Company on the Trail...

 

It's not often that Millie and I see anyone when we are out walking our backwoods trails.  That is, unless it's someone who is flying overhead in an airplane.  We were standing on the banks of the big pond when that very thing happened recently.  I just happened to have the big Canon Rebel in my hands, so I turned it upward hoping to get a good shot of the gorgeous plane in the sky above us.  Undoubtedly the pilot liked that, so he/she maneuvered  the plane around and flew back over us, lower this time.  I got the shot I wanted before giving a big friendly wave.  The plane, thankfully, didn't crash into the pond, straightened out and continued on out of sight.   

Much to Millie's delight, most of our encounters are with  four-legged critters, some of which are  not-too-distant relatives of Mille.  At a distance it is sometimes hard to distinguish between her and her cousins.  A few days ago, she had, what I am calling, a close encounter with one of those cousins.  She had just chased away Coyote Jr. when Momma Coyote came out of the marsh and put the chase on poor Millie.  Thank goodness she is fast, but so is Momma.  Maybe you can figure out who is who in the pictures below.  

I have always had a soft spot, much to the Cow Puncher's chagrin, for these wild critters.  Lately, they have been out in the fields almost every day "trying to make a living" as my dad might have said.  They have been out among the grasses eating army worms and grasshoppers, both of which have been a plague for us this year.  I say, "Let those coyote babies eat."  Dan did ask me if I thought the big She-Coyote could outrun a baby calf.  :~/

A wise old Native American once said that the last surviving critter on the earth would be the coyote.  Given our experiences with them, we would probably agree.  They do, in fact, do what they have to do to make that living I mentioned above.  

We are really needing rain here on the hill.  We have been in a hot and dry pattern for awhile now.   To make matters worse, there isn't even any dew most mornings.  When Millie and I walk those old cattle trails, we are kicking up a cloud of dust behind us, for sure.  I can't believe I ever complained about getting my walking shoes wet.  I think it is time to start doing some rain dancing here on the hill.   How sweet are those rain drops below!

 

The Show's Almost Over...

 Here on the hill, we are beginning to get quite ragged, worn, and tired  from a long, hot summer.  When out watering the plants earlier, I kept thinking of  the words from an  old Merle Haggard song  I heard while riding around in the tractor a couple of weeks ago.  "The show's almost over, let me sing one more song..."  

The bees and butterflies were, in fact, putting on quite a show, just as the hummingbirds have been doing for a couple of weeks.  They seem to know, too, that the show's almost over.

The summer tanager that sang his heart out those long summer days,

has ceased singing now, though I still see him occasionally.  He was never shy, nor abashed to come ever so near to sing his sweet summer's song.  I want to say to him, "Come...Sing just one more song."  

Most evenings we have been watching Downton Abbey.  We started with Season One and are now almost halfway through.  You might think a tractor-driving gal and a cow-punching guy, who ordinarily watch cowboys and Indians, wouldn't care for such, but we actually are enjoying it.  I keep my eyes glued to the screen so I don't miss a single costume, but I most enjoy the goings on downstairs.  My favorite characters are Mrs. Patmore and Daisy.  I am quite sure I would never want to have servants, but if I should, I would definitely want one who would cook and clean the kitchen.  I will go now.  I have a pound cake in the oven and a mess all over the kitchen.  "Daisy...."  

  

There's a new post over at Linnie Butts & Company.  Riata has a new school dress that the girls would love to show off.  Just click on the old sewing machine picture above.  

High Summer ...

High Summer:  defined as the period of six weeks and two days from the sixth Saturday before August; the hottest part of the summer.  

Well, that is confusing enough.  This makes me wonder if high summer is already over.   It was awfully hot last week with temps near 100 degrees each day.  And, this morning's walk over the hill was absolutely delightful.  Why I didn't even work up a sweat and my shoes didn't even get wet.  Now, that's a first in a long, long time.  (But, checking out the ten-day forecast, it seems to me that high summer might not be done with us yet!)

Well, no matter, this is how I have been spending these days of summer.  It's really not such a bad thing driving around in air-conditioned comfort, listening to old Merle Haggard songs.  :~)  

FiddleyBits over on YouTube had an even better idea for overcoming boredom while working in the fields.  This video is definitely one of my favorites.  But, oh my, the vastness of that country ~ And, of the tractor too.  I am afraid a gps guidance system might get confused here in our rolling hills and I would run into something, like a tree or a pond.  For all you quilters out there I think you would enjoy this too by clicking here on  FiddleyBits. (You can skip the ad and get right to the video.)

She says:  Multi-tasking with my 1885 Wilcox and Gibbs hand-crank sewing machine and our John Deere tractor with a gps guidance system.  Probably a historical first!  Started string piecing a quilt pattern by Bonnie K. Hunter called "Talkin' Turkey."