Whispers in the Wind

     Simple joys and tender cares can come from all directions when you need them.  Being THANKFUL is all it takes to start this trail of kindness rolling out.  Being thankful and seeing small details helps you find these smiles.

      Last evening, we had a wind and thunderstorm which gratefully took the temperature down thirty degrees.  I woke up thanking God for his gentle pruning.  Willow branches everywhere, but just big enough for me to pick up easily.  I would walk around picking up branches and stacking them in piles while marveling at frogs that seemed to be far away from their ponds, looking at grasses and trying to recall their names, thinking about places that need work, listening to the birds, visiting with the barn cats, watching dragon flies upon the ripples on the pond.
                                           God still gives gifts, even when we don't ask for them.
     Another simple joy in the country, is mail.  It's a gentle gift that let's you cross paths quietly in your thoughts.  I looked for a mailbox picture and didn't find one, so I quickly painted one(I'll work on it more later).    But in a modern day life, mail can come through your phone as well and I had special people give me messages that way as well.  Thank you friends.

Love on Father's Day

Happy Father's Day        

         When you think about the word, Father, what comes to mind?
Green golf courses in sunshine, Patriotic flags waving for brave Soldiers, dogs, a man's best friend, Cowboys, camping, fishing, 'Daddy's little girl,' and the song, "God is great, beer is good, & people are crazy" by Billy Currington.
          I was very blessed to have a wonderful earthly father.  He was the strong, tall, silent type who would never have to argue over anything and say he was sorry even when he was right.  I am forever grateful for my Dad, JBF.
         I was also blessed with a wonderful husband, who I thought was a wonderful father as well.  He was a great provider and once wrote a letter to his second son saying, "I love you more than life itself," as he lay in the hospital bed surviving pancreatic cancer.  I know because I was his typist at the time.  I am forever grateful of this gift as well.
          I don't think there can ever be enough Father's Days.  They conjure up all the lessons worth learning   if you had a wonderful father or if you know God.  We probably always remember three things from Corinthians,: and  in our darkest hours we can use these three to help us up:  find and follow Faith, Hope for heaven, and Love from and for 'Our Father'. Please visit the u-tube site below.
              God is the greatest Father of all and I found this on a blog called STONEGABLE,.  It is so beautiful, called, a Father's Love letter,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edl-2HUZYSQ Father's Love letter.

 
         Here are a few pictures of how it is this Father's Day in the west, for some ranch father's and grandfathers.

Nickie Swandal, Grandpa Marty, Wilsall rodeo

Mya& Mike(dad)

Mya Dailey

Nik Pierson

Kennedy Gibson, new boots

my H2o painting of Jessie Medearis

Just a thought, God written backwards is dog.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edl-2HUZYSQ  please watch

my watercolor dog silohette

Montana is Green...

Montana is green … at least in June.

        Usually our snowy winters bring us very green, lush pastures in spring.  This winter was very mild but  God made up for it with some great spring rains.  You never know what Montana weather will bring, just wait a day and it will be different, yesterday was 90 and very sunny, today, much cooler, 63 and partly sunny.
       There is a bumper sticker that says Ranchers, the first environmentalists, because they are conservationists in general.  My motto is moderation.  We water in the early morning, about 5AM and late in the evening.  We use to flood irrigate but new advances make it much more efficient and keep the creeks and streams from flooding over.  They really do innovate, it's fun to see.
       Montana is so beautiful in June, look in any direction and you see green.  God's country, another bumper sticker is the truth.  The days are the longest, so everywhere you look it's green.  Even when spraying weeds or cutting hay, I watch for young, new life everywhere.  This is a baby fawn amongst the weeds, mom or the doe isn't far away.  God's beauty is endless and given to us forever.

      Have a wonderful, green summer and God Bless.

Following the Fence line

Following the Fence line

Ranches that are well-cared for are the beautiful patchwork pieces of the Western landscape. 

Traveling down the dirt roads only gives you a glimpse of the whole range.  Being a rancher and having all that land to care for gives you "L2 R2,", love, loyalty, respect, responsibility.

Spring chores / work projects are overwhelming to most but if you start small you'll eventually make progress.  An old saying, "Good fences, makes for good  neighbors', is just the beginning.  It's a huge job and one that is always on your mind, all year long.  Other Spring jobs are just as important, like, irrigating, managing wildlife, spraying noxious weeds, cleaning out stream beds , creeks, ditches, springs, and ponds, as well as maintaining archeological artifacts like Indian sites, sheds, and old antiques.  Knowing what to maintain and what junk to recycle is always key, knowing how, helps pay, and lends a sense of generational time to the place.  

My favorite chore is checking cows or what I call 'following the fence line.'  Today we not only looked at calves, cows and bulls but also saw antelope and their newborns, wildflowers & weeds, a very fat coyote catching mice, bear scat, and a huge golden eagle flew above us.  We heard a whipper-will, curlews and a pair of sandhill cranes as we ate granola bars and sipped water.  It was a beautiful Sunday morning to remember.   

Flag Dates; Honor Country and Service

Memorial Day

     Thank you Abraham Lincoln for beginning this tradition, we truly must remember the sacrifice of the Civil War and all the men to whom country is second only to God.  Many thanks to all the men and women and their families for their service.

Charlie's loyalty, always raised for his brothers

red, white, & blue stars for CP 

 Flag Dates for 2015 (days to remember to raise up our stars and stripes to honor veterans ):

May 8   VE day (1945) & Truman Day
May16    Armed Forces Day
May 25   Memorial Day
June 6   D-Day (1944)
June 14  Flag day to honor veterans
July 4th  Independence Day
July 27  National Korean war & Veterans Armistice Day
August 15   VJ Day (1945)
September 7  Labor Day
September 11  Patriot Day
September 18  US Air Force birthday (1947) & POW/MIA recognition day
October 12  Columbus day & US Navy  Birthday
November 11 Veterans Day
December 7  Remembrance of Pearl Harbor Day

Dakota Love, Like Father like son, Charlie,Nik, & Ike

It's all about giving back, paying it forward, extending a kindness, whatever the phrase of the day is, I love giving and sharing.

               So when you sit down to eat, please remember and say a prayer for our devoted soldiers and their families.  Thank you.  Happy Memorial Day to you and yours.

the table is set...

Hummers

    Blessing Before Dawn

        I have been watching several little amazing creatures.  Listening is almost better than watching them; they sound like mini-miniature helicopters, their wings flap about 55 times a second.  Their heart beats 21 times in that same second.  They weigh about a tenth of an ounce and pollinate 1000 flowers a day.  What's really amazing is that during migration they can fly 500 miles nonstop.  Yet because of their sound they acquired their name:  Hummingbirds. The past few rainy days have really made all the colors of the birds brighten, the western bluebirds are a striking sky-blue as well.
      Chad Pierson was the first to introduce these little miracles to me as he was fascinated by them and had "the hog of all hummingbirds on his porch," or so he thought.  I have several drinking feeders for them and have arranged them to hang by windows I am frequently at, the sugar water is 25% sugar (boil 4 cups water to 1 cup sugar, from friend, PK).  They also eat insects.  All in all, they eat their weight in food every day and spend the rest of the time sitting and watching which requires a lot of patience.   Happy Bird-watching.

sipping amongst the greenery

A view from the backdoor

Green hummer

western bluebirds in the grass

A Mother's day on the Ranch

Happy Mother's Day 

         Mother's try hard to keep us grounded by teaching us manners,(enforcers of politeness and culture as well as taking care of home treasures), they show us greener pastures (making sure we don't stray for the wrong reasons), and encourage us to unfold our wings and fly.  It makes you think of angels.  Many of us our mothers to our family, friends and animals, Thank God and thank you.

I hope it is a wonderful day for the cow-mothers on the ranch too.