Thursday, July 31, 2008
Splashin' at Big Splash!
Carter and "Ty-Ty" (as Carter calls Vashti) had lots of fun going down the toddler slides together. Vashti was especially attentive once she noticed that one of the two lifeguards on the kiddy pool was cute!
Part of the whole gang. L to R: Dick's great-niece Brandy, Carter, Vashti, Vashti's school friend Morgan, Chance, & Dustin.
Four more fish! L to R: Blake, Chance, Sterling, & Dick's great-niece Ashley.
Brandy and Vashti escort Carter down one of two kiddy slides--coincidentally while the cute lifeguard was on duty at the top of the slide.
Part of the whole gang. L to R: Dick's great-niece Brandy, Carter, Vashti, Vashti's school friend Morgan, Chance, & Dustin.
Four more fish! L to R: Blake, Chance, Sterling, & Dick's great-niece Ashley.
Brandy and Vashti escort Carter down one of two kiddy slides--coincidentally while the cute lifeguard was on duty at the top of the slide.
Aunt Gwynny (with a great example of a farmer's tan) and Carter had great fun on August 29--Carter never slowed down from 10:30 to 2:30! The newest family fish!
Monday, July 28, 2008
Grampa and gang put up electric fence...
L to R: Chance, Blake, Grampa, Brandy, Vashti, & Ashley. Putting up electric fence so our ponies can eat the second cutting next to the shelter belt.
Red Ryder doing what she does best...
L to R: Dick's great-niece Brandy on Biscuit, Red Ryder on Mikey, Dick's great-niece Ashley on Buckshot, and Sterling on Trigger.
Cody's gang a-horseback...
L to R: McKenzie on Bessie, Gwyn on Stony, Madison on Poco, Ann on Pat, and Cody on Cow Gent. The photographer accompanied them on a long hot ride on Sunday afternoon. They all did real well, but the photographer thought we ought to have started earlier and quit earlier! I HATE the heat! But it was fun riding with Cody, Ann, & the girls.
It's been a long time since we did our own combining...
Mike unloads wheat into the truck.
Mike is driving the combine on the left, and Clint's in the one on the right.
Mike is driving the combine on the left, and Clint's in the one on the right.
Can horses be envious?
It looks like the ponies wish they could take a dip on a stinking hot day as they watch Sterling & Ashley enjoy Runamuck Pool!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
A visit with Gramma Pat...
L to R: Carter, Gramma Pat, Blake, Sterling, & Dick's great-niece Ashley
Great-Gramma Pat and Cade
This photo was taken on Mike's first birthday -- April 17, 1955. Note the strong resemblance between Grampa Mike and Grandson Cade.
Great-Gramma Pat and Cade
This photo was taken on Mike's first birthday -- April 17, 1955. Note the strong resemblance between Grampa Mike and Grandson Cade.I NEVER wanted to be in shape this bad!
Coming home from my early morning ride, I came face-to-face with Christy pushing two little varmints in their stroller up hill on a HOT morning! I nearly passed out from heat stroke on the spot!
Not necessary to say -- Cade picked out his own jogging shoes!
View from the back! Looking good, Chrissy!
Not necessary to say -- Cade picked out his own jogging shoes!
View from the back! Looking good, Chrissy!
Life gets no better...
I met Mom and Clint at the shop yesterday morning at 6:30, and we proceeded to beat the heifers and their babies down the creek a couple miles on what should have/could have been an easy move! Had great fun riding anyway! Clint's riding Florida, the colt he bought from me n Dick, and Mom's riding the handsome fellow she bought from Jim Devine.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Exhausted...
Pat Goggins wants me to consider going back to work for him since both of his editors have given him their notice. I’ve been really ambivalent about doing that because I like punching no one else’s time clock…
But it is beginning to look a bit more appealing…
Dick’s niece Christy showed up on 7/3 with her 2 daughters -- Brandy (about 14) and Ashley (about 12) -- and their two horses… So immediately Vashti and Blake showed up and there was a big flurry of commotion and pretty soon two “pop-up” tents were uncovered in our storage granary and erected – one for the two big girls and one for the two little girls. However, the tents were too close together and according to the little girls, the big girls played tricks on them all the first night which prevented them from sleeping and therefore getting out of bed. So I made the big girls move their tents (and 40 tons of silly teenage clothing) to the other end of the old shelter belt, which probably didn't solve anything but it did keep them busy for a bit.
Then on the evening of the 4th dick’s daughter Shawn, her WONDERFUL boyfriend Mike, and her two boys Zane (who turns 12 shortly) and Zach (10) arrived from PA. Dick had aired up three nice air mattresses with the thought of installing the boys in the playhouse, which I had carefully cleaned for that express purpose. Sterling stayed overnight the first night, and all 3 boys retired to the playhouse with dire warnings from Gramma NOT to bother the girls (who, us?) and to GO TO SLEEP becuz we were getting up early the next morning to ride… I woke them up at 5 the next morning, but I did have a BIT of sympathy for them becuz during the night all the air had evaporated from the air mattresses and they hadn’t started out with enough blankets becuz it was hot when they went to sleep, so they looked like 3 little fetuses all curled up basically on the hard cement floor of the playhouse! Sigh. Gramps aired the mattresses up several more times to no avail – so boys have been crammed in here and there in the house instead -- have to do something different next year.
We all went riding – both the 5th & 6th. And that was a feat in itself – getting a horse for everyone. The 5th went better than the 6th however as big gentle Cow Gent sized up Zach as DUDE DUDE DUDE and furthermore EASILY BUFFALOED DUDE and first took him through a chokecherry bush and knocked off his hat and then took him through a low pine bough and knocked him flat off! By then we were many miles from home, and amazingly enough Zach was NOT having fun even though everyone (there were 16 of us horseback that morning) was yelling at him to do this, do that, don’t do that, etc. He finally just totally melted down, which was going to spoil everyone’s ride so ol’ granny stepped up and we (me n Zach) walked MILES leading our horses back to the horse trailer – thank the very good Lord it was all down hill but the Lord would have been thanked more if there hadn’t been miles of chest-high practically impenetrable yellow clover to wade through. We did have fun, though. Pretended we were pioneers and our damn mules had died and we had to leave the wagons and we were watching for the Indians and when we found ‘em we were going to trade HEAP SHIT HORSE for fat puppy. Etc. I still have blisters from walking MILES in my high-heeled smooth soled handmade $600 cowboy boots…
The next day we all went boating on Yellowtail Dam – with Aaron’s speed boat and tube and we rented a big pontoon. Fun fun fun but also work work work as food had to be bought, packed, unpacked, etc.
Christy, dick’s niece, went home about the 9th or 10th, I think and left the girls and horses – I was too tired to protest, although Shawn tried to, but Christy said adamantly, “If the girls were only going to stay for a couple of days, I sure wouldn’t have drug those horses down here.”
Shawn & her men went home the 12th, so it’s a quite a bit quieter.
Yesterday Grampa and I took 7 children riding yesterday – Vash, Blake, Sterling, & Chance plus Brandy & Ashley & a CUTE 15-year-old boy named Cash who Vashti is head over heels about. We had two major adventures when Brandy got herself bucked off her mare and Ashley got herself VERY wet when her big old gelding laid down and wallered around in a shallow dam – much to the children’s hilarity! And dick and I laughed heartily as well.
Yesterday was the “premiere” of the cowboy movie we “starred” in last year – the premiere was held at the Elks. 90 minutes on a BIG screen! The kids found all of it boring except their starring roles of course.
Now I’ve got sterling and Ashley, am going to pick up Blake & Carter, and go to my mother’s. she is watching Cade (Mike’s oldest grandson, almost 2) and entertaining a second cousin from Florida.
But it is beginning to look a bit more appealing…
Dick’s niece Christy showed up on 7/3 with her 2 daughters -- Brandy (about 14) and Ashley (about 12) -- and their two horses… So immediately Vashti and Blake showed up and there was a big flurry of commotion and pretty soon two “pop-up” tents were uncovered in our storage granary and erected – one for the two big girls and one for the two little girls. However, the tents were too close together and according to the little girls, the big girls played tricks on them all the first night which prevented them from sleeping and therefore getting out of bed. So I made the big girls move their tents (and 40 tons of silly teenage clothing) to the other end of the old shelter belt, which probably didn't solve anything but it did keep them busy for a bit.
Then on the evening of the 4th dick’s daughter Shawn, her WONDERFUL boyfriend Mike, and her two boys Zane (who turns 12 shortly) and Zach (10) arrived from PA. Dick had aired up three nice air mattresses with the thought of installing the boys in the playhouse, which I had carefully cleaned for that express purpose. Sterling stayed overnight the first night, and all 3 boys retired to the playhouse with dire warnings from Gramma NOT to bother the girls (who, us?) and to GO TO SLEEP becuz we were getting up early the next morning to ride… I woke them up at 5 the next morning, but I did have a BIT of sympathy for them becuz during the night all the air had evaporated from the air mattresses and they hadn’t started out with enough blankets becuz it was hot when they went to sleep, so they looked like 3 little fetuses all curled up basically on the hard cement floor of the playhouse! Sigh. Gramps aired the mattresses up several more times to no avail – so boys have been crammed in here and there in the house instead -- have to do something different next year.
We all went riding – both the 5th & 6th. And that was a feat in itself – getting a horse for everyone. The 5th went better than the 6th however as big gentle Cow Gent sized up Zach as DUDE DUDE DUDE and furthermore EASILY BUFFALOED DUDE and first took him through a chokecherry bush and knocked off his hat and then took him through a low pine bough and knocked him flat off! By then we were many miles from home, and amazingly enough Zach was NOT having fun even though everyone (there were 16 of us horseback that morning) was yelling at him to do this, do that, don’t do that, etc. He finally just totally melted down, which was going to spoil everyone’s ride so ol’ granny stepped up and we (me n Zach) walked MILES leading our horses back to the horse trailer – thank the very good Lord it was all down hill but the Lord would have been thanked more if there hadn’t been miles of chest-high practically impenetrable yellow clover to wade through. We did have fun, though. Pretended we were pioneers and our damn mules had died and we had to leave the wagons and we were watching for the Indians and when we found ‘em we were going to trade HEAP SHIT HORSE for fat puppy. Etc. I still have blisters from walking MILES in my high-heeled smooth soled handmade $600 cowboy boots…
The next day we all went boating on Yellowtail Dam – with Aaron’s speed boat and tube and we rented a big pontoon. Fun fun fun but also work work work as food had to be bought, packed, unpacked, etc.
Christy, dick’s niece, went home about the 9th or 10th, I think and left the girls and horses – I was too tired to protest, although Shawn tried to, but Christy said adamantly, “If the girls were only going to stay for a couple of days, I sure wouldn’t have drug those horses down here.”
Shawn & her men went home the 12th, so it’s a quite a bit quieter.
Yesterday Grampa and I took 7 children riding yesterday – Vash, Blake, Sterling, & Chance plus Brandy & Ashley & a CUTE 15-year-old boy named Cash who Vashti is head over heels about. We had two major adventures when Brandy got herself bucked off her mare and Ashley got herself VERY wet when her big old gelding laid down and wallered around in a shallow dam – much to the children’s hilarity! And dick and I laughed heartily as well.
Yesterday was the “premiere” of the cowboy movie we “starred” in last year – the premiere was held at the Elks. 90 minutes on a BIG screen! The kids found all of it boring except their starring roles of course.
Now I’ve got sterling and Ashley, am going to pick up Blake & Carter, and go to my mother’s. she is watching Cade (Mike’s oldest grandson, almost 2) and entertaining a second cousin from Florida.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Blake shares her water with Mikey & Perkin...
Our second fire of the season, it was started when a spark from a horseshoe landed in a patch of dry cheat grass (and this time of year, it's all dry) which was fanned by the breeze into the sagebrush and became quickly out of control. Luckily Dick had his cell phone and called Clint. Soon the Haley Bench Fire Brigade came tearing over hill and dale to put it out. The blessings of cell phones, fire trucks with water, and young strong men!
Zane celebrates his 12th birthday with his Montana family -- a couple of weeks early
L to R: Shawn and her older son Zane with Scott and Sterling during our "last supper" together before Shawn, her boyfriend Mike, and her sons Zane & Zach returned to PA on 7/12 after arriving on 7/4. A good time was had by all during their stay, I think. One thing I KNOW--the house is quite a bit quieter now! However, it still has plenty of chaos and commotion due to Bunny's three youngest kids being here most of the time to play with Dick's two great-nieces Brandy (14) & Ashley (12), who have been visiting (with their horses) since 7/3. 
Fav'rite Aunty gets another darling...
My precious nephew Clint and his lovely sweet wife Corinne had the cutest little boy on 7/11. Cute little button nose, even features, and dark hair like his mama (for the time being, anyway) -- but no freckles! Maybe they come later? 
It was my intention to be the first one to post pictures, but when I got home from the hospital, the blankety-blank computer wasn't working right ...
It was my intention to be the first one to post pictures, but when I got home from the hospital, the blankety-blank computer wasn't working right ...Sunday, July 6, 2008
Cousins set up housekeeping in the shelterbelt...
Vashti & Dick's niece Brandi at the big girls' tent...
Blake & Dick's niece Ashley at the little girls' tent...
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Mother Nature doing what she does best...
This picture doesn't do justice to, nor capture the actual color of, the gorgeous sunset tonight (July 1).
Here's one end of a splendid rainbow.
And here's the other end. Fun!
Grampa's helpers, Pete & Repeat...
Before... (rock in bucket)...
After ... (rock on plastic)...
After ... (rock on plastic)...
And here they ar
Rural kids 'n' horse tanks...
Here's Carter's very own little horse trough for her summer enjoyment.
And here's Gramma Aunty's version with Carter flanked by cousins Chance & Sterling.June 30 seems a bit early for a rash of fires...
Thank goodness it is still quite green as these buggers had the potential to be ugly. Gwyn is driving the fire truck on the left with Matt on top, and Mike drives the truck on the right with Clint on top.
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