Summer Swimming

I'm not much of a water person. Well, I like to sit next to the water and look at it. I enjoy the ocean, but prefer lakes and rivers.

I don't like to get in.
I'll dabble my toes, or wade up to my knees, or go out in a boat, but I don't like to get in the water.

Now, my parent's swimming pool is a different story. I'll get submerged there. I guess in my adulthood I've developed an aversion to bodies of water with "things" in it. But even at the pool, I'm not a "spend the day" kind of gal. I've never been one to lay out for a tan, or float in the pool. I get bored...fast. I don't even like to soak in the tub. Boring!

And I'm way off where I was going with this, and it's getting a little too personal, so lets get back on track.

On occasion, I'll suddenly have a strong yearning to go swimming. It doesn't happen often. And going alone isn't much fun. Saturday was one of the warmest days so far this summer, and the wind was relatively calm, and I suddenly thought it would be nice to go for a swim.

I haven't done that yet here at the ranch, but Malcolm's shown me where he and his sisters would go swimming when they were younger, just above the beaver dam down by the barns. Yeah....water with "things" in it....and black stinky Montana mud. (and you  haven't smelled stinky mud till you've smelled it here. There's coal in the ground here and I'm told that is the culprit, I imagine along with all those "things" that are in the water.)

So, a desire to swim, but Malcolm was busy and I don't like to go alone. If you can't go swimming with your spouse, then who better but your best friend?

We've never done this before, but Malcolm and his sisters have in the past with their colts. I thought it sounded fun. I asked Malcolm how he used to get the horses to go in the water. He couldn't remember.

I took a handful of cookies with which to coax him in. I thought I'd have to do some persuading. Boy was I wrong!

What I had to do was hang on for dear life, because I thought we'd make a careful and gradual entrance in order to ascertain what "things" might be in there with us, but Sky stuck his toes in the water proceeded to plow on past me and drag me in with him.....

.....out into the deepest parts which I really was not prepared for! So much for my coaxing him into a gradual entrance, and I couldn't keep a good hold on the lead rope and the handful of cookies at the same time, so today some beaver or duck is enjoying some apple flavored horse cookies that are a little bit mushy.

He was absolutely hilarious! I had no idea he'd like it so much! Maybe I would have thought so if it was scorching hot, but it was only in the mid-80's, so it's not like we were suffering from heat exhaustion.

He played and splashed and even laid down in the shallows at one point. I had so much fun laughing at him. And I think he had fun too, probably laughing at me. I was not as graceful as he was.

He seemed to really enjoy it, and seemed to enjoy being in there with me, though maybe I'm just imagining that. But he had lots of slack on the lead rope, and still kept close to me, a couple times nearly running me over because I couldn't get my footing.

A few times when we were in deep water, I tried to get on his back. He was so slippery I couldn't get all the way over him before he slid out from under me. But finally I managed to get up on him almost all the way....

an attempt to get on

...and that's where the fun ended. He was not impressed with the new "game" and made fast tracks (as fast as he could through the water) for shore. I couldn't get scooted up into the right spot because he was slippery and I couldn't get seated and turn him at the same time. He got to knee deep water before I could get him turned and I decided the best choice for me at that point was to abandon ship.

I think it was a good choice, because he hit the shore at a dead run and high tailed it back to his crew waiting at the fence over by the corrals. Apparently he'd had enough swimming for one day.

Regardless, I seriously have not had that much fun in quite a while. Most of the time I couldn't get on his back because I was laughing! I had such a good time, it didn't even bother me that we were swimming with "things."

I thought we might go for another swim today, maybe let Reba and Gemma have a turn too, but the wind is wailing outside. It's nasty to be out, even if it would feel good to cool off.

Maybe tomorrow. It's supposed to hit the high 90's. Might even get into the 100's on Tuesday I read. Guess summer is really here. But we're probably returning to work on Wednesday and the wind is supposed to blow for the next several day. Maybe I'll make it home enough to get some more swim time in before fall weather arrives.

Yep, swimming with my pal, Sky. I have so much fun with him from the ground, I probably wouldn't care if I never got to ride him. He really is one of my best friends. I love that horse!

That's One Tasty Meatball!

Isn't that a line from the Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp? Anyway, I've heard it somewhere.

I'm slowly gaining experience on how to feed Malcolm when we're home. The problem isn't my culinary skills, or his picky taste, though that does throw a curve ball at me frequently.

The challenge it's never a "dinner's at 6:00" type day. There is no set schedule, and I don't know when he'll get in from whatever he's been working on. But I do know three things:

1. he'll be starving.
2. he'll want something substantial that will give him energy and hold him over till the next meal.
3. he'll want it in a hurry.

And so the challenge is:

what to feed him that will be good, fill him up, and doesn't take an hour to cook once I know he's available to eat!  Harder than it sounds, because everything substantial has to cook.

Good thing I like to cook and don't mind experimenting. Malcolm's not too big on experimentation meals, but he's become a fairly good sport, though he doesn't hesitate to say "don't cook this again."

I'm slowly gaining skill at calculating how much can be done ahead in an effort to have things ready to throw in the oven, on the stove, or even to reheat. (which reheating is not easy because it's hard to escape that "leftovers" feeling when you reheat and neither of us are big on leftovers....which is a whole other challenge when your cooking for two....but that's another topic for another post someday).

I hit the jackpot this past week! Last summer I bought this magazine/book and during haying we grilled out of it a number of times.

We don't have the grill out yet this year. Malcolm's been so busy working on the truck getting it ready, and it's more of a job for him to get it out than me. But the lack of a grill doesn't mean I can't use the recipes in this book. And the one I tried last week was so good that Malcolm asked to have it again!

It was so good, that I decided to share. It's the perfect combination for us summer grillers who love Italian food!

Grilled Italian Meatball Burgers
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 c seasoned bread crumbs
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
1/2 lb Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
8 kaiser rolls, split
1 jar spaghetti sauce

Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Add meat and mix well. Pat into 8 burgers and grill 5-7 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with cheese (I used slices instead of grated) and grill a couple minutes longer to melt cheese. You can grill the rolls too or just warm in the oven like I did. Serve the burgers with spaghetti sauce.

 So yummy and so easy! I didn't have the Italian turkey sausage, so I just used ground beef. I bet they are even more yummy with the right stuff though! Oh...I could go for one now!

And to quench your thirst.....
I was making some iced tea, and got to wondering.....
what would happen if I poured the juice from that can of peaches I opened the other day into my tea?

I'll tell you what happens. Add a little more sugar for extra sweetening, and you have a nice glass of iced tea with a hint of peach to it!

I think maybe this two quart pitcher of tea could use two cans worth of juice. The flavor was just hinted at mixed one can to 2 quarts. But it was definitely tasty and refreshing, and now I have a use for that juice instead of pouring it down the drain!

Gone to the Birds

Last night was so peaceful after a day of high winds and blowing dirt.

Around 9:00pm, Malcolm had just come in and finished getting cleaned up, and I was getting ready to fix him something to eat, when his dad came knocking on our door. He was clearly excited about something, as he told me that Malcolm and I should come on the four wheeler to the bridge and to bring my camera.

Then he hurried off.

So, we rushed out the door, dressed in our evening comfies, me in flip flops and he in boots with no socks on. He trotted off to the barn to get the jeep, while I got distracted from my hurrying by a really pretty sunset (as seen above). His shouted "hurry up Sarah" brought me back to earth.

Down the road we went, dirt flying behind us (and above us, and past us, because the wind was still blowing a bit. So much for having cleaned up for the day). We saw four wheeler brake lights ahead in the evening gloom, and I got distracted again while admiring the silhouette of an owl just down the road from where the four wheeler was stopped.

hazard of photography in a bumpy jeep. It's a whole other ball game from trucking photography

I love owls. They are so elusive, we rarely see them but for maybe their shadow caught in the headlights as they float bast the truck windows after dark. I love to sit out at night and listen to them call back and forth. Mom and I used to sit on her porch and listen to them calling in the woods on the mountainside behind her house.

Malcolm's dad, by this time, was standing in the weeds up by the fence, and suddenly something started fluttering around by his feet.

this is his "get the hell away from me" face

Apparently Malcolm's dad had been out checking cows or something and had seen this not so little guy out on the road. And then Junior, in his "not quite together" flying attempt, had fluttered over into the fence. That was Mom or Dad that was on the electric pole down the road. She was calling out to Junior and clacking her beak at us.

Junior was carrying on his own percussion solo with beak clacking. He was doing his best to make himself look and sound threatening.

Isn't he gorgeous? Malcolm and his dad got Junior away from the fence so he'd not get tangled in it again, and as we backed off, he took off........for a few feet......and landed on a cluster of reeds.....right in the middle of the water of a beaver pond.

At this point, it was a little dark for photography, plus I promised Malcolm I wouldn't take pictures. We were going to just leave him there, but neither of us felt good about it. He clearly wasn't good at this flying thing yet, and to get out of the water, he was going to have to fly several yards and up instead of horizontally as seemed to be his only skill. There were steep banks on either side of the pond/creek. So my hero husband, rolled up his pant legs and took off his boots and waded into the calf deep water and black oozing mud (and our mud really stinks around here....really....it STINKS!) to fetch Junior out of the weeds and back onto dry land.

Mama was still nearby fussing over the interference so as soon as we got him away from a certain drowning, we backed off again. As we started to pull away in the jeep, we were admiring the adult owl on the electric pole. She suddenly took off and flew to some trees nearby. And when we looked back, Junior was gone. We were a bit worried he might have landed in the water again, but we couldn't see him anywhere. So we're choosing to believe he headed to the trees with his parent.

I spent some time this morning digging around on the internet looking at pictures of other juvenile owls for our area. This one, by all appearances is a Great Horned Owl, one of the most common species of owls. Did you know they are one of the only animals that will kill skunks? I thought that was interesting.

no comments please on the red reindeer pants! I might get in trouble for posting this and you'll only make it worse by teasing!

So, hawks, orioles, and now owls. I know your used to an overload of horse pictures when we're at home, but it looks like this time we've gone to the birds!


Speaking of orioles, the same day of the male oriole spotting, I was folding clothes in the bedroom and heard a beautiful bird song outside my window. I slipped over to peak out and see who was singing to me, and guess who was there? Mrs. Oriole! She wasn't as flashy as the Mr. but her song is oh so pretty! I'm thrilled to have a pair! They've been singing to me all week, and I've spotted the male several times. If you missed his picture, it's at the end of the following post, right after all the new baby hawk pictures are. And if you really need a horse picture fix and missed them earlier this week, they are in the post following the one following this one.

Summer Days....continued

I love to get outside this time of year. There is just so much to see, and enjoy! So yesterday morning (Monday) I went out to get the horses in, and took my time about it.

We're really dry in our area this summer. In fact the hay is pathetic, and the wildflowers are nothing like they were last summer. But there's still lots of western yarrow blooming, and little faint spots of purple and yellow here and there. And of course, the cactus don't mind the drought.

I had another item on the agenda while I was out in the horse pasture, and that was to check on the hawk nest that I told you about a few weeks ago.

As I headed out into the pasture, my heart was sinking because there wasn't any sign of the adults. On previous visits the hawks would always take flight and start circling overhead long before I was anywhere near the nest.

the nest is on the smaller hill to the right, and the parent's keep watch from the tip of the larger hill on the left

I drove up to the base of the hill, climbed over the fence, and began to make a slow climb to the nest sight. There was nothing visible, which really made me worry, because I figured by this time the chicks should have been fairly large.

I was nearly to the top, and everything was absolutely still and silent. There was no movement at all. It was very discouraging.
And then suddenly there was the noise of violently flapping wings right above my head and I ducked and turned just in time to see one of the parent's swooping away. I'd just been dive bombed by a hawk!

And when I turned back around, I discovered that a frontal attack had been in progress too!

I don't know if he thought a parent was delivering dinner, or if he was going to help defend the nest. Either way, he must have leaped out of the nest because there had been no sign of him prior to the diving hawk attack.

The other chick was hunkered down in the nest, where good little hawk babies belong. This one must be the obedient child! I was so thrilled to see they have survived!

There was no sign of that smaller chick or the dud egg that had been present on the previous visit, so it would seem there are just the two chicks. But two is awesome, and probably they have a higher chance at survival if the parents only have to feed two. Amazing how they've grown! Aren't they handsome and regal?

In a ratty, molting, juvenile kind of way?

Mom and Dad were both circling by this time, and I'd been dive bombed at least twice more. I didn't stick around too long or get too close, but it was an awesome experience.

And thanks to Mom and Dad's aggression, I was able to positively identify them. These are definitely Ferruginous hawks, as I had thought before!

I slipped back down the hill to leave, but had to take several backward glances to see what the chick was going to do (and a few upward glances to see if there were any more attacks coming). I estimate these chicks are between 4-5 weeks old, based on when we found the nest of eggs and when we discovered that they had hatched. I wonder how long it will be before they will be soaring on the prairie winds like their parents?

On a smaller scale....

...there was a Bullock's Oriole in my birdbath this morning! I've never seen one before! In fact, I didn't even know we had Oriole's, but we seem to be on the very edge of their territory. Not sure why they are here, since, along with bugs which we have lots of, they also love fruit and nectar,  and there is precious little of THAT  around here! But just the same, I was excited! What a great way to start my day! And tomorrow I have to pick up some grape jelly and see if I can entice him to stick around for the summer.

Summer Days

We've been home for a little over a week now. Malcolm's spent most of his time working on the new, old truck getting it road ready, and also doing some things to the old, new truck getting it ready to sell.

I've been doing...not much of anything specific. I've done a little cleaning, a little visiting, and a lot of puttering. And of course I've spent some time with the horses. I love the way they look when they are all slicked out in their summer coats. Yesterday was one of the hottest days so far, but it was also one of the first days with no wind! I took advantage of that to get some much needed updated pictures of the herd.

 Dawn was the most cooperative! She was pretty patient with me while I decided how to go about doing our portrait shoot. I really like her look, and though she has her crabby moments, she sure makes nice babies!

After Dawn, it got a little more difficult No one wanted to stand nicely, but the pictures we got will suit my purposes. A big thanks to Malcolm's mom for helping me.

 Gemma will be a year old in a couple weeks. She's turning into a gorgeous girl! (but maybe I'm biased) She's also getting to be a handful. For as much as she loves to visit with me and will let me do anything, even crawl underneath her, she's also getting bad about trying to assert herself as being in charge when on a lead rope. We're going to work on that some because she's got the totally wrong impression somehow.

 Big brother, Sky, is now a 2 year old. What happened to the "terrible 2's?" This boy is a big push over, and still loves me to death. The feeling is mutual. The other day he followed me out of the pasture, through the corrals, and up to the garage to talk to Malcolm, all his own idea. No lead rope or even halter on. He just followed me out, stood around while we talked to Malcolm, and then followed me back to the other horses. When I left he was standing at the gate looking hurt that I'd left him behind. I had thought about selling him, but he's too much of a buddy to do that. Guess he's here for the long haul.

 Reba is also a 2 year old now. She just gets prettier and prettier. I love her sweet face. And she has a great personality. Very sweet and affectionate, but also rather adventurous. And her roaning is really pretty this summer. I'd only seen her in winter woolies since I got her in November. I really like her look.

 Fancy also joined us last November. She's a sweet mare, but still thinks everything is out to get her. Malcolm and I joke about all the "monsters" in Fancy's life. She's not spooky, but just thinks that any horse approaching her is going to pick on her, even if they are passing by. And I discovered that fly spray is a petrifying experience for her. Good grief!

Yesterday was a great day! Just one of those days that I was in a super great, but unexplainable good mood. I spent almost the whole day outside with the horses, and some inside helping Malcolm's mom organize some stuff. Then in the evening, after the guys came home from fixing a well, they hooked up the horse trailer and we went and picked up the boyfriend!

This is Puff Caddy. He's a Perlino Quarter Horse. He was thrilled to see my girls. The girls....not so much! And yes, Fancy thought he was going to eat her alive. But they are down in the corral getting acquainted, and I'm sure they'll fall in love given time. Come next summer, hopefully we'll have two gorgeous foals to enjoy! Caddy is Gemma's sire, and I'm hoping to get another one just like her out of Dawn. And it will be really interesting to see what Caddy and Fancy, who's a red dun, will produce. Time will tell!

....to be continued....

For Those Inspired Moments While Driving

If your anything like me, you have inspired moments while you drive. I think of a million things I need to do, things I need to pick up at the store, phone calls I want to make, and on and on.....all while I'm driving.

If your anything like me, you have no skill at writing in a notepad and having it be legible while you drive, not to mention that while your at it, your having trouble staying in your lane. You cannot multi-task while driving. God did not give you that skill as he did others. You try to make notes about your brilliant ideas, add to your shopping list, jot down those important phone calls to make, and on and on.....and when your done driving and go back to your list, you can't decipher half of what you wrote down, and you don't remember what it was, and your not sure what happened to that car that was behind you earlier. (Ok I hope you know I'm exaggerating! I've never run anyone off the road....that I know of anyway.)

Trucking has served many purposes in my life, done me many favors, and one of them was to introduce me to a magic tool and teach me a little trick.

The magic tool is......the dry erase marker!

The little trick is......you can use it to write on your windows..

...and when your done driving and parked somewhere, you can transfer all your jotted down notes into a notebook, and then wipe the window clean with  your hand or a paper napkin. In the above picture I had reminded myself that I needed to schedule an allergist appointment, call the insurance company, I have no idea what that third note was about b/c this was a couple weeks ago, and then I wanted to email Karen at the Rough String to ask her about something I'd seen in her part of Oregon.

We actually have the dry erase marker with us to write down the odometer readings at the state lines because we have to report our mileage in each state for highway taxes. So every time we cross a state line, we jot down the last 4 numbers of the odometer reading on the window and then put them in notebook where we track it after we're done driving.

But I started using it to make my personal notes too. I found I could write down reminders and drive much more safely if I was writing on the window, PLUS....I can read it and know what I was thinking about....most of the time.  I'm right handed so I just reach across to the window and use my own little form of short hand, and steer with my left hand. Most of the time no one knows what I was writing down, but it's enough for me to remember the full import of the thought and get it in a notebook for later use.

So, just a thought, but if your anything like me, you might consider getting a dry erase marker to keep in the cup holder of your car. They sure are handy to have around.

Summer Clouds and Hodge Podge

I have always loved weather, of all kinds in all seasons. But there is just something about summer clouds that always makes me look. I don't mean just glance and smile. I mean I sit there and watch and examine and admire. I can do it all afternoon, especially if there is a front porch with a rocking chair or a swing and a glass of iced tea. (I'm talking about my mom's front porch and of course she's out there with me.) Storm watching from the porch has always been one of our favorite mother/daughter activities.

But I digress.

I like to watch summer clouds, and this week I found several to admire. Early in the week, there was this little cluster, making an appearance at dawn. They were the only clouds for miles and miles. The only ones in the sky.

And then yesterday afternoon, again in Idaho, there were some lovely puffy storm clouds starting to pile up. They always get me excited, even when they really aren't going to do anything.

Of course I may have been mistaken in my assumption that they weren't going to do anything. By the time we got through Yellowstone and back up to the interstate, there were some ominous looking storm clouds pouring out of the mountains surrounding Yellowstone National Park. We were fortunate enough to get to admire them, without having to experience their might.

I love this picture!

Early this morning, between the hours of 1:00am and 3:00am, eastern Montana put on a spectacular light show! It really was impressive. I enjoyed the show but kept hoping that there weren't any grass fires being set. It went on for quite a few hours before I finally caught up with it at the border. Fifteen minutes of hard rain and it was over. I bet the clouds were impressive.

Summer is the season for storms, and I love getting to watch them as we travel. There is nothing like watching storms in the mid-west where you can watch them for miles and miles as you travel. It passes the time.

Yesterday when we pulled into Paul, ID to unload I was delighted to discover that they had babies. There were a few little pastures surrounding the fertilizer plant and there were three babies. PAINT BABIES!

Of course no one wanted to cooperate with me and my camera...

 

 ...or even just let me look and admire. Everyone was being shy, and it wasn't the type of place where I could get out and go visit. It sure did make me miss having babies around! My turn will come...next summer!

Another bit of exciting news I thought I'd share. In my freshman college lit class, the girl who sat behind me on the first day became a good friend. We've stayed in touch over the years, even though we lived in different towns and our lives took different paths. Her husband and I hit it off pretty well too, especially after discovering we were both avid Civil War enthusiasts. Marc is a neat guy with many talents, one of which is writing. He has a blog, The Perfect Drift. He's big time into trout fishing. So I wanted to brag on him a bit. I was so thrilled for him last night when I opened facebook and saw Jill's post congratulation her husband on his big win. Marc won the grand prize in the Outdoor Blogger Networks' contest, for a blog post he did concerning trout in Yellowstone.  The grand prize is a trip to Yellowstone National Park. Sounds like they have some neat things for him to participate in while he's there, including, of course, some trout fishing time! So congratulations Marc on a job well done! I'm glad your getting some recognition for your exceptional writing! Enjoy the trip!

We're almost loaded up with fertilizer and about to head to the house for an evening and morning. Then it's back on the road to deliver in Idaho on Thursday afternoon, reload potatoes Friday, bring them to North Dakota on Saturday, and then.......AND THEN........TWO WEEKS AT HOME! 

Yep, six weeks on the road and it's time for another "vacation."

The Rest of the Story

The rest of the story.

I told you in yesterday's post that there was more to tell about the weekend. It's just your typical trucking frustration. One of those things that you roll your eyes at, shake you head, and deal with because what else are you going to do.

We stopped at the house Saturday night with the intention of taking a short layover on our way to ND to deliver. We planned to be there Monday afternoon/evening. Well, we'd been driving for the past week with a tire that was out of round and getting gradually worse, on the trailer. As a result it was making the whole truck vibrate, an annoyance that was gradually intensifying, making it harder and harder to sleep. Going past the house presented the perfect opportunity to do something about it, especially since Malcolm already had spare tires there.

So Sunday he headed out to do the job and get it over with. And it all went smoothly and by mid afternoon he was nearly done. I was inside doing laundry and giving the girls their pedicures and hair cuts and baths. We had just finished the last bath and were celebrating by chillin' on the couch together when all of a sudden..."Ka-BOOM."

We all jumped up off the couch and I stood looking out the living room window. There was the truck backed into the shop, and all looked peaceful. But Malcolm wasn't anywhere to be seen. I stood there a few minutes waiting, thinking that it had sounded an awful lot like a tire blowing up or something and picturing Malcolm laying out there bleeding. I was just about to jog out there and make sure all was OK when he walked out of the shop and stood there looking at the trailer.

Over the years you learn your spouse's body language, and get to where you can read it from a great distance. He wasn't bleeding, but I could tell from his stance that he was very unhappy about something. So I went out to see.

Thankfully he'd actually gone to get a tool or something and had just returned when it happened. For no apparent reason, one of the air bags on the trailer had blown, just randomly exploded. I can't imagine how deaf he would be right now if he'd been under there with it when it went.

He spent the rest of the afternoon trying to track down a shop or parts store or anyone who was open (on a Sunday...on a holiday weekend) and who might have the part (which of course, just our luck, is an odd ball airbag that no one carries). He was calling people as far away as Billings and Rapid City (4 hours drive one way) and even calling the oil field service companies. That's how desperate we were. The few who were open didn't have the part. The one's who thought they could get it, couldn't get it till Wednesday because their suppliers were closed for the weekend. So much for a Monday afternoon delivery.

Long story long, because I've already passed the "keep it short" point, he finally got hold of a trailer sales and service company in Bismarck on Tuesday morning that had the part. He drove all the way to Bismarck (4 hours) and all the way back (4 more hours), fixed the trailer, and then we loaded up and headed back to Bismarck and beyond to Jamestown to make a 1:00am delivery. We pulled in and the guy at the scale house was flustered. Said he didn't know what to do with us because they hadn't been expecting a truck, there wasn't anywhere to put the potatoes and the plant was closing down for the day for cleaning.

This on a week when our broker was on vacation and had gone to great efforts to get our trips all planned out and lined up and it was all a great plan except that it was on time constraints and we were already a day behind. Thankfully they found room for the potatoes and let us dump them off. Then we drove 2 hours northwest, reloaded in the morning, drove to Twin Falls, ID and delivered Thursday morning, jumped to Collinston, UT and reloaded and drove all night to deliver north of Sacramento this morning. Whew! That was tight! But we got it all done, and are now reloaded with fertilizer with a long weekend stretching ahead of us. Stockton to southern Idaho is not a great weekend load, but it does get us lined up for another potato load on Monday.

"So", you might ask, "what did you do with the extra day at home?"

Memorial day was extremely windy, so we stayed inside and watched a movie, and lounged in our pajamas and were completely lazy. And then later in the afternoon, when I couldn't stand being inside any longer, we drove out to see the baby hawks that I posted about yesterday (see following post). While we were out there, we went to visit the horses too, because we had to travel through their pasture to get to the hawks. But because of the wind, they were acting crazy and pretending to be wild ponies. That didn't make visiting very easy, though I did get a little time with Sky because he always comes to love on me even if he is playing wild pony on the prairie. The rest of them kept their distance, but everyone cooperated with my camera! I was thrilled with the results! I'm curious....

...which of these three is your favorite? What titles can you come up with for them?

I have decided the time has come to perhaps start doing something with my photographs. Maybe enter some contests or something along those lines. Just for kicks.