We had a lovely time helping Salicia celebrate her upcoming package of joy!

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails!
Cousins compare tummies!
Salicia got many lovely gifts!
Carter helped distribute the packages to Salicia, which worked up her appetite!

Summertime, and the livin's easy...

My wild yellow rose bush is lovely, as usual. Wish I had a matching pink one to go with it.
The two blue-eyed towheads camped on the living room floor last night -- don't think much sleep was had, however.

Four cousins horseback...

Carter comes to my house on Tuesdays and Thursday, and Bunny's varmints come any time they can escape the clutches of Simon Legree... The kids tried out a couple of different type of horsepower.

Cousins and cowponies...

Blake n Mikey and Sterling n Trigger... learning to ride the right way (by riding bareback to perfect balance)...

Farewell to a loyal and faithful friend...

Sometime Saturday evening, my faithful Border Collie Tuxie (whose parents were our good dogs Tucker & Tessie) curled up in one of our window wells and, from all outward appearances, had a heart attack and without any struggle crossed the Great Divide to join up with all my great dog companions from years past (Buck, Valentine, Tuck, Tessie, Denise, etc.). I found her quite soon after it happened, and Dick was kind enough to bury her in our shelter belt next to Denise and Dot. God's greatest gift to mankind, dogs simply don't live long enough. She was just fixing to turn 13, I think. She came as a puppy with us to Haley Bench. I miss her dreadfully.

The blessings of a good horse...

While Chance masters the art of swinging a BIG loop, his wonderful horse Joker stands patiently by the hour. Not possible to place a value on such a horse.

It's hard to do the garden justice

but it's doing very well. The weeds along the "walking path" next to the fence have yet to get executed but I'm holding my own with them in the rest of the garden EXCEPT at the far west end where the squash are... Gardening is a very gratifying occupation. I like to weed, and Dick likes to water, and everyone likes to eat! The radishes are delicious!