A little fun for today ... I've been tagged

I've been tagged

Happy Thursday!

Well our temperatures are dropping … almost 10 degrees lower. Guess I really have to get out the thermals now. Need to finish packing up the camp trailer this afternoon and get last minute things for round-up. Flashlights …ok, I’m getting older and my vision is going (well … maybe I’m exaggerating alittle) but when it is dark, flashlights are great to have. We have one! And we live in the country on a farm. Hello … I think we need more then one. So, I’m hitting up Walmart today to pick up a few more. Can’t ever have too many flashlights, chapstick or bottles of wine! (Threw that last one in for my scrappy friend Susie!) And let me add, a person can never have too much patterned paper or adhesive!

I have been tagged by Raechelle!

Here are the rules which must be posted on your blog if you are tagged.
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Here are 7 "quirky" facts about me:
1. I love cookies and have one a day .. kinda like a vitamin. I prefer to have it first thing in the morning with my cup of coffee or when I get to work with that first cup of coffee.
2. I have to have moisturizing lip gloss with me at all times. I confess, I’m a lip gl0ss addict.
3. I have to sleep with a window open no matter how cold it is outside.
4. I absolutely detest brussel sprouts.
5. I always read something before turning out the light at night.
6. I only like to write with mechanical fine-point pencils in my notebooks at work.
7. I start playing Christmas/holiday music on November 1.

Here are my 7 friends I am passing this along to:
Mel http://melaniecoop.blogspot.com/
Abigail http://scrappygirlinkc.blogspot.com/
Scott http://cotneryoung.blogspot.com/
Rita http://whatsallthehoopla.blogspot.com/
Christi S http://alteredambitions.blogspot.com/
Anne http://annecreates.blogspot.com/
Jayne http://roaminggypsybaby.blogspot.com/

Happy Trails!

Just love my cowboy.....

I was playing around with settings this other day while admiring the 'scenery'. My guy was out riding through some of the cattle looking for 'sick' ones. I need to practice using a 'steadier' arm and find a setting that lets me get some action shots. Any suggestions?

Fall Scenes

I absolutely love this time of the year for so many reasons. I wanted to share pictures that I've taken over the past few weeks. I'm pretty proud of my 'branded' pumpkin. I carved the brand on the pumpkin when it was a 'little' pumpkin and look what it has grown into! One thing about living on a ranch is my being able to grow my goodies. Everything, except the mums on the porch, are homegrown!

On a side note apples are overflowing in our home. Hunters have left us many boxes. Honeycrisp are now officially my favorite apples. They are so sweet, not tangy at all and just so juicy. I've been making apple butter, apple sauce, apple pie, apple cake, apple muffins. Any other ideas for what to make with apples???? Oh, and I've dried apples!

Round up begins on Saturday and I'm soooo excited. I love meeting up with friends, riding, being outdoors, getting dirty and just having fun. Cowgirl up!

Life is an Attitude

The next class I'm teaching is titled "Life is An Attitude". I'd love to hear from others their attitudes about life. What gets you through life? What is your secret ingredient to an attitude that lends grace to your life? When you're stuck between a 'rock and a hard place' ... what do you do?

I'm open to any and all comments.

Thanks!

I'm loving this weather!

I love puttting on my scarf, coat, gloves and warm clothes this time of the year. Just feeling the brisk cold air hit my cheeks is so refreshing and in my mind, my cheeks are rosy & glowing from the cold air.

Sleeping with the windows opened just a crack when it is cold outside is so refreshing to me. Snuggling under the covers, cuddling to stay warm and feeling that cold air on my face .... wonderful!

Yes, I'm one of them that love to wear fun hats in the fall & winter with bright scarfs and sweaters too.

I'm thinking some hot chocolate with snappes (sp?) or a cup of hot tea ... wonderful.

A Random Act of Kindness

I'm thinking I get too many magazines as it is (not enough scrappy ones though), but love my Better Homes & Garden. So, when renewing this time, I have the option to add two more 'friends' at no extra cost. I'm going to add a neighbor, but thought I'd give someone the opportunity to 'win' a subscription.

If you leave a post on my blog I'll choose a winner on October 25th.

Grateful for cows & more....

Ok, so I'm deviating from what the letter game but I've cows on my mind this afternoon.

It's that time of the year where we're being lulled to sleep by bawling calves. I'm loving it. My guy keeps threatening to sell the cows and head to Mexico, leaving me to take care of the dogs for the winter. Dream on Cowboy! Oh, and this is an annual 'threat' that I take so seriously. Every evening it seems like the phone rings and people are wanting to sell their calves. I love it when they deliver .... to watch them unload, sort and weigh. Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought I'd be living on a cattle ranch. It was a dream of mind to live on a farm, to have the experience my Mom had growing up.

Gratitude -- having my guy in my life. Now that is something I'm seriously grateful for. That man is incredible, although I've decided he is 'bipolar' (meant for fun -- please, not a medical diagnosis of any sort) when he is around cows. Cows bring out a certain 'character' in a grown man or woman for that much. Even I've been known to get a little loco around a cow when they don't listen to me.

I'm getting pretty excited for round-up at the end of the month. Seeing old friends, listening to Calvin's cowboy poetry around the fire or pretty much his BS throughout the round-up is pretty entertaining. A little warm-up from a nip of a flask. I get so hungry, sleep so well and get pretty filthy. I love it! It gets pretty intense and becomes almost a game of hide-and-seek with the cows. The first few are pretty easy to find, but after a few days, I want to yell out 'ollie ollie oxen free' and the idea is they'd come out of hiding, go into the corrals and load up, quietly and in an orderly fashion, onto the cattle truck. Keep on dreaming there Suzy Q.

We rode up at Penewawa this weekend. Pretty steep and quite rocky. I'm still 'test driving' the mare, Tippy, and she didn't 'tip' so I was pretty happy with that. Riding at the top of the hill with the Snake River flowing below us ... incredible.

Fall is definitely here. Harvested the garden this weekend and need to move the squash & a few other veggies into the cellar to keep. A couple more batches of pepper jellies, some more zuchinni bread/muffins to make, and I think I should be just about done with that part of the homemaking. Then it is onto making Christmas gifts. Oops, forgot about the many boxes of apples I've coming in.

Still so much I'd like to fix up in the home. Need to repaint a few areas of the kitchen due to my 'little' grease fire. Decided on a vintage cowgirl look for the 'girls' bathroom. Home is beginning to look like home. I've been living there for over a year now and the girly touch is pretty evident.

I saw on another blog a gal had listed what she loved about Fall, so I'm going to do the same.

• The autumn colors
• Cows (You knew that was coming)
• Being able to wear sweaters & scrafs around my neck
• The cool, crisp air
• Making stews & soups
• Putting flannel sheets on the bed
• The sun not shining in my face at 5 a.m.
• Decorating with pumpkins, strawbales & corn stalks
• Bundling up
• Getting cozy
• Hot Apple Cider
• Hot Cocoa with Peppermint Schnappes (sp?)