Mary from Duluth, Minnesota (the tip of Lake Superior), saw this rainbow and thought of me.
I think I am one of the luckiest people alive to be sent such special gifts–rainbows from here, there and everywhere. Thank you, Mary.
Now each of you can see this special present of love and hope!
Your friend on a Western Colorado farm,
Linda
Mom and Dad finished stacking all the firewood this week. We have firewood in Mom’s pile by the old basketball hoop, by the machine shed for Dad’s stove, and out by the hay stacks—just in case.
The cats and I always know that the wood pile means MICE!!! It also means Stewart and Stanley have a cool place to hide from me! (That part I don’t like so much.)
Then Dad took out the hay swather for the very last time this year.
(Dad keeps saying this is the last year he is farming-if he can find someone else to farm this place he is re-tir-ing from farming. He says if he can’t find someone he is just going to let it sit idle.—-Hummm I wonder if he really is going to retire from farming!?)
Then Dad and Mom and I…I go EVERYWHERE with Mom! Everywhere!
Went out to take care of the ends on the hay…Dad raked and Mom and I gathered the scattered ends.
After that we ate supper—and changed the water.
Mom always gives me the talk when we get to the water—“No rolling in anything dead, smelly or stinky, Boomer! Don’t run off. You can sniff around, but you come right back when you hear the four-wheelers start”. Then she gives me a kiss on the nose and we are off! Mom and Dad down the ditch bank and me INTO the corn field!
It’s cooler now, much cooler, out on the ditch banks. Also the grasshoppers are BIG and thick and nasty…they like to jump on us as we walk through the weeds, makes my hide twitch. I can hear Mom say things like: “Ew get off me you big ugly thing”! When I turn around I can see a grasshopper stuck on her shirt, or pants, even once in her hair. Dad always laughs about it. Mom not so much.
We are only watering the corn now. The pinto beans are close to being pulled so Dad doesn’t want the ground muddy.
There will be one more irrigation, after the hay is hauled and stacked, then this irrigation season is DONE!
Fall has arrived!
Boomer
A perfect gift arrived for me…all the way from the Black Forest, near Colorado Springs, Colorado.
There in the lovely forest they call home, in the perfect stillness after rain storm, was a gift of hope and love.
Elaine so kindly sent it to me, now I am sharing it with you.
Your friend on a high mountain desert farm in western Colorado,
Linda
We finally got all the firewood we ‘think’ we will need for the coming winter.
We’ve hauled, stacked, loaded, sorted, and arranged. We have some logs out by the machine shed for the stove out there.
Our son said he heard that winter was going to come upon us suddenly and last a very long time.
Only time will tell.
It was the coldest night so far last night. We woke up to 45*. The dew is thick upon the grasses and weeds. The air has a decided turn about it.
Still there is the everlasting light that surrounds us and the farm, bathing all with the start of a new day, or the closing of the old one.
Softly each day brings with it the sheer ordinariness, which is a comfort to the soul.
As always, your friend on a western Colorado farm,
Linda
The last set of Linkin’s (shared) pigs had her babies.
She got to help birth them (she helped with the first pig, named Apple); this one is named Cookie. I thought I had blogged about it, but I can’t seem to find where it was to link back to it.
She’s been with them every step of the way. From the second they arrived at the neighbor’s farm.
Mr. Chapman has been an excellent friend and champion to Linky. She was with Apple, even helping deliver the pigs —Mrs. Chapman right there showing her how. And now with Cookie. Linky even got to help deliver two that were stuck. The pigs are excellent Momma’s and adore ‘their little human girl”.
Sadly, Linkin even had to bear the loss of the pig in the front, when she had a heart attack and died. “Life and death,” Mr. Chapman explained “all goes together.”
For this little farm girl, now transplanted to a subdivision, she has been given the gift of both worlds. Terry and I will always be most grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Chapman.
Your friend on a Western Colorado farm,
Linda
I am humbly over-whelmed at the good thoughts, the congratulations, the amazing support of my publishing of my story: Boomer and the Mystery of the Missing Rabbits.
I
I graciously thank each of you for your continued friendship,
Love,
Linda
And of course I don’t know how to add this photo to my side bar….:(
Anyway I finally did it. It’s available on Blurb.com , if you are interested. The pdf version is reasonable…and the soft cover seems to be in the ball park.
It was a long slog, way over my head in ability, to create the book and get an ISBN number. I’m still not sure if I’ve done everything right. I guess time will tell. I started with what I had already written for the simple reason it it was written. ( I have other stories started, but not finished.)
Soooo I did it. A goal I sat for myself and then wondered if I made the right decision.
Of course life is about always learning…this was a BIG learning curve. That for sure.
Your friend,
Linda
There is just so much I can do around here —
Sleep in the dog house, first mine and switch sides and then sleep in the doghouse Fuzzy used to sleep in
Sleep next to the kitchen by the basement wall —its real cool there. Hot in the winter and cool in the summer
Get up and sleep under the rocking chair
Sleep in front of the car on the soft dirt…just in front. I don’t want under the car
Sometimes I well get tired of SLEEPING!!! Just saying…Mom…isn’t there SOMETHING we could be doing?
Just as I was whining this to Mom the MAIL LADY came driving into the yard! YAY! I love the Mail Lady! She always gives me a dog cookie! As soon as I got the cookie I woofed it down. I would have gone back for more, but she was already backing up and heading back down the lane.
Phooey! That didn’t last long.
MOM! I am bored!!!! I sat on the ground by Mom, while she weeded her flower bed. Then I laid down and squiggled up close to her and whined some more.
“Goodness, Boomer. What is with you?” Mom reached over and gave me a pat on the head. I thumped my tail and stared into her eyes. Then I whined, got up, and headed out on to the driveway. Once there I turned back around and whined at Mom again.
Let’s go for a walk, Mom. PLEASE! I am bored!
“Oh! You want to go for walk,” Mom stood up and brushed off her clothes. “Okay, that sounds good to me!”
It sure did!
Boomer
Not long now. One more irrigation then we stop the water.
The leaves are still showing green. We need them to turn yellow. And then fall off. It’s just a matter of days, maybe two weeks at the most.
Almost time….Almost!
Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm
Linda
“To say it was a beautiful day would not begin to explain it. It was that day when the end of summer intersects perfectly with the start of fall….”—Ann Patchett, Truth and Beauty
Your friend on a Western Colorado Farm
Linda
Life on a Colorado Farm 