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August News

August 27 - The Dreaded Windmills - I'm not a fan of these monstrosities, I think they use up way too much land for the electricity produced. Much better to have one big eyesore in the form of a nuclear plant that produces enough electricity for an entire area, built somewhere quite away from the general population, rather than thousands of these dotting the countryside producing very little electricity each. But...having said that, I must admit that they do have some degree of graphic quality when seen in such a grouping as this. I snapped this with my phone near McAdoo on my way home this evening from Lubbock.

Trip to the Mayfield's House - Today was a very special day. Mom and I, along with Carolina and Stockton, traveled to the Seminole area to visit Colby and her kids. We had so much fun.

A whole porch full of cousins.

Carli and Blaine are looking so much alike these days.

Carolina and Macy found that they had lots in common.

James' big blue eyes.

August 26 - Pleasant Evening on the Ranch - Except for the lack of rain, one couldn't ask for nicer weather in the evenings lately. Here are a few pictures I took tonight.

These low hanging clouds are just bursting with color.

Our milk cow, Belle, is enjoying her evening alfalfa.

Bedford and Virginia also get some hay. They will be going elk hunting in a couple of days when Nathan and Chris head to Colorado, so they're getting some extra attention.

The rest of the herd looks on jealously, while Rusty tries to get a drink out of the cow's water tub.

This sunset was particularly shy. It was just peeking out from behind the clouds.

Friday, August 23 - Family Walk - Another lovely evening drew us all outside. Even the horses tagged along.

Upside Down Windmill

At first glance, this windmill might seem okay. At least to those of us who don't know one windmill from another.

However, this windmill has a big problem. Sometimes this happens, I'm told by the Shannon Well Service crew, when the mast breaks. The windmill fan falls upside down.

This one had to have several of the fans replaced and other parts repaired. Chance Maynard and Cimarron are pictured here with the wheel and fans on the ground. Did you have any idea that windmills were this big?

Tuesday, August 20 - Evening Ritual

Hardly an evening goes by without Rusty getting to come in the house for a few minutes to see everyone. He always has to get in Nathan's lap and give him a proper greeting.

Two Nice Pictures - After the rain showers we've had, this little hardy hibiscus bush is blooming more than it ever has.

Look what came today - two photo panels that I ordered from Creative Memories. These wedding pictures are going to look great on my wall.

This morning's sunrise

Monday, August 19 - Trip to Lubbock - Carolina and I spent the day running some errands with Granny.

We love shopping at Market Street!

Saturday, August 17 - Digging Out the Cattle Guard - Periodically, the cattle guard has to be taken off and cleaned out. The guys had just about waited too long this time. The horses were walking out whenever the gate was left open.

This sure looks like hot work.

Guess what was hiding in the bottom of this hole? This beautiful Texas Longnose snake. They aren't poisonous, of course. We kept it a couple of days in an aquarium, but soon let it go. Since they are nocturnal, it just hid in the dirt all day long. Not a very exciting pet.

Friday, August 16 - Egg Stealer Caught Red-Handed - This bull snake was in Aspen's chicken building. She thought he was a rattle snake, but when Nathan opened the door and saw his head, he knew right away it wasn't a viper. The snake tried to get away behind the commercial incubators, but Windy grabbed him and pulled him out. We re-located him away from the poultry pens. We don't like to kill bull snakes because they seem to run off the rattle snakes who are competing for the same food. He had stolen some duck eggs that one of Aspen's duck hens was sitting on.

Morning Showers in the East - These approaching clouds made for a beautiful sunrise.

Wednesday, August 14 - Traveling Home from Tennessee - Today we drove home from picking up our two little ones from Tennessee where they've been staying with Atlanta and Jordan.

We stopped in Sherman to visit my aunt Edie and uncle Charlie Whitfield. They treated us to ice cream pie and a whole truck load of goodies.

Tuesday, August 13 - Fun in Tennessee - Today was a day spent with new friends and old. In the afternoon we got to meet Atlanta and Jordan's good friends, the Morgan's. They have a darling place not too far away.

This is Ember, the youngest of their three girls.

A very stylish outhouse.

The garden.

Justin shows the guys his blacksmithing shop.

It's time for a swim.

Their back yard runs in to the Buffalo River.

A Relaxing Evening

When we returned from the Morgan's, Carolina crashed.

Daniel came over to jam with Cim.

Sarah and Jeremiah joined us, too.

A nice end to a fun trip.

Monday, August 12 - Heading West - Not a direction, but a family.

Love this early morning shot of Atlanta's kitchen window.

Enjoy the beautiful pictures of the West's garden.

Local apples were ready today. The kids all picked apples and then went down the road and borrowed a cider press.

Cim turning the crank that chopped up the apples. Jordan and Hannah fed them in.

Laredo turned the crank wheel that pressed out the juice.

The juice was strained through a cloth. We ended up with 6 or 7 gallons of cider.

The dry apple bits were left.

CeCe fixed bean soup, biscuits and yummy peach cobbler for all.

Sunday, August 11 - On Our Way to Tennessee - This is somewhere in Oklahoma, taken through the (dirty) windshield as Windy and the boys headed to pick up Stockton and Carolina and have a short visit with Atlanta and Jordan.

Meanwhile, as we were driving, Atlanta had Carolina and Stockton busy washing clothes.

Saturday, August 10 - Kid Spoiling Alert! - Going above and beyond what any normal host and hostess would be expected to do, Atlanta and Jordan took the kids canoeing today.

Friday, August 9 - Nashville Zoo - Atlanta and Jordan treated their youngest siblings (all four of them) to a trip to the zoo.

They saw this "duck dynasty" limo on their way to the zoo.

Thursday, August 8 - Trip to Lubbock and Impressive Clouds - This morning the clouds were up early looking very blue and beautiful. I couldn't resist a few quick shots. I ran up to Lubbock to go with mom to the doctor for a check-up. We also hit a couple of estate sales. On the way home I stopped in Plainview to pick corn at the Macha's. Later, driving to Northfield, I stopped on the Silverton cap and took a few sky pictures.

Morning blues

This lovely long-haired lady accompanied us to the estate sales.

Clouds on the Silverton cap (that's where highway 86 between Silverton and Quitaque drops off the caprock).

Tuesday, August 6 - Coconut Soup - Probably because she's so upset that Carolina is in Tennessee without her....or maybe because it's so hot outside, look closely at the background in this photo to see what our little dog was doing.

Saturday, August 3 - Kids in Tennessee

Carolina washing dishes

Fish Stockton caught in the creek, called chubs.

Soup in the making

Trying to get the lid off of a salt shaker.

Friday, August 2 - So...What Does a Kid Do All Day in Tennessee??

Thursday, August 1 - Trip Back to Tennessee - Atlanta and Jordan headed back home today taking Stockton and Carolina with them. They've got all kinds of fun things planned.

Atlanta sent some pictures of the trip back to us via her phone camera.

Visit with the Maynards - Chance and Kayla and their two adorable kids came out this afternoon for a short visit. They were sad to miss the little kids, but we had fun anyway.

Hudson, about 7 months old.