Pasture Standard Time

Left to their own devices, cows don't hurry. The only thing a bovine does fast is grow. 

Blossom and little Buttercup then:

Now:

Wings and little Fred then:

Now:

"Let not the sands of time get into your lunch." ~Tony Hendra, Deteriorata

Plums and Vitamin Z

May's poodle tree proudly presents: August plums! 

If you're not from the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming, you might not fully appreciate the miracle that is locally grown fruit. Winter is tough on fruit trees; spring can be worse. To prevent scurvy, we pay ridiculous prices for fruit grown far away, picked long before it ripens, and sprayed with who knows what so it won't spoil before it gets here. 

Don't worry about us though. We can grow lots of zucchini. 

 

"Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit--you choose." ~Proverbs 18:21 The Message 

All Things

Sugar's overly efficient metabolism could not handle a recent escape into the alfalfa field. If only....

Diagnosis: laminitis, aka founder. Shudder. Countless what-ifs. 

Prescription: anti-inflammatories, 

therapeutic trimming, sand-filled stall and corral. Yes. Anything to help. 

Diet: no green grass, no alfalfa--ever. Sigh. I wonder if she likes celery sticks. 

Prognosis: no known cure, no guarantees, hopefully manageable.  "But with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26. I like the ALL part. 

"Is anything too hard or too wonderful for the Lord?" ~Genesis 18:14 AMP

Nectarines

My stately coneflowers only host the occasional butterfly, but we saw hundreds of little beauties flocking around the humble asters on the mountain. 

"For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation." ~Psalm 149:4 NKJV 

Lily's Lake

Lily loved hiking to and splashing through Lily Lake. 

Bodie had great fun too, but I couldn't get him to ham it up for the camera. 

"My father considered a walk around the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing." ~Aldous Huxley 

Summer's Trophies

I considered saving these pictures of my roses to share at a later date, perhaps mid-January when we've almost forgotten what August looks like, but I couldn't resist celebrating summer while it still is. 

"I think this is what hooks me to gardening: it is the closest one can come to being present at creation." ~Phyllis Theroux

Thirsty Cows et al.

I'm delighted and honored to welcome today's blog guests, Maria Lisa Eastman and Jenny Robinson! 

Thirsty Cows

~ By Maria Lisa Eastman 

Once I heard a man claim a crazy thing

Standing up in front of his slide

Mainly addressing a scholarly audience,

he said without a doubt

and at a significance level of point oh five

he had proven that cows didn’t need to drink clean water.

 

He told us that it turns out thirsty cattle 

trailing over clay-cracked earth

towards a glint of moisture in the distance

might just as well turn down a ochre road

and sink their burning noses into stone-colored water whose surface

is wreathed in bitter oil and slicked-up mud.

 

Amazed, I asked him if he had ever

plunged his own dry mouth

down into a lively stream

so he could suck the blue water into his belly

had he felt how it softened his hard salt skin

and when he surfaced

heart fluttering, and awash

hadn’t he felt his scorched soul come back to life?

 

I don’t think a cow is any different

From a fish

Or an eagle, a willow or an ash.

A cedar, a lamb, a spider or a swan

Not too different from us either.

Because what we all need is basically the same-

Starting with just a good drink of cool clear water.

 

Creek Crossing, oil by Jenny Robinson. 

~~~~~~~

"Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life." ~Revelation 22:17 NLT