Showy Milkweed~

~Many monarch butterflies darted among the blooming milkweeds. There were common milkweeds and swamp milkweeds and whorled milkweeds, all drooping great masses of delicate blossoms and giving off an aroma that filled the summer air as powerfully and as sweetly as the lilacs of urban spring. If we weren't so accustomed to scorning the milkweed, …

Make Believe~

I could cringe at this. I have in the past. The mess. The scraps of cardboard and styrofoam strewn about. It will be all over the yard soon. But I won't. The days are long but the years are short. She is going to be 14 in a month. She is more focused on getting …

Grace~

~So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.~ 1 Corinthians 10:31 Whatever you do. That means even in the not so fun, the mundane, the unglamorous, and the day to day monotonous. I took that challenge, wrote that verse down on my arm and failed …

Father’s Day~

Happy Father's Day to our rock. We got him to the fishing hole this afternoon like he wanted, and everyone had a good time. On the way home we checked the alfalfa and it is ready to bale as soon as the dew comes in. So we decided we had better doctor the yearlings with …

The Five Stooges~

Even those these stooges are one more thing to do in the morning and night when I don’t want one more thing to do and also quite expensive at that, they are growing on me. I find I do enjoy learning about their idiosyncrasies and personalities. Taking care of them is a grounding and peaceful …

A Little Rain Shower~

~The essential feature of the prairie is its horizon, which you can neither walk to nor touch. It is like the horizon of the sea~ ~Journal of a Prairie Year The morning has a thankful repose to it, only interrupted by the bird's chirping, as they do every summer in the early morning hour. The …

Wildflowers and Weeds~

The wildflowers are putting on a beautiful show this spring. I am not sure I have seen this many cover the canyons since we moved down here three summers ago.  The bracted spiderworts (which are my favorite, and I hadn’t realized even grew here) dot the pastures with their violet petals and the scarlet globemallow …

The Late Branding~

The late branding, where you finish up branding the last of the cows that have calved. The late calvers, as we like to call them.  The main herd is already out to grass, and these are the last to get branded and turned out to finish up the spring cattle work.  Usually around 20 to …