Grandma's Girls

These two little ones came and spent some time with us on the farm over the weekend.
Lots of slobbery kisses and baby food everywhere!

Yellow Blackdiamond watermelon

Goes straight to the tummy! We've had an abundance of yellow squash and peppers too.

Fussy

What do you do with a fussy baby? You find Winnie the Pooh on You*tube and she's entertained for at least a few minutes!

Old Cat

Everybody needs a Gray-Cat. That's his name and he answers to it too. He's even makes sure my jeans are pressed when I throw them outside to dry. And he makes sure these flowers only lean towards the north.

Moving Day

Believe it or not, this is the only picture I took of us moving Troy to Stillwater. I took this picture and then set my camera down....and it didn't get picked up again. Every time I thought about taking a picture...the tears came. He's settled into the 11th floor of his dorm building. He's had one day of school and said things are going good. I don't even want to know what his books cost...just charge them to the account and it all gets paid in the end.

CountDown

6--that's SIX days until we move Troy to Stillwater. I've had people tell me that it'll be great, but with each one of mine...it's gonna be sad.

Thankfully, I'm gonna be on the road a lot this week...it'll keep my mind busy.

BTW---how do you like my new look? If you see a little box in the upper-left corner of the screen, it's the gal who does the work on these.
I LIKE IT!

Red Hills

Forgive the utility pole--it jumped right out there.

And they turn those red hills into really neat things.

This is on the north side of Granite, Oklahoma. World's Largest Bust...is what they claim.
Red dirt AND red hills...aren't we special!

The Breaks

This is what they call the levels in the hills out in Western Oklahoma. The breaks or levels of rocks are very pretty and make the drive a lot more interesting than the flat lands where I live.

No matter where you go....why is the grass always greener out on the highway?

Once upon a time...

This must've been a very busy place! Notice the old windows in the store, and the light fixtures still on the building. The neon sign was still in good shape. If only walls could talk.

Hollis

This little town is about as far south and west as you can go in Oklahoma. I drove past this church and just had to drive around the block for another view. Would've loved to go inside. This church definitely has history. The big stain glass window faces the east---I'm sure it's georgous in the mornings.

An interesting fact about the town of Hollis: The town is the location of the only school district in the whole county.

Miss Mia

Mia is now 6 months old and is such a sweet little thing. We're so lucky to have two sweet little girls in our life.

Itty-Bitty

That is what we call this little sweetheart. She's now 8 months old and is growing so fast. She'll always be our Itty-Bitty She's also "Miss Sober". She takes everybody in and stares you down with those big blue eyes.

Eric-On the Road

It's a town way out in central west Oklahoma. Eric, Oklahoma is the place where Roger Miller was raised.

If you don't know who Roger Miller is, do a Google search and you'll know more than you ever thought possible. I'd sing "King of the road" for you, but it would hurt your ears.

His family still live in the area and they're doing a good job of keeping his memory alive.

She's Alive!

Okay..yes, I'm here but work is absolutely nuts right now. Besides it almost being our end of year, I've been on the road a lot.

I have been carrying my camera with me...there's some really weird/strange/interesting things in some of the small towns I go thru, so I've started snapping some pictures. Since I haven't sewn a whole lot this summer I'm going to start posting some pictures from my part of the world.

Before I do that, I found some harvest pictures I don't think I've posted before. Harvest was about 1/2 of what it normally is, but we're farmers and we work the ground again and again and pray that next year is better.

Just a quick update....

Yes, I know I'm behind on posting. I've been having trouble keeping laundry caught up too.

Troy is now enrolled as a freshman at OSU. He had a full scholarship at another college (about 5 miles from the house), but you know how kids are. So, I may be looking for another job to pay for this education of my youngest.

Harvest is officially over. Yes, I've said that before but it's nice to have the combines in the barn. Actually, the guys have even worked the ground once. We are also double-planting this year--a crop called milo (or maize). It's a grain used for feed (also in birdseed). Since the wheat was so pitiful we're hoping the double-crop will help pay some more bills. Anybody else understand the concept of spending money to make money?

An accomplishment on my part: I've given up coffee and all pop. After major (MAJOR) kidney and bladder problems, the doctor has decided that I drink too much coffee. He also said that it would be better if I gave up the diet Coke too. Honestly, it was easier than expected. I'm also not good at limits..it's all or nothing. Guess being on CIPRO for the rest of my life isn't an option, so I'll give it up. Doc said to stick to water, fruit drinks and liquids that are clear.... so, rum in cranberry juice is pretty good actually. Something that I've noticed since the two months off of caffeine...my skin feels different and food tastes different. Kinda like the coffee isn't in my taste buds anymore.

I have a couple of quilty-projects that are almost finished and I should post some pictures. Hopefully soon...real soon.

...do you say POP or SODA or COLA?

Harvest 2009

Wheat harvest this year....in one word...it was AWFUL! And, thank goodness for insurance. We had an early spring freeze and it really zapped the crop. The wind turbines and clouds made better pictures than the wheat.

We cut 1500 acres of wheat---cutting about 100 acres a day IF we don't break down, and this year we broke down a lot. My old combine is now classified as obsolite and it's getting harder to get parts for her. One breakdown sent us to Dallas (4 hr trip one day) to get parts, so I can see a newer combine in the future.

Thank goodness for boys who can repair whatever Mom tears up. I took a corner a little too sharp and hit a terrace. Did a little bending on some metal parts and took a welder to put it back in place. Poor Troy. It was a standing joke "what is Mom going to tear up today".

No, we're not done either. A rain shower came through Saturday evening and we had to stop. Hopfully we'll get done in the next few days and this harvest will be history. Next year will be better or at least we hope so.

Outside

The last few weeks have been in preparation; first for graduation and now for harvest. The prospect of having visitors at the house made me get my french doors painted. I used a Sherwin Williams paint called Stolen Kiss....love the color, but hated the humiditiy when trying to paint. This is the final outcome. AND...if you see a thin spot...keep it to yourself. I've been promised that the metal chairs will be painted too...sometime.
This is the view of #1--my slow-starting garden and #2--wheat trucks getting worked on.
The garden is about where my old kitchen use to be in the old house. Oh, BTW..I went and visited my old house. That'll be another post someday.

Does anybody else have a 4440 JD tractor in their backyard? Since the yard was going to be tilled up, Troy and I moved all of the playground equipment out. It probably won't get done until this fall. But, if I keep pushing it'll get done eventually...maybe.

This is MY combine being worked on. They're leaving the door opened on it to air out---yep, mice can leave a horrible smell behind. Hope it's gone by the time I get to the field with the combine. You can see the other combine inside the shop building. It's ready to go to the field as soon as the wheat is ready.

I call the tractors Ugly Betty #1 and #2. They're ready to work ground as soon as the wheat is cut. THankfully, they're not waiting on me to drive them!

Another view of the combine. Am so glad that my JDeere mechanic is able to work on these things.

Harvest should begin in the next day or two. I'll be working half-days so I can run the combine...thank goodness for air conditioning!

I'll accept donations for my diesel bill.

On the wall

JudyL talked about taking a picture of what's on your design wall. This is my latest project and hopefully will get done as soon as I get back to sewing.

I can find the pattern link if anybody is interested. It's a free online pattern from QuickQuilts (if my memory is right)