Life on the High Plains

Irv and Mr. Bean delayed their man trip by a day when a friend offered us tickets to the rodeo at Cheyenne Frontier Days.  We jumped at the chance to go up to Chevenne and watch this rodeo.  It was really hot in Cheyenne.  I was wishing I could trade my jeans and boots in for some shorts and sandals.  If we go back next year I'll be sure to dress more appropriately. Mr. Beans was the photographer for the day.  He must have likes this beautiful Priefert hitch of Percherons. He got a good action shot of the saddle bronc riding.  I've never seen so many pickup men before (the guys in the purple shirts). A close up of Grammy sweltering in the heat. Wow!  Did he ever get a good shot of the calf roping. He must have liked this pretty gray roping horse. Hmmm...there seems to be a lot of shots of these girl trick riders.  I wonder why he took so many pictures of them??  He e...

It's Sunday morning at 9:59 and the men just left on this year's "man" trip.  Woohoo!  That means I get a whole week just to myself. Unfortunately, it also means I get to do all the chores and care for all the animals by myself for a week.  Hmmm...doesn't sound like much of a vacation for me. Irv has new wheels for this trip--a 2012 Sonata. Have fun men!

It has been awhile since I posted an update on my veggie patch.  We've been getting rain almost every evening and it has certainly made a huge difference with my veggies.  They've been growing like weeds! Irv took a look deep inside my tomato plants and found several little green tomatoes.  How exciting! I came home from work and took a good look through the zucchinis and summer squash.  It won't be long until they appear. The leaves are as big as my hands.  Look at the corn in the background.  Some of them are more than knee high.  My pumpkin plant has a ton of blossoms on it.  Won't it be exciting if I can grow Mr. Beans a few jack o'lanterns this year? Look how pretty my lettuce is. Time for a fresh salad straight from the garden to the table. My camera did a great job capturing the water droplets as I was washing my fresh radishes and lettuce.  I know for a lot of ...

I wonder who's going to get a firearm for Christmas this year???  I'm pretty sure Irv's rifle comes in pink. Actually, her birthday is next week.  Maybe she won't have to wait until Christmas! 

Our monsoon season started a couple weeks ago.  It has been real nice having daily afternoon showers to break the heat.  Today we had the biggest rainstorm yet, two inches in less than half an hour.  It was great.  Rain in this amount creates other problems though--flash floods.  Colorado Springs experienced a real tragedy this week that was due to a flash flood.  A local doctor and his family were camping in the Medicine Bow area of southern Wyoming when they had to evacuate the camp in the wee morning hours because of torrential rainfall.  They quickly packed up and left camp.  Little did they know that a bridge had washed out on the road they were traveling.  They plunged several feet into a creek that had swollen in size due to the heavy rain.  Their van was washed downstream.  The mom and three little girls drowned.  The dad was able to save himself and when he realized he couldn't save his family he came to the aid of a...

Happy Birthday Darlin! I love you!

Wanted:  One goose to go with our very lonely goose who has learned to climb on the deck and stare in the window at us.  This wouldn't be so bad except that she poops on the deck.  Dirty, disgusting bird needs a mate before she decides to join us by going through the dog door.  If you know of a goose who needs a home, please call ASAP!

Last Saturday was the day for our annual "volunteer" day for the Mt. Herman 4-H Club.  The leader of this club is a good friend and this year the club only had a handful of members.  Diane, Irv, and I have been running their annual horse show for several years.  Diane doesn't have any kids in the club anymore, but she keeps on leading because she cares for the kids. Irv announces, I do the office work, and Diane does all the organizing and running around.  The show started at 8:00 and was finished by 3:00--we definitely know how to keep it flowing.  Jillian judged the trail course and this year Brian came to do the hauling.  All the trail obstacles have to be hauled from a shed down to the area where the course is set up.  We were really glad to have Brian there! Diesel only freaked out one horse on the trail. The amazing thing about this show is that all the volunteers who run the show are ex-4-Hers.  Those who have gon...

Mary invited us over for a barbecue last weekend.  She made burgers, hot dogs, chicken, baked beans, mac and cheese, potato salad.  Yum!  I can't tell you how nice it was to have one of my daughters prepare a meal for us.  If there's one area that I failed it as a mother, it was teaching my girls to cook. When the family was still at home I used to cook meals every day.  I think I'm a fairly good cook, but I have since semi-retired now that it's only Irv and I at home.  It's much easier to just stop and get something when it's the two of us.  Anyway, by not forcing the girls to learn to cook, I've left them in a bad position.  You see, I didn't want them to grow up thinking they had to become housewives and mothers.  I wanted the whole world to be at their doorstep.  Now that Jillian is married she's showing an interest in cooking.  She's asked me to start writing down some of the recipes that are in my head (a nice compliment...

Last Friday we went out to support the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo.  We try to go to this rodeo every year, it supports the military in our community.  Last year when the guys won the wild cow milking, the rodeo gave $1,000 donation to the charity of the team's choice.  They chose to give it to the family of a 2-year old little girl who was undergoing cancer treatment in Denver.  The family was from Nebraska and needed help with their living expenses while they were staying in Denver.  They had originally wanted it to go to a young co-worker who was also undergoing cancer treatment, but she very unselfishly asked that it go to this little girl instead. Anyway, Mr. Beans wanted to start the rodeo by riding a bull of his own.  Here he is with his mom waiting for his turn. What a great smile!  I think he made it to the buzzer before he was thrown off. Of course there were rodeo queens--The Girl of the West.  I'm very excited because o...

We love and miss you!

I decided to venture out to Mr. Bean's baseball game tonight. I have to admit that I haven't been a very good fan this season. Due to budget cuts the city doesn't run many fields so Mr. Bean's games don't start until 7:45 and they last for two hours which means it is 10:15 before I get home. I don't know about you, but I think that's too late to keep kids (and Grammys) out. Shiloh was second to bat and he got a hit! I have a video of his hit, but I can't figure out how to add it with this blogger app. I am still a little technically challenged with this iPhone.  Scoring a run  We've had thunderstorm warnings, tornado warnings, and the clouds are looking a little ominous, but the game must go on. Go Yankees! Okay, I'm home now.  The game was called due to lightening.  Woohoo!  I got to see three-fourths of an inning!  Have you ever seen a more handsome grandson?  We had quite a show in the sky this evening! It even got Mr. Bean...