Summer Catch-All

‘Summertime’ is a matter of going from one thing to the next in an effort to squeeze all of summer’s bounty into the short span of time we’re given to enjoy the hundreds of things we want to do and need to do. No wonder we’re bone tired at days end … but what a fine kind of weary it is. C’mon in and take a look at my to-do list … and please leave a list of what’all you’ve been busy trying to keep up with.

The above photo was taken when we were moving cattle. Echinacea is in full bloom and it was everywhere!

Below, we were helping friends move their yearling cattle and then we went back home to gather and move our pairs to summer pasture. With this summer being humid [for a change], we ride early so to avoid the heat of mid-day.

My farmgirl pals and I went on our first glamping trip a week ago, what fun we had. After getting our ‘glamp sites’ set up, we dangled our tootsies in the stream.

When darkness fell, we built a fire … a ‘glampfire’.

While on our ‘glamp out’, we went shopping at our favorite nearby antique shops during the heat of the day. Among other things, Michele found a few vintage aprons to cover her camper windows. Make-Do awnings.

I found a vintage umbrella in mint condition and it goes with my plaid theme for glamper goodies!

I like to decorate for Independence Day during the month of July … inside and out. My garden yard wore a couple of buntings.

Mid July is also the time when our little town holds it’s annual “Fun Days” which is an all-weekend party. An old-fashioned main street parade kicks off the celebration. Below are pics of a young friend on her pony [carrying the flag at the front of the parade]. Here in The Cowboy State of Wyoming, we still fly Old Glory with patriotic pride … anywhere and everywhere!!!!!!!! Long may she wave!!!

My Dad always pulls a flatbed trailer in the parade with his 1953 Ford pickup. His classmates [class of 1953] are seated on the trailer. He and my momma were high school sweethearts.

Our local history society is very active and there are many restored and named family wagons & buggies entered in the parade.

In the summer, old wagons and such are parked outside in historic “Old Town”. All of the log cabins were hauled in from local ranches and reassembled on-site. Here is one of the sheep wagons.

Last week was the first farmer’s market – located also in Old Town. Local gardeners peddle their produce and other home-made items. My pal, Anita, is a regular vendor. She has a big greenhouse and so her produce gets off to a much earlier start.

I’m starting to do a little canning. A must-do each summer is sweet pickled beets.

Now the wait is on for tomatoes. Lots of green ones, but nothing to eat yet.

This year is soooooo incredibly GREEN. We just keep getting rain at the right time. Bee Balm and wild Snapdragons [aka Butter & Eggs] are blooming still and the water plants are thriving. Every dent in the ground is a puddle or a pond. Just goes to show you that seed is always available and things will grow IF they get enough water … LOTS of things!

The vivid green of the prairie landscape a month ago is now a swirly mix of other earthy pastel shades as the heads of grass are mature. A dusty rose hue splatters the plains canvas of green; Brohm grass being the most colorful of the grasses. Their heads flutter to and fro in the breeze and while we’re riding, the horses need only snag a mouthful of seed heads – not needing to bend down. The grass is shoulder high in many places.

The horses are shiny and fat. Ribbon’s color is my all-time favorite and I never dreamed I would own a horse of this color … much less breed one. She is a gift from above, right down to the custom paint job :o) The color is commonly called “chocolate palomino”. This color variation occurs when the “sooty” gene comes into play and darkens what would otherwise have been a golden palomino. To keep her humble, I refer to her as being a mud-puddle palomino. She’s kind of a purty thang and I don’t want it to go to her head.

It may have something to do with my age – I’m a ‘Menopausian’ – OyVay, I’ve never sweat so much in my life as this summer! The unusual humidity contributes to the problem. My farmgirl pals in the same age group agree. So, my sun tea jar has being working overtime. I sure like Stevia ‘sweet drops’ to sweeten tea – no stirring required.

Lastly, I’m considering getting a new baby. A friend has a passel of newborn puppies – mini Corgis. I’ve long admired the breed. I first noticed them in Tasha Tudor’s books. Tasha was a pioneer in the area of being a farmgirl before the term was born. So many of us farmgirls are long-time fans of her art work, books and writings. So, although I’m still in the ‘thinking about it’ mode, I’m leaning hard into becoming a Corgi owner. I don’t know why I even bother saying that I’m thinking about it. My heart has made up her mind. My head is just trying to make logic of the whole thing. Three dogs? Oh Why Not! One of the other farmgirl bloggers [Debbie Bosworth aka the Beach Farmgirl] has a standard size red Corgi. Mine will be a girl and she is a black tri-color. I even have a name picked out: Sally O’Malley. Corgis are famous for making their owners smile and so I wanted a name that did the same! Baby ‘Sally’ won’t be able to come live with us until September. She’s still just a wee lassie toddling along on her ittybitty short legs. Any other Corgi lovers out there?? I didn’t know that Corgis are the oldest of the herding dog breeds. Well, she’ll get to put that instinct to work here.

So, that is MY mid-summer catch-all report. How about YOU, what is on YOUR list this summer? ~ Shery

  1. Sue says:

    Great article. I love the pic of y’all and the Glampers are fantastic. I’ll be a big fan of this blog. I would love to find one of these little campers.

  2. Elaine says:

    Love your photos and your words. Do I see a hackamore on your horse you’re sitting on? Love your mud puddle palomina. She’s a beauty (I mean, she’s okay ;-P)

    ———

    Hi Elaine, Yes a hackamore. We start all of our horses in one. Actually, Ribbon is overdue to graduate to a bit. I love the Myers western shank snaffle. Best bit in the business IMO…you can leave them in it forever or move on to more of a bit if need be. It is a ‘happy horse’ bit. Even the fussiest mouth goes quiet. Thanks!! – Shery J

     

  3. Nicki says:

    Hi, Shery! I loved this post; it was like a newsy letter from a good friend! Your glamper is adorable! I’d love to fix up a trailer, but I don’t know if I’d haul it anywhere, lol. And your horse…OH MY! Now that is a GORGEOUS color — I’ve never seen it before! Do you swoon every time you see her? I had an Appaloosa in my teens, so a colorful Appy still makes me weak in the knees. Thanks for your blog!

  4. bonnie ellis says:

    Shery: I just love the new picture of you on the blog. You look great and so does Ribbon. So glad you had a chance to hay this year. It keeps prices down. Your pictures are fantastic as usual. Thanks for your words.

  5. Connie Sadowinski says:

    Hi Shery,

    I enjoyed your post and photos very much. Thanks always for a very interesting blog. Enjoy the rest of your Summer!

  6. Bonnie says:

    Shery, How nice (and I should have guessed) that you are also a lover of Tasha Tudor. What a "farmgirl" she was indeed. I have always loved her art and books.
    As always, enjoyed your blog and pictures. Since never having traveled west of Wisconsin, I love seeing the everyday life you provide in pictures. We have access to the beautiful photos of the famous places, but I love seeing life from your vantage point. Thanks!

  7. Susan says:

    Hi Shery:

    I got to your blog from MaryJanesFarm page on FB. I’m trolling the FB trying to distract myself from worrying about my Mom right now (she will be fine – had a mild medical emergency but she is way out in WA state and I’m here in Minneapolis, MN) Anyway, what a healing balm your blog is – just so calming to see life out west. I loved all your pics – and get the Corgi!

  8. Debbie says:

    What? A Corgi? Shery, you better be careful…Corgis are like potato chips… It’s hard to have just one!!! Your little Sally O Mally will bring you joy every minute of every day you look into her sweet brown eyes. Corgis just emit joy and want to be with you where ever you are. We are crazy about our Max! We talk about getting another one, but I don’t think our house could stand more hair. They shed year round I’m afraid, but who cares.. Love is love! Your Sally will be thrilled to have something to herd. All Max has is us, backyard squirrels and seagulls! We love Tasha Tudor in our house too. I’ve read all of her books. She had some of Max’s relatives for her beloved dogs. Our breeder Anne Bowes has been breeding corgis for 30 plus years. She has a picture of Tasha and her beloved corgis in her office. Wait till Max sees your Sally. He’ll be smitten!
    We just had Max’s baby book out last night. He will be 5 this September. We can hardly believe it. We call him love bug… Loved your post from top to bottom! Can’t wait till you bring Sally home! Corgis are lap dogs too…Sometimes Max doesn’t even wait for our butts to hit the seat before he’s in our lap! So happy for you!!!!
    hugs,
    Deb aka Beach Farmgirl

  9. Jan says:

    I had to chuckle when I saw your beet pickles. I can eat quarts of those things…I am addicted to beets this year and I eat so much that my ‘you know what’ is orange!
    We took our trailer to a lovely spot on the St. Joe River (ID) last weekend and nestled it under a group of giant cottonwoods. Lovely…
    We used to suck the nectar out of the Dalmation toadflax when we were kids…Give it a try..
    Yes, Ribbon is extra beautious!

  10. carleen s says:

    HI..I LOVE YOUR PICTURES…..I HAVE A CORGI – SPANKY…..YOU WILL ABSOUTELY LOVE THE BREED…YES HE MAKES ME SMILE …..GOD BLESS

  11. Linda Petersen says:

    HI Shery~~~Another great post! Looks like the girls are having a supercool time on the glamping trip:0). The plaid umbrella is a great score. Hometown parades & canning with farmer’s market gems makes me so glad to be a country girl!
    Sally O’Malley has your name on her~~~don’t pass her up! We’ve painted the decks,railings,& stairs on the front & back of the house. Reinforced the chicken run. Made basil oil. And~~~spent a lot of time planning & dreaming about FALL! Sept.1st I kick into high gear & we are on the downhill slide towards that magic time. Anyway~~~have fun the rest of the summer.
    XO, Linda, Farmgirl #971

  12. donna says:

    Tasha Tudor came to our town once for the garden club in Dover, Pa…what a nice experience to see her at her work and hear from her first-hand..she was my kind of lady

  13. Mindy says:

    I love seeing all of your animal pictures. I am an animal lover and I am currently fostering 3 Australian Shepard puppies for the Humane Society. There is nothing like the sight of puppies playing.

  14. Brenda says:

    Your horse is indeed a beauty. I had two dogs in mind when I was last looking. The Scotty that I got and a Corgi. Do not know much about Corgis but a good friend had a sister that had one and she was very sweet. I love dogs with short legs….maybe because mine are also on the short side. Still dreaming of a glamper of my own and always have my eyes open as I drive on the back roads around our area as you suggested. My purple bee balm is looking very pretty right now also, the red did not show its face this year, I think I will have to replant. I have been working on a shade walkway planting this summer and trying to get more involved in the church I attend. This next week is Vacation Bible School which I am helping with and my youngest daughter is coming up to spend a couple of nights so my grands can attend. We planted our garden so late this year because of all the rains that I have not started canning anything except on batch of jam. I love sun tea but not sweetened. Not sure why because I love sweet things just not my tea or coffee. Enjoy your coming summer weeks, they do go fast!

  15. Meredith says:

    Deb, the Beach Farmgirl, said everything about Corgis and Tasha Tudor that I would have said, so just re-read her post and put my name at the bottom! I have three Corgis, a one year old , a three year old, and a thirteen year old. They don’t come any better!

  16. Diann says:

    I had to laugh when I saw the ladies sitting by the stream…dark tanned arms and white, white legs…lol…I’m just sittin’ here lookin’ at my white feet and legs and laughin’!

    And about dogs….well, I’ve been rescuing "throw-away" dogs here in my part of the country for over 10 years. Have found homes for many, many. Have lots! Of all shapes and sizes….they bring me joy no matter what breed. I love the great big ones best! Thanks for sharing your view of the world.

  17. nameNancy says:

    Hi Shery,
    I’ve been reading your blogs for a long time. Loved all your pictures and Ribbon is a beauty. Can’t wait for you to get your Sally. She is a darling. I also have a Tri-color Corgi. She is four and her name is Tasha. Named her after Tasha Tudor. I also have books by Tasha and copies of her paintings. Tasha loves to chase robins. bees and dragon flies. Also plays with my two cats. And when I’m in the garden she is right next to me. She is a mother to my daughter’s dog, Banjo. She washes his face everyday.

    So glad you are having rain. I live in Sandpoint, ID on 20 acres with my daughter and family. We have had rain too compared to last year when it was so dry. At 74, I’m still active. Love to garden, can and quilt. Life is good.

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