A Rainbow and a Different Bit of Fun—Sunday, September 25, 2016

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two-rainbows

Two rainbows!  Very faint, but still I saw them!!!  :)

One day in August I got an email from a blog friend, Katie, writing to me about a series of books:  The Betsy-Tacy books, these are a series of semi-autobiographical novels by American novelist and short-story writer Maud Hart Lovelace (1892-1980).

I had used a quote from one of the books on a blog post, which prompted Katie to write me.

I didn’t realize there is so many wonderful things about Betsy-Tacy and her books.  A huge following of men and women have created a Betsy-Tacy society, helped purchase the houses Betsy-Tacy grew up in  and other tireless good works.

(This is the photo of one of the books, featured on Amazon.com)

They work to spread the word about these delightful books–even donating them to local libraries.

Betsy-Tacy are true stories written at the turn of the 20th Century—1900 — set in Mankato, Minnesota , similar to the Little House on the Prairie books, only in 1900, not 1871.

Please take some time out of your busy day to visit these sites I have marked in blue you just might like these special little books!  I have only read the first four for far.

I hope you enjoy them!

Love,

Linda

 

 

 

The Adventures of Boomer on Friday—-Re-arranging the Ditch

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Mom told me years and years ago she always liked to clean the house by re-arranging the furniture.  Move the sofa here, place the dining room table there…you know…shake it up a little.

Gradually over time she stopped that nonsense, finding just the perfect spot for the piano, the lazy-boy chairs, the beds in the bedrooms…they fit perfectly, so there they have stayed forever.

I told you this little story, because now Dad has taken to rearranging the ditches.

Well, really only one ditch—it’s slightly crooked, you see.  And he wants to ‘square up’ the field.

It’s the MUD ditch!  Mom’s least favorite ditch to work from.   But in order to have the Mud ditch moved a few feet we had to get the ditch ready to move come March.

picking-up-the-tubes

First we had to pick up all the syphon tubes, remove the gated pipe and the dams.

Then we had to move the one stick of gated pipe…hard job.  It’s still out there waiting for Mom and Dad to go get it.

breaking-cement

But nothing was as hard as removing the culvert between the cement ditch and the gated pipe.

ditch-work

The carefully cemented in culvert had to be chopped-out.  One smack at a time.

I hung around while they did the syphon tubes, but that cement stuff seemed to take forever.  Therefore, I checked out the deer, the pheasants, all the Quail…rabbits….you understand.  NEWS!

waiting-to-go

When I got back they were ready to haul two loads of the broken cement up to the head gate. (Dad is trying to shore-up the banks so they don’t keep washing away.

to-the-head-gate-we-go

Up we went —  back we came, and up we went again.

I didn’t jump off; just waited there guarding the four-wheeler and the cement chunks from angry badgers or something.

hot-work-waiting

Boomer…the best Guard dog on the farm!

 

 

The Last Lovely Smile—Thursday, September 22, 2016

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“Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.”–William Cullen Bryant

corn-drying-downThe farm is exploding with the simple joy of Fall.  The scents are an intoxicating mix of drying corn leaves, dusty weeds; the air so buoyant it feels like a carnival.

fall-flowersFall has it’s own mix of flowers; washing over the land to collide with the changing of the leaves upon the trees

fall-on-the-farm-back-road

A walk, or ride, or to work on the land is like staring into a world being created by Picasso or Dr. Seuss.

fall-on-the-farm-roadThe nights are cool, with morning bordering on cold

golden-hairThe golden corn sings and sighs in the breezes and protests mighty in heavy winds

storms-coming-inA storm came in on Wednesday the air hazy with the promise of moisture. The clouds brooding and sullen, dropping rain in the canyons. Not a good thing with harvest.

weed-seedsStill the weeds, the grasses, and all the plants and flowers sing out HOPE!  Hope for the coming of Spring.  Hope for the new dawn of awaking, after a long rest in winter.

After all Hope never dies out.

From my world to your heart,

Linda

 

A Prairie Rainbow—-Wednesday, September 21, 2016

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A most stunning— wide and full —  rainbow filled the prairie at Wardlow, Alberta, Canada

lindas-prairie-rainbow

Linda Pierson, from Just Another Day on the Prairie was the photographer of this stunning rainbow on her ranch.

What an amazing rainbow this is!  Thank you, Linda, for letting me share this will my readers!

Your friend on a Western Colorado farm,

Linda

Summer’s Ghost—-Tuesday, September 20, 2016

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bee

The bees are very busy now…flying back to the hives, their bodies covered with pollen; the droning sound they make so much a part of the landscape one must pay attention to hear it.

fushiaThe company of the plants are still soothing to the eyes and the soul

seedsBut the signs are there; spangling the edges, hurrying the plants along, pushing and a nudging–to set seeds — prepare for that long sleep called winter

zinniaThe autumn winds will soon arrive, rustling across the plateau, through the canyons and bursting forth upon our mesa—flinging dry leaves across the land, stripping the trees bare

dotsFor now the rooted silence is a sort of balm to my spirit and to the earth

more-dotsBut the hint of fall is still there….a flicker out the corner of your eye, a tingle at the back your neck

leavesYellow leaves

drift

Float quick and light, reflecting back to the wind, the earth and the sky the soon to be ghost of Summer.

From my world to your heart,

Linda

WE FINISHED!!!!—-Monday, September 19, 2016

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wood-pile-3WE FINISHED!  Terry and I are dancing with joy….and resting!

wood-pile-2Late Saturday evening Terry and I brought home the last two loads.  Evan was done with his on Thursday, but we had the huge, gigantic trees left.  Four of them.  And to clean up the area.  See those monsters stacked on each other?  There are several stacks around and some tossed into the pile.

It took Terry and I, together-one of us on each side, to lift most of those monsters up and into the truck, then to fling them off.

wood-pile-1But we are done!

DONE!  DONE!!!!!

And I can proudly say I stacked 90% of this wood into our truck, AND into Evan’s truck.

Now we can rest assured the house will be warm and toasty come winter!

Your friend on a western Colorado farm,

Linda

P.S.  We have decided we are NOT going to do wood this way ever again.  Ever.  Period.

The Shadows of the Moon—September 18, 2016

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setpembers-full-moon-4

The shadows under the corn stalks start turning blue early; promising chilly starts to the ‘morrow.  We’ve been waking up to temperatures between 36-38* f ( 2.22-3.33c) for the last two mornings. Although the days have warmed up to a wonderful 75-77*f (23.8-25c), sometimes, with a light warm breeze.  Perfect weather!

The night grows quiet, in the way only night can be quiet.

When there is a full moon, the cats are restless, you can hear the trees creak and crack, as their rapid pulse of summer starts to shrink and flow backward; into the roots— preparing for winter.  The corn leaves brush against the stalks making soft little sounds as they, too, dry down in preparation of harvest.

The heartbeat of the earth goes on, but softer, slower.

setpembers-full-moon-3

We are up and about,  in the last of the full moon’s descent—morning for us comes before dawn now.  Work outside shows blue-white breath, as the chill brushes our faces with icy fingertips.

setpembers-full-moon-2I watched the moon slip behind the backdrop of the Uncompahgre Plateau (Un-come-pah-gray.  The accent is on the pah).  So far our air is cold and dry.  Which is good–we have pintos down  — drying out, before the combine can run.

setpembers-full-moon-1The night ends in gentle peace.   Rapidly the moon is gone…vanished.

Just like an angel come to visit our earth.

From my world to your heart,

Linda

 

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The Adventures of Boomer on Friday—-I Got Company

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The coolest thing happened!  I got COMPANY!

Company just for me!

Well, not really just for me, but still for me.

scout-and-gypsy

My dog cousins Scout and Gypsy came to visit!  For TWO WHOLE NIGHTS AND THREE WHOLE DAYS!

Right at first we weren’t too friendly with each other, but by the end of everything we were the best of friends.

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I even got to go with Mom and Dad to my sister’s and my brother-in-law’s house and hang out with Scout and Gypsy, while Mom and Dad helped Kimi and Cliff move in.

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WE  had a BLAST!

love-the-beagleMom told me I was a very good boy!

Boomer

 

 

The Moon-Filled Night—Thursday, September 15, 2016

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As I sit here typing way, the windows are opened to the world; our air is filled with the smell of pulled onions.  The ensilage/silage trucks are busy upon our country road/the sound of the corn choppers carrying on the breeze.

Terry is out pulling the last field of the pinto beans…Harvest is underway!

moon-in-treeTomorrow is September’s Full Moon—The Harvest Moon.  Traditionally the fullest moon closest to the Autumn equinox is the Harvest Moon.  Sometimes the Autumn equinox will will be in October, but only once or twice a decade.

Boomer and I took our walk a little early last night…I really don’t know what the time was, by the silence upon the land said all the equipment, the workers, and the farmers were home. I loved the moon as it broke free of the mountains and filled the leaves of the willow tree with light.  My little camera doesn’t take moon shots very well, but I think the leaves helped bring it into focus.

sunset-thunderstormA thundering sunset had faded away and the night was upon us.  I love to walk at night, with Boomer…there is no worry or fear of the future, no terror’s of the evil being done in the world to people who don’t deserve such treatment…it all falls away…just Boomer and I and the silence of the night.

what-is-leftWe are about done with the huge load of firewood.  It’s a relief!  We are all tired of it.  Terry and Evan cut and I load.  Two pick-ups to stack and fill.  I am the stacker and the filler of the pick-ups.  Sometimes I get behind and they have to stop and help, but not often.  I guess I’m proud, of that little fact,…I can keep up with the chainsaws.

Two more days…the end has appeared!

My mother, my brother, and I used to walk down to our grandparents most evenings, in the summer and fall, (when I was young) and Momma would sing “Shine on Harvest Moon” us as we walked, if it was Autumn.  I loved that song!

I still do. I sing the words, to myself silently, remembering those days, as we made our way past the orchard to our grandparents house, where we would all sit outside on the big front porch and enjoy the last of the good weather.

From my world to your heart,

Linda

 

 

 

 

The Light Flooded Around Me—Wednesday, September 14, 2016

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Yesterday evening, Terry, Evan and I finished our load of firewood for the day and headed home.  We actually got done in an hour.  We are doing one load a night.  The pile is shrinking—thankfully.  And growing larger at each of our houses.  Maybe by Saturday we will be done.  We sure hope so, all of us are getting tired of the cutting and hauling of firewood.  :)

more-wild-turkeys

(Wild turkeys)

Storms rolled in again in the late afternoon, cooling the skies and bringing rain.  Still the pintos are doing okay.  By tomorrow the rain is supposed to gone for several days.  We will begin again in earnest after the storms get out of here.  (I would like to share with you a little secret….although it doesn’t look so: Harvest is grueling work–and dusty—and worrisome. Most of all worrisome)

wild-turkeys

(more wild turkeys)

the-world-turned-red

Terry and I had to finish up some stuff back out on the mud ditch last night, after the firewood.

The sky was stunning.

Darkness rolled up from the canyons, trying to fill the air with shadows.  But the light of the setting sun had other ideas.

The deepening shadows turned red and glowed in an amazing splendor behind and through the racing clouds over head.

Terry headed back in, with his load, but I stayed out there.  Letting the light flood around me.  The  silence fell in waves; the minutes with Boomer, myself, the light, and the coming night passed by uncounted for.  It was a stunning

From my world to your heart,

Linda