My Husband Asked....

One day last week, my husband asked me to ride along with him while he fed the calves. He had already fed a couple of pastures, so the odds were fairly decent I would not be stuck in the pickup all day. It's nice to spend some time with him without all the chaos that ensues when the kids are around. We can talk uninterrupted and actually complete sentences that are not "in code"!

I must say, this feeding excursion went rather well. There were no sick calves that we had to rope and doctor, we did not get stuck in a snow drift, and no vehicles broke down and we had to walk....

I took a few pictures while we were out.

 Someone anxiously awaiting word that she can go round up the stragglers...(and, yes, there are dirty windows and mirrors...)

I'm still waiting...

 Are they all there?

I think he's kind of cute up there on his horse!

 Trying to open the door of the pickup...

 Still trying....

Little devil horns!

Weird Winter Weather

This winter has been weird, weather-wise. I 'know' the reason. At the end of the summer, I began praying for a LONG fall....and it seems I got it! We enjoyed nice, unseasonably warm and dry weather through November. We literally went from short-sleeves on the Nov 30th to wind, snow and freezing temps on Dec. 1st.

But wait! it warmed up again and then froze. Warmed up and froze. Like a recent Sunday, it was in the mid-to upper 60s. The following Monday night snow and the temperature dropped to -1 here at the house.

So, here it is the middle of the night. I'm awake because a dear child got up at midnight, woke me up on her way to the bathroom and I could not get back to sleep...So now I'm watching the thermometer hover around 0 again. The forecast for Sunday? 60.

I have begun praying for an early Spring!

 One of the fat robins 'wintering' in my trees...

The Joys of Cooking

I love cooking! It's exhausting, but I love the feeling in the end of having "accomplished" something. Now, where I cook leaves a little to be desired.  I have what you call a "One Butt" kitchen. It's about the right size for "one butt".

When I was single, a kitchen this size was awesome. I could move around, do things and not have to run all over the room to get what I needed. It was all right there. Another good thing about a kitchen like this is  that it's not that big and cleaning isn't that hard. No, I didn't admit to actually cleaning the kitchen...or wiping down the cabinets...or anything like that. I'm just saying, it's not "that" hard to clean.

There are a few problems with a "One Butt" kitchen-

• My backside appears to be growing...I attribute it to "aging", but the experts would probably say it has more to do with food choices and an appropriate level of exercise...sigh.
• There is now more than "one butt" trying to get into the kitchen at the same time. Resulting in Cook #1 raising her voice and commanding all other butts to leave. And I don't care if I just raised my voice to call you into the small kitchen. (Yes, it's a constant battle of "come here and go away". Wonder if I am scarring my children....)
• I love to cook and bake and the "one butt" kitchen is running out of space. I guess I am a collector of kitchen things. Cabinets are filled, drawers filled and I am running out of places to hide my cooking things!

I don't see this problem getting "fixed" anytime soon. So, I might as well get used to the kitchen and it's smallness!

Have a great week everyone!

Wide Open Spaces

I am blessed. It's as simple as that. I live in the 'wide open spaces'...Literally.  The view from my kitchen is of grass-covered, sandy hills, dotted with cows and a couple of windmills. 

 I live far from anything. When I grumble about my drive to "town", I am immediately reminded what a privilege it is to live where I do. 

Like many places, there is an abundance of wildlife-cows (various types and sizes), bison, coyotes, grouse, one elk, a mountain lion (I know this because I have a photo of it's paw print!), porcupines, raccoons, skunks, swans, pelicans and eagles. No pics of the eagle or swans because when I drove past them, I realized my camera was sitting on my desk....

And more times than not, God blesses us with His beauty....

I hope to share things that are country, out in the sticks or something I find interesting....