Ride 'em Cowgirls!

Our friends Kathleen and Rick graciously allowed us to bring Marley, Jenna, and Gracen to their ranch to ride their horse Blue.

Marley mounts up.

 

 

Kathleen, Jenna, Gracen, Dorothy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blue expects a treat for his work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gracen says "When is it my turn?"

 

 

 

 

Gracen finds some dirt to play in.

 

Ready for a bath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footloose!

 

 

Garden Blossoms

Squash blossom

Okra bloom

 

Purple Cone Flowers

 

 

4th of July Photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iced Tea

Dorothy and I were eating at a barbecue restaurant the other day. We were at the self serve drink station and I was about to fill my glass with diet Coke when I glanced over at Dorothy who was filling her glass with iced tea.  I normally don't like to drink ice tea in restaurants because it's so weak.  Very few people know how to make good tea especially restaurant employees. Well, the tea flowing from the spigot into Dorothy's glass was that dark reddish brown color of well brewed tea. I tried it and was surprised at how good it was, so good, in fact, that I commended the owner on his tea making abilities. It was the best tea I've had in a restaurant since 2004 when Dorothy and I ate at Tony's Caribbean Café (oh, the irony) in Asheville, NC.

Tea has become very popular in recent years, mostly because of the anti-oxidants. It is prepared in a variety of flavors, but for me I'll take the good old fashion orange pekoe and pekoe black (Lipton).  I won't bore you with a recipe because everyone has their own taste and preference.  Just let me say that it has to be strong and taste like tea, not water. Also, tea has not steeped long enough until the final product has a red color when held up to the light.

 We steep our sun tea on the roof of the pump house next to our

 lucky cow skull.

 

 

Here is how a glass of tea should look.

 

Gardening and Grandkids

My daughter Kelly reminded me that I have been getting the grandkids involved in my garden for many years.  Here are some photos I found in the archives:

Here Tara and Sami posed behind the tiller. They were five and six

years old at the time. They are now 24 and 25.  I haven't grown a

garden that big in years. I'm getting too old to work that hard.

 

A few years later they became tomato entrepreneurs.

 

 

 

Marley, Hunter, and Jenna have always loved the garden.

 

When I had surgery my son-in-law Burk tilled the garden.

 

Marley and Hunter picking squash.

 

Jenna was barely a year old when she experienced her first

potato planting.

 

 

 

New Potatoes

Gracen came to see us this morning so I thought it would be a good time to dig for some potatoes.
She's a true Okie. She hates shoes, loves to be outside digging in the dirt, and loves to eat southern food.

Gracen proudly holds up a potato she just dug from

the earth.  When I first uncovered them I said, "Oh my gosh,

look at those potatoes!"  Then, every time she dug one up

she would say "Oh my dosh!

 

 

 

 

 

We gave the potatoes to Grandma and she cooked them for

lunch along with some chicken and dumplings and corn cakes.

 

 

 

 

More Lilies

We have several varieties of lilies that grow in our yard. They are the main attraction for June.

 

 

 

 

 

Labor Negotiations

Hunter wanted to earn some money this summer and he thought he would like to mow the lawn. So after some intense negotiation we arrived at a reasonable payment for services rendered:  I paid him $20 and a stack of pancakes.

This was his first time on a riding mower so I stood at the ready

just in case.

Riding Fences With the Grandkids

We noticed two of our neighbor's horses in our pasture, so it was necessary to check the fences between our properties for a break big enough for a horse to get through.  I thought it would be a nice project for the grand kids since Marley (13), Jenna (7) and Gracen (2) were spending the day with us.

Two beautiful horses in the corner of the pasture.

 

Dorothy catches a photo of us as we ride by "checkin the fence".

 

 

 

 

 

We didn't find any holes in the fence so I'll call the neighbors and let them check their fences. Horses and cows have been known to find circuitous pathways that lead to our pasture.

 

 

 

How can you Tell that Summer is Near?

The hay is in the field.

 

The Lilies are blooming.

 

Tomatoes are on the vine.

 

Winding Down

On the 29th we took Gin and Dave to the airport and they flew

back to Arizona. We hated to see them go because we had such a

good time with them.

 

 

As the days warm up our neighbor's horses seek the shade of

their front porch

 

This is a good year for our Stella D'oro  Lilies

 

 

The garden is coming along. I'm looking forward to some good

meals from this little patch of ground.

 

The sky in this corner of Oklahoma is a color you don't see elsewhere.