RRRRR - Rattlesnake!

While the Senator and theschoolboardmember
headed across the field to check out
some hay....

I stood around and watched the cows chew their cud. 

Then this little feller appeared!

He coiled.
I retreated.
Then I quietly stated,
"I think that is a rattler."

It's a long story,
but a cast iron griddle and an old magazine later,
we had that rattle!

(It's in a paper cup...drying out right now.)

For fear of anyone from PETA showing up on my doorstep,

I will refrain from telling you the part about how he/she got

smashed when I ran over him/her.

The Senator and theschoolboardmember decided
 they wouldn't ever want to get me really mad,

let's just put it that way.

I didn't mean it.

Really.

I didn't.

finally I'm back-to-bloggin'...

from the range, peace

kathleen

the handy "snake-charming" girl

Be Patient....



Dylan Joe Mauer Valentine
nephew, cousin, kee-you-tee, puh-two-tee
June 2011
Faribault, MN



Please be patient...

the travel bug has hit the brown family...

We've been everywhere man....

(name that tune...)

I've been everywhere man.

I've been everywhere man.

Cross the deserts bare man

I've breathed the mountain air man.

Of travel I've had my share

Man I've been everywhere

I've been to Reno , Chicago, Fargo, Minnesota,

Buffalo, Toronto, Winslow, Sarasota....

Faribault, Lakeville, W. St. Paul, St. Paul,

Minneapolis,Pengilly, Swan Lake, Hibbing, Grand Rapids,

 Orr, Ely, Embarrass,Owen Lake, Hill City, Rapid City,

Sturgis, Deadwood, Lead, Nemo,

Dalton Lake...

We're off to the Deadwood Rodeo for a week,

then on to see Aunt Stella in "Shy-Town."

Be patient...

The excitement will begin when

I start downloading photos and posting them.

(dad, you're just gonna love it!)

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

name that tune..."I've Been Everywhere"  most famously sung by Hank Snow in 1962, but the version sung by Johnny Cash has most recently been used in commercials for Choice Hotels.  just a but of trivia for you this evening...

Faces I Will Miss

Today was the last day of school.

Many of these faces I will never see again. 

Their lives will change over the summer, 

and they will not return to this school. 

These are some of the faces I will miss...

My girls I see while doing "bus duty."

My playground crew.

Favorite smiles.

My high school bus boys.  They make me smile.

Barney and the Bear.
That bear has followed me around from classroom to classroom
for about 15 years.
He hibernates all summer in my classroom.
I will miss his smile.
Barney, I will miss your sweet smile, too!

Shanny, Jair-bear, and Lily

Spring.  Love.  I just know she'll be back!

My little Sophia.  Love.  I'm not sure if she'll be back.



Now for this next, and final photo,

please do not adjust your glasses.

It is blurry.

I left it that way for a reason.

You see, Patrick will be "graduating" to the middle school next year.

Even though he'll be in the same building,

I still will not be able to see his smiling face on a frequent basis.

Plus, he'll be in 6th grade,

and I don't think 6th graders stop in to give Mom's a smooch on a regular basis.

O.K., here goes...remember don't adjust your glasses.

I want you to be weepy just like me!



Weepy.  It just makes me weepy. . .
Weepy makes me blurry.
Can you feel my pain?



Well, there you have it.

These are the faces I will miss.

Thanks for being there for me.

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

I Feel Good!

It's been weeks since I've actually had the chance to sit down and contribute a worthy post to the blog.  Busy.  I've just been so busy. It's been a good busy.

Here's the list:

• high school rodeo
• camping on the Big Missouri
• horse races in Ft. Pierre
• fishing on the Bad River
• battling really dumb weather here, in Western SD
• laundry
• cooking asparagus in 47 different ways
• seeding my front yard
• laundry
• kindle
•  a rummage sale
• the annual elementary track meet

I have photos of some of the events, so here I will share...





so there you go.

that's it.

five more days of school.

whew!

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT...

THE RATTLESNAKES ARE OUT!

I'm just sayin...

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

LOVE IS IN THE AIR

It's branding season,

and things are starting to brighten up around here.

After perusing the past few posts,

I realized there is a whole-lotta drab going on around here.

So,

I dug deep into the archives and found some old branding photos.

Green, blue, and bursting with color...

The photos I'm sharing with you today were taken about three years ago.

I think.

Time flies when you're having fun!

Loves branding season

First we gather.

Then rope.



Then wrestle, vaccinate, and brand...



Hang on, because this is where the LOVE part comes in...

Pa Carlson.  He's wrestling a calf.
He's also a little over a month away from marrying...

Ma Carlson.  She also wrestles calves.
She's handy and very much in love.



Love these horses.
I think they are lookin' for love. . .
(in all the wrong places...name that tune...)



Oh, look, another Ma and Pa Carlson! 
Yep...LukeandGeri.
They are getting married on 9.10.11.
Can you stand it? More love. 
He's a cowboy. She's a cowgirl.
They are both very handy and very much in love.

Father and Son.
Now hold your horses,
they are not getting married,
but young son there just GOT married.
Yep.
He and his darling bride up and eloped two weeks ago.
I'm sorry I don't have a picture of her. 
She is truly a "princess bride."
Don't you just love a good love story?

Marvin and Cloretta
True Love.
These ranchers were married almost 62 years.
Say it with me now... Six-tee, too, yyyy-ears!
Marvin passed away a while back.
This is a picture of true love.

I wish all the youngins a long-lasting love,

just like Marvin and Cloretta.

Yes indeed, it's branding season and

LOVE IS IN THE AIR!

from the range, peace and LOVE,

kathleen

the handy girl

Name that tune:

"Lookin' for Love"

Waylon Jennings and/or Johnny Lee

(The Senator loves Waylon Jennings!)

"Their Time Is Over!"

We woke to this on our back deck today

AND AT THIS VERY MOMENT

"Little Miss Spring" is screaming

to her team of tulips and daffodils in the locker room:

"Their time is over! 

It's our time!

Screw-em!"

(name that movie..."Miracle on Ice"...the great Herb Brooks...love.)



Now go out there and win that game!
Beat "Old Man Winter!"
We'll be rooting for your team,
Little Miss Spring!





Let's get fired up!

We are fired up!

Go team Go!

from the frosty range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

Visiting the Boys

"The Boys"

Due to crappy weather in our little town, we had an unexpected and extended stay in the Black Hills over the weekend.  So....when life gives us lemons..we make lemonade!

We have been traveling to the Black Hills for over 20 years, and with Patrick, we've been there every year of his eleven short years, BUT, we had never brought him up to Mt. Rushmore.  Bad parents...bad, bad parents. 

Actually, the day before we got married, almost 16 years ago, we rode our horses on a three-hour ride TO Mt. Rushmore. Does that make us nerdy? 

We have pictures.  I was riding my paint horse named "Nasty."  I still had a fun time! I'd show you the pictures, if I knew where they were...

Anyway, during our extended/unexpected weather related stay in the Hills, the Senator had the hair-brained idea to take a tour of the hills and stop to see "The Boys."  We drove higher and higher into the hills, took some "harelip" turns and then shouted...

"Look, Patrick, it's George!"

Hi George. How's the weather up there?

While the Senator napped in the car,

Patrick and I headed up to see the boys.

How Fun...A Mount Rushmore Wedding

This little wedding scenario brought back memories of when the Senator and I got married. It was just down the hill from Mt. Rushmore at Custer State Park. 

Sing it with Babs and me now...

"Mem-reeeees,

like the corners of my mind..."

I tried to tell Patrick all about it, but he was off and a runnin'.

He had found the binocs.

"Can't we get closer, Mom?"

"Now there's your sense of adventure, young boy.
Let's hit the trail!"

So closer we got.  We got so close we were looking straight up their nostrils!

Too bad it started to snow, and the visibility was a bit limited.

Too bad my camera battery got "exhausted."

But that did not stop the handy girl and the adventurous boy.

Some of the trails were closed, so we'll just have to go back again.

My advice:  Visit Mt. Rushmore on a snowy day in April.

You'll have the place to yourselves.

Good-bye, Abe.
(You'll always be my favorite...love your hair today)

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the handy girl

Fort Falls

The Ambassador had his annual Bull Sale over the weekend in Valentine, Nebraska. 

The Senator went down a few days earlier to help him, while

Patrick and I held down the fort at home.

We met up with everybody in Valentine on Friday afternoon. 

We had to travel through the Sandhills of Southern SD/Northeren NE to get there. 

Here is just a quick shot of one of the roads on our travels:

Oh boy!  We traveled on about 20 miles of this stuff.
Sand. Sand. More Sand.
love it.

anywho... 

On Sunday, after the sale, the Senator and I had some business to take care of in Valentine, so I took Patrick and his buddy, Rye-Rye, about four miles out of town

to the

Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge

(please check out their web page for more photos and info)

We had been there a buh-guh-zillion times, so both boys knew the lay of the land.

I sent the boys down the trail with Subway sandwiches, a camera, and a cell phone.

Here are the pictures Patrick took on the trail:

Patrick informed me of all the places fossils were found
along that ridge, so I marked them for your info...

That's my boy!  Blazing his own trail!

Up on top of the ridge, beyond the falls,
the boys spotted a couple of the famous
Refuge Buffalo.



It was an exciting moment,
and a great way to end a day of hiking.

I'm so proud of those boys.

They have such a great sense of adventure.

Gee, I wonder where that may have come from ?

from the range, peace,

kathleen

the  handy girl

If time permits,

I'll post more about our weekend in Valentine.

Keep yourself posted now, heh?