A Rural Drive-By

In my rural world, a drive-by means something entirely different... it's basically a very peaceful, sometimes early-morning, rural excursion wherein I scout for suitable dirt road photographs.

Yesterday morning yielded a few notable subjects.  Here's one sample from over 200....

After: I expanded on the hazy look and added a vignette.

Before (SOOC):  the sun had popped behind a few clouds, and

there was a hazy look to the sky due to many tractors

in the area kicking up the dust.

Don't forget to enter the October country giveaway this month by responding via email when you receive notice of a new blog post:  Simply put in the subject line, Enter me in your October country giveaway!

If you haven't checked it out yet, read yesterday's post for all the juicy details and to view the photos of the beautiful rustic and earthy bracelet that Kayla from The Eclectic Element has made for this giveaway!

A Prairie Morn

Sunrise is slow and easy on the prairie,

with only a few morning sounds for accompaniment.

A farmer's dog barking,

the crickets finishing their night-time soliloquy,

the morning birds chirping, at work on their breakfast.

 There are always deer to be found (see their heads?)

Leave it to me to frighten them,

so that they distance themselves from my camera lens.

For some really awesome wildlife photography,

check out my friend Misty's portfolio.

Or her blog.

Misty knows how to sneak up on wildlife!

(Or else she's got a lens a foot long.)

 Barack and Fluff are always with me.

They are most definitely "morning" cats.

Fluff, on alert, as usual.

Today is a Wichita morning.

We need some supplies from the big city.

What's on your weekend plate of "to-do"?

Cowboy Country Mornings

This was our glorious blue sky yesterday morning, looking to the west from our front porch.

I imagine this is the kind of sweeping view that cowboys of the old west commonly awoke to see.  Unless they were in the mountains.  Then they saw mountains.

After all, they would be sleeping outside by a campfire, right?  No sleeping bags in those days, I'm sure.  Maybe a blanket roll, and a saddle for a pillow.

Today, Stormy gave us another "cowboy" view, straight off the front porch.  Just lovely to sit here with my coffee.

Jes' so y'all can see -- I ain't lyin'.

It's really from our front porch!

An Early Kansas Spring and Black Bean Soup

After a week of temps hovering in the 50s and 60s, we had our first spring storms last night. The line that came through our neck of the woods was the same system that had produced the first spring tornado near Hammon, Oklahoma earlier in the day. At one point, I was awakened by extremely high, (possibly straight-line winds?), with the rain blowing sideways and making much noise on the sides of our house. This morning, I noticed the winds knocked a huge branch out of one of the trees surrounding the house. Luckily, it was far enough away there was no damage to the house!

This morning began with beautiful blue skies and white fluffy clouds.  But there is more rain and storms in our forecast, and it appears that the sky is beginning to darken this afternoon again!  I was hoping the ground might have a longer respite, in order to dry up some of the large puddles and mud from last night's storm, but this is not to be.

Far be it from me to complain, however, as I am thrilled that spring is finally here.  How well I realize that Mother Nature could still throw a curve ball... last year we had a humongous ice storm on March 31!  I am thankful for our warm temperatures and beautiful skies.  And of course, I'm ever hopeful that I might get even more spectacular stormy sky photos this spring, who knows, maybe even a funnel cloud.  Off in the distance, of course. Passing by our house. Um-hm, yep.

If you enlarge this pic, you can see green winter wheat in the distance!
 

With the warm weather comes the urge to clean house.  Just a wee bit, nothing over the top of course.  I was going through some of my books this past weekend, trying to weed out a few more yet again.  (I got rid of a TON of books when I moved from Ohio to Kansas in '08.)  I discovered a book that my father had given to me back in '03 I think...  Spontaneous Healing, one of the many books written by Andrew Weil M.D.

I decided to read the first few chapters to see if it had any merit... and I've been reading it ever since Saturday night!  I'm fascinated and want to research more of Dr. Weil's philosophies and start applying them in my life.  Sadly, I have always struggled with eating the right foods, but his book is reminding me and reinforcing how important our diet is in maintaining our bodies.

Dr. Weil not only explains how our body's healing system is capable of spontaneous healing, but how we as individuals can optimize our healing systems - foods, environmental factors, exercise, stress reduction, vitamins, supplements and herbs all aid the body in maintaining its well-being.  There are also plenty of case histories which present irrefutable and inspiring evidence of spontaneous healing.  I personally like his approach as it embraces natural and noninvasive modalities; I've always been a rebel when it comes to taking very many drugs.  {The latest controversy surrounding Fosomax just serves to reinforce my convictions when it comes to avoiding drugs as much as is feasibly possible.}

I'm currently reading Chapter 13, Mind and Spirit - the book has 19 chapters, so I'm 3/4 of the way through it.  It's revelationary for me, and if you're interested in health and wellness, you will most likely find this book as fascinating a read as I am.  I highly recommend it.

One of his newest books is Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future.  It concerns the great healthcare debate and sounds like another great read so it's next on my list!  Click on the Amazon link to the right to find out more of this book's content.

I went to Dr. Weil's website the other day, and found his simple recipe for black bean soup ... I'm making up a batch this afternoon, and it smells delicious!  I researched different black bean soup recipes, so I've modified Dr. Weil's recipe just a tad by adding a few spices. I have always said "I don't like black bean soup", but you know what?  I honestly don't think I have ever tried it.  Since beans are so good for you, I've decided that I need to try more bean dishes, and today is my first effort to start eating a little better.

I'll give y'all a black bean soup update/recipe tomorrow,

with some photos.  

I'm hoping that I will find out how delicious it is, and realize what I've been missing out on all this time!

Just Another Country Morn and SkyWatch Friday

We've been so foggy for the last 5 or 6 days now. We are tired of the fog and yet grateful in an odd sort of way - it could be snow, or worse yet, ice. So I will smile and take the fog with its gift of a not-so-bad day.

The horses are grateful to see me in the morn... waiting patiently for their grain, some hay and alfalfa. I love my quiet time with them every morning, as they nicker and whinny and stamp their feet, awaiting their turn. After feeding the horses, Ringo and I often walk around the land, listening to the quiet, and watching our two cats run and twirl and play together.

This fog has made my morning simple... once I make hubby's lunch around 4:30 a.m., I usually fall asleep on the couch to the tune of the morning news and then wake up to watch Good Morning America.

GMA sometimes has new ideas worth noting.... did you know there is a new website from AOL called "Seed" wherein you can choose writing or photographic opportunities and make some spare change? SEED assigns, buys and distributes work for all of AOL's properties: more than 80 of the Web's most highly trafficked and respected websites, including the world's leading sites for music, style, TV, tech and more. Check it out; perhaps you'll find your next money-making opportunity there!

This morning I settled in for a cup of hazelnut coffee with my most recent Country Gardens magazine. Ah, to dream of what I want to plant around our vast property! We have many landscape canvases in need of color... tulips, daffodils, sunflowers and lazy susans, hollyhocks and marigolds... the list goes on and on.

I envision flowers planted along our road, under this tree break,
adding bright cheery color to our kitchen window view.

I think flowers planted at the end of our driveway will be
a welcoming smile when we return home.

After morning chores are done, it's time to plan my day. Do dog treats need baked to fulfill another order for the Lazy G Ranch website? Or is today the day I start sampling my cookie recipes in order to decide which ones will be added to the Lazy G Ranch website, for the two-leggers of course...

The sun is peeking between the clouds right now, so perhaps I will want to do something outside... maybe start digging the trench where I think the septic line exits the house, get a head-start before hubby gets home from work tonight? Ah yes, the glories of septic problems.... but we won't discuss that here and ruin this lovely country morn!

Check out SkyWatch Friday for more
beautiful skies all over the world!