Monday

I just love the grain fields this time of the year. Curt will start harvesting the end of the week. I think of the words of the song America - Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.
This was "THE evening working with untrained, ungentled (sort of) horses. Target did wonderful. Blondie was jerking me around pretty good. She was really being naughty. So, we traded horses again. He was afraid I would get hurt. Well, he was trying to turn her to her bad side and she whirled and nailed him in both legs with her hind feet. He got out of her way so he really didn't get hurt, he will be black and blue tomorrow. She got worked hard for another hour until her attitude changed. She was really bad today, would not look at you, kept swinging her butt at you. Any way Bob will go over in the morning and work her again. Then we will go later and I will work Target. He will work Blondie again.
Bob went and got the facia stuff to finish the house. I am so excited for it to be really truely done. And tomorrow besides working horses the cows/calves get moved to a pasture up by Newport till October.
Remember: Do what you can with what you have, where you are. Theodore Roosevelt
Remember

Sunday.

No pictures today. This was branding and banding day. The cows and calves are going off to pasture up by Newport for a couple of months. They will be running with other cow calf pairs and the calves had not been branded. The little bull calves needed banding. All were bull calves but one. Tom and our grandson Joel and their families came out to help. The boys helped alot. They did not like the branding but I don't either. The smell gets to me. So, they are all branded and the boys are banded.

Poor Heather, city girl grandaughter in law, she was horrified. Grandma - does it hurt? Well yes it hurts. The banding does not hurt at the time but it can't feel so good later. She was ready to throw up. I told her to go to the house if it bothered her but I had to stay to help. Bless her heart, she stuck it out watching from outside the fence.

Our little great grandaughter Lilianna called the chickens "cookers". Cracked us up. She wanted to play with them but they are not toys and would not have liked it. So the Cookers were safe from an imp with pony tails out each side of her head.

Nothing much about horses today. Today was a cow day.

Remember: A sweet old lady stays active all her life. A grumpy old grouch sits and rocks. Anonymous

Saturday, August 8th.

I took this picture this evening in our front yard. The setting sun was very red. So pretty. I liked that picture. We have such beautiful sunsets.

My sweet Skeeter. When Bob got up he sneaked into his warm spot and slept with me. He loves being under the covers when it is cooler out. In fact, Bob has to moved him almost every night when he comes to bed. Such a character.

When we went to work horses this evening, I took pictures of Terri's flowers. She has so many beautiful ones. I loved this sunflower picture. They always make me feel like they are smiling.

We had good luck with the horses this evening. We traded horses and I worked with Blondie. He had not been able to get a halter on her but I did. Neener neener, lol. She really does not like her faced touched so I spent most of the hour just rubbing her face and talking to her. I did earlier today get a rope loo0ped over her nose so had some control but when it came time and I had rubbed her all over with with it, she let me put it on her. She didn't like it but she let me. Then we worked on leading and rubbing and leading and rubbing. Bob was going to saddle Target but Carstens were not home and we did not take a saddle pad so she just got bumped with it and let smell it. Maybe Monday we will. Or tomorrow if we go then. It feels so good when we can gain their confidence like we are.

Remember: If you judge people, you have no time to love them. Mother Theresa

Friday

It only got to 72 today. A relief to say the least. However, I hope that summer is not over.

This was a sad day. Our son Tom lost his little ShitZu dog Killer. She greeted him when he got home from work about four and he went out to do something and found her laying in the yard. She was gasping for air and died in his arms. He brought her out here to bury her under our maple tree with Tory my first poodle that lived to 19, Shane my first Shitzu, my sweet Sophie-the Shitzu I lost last winter. Sophie and Killer were from the same litter and we got her for Tom for Christmas 12 years ago. He was embarrassed because he was crying and I told him his dad and I cried over Sophie for a week.

It is spitting rain this evening and there was thunder bouncing around so we did not go and work with Target and Blondie. Maybe tomorrow. Well I know tomorrow. We are getting paid for it.

We went in to Big R and got some things today and Bob went to his friend Don's home and we borrowed several ice chests so with ours he can deliver meat to the coast next weekend. Don and Shirley's son Darren got home this morning from Iraq. Welcome home Darren and thank you.

I was looking thru the books in the bookshelf this morning and I found a book given to my grandfather George Foreman by my Great Aunt and Uncle, Nellie and Jack Dierke for Christmas in 1912. That will go to my cedar chest instead of the book shelf. What a treasure it is.

Remember: Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not. Samuel Johnson

Thursday

Hasn't Amelia filled out alot. She has probably gained 200 pounds.

I meant for this one to be first but oh well. She was standing the otherside of the fence from the cows and stopping her foot. She wanted more grain. She gets Sr Feed in the mornings. She thought because we were out there she should get more. Instead, all she got was her picture taken.

If you remember me posting a picture of the tiniest calf we have ever had - Tiny Tim - this is him now. He turned red and has grown but is still really small. His mother has really grown too. I doubt that she was much more than a year when Tim was born.

My favorite picture in a long time. I want to know the story this house has to tell. It is not too far from where we live. We stumbled on it just driving around the other day. I love it. Can't you just see children running and playing around the house. I can make up a story in my mind.

I have a new blog written by a friend of mine in Burns, Oregon. She has written a book about the mustang herds in Oregon. This is her blog - Oregon's Living Legends@blogspot.com. She has worked a long time on it. Check it out.

We are having a lulu of an electric storm rolling in so I need to close up shop here and turn off the computer.

Remember:

Where there is great love there are always miracles. Willa Cather.

Wednesday

Our Rusty on her romp for the evening. She just tears for a few laps every evening when we let her out. She is so pretty.

This is Blondie. She can be walked up to just fine but has never been worked. Bob got her to turn into him this evening and look with both eyes and to whoa. She hates her face being touched so we will have to work on that.

This is Target. We did have her for a few weeks last year and Bob rode her but they did not do a single thing with her. So we started over. This evening she said, I have done all this. I put a saddle pad on her and she carried it while we did everything else. She is really a nice mare. I also picked up both front feet. She had no trouble with one foot and we worked on the other longer.

I took a pot of soup into some elderly friends today. They really love my potatoe soup so I made them some. I was going to make some biscuits too but not in the house today. It got hot this afternoon.

Remember: Humor is mankinds greatest blessing. Mark Twain