Tea Party with the Girls

A Walk on the Farm

 It takes me forever to do anything with this blog because I am so inept at technology.  The downloading of pictures alone is enough to put me into a foul mood.  But, I did it tonight without any help from Alan although it took me about half an hour.  Curses! 
Our weather has been very nice (a little warm) lately and the yard and flowers are looking nice.  I enjoy being outside more than inside on summer days, so when Morgan sent the girls over yesterday afternoon I decided we all needed to take a little walk.  I got the girls an ice cream treat out of the freezer, washed out my yellow wagon, put a rug down for sitting in it, go my clippers and we took off up the back road to the mint field to get peppermint and spearmint for more tea parties.  It is really green.  The wheat is looking great - all headed out.  And in the background of the picture below, you can see one of the new pivots.

 When the girls came over, they had dress-up outfits on.  Leah's was good, but Lily's ballgown was a little long and as she trotted along the road to my house, she almost took a nose dive into the gravel because she trod on her skirt which was working it's way down off her bottom.  She just barely saved herself from a bad faceplant in the driveway.  The recent watering from the pivot made lots of mud puddles which caused Leah and Lily both much concern. They were afraid I would somehow accidentally pull them into the mud and then leave them there. They both insisted on screaming, "There's a mud puddle, grandma!" over and over again, even as we came closer, as if I didn't have eyes in my head. Usually all you have to do to stop the constant screaming is acknowledge the mud puddle and then they're on to screaming about the next exciting thing they see.  So our walk up the back road was all about mud puddles and wheat, and Leah saying over and over, "I want to get out."  I told her as soon as she finished her ice cream she could get out and walk. 



 Here's a good picture of the bunch of spearmint that I cut for fresh tea, and below is the peppermint which went into a pot last night and today I have been drinking peppermint tea all day.  I'm really proud of Leah.  She likes the mint tea with a little cream, sugar, and lemon slice.  Just perfect.  She had  three cups the other day.  I never could get Morgan to like it. 

 After we cut the mint, we headed down this semi-path.  It is not a path, just the smoothed dirt they dug up when they dug through the field from the pump to place where they put in the new pivot.  Anyway, it was good enough for us to walk on. 

By this time both girls were out walking and Lily was having trouble keeping up with Leah.  Dang those ballgowns!

The wheat is as high as Lily and soon will be taller than Leah. 

 They started to follow this pivot tire path through the wheat, but soon found that was a mistake because they both got stuck in the mud and Lily freaked out because her gown got muddied when Leah pushed her aside in her rush to be first. 

 So then we had to stop and clean off the sandals because Heaven Forbid if we have a little mud on our shoes!

Then Leah started jumping over places that she called "mud" which weren't muddy but she was having fun.  If you didn't know it by now, Leah seems to be pretty coordinated and sportsy.  I'm not going to say athletic yet.   And, of course, Lily had to try her best to copy Leah.  The funny thing was that when she jumped, she would jump right into the place she was trying to jump over. 

Then we turned on the road and walked back to home.  The girls got way far ahead of me running down the little hill, but then would turn around and race back toward me. 

When we got home, I remembered that I had a job to do and the girls helped me out.  Well, kind of.  All of what they picked went into their mouths.

After they had eaten quite a few, they lost interest in helping me out and Lily had lost interest in the lower half of her outfit.  Leah decided they needed some different footwear to go with their ballroom attire, or in Lily's case, what there was left of it.

  Yes, I'm talking about thigh-high boots, aka irrigation boots.  I've always thought irrigation boots add a certain panache to a girl's wardrobe.

There were so many to choose from, she went through four pair before she decided that these ultra-cool black and red ones were the ones for her.  It was funny to watch her try to maneuver through the grass.  At one point as she was walking the boot toes were actually pointed backwards.  And then it was on to the cherry tree.   The cherries aren't actually ripe yet, I think three or four days ought to do it.  But they're going fast because the birds are snatching them.  Darn those birds!

And then we walked around the yard - most my days come to an end by me walking around my yard.  These are what're bloomin! 

And then I saw these beautiful colors this afternoon at about 5:00 p.m. and had to get thes pictures. I love this purple behind that beautiful green field. The clouds were so thick and dark that we couldn't see the Tetons. Beautiful Colors!

And that's what I've been doing.  HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SOON!

HAPPY JULY!

The summer is jusst flying by.  I've been working in my yard almost everyday.  Now I love pictures of beautiful flowers and a white picket fence, and I know some of you do too.  The lupines and poppies are bigger and more eye-popping than ever.  So hope you enjoy these few pictures I took on Friday.  Since then, my salmon colored poppies have begun to bloom so I'll get those pictures tomorrow.  Here are some pictures of some of my prettier flowers.  Not all of them, just some.  enjoy!

 This poppy is about as big as Lily's head, and that's big for a flower.

Sorry, the picture is blurry.  These Lilacs are just so elegant.  Their perfume is heady and sometimes I have to just walk out to the front and get a big noseful of their heady perfume. 


We went to Driggs yesterday to Huntsman Springs resort.  There was a huge Fourth of July event  starting on the 2nd, involving an airshow, pig races, a dog show, BMX races, hypnotist, juggling, a car show, the patriotic band from BYU I, Glenn Beck show and last but not least, fireworks.   I didn't see the pig races, the dog show, or the BMX races, but i think I saw everything else and a little more.  It was warm and I was suffering from a bad sunburn from the day before and there was NO shade except for under a big white tent that everyone wanted to get under.  The air show was pretty loud and exciting to see.

 I have to say the early part of the day I could have skipped, but the evening was really great.  The band was exceptionally nice, because it's been so long since I heard a good band. They played some good patriotic tunes, but my all out favorite was when they played the military songs as a medley and asked for those people who had served their country to stand up when they heard their song.  I got tears in my eyes when I saw Grandpa Baum (Russell) from a distance stand up when they started to play "Off We Go, into the Wild Blue Yonder."  It was so wonderful to see all the people in the audience who had served in the military stand up and accept the recognition and the accompanying applause from the huge crowd.  Just plain "Awesome."  

Then we heard a good speech from Glenn Beck who seems to be a good friend of John Huntsman.  He didn't say anything political, just talked about how important it is to recognize that this country is a religious country and we need to keep it that way.  He said that God had given us this country and we have a duty to serve God and we can best do that by serving and helping each other.  Nothing wrong with that.  It was all good.

 Lily wore her Dora backpack all day.  She even slept with it on. 

Then there were the fireworks.  They were the best display I've ever seen.  Idaho Falls has a great fireworks show done by Melaleuca, but these fireworks put on by John Huntsman were spectacular.  By the end, everyone was screaming and laughing because it was so huge.  The whole show was coordinated with some pretty good patriotic music and the finale was one continuous diplay of firepower with the 1812 Overture booming along.  Really glad we saw these pyrotechnics.

Here are some patriotic quotes. See if you can identify who said them.

1. "Yesterday, the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America; and a greater perhaps never was, nor will be, decided among men. A resolution was passed without one dissenting colony, that those United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."

2.  "America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of divine providence on behalf of the human race."

3."The constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness, you have to catch it yourself."

4.  "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

5.  "Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace--but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

6.  "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty."

7.  "But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or to detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here."

8.  "These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."


9.  "Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country, let men label you as they may."
 
10.  "Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."


 
Mark Twain                        John F. Kennedy
John Adams                        Abraham Lincoln
Ralph Waldo Emerson         Thomas Paine
Benjamin Franklin                George Washington
Nathan Hale                        Patrick Henry
 
 
 

 
 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!