of Ginny's assistants), Ginny and Sky (Ginny's daughter).