A few things I've enjoyed this past month

A meadowlark is enjoying my new garden bench

We've had a very busy and varied and interesting month, to say the least, but its made it difficult to share much on the blog. Right now, I'm catching up on jobs at home. (Actually, right now, I'm feeling guilty about spending time on the computer when my chore list is nagging my conscience)  Trying to keep the yard neat and tidy is always tops on the to do list this time of year.  I really enjoy it all very much....even mowing the grass, for the most part.  It was made a bit more challenging this year because of some of the blustering storms that came with high winds and hail.  It made for lots of debris to clean up and waiting for the plants to perk up after being bruised from the hail.  The good part, is that we received quite a bit of rain and we have not been as hot as some parts of the country.  We certainly feel for all those folks who are on standby because of nearby forest fires!

I'm not sure what these are called, but I thought they were beautiful silhouetted against the water.

Beautiful wild roses

How many horses can you see?

Another happy pony enjoying the lush green pasture

Here are some very special people who made possible our recent convention at Devon and with whom we enjoyed some very sweet times this last month.

Is it a sheep, or is it a dog?                     I think it is a dog.                Yes, it is definitely a dog

I am a sucker for a good dog story.  I've always been proud of Fort Benton's famous dog, Shep, the true story of great loyalty and devotion shown by a shepherd's dog.  I've cried over a few dog stories, such as Old Yeller and A Big Little Life, because the dogs die at the end of the story.  I love stories about dogs who have heroically saved some one's life, and I admire dogs that are trained to help the disabled.  I have loved a number of dogs that have been our family pets.  Our current pet dog, Polly, is a dear and aged part  black lab and part golden retriever.  She has some of the best traits from both of those breeds.  Yesterday, she gave my grand daughters and I a good laugh.  We were enjoying a little picnic in our yard that Sarah had packed in my little picnic basket.  She had put in a few soda crackers, but none of us were really hungry for crackers, so they were given to Polly, who eagerly devoured them.  So we were laughing that "Polly wants a cracker"....
At Devon convention, a few good dog stories were shared to give a spiritual lesson.  One of the stories was told by Donovan O. about Rex.  He was out walking with Rex one day when they came across some little, cute and playful foxes.  Donovan said he was intrigued watching the baby foxes that seemed to be unafraid of man and dog being close by.  They should have been (afraid) because Rex didn't didn't think they belonged  and so he "took care of one".  I don't think the lesson needs explaining....I think you get the picture....things that seem little and harmless and cute, but really should be "taken care of."
Dennis H. told about three different dogs.....two with traits that are not so admirable, and one with very desirable qualities.  The first one was kind of a "dog eat dog" kind of a creature.  He shared space with another smaller dog, but he didn't like to share his food. If the smaller dog showed any interest in the table scraps, big dog would eat everything just to make sure little dog didn't get any....even when said table scraps included a lot of iceberg lettuce, as was the case in this instance that Dennis witnessed.  The second dog story was about a hunting dog.  Dennis thought he was probably a well trained dog, but it apparently was deaf to its masters commands until the master went and found the shot collar and snapped it around the dogs neck.  He didn't even have to activate the collar, and suddenly the dog had very good hearing and did exactly as he was commanded.  The third dog was a very well trained sheep dog, who did his job, almost without being told and responded quickly to one word commands.  I think you get the idea here too.....

Here's Sarah and Abby enjoying the above mentioned picnic in my yard.  Strawberries are much better than crackers!  Is that M & M's that you see in that little container behind the cool-aid??  Could be :-)

We enjoyed a visit from these dear folks:  Bob and Marilyn and her niece Michelle.

Until next time,

Linda

Happy Birthday to Eva and Happy Father's Day to Roger

  Eva loves her Grandpa Rog a lot, and Grandpa has a pretty soft spot in his heart for Eva too!  Well, I will have to say, I agree with them both.  So I'm using this post to not only show Eva's 2nd birthday party, but also to say Happy Father's Day to Roger.  Eva would like to keep Grandpa all to herself when she gets a chance.  Me too!  But a lot of days, we are lucky to get five or ten minutes at a time of his undivided attention, for you see, he has a lot of responsibilities and people relying on him.  He does a wonderful job of meeting all his obligations, helping anyone and everyone, always doing more than he would ever ask of anyone else, loving unconditionally and cheering others on and keeping calm with nary a harsh word, even when things go awry.  Thank you Roger, for being a wonderful Dad, Grandpa and Husband!

top left: the ballons fit right in with Jo's dining room light       

 top right: beautiful 2nd birthday cake, decorated by Eva's Mommy

bottom left: "are these trick candles??" 

 bottom right:  "now get those cameras out of my face and let me eat my cake!"

A fun birthday jam session
Eva on the drums with Abby at the piano, Sarah on the horn and
Maddy with the tambourine and Payson with the gourd shakers

Linda

Our Montana Skies and Mountains

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,

from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh from the Lord,

which made heaven and earth

(first glimpse of the beautiful and magnificent Mission Range)


Our recent bible study in Psalms seemed very timely considering where I had the privilege of being this last week,...


He will not suffer thy foot to be moved:
he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Isreal
shall neither slumber or sleep.

(The Mission Range)

The Lord is thy keeper:
the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day
nor the moon by night.

(the Sheeps Head)

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:
he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve they going out and thy coming in
from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Psalm 121

I was glad when he said unto me,
Let us go into the house of the Lord.
Our feet shall stand within thy gates,
O Jerusalem.

(Bears Paws Mountains)

Jerusalem in builded as a city
that is compacted together:
Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord
unto the testimony of Isreal, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord

(the Goosebill)

For there are set thrones of judgement,the thrones of the house of David.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
they shall prosper that love thee.

(the Sweet Grass Hills)

Peace be within thy walls
and prosperity within thy palaces.
For my brethren and companions sake,
I will now say, Peace be within thee.
Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will seek thy good.
Psalm 122

(the Highwood Mountains)

They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion,
which cannot be removed, but abideth forever.
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even forever.
Psalm 125

I took all of these pictures over the course of the last week.
Since the wild and wicked storm we had last week, I have been appreciating the uplook
much more than the downward look.  Our daughter Joellyn documented very well
over here, what the after effects of that storm are.

Some may think that Western Montana has a monopoly of all the beautiful scenery.
I do love very much the beautiful Mission Range which I had the privilege of viewing nearly every day of my fifth through eighteenth year, but I also love the beautiful prairies that I have called home for the last 40 years, and I am sharing these pictures thinking that you will agree; there is much  beauty here as well.

I would have to say, it is hard to imagine more magnificent sunsets than we enjoy here on the prairies.

This is a picture that was taken of the storm that passed over us last week.
I did not take this photo, but wanted to save it here.  Awesome, don't you think?

Linda

Birthday and a Storm

A Birthday

Roger's beautiful Aunt Barbara on her 80th birthday.

Family and friends gathered to honor Barbara on her birthday.
Here she is with her sister Ellen, four of her children (Roxanne, Bonnie, Linda and Doug) and two of her grandchildren.

Early Summer Storm

We stood on our porch and watched the storm until it got too ferocious and we took cover inside. It was fun to watch for awhile, but then our grand daughters became frightened and worried about their dog at home.  Their dog was fine, though scared.  Some plants and crops possibly aren't so fine.  Thankfully, Roger decided to call and insure our winter wheat crop earlier today.  Another funny coincidence, my sister who works for an insurance agency called asking for info about a hail storm two years ago.  Apparently a client was finding damage from storms past.  If he was from near us....he may have fresher damage to worry about.

Most of our hail was marble sized, but a few stones were golf ball sized.  Some were apparently big enough to break one of our windows on the side of the house that took the brunt of the storm.  This was an older window.  I have wanted to replace it....now we will need to for sure.  It did not break the inner pane...so no rain inside.  This storm was ferocious enough....makes me glad we don't live in hurricane and tornado country (at least I hope so).  There was quite a bit of rain too.  Maybe that will do more good than the hail did harm??  We'll see.....

Till next time, 
Linda