Pony Riding By

New photo actions!

2012-02-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

It was quite some time ago that I downloaded my first Photoshop actions - the two free sets that Pioneer Woman has available on her website.

Since then I've used them heavily, and gradually learned that actions are best applied like makeup - you want them to subtly enhance a photo, without being too gaudy and overdone. Also, they're best used in combination at varying levels.

After gaining a thorough understanding of PW's actions, I got the itch to add a few more to my collection. I tried downloading some free ones from random sites, but they just didn't cut it and I ended up deleting almost all of them.

So when I saw that My Four Hens Photography was offering a sale on her action collections, I decided to go for it - after all, I have some money in the bank from recent portrait sessions, so I decided to reinvest.

The photo at the top of this post is straight out of the camera, one of many from our Valentine's Day shoot. The photos below are just a few with actions applied - the set came with about 24 different ones.

Although the original photo is technically correct, and would have been good to go with a little lightening and a few tweaks, I like that added drama that actions add to a portrait.

I suppose the next step will be to learn to make my own actions, but for now I'm delighted to have a whole new set to work with, and to use in conjunction with PW's.

Right now a popular style of portraits is to be a little 'vintagey,' and that's what most of these actions do, and I'm ok with going along with the fad. I like it. :-)

I made this pillow for Levi from scrap fabric in my sewing room, and stuffed it with old t-shirts. Now that I made one for him, I might have to make one for each kid on their first Valentine's, and repeat the portrait sessions each year with individuals as well as the whole group of them. I think that would make for pretty cute Valentine's. :-)

I tell you what though, Levi is a willing model, at least so far. At this point he's not quite crawling yet, so I better get my portrait practice in before he starts moving, because we all have the feeling that once he starts moving he won't stop.

All the actions are just applied at 100 percent across the board on these photos, which I normally wouldn't do, but I ran them all at full strength just so I could see what they could do.

I'm excited to keep using them - I have another portrait session scheduled this Sunday, so it'll be a prime opportunity to use both my new camera lens and my new Photoshop actions.

Keeping track...

2012-02-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

If I were Foxy, all I'd have to worry about is bounding through the grass on a sunny winter's day.

But I'm not. :-)

As usual, we're keeping busy with the many details of life. My birthday was over the weekend, and Scott and friend Jamie planned a very nice surprise party for me at Jamie's house. I also finished a sewing project, did some cleaning around the house and took a nap on the couch with Levi on Saturday morning.

It's obvious I don't take much time to relax when Scott asks me if I'm feeling ok when I lay on the couch. :-)

Aside from that, the paper continues to be a full workload, as we're into the weeks of more pages because of increased advertising for the customary spring bull sales.

And, Scott and I have a meeting set up with FSA today to put things in motion for financing for the purchase of either land or livestock. In addition to FSA, we're putting ourselves in position for further education on ranch financing and management, so there are several courses throughout 2012 that will keep us busy with continuing education.

I figure that I bought the house and got married in 2010, had Levi in 2011, so we had to do something red-letter for 2012, right?

I also bought a new 'Nifty Fifty' 50 mm camera lens with my birthday money, so I'm excited to get to know it and get some photos with the new addition. :-)

So that's the quick update. Hope your year is going well so far!

At the Roundup office

2012-01-27T16:27:00.001-07:00

We're already finished with the last January 2012 issue... soon we'll be knee-deep in bull sale season, which means a bigger paper with the increased advertising, which means more work for Saige and I to keep it full, so for right now I'm enjoying a few 'normal' weeks, even though we have been running four pages bigger than usual.

Before we know it, Saige will have worked with me on the Roundup's editorial team for a year, and she's accomplished so much already, including an overhaul of our website, and much time devoted to brainstorming new ideas and implementing new sections. Check it out at wylr.net.

She passed her crash course taking care of the paper while I was out on maternity leave with flying colors. So much so that I was compelled to give her a fifth of whiskey and a set of whiskey glasses for her trouble, because in this profession that sort of thing comes in handy every once in a while. :-)

With the new year, she and I sat down and made a list of goals for 2012 for the paper. Most of them are small, and most people probably won't notice them, but they have to do with having a more polished, engaging newspaper. Between the two of us and Tracy, our designer, we tweaked the front page a little, and we've also added article breaks to all of our longer articles, to break up the text and hopefully draw in the 'skimmers,' and we're also doing more of what we call 'pull quotes' and more 'sidebars.' All of this in effort to break up the text and get more people's attention.

Part of what I decide to do with the paper comes from watching Scott look through it. A lot can be learned by watching one of our targeted demographic look through the finished product!

Another goal for 2012 is to renew the partnership with the Northern Ag Network, recording and sharing our Wyoming news for their daily ag broadcasts, which originate in Montana. The first event we'll send them is from tomorrow's Women's Ag Summit, so wish me luck!

Just two days shy

2012-01-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

We're just two days shy of Levi's five-month birthday! Five months already? On the other hand, it seems like a whole lot longer than a month ago that we were celebrating Christmas and New Year's.

I fully realize that the focus of my blog has shifted from decorating/house projects/livestock and horses to being extremely Levi-centered, but what can I say? I write about whatever I'm doing at the time, and lately that's been a whole lot of Levi.

But with a face like this to look at almost 24/7 now, I can't say that I can complain. :-)

As each month passes, it's fun to see all the new things he's learning to do. Lately it's been eating cereal, pulling his socks off and watching the dogs and Link. It seems like it will be any day now that he sits up on his own - he's almost there. He can roll from front to back, and has almost figured out how to go from back to front - he prefers to sleep on his left side in his crib.

So that's the latest Levi update! He continues to pack on the pounds, and just yesterday I packed even more clothes away to wait for a little brother or sister to come along. Tomorrow he will spend with Grandma Shirley at our house, since Scott and I are headed to Buffalo and Sheridan - myself for work, and Scott for play. Scott has his Uncle Lee and brother Bob joining us for the trip, and they're going to go to King Saddles in Sheridan while I'm at a Women's Ag Summit all day in Buffalo.

Notice I'm trying to do better with consistency in posting? :-)

He's not just any baby....

2012-01-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

....he's LUCY's baby. :-)

The other night Scott was spending some time with baby Levi on the floor, and Lucy came over to be right in the middle of it.

Lucy always has had a pretty strong mothering instinct, and having Levi around really brings it out.

When he starts moving around, we have a feeling that she'll be right with him every step of the way, making sure he gets lots of licks when he falls down.

In other news, 'tummy time' is no longer the 10 minutes of torture that it has been for Levi. He's still not a huge fan, but at least he admits it's not quite so bad.

But he'd really rather read a book instead.

The kind of advice that I like:

2012-01-26T06:48:00.000-07:00

Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss

"....when you can buy a decent piece of furniture for roughly the same price as a Venti cup of Starbucks, buy it."

I like the way this blogger thinks.

"It's advice like this that financial advisors tell you to run from," she says.

It's advice like this that fills my little house to the brim with great, thrifty furniture finds.

Updating my blog:

2012-01-23T16:35:00.000-07:00

Obviously, being more consistent with blog posts was not one of my New Year's resolutions. :-)

Any of you who are mothers know that, when little babies come, suddenly things like blog posts are not all that important and fall far down on the list of priorities.

That being said, we've been busy this month! Here are just a few photos to demonstrate:

The first two weeks of the month we had company, with my mom arriving from Iowa on Jan. 2 and leaving to go home on the 16th. Mid-way through her stay she was joined by my dad and Grandma Hemken from Iowa, so we kept plenty busy. My mom helped with organizing and sewing projects around my house, which was very welcome, and my dad also did things like install a thermostat in the basement so we can run the furnace to heat the downstairs bedrooms, while using the wood stove upstairs.

If I ever get to it, I will post some photos of all the projects my mom and I accomplished.

The photo above is my mom and Levi playing dress-up once again. :-) The newborn-sized onesie she made at his Iowa baby shower last July, and she managed to stuff him back in it, although the snaps were about at his belly button.

We've also been cutting teeth! My mom found Levi's first one on Jan. 3, and the second one showed up the day after she left on Jan. 17. She gave him this crocheted cap for Christmas, along with a mini library of children's books and a box of clothing for him to grow into.

Speaking of the books, also while she was here we bought a bunch from the local Salvation Army, and with the two collections we've been enjoying the library. Either Scott or myself reads to him at least once a day, and usually it's twice because I read to him again at bedtime. He's at a stage where sometimes lala land is more interesting than looking at the books, but other times he does act really interested in the pictures. I plan to continue reading with him, covering five or six books every day at this stage.

And he's also started on solids since my last post. See why I haven't had time to write anything new? The fun never ends around here. :-) He's still at one meal a day, in the evening, but I need to start feeding him in the morning. He has a very healthy appetite, polishing off a bowl of rice cereal in no time, and hanging his mouth open, begging for more. We have some store-bought rice cereal I've been feeding that was given to us, but once that runs out I will begin making our own from brown rice. He's also had pears, peaches and apples, and doesn't seem to agree with banana yogurt - not sure yet if it's the bananas or yogurt that's causing the problem, but it does keep him up all night fussing.

Levi has been thoroughly enjoying the Bumbo seat that the Roundup office staff gave to us - except it's not the Bumbo brand, I always forget what it is. This toy that sticks in the tray is one of his favorites, and when I take it out to feed him I have to hide it otherwise it will distract him when he should be eating.

And in other news, this black Ford truck is no longer in our possession, as of last Saturday.

We now have this green Dodge - a diesel, with a lot more room in the back seat for Levi than the black one had.

So that's just a brief update on all that we've been up to! I could make promises about posting more frequently, but we all know that people shouldn't make promises they can't keep. :-)

Levi: 17 Weeks

2011-12-27T09:11:00.000-07:00

Our little guy is 17 weeks and becoming quite the character. He still talks all the time, but sometimes will really get to going, yelling and hollering just to see how loud he can talk. He loves to interact with anybody who will talk to him, and he also loves to laugh when he thinks he's being pretty funny.

He's getting better and better at sitting up, and he likes to stand on his own - all the support he needs is a little balance. He likes to stand on the bathroom counter and talk to his 'friend' in the mirror.

While he's very outgoing, he likes to pretend like he's shy. If women talk to him in the check-out line at the store, he'll smile big at them before burying his face in his hands and my shoulder. As you can see in the above picture, he also likes to pretend to be very sophisticated.

He's doing well with sleeping through the night - usually from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., which works great for our schedule. If I put him to bed at 8 he wakes up at 4, which is not so ideal for my morning schedule. :-) On Thursday we go in for his four-month doctor appointment, and I'm very excited to see how much he weighs and how much he's grown.

He's also really good at grabbing and grasping things, and can pick up toys and bring them to his mouth, and he'll bring his hands together to hold onto larger objects that won't fit in his fist. He rolls around a lot these days, and likes to sleep on his left side. So far we haven't had a complete roll-over, and he still hates time on his tummy. I make him do it every once in a while, but it makes him very cranky.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our 17 weeks with him, and are looking forward to continuing to watch him grow and develop and learn new things. We're really looking forward to next Christmas, when he'll not sleep through opening all the gifts. :-)

Arranged for a Christmas party

2011-12-27T07:38:00.001-07:00

Yes, I realize it's been weeks since I've put up a post. Now that Christmas and deadlines are done, I'm able to take a deep breath and maybe actually get back to my blog more consistently and update you on some goings-on.

First of all, on Dec. 16 we had a Christmas party here at the house, with 21 people in attendance. I rearranged the furniture in the front room to make as much open floor space as possible, and set out as many chairs as I could to accomodate everybody. It helped that we didn't have the wood stove going, so up to eight people could sit in that area.

Sorry for the poor photo quality, but all I had time for was two quick photos when everyone was here. I made pineapple chili, while Bob brought his chili and Jamie brought soup. I also made a cracker dip and a veggie/chip dip, and everyone else filled in with more snacks and desserts.

I only had five hours after leaving work early to get ready for the party, which started around 6:30, so I didn't have the chance to take photos before, but these are 'morning after' photos of how I arranged everything.

We had moved the loveseat against the wall for Thanksgiving - something I'd resisted doing since it makes the corner with the bookcase funny, but Scott has always wanted it that way, and I do have to admit that the space is more inviting. I still don't like the corner, but I can live with it.

And look at the cute kid who's hanging out. :-)

The other side of the front room, where Melissa and I moved the bench under the window - also a change that works a lot better than what I had before.

Originally the Christmas tree was pulled out, and the corner was empty. For the party, Scott and I moved it, and that's where it's stayed. It really has made more space in the front room, and I think I'll leave the table pushed up under the window, as Scott likes the extra floor space in the front room, and we can just pull it out when we have company and need the extra seating.

Both of these tables were full of food for the party. And our Christmas tree actually looks good in these photos. :-) It really has a lot of flaws, but it has character.

We put drinks on the desk, and people sat around the pedestal table.

So there you have it. Although I probably didn't actually have time to host a Christmas party here, it was fun and I think a good time was had by all. I think now we'll wait a while for company after having Thanksgiving and then this party here. :-)

Because I can't take just one:

2011-12-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I started taking some pictures of Levi before I got started on my work, and before I knew it I had 105. Thank goodness for digital cameras and memory cards. :-) I'd be in a pickle if I had a film camera.

The fingers are a big thing these days. Sometimes he sticks them in his mouth so far he chokes himself, and sometimes the fingers end up in the nose instead of the mouth.

He likes the feel of the terry cloth burp clothes on his tongue. They're his new favorite thing to play with and chew on.

Yum, cotton!

Didn't quite make the mouth on that one. :-)

It's tough figuring out something so complex as to how to get a rag in your mouth. :-) I love the above photo, you can just barely see that his mouth is wide open, trying to get the rag inside.

Regrouping....

With all these antics, do you blame me for not wanting to stop taking pictures?

Just look at those big brown eyes...

And the grin that's become pretty frequent these days.

The morning routine

2011-12-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

Anymore, our morning routine goes something like this:

4 a.m. - Levi wakes up, I change and feed him.

4:30 a.m. - I head upstairs to start the fire and make coffee.

4:35 a.m. - I go back downstairs to get Levi, who never falls back asleep in his crib like I would if I was him.

4:40 a.m. - Scott comes upstairs, we eat breakfast, usually fried eggs and either bacon, sausage or ham. Sometimes it's French toast or pancakes.

5 a.m. - Levi is awake and happy and talking.

5:15 a.m. - We all watch the news, and Scott starts getting ready to leave for work.

5:45 a.m. - Scott leaves, and I start working on the paper, accompanied by a cup of coffee.

6 a.m. - Levi is back sound asleep, leaving his parents with an extra-early jump on their day. Thanks, Levi! You help us be so productive.

Thanksgiving Setup

2011-12-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

Because I have been promising my mom for quite some time now, this morning I take a break from my work on the paper to post some photos of Thanksgiving at our house. Yes, I know it was a week and a half ago, but that's how things are going around here these days. :-)

Setting up for our 16 guests started with rearranging the front room, bringing out my sewing table to extend the dining room table and setting up a card table to seat the extra four people. Scott's desk was cleared off, and an extra table was also set up under the window by the door.

Once we had a functional floor plan I started to set the tables and decorate a little.

But first, a break to point out my antelope, which we finally got back from being mounted. Isn't he pretty?

The tablecloth for the long table was a length of fabric from my stash. I've had it for quite some time, and recently used part of it to make curtains for the spare room, but I think I'll make the rest of it into a tablecloth for this table when I have it set for 12.

My drop-leaf pedestal table served as overflow for the food when we all sat down to eat.

The centerpieces were simple - just glass pieces from my collection with artificial foliage from Hobby Lobby's fall sale last year.

Another fabric remnant graced the desk - this remnant is intended to recover the green stools in the tv area. But it sure made a good tablecloth, since that project is still on the list. The vinca vine is one of two I rescued from planters outside. I figured why let them just freeze and die, only to buy new ones next year?

Guess what? Another fabric remnant on the table by the door. This table served all the drinks, which included mostly whiskey and wine, as well as coffee mugs. The geranium in the window you can't see very well, but this is its second winter inside.

My Bourbon Pecan Pie had molasses in it instead of corn syrup, and people really liked it.

This cowboy fellow made of horseshoes was a gift for our wedding.

The milk bottle carrier was a find at Odds and Ends. ** moment of silence ** :-) I still miss that store.

As I was setting the tables I realized that I have exactly enough dishes and silverware to serve 16 people - that worked out well!

I kept the centerpieces on the long table scarce, as I knew we'd have plenty of dishes of food for which to make room.

This is how the card table ended up. I prefer not to iron, that way everything is evenly wrinkled, and it looks more casual. That's the style nowadays, didn't you know? Besides, that's just one less thing I have to get done when preparing for company.

I did have to scrounge a little for enough dessert plates. And, this table actually ended up being for appetizers instead of desserts.

The drinks table, with the glassware I selected for each beverage, and the yellow coffee pot my mom found me. I like putting whiskey in decanters - now I just need a few more of them. And then the problem will be remembering what kind is in what decanter....

So here's the front room on Thanksgiving morning, just about ready for guests to arrive.

It actually all fit together pretty well. With our small house, it will always be cozy with that many people, but it works. The key is to keep things minimal and as open as possible for people to move around and spread out.

And here it is, full of people! I just took the time to snap a few shots in the midst of dinner. By this point I was so tired from cleaning and cooking that I could have gone to bed as soon as the meal was done. :-)

On my menu was a turkey, sweet potato spoon bread, a green bean casserole, corn casserole, dinner rolls, cranberry bread pudding, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cream cheese dip for crackers, dill dip for vegetables and Velveeta/sausage dip for corn chips. Scott smoked a brisket, and his brother Rick brought pork loin. Others who attended brought salad along with them - then that was one aspect of the meal I didn't have to worry about - as well as desserts to fill in after the meal.

And now we're planning a Christmas party for Dec. 16, so there will be more photos of the front room transformed for that holiday. The furniture set up is quite a bit different now, and I rather like it. This morning Levi and I took a nap on the leather loveseat next to the wood stove before coming to work, and it was wonderful on a six-below morning.

Our Christmas tree this year is rather homely, but now that I've got the lights and decorations on it, it's growing on me. The point of hunting in the mountains for a Christmas tree is not to find a perfect one, but for the experience. If we wanted a perfect one it would be a lot easier to visit the nearest supermarket parking lot. :-) And, I figure this way we won't set the bar too high for Levi's first Christmas, and he won't expect too much next year...

Project: Christmas Lights!

2011-11-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend Melissa came over from Lander to visit, and while she was here I enlisted her to help put Christmas decorations on the house, something Scott was very grateful for. :-)

This is the second year I outlined the house's roofline with lights, and I just had to remember the system I worked out last year.

We brought back extra pine boughs from our Christmas tree hunting trip, and used them to create four mini trees in some planters I bought from Ross and used for flowers all summer long.

Melissa helped by untangling and checking the light strands before handing them to me on the roof. Her dogs Miles and Chip also came to Casper to visit.

And Lucy was there.

And so was Foxy.

Levi's mini tree ended up on the table on the front porch. The wreath on the door is a creation of prior roommate Amanda.

Melissa also strung the lights and ribbon on our pine bough trees.

And I kept plugging away on the roofline, with a break to feed Levi inside.

Tada! I stepped outside to take a few photos after dark.

I really liked the pine boughs on the railings like I did last year, but I wanted something different this year. I think our mini trees are just the ticket.

After Melissa left I finished up a few things and put the timers on our extension cords, so now we're all set for the Christmas season!

We would have had a lot of this done yesterday, but Levi caught the cold that I had on Thanksgiving, so I spent a lot of time yesterday and last night with him. Thankfully he was back to his normal self today, and this morning all four of us went out to brand the colts in a wind that was much stiffer than we expected.

Levi's Remuda

2011-11-19T15:06:00.001-07:00

Levi now owns more horses than any other three-month-old that I know.

Thanks to coworker Denise, he inherited this collection of model horses.

They will remain packed away for quite some time still, but I'm looking forward to watching him play with them when he gets older.

My thought is to get a few out for him, saving enough for his younger siblings that they can each have their own. Why not share the good fortune?

All I know is that I would have loved to have this many model horses to play with when I was little, so I hope he enjoys them as much as I would have. :-) Thanks, Denise!

Fall = Lots of Cows!

2011-11-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

I didn't really have anything to write to go along with the above photo, but I liked it so I figured I'd post it. Nothing like standing out in a crowd! I think Mrs. Red Cow is very pretty, even though black is preferred and rewarded in the U.S. cattle markets right now.

After a summer of not doing too much livestock work because of my growing belly and achiness (Is that a word? My computer doesn't think so), this fall I got in on some fall gathering and shipping up at the Association. On this particular day I think Levi was five weeks old, and we packed him up and took him to the ranch while we shipped the calves off this bunch of cows.

My photo trips this fall have paid off when it comes to the paper, because the last six weeks have featured images from the Association.

The photo above also ran on the cover of the paper. When I was taking pictures this day I didn't think I'd really gotten anything I could use, but it turns out we've used several for the Roundup cover.

Have you heard it enough already? I still love my new T3 camera, and my Pixma printer. So far the printer's only been used to print photos of Levi to give away to family members, but I think that's a worthy cause. :-)

This photo also ran on the cover, and features two of the heifers we brought back from Iowa last winter. They were wintered in a feedlot at Thermopolis, then came to the Association for the summer to eat, grow and be bred. So far they look really good, and none the worse for the elevation, but it remains to be seen if they'll calve this spring. Time will tell!

The last month and a half I've been working really hard to keep doing my best work at the paper while taking care of Levi 24/7. It's certainly been a challenge, but I feel like the paper's been going really well. There were a few bumps in the couple weeks after I came back to the office in early October, and I realized the importance of being in touch with the news on a daily basis to generate article ideas. It's really easy to get out of touch really fast, and that's something I'll do differently next time I'm out on maternity leave with Levi's little sibling.

I owe a big 'thank you' to the other half of my editorial team - Saige did a great job handling the paper while I was out with Levi, and came out alive even after a few surprises. I got her a fifth of Pendleton and a set of whiskey glasses for her trouble, because I know that being in charge of an endeavor like the Roundup can certainly call for a drink every now and then. :-)

Levi: 11 Weeks

2011-11-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

Because I have so many photos of Levi, I decided to dedicate a post to the latest batch. :-)

I have really enjoyed the higher ISO speeds on my new camera - up to 6400! That allows me to take photos of Levi in the dim lighting of our living room, without using the dreaded flash.

He's starting to get the hang of this photo thing. It's quickly become a fact of his life. :-)

He knows he's cute.

So these photos were mostly posted for his grandmom in Iowa, who can download whatever ones she might want to print.

The one above is one of my favorites.

And the expression on this one's pretty good. :-) I obviously enjoy taking photos of Levi, so hopefully some of you enjoy looking at them!

Hard at it: Cattlemen's

2011-11-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

At the Roundup we're right in the midst of convention season, bull sale ads season, and Winter Cattlemen's season.

I spent the majority of today about 60 miles north of Glenrock, in northern Converse County, doing some interviews for Cattlemen's. The ranch pictured above belongs to the Hardy family, and they run sheep on this location and cattle in southern Iowa in a partnership. The scenery around ranch headquarters is pretty typical for that area of Wyoming - lots and lots and lots of open space.

On my way in to visit with the Moore family I was glad that someone had already come out of their road and left a set of tracks, otherwise some sections of the road would have been left up to my best guess.

Baby Levi spent the day with his Grandma Shirley again, and I picked him up following my last interview. I am just about done with interviews, and that means that my next task is to start writing.... the hard part. So far I'm on schedule, though, because my goal was to get interviews done by Thanksgiving.

Other than that, life is consumed by writing and editing the regular weekly paper, cleaning house, looking after Levi and other things of that nature. Raking the yard remains on my to-do list. If it's lucky it'll get done before we get a permanent blanket of snow for the winter. :-)

Speaking of winter...

2011-11-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

This ad our designer made from a photo I took in Johnson County for the cover of last year's Winter Cattle Edition. She's turned it into a house ad, and I still really like the looks of it. So much so that I got the red snowflake graphic from her, to perhaps make Christmas cards this year. We'll see if I get to make time for that project in my schedule....

That time of year: Winter Cattlemen's

2011-11-07T09:31:00.000-07:00

And so it begins.

This is the time of year when the paper gets busy. It's convention season, which keeps us traveling around the state and listening to many speakers at the annual meetings of several Wyoming ag organizations, like Wyoming Farm Bureau, the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts and Wyoming Women in Ag.

It's also the time of year when we try to attend all the conventions, put out the weekly paper AND squeeze in two dozen extra interviews and articles for Winter Cattlemen's Edition, which has a deadline in early December.

Last week I started on my Cattlemen's interviews. This year we're in Converse County, which I planned so that I can drop Levi off at his Grandma Shirley's house for the day while I go out and about to visit with people and take pictures.

Of course, the day that I scheduled my interviews for had a winter storm warning, which made it a little iffy for driving, but at least I got some wintry photos out of the deal. I was able to get five interviews that day, and only one on the other day I'd planned for interviews.

Because our Cattlemen's editions have grown in size since we first started them five years ago, Saige and I now have 15 articles each, while before each of the Roundup writers only had to do 12. Trust me, the extra three really do make a big difference in time and effort.

This is my 12th Cattlemen's edition. It really doesn't seem like that many - now I've been in on featuring over half of Wyoming's 23 counties. I enjoy the interview part of it - driving around in new country, visiting with new people at their ranches and businesses. It's the transcribing and writing part of the project that's the killer. Each year I tell myself I'll be more on top of it and get them written gradually, but somehow that's never happened yet.... All the other day-to-day tasks of the paper tend to take higher priority, as they, in themselves, are a full-time job and take up my entire week. There's not much 'spare' time left over for such a big project as a Cattlemen's edition, so I usually end up writing it on the weekends.

And, of course, I haven't started the writing part yet. For now my goal is to get all the interviews accomplished by Thanksgiving. I have seven done, so here's hoping the rest will fall into place in the next couple weeks!

This squirrel was at the Wyoming Pioneer Museum, and he was so upset that I was taking photos of him that I thought he might jump on me to get me to stop.

With a baby this cute...

2011-11-01T06:00:00.001-06:00

With a baby this cute, can you blame me for posting mostly photos of him over the last several weeks?

I took this series of photos so that I could print some off to send to my mom's Aunt Millie - she made him the fleece blanket with the cowboys on it. Last night was the second time I've printed some photos on the new printer, and I love it. The colors are accurate, the lines are crisp and the images turn out great. It was definitely worth it - oh, what, it was free with the Rebel T3 camera purchase. :-) I love the camera, too. If I take meticulous care of it, it should last me for years. Wyoming Camera Outfitters is officially my new favorite camera store. The printer is a Canon Pixma Pro 9000, and it's as big as its name is. I admit, I am having some trouble deciding where to keep it set up. Right now it's on my sewing table, but it takes up practically the whole thing. I can't wait to get some of the fancy paper options and try some photos on different textures. Maybe people will get a lot of photography for Christmas, since it's my new toy. :-)

Today Levi and I are headed to Douglas. I'll start on the first four of my 15 Winter Cattlemen's interviews - we're featuring Converse County this winter - and Levi will go to stay with Grandma Shirley for the day. Right now we're in a winter storm warning, so the roads might be iffy but at least I'll get some wintry photos!

And I'm supposed to be in Douglas by 8, so that means I better get off the computer and go get all our things together and get ready to go. Hopefully I'll have a new batch of photography to share with you when I get back!

Stingy with his smiles

2011-10-28T15:18:00.000-06:00

Although Levi's first smile appeared a couple weeks ago, it's remained a rare sighting up until the last couple days, when he's been willing to show a little more of the happy emotion. The above photo is the first one caught on film...

Enjoy: neighborhood trees and houses

2011-10-24T08:58:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Levi and I were home alone, as Scott was still up at the ranch helping with some cow work, so Levi and I packed up in the stroller, grabbed the camera and went walking for over two miles around our neighborhood, enjoying the beautiful weather and trees.

I know I've said it on my blog before, but I think the area of town where we live is the best part. Or maybe I'm just partial. :-) The house above is our neighbors' across the street.

Most of the houses in the well-established area are early 1900s. Ours is 1922.

And I love all the big trees!

The green house above is a favorite of mine. Because the garages in the area are so small some people have turned them into living space and I'd love to see how they look inside.

Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves very much, and it was a perfect opportunity because Scott could care less about looking at the old houses and their pretty fall decorations on the front steps and porches. :-)

P.S. New photo viewer

2011-10-23T09:16:00.000-06:00

I just discovered that Blogger has changed so that if you click on one photo in a post to view it larger, it'll bring up a slide show of all the photos in the post. Maybe that's old news, but I've obviously been doing less and discovering less on my blog these days. :-)

Notes on the new camera: Still love it! I took those photos yesterday with my little red Canon, because it fits easily in my vest pocket, but they sure are worlds apart from the job the new camera does! I still haven't got the new printer up and running. It's at least out of the box! But I haven't sat down with it and my computer yet to actually do the first test run.

For the first time in four months:

2011-10-23T09:14:00.000-06:00

For the first time since the beginning of July, yesterday I mounted up on a horse and went out to help gather a pasture, and it sure was nice to be out again!

Bob, Scott and I loaded up the horses and headed out to a pasture on the association to gather up the assortment of cattle that included heifers, bulls and rebreeds. Scott and Bob went one way, and I went another with the two sidekicks - Foxy, above, and Lucy, pictured below.

They would gather cows all day every day if given half the chance. The thing with Lucy is, if everything is going too smoothly, she creates excitement by choosing a cow to pick on, driving it into the rest of the bunch and usually sending them all running.

The cattle were spread to the four corners of the 8,000-acre pasture, so I first headed to gather up a couple groups that were off by themselves. There are Iowa heifers in this group!

And then I added another group, which had taken off heading due west since we'd last seen them, and required a detour at a trot by Deets, the girls and myself. Since my mares foaled last spring, Scott's gelding Deets and I have been a pair when I ride, and we get along fine, except he's very tall so I avoid getting off him at all costs, only dismounting when we get back to the barn or trailer.

I left those heifers with another group hanging out by the road, and went to help Scott gather a larger group and bring them the same direction. Scott was riding his colt Medicine Hat yesterday, who we got broke earlier this summer.

Then I went to make sure Bob didn't need any help - we couldn't see him as he was behind a little hill, and the above photo is looking back at Scott trailing behind the heifers and bulls.

Then the two groups combined at the gate in the corner.

And we held them up to sort off four cows that needed to head to the corral.

After finishing those tasks we went to the house where Bob and Scott switched horses and we ate lunch. The night before I'd packed a cooler with a pork roast I'd shredded. Half of it had regular bbq sauce and the other half had a jalapeno bbq sauce that's really pretty good. I'd also put together a corn casserole that Shirley put in the oven to bake there at the ranch house. She stayed with Levi in the house all day, and she's much appreciated! We also had lettuce salad and the pumpkin chip cookies with frosting that are a fall Hemken tradition.

Then we headed to the lower end of the ranch to help load another small bunch of cattle.

And then we were done for the day. We sure picked a good one to be outside all day! Shirley, Levi and I headed back into town shortly, where Levi and I took an early bedtime. In a couple years Levi will be riding along with us on his own horse instead of staying at the ranch house. :-)

This is Antelope Hunting

2011-10-21T15:40:00.000-06:00

Step one: load the baby in the front, the dogs in the back, and head up to the ranch. Drop Scott off at a reservoir, and head to appointed meeting place. Feed baby.

Step two: dogs wait patiently in the truck until the baby's belly's full.

Step three: enjoy the scenery and the gorgeous morning while waiting for Scott. That's the ranch house in the distance, past the reservoir that went dry last spring.

Step four: get out and start playing around taking some photos, while the dogs run to welcome Scott back to the truck.

Step five: continue driving around areas of the ranch that are in Scott's hunting area. Follow obscure two-tracks. :-)

Step six: keep looking, but don't find the antelope that Scott wants, and dogs dutifully keep an eye out.

Step seven: give up on the antelope hunt for the day, and head over the 'mountain' to the north side, where the rest of the family members are hunting deer and elk in the timber.

That was our day last Saturday. :-) I hope yours was as enjoyable! Tomorrow we're headed up to the ranch to gather cows - Grandma Martinez is watching Levi while we're out riding.

A Monday: Seven Weeks

2011-10-17T16:57:00.000-06:00

Today we woke up to a very cold, chilly, wet Monday. That meant the first thing to do upon going upstairs was restarting the fire in our wood stove.

Today Levi is seven weeks old, and we've settled into what might slightly resemble a morning routine. Every morning (usually) I wake up for the last time between five and six. Depending on the night, sometimes I'm up as many as three times with Levi, and if I'm lucky it's only once at about 2 a.m. When I wake up for the last time I feed him and (usually) put him back down in his crib. Sometimes he stays awake to stretch and groan, and other times he'll drift back to sleep. I take advantage of that time to pump - something I try to be very consistent with, and I usually get about four ounces of milk to store away in the freezer - and then I (usually) head upstairs to eat breakfast and visit with Scott before he leaves for the day. Then, if it's a Monday, Wednesday or Friday I head back downstairs around 6:45 or 7 to shower, and if I'm lucky Levi has still been sleeping or happy the whole time and is still content in his crib. After I get myself all ready, or until Levi is demanding he needs attention for something, I change him, dress him for the day and sit down with him about 7:30 to feed him again before heading to the office just before 8.

It's a system that works pretty well for us, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I work from home we follow the same schedule up to the point of dressing for the day. The beauty of getting to stay home is that I can get right down to work, without having to plan everything out carefully to get us to the office on time. It's amazing how much my life has changed to a schedule that abides by Levi's feeding times, which come about every two hours during the day. Making sure his belly's full before going anywhere is key, because he is not a patient boy when he is hungry. There's nothing to be done to quiet him down when his belly's empty, so before leaving for work, before running to the store, before heading to the ranch, before going to appointments, we must be sure that Levi is fed. And when he's fed, he's full. His little belly gets plump and round like a little well-fed puppy or piglet.

On Mondays when I'm in the office I try to get all my phone calls and interviews done for my articles for the week. That way, when I need to make some calls, I let my coworkers know and they're kind enough to come get Levi if he starts to fuss while I'm mid-interview, though I usually try to time it so that I can make phone calls when he's sleeping or happily entertaining himself on the floor. He likes to lay on the floor and kick and stretch and flail his arms and look around, especially at the fluorescent lights.

Then on Tuesdays I can write my articles and start organizing things in my files for that week's paper so that on Wednesday morning I can finalize any loose ends with articles, edit anything coming in from Saige or correspondents and get all the details together, like our news briefs, columns, obituaries, opinions.... that's the long part. I do my best to get most of the key editorial to layout by noon on Wednesdays, and it usually takes all afternoon to get the last of it finished and sent to her.

Thursday, which is at home, is my 'free' day of the week when I can (hopefully) catch up on whatever loose ends might still be hanging out there. I work on planning for future articles, contact correspondents about deadlines, contact the next week's columnists, and generally make sure I'm on top of things. Which reminds me, this week I need to finalize our Winter Cattlemen's article sheet. Special editions never end!

Fridays we're back in the office, putting the paper out in the morning and getting everything as close to perfect as possible, and Friday afternoon I make sure I've got a good understanding of what I need to do for the next week so I've got a plan of action come Monday morning.

And all this working around Levi's schedule and demands. :-) But really, I feel like it's working out pretty well juggling the two things. Granted, the first couple weeks were a little rough, but I feel like I'm getting the hang of it, and learning the 'new-mom skill' of getting work done at any moment when he's not demanding attention. I think that's the key to the whole thing. :-)

Even though it still feels like we've had him just a short time, I can't imagine not having him, and he's really fit into our lives pretty well. When we need to go somewhere we just pack him up and take him with us, feeding and changing him at the appropriate intervals, and he's proven to be a trooper, even as the newest Roundup employee. :-)

The Six-Week Check-Ups

2011-10-14T08:45:00.000-06:00

Here we are! Levi and I have both made it to our week of six-week check-ups with our respective doctors. Levi went in to his on Tuesday, and he now weighs 11.5 pounds and he's 22.5 inches long, which means he's grown half an inch every week since his last check-up. No wonder he eats so much!

He's started smiling just a little bit, and he still talks and moves constantly. Luckily when he talks at night he doesn't keep me up, but Scott says this morning he was awake and talking almost constantly from 3 to 6 a.m. He doesn't fuss, he just lays in his crib and looks around at everything and keeps a running commentary of talking, grunts and groans.

He's able to hold his head up really well. When you hold him on your shoulder he holds his head up on his own and takes it all in, especially if you walk around with him. He loves to lie on the couch and stare up at Scott's antelope head.

My appointment is in about an hour, when Dr. Smothers is supposed to officially clear me from my c-section surgery, not that I haven't already been doing everything again, anyway, especially with Scott having his abdominal surgery soon after mine.

I'm curious to see what my official doctor's office weight will be... to me, I think I'm down at least 20 pounds from before Levi was born, and I'm steadily fitting into my old jeans, one by one, and it's nice to have my wardrobe back!

Tonight Aunt Penny and Cousin Kyle will be here to spend the night with us, because they're going elk hunting tomorrow while we look for antelope, so Penny is going to look after Levi and Scott and I are planning a trip to the Beacon. It's evenings like this that are the reason I've been diligently pumping to store up enough for Levi to eat. I try to pump every morning at his 5-6 a.m. feeding, and I've been pleased to get about three or four ounces of extra milk to stockpile every morning.

So, Levi's check-up had positive results with a good report for the doctor, so hopefully mine is as encouraging!

It's high time for a new post!

2011-10-13T15:57:00.000-06:00

I realize that it's been way too long since I've updated my blog! These days seem to fly by, and between looking after Levi, the Roundup, the house and everything else, unfortunately the blog is pretty low on the priority list.

It was already a week ago that Levi and I hopped in my truck and headed to the ranch with my new camera - that's right! there have been all kinds of developments around here. We were headed up to find some 'fall photos' for last week's paper, and Scott had reminded me that Bob and others were gathering cows so we went up to find them.

On the way up we passed this bull hanging out near a place on the ranch called Willow Springs. It was a stop on the Oregon Trail, and later a stop for the Pony Express. While it used to have many springs and trees, all that remains today is one little spring, a dead tree and the foundation for the building used by the Pony Express. A little farther up the road to the west, the Oregon Trail ruts are still very visible traveling up a draw that parallels today's road.

Anyway, after using my field glasses that my wonderful husband gave me to keep in my truck, I did find the riders out gathering the cows, and discovered that I was a couple miles behind them, so Levi and I went back to the county road, found another two-track, and after about five phone calls to Scott for guidance as to what fenceline they'd come down and where the best place would be for photos, we ended up at the above location, a reservoir with some of the only trees on the whole 90,000+ acre ranch.

After we finished at that location, we headed off down the two-track at Bob's directions, to meet up with them again as they reached the meadows up from the ranch house. That's when we stopped for this photo, looking back down the road toward the lone trees.

Obviously Levi is a very attentive assistant. This photo was taken after we took a quick meal break for him. Sometimes it feels like I've nursed him in a truck many more times than I have in my rocking chair in his room. This time I even moved my truck while feeding him... you gotta do what you gotta do. :-)

We opened the gate and waited for the cows to come down the fenceline.

So that's what we did last Thursday. On Saturday it was very cold and rainy, so Levi and I enjoyed a nice day at the house with a fire going, and on Sunday we headed up to the ranch where Scott and the others were shipping these calves that were gathered in the photos. This weekend we're going antelope hunting again, to see if Scott can get his.

On the new camera front, the local camera shop here in town had a deal where if I bought a new Canon camera I got a high-quality Canon photo printer for free, plus a $50 rebate on the camera, so after talking to Scott I sprung for it and have been enjoying it very much. Alas, the printer has not yet made it out of the box. I keep saying, 'Maybe today it will get its trial run,' but it hasn't happened yet.

For now, Levi is awake, and needs to be fed.

An Elk Weekend

2011-10-03T12:38:00.000-06:00

Over this last weekend we packed up our family of three, met up with family in Douglas, and headed south to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park for the weekend.

We had two goals: take photos of fall color and elk, and hear the bull elk bugle. While I didn't come away with any photos I'm in love with, I did get some, and haven't edited all of them, and we did hear quite a few elk bugle - the first time I'd heard them.

When we got to the park the first leg of our drive was up a gravel road to the summit, which was above treeline. I was impressed they had a visitors center clear up there. It was just below the visitors center that we found these elk, and let the record show that Scott took the photo at the top of this post. :-)

This rock chuck was also up there near the elk. Also a Scott photo.

Otherwise, the scenery was pretty, but nothing that can't be equally matched by Wyoming's mountains. I wasn't too impressed with Rocky Mountain National Park, as it's really not very big, and was packed full of tourists from the city. Granted, I'm sure Yellowstone is the same way, and that's why I haven't set foot in Wyoming's park since I moved here. It's much better to find your way into the backcountry wilderness than touring mountains on a highway and seeing them out of a vehicle window. There's a lot of national forest and wilderness areas around Rocky Mountain NP, and I'm sure they have a lot to offer.

But it was a nice trip. We spent the night in Grand Lake, south of the park, and drove back through to Estes Park Sunday afternoon, where the annual Elkfest was taking place. We were going to do some window shopping, but didn't, since we couldn't find a park place due to the 30,000 attendees that packed downtown.

More photos to come, if I find some decent ones in those I haven't sorted through yet.

Autumn in Wyoming

2011-09-30T15:28:00.000-06:00

The other evening baby Levi was very grouchy, so I loaded him up in my white truck and off we went to check on the mares and colts. That's my mare Jazz, third horse from the left.

I wanted to try to get some good photos of Levi while we were out there, and I even had some props and outfits, but he wasn't having any of it. After I took these two photos of the horses he was crying again, so I put down my camera and got him to carry around while I looked at the horses. That's Jazz's filly, Cindy Lou Who, in the above photo. She's getting big! I love how pretty the rimrocks and shrubs are, with their red and orange autumn color.

Like I said, love the autumn color. :-) Speaking of autumn color... we're headed to Estes Park in a few minutes for the weekend, and I have two fancy lenses that I rented from the local camera shop - one for the fall color and one for the bugling elk.

The girls love it when they get to go somewhere where they can run.

Geese flying south for the winter at sunset.

It was a lovely fall evening.

And now I need to get going to finish packing, because Scott's home and anxious to hit the road. Let's see if I remember everything I need to pack for baby. :-)

In my absence

2011-09-26T09:31:00.002-06:00

This is what I've been up to in the month since I last posted - Levi! He was born Aug. 29 at just after 2 a.m. by c-section here at the Casper hospital. I'd had mild contractions all day on Aug. 28 and didn't think anything of them - I assumed they'd stop, as they weren't getting any more frequent or intense, although some of them did last for a long time.

It was about 9:30 that night, as Scott and I were thinking about going to bed, that we made the ultimate decision - to go the hospital or not to go to the hospital. After weighing the pros and cons, we decided to go, since it's just a few blocks away, I was already all preregistered, and we figured that way they could send us home and we could sleep in peace, after being assured the baby wasn't coming anytime too soon.

Alas, we got to the hospital and I was three centimeters dilated, though my contractions still weren't very strong. They sent us away, telling me to walk around and come back in an hour. We got back to the hospital at 11 p.m., and my doctor was there seeing to another birth, so she came in to the exam room to talk to me, and that's when she did a quick ultrasound and discovered that our baby was, indeed, breech.

Since I was already in labor, it was too late to try to do anything about it, and she simply said, "We'll have to do a c-section."

Those weren't the words I had been expecting to hear when we'd left for the hospital two hours earlier, but at that point there was no way around it, and they started prepping me for surgery. That included three tries at an IV, two in one hand and one in the other. That hurt. So there I was, getting attempts at an IV in one hand, blood drawn out of the other arm, and having labor pains on a very uncomfortable exam bed. It was awful, and made even worse by the fact that I had to lie there for about two-and-a-half hours, waiting for my turn in surgery. It wasn't the hospital's fault, as an emergency c-section came in shortly after they prepped me, and another girl also came in at eight centimeters dilated, so I ended up being third priority. Granted, I wasn't an emergency, and there was no harm in waiting, I just wish I'd asked to move to a more comfortable location.

Finally, my doctor came back in and said it was my turn to go. They wheeled me out of the exam room in the labor and delivery unit to the operating room, which is on the same floor. On the way we passed my mother-in-law Shirley and sister-in-law Penny, who were patiently waiting in the hallway waiting area.

After getting to the operating room things actually started to move along. It was freezing in there, and I only had one of their flimsy cotton garments on, so they layered me with warm towels while the anesthesiologist prepared me for a spinal block. Those warm towels were wonderful. I was sitting on the edge of the operating table when he did it, and by the time I got my legs swung up to lie down I was already going numb.

I want to add a note here that all the doctors and nurses at the hospital were wonderful - the girls in the operating room were very good to me, and comforting, and I really liked the anesthesiologist, too. And, of course, I like my OB, and was very glad that she was the one on call and the one to do my c-section.

After I got my spinal block and they got me all arranged, Scott came into the OR to sit at my head while they worked on getting our baby out. It was the strangest feeling, as I could feel everything that they were doing, but without any pain. There was lots of pulling and tugging, and the anesthesiologist said I'd feel some strong tugs up under my rib cage when they got ready to pull the baby out, and he wasn't joking. Those spinal blocks sure do work.

Scott sat at my head the entire time, checking on me to make sure I was ok. I was. I was mostly just thankful that I was comfortable and that I wasn't lying on that exam room bed anymore.

After they pulled the baby out, I heard them announce that it was a boy, and one of the nurses commented on his big hands and feet. I couldn't see him, because of the blue curtain that was near my face, but I heard him start to cry as they cleaned him all up and got him warm. When he was all clean and wrapped up, Scott picked him up and brought him to me so I could see him. He was wrapped tight in a flannel blanket, with a little knit white cap on.

His name was Levi Frank Martinez as soon as we were sure he was a boy - that name had been decided since last January. We chose Frank for a middle name because that was Scott's dad's name, and my dad's middle name. To add even more meaning to the name, Levi was born 21 years to the day after Scott's dad passed away, and it was almost exactly to the minute, as well. Levi was born at 2:04 a.m., and Scott's dad passed away at 2:15 a.m. We are thankful that now the Martinez family has a new life to celebrate on Aug. 29, while still remembering their husband and father, who is still very much a part of their lives.

After Scott went with Levi to the nursery, passing Shirley, Penny and Levi's cousin Kyle along the way, they finished putting me back together and sewing me up. I was transferred to a wheeled bed and taken to recovery, where another kind nurse looked after me while I regained feeling in my legs. More warm towels! I was so tired by that point that I kept dozing off, but the unfortunate thing was that, whenever I did, the monitor I was attached to started beeping because the oxygen in my blood would drop. So no sleep there!

I was in recovery for about two-and-a-half hours before being taken to the mother/baby unit, which is one floor down in the hospital. I was transferred again to the bed in the room, and soon after Levi and Scott arrived and I got to hold Levi for the first time. That wasn't my preference, as I would have loved to be able to hold him much sooner than several hours after his birth, but I was glad that Scott got to be with him in the nursery and observe as the nurses gave him a sponge bath and do all the things they do for newborns. Levi weighed eight pounds, 6.6 ounces at birth and was 20.5 inches long.

My mom had already been planning to drive out from Iowa on the 29th, so we kept her posted on all the happenings through the night and she headed west first thing Monday morning, arriving at the hospital that evening to see her first-ever, brand-new grandson. On Monday we had many visitors, and it was great to see everyone who came to wish us well, but by mid-afternoon I was wondering if my conversations were coherent or not, I was so tired. Levi and I received many flowers and nice gifts, and we sincerely appreciate all our friends and family.

We were in the hospital for two full days, and got to go home the following Wednesday. While still in the hospital Levi and I got started on breastfeeding, which took some practice, but he's four weeks old today and things are going along just fine now. He's had two visits to his pediatrician - at two weeks old he'd regained the four ounces he lost after birth and we've been on an upward trend ever since. I went in at two weeks to get my incision checked, and I also received a passing grade.

The week after he was born we had two baby showers, one hosted by the wonderful girls I work with at the Roundup, and another at Alcova, hosted and attended by the community women whom Scott grew up around.

My mom was able to stay for two weeks - a stay that was extended by a day because of an additional surgery I had to have on my leg where I'd been stepped on by a horse at 37 weeks pregnant, but that's another story for another post. :-) My dad also came to visit for a couple days, and it worked out so that my brother Nathan also came by when Levi was a week old, and my sister Melissa came over for the Roundup baby shower.

So, hopefully blog posts will become more regular and timely once again. Today Levi and I are getting ready to head into the Roundup office for a little while, so hopefully that goes as well as I hope it will. :-)

Sewing up a Storm

2011-08-25T08:59:00.000-06:00

And the sewing continues! This is the completed Boppy cover that I started the other day. It was a little tricky, because on the inside of the curve there's a strip of fabric I had to figure out how to sew in... because of the nature of the curve and the thickness of the pillow, you can't just sew front to back and be done with it. But, it worked and it fits!

Instead of bothering with a zipper, buttons, velcro, snaps or anything else, I took the lazy - but trendy - way out and used ribbon ties instead. :-)

I'm very happy with it, and will use the same process and pattern to make another cover once I get through the other things on my list.

Last night I started on the changing pad cover, which was on the 'must-finish-before-baby-comes' list, as I haven't purchased one. This is what my sewing table looks like these days. It works best to keep all my fabric and remnants out where I can see them and mix and match. Also, my laptop stays handy, as I've been using patterns from Prudent Baby.

This is the first project for which I've used my cowboy print fabric.

After stitching the corners, ironing in and stitching a pocket for the elastic and threading the elastic through this morning, this is the final product.

Of course, more canvas dropcloth fabric is used for the neutral part of the cover.

This is what the bottom looks like, with the elastic.

So now I've taken it downstairs, and next I'll do the curtains for the little window in the baby room. It's also occurred to me that my mom might want curtains in the sewing room, which is also our guest room, so I'll have to sew some of them up, too, while I'm at it. :-) She will drive to Wyoming next Monday, then spend some time in Lander with my sister Melissa if the baby hasn't arrived yet, coming back to Casper either when the baby starts to make its entrance into the world, or by Thursday evening, whichever comes first. My brother will also be out in Wyoming soon, as he and friend Aaron are coming out for a four-wheeler trip over Labor Day weekend.

Also for projects in the baby room, I have the cowhide, drawer pulls and nailhead trim all gathered together for the cowhide door fronts on the armoire... it just needs to come to the top of the list. Once I get started I don't think it'll take long - maybe this weekend! I know, I know, my time is quickly counting down, and I don't expect to get all the projects done before the baby comes, but I'll keep working down the list until Delivery Day! Besides, I'll need something to do when I'm just sitting around at home being lazy after the baby arrives, right? :-)

Baby Update: One More Week

2011-08-24T09:50:00.000-06:00

Well, we've officially hit the 'one week left' mark, as next Wednesday, the 31st, is my doctor-assigned due date for Baby Martinez. After my appointment last Monday, it looks like I'll for sure make it to that date, and perhaps even beyond.

So, in the meantime, I decided to share some photos of my other babies. :-) That's April's Pipsqueak filly in the photo above. She is an ornery little critter, and will be a handful. I've already started halter breaking both of them, and she certainly does not approve of being told what to do.

This is the laid-back baby, Cindy Lou. She really doesn't care about the halter, and leads pretty well, except for when I try to take her too far away from her mom. She's getting big!

So this week, as I'm waiting for baby to arrive, I've been busy at the Roundup office getting this week's paper together, still editing senior photos here and there and doing my best to keep chipping away at Fall Cattlemen's interviews, which I transcribe to get the quotes and accurate info before writing the articles.

At home I've been cleaning and sewing... At the top of the cleaning list was the refrigerator and freezer, and it was high time they were cleaned. As I'm expecting my mom and other visitors at the house in the weeks ahead, I figured I better clean my most embarrassing dirt collections. :-) So that's done, and the quarter-inch of dust of gone off the top of the fridge. Next on the cleaning list for tomorrow morning is the patio - Foxy really has a thing for tipping over my flower containers and spreading garden soil everywhere. It's an eyesore that I haven't gotten around to addressing quite yet.

And in the evenings I've been working on sewing projects. Yesterday I finished up the cover for my Boppy nursing pillow, and next will be a cover for the changing pad. I'd eventually like to have several of each of the covers I'm making, but for now I'm just trying to get one of each made.

On another note, Scott's also started a special diet in preparation for his surgery in three weeks, so I've also been helping pack him lunches and have been measuring out and cooking his dinners in the evening, which consist of eight ounces of meat, vegetables and lettuce salad. Never a dull moment around here!

Sewing for Baby With a Cat

2011-08-23T08:25:00.002-06:00

Over the weekend Link and I were able to work a little bit on a few sewing projects.

The first project we worked on - and finished - was the slipcover for the rocking chair. It's good to have that one done!

Link was very helpful, offering his advice at every turn.

We decided to cover most of the cushion on the plain canvas dropcloth fabric, but we did use one other kind of fabric on one side.

So this is the one side of the cushion with a piece of fabric I picked up at the church thrift store in Iowa Falls when Melissa and I went to Iowa about a month ago.

And here's the finished chair! I had considered doing a blue star applique on the seat back, but decided I'll leave that detail for later, and for now focus on getting some of the other sewing projects done.

There are 2x4s under the chair because Scott still has yet to finish his part of the rocker project - blocking up the legs a little bit so it's a little taller and easier to get out of.

The next project we worked on was a cover for the Boppy pillow that my mom found for me. We decided to use the red stars because that fabric hasn't been used anywhere else yet.

And Link approved of my choice.

He's such a helper, and doesn't get in the way at all!

Of Biscuits and Gravy

2011-08-21T07:40:00.000-06:00

This morning is a beautiful summer morning, and as always I'm enjoying the sunshine streaming in through all the east windows in our house.

I've got the biscuits baked and pork sausage from Iowa ready to make into gravy, once Scott wakes up and comes upstairs. I would still be downstairs sleeping, but he's ruined me for sleeping in since we got married, and I was awake and ready to start on my to-do list by 5:30...

So I've got laundry going, the sprinkler on the yard, dishes done and have done a few tasks around the baby room. The birds are singing and it's 58 degrees! Today I'll try to make it out to check on my fillies, since I didn't get out there last weekend.

The top to-do priority for the day is finishing my slipcover, which has turned out fabulously so far - way better than I had hoped for my first attempt! I took this photo as I was headed out the door and it was still dark the other morning, so I apologize for the quality. My plan is to finish a dust ruffle for the bottom, sew up a quick cover for the cushion, and perhaps applique a star on the seat back to match a contrasting dust ruffle... One of the things I was pondering as I lay in bed at 5 this morning was where I could find a pattern for the star without having to print something offline, since I don't have a printer here at the house....

The Good Life

2011-08-20T17:56:00.000-06:00

We officially made it through State Fair week! From Wednesday through yesterday was pretty full, with our Cattlemen's Conference and Ag Hall of Fame Picnic on Wednesday, Kendra's senior pictures, attending the Wyoming Beef Council meeting and writing five articles on Thursday, then putting the paper out and going back down to State Fair Friday afternoon for the Wyoming Dept. of Ag Director's Reception and the rodeo on Friday evening.

But I made it through all that, and the baby did not come during the busy week, and that's all I was asking for! Paula, Kendra and I had fun taking senior photos on Thursday, and I am very pleased with how they turned out.

In fact, I don't think they could have turned out better! The lighting was fabulous, the locations were pretty and Kendra made my job very easy.

I'm still working on sorting and editing the 500-and-some images that I took. There are about 50 that I chose that I really like, which is usually about the percentage that I end up liking when I go out to take photos. Paula and Kendra are also very happy with them, which is all that matters. :-)

Also, I sold my first prints to the stock contractor this week, and I plan to start putting money away from photography income to start purchasing camera equipment. Scott also got a raise this week at work, so things are looking pretty good around here.

Now all we need is a painless delivery and a healthy baby! Many people were surprised to see me roaming State Fair, but almost just as many people have predicted that the baby will come late. I guess I still don't look like I'm over 38 weeks pregnant and they don't believe my due date, even though I'm absolutely positive it's accurate as far as the 40-week timetable goes.

In sad news, though, my summer intern Tressa has left for school in Texas, and Saige and I are now on our own with the editorial again. It was a delight to work with Tressa over the summer, and we wish her nothing but the best as she continues her ag communicaitons education in the south!

Fair, Photography... Busy!

2011-08-17T06:12:00.000-06:00

And I was doing so good in posting consistently! This week is state fair week in Wyoming, which means we at the paper are busy making sure we've got all our bases covered, and today is our big day, with the Cattlemen's Conference this afternoon, which we sponsor with a feeder from Wheatland, and our Wyoming Ag Hall of Fame Picnic this evening, which we sponsor with Farm Credit Services and Encana Oil and Gas.

The above picture was taken at opening weekend of State Fair, at the Wyoming State Fair Ranch Rodeo Finals. That's Tami Larsen on her Redneck stud - the one that would have been April's colt's grandfather, had she taken the time I bred her to Bob's stud colt.

During the ranch rodeo I spent some time taking photos, until my camera battery died. My camera battery's kind of like some cell phone batteries... It'll last forever on full bars, and when it starts getting down even one bar, there really isn't all that much power left.

I came up with some ok ranch bronc photos - nothing brilliant, but I've still stumbled into an opportunity to sell prints to the stock contractor to whom they belong.

Today I won't have a whole lot of time to take photos at fair, as I'll be busy with the Wyoming Livestock Board meeting this morning, and I will take some at the picnic tonight. After the picnic a bunch of us from the Roundup are going to the Darryl Worley/Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers concert in the grandstand, which should be a good show, and it should be a gorgeous summer evening.

Then tomorrow morning I'm headed to Esterbrook, which is just beneath Laramie Peak in the Laramie Mountains south of Douglas, where State Fair is held, to take senior pictures for a coworker's daughter.

So, with all this coming up today and tomorrow, I need to get going to gather all my things together, but I wanted to put up a quick post to touch base. :-)

Also, last night I finished the hardest part of my slipcover project for my upholstered rocker, and it turned out way better than I thought it might! Now I just have to finish the dust ruffle on the bottom, and make a case for the seat cushion. Then I can move on down to the other simpler sewing projects on my list for the baby room.

Baby Update: 37 weeks

2011-08-12T09:29:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are, three weeks from the designated D-day! I thought this would be an appropriate time to get around to posting these baby room photos that I took even before our trip to Iowa in July... I apologize for the low photos quality... I just took them quick so that I'd have something to show people in Iowa, to give an idea of how the room was shaping up.

The above photo was taken from the door to Scott's and my room. There are two finished rooms in the basement, plus a full bath, and they will be the sleeping quarters for all three of us.

This photo is from the corner with the window, and the door to Scott's and my room is on the left, and the door to the bathroom is on the right. Behind the open door is a closet.

Here's my crib project, with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I'm really happy with how the color turned out, as pink as it looks in the can, and the light and dark wax turned out well, except it still remains a little tacky... not really sticky, but not really smooth. I'm curious to see how it wears over time.

I lined the drawer beneath the mattress with kitchen liner - not the sticky kind. I was glad to find something I could just cut to size and lay in there, without having the permanance of contact paper.

This little toddler chair came from my mom, along with an even tinier chair to match. The tiny chair I now use for a little cowboy teddy bear on the bookshelf.

There's the tiny chair, when it was in the corner, next to the saddle from Uncle Bob.

I'm really happy with the dresser stain project. Last night I finally purchased the drawer pulls for it and for the armoire - I've been waiting three weeks for them to go 50 percent at Hobby Lobby. Have you looked at Hobby Lobby's drawer pulls lately? They have a great selection of all types.

This is the box my little Western hankies came in. The box itself is pretty adorable. :-)

And here are just a few of the hankies... I haven't done anything with them yet. Still debating all my options...

The dresser and armoire also got lining for their drawers - this time a blue pattern.

I've been collecting enamelware for the room, to use for storage, decoration, etc. Little did I know these enamelware canisters I bought in Pendleton last September would fit in so well!! Or what I'd end up using them for. :-) The lovely C} wood piece is a gift from Emily in Missouri - she made it and stained it for me, and I love it.

This is my old camp coffee pot... It was a cheapy from Walmart, and the little 'glass' knob on top of the lid melted one morning as the coffee was simmering, so I removed the lid, kept the pretty red pot, and will use it for something, if only decoration.

My mom has done a great job collecting things for the baby room - these books are just another small part of the things she's found for Baby Martinez. They're all Western cowboy books, so they fit perfectly with the theme.

This is the view from the baby room window...

So that's what the baby room looked like in mid-July. Since returning from the Iowa trip I've worked on putting away baby gifts from the Iowa baby shower and have washed and put away most of the clothes in the dresser and armoire. More pictures to come, as soon as I get the room to a more put-back-together state. Right now I'm working on a slipcover for the rocker, and after that will come curtains. Those pink sheers just have to go soon. I'm tired of looking at them in pictures!

Then and Now: the Pets

2011-08-11T12:39:00.000-06:00

Continuing with the 'then and now' theme, I thought I'd do a post about the aminals that have been around over the last five years... You'll have to forgive the randomness of the photos, they're just the first ones of the appropriate animals that I came across on my external drive.

Then: The photo above features the one animal, besides my mare April, who came to Wyoming with me and is still with me... That would be Link, who continues to be a character with quite the personality. He was about three or four months old when we moved to our apartment in Wyoming, and he has been a great companion ever since.

Now: This is a recent photo of Link, showing a little bit of his personality... Apparently it's too much effort to stand and drink at the water bowl..

Then: Lexus joined Link and me in the summer of 2007.

Now: Lexus stayed with us through November 2010. She was a sweet, lovable little kittie, but had to move on because of unresolvable behavior issues. It was a sad decision to let her go, but I enjoyed having her for the few years that I did.

Then: April is the bay horse leading the line, and she came with me in 2006. At that time I kept her in a pasture west of town with several other horses, before moving her in to Galles's so I didn't have to drive so far to get her.

Now: April lives west of Casper again, in a friend's pasture, and recently had a filly. She's 18 now, and starting to show her age, but is still in good health.

Then: Jazz came out from Iowa in the summer of 2008, I think. I can't remember exactly what year I got her, but it was the summer my dad got fed up with putting up with her harrassing the cows and calves. :-)

Now: It's been good to have two horses around, as over the last couple summers I rode enough that both got consistent use and I alternated what jobs and trips I used them for. Jazz came with me on last summer's pack trip to Gannet Peak from Dubois.

Then: In February 2010 Lucy joined the family as a four-week-old pup. Needless to say, Link was not impressed with my decision to get a dog.

Now: Lucy's a year-and-a-half old, and has grown up to be quite the cow dog. She loves to work, and would do it all day, every day if we gave her the opportunity. She's also a nut, who always sticks her nose everywhere where it's not wanted, and her curly tail is her trademark.

Then: Foxy joined the clan in June 2010 at about eight weeks old. She came from a friend of ours who has a ranch near Thermopolis, and the first day we had her in Casper she was very grouchy and growly and didn't like anybody.

Now: She's actually turned into the sweetest little dog, and her trademark is her slouch and her eyebrows. She's a lot more calm than Lucy, and she loves to be loved. It took her a little longer to come into her own working cows, but now she's a tough little girl who will bail in and bite them wherever she can get a hold. We thought she was a non-shedder. Turns out, she just holds onto all her fur and lets it all go in the span of about one week in July. There was a lot of vacuuming needed!

Now: New this spring was the addition of two fillies - Cindy Lou Who and Pipsqueak, who is the lazy one in the photo above.

Cindy Lou was born the end of March, and Pippy came two months later, I think. She was a month later than I had expected, and was the tiniest little foal. She's growing well now, and will be a very cute, feminine horse. Although she's the one with the stubborn, feisty streak. Cindy Lou is much more laid back and easy to get along with.

And the next 'now' that will be the latest addition to the family in a few weeks is Baby Martinez!!

Proud of our Product

2011-08-10T11:33:00.000-06:00

Just a note... I wanted to pass along this tidbit from a recent visitor to the office, and write it down before I forget...

"When we had our budget cuts and lost our earmark, I told my staff to cancel all of our subscriptions at the office. A few weeks later I realized I wasn't getting my Roundup, and hadn't realized that we'd canceled it, too. Now it's the only one we've resubscribed to, because we just can't live without it." - Wyoming Wildlife Services Director Rod Krischke, who was sitting in the Roundup's entry area reading the latest copy

And here's another note that Curt recently received in his email:

"Also wanted to let you know that we subscribed to Tri State Livestock the same time we started getting the Round Up and we much prefer the Round Up. It has many more articles that pertain to our interests and way of life and we look forward to receiving it!" - Charity Crump, Crump Red Angus

We receive notes like these on a regular basis, and it's always rewarding to hear positive feedback. Sometimes it's hard to know if we're producing what the people want... I sometimes worry that the articles and features I plan are boring, or that nobody cares, so it's great to hear from people that we're on the right track, and I love our readers! :-)

Five Years: Then and Now

2011-08-10T09:22:00.000-06:00

Driving across Nebraska, with my parents pulling the Airstream camper and my brother pulling the livestock trailer with three horses. I followed in my yellow Mercedes, which actually just came back to live in Wyoming last month.

In honor of my five-year anniversary here in Wyoming, here are a few 'then-and-nows' that I've been reminiscing about this week:

Then: When I got to Wyoming I moved into Aspen Court Apartments on Casper's east side, and lived there for nearly four years. I always liked my apartment, and didn't mind the space itself. It was the neighbors I got really tired of.

Now: About a year and a half ago I purchased my little yellow house. It was love at first sight when I first walked in with the realtor, and I still love it. This photo was from last November... that's why it's snowy but there's still pumpkin decor. :-) Living in a house of my own suits me much better than renting an apartment, though the apartment served its purpose very well.

*** no picture ***

Then: When I moved to Wyoming I was still with the 'ex.'

Now: I've been married almost a year to Scott, and it's been wonderful! Not a day goes by that he doesn't tell me I'm beautiful and how much he loves me. If I had it to do all over again, I'd have ended things with the ex when I moved here and had it over and done with. Things have been so much better since I met and married Scott, and I'm very happy.

A few short weeks after I started with the paper we got to work on our Fall Cattlemen's Edition. That was the first year we featured a county, so I got a lovely introduction to Wyoming through a trip to Sublette County for interviews and photos.

Then: I started out with the Roundup as assistant editor.

Last week I wrapped up interviews for this year's Fall Cattlemen's Edition, which will feature Big Horn County. This is the 11th Cattlemen's Edition I've worked on - we do two each year.

Now: Almost two years ago I took the position of managing editor for the paper. It's certainly been a challenge, and was a learning curve, but things are going great and it doesn't seem like five years since I've started. I can honestly say there has not been a single day that I've hated my job and/or really not wanted to come to the office. Granted, there are always things a person don't 'feel' like doing, but that will happen anywhere. I'm fortunate to have a good job with great coworkers that allows me to travel the state, meet new people and constantly learn and do new things.

With that, I better wrap it up for this post, as there are articles for this week's paper calling my name. :-)

Weekend: Checking Off the To-Do List

2011-08-08T08:51:00.000-06:00

This weekend was a good one for finishing and starting on projects around the house. It included finishing the binding on the baby quilt, starting the slipcover project pictured above, grocery shopping, a trip to Pathfinder Ranch for Pathfinder Days and a night spent at the Association, watering the whole yard, cleaning up some spent potted plants (it hasn't been a good year for me and flowers), exchanging our blueray player (this is our third one. maybe the charm?) and spending 30 minutes on the phone with an Indian man to figure out how to get it to connect to our router, taking a couple naps, cleaning both bathrooms, vacuuming, and lots more things along those lines...

I was going to do some riding with the menfolk Sunday up at the ranch, but turns out their Saturday cow-moving task turned into two days, so I skipped out, as I didn't know for sure how long Sunday's portion would take, and I didn't want to ride more than a couple hours. Instead, I woke up with them at 4, had breakfast and headed into town, where cat Link and I got all kinds of things done.

I also worked quite a bit on sorting and folding the baby laundry and getting it organized in the armoire, along with the other baby supplies I have, like toys, feeding essentials, diapers, etc. The drawer pulls I want at Hobby Lobby still haven't gone on sale, so opening the drawers on the dresser/changing table is still a trick. :-)

This is the baby quilt - the blocks of red and green fabric are parts of the table runners I used at our wedding party in May.

And I used dropcloth canvas for the backing.

Yesterday I started on the puzzle that is cutting pieces for a slipcover for my rocking chair. This is the first try ever at a slipcover, so we'll see if it ends up fitting the chair, with no glaring mistakes. I thought about piping the edges, but then decided to keep it simple...

I didn't get much farther than this yesterday - I did get these pieces all pinned together and started stitching, but then headed over to publisher Dennis's house to pick raspberries and never went back to this project yesterday evening - I wrote all my thank-you notes for the baby gifts from Iowa, instead. I have yet to cut out the rest of the pieces. The chair is sitting up on 2x4's because I'd like to cut some blocks to raise the chair up a couple inches - right now it's kind of a low-rider.

So, a few more things were finished, or at least started, over the weekend. Just a few short weeks until baby gets here!

All in a Day's Work

2011-08-03T06:35:00.000-06:00

After spending yesterday in the Hyattville/Manderson area and getting five interviews for our upcoming special edition, today I am headed north to the Greybull/Shell area for several more.

Last night I went out in search of cell service, and on my way back in to the ranch where I'm staying I stopped to take some photos. This is rough, dry country around here, and broad daylight is really not flattering to it, so I was glad to get some photos in the pretty evening light. There's quite a bit of irrigation in the drainages, where mostly alfalfa hay and corn for silage are grown. Most irrigation is done by pivots.

I've been admiring the blue tin roof on this barn since I got here - it's along the road back to my cabin. Unfortunately, I had lost my sunshine to clouds by the time I got this far.

So more interviews today, and possibly a stop at the Big Horn County Fair in Basin. The fair is the reason some of my interviews didn't pan out - livestock is due to be brought in today, and many ranch families were preoccupied with all the last-minutes.

And back home tonight! It will be good to be home. There are two ways to get back to Casper over the Big Horn Mountains, and I haven't decided which one I'll take yet. There aren't many cattle in the lower country this time of year, as they're all grazing on mountain allotments, so I need to get a few photos up there to go along with my articles.

Peace and Quiet

2011-08-02T07:25:00.000-06:00

Yep, I'm still just relaxing in my cabin... the above photo I took this morning in the early light of morning, while the whitetails were still playing the meadow. I don't think I've ever seen whitetails run and play and jump just because they can, but there was a group of about five of them who were certainly enjoying being deer this morning.

I had been invited to go have breakfast with the Robertsons at 6, but even though I was up, I wasn't really around, so just munched on some cereal I had brought along. Then fell back asleep, only to be awakened by the sound of a diesel engine, and breakfast on my front porch railing.

Mrs. Robertson has to be among the sweetest hostesses in Wyoming! This is what she had delivered. The bread was still warm from the oven! She came back shortly with a note, because she wasn't sure if I was up, so we chatted briefly. They're headed to Billings today to pick up a piece of equipment.

So now my next interview isn't until 10, and it's not far from here, so I'm going to get started transcribing my Robertson interview from last night. No time like the present! It would be a great relief to have these 10 or 12 special edition articles all finished up before the baby comes.

If you ever want a secluded getaway, there are many prime opportunities in Wyoming, and perhaps you should look up the Robertsons at Hyattville and come stay in their cabin. :-)

No Cell Service...

2011-08-01T21:31:00.000-06:00

But I do have wireless internet!!

These are the kinds of anomalies that are common in Wyoming. :-)

The photo above is pretty dim, because I took it at 9 p.m., a few minutes ago, but it shows the hay meadow and the Big Horn Mountains off to the east of the cabin I'm staying in tonight.

Yes, not in Casper tonight!! Although it's been hard to get excited for the big task that is Fall Cattlemen's Edition, one of the perks of this trip is the gracious offer of Gene and Chris Robertson for me to stay in their guest cabin, which usually accommodates hunters, fishermen, lion hunters, etc. If I hadn't been able to stay here, I would have had to stay in Worland, which is quite a few miles to the south of all my interviews, I think at least 50, and that would have resulted in a lot of driving back and forth.

The cabin is a simple affair, with one bedroom and one bath downstairs along with an open kitchen/eating area. A long covered porch stretches along one side. Upstairs is an open loft, which has a double bed and a daybed with a trundle beneath it.

Think of Prince Edward Island's 'Wee House on the Water,' only about six times the size. :-) (Visit the link! They've added on, and the 'wee house' is still miniature, but not quite to the extent when we stayed in it with six people!!)

(Look! Another whole bedroom in the Wee House! Wouldn't that have been nice. :-) )

So, back to the Wyoming cabin. Here I am, a few miles east of Hyattville, Wyoming in Big Horn County - one of the few areas of Wyoming I had yet to visit, because there's really no reason to come here, and the people who live here like it that way. I have two full days of interviews scheduled in the county for tomorrow and the next day, before heading back to Casper, where I'll stay put until after the baby's born.

More photos of the county to come - hopefully I end up with some good ones! That always makes our designer Tracy's job easier. :-)

Summer's Heat

2011-08-01T08:52:00.000-06:00

Another weekend already over! They do go by so fast, but really, if not for the work week to separate the weekends, I don't think we'd appreciate them so much.

This last weekend I took the equivalent of six hours in naps, and it was wonderful. :-) Friday evening and Saturday morning it was just cat Link and myself at the house, so we did some organizing projects and worked on baby things before heading to the ranch late Saturday afternoon for dinner. I took a rhubarb cobbler and ice cream to share - coworker Jody and I made a visit to the Casper farmers' market Saturday morning, where I picked up the rhubarb.

All of the 'menfolk' had spent Saturday gathering and trailing cows, and everyone was pretty hot and tired, and our dogs were pretty worn out after that. I was kind of glad for a good excuse to stay out of the hot summer sun.

So Sunday morning we all woke up at 4 and they saddled their horses and we had breakfast together before loading up the horses.

They were headed several pastures in the direction of town, so I tagged along with them and pestered them for photo ops after they'd unloaded the horses. Thankfully they were obliging, as I wanted to experiment with some silhouettes, which I haven't done a whole lot of.

After they headed back west toward the cows on their horses, I slowly made my way east toward town, making a few stops on the way to try some more photo experiments. This one of the tree I'm not in love with, but it's close to what I was looking for.

And I'm not in love with this daybreak one either, but again, it's close. Practice makes perfect! I was glad for the prime opportunity to take early-morning photos.

After getting back to town the pups and I had some more breakfast - it had been four hours since the first one, so I figured it was ok - and then headed out to check on the fillies, which I hadn't seen in two weeks. I turned out staying longer than anticipated, but I did get my red two-horse trailer sold, so it was worth it. I also took the chance to ride each of my mares a little bit, and I think that's the first time they've had a bit in their mouths all summer long.

Then I came back to town and slept for two hours. :-)

Hello! (And a Cookies and Milk Bar)

2011-07-29T11:47:00.000-06:00

Well, once again I apologize, but a lot has happened since I last posted, including a whirlwind surprise trip to Iowa for my mom's 50th birthday party!

Last Thursday at 5 a.m. my sister and I left for Iowa, arriving at my parents at about 6:30 that evening. That was the surprise for my mom, who was very confused at first, and then we told her about her party and we all spent the next two days putting the finishing details in place to host 150 people at my family's old car museum in the little farming town of Williams.

One of those details was a Cookies and Milk Bar, which we set up in a prominent place in the museum. It featured four different kinds of cookies, white milk and chocolate milk, as well as quite the assortment of candy and other things for people to nibble on.

On Friday my mom and I made most of the four kinds of cookies, and the photo above is when the table was half set up on Saturday afternoon.

Before heading to the museum to decorate we chose dishes from my mom's collection - mostly from her pink glass collection - to use on the cookie table. She also got into her stash of vintage table linens, doilies and hankies.

Notice the tablecloth with the pink flowers - our table was also supplemented by several thrifting stops while we were in Iowa Falls on Friday. :-)

Pink teacups held Hershey kisses, and the wood box and some of our other accessories came from my Grandma Hemken's vintage kitchen collection in the museum's loft.

We used my mom's vintage green cooler to hold ice, in which we placed glass carafes of chocolate and white milk the next day. The dairy print fabric was also a thrifted find on Friday

I had brought my tub of canvas drop clothes from Wyoming - the same ones that we used for our wedding party over Memorial Day weekend, and that's what we used as the base to cover the tables.

We put some of the doilies on top of the cake pedestals rather than below, so they could be more easily seen.

And on Saturday we left a few extra containers, which my sister Melissa filled with wildflowers on Sunday right before the crowd arrived.

Here we have all the basics in place, and this photo shows just one of the groups of paper lanterns that we hung all over the museum - they really added a lot to the decorations, and looked great with the cars.

Another lantern group...

So then on Sunday afternoon we put the finishing touches on the table, filled the platters with cookies and strung the garland I made.

Credit: many of our ideas and inspirations came from the Celebrations at Home blog. If you like party decorating, you'll love that one!

A few model dairy cows completed the theme.

I also made some cookie label signs to place by each grouping, so people would identify what they were eating. The yellow cookies are a stray plate that showed up for the potluck - my family supplied the pork chops, and my mom and I also made a broccoli salad, but the rest was contributed by the guests.

You'll have to excuse some of my photography - I've been shooting on full manual this summer, and changing between the six different lighting situations in the museum proved to be good practice! Some of these my shutter speed was still a little slow from being in the more dim areas of the building.

The cookies were a big hit!

In addition to the folded cards, we also tied other cookie cards around the jars with twine.

And here is the milk on ice in the cooler.

The little white cow in front here was a project in itself - we found it while thrifting, picked up some white spray paint in town and Melissa painted it Friday. Although the spray paint crackled on the second coat due to humidity, it still turned out to be pretty charming.

In another area of the museum we also set up a drink station, which featured vintage coolers from the museum's collection. We put bottled water on ice in the red wood wagon, and the three little coolers and one tall one held pop cans. The folding table ended up going away. Once again - canvas drop cloths served to cover the garage door on that wall. They're pretty versatile and indispensable - we ended up using the whole tub! Those green and blue rosettes were a challenge in themselves - my brother Nathan had to get involved to figure out how to get the project completed. :-)

I have more photos of the 11-piece brass band that came from Omaha, the crowd, the food and the dancing - stay tuned for more Big Band Birthday Party posts!

Baby Update: 34 Weeks

2011-07-20T10:50:00.000-06:00

Well here we are, already at 34 weeks along! These summer weeks are ticking by quickly, and my sense of urgency to get a little farther along on my to-do list has not gone away.

Thankfully, all the big furniture projects are done, and what remains is mainly some sewing projects, most of which should go quickly. I'd still like to make curtains, fitted mattress sheets, the changing pad covers, etc. I haven't had any luck finding an upholstered chair that rocks. After listening to me describe what I want to several furniture salesmen, Scott is convinced that what I want doesn't exist and that I would have to have something custom-made. I might have to settle for a glider - we'll see.

As far as how the summer's treating me, everyone assumes the heat we've had over the last week or so is making me miserable, but it really hasn't. But they all have to ask, anyway. I've always liked the heat, and that is still working in my favor, especially since Wyoming has such a dry heat. The air conditioner still doesn't work all that great in my car, and we don't have any cooling system in the house, but that's fine by me. I'm enjoying the warm weather while it's here - last winter was so bitterly cold for so long, and I haven't forgotten.

During my last visit to the baby doctor she estimated the baby at above weight for its age - which makes sense, since I was 10 pounds, 12 ounces and Scott was 10 pounds. This doesn't bode well for a small baby for me! So much for low birth weight genetics...

The baby is very squirmy! And sometimes when Scott touches my belly it will react with a kick. I've also noticed that it will startle when I make a loud noise, like with a stack of bowls in the kitchen. And hiccups. A lot of hiccups these days.

We have also chosen a pediatrician, Dr. Greene, who has practiced in Casper for 32 years. I figured with a record like that he must do ok. I went and met with him last week, and am confident that he will be a good doctor for the baby.

Scott and I are still making our way through the classes at the hospital, with one tonight and then one more next week, when we'll take a tour of the labor and delivery floor, as well as the mother/baby unit on the floor below. It sounds like almost all new moms get to have their babies room in with them these days while everyone recovers from delivery, which I like.

I've negotiated the ins and outs of a baby registry at Target, but I'm not sure how successfully. :-) Had it been kitchen things I was registering for, it would have been a piece of cake, but when one knows very little about what you're buying for, it does make it a challenge. With a few 'suggestion' lists in hand, I worked my way through and hopefully have most of the basics covered. But I'm sure there are obvious things I missed. To date, I have two showers planned for after the baby comes, because they want to know whether to purchase for a boy or girl. One is the Alcova women, whose families Scott grew up with, and the other is one the office girls here at the Roundup are hosting.

I've made good progress planning out the paper for Saige while I'm away in September, and will have her prepared to take over by the end of state fair week, which ends Aug. 19, though I plan to keep working right up until the end.

So that's the latest - still not a whole lot to report, just making our way through the last weeks. As we get closer to delivery, I'm sure that Scott will not let me get too far from town, and I've already received lectures on how I shouldn't let my phone run dead in case I need to get a hold of him. I'm bad about not recharging. :-)

Project: Baby Quilts

2011-07-20T10:23:00.000-06:00

Yes, I have finally gotten a start on my baby sewing projects! Last night I finished cutting out the top pieces of fabric for Baby Martinez's quilt, and started sewing them together. I would have taken a photo this morning, but I left my little camera's battery charging at the office overnight.

However, I realized that I never posted the final photos of Baby Ehlers's quilt, whom we now know is little miss Sophia Ruth. :-)

It all started with this stack of fabric on my sewing table...

And lots of help from Foxy...

And Lucy...

And, of course, Link, who felt the need to be in the closet shelving in this photo.

This is called a 'log cabin' pattern, and one that I found in a Martha Stewart magazine last winter. I like it because it's easy, and doesn't have multiple small pieces. I'm not that confident in my quilting accuracy, at least not yet. I'd like to try a more complicated one at some point...

Sewing the strips together...

Here the photo is almost all completely sewn together.

And all done with the top! Surprisingly, sewing the top together has been the easiest part of both of the quilts I've made so far. Getting the top, lining and bottom to all come together smoothly and evenly without bumps or shifts has been the worst part.

I chose to use the darker pink fabric for the binding.

Half of the binding is machine-sewn, while the other half, to finish it off nice and pretty, is attached by hand. At this stage I had machine-sewn the binding all the way around.

And after a couple winter evenings of hand-stitching, here it is, all done!

I'm pretty happy with the final product. I was concerned about the pinks clashing, but I've come to discover the whole point of a quilt is to not be perfectly coordinated, and both of them have turned out just fine.

Here is the previous one I made for Baby Seehusen, whom we now know is Nora Beth:

Yes, this is the one of which I forgot to take a photo of the final product before boxing it up and sending it off to Iowa.

I'll upload some photos of Baby Martinez's quilt in the days to come... hopefully I'll also get those baby room photos taken that I promised several days ago. :-)

Summer Work

2011-07-19T09:25:00.000-06:00

Since I've been doing lots of random things lately, working off several to-do lists, I figured I'd share lots of random photos with you today. :-)

First and foremost, let's point out that top cow dog in the photo above. :-) That's Lucy working cows last Saturday morning when we were up at the ranch to brand late calves and turn our bulls out. Lucy continues to be a good hand to have around, and she's very eager to do her work. She would work cows all day long every day if she had the chance.

We got up to the ranch about 5:30, but still didn't get too early of a start. It's been pretty hot lately, so it would have been nice to have been an hour ahead of where we were.

Scott, Jamie and I gathered the cows off the meadow, which is a small pasture close to the house, so it didn't take too long.

When we got down in the bottom Trav and Bob joined us, also.

The grass in the meadow is still very lush and green and pretty.

And here we are about to the corrals, which are on the right edge of the photo.

And here is an accidental shot, but one that shows how much my belly sticks out now - to the saddle horn.

I've been riding Deets this summer, since my mares are on nursery duty. Most times people don't like to ride him because he's so tall and almost impossible to mount without a step, but I figure I need a step for any horse these days, so I might as well ride him. And once I'm on, I'm on, and everyone else has to open the gates. :-) This photo marks 33 weeks of pregnancy.

Once we gathered we had six calves to brand and a few to dehorn before turning the cows back out. Bob grilled steaks for lunch, then Scott and I headed back to town for a nap before heading to the county fair's rodeo that evening.

Sunday morning I woke up early and made my favorite pancakes - the whole wheat ones with no sugar and the beaten egg whites that give them fluff. They're delicious. The recipe is for blueberry, but this time I made them 'mixed berry' because I had partial bags of blueberries and raspberries in the freezer. The bummer about frozen blueberries is that they turn the whole batter blue/green, and then your husband is suspicious. :-) I have yet to make them with chocolate chips, but I'm sure that would only take them up another notch. Someday I might remember to post the recipe here - I have it on a card in my recipe box.

Since it's been hot during the day, Scott and I did some yardwork before Sunday heated up, and then took it easy the rest of the day. I edited a group of photos, and we watched a new show on Netflix instant called "American Pickers," which is actually a couple of guys from eastern Iowa who travel the region, sifting through people's barns and sheds, looking for good junk. I also got started on the log cabin-patterned quilt for our baby, of which I've already made two for the new babies of college friends earlier this year.

This was last night's project - waxing Scott's black truck.

Isn't it pretty? We really should have taken before and after photos, because for some reason our vehicles are covered with tree sap this summer, and it was pretty dull and awful before. Our theory is that the cottonwood trees drip the sap with the high heat - last summer we didn't get nearly so hot for so long, so it didn't happen to the vehicles before.

Now the question is - when will it be the poor white truck's turn? Perhaps next week, as the rest of this week and the weekend are pretty scheduled already, with another baby class, a wedding in Meeteetse, etc.

Scott and the pups take a break with some sun tea after waxing the truck. We've been making lots of sun tea this summer, and it sure is delicious on the warm summer evenings. Notice how green the lawn is, though! I've been working hard to keep it deeply watered, and it's doing pretty well through the dry heat and scorching sunshine.

And I'm not complaining about the heat, because I know we've got about another month of summer before the temperatures will cool and we'll trend quickly toward winter again. I'll take all the 90s I can get!

Nine days?

2011-07-16T23:19:00.001-06:00

Has it really been that long since I've posted?

As you probably assumed, things are still keeping pretty busy around here, with looking after the paper, preparing for baby and everything else that tends to come up in the normal progression of life.

In the last nine days I've been out of the office to Sheridan and Buffalo, gone branding out at Trav's west of Casper, attended a couple more baby classes at the hospital, put the finishing touches on the Roundup's State Fair Edition and finished waxing and putting the final touches on the baby furniture, which is all moved down to the baby room, as of last night! I really like how it's coming together.

This is a little taste of what we were up to this evening, following a morning of some cow work at the ranch, like branding several late calves and turning our bulls out. Tonight we went to the short go - or final performance - of the Central Wyoming Fair Rodeo. It was a gorgeous night to be out and about.

I promise I will take some baby room pictures tomorrow! Now that the major furniture work is done, it's time to start sewing...

Priorities: To Sleep or to Clean?

2011-07-07T08:45:00.000-06:00

As usual, things are very busy in my part of the world, between looking after my responsibilities at the Roundup, preparing for the baby (only eight weeks to go!) and all the other day-to-day activities that I used to have plenty of time for...

The above photo was taken while we were on the late-June tour of the Fieldgrove Ranch near Buffalo. Liz of the Wyoming Stock Growers was kind enough to send it to me yesterday, and it shows my baby bump as of week 30 of pregnancy... since then I've gotten a little bigger, but I'm still not all that huge.

Since crossing the 'two months left' point, I've tried to kick it into gear with getting projects done, but it's still slow going. Because I've had baby classes the last two evenings this week, I still haven't had time to put the wax on the furniture that's outside. I'm looking forward to the point when we can move it downstairs, and I can actually start putting the baby room together. Right now it's still pretty much in disarray.

Yesterday I did make it to the fabric store here in town to make my selections before the 50 percent off sale came to an end. I chose these six fabrics, and have plenty of yards, so this should take care of whatever I dream up - or have time - to sew. I'd for sure like to do a couple fitted crib sheets, curtains, changing pad covers, a cushion for a small rocking chair that my mother-in-law gave me, some burp cloths and maybe a few other things if I get to the end of that list...

This week at the Roundup, in addition to having a short week because of the holiday on Monday, we're working on our State Fair Edition. So far, so good, as I have good help and everything is coming together nicely.

So, with my never-ending to-do list on my mind, I sat on the couch this morning eating my cereal after Scott left for work at 5:45, debating whether I'd get some more sleep or clean on the house. The to-do list won out, and I ended up sweeping and scrubbing the kitchen floor, basement stairs and basement floor before coming to work. I figure, that way, tonight I can go to work on the furniture projects and not worry about cleaning. So here I sit, a little sleepy, but working on getting the regular weekly and special edition articles done today. Wish me luck!

A Projecting Holiday

2011-07-06T08:44:00.000-06:00

On July 4, the fourth day of our long weekend, I buckled down and didn't do anything but work on my changing table dresser and crib projects.

First up on the to-do list was to sand the dresser down. My mom brought it out from Iowa when they were here at the end of May, and it's had water damage on it for a while - ever since we lived in the 'South Farmhouse' right after moving back to Iowa from Georgia.

Thanks to a power sander borrowed from Jody, and some excellent sandpaper from Menards, it really didn't take all that long to get it sanded down to the raw wood.

Lucy is my sanding dog, except she needed a dust mask, too, because she kept sneezing.

Lucy is very proud of our handiwork - all done and ready to stain!

I used the same Minwax 'Dark Walnut' stain that I've used on other house projects, including the set of five six-foot shelves we have in our bedroom now for hats, boots and jeans. It's a great color, and I have a whole gallon, so all the wood furniture in the house might gradually turn dark brown. :-)

Although the staining is all done, the dresser is still outside, awaiting a coat of wax to seal it. I'm very pleased with how it looks so far. I plan to stop in at Hobby Lobby and get some new drawer pulls for it - they have a pretty good selection these days.

Once the dresser was done, Foxy and I moved on to the crib-painting project, which has been waiting for three or four weekends now.

When I first started painting the drawer that fits below the crib mattress, the raspberry red color had me a little concerned.

(I didn't worry about taping off the white laminate drawer bottoms, because I plan to line them, anyway, along with the shelves and drawers in the changing table dresser and the armoire.)

However, I felt better after it started drying to more of the barn red that I was after.

It took me a while to get all the slats painted, and to make sure that all angles were covered. Things went a little better after I switched to a finer-bristled brush that didn't leave as big of brush strokes.

I finished it up at 8 o'clock that evening, just in time to leave to watch the fireworks show. It's still sitting in the garage, too, waiting for its coat of wax. I didn't get to work on anything last night because I had my first 'baby school' class to go to - infant feeding. I figured taking those classes that hospitals offer prior to delivery can't hurt.

The chalk paint lived up to its claims to fame - I didn't have any trouble at all with it adhering to the shiny finish on the crib, and it only took one coat to get it covered. And, it does go a long way, because I didn't really skimp, and I still have over two-thirds of a quart left. What else can I paint red? :-)

I probably won't get around to the wax coat this evening, either, because it's the first session of the 'labor prep' class at the hospital. Maybe Thursday? This weekend we're branding out at Trav's so I probably won't have much time for baby or house projects...

Patriotism and Newspaper Creativity

2011-06-30T15:03:00.000-06:00

Today we're finishing the paper on a somewhat accelerated schedule so that we can take both Friday and Monday off for the Independence Day holiday.

Thus, we've already got the proof back from Tracy, and are just finishing up proofing to get her changes by the end of the day.

Earlier this week Roundup intern Tressa and I met up with a local high school girl for a photo shoot, complete with a flag from Rep. Cynthia Lummis's office, and that's reason #452 why Wyoming's Congressional delegation is head and shoulders above other states'. :-)

Out of 150 photos I took that evening, there were a dozen that I really liked, and this is the one Tracy chose to work with:

I loved that we ended up using a gray horse - it made the photo's colors work together all that much better.

So anyway, when I saw the proof on the share drive earlier today I immediately called Tracy to tell her I love it. We really need to be more free with our creativity more often with the paper - that's my opinion, anyway.

Pardon the red pen - this is a photo of the proof, after all - but I really like the parchment background she added to the photo.

The quote says: "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." - Thomas Paine

If I don't get a chance to post again, have a happy 4th of July, and remember to be thankful for the blessings of freedom.

The To-Do List

2011-06-30T09:22:00.001-06:00

I have a problem of late - the problem is that, no matter how much time I spend working around the house, I never seem to get any closer to the end of my to-do list!

In the last week I've been getting up and working on cleaning and other tasks around the house for an hour or two before going to work, and then I spend three or four hours after work, also working on the same to-do list.

You'd think I'd be able to get more accomplished, wouldn't you?

Actually, last night and this morning I did pretty good. I had shampooed our bucking horse rug that I bought in Pendleton, and Scott and I put it back down in our tv area last night. It sure looks better, and feels better to know it's fresh and clean and aired out. It spent the day yesterday hanging over the porch railing in the sunshine.

Then I vacuumed the wood floors again. Seems like I spend a lot of time chasing furballs... or maybe I just need to vacuum more frequently!

I've also been watering the lawn in the last few days, which takes some time, but it's done for this week. That's the first I've watered it this summer, and I feel fortunate that I got away with waiting until the end of June. The last couple days have been very hot and dry, so I'm glad it got some water or it would have burned up.

Last night I also shredded a pork roast that I'd had cooking all day and made the sauce for pulled pork sandwiches for Saturday's picnic on our driving trip in the Buzzard Ranch/Seminoe Reservoir area.

I also made a double batch of Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies, which I'm going to decorate after the fashion of the latest Martha Stewart magazine cover - you've seen it if you've been in the supermarket checkout lane lately.

This morning I cleaned the upstairs bathroom and washed the floor, put away my sprinklers and hoses, picked up sticks from the yard after yesterday's windstorm, watered flower containers as needed, washed the kitchen floor and prepped the apricots for the Toasted Coconut Apricot Pie that I'll make tonight to take to Lander tomorrow.

I don't think I've every purchased fresh apricots before. I was pleased with how well the pits came out. I've been having trouble with peach pits lately.

Aren't they so pretty and summery?

Yesterday I also found some rhubarb at Albertson's for Rhubarb Strawberry Lattice Pie, which will also be for Saturday's picnic. I have an idea on that pie, that's different than making it in a conventional pie plate. It's essentially making individual star-shaped pie pockets with the pie filling inside, but we'll see how much time I feel like spending on it tonight, and whether or not I have a star cookie cutter... that would be a necessity, I guess.

Of course, whatever I do around the house, I always have two dedicated helpers. Last night Lucy slept outside our bedroom window on the concrete patio with her head on the windowsill all night long. Such a dedicated puppy.

As far as projects in the yard and garden, they're not going very far very fast. :-) Those zinnias at the top of the post are intended to go in this front flower bed, once I get it weeded and add the new topsoil. Scott made the border last weekend, and I really like how it turned out. My Carl Forster grass is doing ok.... the animals still like to eat it for a snack, so it is struggling somewhat.

The violas on the steps are doing well, though. By putting them on the left side they receive some shade from the railing during the harshest time of the day, and they seem to like it there. I'm trying not to kill them with overwatering, like I did to the few I had last summer.

I planted these perennials on the north side of the steps, since they're a part-shade plant. I forget what they're called at the moment. :-) They're just now starting to open up, and they're supposed to fill out to about 15-20 inches across. If they live through the winter, I think they'll be a nice thing to have in this long, narrow bed.

And another project for last night was the American flag we mounted from the front porch. I like how cheery it looks, and just in time for the 4th of July!

So that's just a little bit of what we've been up to - I thought I better put up a quick post to update my loyal readers who have been neglected lately. :-)

The chalk paint and the crib are still waiting patiently, as is the dresser that needs to be sanded and refinished for my changing table in the baby room. Those two things are at the top of my list, as soon as the other everyday cleaning/cooking/maintenance projects are caught up.

Weekend: Thrifting and House Projects

2011-06-27T11:07:00.001-06:00

Foxy is my little plant-eater, so I try to keep pots up off the ground at least a little bit, hoping it will discourage her somewhat. I'm not sure it works...

This last weekend we spent in town, but that doesn't mean we had our feet up! From Friday evening through last night we kept busy with house projects and with other activities around town, whether or not Scott wanted to. :-)

Friday evening started out with cleaning out the garage - throwing some things away, making a garage sale pile for the next day's sales in Paradise Valley, pulling all the previous owners' junk from the garage loft and replacing it with our own, and generally getting ready to move some big pieces of furniture out on Saturday. When it was all said and done, we didn't really gain all that much space, but I like to think we at least accomplished a little bit.

Then Saturday morning we headed out first thing to take our garage sale stuff to friend Jamie's and then to start scoping out the community's sales, and we met with success!

After painting the thrift frames for our wedding party, and liking how they looked, I was excited to find this box of assorted wooden picture frames to use for similar projects. None of them have glass, which is easily enough picked up at Hobby Lobby for cheap. For two dollars I took the box home with me, and at the same garage sale we purchased a set of vintage tv trays, which I've just remembered, and now I'm not sure where we put them when we got home. :-) They're gold right now, but my plan is spray paint and spray enamel to protect them from chips, and they also all have a little wheeled cart on which they fit.

I talked the woman down from five dollars to three for this leather case, which I plan to use for my laptop and other work accessories. This was the only sale where I ran into reluctance at my lower offer, but she took it. :-)

These wooden boxes were at a yard sale with a lot of really neat things. I could have picked up several more things, including one of the old-style cast iron tea kettles and a jar full of the large-sized glass marbles, but I refrained. The boxes were a good enough find.

I love the stamps and writing that's still on the bottom of the shallow box. It was originally used to ship film reels from New York City to movie theaters across the nation. A friend of mine says the two-cent stamp looks like it's from 1908.

Vintage glass ornaments for 50 cents for the box, anyone? I know not all of them are truly vintage, but I'd say three-quarters of them are, and I love the colors. They're in really good shape, too, with few scratches and nicks.

"There goes Grandma's skilled for 25 cents." - That's what the girl said when I purchased the red enamelware piece for the baby room. I sure wouldn't have sold such a pretty piece for a quarter, especially if it was sentimental!

There was a sticker for 75 cents on one of these baskets, and I asked if that was for one or both, and I was told both, so they came home with me, too. :-) The lid on one of them isn't in very good shape, so I think I will remove it and the hinges and use it for an open basket.

After garage sales Melissa arrived in town from Lander, and we began moving furniture around. She took a loveseat and coffee table from downstairs, and when Jamie arrived to help she, Melissa and Scott moved the armoire from the garage to its proper place in the baby room downstairs. I was glad I hadn't worked on it at all, as it did end up with a gouge from the steps, but all in all it went pretty well.

We tried to take the crib downstairs, but it wouldn't fit so we ended up taking it apart, and I'll paint it outside in pieces before reassembly downstairs.

Because of all the other things we were getting done, I didn't get to start on painting the crib, but my chalk paint and wax is still waiting!

When we were done with furniture moving Melissa and I went out for ice cream, stopped by the new camera shop here in town and went to Salvation Army, where she purchased these chairs that I had seen a couple weeks earlier. She also got the neatest folding chairs, which were made in Connecticut and have to have been one of the first prototypes for modern folding chairs - it took us a few minutes to figure out how to get the contraptions to fold up.

Melissa headed back to Lander shortly after five, and Scott and I went to Old Chicago for dinner with the Martinez family.

On Sunday, much to Scott's delight, I had him help me with more projects around the house, including edging the front flower bed, spraying weeds, cleaning the patio and moving our extra firewood around to the north yard.

That's when I also swept the patio and rearranged, using some of the firewood stumps to elevate some of my pots. Although it's nothing spectacular, it looks a lot better than it did! Most of the planters pictured are in full sun all afternoon, so they have my spinach, lettuce and herbs, which can take the heat. The few pots that don't have anything growing yet I planted with the last leftovers from my seed packets.

This concrete pad next to the driveway was filled with firewood, but now I've turned it into a plant center. I'm not entirely happy with it, but will continue to tweak it, I'm sure. It's in part shade, so my more particular flowers should do well and not burn up.

After cleaning the office, Scott made me take a nap, which actually felt pretty good, and then we went out to check on the fillies, who are doing well. Cindy Lou's crooked knee has straightened up quite a bit in the last two weeks.

When we got home this gentleman tom turkey was getting ready for night in a neighbor's tree.

Several days ago I first saw him in another neighbor's front yard, and Scott told me I must be crazy. But ever since then he's been hanging out in the neighborhood, and seems quite content.

So that was our weekend. Busy, but we got a lot done. I was glad to come to work today, to take a break. :-) Tressa and I have a photo shoot planned for this evening for our July 4th cover this weekend, and hopefully we get a nice sunshiney sunset with gorgeous light... We've had a lot of thunderstorms go through in the afternoon/evening, so I'm hoping for the best. Today I also go to the baby doctor - on a three-week schedule now, as we count down the last 10 weeks!

It's already Friday!

2011-06-24T14:38:00.000-06:00

The thing about working at the Roundup is that weeks tend to pass very quickly. That can be good, in that time doesn't drag at all, but it can also be bad, because some weeks there aren't enough office hours to get everything accomplished.

This week was one of those where things were busy, and my 29th week of pregnancy is gone before I know it.

On Tuesday several members of the Roundup staff traveled to Buffalo, where we attended the 2011 Environmental Stewardship Tour on the Fieldgrove family ranch - that's one of their Red Angus cows in the photo above.

Each year the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and other partners select a Wyoming operation for the Leopold Conservation Award. The award is named after Aldo Leopold, one of the first to champion agricultural conservation, although many operations had been implementing "conservation" practices long before they were recognized as such.

Anyway, the Fieldgroves were this year's focus, and about 125 people went to their ranch for a tour that highlighted their conservation practices, which include managing a burned area for sagebrush reintroduction, dealing with water development left over from coalbed methane production and a goat herd used to control an awful leafy spurge infestation, which had existed ever since Ryan Fieldgrove's days growing up on the ranch.

The weather was gorgeous, the tour was intriguing, and a good time was had by all. :-)

Then, on Wednesday I was in the office, before heading down to the Wyoming High School Rodeo Finals in Douglas on Thursday.

There I just took some photos and interviewed some kids for an article in this week's paper. My interviewees were Wiley and Kellee King of Casper. Wiley is competing in saddle broncs and bull riding, while Kellee's events are barrel racing and goat tying.

So that's about all I've been up to... I've been getting more tired in the mornings and evenings, so I haven't got as much accomplished around the house as I would like, especially on new projects, but I have managed to maintain the regular everyday housework and some cooking. :-)

Weekend in Photos: Honest Horses

2011-06-20T09:50:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we went up to Kaycee to help Uncle Sonny and Aunt Carole brand a group of calves between rain showers. The weather held, the cattle worked smoothly and I, being on 'light duty' this summer, kept my camera in hand.

At this branding, in addition to the usual photos and angles, I tried to focus on the horses.

You just can't beat a good working ranch horse.

They know their job, and they do it well.

After April had a filly last Friday evening, bring me to two for two, I will still be in search of a gelding to get started.

These horses know how to quietly move into a bunch of cows and calves, tracking one calf at a time for their rider to rope.

They don't get excited, or stir things up.

And then they patiently drag calves, one by one, to the branding stove.

Then they wait, some of them holding one end of the calf, until branding, vaccinating, ear-marking and castrating is finished up, all of which only takes a matter of a minute or two.

They are the silent partners on ranches, but that doesn't mean they're underappreciated.

Because every cowboy and rancher knows the value of having a sound, solid and smart partner.

J802: A Step Back in Time

2011-06-17T13:52:00.001-06:00

Today I am using some of my Friday afternoon 'free' time before starting next week's paper to organize photos, shifting some to my external hard drive and editing and labeling others for Tracy to use as stock photos for the paper.

As a part of this, I also emptied and formatted the memory card in my phone, which has been collecting photos for quite some time.

Amongst them are these photos of my old apartment that I took the last time I was ever there, after all the vacuuming, scrubbing and cleaning was finished. I've been saving them on my phone with the intention of putting them on my computer someday.

I must have done a pretty good job cleaning, because even after living there from August 2006 to April 2010, and the usual marks of an everyday, lived-in place, I got my deposit back.

It had the large living area, which was mostly open to the kitchen, and two bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as a closet in the hallway for washer and dryer, which I lived without for at least a couple years, if not three. That meant regular treks to the community laundry facility up the hill at the apartment office.

Although I didn't like the idea of renting, I wanted to be sure the Roundup and this state were something I was going to stick with for quite some time, and after four years and a new position at the Roundup, it was time for an upgrade. I had begun looking at houses a year before, but had to be patient, because I just couldn't make a house payment pencil out with my Roundup salary at that time. As it turned out, all things truly did work together for good.

The patience paid off, because now I've been in a house that I love for a little over a year, and it was worth the wait. Although I certainly don't wish to be back in the apartment, it was good to me, and was ideal for what I needed, when I needed it, and you might say I miss it, in a way. It represents a chapter in my life that has ended, and one that I remember fondly - cats, roommates, patio garden, the dog Beacon, sewing projects, cooking, Link out in the grass on a leash, making do with free TVs...

I'm glad that I hadn't moved yet before I started hanging out with Scott, so that he, too, knows a little taste of what it was like when I lived there.If you look back at any number of my blog posts before April 2010, you're sure to find plenty of photos in and around the apartment.

Thanks for your patience with my reminiscing. :-) It's sure to continue as I get deeper into organizing my photos... flipping through my computer photo files is like flipping through an old photo album.

Trailing cows on a summer Saturday

2011-06-16T11:08:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday Scott and I were able to take advantage of gorgeous summer weather and do some riding up at the Association.

The girls were also glad to take advantage of the day, and we let them come with us to help move a group of cows and calves from one pasture to another.

The girls take their job very seriously. In this photo they were going with Scott to help him get a cow out of that boggy area down in the draw.

The first task was to gather the cows...

As both my mares are still on baby duty, I rode Scott's gelding Deets.

The Ferrises and surrounding smaller mountains were very pretty that day.

The cows, of course, kept trying to drift the wrong direction - away from the direction of the gate they needed to go through - but eventually they were all pointed the right way.

This was when we finally had them all gathered and strung out up the appropriate draw.

Then it was just a matter of keeping them moving along - the trek to the gate was probably a couple miles from this point.

It was a lovely day for a ride! That's Scott and Fiddler off to the right.

Bob and his dogs were also out riding with us.

Eventually we left the lower end of the draw and got back into trails through the sagebrush.

Notice how Scott stole the dogs for most of the ride! I had no help with my wayward cows. :-(

And we finally reached the gate, where Bob is standing off to the left to guide them into the pasture to the north.

The pups were getting pretty tired by this point.

And then we rode home...

Foxy doing her Foxy thing. She's gotten pretty good at moving cows, but sometimes she gets confused as to which one she's supposed to go after, so she just bales into the middle of all of them, oftentimes cutting in front of the one you want chased up. :-)

I like the big clump of cottonwoods that signals how close - or how far - you are from the ranch house. They were very pretty last fall.

The dogs were greatful for a water hole along the way.

By the time we hit the gate into the yard, I was ready to stretch out my joints, and I wasn't about to climb back up on Deets, so Scott took this one of us standing next to each other, instead.

Lu and I resting in the shade of the horse barn after unsaddling and turning the horses out - we both needed a break!

Foxy was also pretty pooped, and had her eyes full of dust, but it was a good ride, and I think we were all glad to get out of town and enjoy the day.

Amazon.com = Temptation

2011-06-15T14:39:00.000-06:00

Let me tell you, getting on a good string of books on Amazon.com is just about like getting on a good string of decorating/DIY/creative blogs in blogland.

Amazon is one of those sites that has the awful but brilliant 'items you may also like' feature.

And so, even though you innocently only searched for one book, you soon find yourself with a whole string of them on your wish list.

And then the other problem is that they're all so reasonably priced.

And I want to order them all so that I can look in their pages and see what new inspirations and photos they might hold.

But today I was good. Ok, mostly good. I only bought one for $1.89. :-)

And before you know it, vintage interior decorating turns into vintage campers...

And as you wander through the many temptations on vintage campers, you soon find yourself on aprons, pies, clotheslines and any other number of topics to tempt yourself, including the title 'Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase' that has the cutest little girls' dresses strung out on a clothesline on the cover.

The deeper you go, the worse it gets. :-)

All of these titles are available on Amazon.com, but consider yourself warned. If I had unlimited spending money, my shelves would be full of books that are full of inspiration.

Chalk Paint: Taking the plunge

2011-06-15T10:32:00.001-06:00

Well, I did it - I took the plunge today and ordered some of Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint to try on my crib project.

Why spend the money on the chalk paint? Because I really wasn't looking forward to sanding down each individual crib slat, and with chalk paint there is said to be no sanding or priming necessary! And, I haven't spent much of my baby things/baby room nest egg, so that's how I justified the price tag, which is steep.

The color I ordered is Emperor's Silk. Yes, it looks somewhat florescent in this paint can, which is the image on the site I ordered from, but I'm confident that once I get it and once it's dry it won't be so pink. :-)

Also, another trick to adapt and manipulate the colors of chalk paint is through wax.

Every coat of chalk paint should be sealed with wax, according to all the instructions I can find, to protect it and bring out a nice sheen, if that's what you want and you choose to buff it.

The owners of Shades of Amber, which is based on Colorado Springs, kindly gave me a call after I placed my order to clarify some order details, and to make sure that I knew every coat of chalk paint has to be first sealed with clear wax, and then dark wax added, if desired. I did not know that, and had not come across that in my research, so I was glad they called. I changed my order from dark to clear wax, and he said he's go ahead and send along a sample of the dark for me to try, which I appreciated.

So, the paint and wax should arrive on Saturday, just in time for my DIY weekend list! I just have Saturday this weekend, as we plan on going to brand at Kaycee on Sunday, but hopefully I can at least get a start on it.

Visit Shades of Amber's blog to see a few samples of what chalk paint can do, and view Miss Mustard Seed's post about the finer points of using wax on furniture.

Chocolate + Raspberries = A Summer Pie

2011-06-13T14:00:00.002-06:00

Because I hosted company for dinner twice last week, that meant I got to bake two pies. :-) The second that I chose from the Martha Stewart summer pie series in the June issue of the magazine was Chocolate Raspberry Pie, after baking the Peach Custard Pie earlier in the week.

Again, I baked my tried-and-true Flaky Pastry pie crust, instead of the chocolate mixture they had... the chocolate would have been more adventurous, but it was already getting late in the evening, and it wanted to be chilled for an hour, so I decided to stick with the basic recipe.

Here it is, ready and waiting for the next step. There's something very promising about an empty pie crust - like a blank canvas waiting to be filled in with any number of possibilities. :-)

I first filled mine with a melted chocolate mixture. The recipe called for bittersweet chocolate, and I used unsweetened baking chocolate, which ended up probably more bitter than it should have, but, when combined with the raspberries and ice cream, it actually was a nice combination to not have sweet chocolate.

It was at this point that I put it in the refrigerator to chill and went to bed, to be continued the next morning.

This random sweet puppy face showed up on my camera in the midst of the pie photos... It must have been the doing of Scott the next morning, before I came upstairs.

So the morning's first task was to make the raspberry syrup, by crushing a few of the raspberries and combining with some sugar, cornstarch and water.

This is how it looked after simmering a few minutes.

Then I tossed the rest of the fresh raspberries with the syrup.

And added them to the pie crust atop the chocolate filling. We enjoyed it with vanilla ice cream that evening with Emily and Morgan, after a trip out to see the mares and foals, and it was very tasty and the recipe was approved by all.

Baby Update: Two Trimesters - Check

2011-06-13T10:33:00.000-06:00

Well, we're officially 28.5 weeks into pregnancy, and that means we're also in the third trimester. Where has the time gone? In January, it seemed like we had forever before the baby got here, but now we're only 12 short weeks away from due-date.

The photo above Scott took on Saturday when we'd finished gathering and trailing some cows up at the grazing association. His big black gelding Deets was my faithful steed that day, as my mares are still out of commission, with Jazz's Cindy Lou being pretty young yet, and April still not foaled out.

So far, so good with baby growing. I had my blood glucose test last week, and all those results turned up fine. My doctor has switched me to three-week checkups instead of four, and the baby is still in a breech position at this point. I thought it might have turned yesterday, but not yet. It does still like to move around almost constantly.

Still no cravings, except that I have started to eat more fruit than I used to, and I'm still getting away without purchasing maternity pants. Of course, my most expensive ones are my most comfortable, but several of my other pairs are also still working ok.

With only 12 weeks left to go, I need to get after sanding down the crib for its makeover. We also need to plan a furniture-moving evening and invite some strong friends over, when the armoire and crib can go downstairs, as well as the dresser that will be my changing table, and the loveseat needs to come upstairs to be moved to my office at the Roundup.

We received the money to purchase a jogging stroller from Scott's sister Penny, and I need to go to one of the local baby stores here in town and see what she has. I want a jogging stroller not for jogging, but to be able to get around in all-terrain situations, like up at the ranch and in the corrals. I can only imagine fighting with those that I think of as "mall strollers." I also need to research car seats and have one of those on its way.

In addition to those purchases, I still have some DIY projects on my list, like curtains, fitted mattress sheets, chair cushions, etc for sewing projects. I'd like to make a baby quilt out of the red and green checked fabric that we used for our reception centerpieces - I thought that would be a great way to repurpose.

Speaking of reception centerpieces, I never properly posted about our wedding party on Memorial Day weekend - something I hope to get to this week. The decorations turned out nicely, and I was pleased with how they looked, and they were simple and inexpensive to put together, which was my main goal.

Roundup designer for the week

2011-06-13T09:15:00.000-06:00

This photo was one of the main focuses of my biggest task last week - laying out the paper for Tracy, our designer, to give her somewhat of a week off.

Our intern Tressa wrote the article about how the Casper College men's rodeo team made it to the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) for the first time in a long time, and it was that photo above, or this one below, that I chose to use on the cover of the June 11 paper.

I didn't really know how to make the photo itself stand out in our cover layout, so what I ended up with was this image below, after I'd cut out and cleaned up the photo's subject in Photoshop, and applied Pioneer Woman's 'Old West' action at a diluted opacity - I like the drop shadow it created:

And, after creating new color swatches from the bronc saddle and from the red team vest, this is the color scheme I ended up with for the cover:

After somewhat of a fight - and figuring out how to create a clipping path in InDesign - I got the text to wrap around the image, and am pretty pleased with how it ended up.

The other articles on last week's cover featured the CattleFax report on cattle markets from the Stock Growers convention in early June, the most recent Wild Lands happenings, a new bill introduced to Congress on federal lands grazing regulations, and an update on the state's runoff situation. That last one wasn't supposed to be an article - just a short 100-word update - but my source for that information is excellent, and before I knew it I had 1,400 words in notes and another article for the cover.

So that's a little bit of what kept me busy last week, in addition to hosting dinner for the Roundup girls Monday and having Morgan and Emily Zelch for the night on Friday night. The evenings in between were spent on house projects, and this last weekend was spent moving cows at the Association and watching the Bulls, Broncs and Breakaway performance yesterday at the CNFR.

A yard in the works

2011-06-08T08:58:00.000-06:00

Even though I got to spend some time on my yard and flowers last weekend, most of the projects have yet to be "done."

I worked on moving seedlings outside, purchased a few spikes and viola plants, and also brought home some Carl Forster grass to use as a background in my front flower beds.

Because it will be a little while until my own seedlings start to bloom, I purchased a few bedding plants to get started on some color. The grass in the middle of the planter in the foreground is some kind of grass with 'toffee' in the name, and I love it. Those two planters I purchased this spring at Menards - they hook over a porch railing, so hopefully I won't have trouble this summer with Link knocking things to the ground below.

Three clumps of the Carl Forster grass are on the left side of the front stairs, and one clump is on the right side in the smaller, narrow bed. The logs for edging will be cut in half so they're not so tall - as it is my flowers would have to be 15 inches tall before anyone could see them from the street.

This grass is supposed to be low maintenance and get pretty tall, so I think my only concern is killing it with overwatering. It gets really pretty when it's had a chance to mature and send up multiple seed heads, which turn tan in the fall and add structure through the winter months.

So far the zinnias have stayed true to their hardy nature and have transitioned well to outside. The cosmos and gazanias, not so much. Having some pretty good death loss with them, and even some of the zinnias, since the last couple days were really hot, with a very strong sun. Today is cooler, so they should get some respite and establish a little better.

I have four pots like these with some of the zinnias in them. Like I said, after the heat I'll need to replace a few of the plants that couldn't take it. They're a taller variety of zinnia, so I put them with the big spikes that could hold their own when the flowers take off and grow.

This mystery plant started growing in my wheelbarrow planter, and I wasn't sure if it was a weed or the daisy coming back. Monday evening Tracy and Jody took a look at it, and confirmed that it is, indeed, a daisy, so I've started watering it and I'll put some of my seedlings in this planter, along with some vinca vine that Jody gave me that will trail over the side.

Of course the dogs were in the yard to help me whenever I was out there working.

And Link also participated in his supervisory role, as usual. The purple plant behind him is one that I overwintered, and I repotted it in a bigger planter to give it more elbow room. A few hours after repotting I thought I'd killed it, but luckily it came right back and is happy once again. I would have been very sad if it had died, because I love it with its purple leaves and delicate white flowers.

Scott also offered his supervision after arriving home Saturday from the McNabb horse sale.

Since the weekend there have been a few tweaks to the yard and flowers, but not much. I spent yesterday evening mowing and trimming, and this morning I sprayed the rocks on the street corner with Roundup to keep the weeds out of there.

The to-do list still includes planting the rest of the seedlings, digging holes for two new cottonwoods in the front yard, replacing the lattice in the front porch, artfully arranging the patio with our big stumps leftover from firewood serving as platforms for my container gardens, and moving the last of the firewood that we won't use until fall to the north yard. I think we're officially out of wood stove season! As much as I love the stove, I'm glad we no longer need it, if only for two or three months. :-)

Peach Custard Pie and a Girls' Party

2011-06-07T08:59:00.000-06:00

Sunday evening I spent preparing food for Monday evening's Roundup girls' dinner, which I hosted as a get-to-know-you, welcome-to-the-team event for Tressa, our editorial intern this summer, and Saige, our assistant editor.

Along with Ranch Potato Salad, Marinated Tomatoes and Dijon-Rosemary Steak and Lemon-Garlic Shrimp marinade for build-your-own kabobs, I also put together a Peach Custard Pie.

Although many pie recipes that I come across come along with their own pie crust recipe, I always stick to my mom's Flaky Pastry recipe. I'm not sure where it came from, as I just have it written on a recipe card, but it most always turns out good for me, and most times I can make it flaky.

This was one of those recipes, since it was for custard, that required the pie crust to be baked before the filling was put in.

To easily peel the peaches, you place them in boiling water for a minute or two, then remove them to an ice bath before peeling and pitting them. I remember doing this in large quantities in Georgia, where my family had access to a peach orchard - all the peaches we wanted, there for the picking. We canned quite a few in those days.

The custard filling was very simple, but if I were to make it again, I might double the amount, as my deep pie dish kind of made the custard filling look a little skimpy. As it was, I had extra peach slices so I added them to fill the pie a little more.

And here it was, crust all baked, custard and peaches arranged, and ready to go in the oven for the final baking process. Quite cheery to pair with a summer's evening dinner and grilled kabobs.

The recipe came from the June 2011 edition of Martha Stewart Living, which included a whole series of summer pies - most of them fruit. I might have to keep working my way through the recipes, as I had a hard time choosing which one to make for this event. We're having company again Friday evening - friends Emily and Morgan on their way back from Idaho - so perhaps I will choose another recipe for them.

Other than that, I spent much time last weekend working on my gardens and yard, and it was really nice to have enough time that I could take my time deciding how to plant and where to put things. The zinnias I started from seed are doing the best so far, and they took the heat of the last few days in stride. We're supposed to have cooler weather now, so hopefully that will help the spinach, herbs and other flowers adapt better to being outside. Next time I start seeds, I will start them earlier, as many of my plants are still a little too delicate to transplant. It's all an experiment!

Absence

2011-06-03T09:59:00.000-06:00

Wow, the last two weeks sure have been busy around here. Last Wednesday evening my company arrived from Iowa - those who are pictured with Scott and I in the photo above.

Following their arrival, the whirlwind continued with moving cattle, putting the paper out, organizing and transporting meals to the Association for those who were staying up there, cooking food for Saturday's big meal in the evening, packing the last of the decorations, running last-minute errands and maintaining my sanity. :-)

We branded our calves Saturday morning, and I got to put my C} brand on our steer calves, and it sure does look pretty! Then we finished decorating and setting up in early afternoon, and even had a couple hours down time before people began to arrive for our party at 4 p.m.

My parents headed back to Iowa Tuesday morning, and I went to the office for my only day in town this week. Wednesday morning at 5:30 I left for Cheyenne to meet up with the Wyoming Stock Growers at 8, who were on an all-day tour of the JBS Swift beef packing plant and feedlot at Greeley, Colo. Since then I've been in Laramie attending their summer convention, heading back for Casper this afternoon.

I'm looking forward to relaxing and having some down time tomorrow, before Scott and I leave town early Sunday morning for the Stone Ranch branding - where I got my favorite branding photos during last year's season. Think it will happen twice? I guess we'll know Sunday evening. :-)

Seedling Sage: an update

2011-05-25T08:37:00.000-06:00

Before I become too engrossed with work on the paper this morning, I thought I'd share a quick update on my little basement seed-starting project, because as it is these photos are way late - I took them May 11.

These are my cosmos in the foreground, and gazanias in the back.

My zinnias are doing really well.

And many of the cucumber seeds sprouted and are doing great.

These were the snapdragons... were, because I gave up on them. They were just too delicate - even watering them with a spray mister knocked them down. I might attempt them again in the future, but they need a better situation. As it is, a few days ago there were only two or three left standing, so I got rid of them in favor of my easier seedlings.

So the above photo was what the table looked like while the seedlings were still in the seed starting trays, before I transplanted.

And here is a more recent photo of the trays they're in now. Those are the zinnias on the left, and the gazanias in the middle. You can barely see some cucumbers on the right.

I transplanted chives into the roaster pans I recently purchased at Salvation Army, and have spinach seeded around them.

Turns out my chive and spinach seeds stretched a long way... the two pots on the left side of the table also have chives and spinach. I'm curious to see how they'll sprout, as so far I've only sprouted things under the clear plastic dome trays, which helps keep a much more humid environment for the seeds. This project is entirely an experiment this spring!

Upstairs in the seed starting flats I have seeded herbs - rosemary, parsley and basil. I noticed this morning that some basil has sprouted. I'm not sure about how the rosemary will do, as Link has been a very naughty cat lately, and knocked that tray off the table, so who knows how deeply some of those seeds are buried. I guess time will tell. If I even get 10 plants to sprout, that would be sufficient rosemary for the summer.

So that's the latest on the seedlings - I'm looking forward to transplanting some of them in my containers outside in a couple weeks, as well as in my freshly-tilled flowerbeds.