Colds

They are the pits! The scratchy throat started last Sunday...dealt with it Monday and Tuesday. Felt pretty good on Wednesday...that is until I got home from work. While fixing dinner I felt like someone dumped a ton of bricks on me. By bedtime I knew I was sick! So I have been home the last few days on the couch with my Kleenex, warm fuzzy blanket, hot drinks of various sorts, Vick's vapor rub, more Kleenex and a cat or two or three that want to curl up and nap on me.

And yes...my nose really is that red!

The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, so you can rest medicine isn't working, so I'm going to try a hot-toddy or two or three.

Snowy Stroll

Yesterday during my lunch hour I grabbed the office camera (because my camera was at home) and took a little stroll around the outside of our office building.

There are a few fall leaves left on the ground and this one happened to be all alone in the snow.

There are lots of little cottontail bunnies that live around our office building. This one left his foot prints behind.

The "red berry" bush outside our office door.
The snow from the recent storms is melting, but another storm is forecast to bring more of the white stuff our way.

When Day is Done

Hayman took a fishing trip a few weeks back. He didn't get to do any fishing due to the weather...too much wind, but he did manage to take some wonderful sunset photos. He snapped these one evening and captured some amazing colors.

(Photos taken at Wildhorse Reservoir outside of Elko, Nevada)









"May I never miss a sunset or rainbow because I am looking down" ~ Sara June Parker

Chilling Out...

Here it is the last day of November. How the heck did that happen? Time is but a fleeting thing these days. Ah well, sometimes you just gotta roll with it and do what needs doing and forget the rest.

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We gathered at my parents house for dinner. Cowboy M had the day off so he and his friend Kari were able to join us. He works shift work at the mine and so he doesn't always get to spend holidays with us. It just depends how his schedule falls. My sis and Kev came for a visit after turkey day and we had a great time with them, the visit just wasn't long enough though.

This was my first gluten free holiday. I found out this past June that I am gluten intolerant, so therefore, no more gluten for me. Going and being gluten free has made a huge difference in my life. The entire meal was gluten free...right down to the stuffing. (there were non-gluten free dishes as well, but I just stayed away from those) I made two pies and yes, even those were gluten free.

Kari made an amazing cherry pie. It was her first time making a homemade crust and she knocked it out of the park! Everyone raved about how good it was. I did sneak a taste of the filling and it was so yummy.

I got a little snap happy with the kiddos and took some fun pictures.

Cowboy M and Countrychick

Even managed to get a photo of me and Cowboy M.

We have been experiencing a cold snap here in our neck of the desert. Since the beginning of November the airport has recorded over 8 inches of snow in our area. Our little valley has probably received 5 inches or so. The temps have been in the low teens to 20's for day time highs and down to 0 or below at night! The freezing temps have made for some interesting road conditions at times which makes driving to work challenging at times, but the cold temps do make for good hot chocolate and a fire in the fireplace days.

I don't have any pictures of the snow to post...why you ask...well umm, I just don't. But it's supposed to snow some more in the next day or so and maybe just maybe I'll keep my camera handy to snap a few shots for ya.

Todays Funny

This is good to know!!


MEDICAL RESEARCH

Australian Medical Association researchers have found

That patients needing blood transfusions may benefit

From receiving chicken blood

Rather than human blood.

It tends to make the men cocky and the women lay better....

Just thought you'd like to know.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE CRACKED,
FOR THEY ARE THE ONES WHO LET IN THE LIGHT

A Ghostly Tale

As I sat last night at the new, very stylish wine bar in town, chatting with friends, we happened upon the subject of ghosts. She and her husband recounted a tale that took place locally. The husband (who works for the Department of Wildlife) was called out to investigate the report of turkey vultures roosting in some trees that belonged to a local lady. He drove by the house several times in the early evenings and witnessed about 30 or so turkey vultures roosting in some very tall, old cottonwood trees on said lady's property. He and the lady finally met one evening on her property and as they were standing and talking, the turkey vultures came to roost. He asked the lady if she had ever had trouble with these birds before and her reply was no. She became very quiet and thoughtful for a moment and then turned to this man and said, "I didn't have this problem until my husband hung himself in those trees over there," as she turned to point to the stand of trees where the turkey vultures were roosting. Several methods were employed to rid the property of the birds, but they returned steadily for two summers in a row. Finally the women hired a tree service to remove the trees and the birds never returned or were ever seen again in the area!

~~~~~~~~~~

"It had grown darker as they talked, and the wind was sawing and the sawdust was whirling outside paler windows. The underlying churchyard was already settling into deep dim shade, and the shade was creeping up the housetops among which they sat. "As if," said Eugene, "as if the churchyard ghosts were rising." ~ Charles Dickens

Have a Spooktacular Halloween!

Where Did???????

Excuse me...could someone please tell me where the summer went? How in the world did it get to be October already? I'm slightly confused...one minute it was June, I blinked and July, August and September were gone! I must have been around during those months (physically, mentally I must have checked out) because I have a few photos to share of those elusive months, those fleeting days of summer. Those months passed much to quickly, a blur in the rear-view mirror so to speak! Work kept me very busy this summer. I won't lie, it was taxing at times and there were plenty of days where I questioned my sanity! The beginning of September brought our local county fair, which is the "Big Event" for me work wise. I had visions of things slowing down after the "big event", but no such luck! The rest of September flew by in a flash and I still find myself very busy work wise in October. Enough about work...it is a job, I still enjoy it (to a point), I'm thankful I have it, but there are days when I just want to hide from the world and do nothing, but there is always "something" that needs doing, so hiding away is really not an option.

So enjoy the following photos as they are a recap of those fleeting days of summer that somehow got away from me.

Below: view from a secret fishing spot. This was taken on an evening when we just picked up and went for a drive to do a little fishing.

Countrychick with her catch. Hayman out fished everyone that evening. I finally gave up and put my pole away and just snapped a few photos.July brought three birthdays. Mine is the 4th and we celebrated with my parents before heading off to watch the fireworks. Countrychick took me to see Eclipse and it was the highlight of my day! (did I mention that I am just slightly obsessed with Twilight and Vampire Diaries these days! Must be some form of mid-life crisis!)

July also brought competition for Countrychick. She competed in the county 4-H shooting sports match and qualified to go to the state match. Someone is a very good shot!

Maggie joined our family in July. Hayman had been wanting a new dog since we lost our Cleo earlier in the spring. I knew I didn't want to do the puppy thing, so I told him he had to look into adopting a rescue dog. He found Maggie on Petfinder and drove to California to meet her. She joined our family on July 26.

She is a perfect fit with our family! She has found her "forever" home with us! Did I mention that she loves her monkey!

August brought the county dairy goat show. Countrychick showed her doe Fawn. They did very well!Countrychick won Master Showman of the goat show! She was very excited and we were very proud of her! September brought the county fair and many days filled with long hours of work, work, work! After the "big event" was over, Hayman and I snuck off for a few days to Idaho. We returned to Garden Valley. I needed a few days of much needed R & R. We celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary by renting a cabin with an amazing view by a creek. It had a hot tub...need I say more...Perfect!

We were treated each evening to several does and their fawns playing in the meadow behind the cabin.

This doe had twins.

Maggie came with us. She loves to go for a ride and this was her first vacation.

North Fork of the Payette river. The weather was perfect while we were there and allowed us to get out and enjoy the area.

A little R & R did wonders!

Summer Beauty

Two weeks ago, on a Friday evening, I walked from the house to the shop to retrieve something out of the big freezer. There was a summer shower passing through the valley as I walked the short distance. When I came out of the shop building this was the sight that greeted me! A beautiful summer rainbow! A double rainbow!

The colors were vibrant!
The end of the rainbow seemed so very close!
"The work will wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you do the work."