Yippee!!!

Now isn't Cowboy just the SweetestPea you ever laid eyes on??!!


Huh.....you are asking??


(Yes...these are volunteer Sweetpeas..
......and this time of year???? )

No silly............................................> over here!

Hi Speed! Don't really know how it works with DISH, but do know my phone lines won't be tied up & I won't be disconnected randomly! WHOOO knows...maybe I won't be staying with all the Owl into the wee hours of the night!

I Love You Cowboy!

I goofed!

Yes siree sir! I forgot our anniversary. She's amazing though and never holds things against me. After all these years & all my blunders, you'd think she'd have left me for a better life! I just read her take on our wedding. And she must not be too angry at me, or she wouldn't have put it all out there for you to read.
Because she's been so miserable lately, with my being gone & her in charge of everything despite the pain she suffers with 24/7; her garden being mauled by insects; worrying about her Dads "possibles"; her computer being bugged and outta commission, therefore outta touch with her world of new found friends, I went ahead and ordered hi speed internet through our Dish this morning. i don't know enough aobut anything, so hope Dish does right by her because I had to commit to 18 months. She will be surprised when she wakes up and sees this!
She deserves it, and so very much more! She never complains though. She is the most amazing person I know! She has always put her feelings, or needs on the back burner without giving them a second thought. She'd give anyone the shirt off her back for any reason or any season! She's given me so much over these years! I really love this lady! More than life itself.
That being said, next week sometime after Wed. , she can visit all of you with greater ease & more often!
I am WOW's Cowboy & proud of it!

Let the good times roll...

...or so the saying goes!!

We just had our anniversary on the 24th, which Cowboy forgot, by the way...
I do forgive him though, as in our chosen way of life, we rarely know what day it is anyhow! They all meld into one another, days into weeks, months into years.
I can not begin to tell you about the miles we've traveled,

the time that has flown by, the experiences, the people....

....and the huge tolls that have come a long with us!

...and Yes...the rewards too!

**********

It all began here...in this old homestead! (you can read more if you want)

The day turned out to be the hottest day on record,

maybe it was our love that set the world on fire that day!

**********

~Early morning means a lot of hustle & bustle,

after all....there's going to be a wedding!~

The help is arriving!

Brothers, Sisters, Nieces, Nephews, Friends & Children~everyone pitched in!
Open that gate & bring on the muscles, bales of straw & plywood!

One can not have a Spaghetti feed that I'd prepared on the wood

cook stove the day before without tables now!

All the kids joined in the fun & excitement of the day.

They were making garlic bread to be heated in the oven.

(despite the fact that this was going to turn out to be a record breaking temperature day!)

Oh yes, there is always some last minute 'finishing touches' that need to be

done on the treadle sewing machine...

I made the shirts & dresses sitting right here!

**********

~The Ceremony~

"Do you take this Cowboy...."

"You may kiss the bride!"

Signing our lives away ....for better? or worse?...

**********

~And now the fun begins!~

Ohhhh! What? A waiting line!

Was it for the outhouse? (yes, we really had one)

or for the keg in the woodshed?

We danced......as we did the night we met, as we still do so many years later!

**********

We even had entertainment by the fireside!

Cowboy's wild cousins.....played the spoons!

My cousin.....played the guitar!

It's was a long day, filled with friends, family, laughter, & wonderful memories! A good time was had by all! We got baby calves as wedding gifts which ran around all day with the 9 puppies ... catching hugs & loves by everyone! (wished my picture taking Brother would have got some of those!)Some of our guests were camped out in the fields overnight, to share in a hearty breakfast!

Not my Gramma though! She REFUSED! Claims she lived like this years before & would not even slip back in time for one night!

**********

This is a very special picture of mine that I have to share....

My two Aunts, talking with me, who gave me so much love & support over the years when there was no one else. Cancer took them both in recent years....I so miss them!

Then there is my Great Uncle! (the really tall one! NO, I did not get that gene when the pool was stirred up, turns out that I am the shortest on that side of the family! Actually...I ended up the shortest on both sides~ hmmmm!)...
I cannot thank Uncle Harold enough! He taught me to search out & live my dreams; pay no mind to the road blocks that may appear, just work around & through them; have fun, laugh, love & enjoy life! His greatest teaching was "Don't EVER stop learning!" He never did!
I love this man with all my heart & he showed his love & support in my life like no other!
I know, he knew I was there holding his hand at the end....he gave me that warm gentle squeeze, as he had done for so many years!
I still hold on to those squeezes in my heart!

Things happen....

...for reasons, and I'm just not sure what they are!

First of all, THANK YOU ALL for your encouraging words & staying in touch with me! It means a lot to me!

"LIFE" UPDATES:

• BLOGGING FRIENDS...I am coming to visit you! I've missed knowing what's going on in your worlds!
• COMPUTER...got a virus last week. Finally 'wormed' my way around it today to connect to the Internet so I could try to 'fix' it. Will know soon if it worked! At least I got connected!
• MY DAD..."we know NOTHING until we know SOMETHING!" Hate this "waiting" process. Hopefully we'll know more on Wed. He is feeling better with a new Rx. But, I know it is a 'symptom' reliever, not a cure.
• OUR SON...He flies to N. Dakota on Wednesday...to decide if he wants to live there for the job that is being offered him. If he says "Yes"...he'll be gone from only being a short days drive from us by Sept 1.! That will sadden me...but I know he's been waiting for this opportunity for awhile, so I'll be happy for him!
• COWBOY'S TRIP...That'll have to be another time...I'm too far behind on things!
• A GIFT! ...from a dear friend I've met here in this blogging world! I just received it today from Professor. It's a book "Montana Women Writers, A Geography of the Heart". I am sooo very excited to start reading it! And it makes it even more exciting because.....
• MY ROOTS...I just found out this past week, begin in MONTANA! (or at least part of my roots!) My GGFather & GGMother homesteaded around Helena between 1868 & before! (State records only start at 1864)...My Grandfather was born in Cascade. And more will come in another post! So much info that I didn't know before! It's exciting for me! It proves to me that my dreams and thoughts as a child, that I should have been born 100 yrs prior...have some sustenance to them!

Now....Off to see what you all are up too!

I'm not lost...

....just lost for words right now..

Cowboy made it home safely Saturday night about 2:15 am. Not to worry, all went well.
I just have some other pressing news to deal with in the next few days, regarding my Dad.
When I know more, and my heart isn't so heavy with worry & my mind isn't twisting like a wild whirlpool in the deep sea of scattered thoughts....I'll be back to check in on all my blogging friends! Ok?

Desperate times...

...calls for desperate measures!

By the time I got done with evening chores & was ready to mow the grass, I decided to take another pass thru the veggie garden to see if any of my concoctions had killed the pests.

What did I see? Or rather what was gone now?

Beets ~devoured; Spinach~no sign of; Carrots~ 75% gone (however, I do know that they grow new tops & should be OK...don't know that about beets); Green, Banana, Habanero & Jalepeno Peppers~covered with bugs! I hadn't even thought to look before, but the Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli (the parts you eat, not the plant) were demolished! Gone!

As I walked through, it was the eeriest sight, sound & feeling! I felt like I was in a Sci-Fi world, truly!

They'd 'fly' past me, some would land on me, Ewww...to their next plant! You could actually hear them as you walked in my garden gate! I'm not sure if it was their munching away, or rubbing against each other or what! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have I seen the likes of this! They were working their way down (my garden is on a hillside) row by row! Some had reached the tomatoes, watermelon & squashes, but no real damage yet......and they were eating weeds along their path!

I made a frantic phone call, and luckily someone had SEVIN. I've never used pesticides & hate to, but......I wanted, I needed to save the rest of my garden!

This morning.......the ground, literally, is 'black/gray' and crunchy between the rows!

I have a bazillion garden books that I've look through, spanned the Internet last night...hoping for a clue! Nothing. I did gather up a few of these 'things' in a jar & will have that friend who works for WSU take them in to see if they can give me some insight.

The Eve of Destruction....

....at it's "FINEST" !!!

HORSES can be real Destructive!!

This one is getting a taste of my NEW remedy...we'll see if it works!
I mixed 1/4 cup Cayenne pepper, 20 drops of Tabasco into 1 1/2 cup water.
I just 'painted' it on the chew shots! Hope it burns them into quitting!
Figures...they just HAD to get it chewed through while Cowboy is gone! I'll be keeping an eye on them all today....see how well they like HOT LIPS!

~~~~~~~~~
Is there CROP INSURANCE for a homeowner???
~~~~~~~~~

"I am sooo BUGGED" !!

Something is eating my plants!

These are just a few! Coleus & Japanese Maple

Then....there is THIS! I haven't a clue what this bug is...I saw them 2 days ago, eating the weed Koshia, no problem! Go for it! Yesterday...they just about consumed ALL of my beets!

Today.............my spinach is gone!

If you look really close, maybe you can see these blackish/gray 3/4" bugs, devouring the beets!
They don't seem to sting...just cling when I walk through them!

Just hosed them off my beans, because that seems to be their next course!

I need to find something that works!
Preferably in the next minute!
Seems as this swarm can consume everything in sight within minutes!

Between the wind storms wiping out the corn & now this infestation, I'm ready to go out with a machete and destroy whatever is left! I've never had problems in my veggie gardens in all my years!

With the state of the economy...

I NEEDED this garden to be productive,

not destroyed!

~~~~~~~~~

MICE have invaded my domain!

~~~~~~~~~

During the wee hours of the last few nights, I've been "hearing" something... I donned my slippers, a flashlight & a bat....guess what I found!

They are chowing down on the dog food in the hall closet!

They like sunflower seeds too! Even the Jalepeno ones!!!

They found these in the basement!

~~~~~~~~~

DOG GONE IT...anyhow!!

~~~~~~~~~

Just got 'caught' red handed! Ooops....maybe that is 'brown-pawed'...

The Old Man Mac....must be UPSET he got left behind!


He probably knows the Cowboy went to his old stomping grounds! Where he was born & raised, and learned to work cattle!

Here's two of the 5 holes I've found that he has dug thus far!!

~~~~~~~~~

....and then in comes RELIEF!

~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday....I was blessed with a visit from FedEx!

I received a package from one of my dear Blogging friends...TOCCO!

"The Original Coffee Company Online"!

A sampling of her Gourmet House Blend & Sumatra Black Satin!

MMMMmmmmmm ... GOOD!!

Sat on my front porch last night as the sun was setting on the horizon beyond those "amber waves of grain"

...sipping a cup of Sumatra Black Satin....AWESOME!

I'm all de-stressed now after all the de-struction!

Thank You TOCCO!

And he's off...

(and so has been my phone lines!!! They had better plan to reimburse me for 3 days of NOTHING!)

This was Saturday...

And he's off.... to the North Cascades Country!

...not quite as early as he planned...

THAT just never happens! Cowboy decided to give all 3 horses baths before heading out, and then there's all that last minute stuff...like checking oil, tires, double checking the horses left behind for me (he put them all in bigger pastures & loaded up their feed to save me some work for a day or so), better sit on the porch with W.O.W. & drink another cup of coffee...

Then there is packing the cooler and loading everything up. Checking the "lists" twice. The girls, Tess & Millie have NOT gotten out of the truck once, this a.m.! Guess they decided there was NO WAY they were going to be left behind like last year!

They are older now (will be 2 yrs in Nov)...wiser...more "useful"...have a better sense of "the Job", listening to commands & obeying the 'git arounds' - the 'away to me's ' etc...

Ok...we had to have another cup of coffee together..go over last minute phone numbers, cell phones for those who have them (which is everyone but my Cowboy!)

Enough dilly dallying! It's 10 a.m. and daylights a burnin'!

Time to Load 'em up!

Here's Bro...a 2 year old stud, belonging to a lady in Hawaii .

Hubby has 90 days on this fellow, a well behaved Gentleman!

Here's a Not Named Yet...2 year old filly belonging to a gentleman on Vashon Island.

This one, Cowboy has 60 days on.

Here's Miss Kitty! ...a 3 yr old filly that belongs to people in Tacoma .

Cowboy put 60 days on her last year, 90 days this year.

The Girls are ready...come on Boss, let's git goin'!

G'Bye :( ...there goes my Cowboy!

Away they all go to the wild country!

They all have their work cut out for them! Hubby talked with Steve last night and guess the cattle are skattered for miles...due to a raging fire a few days ago, that has burned up around 2,000 acres of their summer range. Hopefully it's going to be pretty close to containment.

He did tell me he'd stop and get a disposable camera...but I know that won't happen! He is just too excited to be up there! I'm sure by now, it's already flitted out the other side of his brain, my request that is.

Besides, even if he did, he'd never remember to take a pix! I'm not sure in all our years together that he's ever taken a picture...except when he was shoeing in AZ!!

Then it was only documenting the progress on hoof problems that he worked on.

************************************

~~~SULKY SUNDAY~~~

I still haven't heard from my Cowboy...duh...probably because we still don't have working phones! I can only hope that the friends who are expecting him would have called the Sheriff had he not made it up there....!!!

Talk about feeling totally isolated now! All has been calm around here, luckily...

Hmmmm....

Our Daughter and her family are vacationing in Cabo San Lucas!!

Our Son is vacationing at Whistler in B.C.!!

and Hubby is "vacationing" in the mountains!!

(atop a ridge of summer grazing ground -1997)

Where would I go if I could??

I do love the Ocean!

Maybe I should abandon all that is here and go out there!! Oooo...walking the ocean beaches with the waves lapping around my ankles is just one of the best things I know of, to provide a peacefulness in my soul.

I miss being able to do that!!

************************************

~~~MOPEY MONDAY~~~

I've been mopey all day...I'm just lost without my partner in life! And dagnabit anyhow! Sure wish my phone would start working! No one around 'close' has it.

Sometimes these small town utilities can be a royal pain!

I can't seem to get myself motivated! I did get all the necessary chores done and that's all I can seem to account for the day!

Thank goodness for the those 'kids' we know that live about 40 miles away. They were born & raised up there where my Cowboy went. (Actually, there are only 4 family ranches that live in that same area...these 'kids' were two of those family names!)

Today, about 4pm, Rae drove out here to tell me that Hubby had called them & asked them to let me know all is well.

Whewww, I should be able to sleep better tonight!

It was so nice to have some company for awhile. Her hubby is the one who got hurt a month ago when a horse fell on him & broke his pelvis in 3 places, so he was at home & we just had 'girl' time to chat about their upcoming little cowpoke due Dec. 1.

After Rae left, I decided to cook myself some supper! I went all out tonight! PB & J!

My meals are simple when left to feed only myself...3 things I eat...when alone....

1) TRIX cereal

2) P B & J's

3) TACOS

Saturday, I made my large batch of taco meat, grated cheese, chopped lettuce, onions, olives & tomatoes ~ enough to last me all week! That is just what I do! I fill in with the other 2 items! I'm easy to please ~for myself!

You know~ the KISS system:

Keep It Simple Stupid !

If my phone ever gets to working again....I've got alot of catching up to do! Blog visiting!

* * * * * * * * * *

Yea!!....just woke to let the Yorkies out ...thought I'd check and sure enough...for the moment, the phones are working, so I'll pub this puppy! Now m'be Hubby will call me in a few hours before they head out for the day!! He'd better!!