• Calving,  Weather

    Oklahoma Snow Storm 2021

    Oklahoma saw one of the worst cold spells in history in February of 2021! Temperatures were below freezing for more than 10 days straight. That is not normal for Oklahoma. Social media was plastered with photos of people rescuing their animals in the snow. It was no different for us. We already had several babies on the ground but when the storm hit we had to put one on the floorboards of the pickup to warm it up and dry it off. Then a couple days later we had two calves in the house over night. I ended up sleeping on the couch in case the calves got up and…

  • Daily Living,  Uncategorized

    Prayer to Saint Anthony

    I was reading my social media newsfeed and saw where a friend had lost a sentimental pair of RayBan sunglasses. He wasn’t sure where he lost them but was offering a sizeable reward if anyone found them and returned them to him. I pray he finds his sentimental sunglasses. It reminded me of a prayer my Mom taught us when we lost something… “Tony, Tony, look around <something> is lost and must be found.” This prayer is to be repeated until the lost item is eventually found. I have had two memorable occasions where I used this prayer. The first was after the Armed Forces Day Parade in Lawton. I…

  • Family

    The History of The Mace Family Farm

    The Mace Family had a family reunion on Saturday, September 21st, 2019. Emma Lee Madden was asked to say a few words about the family and this is what she shared with the group: “I want to say thank you to David and Nancy for letting us have this here at the Mace homestead also thanks to Paula, Nancy Susan & Chandi and all who had any part in bringing this together. I have gathered some information on the Mace family that I would like to speak some about it. Grandad’s father’s family came to America from Ireland, I don’t know where his mother’s family came from. Their name was…

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  • Dogs

    The Adventures of Diesel

    Oh this dog! This is the story of how “Diesel” came to live on the Mace Place. I did some volunteer work at the local animal shelter. I took photographs of some of the animals that were waiting for adoption. It was a Saturday in late September and Mo was bringing me one dog at a time. I laid on the floor and played with them to try to get them to not be so timid. I had just finished TRYING to photograph a yippy, barky, chihuahua. Mo was taking her back and I was looking at the back of my camera trying to delete the million pictures I had…

  • Dogs

    The Life of a Heeler

    What is with this dog? I realize that heelers are bred to do just that, heel cattle…chase them up the alley and into the tub but how many times does this dog have to get kicked in the head before he figures out it really isn’t that much fun to nip the heels of those cows. As we head down to the barn we may tell him to “stay at the house”. He will sit on the back step and watch as we walk towards the barn.  All it takes is that secret sound to bring him down to the barn in a full run.  That secret sound?  “HEP HEP!” …

  • Daily Living

    What is a Ranch?

    I’ve always struggled with the definition of a “ranch”. Dictionary.com describes it as: noun –an establishment maintained for raising livestock under range conditions. Chiefly Western U.S.and Canada – a large farm used primarily to raise one kind of crop or animal. It doesn’t say how MUCH range or how MANY animals but I have always thought of it to be a big operation; thousands of acres with hundreds of cattle. That’s why I struggle to say “I live on a ranch.” If someone asks I always say “My husband and I have a small cattle operation in southwest Oklahoma.” Here is the honest truth. David and I own 160 acres of land. It has a house, a hay barn, an equipment barn and a small barn behind the house with 4 stalls and fenced runs.…

  • Calving

    What We Won’t Do to Save a Calf

    I arrived home from work right before dusk. As soon as I walked in the door, David was following me. “Nan! We have a calf that we need to get up! He’s really weak and can’t stand!” I rushed upstairs to quickly change out of my work clothes, grabbed a couple of old towels and a blanket and ran out the door. David had already started the side by side so I threw the towels in the back and jumped in. We raced off into the pasture to get to the calf. As soon as I set my eyes on it, I fell in love! David knows I love color!…

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  • Opinions

    Traveling Trials & Tribulations

    I don’t like to travel by air any more! It’s exhausting! People don’t care about themselves like they used to. You see all kinds of attire when sitting in the airport. I keep thinking to myself “have some self respect people!…Buy a full length mirror!” You can still travel in comfort but you don’t have to do it in your house shoes and pajama pants! I prefer wearing my Ruby Ribbon ponte pants, my Tieks and a nice comfortable blouse. You can still dress nice and be comfortable for air travel. And can we talk about carry on luggage? I recently traveled on Southwest Airlines. Did you know that you…

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  • Dogs

    Meet Our Dogs!

    To get to know the Mace’s better you have to meet our dogs! They keep us laughing all the time. Oldest first…. Meet Rowdy! He’s a red heeler/blue heeler mix. He came into our family just a year after we were married. He was just a pup when he came to live with us (maybe 6 months old). He is a cranky old soul but we adore him. Notice the dent on his forehead? Yep, typical heeler, he was kicked right between the eyes and broke his skull. You can read more about that story HERE. Then, There is Diesel! Diesel came to us about 3 years ago. I had…

  • Copenhagen Cowboy,  Daily Living

    Haying Season 2018

    I’m sitting here tonight, after working a 10 hour day at the casino, looking at old photos of my horses and sharing them to Facebook (you’ll have to check my personal Facebook page for those). I have the window open in my craft room and listening to the sounds of the tractor getting far away and then closer, farther away and closer. The crickets are chirping and I can hear a barn owl in the distance. It is 9:00 at night and my husband (David…aka Copenhagen Cowboy) is on said tractor raking hay. Yes, we both work full time and yes, we farm/ranch in our “spare” time. People ask if…