So is Ree (Pioneer Woman) rich now?

[Elaine]

I love Ree, don't have time to read her blog or anything anymore, but I'm happy for her. She's a funny, nice person. I do wish she'd come up with some recipes that are less artery clogging. :D I guess cowboys work it off and need food stuff that sticks to the ribs.

 

:lol: @ the artery clogging. I have scrolled through the recipes, but lost interest because they are way too heavy for my taste. I made the apple dessert once, the one with the ginger ale, and they were delish! But then I had to run 10 miles to work them off!:lol:

 

I like her blog, but I hardly have time to read blogs anymore.

[Elaine]

I am a firm believer in capitalism :)

 

:iagree:

[HRAAB]

:lol: @ the artery clogging. I have scrolled through the recipes, but lost interest because they are way too heavy for my taste. I made the apple dessert once, the one with the ginger ale, and they were delish! But then I had to run 10 miles to work them off!:lol:

 

I like her blog, but I hardly have time to read blogs anymore.

 

While I enjoy her blog, this is why I wouldn't buy her cookbook. I did make a sandwich off her blog - cheese, tomatoes, chilies - it was good, but most of them make me see clogged arteries. Not the way we eat.

[Colleen]

No, really...is it the western girls who say it's crass to ask acreage and the eastern girls to say it's no big deal?

No. As an example, I'm way out west (as is hornblower ~ though we're on opposite sides of the border) and farmgirlinwv is on the opposite side of the country, but we're all in the same camp on this one.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

I wouldn't hesitate to ask someone how much land they owned because the next question would be "When can I bring my horse over for a trail ride or cross-country riding?" I would be drooling over 12,000 acres to ride on.

 

Usually, though, if I am feeling comfortable enough to ask that question I know the person marginally well.

[MBM]

Now I'm curious. Is all ranch land of equal value? Someone could own 100 acres of which only 50 are valuable or usable, right? Or, is it all computed based on acres?

 

Just my personal preference, but I'd take 10 acres of Parker Ranch on the Big Island of Hawaii over 100 just about anywhere else any day. I probably wouldn't make a bundle, but I'd be plenty content! :D

[Joanne]

What a thread.

 

Ree! Way to Go! What a terrific complimentary and progressive path for your blog, writing and lifestyle! :D:)

 

I would never ask you about your land ownership.

 

I don't know enough about ranching to comment on animal husbandry issues.

 

It will be interesting to see what the thread is when I:

 

cash in the main event of the World Series of Poker :D

 

publish a successful parenting and/or counseling type book :chillpill:

 

:lol:

[Liz CA]

We are certainly not landowners on a grand scale but I have never minded if people asked how much acreage we own.

I figure some people in urban areas can hardly believe it that some of us live on more than a postage size lot or how we take care of it all.

 

I feel it's quite different than someone asking point blank how much money or investments you have.

The size of one's land is not always indicative of overall wealth.

 

 

[Liz CA]

In ranching circles it is definitely NOT done to ask about the size of the place or the size of the herd. Most ranchers here don't pasture all their bulls in one place because all you need to do is take the # of bulls, multiply by 25 and you have the # of cattle. Dairying IS different.

 

And yes, we take our boots off at the door... :D

 

 

Ah, that explains it. We don't run cattle on our little spread nor do we have a dairy herd, also I live in CA. Interesting how different regions have different customs.

[mammaruss]

We are certainly not landowners on a grand scale but I have never minded if people asked how much acreage we own.

I figure some people in urban areas can hardly believe it that some of us live on more than a postage size lot or how we take care of it all.

 

 

 

 

:iagree:

Quite a few of our customers, that live in the "cities" ask how much land we have. They do say how quiet is and we do receive a lot of compliments on the beauty of our property. We do not farm though--we train/board dogs.

 

BUT

 

There are times when certain people ask us how many dogs we are caring for that I feel a little uneasy.....I can almost see them multiplying the number of dogs by our rates--but then on the other hand there are other people that are just interested and amazed at our operation.

[Retired]

I'm laughing my bum off here. The majoirty of my family are ranchers and this entire notion of not talking head of cattle, acreage, and so forth is blarney. These are mostly old fashioned southern people of mine and it is always being discussed.

 

I know several business owners and I've never met one that didn't enjoy talking about his pride and joy - his company. Everything from how many locations and an est of number of employees to how much output the company has.

 

For most of these things, it's a source of tremendous pride, business networking, and not to mention it's basic public records in many cases.

 

And no it is not the same as a man's privates.

A man physically or in any other capacity is not measured by the size of his bank, land, or privates by anyone that I know.

And even if we were to say it was the same, most men aren't too quiet about being blessed in that area either.

 

It's no ones business how anyone spends their own money of course.

But to suggest it's taboo to ask about something that is public knowledge seems rather silly to me.

 

And people talk all the time on this board about low incomes here. Including speculating on how poor people possibly deserve to be poor. Why is it taboo to discuss wealthier situations but perfectly okay to yammering about lower incomes?

 

Personally I think the notion of not talking about money, politics, or faith fosters ignorance.

 

But hey I've never been good at being graceful or subtle.

But I sure have had some of the most fascinating conversations (to me anyways) with people about their lives and learned a lot from it.

 

:iagree: This is normal man talk in the south. We have a saying land poor in the south. They may have a 100 acres and live in a trailer(mobile home)

 

There are very few rich big land owners. I live in a area with lots of big land owners barely paying the taxes. But as always the largest land owner just donated a million for our new voluteer fire department. This man looks homeless. I talked him at the local diner for almost a year before I new the kind of money he had. He would just talk cattle and the other farm/ranch speak.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

Hornblower, to put it very, very bluntly... asking about the size of man's land (or herd) is akin to asking him the size of his d*ck. As the farm wife, I guess I'm a little miffed at someone asking the size of my husband's business, too. You see... the size of a man's business is no indication of how well he uses it. You can have a really big business, and be a real jerk with it. You can have a very small business and be fantastic with it. And vice versa, too. But, no man likes to be asked about his business so openly.

 

IME, people will cut townies a lot of slack if they ask. We figure they just don't know the protocol, and let it go, but it still makes us uncomfortable.

 

 

Well, just so nobody has to ASK....we have two acres, but we REALLY, REALLY KNOW HOW TO USE IT! ;)

 

 

:lol: :auto:

[Pink Fairy]

Well, just so nobody has to ASK....we have two acres, but we REALLY, REALLY KNOW HOW TO USE IT! ;)

 

 

:lol: :auto:

 

Thanks for sparing us the agonizing curiousity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:D

[Audrey]

Another difference between ranching/farming and eastern/western places--in the east most folks say so and so acres. Out here it's in sections. :D

 

 

Sections here, too. Townies speak in acres, as in "our lot is huge! It's 3 acres!" Farmers speak in sections, as in "I'm going to be working the west quarter section today (or just the west section)."

[Sputterduck]

So... how many acres is a section?

[TXMomof4]

I was just driving through north Texas to the Panhandle and there is LOTS of land for sale right now. We're talking 17,000 acres at one spot, 7,000 acres at another. I "get" that ranching takes a lot of land, but seriously? How on earth could you even begin to handle 17,000 acres???? I drive through those giant places and just am bumfuzzled at how MUCH those people have. Of course, I know many of them are owned by corporations - the 6666 isn't even owned by an American anymore, but good heavens! It is mind-boggling!

[keptwoman]

That's huge isn't it. I wonder if it's like outback Australia and they have to have massive amounts of land because the ground is poor and you need lots of land per head of cattle. I'm a lil old kid from New Zealand. Used to seeing the cattle crammed into green pastures.

[Audrey]

So... how many acres is a section?

 

A section = 640 acres, or 1 square mile.

Quarter section = 160 acres

 

 

That's huge isn't it. I wonder if it's like outback Australia and they have to have massive amounts of land because the ground is poor and you need lots of land per head of cattle. I'm a lil old kid from New Zealand. Used to seeing the cattle crammed into green pastures.

 

Here, the land is very fertile and whole quarters get leveled of trees to plant crops. Very few people have cattle unless they have a creek or other water run, around which will be some non-arable scrub upon which one can pasture cattle.

[Laura Corin]

That's huge isn't it. I wonder if it's like outback Australia and they have to have massive amounts of land because the ground is poor and you need lots of land per head of cattle. I'm a lil old kid from New Zealand. Used to seeing the cattle crammed into green pastures.

 

I toured a ranch in Texas and the cattle were hard to spot. It's very different from New Zealand or lowland UK, where you have lots of cattle in each fertile field. It's more like highland grazing in Wales or Scotland: animals 'lost' in the wilds.

 

Laura

[Remudamom]

Y'all are cracking me up, but I'm standing by my first comment. It's rude as hell to ask how much land a rancher has. It does not matter if it's public knowledge. It's rude. None of the ranchers I know would dream of asking another. Yes, they pretty much know a ballpark figure, but you don't talk about it.

 

As for Southerners "talking about it", I was raised as Old South as the New South can get, Mammy and all, and I'm telling ya it's crass and common, and doing it shows you have no manners. Scarlett O'Hara might ask, but Melanie Wilkes would never be so presumptious.

 

And in some cases telling is bragging. Only the nouveax riche will go on about their acreage.

[Scarlett]

Scarlett O'Hara might ask, but Melanie Wilkes would never be so presumptious.

 

:eek:

 

Where there ya go!

[Audrey]

Only the nouveax riche will go on about their acreage.

 

 

Or city folks who have a cabin at the lake or a little land out in the country. My gosh! You'd think they owned a parcel the size of Alberta to hear 'em brag! Bless their hearts. :D

[TXMomof4]

Or city folks who have a cabin at the lake or a little land out in the country. My gosh! You'd think they owned a parcel the size of Alberta to hear 'em brag! Bless their hearts. :D

 

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Remudamom]

:eek:

 

Where there ya go!

 

Not you, NEVER you!! You're not Scarlett anyhow, you're a Scahlett..!

[Scarlett]

Not you, NEVER you!! You're not Scarlett anyhow, you're a Scahlett..!

 

LOL Thanks friend.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

Or city folks who have a cabin at the lake or a little land out in the country. My gosh! You'd think they owned a parcel the size of Alberta to hear 'em brag! Bless their hearts. :D

 

:lol:A friend of mine from Alabama said you can say anything about anyone and as long as you follow it with "Bless their hearts!" you can get away with it! This just made me think of that.:lol:

[Scarlett]

:lol:A friend of mine from Alabama said you can say anything about anyone and as long as you follow it with "Bless their hearts!" you can get away with it! This just made me think of that.:lol:

 

It is a fact. Or pat their head and say 'But you're pretty to look at.' My mom said that to me today!

[Remudamom]

True. You can even talk about those money grubbing, ill mannered, trashy Yankees.......bless their little 'ol heathen hearts.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

 

And in some cases telling is bragging. Only the nouveax riche will go on about their acreage.

 

 

I hope no one thinks that I was bragging with my two acres. :lol:

 

We don't have even one noggin of cattle nor do we own horses, although I did try to talk dh into an alpaca last week since I recently took up knitting.

 

Two acres seems like a LOT to us, especially considering that we still havn't bought a riding lawnmower! :001_huh:

[Remudamom]

I hope no one thinks that I was bragging with my two acres. :lol:

 

We don't have even one noggin of cattle nor do we own horses, although I did try to talk dh into an alpaca last week since I recently took up knitting.

 

Two acres seems like a LOT to us, especially considering that we still havn't bought a riding lawnmower! :001_huh:

 

I really think it's more of a ranching thing. Btw, alpacas spit.

[zaichiki]

Btw, alpacas spit.

 

Almost NEVER at people, though. And I'd rather get a little spit on me than get kicked by a horse or bitten by ___ (so MANY animals bite -- one of our sweet, sweet goat girls bit one of ds's friends last year).

 

Seriously, alpacas are cool. :D

[Remudamom]

I had a llama spit on me once, nasty. It didn't like the fact that I was buying one of it's sheep friends. It does beat being kicked all to hell though.

[zaichiki]

I had a llama spit on me once, nasty. It didn't like the fact that I was buying one of it's sheep friends. It does beat being kicked all to hell though.

 

I know some people use llamas to guard herds of sheep. Those llamas are chosen for their...ummm... fiery nature when it comes to human or animal "intruders." I bet they spit more than the average llama! :)

 

Llamas will sometimes spit at people... but alpacas have very different behavior. (Llamas were bred, for thousands of years, to work one-on-one with people, but alpacas were always bred for wool/meat and lived in large herds with little human contact.)

 

Ds and I have accidentally gotten caught in the crossfire when a couple of our adult male alpacas started to wrangle with each other. Luckily we just got hit with "overspray." :lol: Thank goodness for showers and clothes washing machines!

 

I *love* horses, but I've been too close to the rear end of a few that were a little too easily spooked back there. Nothing broken thank God! **shudder**

[catalinakel]

ok, back to the original question: Is Ree rich now? Well, since her dad is an orthopedic surgeon, she grew up on a golf course and went to USC (the university of spoiled children), I would say that she has always been pretty well off. Which doesn't make her any less entertaining or appealing as a daily blog read, imho. Ok, so she married a rancher with scads of acres and many head of cattle, but the deal is that she built a blog from her own heart, using her brain, and next thing you know, JC Penney is using her in their ads...or something like that. Dang. Wish I had such verve. And luck. To me she comes off as real real, and not the least bit spoiled, which makes all the difference. So get over it. She did good. Yay Ree!

[Pink Fairy]

As for Southerners "talking about it", I was raised as Old South as the New South can get, Mammy and all, and I'm telling ya it's crass and common, and doing it shows you have no manners.

 

I'm kind of scared, but I have to ask...It's crass and common to talk about land, but using "Mammy" is okay for someone that wasn't born at least 160 years ago? :blink:

 

Okay, I'm running away now. Please don't pop me with your six shooter!

:leaving: