Sunset Ponies

 

Sunset in Montana- It's a beautiful thing. If only I didn't live next to power lines- if I had more time/energy/money I would photoshop that out, but for now - keepin it real.

Cowboy Dishtowels

These are my new favorite dishtowels. My Mom made them for me last fall, before she had her stroke. She is 85, and on January 1st she had a series of mini-strokes, symptoms being numbness on the right side, and most scary, she couldn't find the right words for things, couldn't remember what day it was, or her own birthday. After a couple of days in the hospital, they decided she needed surgery to clear one of her carotid arteries in her neck- and they sent her home for a few days. Jan 6th she had the scheduled surgery, and everything seemed to go well, except that she was sicker than a dog from the pain meds. I had to leave the hospital to go get my daughter from school, my sister called me around 3:30 to say Mom was finally feeling better, and talking, and said she felt better than ever, and her mind was really clear. I arrived at the hospital, and went to check on her, she opened her eyes to talk to me, and her right side of her face was drooping, she kept saying her right arm was "funny", she couldn't feel it. I went and got the nurse, who just said "Oh, she's just been laying on it, lets turn over on the other side." I was very concerned, and I insisted that she was having a stroke. The doctor was called, and after CAT scans, etc, decided they had to re-open the surgery up and clear out some more clots. Luckily, we caught the stroke in time, and there wasn't too much damage, but she still doesn't have full use of her right hand, so I don't know if she will ever be able to make any more dishtowels. She keeps getting better though, and luckily she is left-handed, so I hope she is able to do some more stuff like these soon.

There are actually 7, one for every day of the week, but I had her leave the words off so I wouldn't be restricted to which one to use on Wednesday, etc.

My Mom the Cowgirl

Here is my Mom- she wasn't born a cowgirl. In fact she didn't even think she was headed down that path- she thought she married a dashing young pilot- when WWII was over, and they moved back to Montana, my Dad decided to buy the family ranch from his Dad, and she became a ranch wife not knowing what she was getting into. You can tell she doesn't know quite what she is doing, because she is out in the cattle pen in her rolled up jeans and saddle shoes. But she jumps right in and tries to hold the calf for branding. Except that she is only holding one hind leg. Very probably in the next few seconds after this photo was taken, the calf - not thrilled with being held down for a hot branding iron- used his free leg to kick the bejesus out of those white socks.