The Trail I Walk...

 

The trail I walk is really only an old cow trail...sometimes just a dusty path made by cattle, and sometimes it is just muddy ruts cut deep by cattle's sharp hooves.  The trail is even, on occasions in the cold months of the year,  covered with snow or ice.

When I write about cattle trails I am reminded of the trails of the old west such as the Chisholm Trail and the Goodnight-Loving Trail.  Oh my, wouldn't that have been something to have seen?  As Ed Bruce wrote in The Last Cowboy Song, "We'll dream tonight of when fences weren't here."    

But, it is a sure fact that I do, indeed, walk where the cattle walk.  They know the best trails, so I just follow those trails, add a few loop-de-loops and there it is ~ Miss Chip's Trail, which is what I first called it.  And, we will just keep hoping that this simple old trail is never covered in concrete as much of the old Chisholm Trail now is. 

I never know what to expect when I head out each morning.  No two days are the same for life goes on and things change, even while we sleep.  Yes, even the trail!  Why, just this morning, Millie and I had to detour around an old fallen log.  It was a dead pine that lightening had struck a few years back.  I knew it would fall one day, so yesterday was the day.

 Hill Top Cowboy's  first paying job, when he was about nine years old, was riding his mare, Dolly, to look after a neighbor's cattle.  He counted them each day and reported back to the owner if  anything was awry.  He earned a dollar a day for the work, if you call riding a spotted pony "work."  He gave the money he earned to his mother to be used to buy things for the family.  He had lost his dad when he was only four years old, so those times were hard ones for his mother who, by herself, raised a family of four children (three sisters besides the young cow poke.)  He says, looking back, that the neighbor probably paid him the dollar a day just to help out the family.  

His story always reminds me of that of Ralph Moody, which he wrote about in Little Britches and Man of the Family.   When we married,  the young cowboy didn't have much to bring along  ~ just  his clothes and two old books.  It's not a hard guess as to what those books were.  Dan had read those books when he was a boy, probably about the time he was riding old Dolly on the neighbor's ranch.  

 

And, here is the Cow Poke, himself,  now living out his dream, but he has traded in his horse for one of those new-fangled side-by-sides.  It rides a little easier he says, and he's a little closer to the ground.

 "This is the last cowboy song the end of a hundred year waltz

Voices sound sad as they're singing along another piece of America's lost

He'll dream tonight of when fences weren't here

This is the last cowboy song...

Remington showed us how he looked on canvas

And Louie Lamour has told us his tale

And Willie and Waylon and me sing about him

And wish to God we could have ridden his trail

The old Chisholm Trail is covered in concrete now

And they truck 'em to market in fifty foot rigs."

"This is the last cowboy song...

This is the last cowboy song..."

~Ed Bruce

The girls over at Linnie Butts and Company are meeting the Bully Good Skookum dolls for the first time.  Just click on the old sewing machine at the top of the page to join the fun.

Thanks to all for stopping by...

Mary

The Garden Gone Wild...

 

The Zinnia Garden, also known as the Garden Gone Wild, wasn't exactly my doing this year, as most of you know.  I didn't sow the seeds.  They just happened while I stayed away.  And, stay away I did.  This little garden has a history of having ticks in it (ever since we brought manure in from the horse barn), and I was so afraid of getting one under my cast..  

But, once the cast was off, I was out here almost every day trying to salvage what I might.  About a week ago, I finally chopped and pulled the last of the weeds and grass out, tossing  them, as I did each day, over the back fence.  The cattle seemed to think that I was harvesting hay for them, so they would come every day to eat what was there.. They seemed to like it.

I think Mother Nature did a pretty good job.  I have taken notes not to sow next year's seeds as thickly as I usually do.  I did add a few old accent pieces before we did a little photo shoot.  Mother Nature had nothing to do with those.  I am not sure she likes rust as much as I do.  :~) 

I am adding one photo I found on my photo card of celebrations on the 4th.  The cattle and I enjoyed the neighbors fireworks while Millie hid out in the garage.  

Birds and Blooms...

 

While out watering the Garden Gone Wild, I couldn't help thinking how lovely the garden has become even after all the neglect it has had this year.  Last year's Burpeeana Giants reseeded themselves there, and I must say are just as pretty as last year's crop that was cared for in the best ways possible.  These zinnias are my forever favorites which I call the shaggy ones.  Burpee says they are "an impressive mix of  huge 6" flowers with quilled and ruffled petals in all the best colors."   

The hummingbirds are currently drinking around one and a half gallons of sweet nectar each day.  I have eleven feeders hanging which seems like the perfect number.  I am sure these little hummers have a few battles over drinking rights, but for the most part they feed peacefully together. They are the best ever in that way, which makes them quite enjoyable.  

The big news of the week, however, is that I saw a Painted Bunting!   When taking a little drive around the farm, my daughter and I just happened to be at the right place and at the right time to get a good look at it..  It was my first sighting here on the place.  Wow!  What a beauty!  Wikipedia says the Painted Bunting is the most beautiful bird in North America.   We didn't get an actual photo, so I borrowed one from the internet.  But, believe me, ours was just as pretty as this one.  I hope he and the wife are raising a large family here so we will have pretty little Painted Buntings all over the place.  

And, over on my other blog, Linnie Butts and Company are meeting up with the older dolls in our first "Blast From the Past."  If you would like to take a look just click on the old sewing machine picture at the top of this page. 

                           

The Longest Day...

Happy Summer Solstice!  It always seems to me that this special day should be a national holiday.  We officially ring in the start of astronomical summer later tonight with today marking the longest day of the year.  According to my calendar notes, the sun rose this morning at 5:58 a.m. and will set at 8:32 p.m.  Starting tomorrow, daylight will be on a slow decline, continuing until the winter solstice in December.  

 Sometimes we need all the daylight we can get...

And, sometimes, that's still not enough...

Happy Summer, dear friends.  I hope it's a good one for you all.  Stay cool!

Shades of Purple...

All because of a foggy camera lens on an ever-so-muggy day, it seemed I had missed out on some fabulous garden pictures. But did I?  Determined to see if I might be able to pull a bit of color from the photos in question, I took them to my photo editor to play around with.  And, I love the results.  I don't think even Van Gogh could be happier.  How about that purple!  I do think the pictures look like they were painted in watercolors, which I might be inspired to try to duplicate when my hand is more able.   

 

Our back yard surely is filling up. Each year, it seems, we add something new.  This year, it was a new clothes line which I am so thankful for.  The old one was only a temporary one and sagged pitifully so that the sheets sometimes brushed the ground.  

I like that the garden shanty is now brown.  I can't believe that I climbed ever so precariously up into the high places to paint it,  and, that during that time, I never made a misstep.  But this year I stubbed my toe  when simply walking across the shop floor and ended up in a hard cast for over six long weeks.    

A work in progress, this area in the backyard garden has pretty much been on its own for those six-weeks.  I am so anxious to get back to work here. Some of the plants I had meant to move may have to wait until fall or next spring. I can't believe I even considered, at one time, just mowing this garden down. 

Linnie is back again over at the other blog, which can be reached by clicking on the picture at the top of this page.  She is happy to have a dress of her own and would love to show it off.  

Now, I need to clean up the sewing room and get ready for my appointment  first thing Monday morning.  Good bye, old cast, and good riddance!  YAY!

June is bustin' out all over....

 

June is bustin' out all over...

~Oscar Hammerstein III

Elvish singing is not a thing to miss, in June under the stars, not if you care for such things.

~J.R.R. Tolkien

And, it's a fact, June is bustin' out all over here on our hill.  Just ask this big fat bumble bee.  

And, if I were to start believing in elves, June would be the month to begin, don't you think?    I am just about to start reading J.R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.  That should get my mind right ~ just perfect for singing with elves in June under the stars.

I feel like I was pretty much robbed of the merry month of May, but, if the good Lord is willing, I'll not be denied the wonderful month of June...even if the Doc should say as he did last visit, "Nay, nay...too soon."  Dan says he has a pair of side cutters that will take care of that old cast.  :~)  

I am feeling quite excited and confident that this coming week will see the end of it.  My hand /arm wants out of there...maybe like a butterfly wants out of its old chrysalis to be free...........  Oh to be free!

There are some things that have helped keep me going ~ things like my mom's Good Luck jar which is always beside me here at my desk.  I have always been pretty good at finding four-leaf clovers, so one day I went out to look and came back with five.  It seemed to be a good omen that all was going to be fine.

Mom's Good Luck Jar...

One of my blogging friends has sent lots of pretty cards and letters.  You just should see the hand-written and hand-stamped cards and letters.  The envelopes themselves are works of art!  

And then, another friend sent this lucky feather.  It really is....  from a very special and lucky goose.  It is a real prize and fits right into my collection of important stuff.  It keeps me happy!  

My beautiful purple cast along with a stack of very important slow mail.  Pen pals are the best!

Sam's Feather.

And lastly, thanks to the Doc for giving me a purple cast.  I don't think I could have endured all these days with an ugly one.  Now, if I can only find a pretty purple dress in which to celebrate!

And, a special thanks to all of you who have stopped by here on the hill.  I hope your brand new month is off to a great start.  Take care, and as I will always say, "Watch your step.  You never know what might trip you up."  

Happy Trails, Dear Friends!

Mary