I'm as happy as a short dog in tall grass.

Hazzah! I can finally post again!

For the last month or so I haven't been able to sign on to my blog. I thought I was going to have to abandon it and all the work I put into it. But I came in by the "back door" (via Gumbo Lily's blog) and finally had success. The trouble seemed to be the playlist, but I couldn't get to it to delete it. But now we are back together, my front porch and I, and I can do without the music.

All Fluff and Stuff

Meet our new little peepers.  This is our first go at raising chickens and I fear I like them too much already.

The chick in the egg picks at the shell, cracks open one oval world, and enters another oval world.

"Cheep ... cheep ... cheep" is the salutation of the newcomer, the emigrant, the casual at the gates of the new world.

"Cheep ... cheep" ... from oval to oval, sunset to sunset, star to star.

It is at the door of this house, this teeny weeny eggshell exit, it is here men say a riddle and jeer each other: who are you? where do you go from here? ...

"Cheep ... cheep" ... from oval to oval, sunset to sunset, star to star.

Carl Sandburg - Cornhuskers

My new garden

My dear neighbor tilled up a patch of ground for me far away from the freezing depths that the old garden was in. With luck, this new location should extend my growing season a couple of weeks on both sides. My super-son fenced it in to keep out dogs, horses, deer, careless humans, and anything else that doesn't belong. Now it's all planted and I just need to mulch and water and watch it grow. Right.

Untitled (so far)

This sculpture is Jim's latest work, finished just last Friday. It is going to the Wyoming State Fairgrounds in Douglas soon. Jim used two of our children as models for the sculpture. 

Right now it is out on our lawn and has had many visitors. Friends, relatives, friends of relatives, and neighbors, have come to view and take pictures. We were even interviewed today for an article in an ag journal. Ahh, the life of the almost famous...

Strawberry Jam

Yesterday I made a couple of batches of strawberry jam and the jars looked so pretty and bright that I had to take a picture. This morning I made bread to go with it. Does life get any better?

This is spring???

My lilac bush is under here somewhere.  Can you see the yard stick? This is no joke. It really is 33 inches deep.

The birdfeeder has been popular. Poor little birds must wish they had stayed in the south a little longer.

We had a pretty pink sunset this evening. The sky was almost Barbie pink, with one shaft of pink light shooting straight up. By the time I got to the house and the camera, it was gone.

It's still winter...

Right after I took this picture my little bird friends came and pecked or fluttered most of the snow away. It was time to eat and they knew where their breakfast was. Hard to believe next Friday is the first day of spring. The temperature was -9 this morning and we have around 8 inches of snow on the ground.

How I spent my snowy afternoon.

Cold weather always brings out the baker in me. I guess I just like to have the oven on to warm up the house, and then when something is baking in the oven I feel like I'm multi-tasking. I used to be afraid to try baking yeast bread, but a couple of dear friends assured me I could do it, and now it's second nature. These are regular whole wheat, and I had to take the picture quick because we cut into one right after the shutter snapped. Fresh, warm bread with butter and honey--makes winter almost bearable.

The Artist is famous!

Here's an article about the City of Presidents project.

So you had a bad day...

This is one embarrassed pooch. She went exploring over at the neighbor's and discovered their skunk trap. Thank goodness it was a "live" trap. She had been gone most of the afternoon when we finally figured out where she must be. She was so happy to see her family. The silver lining is that she hasn't been over to the neighbor's since.

Grover has arrived!

After a long weather-related delay, Grover Cleveland has found his niche in Rapid City. Click on the title to see the RCJ story.

Our Saturday Adventure

My three youngers and I went to the Big City on Saturday for an indoor soccer tournament. Youngest son was in the tourney and had to check in at 11:00 a.m. The first game was at 12:30 and the second (and last) game was at 7:30 p.m. We had a lot of free time, so we did what most any Small Town visitor would do--we went shopping! Oh, the bookstores! And the Craft Store! And the Sporting Goods Store! And the tired feet!

Alas, our little team of U10 (under 10 years old) couldn't pull off a victory, but they played valiantly. It snowed lightly all day and was picking up quite a bit when we headed for home. Then my worst nightmare happened. The pickup quit running. A call home put my Knight In Shining Armor in action. He arranged for a tow truck to come from Small Town to Big City to get the pickup, and he borrowed Lovely Daughter's car to come get us. In the mean time we were to walk to the convenience store that was known to be somewhere close by because it was COLD and we needed to get to a warm place to wait. Have I mentioned I have a knack for getting lost? I naturally headed the wrong direction. After about a half-mile of walking and coming to the realization that there was no store of any kind around, a Good Samaritan stopped and offered us help. She was a very kind lady, driving her mother home, but went out of her way to take us to the convenience store and make sure we had a ride home. Thank you, kind lady!

After some hot chocolate and a nice visit with my children, my Knight showed up, as well as the tow truck guy. We got home by 11:00 p.m. and were very grateful for a warm house and warm beds. I knew God wanted us to learn something from this, and I was reminded how important my attitude is. When the pickup first quit I felt the panic rising and my hands started shaking and my teeth started chattering. Then it hit me. This could be a "disaster" or an "adventure", and it was up to me to decide. I chose adventure (tiny pat on the back here). I enjoyed my children. We had a great uninterrupted visit as well as some leg pulling and wise-cracking. But I do NOT plan to go to the Big City again any time soon! Ha!

Resolutions

How could a person NOT want to write in this lovely journal?

One of my (many) New Year's resolutions is to keep writing, keep this journal up to date. My youngest is keeping me company, writing in his journal every night right along with me.

Peeking out from behind is last year's journal. I have several pages to fill in and I'm hoping my memory holds out.

Afternoon Walk

On my afternoon walk today I saw... the sun! 

Sunshine has been scarce the last few days

so I was delighted to point my face into

it's rays.

I also saw a bit of nature art.

Yesterday snow covered everything.

Today our pond is filling up.

What's this I see? Green leaves? 

Well, yes, they are just weeds, but they are green and it's January. Spring fever anyone?

"...things that were,

and things that are,

and things that yet may be."

Galadriel, The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien