Of Biscuits and Gravy

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....

Peace and Quiet

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. :-)

Summer's Heat

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. :-)

Weekend: Thrifting and House Projects

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!

Trailing cows on a summer Saturday

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.