Sometimes there's a commercial that makes you smile

I know, I'm a sucker for dogs.  Sadie doesn't eat Pedigree brand dog food; she gets Science Diet.  But still, is this not the cutest commercial?  
Thanks, Wil, for this video.

Poor Mama Cow

I kept Sir Loin away from his mother for ten hours today, then opened the gate and let them be together. I expected him to go running to her and start nursing, but he was in no hurry. Watch the video and you'll see her kicking in discomfort, but he keeps on sucking, and she puts up with it. For at least twenty-four hours, I won't have to worry about milking Bonnie.

Jerseys are small cows, and Sir Loin's father was listed on Bonnie's registration paper as a registered Jersey. I have my doubts, though. He isn't even six months old, and look at the size of him compared to his mom!

Atheists need not view this video

I do believe that day will come.

I first heard this song sung in a Baptist church by a sweet lady who still lives in, or near, my town. I've never forgotten the words.

Perhaps you think you aren't making an impact with anything you do or say; but this song that I heard about thirty years ago has never faded from my mind. You never know whose lives you may affect with the simplest words, songs, or deeds.

Thank you, Lisa.

Just testing

Cliff's next-door sister, Rena, got a job she likes just fine, but she was working three twelve-hour days. She wouldn't have minded that so much, but the three days fell on the weekend. That pretty much left her out of the loop with friends and family, since the whole world has weekends off.

This week she switched to four ten-hour days, Monday through Thursday; so she works the same days as Cliff, only he works evenings. She's thrilled about her shift change.

We still go get her Doxie, Angel, when we go for our walk in the pasture. Angel loves the outing, but she's often distracted by some smell or other, and follows her nose away from time to time.

Someone mentioned in a KC blog that KMBC TV, channel nine, has a local spot to upload videos. I signed up on their website just to see how it works.

I took a very short video on our walk today; turn down your sound, because the wind noise is awful and I forgot to edit it out.

Oh no, not another Sadie video!

I know, I know. Nobody is as interested in my mutt as I am. However, I'm rather proud of what Sadie's been learning the past couple of days. She has this tug-rope that we call her "toss". I put her in my bedroom, shut the door, and hide her toss. Then I let her out and she finds it. So far I've limited the hiding places to the living room and kitchen, but later I'll expand it to my computer room and the guest bedroom. I think Sadie would make a good drug-sniffing dog, don't you?

Blue saying "hello"

I went for a brief ride today; for some time I've been trying to get a video that includes Blue whinnying. Today I was successful.

Early in the video, it appears that I'm falling off my horse. Not so. A dog jumped out of the weeds and spooked Blue a little (because I was making a video rather than paying attention to the ride). Blue jumped sideways about two feet and I instinctively reached for the saddle horn with the hand holding the camera. I only wish I'd had the presence of mind to show you the beagle that scared us.

Blue isn't bothered by dogs; it was the surprise element that made him jump.

With that said, here's a three-minute horseback ride that includes Blue shouting a greeting to some horses.

The peace of the country

This is an aerial view of our property, before we got the mobile home. (Don't you just love Google Earth?) The highest spot on our property is right behind the barn (the gray-metal roof), the furthest building to the north. Our mobile home is now about fifty feet behind that barn. The elevation here is 883 feet.

At the back of the property, where you see railroad tracks winding by, elevation is 732 feet, a difference in elevation of 151 feet. Just so you know what a climb it is up out of there.

I'd already been for my regular walk with Cliff today, but I took a notion to stroll to the back of our place. Sadie can always use an extra dose of exercise. I heard a couple of birds carrying on a conversation and decided to share. Turn up your sound and see if you can tell me what kind of birds they are, because I don't have a clue.





This is almost at the back of our place. You can see the railroad tracks on the other side of the trees.

I like the way the white of the sycamore tree shows up against the sky.

Oops. A huge dead tree trunk has fallen on the fence. No worries, though: the horses never come back here unless somebody is riding them. Cliff will get it fixed before long.

That truck, owned by the railroad, is equipped to travel on pavement or on a railroad track, as it's doing here. I had hoped to see a train pass by, but this is as close as I got.

This is the entrance to the valley where I'll start my gradual climb back up to civilization.

There's the other end of the valley. I usually stop and rest awhile, going up that hill.

Ummm, Sadie? Don't you think that stick is a little long?

Oh, and just a note to say I will reach the age of 65 this coming summer, and I've decided my age gives me the license to never, ever make another New Year's resolution.

Horses turned out to pasture

I have to tell you, I was disappointed in this video. The horses have been confined pretty close to the house and barn in order to give the rest of the pasture a chance to green up and grow. Saturday Cliff took down the electric fence that confined them.

I expected them to run and buck and kick up their heels, once they realized they were free. That didn't happen. When they saw that they could get beyond where the electric fence had been, all of them (starting with Libby) ran to check it out. But once they were across their former boundary, they simply put their heads down and started picking at the short grass.

Notice that Libby, always the ham, keeps coming close to me. She loves people, and she's a total ham. I swear she knows what the camera is. Watch her pose.

Cliff getting high in Kansas

I have always said Donald, Cliff's brother, was a bad influence. So when I saw him luring my husband into getting high, I took a video for proof.



The purpose of the "trip" Cliff took was this: he wanted to see if these lights got hot enough to create a fire hazard; Don gave him a bunch of them... 400 watts, I think they are. Cliff wanted to take no chances of burning down his shop.

Just a note: When I loaded this video to Uncutvideo.com, they wouldn't accept my description; said it was inappropriate language, or some such thing. It took me about five tries before I finally figured out the word "hot" is inappropriate. Sheesh.

Riding my horse through the graveyard (video)