FF: Fragments of My Heart

I have been making a lot of wishes this week. So many that my heart feels fractured into a thousand tiny fragments. Here are just a few of those fragments.

I've been wishing I could go visit my mother in California. This photo was taken when she was sixteen. She has been on my mind a lot lately as she is in her late 70's and just underwent triple coronary by-pass two weeks ago. Thankfully she is recovering nicely and I can call and talk to her often.

I've been wishing I could make a trip to Hawaii to see my lovely sister. I haven't seen her in 28 years and miss her something fierce. Thankfully she is healthy and happy.

I've been wishing my visit with my dear friend last weekend didn't have to come to an end. She is the BEST!

I've been wishing for a magic carpet. Just think of all the places one could go if one had a magic carpet!

Instead here is what I did this week.

 I made a mini top hat hair accessory!

 I photographed a pretty pink flower and shared it Here.

I went for a walk around this lake.

I wrote a fun little post titled 'When Cows Fly!'

That is what I have been up to. What have you been doing?
Please be sure to hop over to Mrs. 4444's and keep on fragging!

When Cows Fly!

When pigs fly was a favorite euphemism of my Grandmothers. Growing up I am certain I heard it at least a dozen times a day. She was a hillbilly and a writer making for a rather interesting imagination and vocabulary. I soon learned that there was not a more emphatic no than 'when pigs fly'. 

For the first 40 years of my life I had no doubts about the aerodynamics of four legged farm animals. Pigs, cows, sheep, goats and even the family dog did not fly! It was a law, or so I thought.

That was of course until I saw with my own eyes that cows in Iowa seem to have discovered the joy of flight. Imagine if you would my shock at discovering that my Grandmother may have been wrong all along. 

It happened on a sunny summer afternoon along a two lane road in the heart of Iowa. My fourteen year old son who had just got his learners permit was driving when we saw a pick-up truck pulling a cattle trailer approaching in the oncoming lane. From behind the trailer we saw a flash of black and white sail through the air only to land in the center of our lane and casually walk to the side of the road. As my son hit the breaks, I exclaimed "What on earth was that?"  "It's a cow mom, A COW!" 

Just then a calf flew out of the trailer, and I repeat, a calf FLEW. It did not fall out of the trailer but jumped flying through the air. Landing smoothly, the calf proceeded to walk toward the cow. By this time my son had slowed to a crawl and was honking the horn as we came even with the front of the trailer. 

A third cow must not have been convinced she could fly, for just before the end of the trailer came even with us, the last cow jumped out of the back of the trailer and unlike the two before, her landing was anything but smooth. She was okay though and got to her feet and wandered off to join her friends. The driver of the truck must not have realized what had been happening as he never slowed down, and soon he was gone. To this day I wonder what he thought when he got wherever he was going and found his trailer empty. 

So the next time you hear 'when pigs fly' just remember anything is possible even if only a little bit.

image source

Storybook Island

Storybook Island  is a free storybook themed amusement park that was created by the Rapid City Rotary Club. Last Sunday we decided to check it out and here is what we found.

As you can see Sissy is not camera shy at all. Getting a shot of Bubba was a bit harder, but I did manage to get a few.

Lissa had almost as much fun as Sissy and Bubba.

Of course Mrs. G and I didn't want to be left out of the fun so we opted for a few random selfies.

To say the least we all had a wonderful time and definitely recommend others check out Storybook Island.

FF: Double TGIF

TGIF!

That is right it is finally Friday. This week I have been anxiously awaiting this day for a couple of reasons. One, it is of course time to link up with all the wonderful fraggers over at Mrs. 4444's and have a bit of fraggin fun! Second, I am leaving today for a weekend away!

When Mrs. G was little she was one of the biggest girly girls I had ever known and then she hit 13 and out of no where emerged the total tomboy. For the last fifteen years I have wondered where my little fashion queen went. Guess what? She is back! The poor quality of this photo can't completely be blamed on my cell phone, I was laughing hysterically as I took the photo because Mrs. G kept saying "Are you sure this looks okay? I feel so weird"

I worked like a mad woman this last week adding over 170 note cards and matching magnets to our gift shop.

This was taken a few weeks ago at about 8 in the morning. I remember thinking it was just to darn hot. Since then we have been seeing a lot of heat. The past week has been in the 90's and pretty muggy with I'm sure at least one day that was over 100. As much as I generally enjoy summer I am looking forward to cooler weather. Is anyone else ready for Autumn?

I am really excited about my post for this weeks Sunday In My City... yes I actually have a post already to go, and the title is Storybook Island. Can you guess why? 

That brings us to the end of my fragments and what better place to show off a few goofy faces.

Have a great weekend everyone!

I know I will!

Half Way

Wordless Wednesday!

Only two more days and I will be on my way to spend the weekend with two of my very best friends!

Enjoy the rest of your week and remember we are half way there!

FF: Crazy Summer

Hi Everyone!

I hope your summer is going well. My summer is really crazy, there is so much I would love to do and yet no time to do much of anything. Thank goodness for Fridays and Mrs. 4444's Friday Fragment blog hop. So let's get fragging!

Back at the end of May I considered taking a summer break from blogging however the idea just made me sad so instead I decided to just post when I could. Obviously, that has been really sporadic. 

Available Here

Maybe I need one of these. Time management is often a battle for me. Some might say I have poor time management skills, I prefer to think of it as being pace challenged.

The other day Miss M (my youngest daughter) had a doctors appointment.  During my rather long and boring wait I noticed this little sign on a nearby table. As soon as I read it I thought 'yep, that is exactly what I need.'

A friend that I haven't seen in years asked me if I could put up a picture without a camera in front of my face....lol So I have been trying to get a decent selfie with my cell phone..... so far no luck. So I played around with the shots I did get, here are two that I kinda like.

This next one I only liked after playing with it.

At the end of last month I found the perfect quote to add to one of my favorite photos from THIS photo shoot, and have been meaning to share it so here it is.

Have a terrific weekend!

Wandering The Hillside

I finally managed to get the time to go on a short hike in the hills behind our new home. Here is what I saw.

The prairie grass was nearly shoulder high on either side of the trail in some areas and when the breeze kicked up it was beautiful to see the grass sway.

Note cards and magnets of the Prairie Grass available here.

Viewing the hills through the prairie grass

In other areas it was barely knee high.

Looking back at the apartment complex where I live.

  Wildflower note cards and magnet available here

Wildflower note cards and magnets available here

I followed the trail a little way and then having forgotten to use some type of bug repellant I decided it was time to head back rather than be eaten alive by mosquito's and gnats.