Labor Day Wagon Train

I'm planning the menu for the wagon train over Labor Day up to the Pryors again.
I look forward to riding, cooking and singing... probably not all at the same time but perhaps in that order!

I will go up to Kelly's house tomorrow to solidify the eats and head for the sprawling metropolis of Billings next week for groceries.

I'll be making ribs, beans and cornbread the first night, pancakes, french toast and biscuits and gravy for breakfasts, cold cuts, fruits and cheeses for lunches, shepherds pie and sloppy joes the other two evenings. I will do many preparations in advance as I don't think we can have a campfire up there due to the extreme drought conditions. :(

I got the ole Guild guitar restrung today. I restrung Nurse Child's as well. She bought a Fender acoustic last summer and is teaching herself to play. She loves Mumford and Sons. They are a bluegrass/folk/rock band from the UK. We love their tunes. Even Construction Man sings along!






MUMFORD AND SONS

Virginia Patterson Hensley, born in West Virginia in 1932, won an Authur Godfrey talent program in 1957 with the smash hit "I Go Walkin' After Midnight." And the rest, as they say, is history. She died in a plane crash at the age of 31 in Tennessee. The year I was born, 1961, and also 1962, she was the number one female artist in the nation! Though I didn't grow up listening to Pasty Cline, I still enjoy her work.



CRAZY

Crazy
I'm crazy for feelin so lonely
crazy
I'm crazy for feelin so blue

I knew
You'd love me as long as you wanted
and then someday
You'd leave me for someone new

Worry
Why do I let myself worry
Wondrin
What in the world did I do

Crazy
For thinkin that my love could hold you
I'm crazy for tryin
and crazy for cryin
and crazy for lovin you

How does she sing like that?!!
So resonant, deep and full. This song is lyrically and musically genius.
Where were you when you first heard this song?

Birthday Day!

Today is my brother's birthday. He passed away several years ago but his sweet, sweet spirit, laughter and love for us all lives on in our hearts and memories. He'd be 52 today.
And handsome.... oh my! His eyes sparkled and his laugh was contagious. He was always there for the underdog, taking care of people just the way we are supposed to be.
David was very sensitive and it never seemed like he belonged in this world--almost like he was an old soul that knew way too much.

I loved my big brother... I love him still. And I know he loved our family very much.

He once wrote a poem. I think it was in the fifth grade. I still remember it...

"I have a dog, he's black and tan;
and it's been said he's best friend of man.

He has long ears that drag the ground,
and my dad says he's a huntin' hound.

But when we're out on the rabbit trail
there's one thing that we find:

Old Rover ain't way out in front--
he always walks behind."


Cutie Petutie!

I'm in the middle. Right where I should be!


Here's a fish for you! I remember the pike heads you used to nail to my barn wall on Susan Lake!

Sunday Sunrise Stills

My camera rocks!! Thanks for looking and loving and sharing your life with me. Have a most amazing Sunday. And remember, God is in His heavens and all is well.

The Wonders of God Never Cease

The sunflowers are in full bloom and beginning into the seed making stage... for you horticulturists there is a term, I'm sure! The field next to my yard is amazing--brilliant, vibrant in yellows, greens and golds.

The memories of my sister and brother are also in full bloom in my heart and mind as I rummage through boxes to sort, sell and throw away. Stuff! It's all stuff. Big and small. But it's dialogue, and smiles, and tears, and hearty laughter that I hear in my head with each picture or card that I come across. I have blessed.

I have lived the fullest life that one can live due to the relationships I have been blessed to maintain in these fifty years.

My children have been blessed too. I hope they will remember how much they have been loved as I reminisce and let go of their childhood toys, books, knick knacks and such. They have let go of it (obviously, it's in the garage in boxes) and so now I need to as well. But thank God for the memories.

Don't you think music and fragrances are two of the greatest memory awakeners? A certain smell will take me right back to the place where I first enjoyed and took in the scent. And certainly every song ever listened to in my youth upon hearing, will transport me back to the place I heard it, memorized it, took it in, and made the lyrics and sound my own.

Yep. It's gonna be a good garage sale tomorrow. Time to open my hands to the new wonders of God waiting down the trail and let stuff go again.

I am thankful for the ability to let go and understand that the best is yet to come.

A great memory of Canyon de Chelly last November.

Dog days of summer...

Nurse Child comes home today from her friend's wedding in Seattle. I will pick her up at the airport this evening. Before then, I must purchase a small kitchen set for her fiance and his tiny cottage/garage apartment in an alley here in town. It will be fun to "set him up" with the essentials for living: food, water and love! ...dishes, a bed, a table and chairs and perhaps a lamp! Who knows what I will find on my antique/junque store adventures today in the sprawling metropolis of Billings, MT. It's where us podunkers go to shop. :)

The kitchen is coming along fabulously. We are actually living in it now. Yeah! No more garage cooking. However, I must have missed it so much I sat out on the sidewalk behind the house and cooked a shepherd's pie in my dutch oven on about 30 to 40 white hot briquettes last night. Lots of leftovers today. It tasted mighty fine. Hot, creamy, with a hint of rosemary flavoring the meat. I'm practicing for the Labor Day trip and camp out to the Pryors.

My garden is growing quite well. Looks like we'll have pumpkins, corn, onions, peppers and some tomatoes. The zinnias are so happy to flank the corn patch with their beauty, as the sunflowers reach to be taller than the corn.

All is as it should be today. Lots to do, as I am finally unpacking boxes, putting things away and preparing for a garage sale with my best friend, Robin, on Saturday. I don't hope to make as much money as I do to have someone else haul off my "treasures!"

Enjoy your time. Tell someone special that that's what they are.

By the way, those potatoes from my Uncle Earl's farm in Michigan tasted so sweet and yummy, my mouth is watering for shepherd's pie for lunch. Thanks Dad and Mom for bringing them all the way to Wyoming. WOW! What a great gift.

Hank the Cowdog expecting his next adventure when that gate flies open.

New Shoes

I don't know about you, but I love shoes. Amelda Marcos, right here! This is a sad and sorry fact about me. I love perusing the shoe sale racks at the mall. My secret passion that drives Construction Man crazy, as I try on each pair but never really buy any. I mean to say that I do buy shoes, but more functional ones really, as I only dream about the the fancy high heels and how they would look with my flowery dress, waltzing down the streets of Rome or Paris in the breeze of spring, on the right arm of my lover. (that'd be Construction Man, of course!)

My closet is full of flats, tennis shoes and cowgirl boots. All fully functional and comfortable. Life's too short to wear tight shoes.

We did notice the other day that Russ is a shoe hound too. He has many types of boots ranging from cowboy, to hunting, to steel toes. Too funny! He does a few pairs of sissy, preacher shoes as well. This is what his dad calls them. :)

Addy got new shoes yesterday. Her toes were so long and her first pair were worn right out. We got our money's worth on those. She did very well for her second shoeing. My farrier took his time as she put up quite a fight the first go'round with another guy. Duncan caused trust and acceptance on each foot-- especially her right hind, which is the difficult one. For some reason she just won't hold still on that hoof.

Her little feet looked so cute and nice when he was done, I just wanted to haul out the pink toenail polish and polish them. We all giggled when I suggested that. My horse shoer has two baby girls. The oldest being two, loves her toes and fingers polished.

I love new shoes. Might just have to buy me a pair and schedule that trip to Tuscany.

AnnaMarie--my farrier's oldest girl.

Hunger...

I once heard it said: "To hunger is to live."

I don't know who coined the phrase, but I do like it.

I hunger every moment of each day for things that seem just out of reach. More like people that I long to keep company with; but my appetite for things is no different than the next guy.

Such as: I hunger for a new saddle! The one I have is sufficient, but on long rides it sores me up a bit. This may not seem like a huge burden, in fact, in the light of remodeling the house, it really is miniscule-- just saying.

Perhaps your perspective on a few wants and gimmies is askew as well. I don't know.

But I do know that in the light of eternity, I would give my all that I possess to have my sister back again... to see my brother's beautiful face and hear him laugh at my silliness. I hunger, no, ache, for such things.

Construction Man and I just had this conversation while he was home from NoDak about how pain lets us know that we are alive and growing. It hurts to grow up and accept the things we cannot change. (AA is on to something!) But it does help to know that we are not alone in our hunger/quest to change. Whether it is a personal change for the better, which really does make the world a better place, or an interest in changing our sphere of influence toward truth, light and love.
I hunger for such things for the youth of our community.

I hunger for families to be whole, healthy and strong.

I hunger for my loved ones whom are sick to be well.

I hunger for dads and husbands to be able to work closer to home.

I hunger for families to live closer together and to take care of one another like we are supposed to be doing.

I hunger for the peace of Jerusalem.

I hunger for less war, violence and man's selfish agendas.

I hunger to do the right thing for my family, my community, my country, and my God.

I hunger to eat right and take better care of myself.

I hunger for all people to know that they are loved and that there is hope when it seems there is no hope at all.

I hunger for coffee, chocolate, sour cream peach pie and a good dark beer on a hot summer evening.

I hunger for love and acceptance in a world of isolation and hateful judgement.

I hunger to play the guitar like Eric Clapton.

I hunger for wise, righteous men and women to lead our nation.

You get the idea. Obviously I am fully alive at this hungry rate! What will satisfy your appetite? Stay hungry. Stay alive. Tell someone how amazing they are today. Don't be stingy with the love. Make peace in your corner of the world. Share a good story with your kids, your coworkers, your grandma. Cause laughter and hope today.
Go on... you can do this and so can I.
Bon appetit!

Me and Addy.

My baby in our beautiful garden... she certainly makes it a lovelier place.