BACK IN THE SADDLE! PRAISE GOD!

 The trail has been long and dusty, but the clouds are settling and I can see the horizon ahead of me more clearly these days.  Sorry for the extended hiatus...all is well now - Praise God!  Above is a new cowhide purse that I designed and had a friend sew for me and then I finished it off with lariat rope handles that I knotted in the gromet holes and frayed for a more organic look! I LOVE IT! 

 

Another new thing that I LOVE.......a piano! I grew up - although dragging my heels -  taking lessons from Mrs. Davis, our neighbor.  I am so glad, now, that my mom persuaded me to continue on with the lessons way back when...I haven't played in more than 24 years and boy oh boy, do I miss it!  I have wanted a piano my whole adult life, but it was never made a possibility...

Change is oh so good in oh so many ways!! 

Loved the recent rains - took this today after last night's storm...can you believe there is green grass and it's AUGUST!!!

Loved the different colors in this one! The purple sage is in its height of bloom - doesn't it look awesome against the turquoise horse bench!

This summer, the front porch got a new coat of barn red concrete paint and it definitely looks mui bueno!

 

 

Had another skin cancer removed from behind my knee. I have had it for several years and through the prodding of my friends, I had it removed!

 

The heat of the summer brought some snakes to water...don't worry, just a venomless one! (He was actually one of two of them that found a baby rabbit nest in the high grass and with only the shrillness of the baby's high-pitched screams, did we find them!  Got 3 rescued from the cusp of death and later lost one to a crushed spine...)

 

 

 Zack, Cole and Laurie on a fishing trip to Lake Texoma!

 

Jake and Talia in Canyon when Zack, Cole and I visited on our way back from Colorado in early July!

 

Supper with Mari, Talia, Jake, Cory, Cole and Zack - in Canyon...

 

Cory and Cole in Canyon! Such cuties!

 

 

Jake, Talia and Cory came home one weekend this summer and we had a great time together, riding horses and just being together!

 

 

Cole and I took a roadtrip to Colorado this past June to pick up Zack, who was working at Tim's in the mountains. We took two days to get there, and stopped at a friend's amazing ranch in New Mexico, just south of Raton. We had a great time and saw some awesome country on the way!

 

 

 

Our delicious breakfast the next morning - eggs, fresh garden tomato slices, biscuits and gravy with homemade preserves, fried antelope backstrap and thick peppered bacon! It watering my mouth now, as I type!! Amazing!!!!

 

My friends, Jeanette and Jimmie live in an old post office that's part of the old town of Farley, New Mexico that is on part of their ranch.  This picture is of the actual post office window where people would come for their mail.  It's an adobe/stone structure with a bunkhouse on the side.  The walls are VERY thick and the ceilings are low! It was soooo cool!

Their front room

 

 

Jimmie's horses

 

The back patio where we had coffee and breakfast. The long window you see is the post office window from the other photo above.  That's Jimmie, Cole and Jeanette...

The old bunkhouse on the side...I slept in there! It was perfect!

This is next to their place (the post office).  It was a nice home in its day.  I tried to talk them into renovating it, but as you can see, it is past its day of a good reno.  You know its walls could tell some stories!

 

The train depot (renovated) for the town of Farley, NM...I am standing in their front yard for this photo, so you can see that the depot and the post office were right near each other...

 

The view from the pass as we descended down in to Taylor Park, Colorado.

 Tim and Linda's house!

 Part of the downstairs...

 

 

 Linda's barn area next to the house...

 Looking down Illinois Creek toward camp from their house...

 

The hummingbirds were so intriguing to watch!

 

 ZACK - THE FISHERMAN!

 

COLEY - TRYING HIS HAND AT FLYFISHING!

 

BEST BUDS!

 

 

 

 One of the mornings was spent on a gorgeous, well needed ride into the mountains with Linda! Ohhh, it brought back so many memories of working cattle there so many years ago...

 

We had a wonderful time up there and it was great to see Zack again after a whole month of him being gone! 

 

What a piece of heaven it is up there!

 

I'll leave you with another couple good ones that are soooo true! 

 

 If you're going through something now in your life, don't worry, pray about it - let go and let God! He never promised that our lives would be problem-free, but He did promise to see us through whatever storms we found ourselves surrounded by. 

 

NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WHEN YOU HAVE GOD ON YOUR SIDE!