Good Morning Peeps... Happy Friday... gray misty morning here this morning... got out for a morning walk in the cool wet morning air...

Kinda surprised that it is still gray outside... breeze picking up now... was totally calm earlier this morning...

 

Wow… august went fast… we hung out… visited… watched Bar Rescue on Pluto… cooked… enjoyed meals together… did some touristy things… went to Fort Laramie and walked around… I hadn’t been there since a field trip … in grade school I think… so it has been a day or two…lol…

 

went to the hot air balloon races… near miss on some deer on the way to that one… just saw them in the shadows along the side of the road…

 

Saw the rat rod show… fun times… went on to the muscle car show… ya… that’s right… I love looking at old cars and motorcycles… checked out the museum in Torrington…

 

Looked through the homesteaders’ museum in Gering… that one is much larger than I thought it was…

 

Yes we actually threw a fishing line in the lake… caught something too… a lovely Russian olive tree… was a catch and release situation though… lol…

 

Checked out the Firehouse Grill in Lyman several times… had some good food and drank some beer… laughed and generally enjoyed each other’s company…

 

Then… ya… then August 31^st came rolling in… and it was time for him to head back to his home in the city… sigh… was a really good month…

 

MowMowTat even got up and sat on his lap… the ultimate compliment… the pits liked him… he played music for them… happy dogs… now it is just me and the critters again… and yes… I still have a smile on my face…

 

Sorry I disappeared… but I was a wee bit occupied… lol…

 

Heard a pheasant call yesterday morning… in the gray dawn… another gray morning today… so what is on the docket for today… already got my morning walk in… picked up the mail from yesterday… walked the loop up the hill and back down the upper driveway…

 

Listening to some music on youtube while I am writing… gonna do tai chi as soon as I finish up… pay some bills… fold some laundry (maybe) … have a dr appt this afternoon… not sure I am going to make that… would just as soon stay away from doctors’ offices…

 

Spent a bit over a week after the balloon races sick… lost my sense of smell… for several days… 4 or so I think… slept a lot… glad that is over… was pretty mild considering… so… yes it breaks through… even though it was mild… it knocked me on my backside for several days… glad I made the choices I did… wouldn’t want to deal with it without some immunity… we all make our choices… and get to deal with the consequences of said choices…

 

Was seriously weird not being able to smell my coffee… smh… glad I can smell stuff again… well not so glad about some things… cleaning the cat litter box… for instance… lol…

 

Saw some golden rod blooming… bright gold along the roadsides… beautiful yellow coming on in spots on the cottonwood trees… yes… autumn is coming on … my favorite season… golden bean fields… as they ripen… sunflower fields in bloom… stretching on as far as you can see… cornfields heavy with ears of corn… alfalfa blooming… then in heavy windrows… waiting for the baler…

 

The morning air was sweet with the scent of cut alfalfa this morning when I was out walking… Moe (orange and white yard cat) escorted me through my entire walk… Larry (her brother) came bounding up the upper drive as we were coming on down…

 

Wild sunflowers blooming along the roadsides… birds gathering up in huge flocks… getting ready to fly south… September in southeastern Wyoming…

 

Gonna make me another cuppa coffee and get on with the day…

 

Gratitudes… a morning walk… coffee… another day…

 

May you walk in peace…

 

Later Taters…

 

Ola Peeps ...

More snow overnight... 4 to 6 inches on the ground in my front yard this morning... thankfully it is melting... sun is trying to shine through the clouds...

Was snarling over the snow yesterday... totally pointless... just made myself miserable... giving thanks for the moisture today... the pastures are loving this... me… yeah… not so much… but better attitude today than yesterday… eh… it will melt…

 

Better to shift gears… and go with the flow… than sit and spin in a morass of miserable of my own making…

 

Hey got a cartload of firewood melting off…drying out… yes dripping on my floor in front of the wood stove… it’ll dry… oh… and yes I did knock snow off the wood as I was stacking it on the cart… obviously not all of it…

 

Springtime in Wyoming… in the boonies… snow and mud… rain and mud… psycho winds… bit of dry… pastures explode into shades of bluish greens… meadowlarks singing as snow falls… pheasants calling out… calves and lambs… and goat kids…

 

Litter of kittens look to be doing well… little fuzzies… mama cat growls if you get too close… rather glad she is not any larger than she is… mister rooster didn’t recognize me this morning… wore a red fuzzy robe out to do chores… yes with my snowboots… he is used to the navy blue one… so here he came… full speed across the snow to attack that red stranger…

 

Much to his surprise it was mama… with her walking staff… oops… bad idea… he turned around and skuttled back up the hill to the upper yards… with more than likely… a bruise for his efforts…

 

I am pretty quick at self-defense with that staff… was not out to kill him… just send him back on his way… without having a peck or spur delivered to my legs…

 

Light snow still falling… like a light dusting from a sifter of powdered sugar… as the snow on the ground melts into the warm ground… and the April sun tries to burn through the clouds…

 

Got the truck battery charged… charger still working on the jeep battery… that one was deader than dead… didn’t help that the turn signal was on in the jeep… cats must have landed on it… yes they get in and out of the jeep at will as it has a soft top… first time for this though… usually it is just cleaning the cat hair off of the driver’s seat… so I do not have a total fuzz butt after driving it… hey… could be a new fashion statement… hehehehe….

 

Have the bread machine loaded with yummy ingredients… flour… couple eggs… bit of cornmeal… ground oats… ground flax… and a portion of seeds… pepitas… sunflower seeds… poppy… sesame… hemp… chia… salt… olive oil… hot water… yeast… gonna be a wonderful aroma in here soon… along with the scent of wood burning in the woodstove…

 

Love to slice off a crusty end of the loaf while it is still warm… spread a bit of butter on the soft side… and enjoy… this will be a late afternoon’s indulgence…

 

Cleared some of the snow off the corn pile so it would be easier for the chickens and ducks to chow down… as well as the wild birds… yes we have corn fed pheasants running around here… lol…

 

Hmmmmm…. If that battery doesn’t take a charge by tonight… thinking I’ll pull it and take it in to have it tested … next time I go into town… eh… we’ll see… even if it does take a charge… gonna have it tested… when I take the jeep in… getting her ready for road trippin…

 

Yes I want to set The Betty (white van) up for road trips and camping… but need a new set of tires for her… the ones on her are… well… about done in… so in the meantime… I’m going anyway… may take the sides off the soft top… and enjoy the breezes… and just go zooming … wanna take the bike out too… that is a bit… well… challenging… leg issues… working on it… decided to not wait to live… so going anyway… just … in the jeep… if that won’t go…  may go rattling on in my ole truck… the point is to just do it… embrace the day… live…

 

Embrace the day… rather than waiting… no matter what you’re doing… live…

 

As for now… I am going to go embrace sliding into my ole clawfoot tub… and soak off some of that wonderful Wyoming clay… gotta lavender bath bomb I want to try out… best put another log in the stove to keep it warm in here… then … ahhhhhh…

 

Have some musica playing… bunch of folks line dancing… such fun… yes youtube playing on my tv… switched to a flash mob dancing… love that… getting my wiggle on… come on join in… just a little wiggle… maybe a toe tap or two… mmmm… twist and step… yup… here we go… that wiggle turned into a dance… just a little dance of glee between you and me… and thee…

 

I did go ahead and switch isp’s… so far so good…

 

MowMowTat’s napping on a chair besides me… well until I reach over and tickle her… then it is that “look”…. Hehehehe….

 

Gratitudes… another day… musica… dancing…

 

May you walk in peace…

 

Later Taters…❤❄⛾𝅘𝅥𝅰𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝆕

December 13 2014

breathe... allow yourself to feel it... and... let it go...

Mary E. Robbins
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December 13 2014

Good Morning Peeps…

There is a massive chorus of wild birds in the trees… amazing sound as they greet the day… I just stepped out and refilled the bird feeder in the yard… of course they are feeding in the fowl … chicken/duck/goose/guinea … feeders as well… I love hearing their morning song… it is quiet outside other than their song this morning… well other than Shy Girl the goat greeting me when she saw me step outside…

The hollow is surrounded by a thick cloud of fog… I can see up to the road but not beyond… there is frost on the fences … field grass and trees… it is still gray and quiet… the sun has not yet burned through the fog’s moist caress… it is wonderful to step outside and breathe it in… it is not very cold… 34 degrees F ( 1 degree C) … yes it’s true I love the fog…

I am not a fan of driving in it… at present it is at near zero visibility… this is one of those mornings … if at all possible it is much better to stay home and enjoy the beauty of the fog and the quiet of no wind… a quiet day… as in a day with little to no wind… is something I savor here… as the wind is often strong… gusting… coming on fast and furious…

Although I will say… a breeze in the afternoon on a hot summer day is a wonderful thing … without it this hollow turns into a sweltering oven… a Chinook wind in the winter months… blowing warmth across the hills and valleys is also a welcome thing…

I have heard the winds here in the winter months shrieking through the trees… sounding like banshees screaming across the moors… snow blowing sideways… twisting into swirls and drifts… leaving other areas bare and exposed with mountains of white … crusting over… or shifting once again continually changing the landscape…

In the summer you can feel the winds coming before the storms… a breathless calm… then a leaf or two will flutter… another flutter… then a rush of wind… and the storm is here… rolling clouds… dazzling lightening… thunder loud enough to shake the house… amazing during the day… majestic at night…

Time after time I’ve watched the storms roll along the ridges to the south… lightening flashing… clouds rolling… thunder crashing… tornadoes dipping down to the ground and receding back up into storm clouds… sometimes looking out across the range… I’ll see soil rising straight up into the sky as a pressure vacuum from above draws it upwards…

It is an amazing planet we live on… an easy thing to forget as we get lost in the rush and rumble of the city… or the emotional roller coasters of this life… the day to day drudge that we tend to create … without ever realizing that we are the ones creating it… to see the glory of this life… this planet… we have to choose to do so…

Yesterday I was caught up in physical pain… fevers… rage… well beyond anger… and emotional pain… all day this storm within raged… and into the night… before a calming on the other side of it… I am still here… have not left a total wake of destruction behind me… although when I am in rage it does effect the animals around me… they react to it looking for whatever is the cause to attack… and sometimes turn on one another… something to keep in mind… we do effect those around us… whether they be human or animal… intentional or not… at any rate… I made it through it alive leaving no carcasses strewn behind in my wake…

I did not get the beets processed… this turned out to be a good thing… as I tried something different with some of them… or rather one of them… this morning… I sliced it and sautéed it with a bit of bacon and squash and had it with my eggs for breakfast… I found that I like them this way… this is a good thing… so into a dry cardboard box and back into the cold pantry they go… to be enjoyed through these winter months….

I did find treasure in the chicken house yesterday as I was doing ranch rounds… eggs… yay! The girls are starting to lay eggs again… those were 2 fresh farm eggs I savored for breakfast this foggy morn…

It is nearly 10 a.m. here now… and the fog actually seems be closing in even more than at first light… becoming thicker… my little house is surrounded by a thick gray blanket of enclosing icy fog… the frost is becoming heavier on the trees…

I am thankful for this little house and the fire burning in the wood stove… glad to be able to come inside… and not be out on the roads…

The guineas are foraging on the hill by the house… there is still much forage as in green grasses under the ripened brown stalks of last summer’s grasses and weeds…

I am heating up the bathroom for a hot soak in that old enameled clawfoot tub… love that tub… perchance to lessen the pain in this body… and wash this hair … it is just long enough now for me to get it tied back in a hair band… I am trying to be patient… and let it grow so I can braid it back… I used to wear it in French braids… will have to relearn… redevelop that skill…

Gratitudes: survived another day… some days I am not so grateful for this… today I am… black bitter coffee… sautéed beets… squash… and eggs for breakfast… all grown here…

Later taters…

Mary E. Robbins
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