Life on the High Plains

I've been a really bad blogger the last couple weeks.  Life has been crazy lately.  My partner at work fell down and broke her foot last Sunday so she's out of the office for a few weeks.  This means I get to provide IT support to the entire Association by myself.  It keeps me hopping. Here's some of the things that have been going on around our place. We got the rest of our property fenced off so the horses can have some additional grazing areas and we can do some pasture management with rotational grazing. Gone is this old fencing, it has been replaced with T-posts and barbless wire.  I had the guys save all the old fence posts.  There must be something cool I can make with them.  Ideas anyone?  Irv says we're going to burn them in the fireplace. I finally caught Keira in the bathtub during a recent thunderstorm.  I had a feeling one of the dogs was hiding out in the bathtub and now I have proof.  Kinda cute, don't you ...

Do you ever have a song get in your head that just won't leave? Thanks to Ellen Degeneres, I've become hooked on a new song--What does the Fox Say by Ylvis, brothers from Norway.  You've got to watch the video. It's a silly song, but it's addicting.  Here's the first verse: Dog goes woof Cat goes meow Bird goes tweet and mouse goes squeek Cow goes moo Frog goes croak and the elephant goes toot Ducks say quack and fish go blub and the seal goes ow ow ow ow ow But there's one sound That no one knows   What does the fox say? Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding! Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!   What the fox say? Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow! Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!   the fox say? Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho! Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho! Hatee-hatee-hatee-ho!   What the fox say? Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff! Tchoff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff! Joff-tchoff-tcho...

Jillian and I had a great time at Pawtoberfest on Saturday.  Thanks to my friends and family who donated to the Humane Society! Diesel got to take his first ever bus ride.  I think the dogs were a little confused about riding on a bus. It was kind of funny seeing the dogs in all the seats.   There were dogs of every shape and size.  Dogs in tutus.   Dogs that could jump really high. This is the start line (even though it says finish).  Jillian and I positioned ourselves well in the back of the pack so as not to disturb the "real" runners. About the time I figured we should be finished, we came upon a sign that said 1.  1 mile, that's it?  This is going to be harder than I thought. I didn't see the 2 mile sign, but I'm pretty sure it's where all these people and dogs were congregating for a drink of water. Finally, mile 3.  Now to find the finish line. There it is.  My time was 57:43 with an average...

I did it.  Jillian and I signed up for a 5K race tomorrow--the Pawtoberfest 5K that supports our local Humane Society.  To be perfectly accurate, I signed myself and Jillian up for a 5K.  Luckily she's a willing participant. I haven't done a 5K since I did this same race about 12 or14 years ago.  It was a much smaller event then--just a few animal lovers and their dogs in a local park.  Now it's a big event with shuttle buses, beer gardens, and bibs with some kind of chip in them to record your time.  I'm pretty sure the awards ceremony will be finished and the timer will be turned off by the time I reach the finish line so don't be looking for my time on the website.  I'm just going to plug along very slowly at my own pace and make it to the finish line.  All that matters is that  I'm moving, I'm trying, and I'm having fun. Now if I only had a dog to take with me.  My dogs are both 10+ and a 5K might be the end of them.  I s...

Not that I'm looking forward to it or anything, but in 20 day Irv and I will be here: We've had a vacation with the grandson, a couple vacations with the family, and now it's time for a vacation for just the two of us.  There's nothing I love better than spending time with my darlin (unless it's watching the Broncos win). Happy Sunday!

A really cool view out of my window last night. Anyone know what kind of birds these are?   Happy Skywatch Friday !  Praying for sunshine in Colorado.

So, here I am washing my feet, legs, and shoes off after I arrived home from Target this afternoon. Why, you ask? Because I dropped a 89 ounce jug of orange juice at the checkout stand. Yes, it landed with a thud, broke open, and juice went flying everywhere.  Not only did I drench myself, I drenched the little boy in front of us. The guy who had to clean it up said it was the most "epic" spill of all time. At least Jillian didn't abandon me. What an idiot. I wish I could have hidden under a rock.  For now, I'm just going to stay home and not touch anything.

Is there anything more beautiful and serene as the sunrise?  The promise of a new day each and every  morning.  You know summer is coming to an end when the sun isn't quite up when you go out to feed the horses early in the morning.  I wish it could be summer year around. I hope you had a great sunrise and that you have a great Skywatch Friday !

Big controversy in Denver this week.  The NFL came in and hung not only Peyton Manning's photo on the side of Mile High Stadium, but also Joe Flacco's photo.  They also hung their pictures all over the downtown area. It's like they have tarnished sacred ground. All I have to say is " Go Broncos !"

Before my appendix went crazy three weeks ago, we were in South Dakota for a couple family reunions. I told you before how touched I was to be able to worship in the church my great-great grandfather donated the land for and being able to see the original family farmstead, but there's something else that was an awe inspiring experience. When my dad's grandparents retired from the farm they bought a house in town.  My "cousin" now owns this house and we got to go over there after the reunion and hang out.  It's unbelievable to be in that house now. Below is a picture of my dad with his siblings and mom in front of his grandparent's house in 1939. I love it!

Wow!  I've gone over 17,000 hits on my blog since I added my counter.  Who the heck is looking at my blog?  I only have about 1.2 followers who consistently leave comments (thanks brother).  Oh well, whoever you are, I hope you enjoy my random thoughts. Happy Labor Day!  I believe there is nothing better than a 3-day weekend!  It was especially nice because Irv was off.  He works most every holiday and this is the last holiday he won't be working this year.  You would think we would pack up and go somewhere, but no, we just hung around the house. So here are some random thoughts from my weekend.   We went to Denver on Saturday to see Peter and the Star catcher.  Didn't love it, really didn't even like it.  Considered leaving at intermission.     Had lunch at bd's Mongolian BBQ.  Always good!     Made my first ever visit to the brand new Cabela's in south Denver.  Took about 7...