From Northern Lights to Thumbnail Plights

A geomagnetic storm moved across the U.S. a couple of weekends ago, and Jamar and I went outside together to capture them the night they were visible in Oklahoma. Of course, they're more visible in photos, so we kept trying different angles to get the best shot. Obviously, neither of us had seen them before, and it was amazing! This photo is unfiltered, btw!

Do animals perceive the Aurora Borealis? I don't think they do, because their eyes were fixed on Jamar and me the entire time we were taking photos. They were sweet to at least sit still, though, so we could include them in a few shots. They should have paid attention! Once in a lifetime moment, puppies!!

I remember reading an article 25 or 30 years ago about how Elton John loved having fresh flowers all over his house. To me, this always sounded like an extravagance that I would probably want to have one day when I was grown up. (Note that I was over thirty years old at the time, haha.) For the past two months, I have had fresh flowers---not all over my house, but in a handful of little vases in my kitchen and office! Usually they're leftover from a recent video or photo shoot, and I keep them and act like I'm Elton John for a few days after.

I got these roses from Roots & Blooms in Pawhuska, and they're called "Free Spirit." I love them so much, and I've been trying to find a place to buy the plants so I can grow them in my garden and love them and squeeze them and kiss them and call them George. Do you know anything about Free Spirit roses? Do you love them as much as I do?

Several things: First, why do I still refer to Fred and Rusty as "The Puppies" when they are actually five years old? "Bryce, will you feed the puppies?" and "Watch the puppies when you pull away!" and "Honey, how did we wind up with the very best puppies?" They'll be my puppies forever. Second, look at their perfect head tilt. Third, look at cowgirl Paige! I love having her home more and more, it's wonderful. Fourth, don't you love those two puppies?

I will share more pics of my garden as it blooms and grows, but for now I wanted to share the two beds I fully assigned to dahlias. I last grew dahlias in 2004, when we lived in our old house and had an old garden. I know it was 2004, because it was the year my sister Betsy married Elliot's dad and we had a post-wedding party for them at our place. The dahlias I grew that year have never left my heart and memory, and I am bringing dahlias back with a vengeance this year! I added little tags with the dahlia variety next to each tuber I planted so I can take notes about which ones I love most.

I started ordering dahlia tubers around January or February, and waited and waited until I could finally plant them in mid-April. (You have to wait until the threat of the last freeze/frost has passed.) Then it started raining almost constantly and I'd grab any window I could to keep planting a few tubers at a time. Time will tell if they will be able to withstand the Oklahoma heat and wind, but I am having daily talks with them to reassure them I'll do my best to care for them and protect them from the elements.

I have found that there is nothing more satisfying than going to check my dahlia beds every morning and discovering that yet another one is popping out of the ground. I would also like to apologize in advance for the dahlia updates I'm going to post on my blog in the coming weeks! I have a dream of snipping blooms and putting them in vases in my house so I can continue to be like Elton John without having to buy flowers all summer. 😂 And I want to share them with friends! Wish me luck, pray for me, and light a candle because if my dahlia dreams don't come true, I'm going to need to go on a spiritual retreat to get over it.

If you follow me on Instagram, you might remember that in December I smashed my thumb to smithereens. I wasn't chopping ice or cutting firewood. I was sitting down in my desk chair and scooting the chair forward. (Yes, I smashed my thumb by merely sitting down.) Long story short: The thumbnail bruised, swelled, made me cry, had to be drained, and eventually fell off. Now, over five months later, my thumbnail is back! Someone at the time told me it's a six-month process, so I actually came out two weeks ahead! Haha.

It's rusty, it's musty, and it's ours. It's great for those times we need to cook 24 steaks at once, which actually never happens, but at least we know we can if we ever need to! And it's also a great place for me to park my hoe considering it's just north of my garden. It makes a nice Kodak Picture Spot, too!

I had four of my kids home on Mother's Day, and that was pretty cool with me! Alex and Mauricio will be heading home later next week for a bit, and can I just say that my favorite thing about being an empty nester is that the nest is really never empty for very long. They clear out for pockets of time, just long enough for me to collect dust and get all my own laundry done. Then just like that, the nest fills back up with rather tall baby birds.

Todd was the first of the kids to come home for the summer, and he immediately dug out his jeans and boots and started helping Ladd on the ranch. After getting through the rigors of football and school over the past year-and-a-half, I think he's loving spending this time just getting dirty. And muddy. And manurey. Please keep our washing machine in your thoughts.

...And her name is Paige! As most of you know, Paige came home in January to work on the ranch full time. She's getting more and more experience in every aspect of ranching, from sorting cattle to weaning calves to fixing fence and water gaps to building salt boxes and a long list of other have-to chores. She's getting banged up, scratched, bruised, and clobbered...and time will tell if she's in this for the long haul! Ladd is loving having her home. (Psst. I am, too!)