Saturday

Just Boring

I picked up these two feathers in my yard yesterday, laid them on my old picnic table and took a picture.

The cow skull has hung on the front of my house for years. Sometimes I think I should protect it from the weather. I have two more skulls in the house, a coyote and a deer, very old and white, and tell myself I will draw them or paint them some day. I did a pen and ink of this cow skull years ago. I should bring it in.

I tried to upload a video tonight, but Blogger did not cooperate.

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Movie Marathon

I remember watching bits and pieces of "Lonesome Dove" years ago when it was a TV series, but never saw the whole movie. I was looking for a book in Barrie's room and found that she has the movie on DVD. So I started watching it yesterday, only got through half of it, and finished watching it this morning. Good grief! That movie is over 6 hours long! But it really is a good movie.

Friday

I took my camera out in the yard yesterday, and took some pictures of Kasey's flowers. She loves to walk down the hill to Beau's nursery, pick out a little six pack of flowers, and carry it back up the hill to our yard.

Big Brave Cat

The cat acually went outside with me and explored a little bit. She kept going back to the front porch to make sure her house was still there.

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I just finished a great book - "Blacktop Cowboys". It's about an actual group of cowboys traveling the rodeo circuit, steer wrestlers, most of them. They are a rowdy bunch. It was entertaining.

Wednesday

My Favorite Sketchbook

I completed a watercolor this morning in art group, but it is up on the wall in the art room and I don't have a picture of it. I should, because I haven't completed anything for so long it is a major accomplishment.

So I will post a picture of my best sketchbook. Some of my best drawings are in this beat-up old thing, held together with duct tape. Do you realize that duct tape and WD 40 is what keeps everything in this world together. It was a tragedy to give up baling wire. That stuff held a lot of things together too.

Barrie gave three dogs a bath over the weekend. Maddy is drying herself off on the lawn while Jarvie takes her turn under the hose.

This is a perennial vine which I think is called "woodbine." Barrie decided it looked dead this spring and cut it down. It came back beautifully. The leaves turn a beautiful shade of bright red in the fall. You can see my silly hollyhock growing beside the vine.

Judi, Mary Lou and I ate lunch at the senior center today. Mary Lou is going back to Colorado tomorrow. We'll miss her.

The Hat

Now playing on my XM radio - Deana Carter "Did I Shave My Legs For This?"

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Barrie and Kasey and I went to Mary Lou's yesterday afternoon. Had a great meal and a great visit.

This is why Barrie puts sun screen on Kasey's butt.

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This is The Hat

The hat is developing a lot of character. It all started when Kasey used it to dip water out of the tank and pour it over her head. Then she put it in the tank and stuck her head into it.

Mary Lou gave her two plastic pots, and she filled them with water, put her feet in them, and poured water in her hat. Then she had to put her boots back on to walk through some gravel to turn the hose on and fill them again. Then she had to run back and turn the hose off. She pretty much entertained herself (and us) all afternoon with this.

Late in the afternoon, we saw a lot of smoke off to the south. When we drove home, we saw this fire on the hillside. Didn't look like any buildings were around. There must have been fifteen or so fire trucks out there. There were buildings on the top of the hill, and four or five fire trucks were parked up there, but it didn't look like the fire was spreading.

Saturday

My brother and sister-in-law have been sorting their pictures, and brought me a large envelope full of goodies. This one makes me laugh, and I don't think I've ever seen it before. It's a photo Alice took of Barrie and Charlie Golden during Rendezvous.

They found this little treasure in with their pictures. Gosh! I put $1.50 cents worth of defense stamps in this booklet.

Barrie decided that whatever Kasey had yesterday is catching. One of her dogs had a problem in the back hall last night. I don't know where she put the beds, but I see she has a roll of paper towels and some cleaning solution out.

The dogs slept outdoors the rest of the night.

Friday

Now playing on my iPod - nothing. Now on TV - Sponge Bob Squarepants.

Kasey threw up in her bed a couple times last night, so she is with me today. If a kid is sick, Julie doesn't want them for 24 hours.

Kasey's quiet, but doesn't seem sick. But she wouldn't eat any breakfast.

A while ago, she jumped up, ran to the window and said "It's snowing! Yay!" The wind is blowing the cotton from my cottonwood trees behind the house.

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For your information:

One of the causes of the Revolutionary War was the English put tacks in their tea. Also, the colonists would send their parcels through the post without stamps. Finally the colonists won the War and no longer had to pay for taxis. Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backwards and declared, “A horse divided against itself cannot stand.”. Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.

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Ahh - Kasey pulled the blanket up over her head, and is now fast asleep. And the TV is off.

Wednesday

Art group was great today, but we missed Judi. Vicki went to Ridley's and brought up some doughnuts. And then the ladies in the kitchen brought us a freshly baked cookie.

Lenore, Nancy, Mary Lou and I stayed for lunch.

My brother and sister-in-law told me we needed to make sure we label all the pictures of Barrie and Kasey so we won't get mixed up. I had these two pictures up on the computer screen, and asked Kasey who they were. She said they were both pictures of her.

Now playing on my ipod - "Ten Rounds with Jose Quevero." Hmm. Brother Bill said this is his favorite song.

Tuesday

Bill and Alice went home this morning. Never seems like they stay very long. We had a lot more visiting to do.

Bill returned some books I loaned him - the Berrybender series by Larry McMurtry. I want to read them again - sometime.

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I sat on the front porch for a while this afternoon. The cat came out with me, but when I shut the door to keep mosquitoes out of the house, she was done with being outdoors.. Even while I was sitting right there, she got upset and started wanting back in. Weird cat!

Chloe, the bobtailed cat, showed up, and Kasey was in the bathtub. She could hardly wait to get out and feed Choe and pet her. Wish I had taken a picture.

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Kasey is learning to use the mouse on the desktop computer. She is playing one of the "Peep" games here. She's fresh out of the tub, wet hair and in her pajamas.

Monday

Barrie brought up the stock water tank yesterday and put it on the lawn. Kasey loves water. She had a great time. Maddy jumped in with her.

Kasey must think her birthday just goes on and on. Bill and Alice got here yesterday, and they brought her a Noah's Arc that lights up. She used it for a night light last night.

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Bill and Alice and I went to Mary Lou's this afternoon. She fixed a yummy supper, and we had a good visit. Had to call Mary Lou to come rescue us at the highway, but found our way out just fine.

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What is this from? "Keep your stick on the ice."

The jungle

Now playing on XM radio - Hank Williams Jr. "There's a Tear in My Beer."


My brother and his wife are going to be here tonight, and will be in their big motor home. Barrie decided today that the chokecherry bushes had grown so much and were hanging down so low that Bill wouldn't be able to park in the driveway. So she got out her loppers and did some trimming.

Another job Barrie has put on her list is cutting a couple of big branches out of the pine tree. The biggest one has grown out over the carport. There's a garage in there someplace.

Don't laugh, but this is asparagus. I planted about a dozen plants years ago, and they are still there, down by the driveway. They get about 6 feet tall.

I think my peony bush got frosted this spring, as it is only going to have about 7 or 8 blooms on it. It is usually covered.

The vines Barrie cut to the ground are growing. Should take a picture of them.

Friday

There's a good crop of daisies growing in the bottom corner of my yard. They are growing among a stand of quakie trees. It's really wet and shady there, and they seem to like it.

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I had to do some emergency shopping at Ridley's - out of cat litter. Barrie thinks I should just kick the cat outside. Somehow, I don't think I could do that. She sounds so pititful if she's alone on the front porch for just a moment. She's sure clingy for a cat who won't even let us pet her.

For some reason, I started reading a book yesterday that I've read before - Billie Letts "Shoot the Moon." It's been a long time since I read it, and couldn't remember it very well. I sure like her writing. The first book I read of hers was "Where the Heart Is" - about the girl who had a baby in the Wal-Mart store. I got that book because I read in the Wyoming news that a bunch of parents up in Powell or someplace were upset because the book was in their middle school library, and they wanted it taken out. I'm sure everyone who read that news article went out and bought the book!

I have been listening to 80's and 90's music on XM radio, and just changed to a channel that plays country and western from the 60's and 70's. I've listened to the Elvis channel, but can't listen to that all day. I like the classical music channels too, once in a while. How about Grateful Dead, or Margaritaville?

Thursday

This is Snickers, Leslie and Bobby's dog. I think I am going to tweak the drawing a little more, but it's more or less finished.

This is Leslie with Snickers when she graduated from obedience school. She is a "therapy" dog. I think that's what you call it. Les takes her to nursing homes to visit with the patients.

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Arggghhh! I hate my DVD/VCR player. One of the DVDs I made won't play in anything except my player. I know you have to "finalize" them if you play them in different players, and I thought I did. I brought it home and put it in my DVD player, and it started to play. I VERY carefully followed the instructions in the book - press stop, press the menu button, and choose "Disc Setting." So why is that choice greyed out, and I can't even choose it?

Then I got a new movie on eBay. I put it in my laptop computer, and it won't play. I put it in my DVD player, and get the message "this disc is not playable or recordable." This morning I tried it in the DVD drive of my desktop computer, and it played perfectly.

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New playing on my XM radio - John Denver, "Back Home Again." Both my girls pretend to gag if I play John Denver, but I like him. Tracy worked for him when she lived in Aspen - his "Windstar Corporation", or something like that.

I transplanted a wild rose bush in my back yard years ago. I thought it died a long time ago, but looked out my window the other day, and the silly thing is blooming.

Meet Daisy

Meet my new granddaughter, Daisy Dunkelman. Isn't she sweet?

Paul and Tracy did not get the first puppy they looked at several weeks ago. But Tracy just e-mailed me this picture of "Daisy Dunkelman." Tracy was dragging her feet a little about getting another dog, but Paul wanted one.

I'm sure Paul still has the big soft dog bed in his office.

I bet the two cats have their noses out of joint.

Monday

This has taken a lot of my time the last few days. Don't know why I got so into this book, but I did. It's a real mystery thriller, and it has me hooked.

I won one of these on eBay today for a good price. And have a chance to get another one. I won three of these on eBay for our art group, and they have all been sold. It's fun to win something on eBay for about half what they sell for retail. Just have to be patient sometimes.

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Kasey got to see the baby raccoons at her grandpa's yesterday. She was excited about them.

I have made an attempt to "declutter" my upstairs room today. I tend to let it get a little too much of that "lived in" look.

Am still struggline through the online writing course I am taking. Some of it is actually starting to sink in and make sense.

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Now playing on XM radio : Joe Nichols "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off."

Saturday

I'm doing nothing - reading, drawing, and listening to music. I didn't even go down to watch the parade today. Maybe I've reached my limit of Rendezvous celebrations. There have been many. Some wilder than others. Maybe getting old has something to do with it?

Tonight is the third rodeo performance. Barrie and Kasey have been the last two nights, and I suppose they will go again tonight.

Those of you who like rodeo might enjoy this video of a bulldogger practicing his skill.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZcczEhQWJo

Friday

Now playing on my iPod - Tom Leher, "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

Who is Tom Leher, you wonder? A weird college professor who wrote and sang weird songs. It got him fired from Harvard.

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Some nostalgia here in some old Rendezvous pictures. Norma Richardson in the top photo, and Grant Beck in the bottom one. They are both gone now.

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Barrie and Kasey went to the rodeo last night. Chuck had his pickup parked up there, and Bob and Charlene were there. So Barrie had a good visit with them, and Kasey showed off for them.

When I asked Kasey about the rodeo, she described what I think was a saddle bronc who bucked close to them, and she told me the horse said "Oh, my back."

Barrie borrowed the gas weedeater from work yesterday, and she got our lawn mowed and trimmed. I haven't even looked yet to see if she weedeated flowers. Oh well. I hate gas weedeaters, because I've never had one I could start. She hates my electric one. She told me that my weedeater says "Oh No! Grass. I can't do that!"

Thursday

Now playing on my iPod - Ian Tyson, "Navajo Rug"



This is a manipulated photo. I liked the scene, but the light was bad and the photo came out very blah. So I used Photoshop to wake it up. Maybe too much.



We were discussing gates the other day - how some are so hard to open, and how some of them are so tight you can't even close them. This one should be easy to open. Or maybe just go around it?

Some daisies I thought looked pretty in the tall grass. Some people call them Shasta daisies, but I'm pretty sure they are oxeye daisies, and considered a nuisance by ranchers. They're still pretty in my back yard, anyway.

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Art group was great yesterday. Conley is back from his fishing trip. I stayed for lunch and ate with Judi. We sat with Carl and Peggy.

I saw some people come in the dining room, and realized it was Bob and Charlene Ditton. It was so good to see them. They will be here about a week.

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My memory's gitten' so bad I don't know if I lost a horse or found a rope.

Hi spider, nice spider let me pet you . . . with my shoe . . . good spider.

Wednesday

Sunny sent me two pictures of the baby raccoons in their shed today. The fourth one is in the bottom of the hard hat. Aren't they cute? Thanks for sharing the pictures, Sunny.

Barrie worked late today, so I picked up Kasey from Julie's. When she saw me, she yelled "Grandma!" and ran to me with her arms out for a hug. Can't beat that!

When we drove home, she looked over at Beau's nursery and said "That's where we buy flowers." So guess what we did. Kasey had three quarters in her hand, and I held the real money. Claire was there, and we had a good visit. Kasey picked out some moss rose.

Claire said Kasey and Maria (Beau's little girl) need to get together for some play time.

When we got home, Kasey and I had some of the fruit leather I made, then came upstairs. She colored for a while, tried to play with Kat, then got some books.

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Ever seen this on Facebook?

Friends Online
No one is here.

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Saw this on the news last week:

Reuters - A drunk driver trapped after overturning his car cracked open another can of beer while he waited for emergency crews to rescue him, a New Zealand court was told.

Tuesday

(Now playing on my iPod -"Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, Jim Croce.)

Barrie and Kasey and I sat in camp chairs in Ridley's parking lot to watch the fireworks. Kasey loved them. We were next to some guys who kept saying things like "Hallelujah", "Awesome" and "God Bless America." Refreshing. And another positive thing - Ridley's actually turned off their huge floodlights on the front of the store. OK, I won't bash Ridleys today.

After the fireworks, we went up to Chuck's place to check on Lucky (the mustang). He was fine. Kasey and I were waiting in the pickup, and Sunny, Kathy and Chuck all came out. Sunny had her laptop computer. They had found four baby racoons in the shed, and Sunny had pictures of them on her computer. Maybe she'll send me some. Chuck said they were all trying to sleep together in a hard hat. They had kind of outgrown it, and he got a washtub for them.

Old pictures. At least it seems a long time ago. The top picture shows what my upstairs room looked like without a roof. It took a lot of tarps to cover that, and to me, it looked like I would never have a room up there.

But Dave worked wonders. The bottom photo was taken from almost the same location.

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I just got a 3 lb. roast sliced, marinated, and in the dehydrator for beef jerky. The first batch I sliced a little too thin. I'm afraid part of this is too thick. I even have an electric slicer in the basement, but didn't want to bother bringing it up.

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My sick sense of humor again, but this picture makes me giggle.

Sunday July 4th

Now playing on my iPod - "Superman 14" Kevin Coster and Modern West.

A picture from my past, W A Y past. I floated the Snake with some friends from Jackson. We are in the Lunch Counter Rapids here, and the photographer who is always there on the shore took this picture.

Leslie, my step daughter, sent me this picture she took of her living room with the quilt I made her. She has two of my drawings on the wall.

Hungry babies.

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I borrowed Barrie's break-up boots this morning and waded into the back yard to cut some rhubarb. As long as the dehydrator is out I thought I'd make some fruit leather. Barrie's Grandma Myrtle used to make it all the time in her oven. I don't even like it, so I've never made it before. I'm counting on Kasey to eat it.

I guess Barrie liked the beef jerky I made last week. She brought home a 3 lb. beef roast yesterday.

I e-mailed my niece in Arkansas yesterday. Tracy told me she was going to ask them for some of Tyler's jerky. (Teri's son). So I wrote and asked if Tyler shared his recipe. I't sure he used venison, but maybe he puts something special in the marinade I need to know about!