Sunday Stills-Power Lines

This weeks Sunday Stills has got me thinking about power lines and how we are always trying to crop them out of our photo's and paintings.

Why not make them part of the art?

Now a days they are our life line, what keeps us connected and our modern world functioning, even with our wireless technology, we still need somewhere to plug in the batteries.

Perhaps in a futuristic world power lines will become obsolete. They could go the way of the steam engine and telegraph poles. People will gaze upon them and say to their grandchildren, "Back in my day power poles dotted our landscape."

Home Sweet Home

This will be our new home the middle of June.

We changed one of the tires before we brought it home, but look what happened to this one driving down the highway. We had to replace all four tires.

This trailer was built in 2005 and was never used. It was one of the Fema trailers and wasn't built very well.

At home we filled the water tank and low and behold there was a big leak. That is fixed now and a few other repairs.

It is cute on the inside and almost ready for me to start moving in.

Buffalo Gals

"Buffalo Gals won't you come out tonight.

Come out tonight

Come out tonight

Come out tonight

Buffalo Gals won't you come out tonight,

And dance by the light of the moon?"

We went to North Dakota for Memorial day weekend. It was so pretty with the green grass and blue lake. There are ponds everywhere from the deep snow they had this winter. It filled any low spot with water.

Willie lit a bonfire and everyone practiced toasting the perfect marshmallow.

The soil there is as black as coal. It's amazing! Everything grows with out being watered.Of coarse they get allot more moisture then we do in Wyoming. It rained hard Sunday night and Monday morning, so we where slip sliding away, trying to get through the mud and out to the pavement on the way home.

Civil War Reenactment

The Powell eighth grade class performed a Civil war reenactment today.
They did the battle of Gettysburg.
The drums rolled and the battle was on. The smoke rose. The cannon's and artillery's fired and many men lost their lives.
President Lincoln in his tall black hat read the Gettysburg address.
A battle was fought and history was learned by all.
Thank goodness for teachers who step out of the box with imaginative ways to teach a class.

Do you remember any special ways you or your children have been taught?

Trailer for sale or rent?

My house is starting to look kind of empty. I've been taking down pictures and Nick knacks. We will be moving out the middle of June, so I've been going through things trying to get the stuff we don't need either packed up or off to a new home.

Kids helping tote things up to the garage Do you see anything here you want?

We did participate in a yard sale a few weeks ago and sold part of it and I have taken some things to consignment stores.

We where going to have an auction, but it turns out we don't have enough stuff for that, so I need to start carting off more things.

The plan right now is to move into a camper trailer at the barn for a few months, so we will have to store our furnicher and things for awhile.

I'll have more updates as things progress.

Sunday Stills- Eyes

The windows to Penny's soul.

Do you see the sweet soul of a dachshund through these eyes?

I always fancied myself as a big dog person, from collies to German Shepard's. I wanted a big black Newfoundland.

Then one day at the post office we ran into some friends who called us over to their pickup to see a fat little dachshund named Lilly Bell.

They already had a house full of short, long dogs and had taken on this little dog to find a good home for her.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Well that's what happened between our five year old daughter Dawn and Lilly Bell. Of coarse we had to bring her home. She worked her way into all of our hearts and when we lost her a year latter to snake bite we where devastated.

I had never bought a dog in my life, but after having a Sweet little dog who goes everywhere with you, I had to have another little red dachshund and ended up buying a pup. Penny also has a very sweet personality and is a great companion.

If you want a sweet and gentle companion a dachshund would be a great pick.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Rolls

I picked up an "Every Day with Rachael Ray" magizine last week and found this terrific recipe for blueberry rolls in it. They turned out great and are pretty simple to make.

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

one 1/4-ounce package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons milk 1 large egg

4 cups flour

2 cups confectioners sugar

4 ounces cream cheese

one 10-ounce jar blueberry preserves

1. combine 1/4 cup warm water, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar and the yeast; let stand for 5 minutes.

2. using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar until fluffy. Beat in 1 1/4 cups milk the egg and the yeast mixture. Gradually add the flour at low speed. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead for 2 minutes. Place in a greased bowl and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight to let rise.

3. Using an electric mixer, beat the confectioners sugar, cream cheese and remaining 2 tablespoons milk.

4. preheat the oven to 400. Grease a 9-by-13inch baking pan. On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a 12-by-16-inch rectangle. Spread the blueberry preserves on the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Roll up lengthwise and seal the edges. Slice into 12 pieces and place in the pan cut sides up. Bake until golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

Top with cream cheese icing.

Yummy!

Windy Wendsday

We have a cold, strong wind blowing today. It started yesterday afternoon.
We went to a concert at the new High School auditorium last night and could hear the wind blowing. It was shaking lights on stage. As the 8Th graders where singing "Till the wall's come down" we wondered if that was going to happen.
Wyoming has had allot of oil revenue in the last several years, so has been building new schools. I wonder if they are built as well as the older schools? Sure they have fancy roof lines and modern architecture, but are they as structurally sound as the old block buildings?

The people in China have been protesting. It seems they built inadequate schools. When they had an earthquake last year, the schools collapsed while government buildings where still standing. China is compensating people who lost children by giving them $9,000 and letting them try to conceive again. With the strict restrictions on population growth the Chinese people are only allowed to have one child per couple.

We are lucky not to be born in that country.

Grease

We attended the high school play "Grease" last night. It was amazing, we have defiantly got star quality in our Powell high school!

I remember when the movie "Grease" first came out in 1978. What a great show, with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John. My friend Cindy had her Birthday party sleep over and all of us excited middle school girls piled into her Mom's van and went to the Elgin theater to see it.

It brought tears to my eyes when Rizzo sings " I don't steal and I don't lie/ but I can cry/ a fact I bet you never knew/ but I can cry in front of you/that's the worst thing I can do.

For a time Grease was the third highest grossing movie behind "Jaws' 1975 and "Star Wars" 1977

Did you know the scene in Frenchy's bedroom while Rizzo is singing the line about Elvis was actually filmed the same day Elvis Presley died?

Goodby George and Olive

George and Olive have decided to give up farm life and move on to bigger and better things.

They will be the new mascot's to "Ridge Runner Shoes" the only shoe store in Powell.

You see Julie's famous Guinea pig Winston has passed away and she needs someone to take his place. He was the model, advertising Ridge Runner shoes.

When George and Olive found out the job was opened they became very excited, chattering away discussing all of the possibility's. They where sure to be the best candidates for the job. I've got to warn you. they are a bit vain, always primping and gazing in the mirror. You know how those celebrity types can be.

Best of luck on your new adventures George and Olive!

Turn the page Tuesday-Peace like a River

Peace like a River, by Leif Enger is a great book. It is written in the voice of eleven year old Reuben and is set in North Dakota and Minnesota.

Reub's family sets off on an adventure to find his brother Davy, who has become a fugitive of the law.

This book had been sitting on my shelf for over a year. I am glad to finally open it's cover to enjoy this grand story. I'm going to send it on to my brother Todd then he can pass it on to others.

"Raised on tales of cowboys and pirates, eleven-year-old Reuben Land has little doubt that miracles happen all around us, and that it's up to us to "make of it what we will." Reuben was born with no air in his lungs, and it was only when his father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breath that his lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature."

Sunday Stills- Plants and Flowers

This is alfalfa. We raise it to feed cows. It resembles clover and is very high in protein, so it keeps them fat and sassy.

The chickens also like it. if they eat to much alfalfa the yolks of their eggs turn a weird green color.

Green eggs and ham anyone?