Merry Corgi Christmas!

Hello world!  I survived the end of the world! And if you're reading this...you did too! Yay!

I know I've been absent (for the last...oh six months or so!) but I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Yule, Festivus, or just another day in December!

I had posted this picture of Annie wearing her reindeer antlers yesterday on my Instagram, but then my brother added the funnies!

Oh my sweet little red-headed fur-child, Annie! She was not impressed at all! My husband and I had just got done wrapping up some peanut butter rawhides and new squeaky toys for Annie and had placed them under the tree.  Annie was so worried about her new treats that she would barely leave the tree! The first thing she did this morning was rush over to the Christmas tree to make sure her presents were still there! What a goof!

Tomorrow, will be traveling to my mother-in-law's hometown for Christmas Eve.  Her family is Danish so we will be spend the evening dancing around the Christmas tree and singing Danish Christmas carols (seriously!)!! On Christmas day, our families will be coming here to the farm! Hopefully the weather isn't too cold and we can take our cousins sledding or drag them behind the four wheeler in the calf sled!

I hope you are amongst family and friends this Christmas, but I know duty calls.  So cheers to all of the dedicated hard workers out there who are working over the holidays! And sending much love to all of our family and friends that we don't get to see over Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Whitney
{Dirt Road Dreamer}



Hotter Than a Furnace Fan

UPDATE: I was in the middle of writing this post when our power went out on June 26.  There was a terrible storm about 20 miles east of us that produced a possible tornado and it ripped several giant power poles and several smaller power poles down.  We were without power for three and a half days!! Luckily no one was injured, but there were grain bins ripped out of the ground and several trees wrecked as well! I'm so very thankful for our workers at our local Rural Electric Association that worked tirelessly to restore power to the countryside!!  I'm also very thankful for my hubby, who took care of the farm, our generators, and our ol' tractors that ran the generators so we could have running water for our home and for our livestock! I've been counting my blessings and saying lots of prayers for our friends and family that have been battling the terrible fires in Montana and across the country.  Please add them and the brave firefighters to your prayers!  We could all use a good rain too, so get out there and wash your car, wash your windows on your house, and do a rain dance!  In my next post I will share pictures that I took of some of the damage in our area as well as what happens on our farm when we are without power! But now back to your regular scheduled programming that was taking place on Tuesday, June 26th...
Hello loyal blog readers...it's me, your unloyal blogger!  Remember me...?? Ha.

Well to quote one of my favorite Robert Earl Keen songs...it's hotter than a furnace fan out in Arizona!

It's currently over a 100 degrees here! Yuck!  The image below was taken from our local county Conservation District website.  They along with our local MSU Extension Office have set up several weather reporting stations around our county.  This weather station is located just up the road from us and this is what it said: HOT!! HOTT!!! HOTTTTT!!!

We reached a high of just under 105 degrees!!  But my hometown of Miles City has been setting all-time high records...it reached 111 degrees at 2:30 pm today!!  And it could still have gotten hotter!!  Read all about it here!

Anyways, apologies for not keeping you up-to-date on the happenings in my life! 

Spring and summer are busy times here on the farm and ranch!  We have been busy seeding and spraying our crops, vaccinating and branding calves and helping neighbors do the same, vaccinating cows, fixing and building fences, hauling water to our cows, sorting our cows into breeding groups and hauling them to summer range, celebrating 3 birthdays in June (my mother-in-law's, my hubby's, and my own!), getting our bulls tested to make sure they can give our cows proper lovin' (hehe), and then turning the bulls out to let them do this! (Warning...image below might be offensive to some...but it's where BEEF comes from! Oh and never mind the two in the turquoise in the foreground...)

And now that the bulls are turned out, it's time to get our haying equipment ready!  Our hay situation is none-to-promising in our area.  We have been awfully short of rain and have had a warmer than usual year. We're not lucky enough to have irrigation to help our hay and crops along when we're short of precipitation, but we still do alright! We still have to get what hay we can so we don't have to purchase hay this winter!  Luckily we have some left over from last year's hay crop and we are very thankful for that!  How does the hay look where you are? 

I'm also trying to do a good deep clean on my house while there is a little lull in time between major projects, but I find myself dragging my feet a bit!  I have been finding a few good tips on Pinterest to help get my go'er going!

Find it on my Pinterest board!
http://pinterest.com/pin/7599893091785780/

But we all know this is a more accurate description of what my cleaning schedule is like...

How about all of you?? What's going on in your world?  Any big trips planned for the summer?  My husband and I are going to be heading to Medora, North Dakota this next month to celebrate our first year of marriage!  We actually won tickets to the Medora Musical from our local Rural Electric Association! Ha! 

Well I had better get to gettin'! I will try to keep you better posted on the happenings on the dirt roads...but no promises! Ha! But seriously, thanks for sticking with me! 

Cheers,
Whitney

Turquoise Tuesday {Winner Announced!}

*DING!*DING!*DING!*

We have a WINNER!

Thank you everyone for entering the FIRST giveaway of the many more to come! 

After figuring out the entries, I visited the wonderful website of random.org to help me pick the winner...here's who won!

The WINNER is Nicole from Farmgirl Chaos!  Nicole has a wonderful blog about her travels, awesome junk finds, and she is always sharing wonderful photos from her everyday life!  Congrats, sista! 

Nicole, please contact me on Facebook with your mailing address so Miss Carly can get those turquoise beauties shipped out to you! 

Thanks again for taking the time to enter the contest and read my ramblings! I'm off to get a little housework done and then out to fix some fence before the cows escape!

Happy Hump Day everyone!

Cheers,

Whitney

Wednesday and Windmills

I am in love with windmills. And this one just so happens to be right out my front door.

I don't know what it is about windmills that I'm attracted to. 

It might have something to do with their towering presence on the wide open landscapes of endless grass on the prairies. 

It might have to do with their ability to give life to the dry, barren ground as the water they pump from the depths of the earth spills over the edges of the water trough. 

It might have to do with my love of watching animals drink from the water.  Like how a horse's ears pump back and forth while they're sucking in the water as they quench their thirst or how a chicken dips down and gathers water in their beak and tips their head back to let it run down their throat.

Or it might have to do with where the windmills are that I love the most; on the places I call home.

This one is on my family's ranch.  Dylan, my mom, and I were having fun with fall sunset.

My love for windmills spilled over into some of my wedding decor.

My love for windmills has even made it into my home decor.  This windmill is in my concrete shower! 

I will tell you more about my windmill shower in a later post. 

My next windmill home decor addition is going to be this! 

Found on Pinterest
http://pinterest.com/pin/7599893091069172/

What about you?  Do you love windmills or am I just a weirdo? Nevermind...don't answer that! Ha!

Oh and don't forget to get signed up for the fabulous Turquoise Tuesday giveaway! 

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Hump Day! 

Keep dreamin' and Carpe' diem!

Whitney

{GIVEAWAY} Turquoise Tuesday!

I have had a hard time keeping this a secret! But it's time to spill the beans!!!  I have the wonderful opportunity to do a fabulous giveaway from my dear friend and fellow turquoise addict, Carly at CrazyMare Jewels! 

Miss Carly is originally from Georgia, but came to college at Montana State University, which is where we met!  She has been making jewelry for a long time, but is just getting her Facebook page for CrazyMare Jewels going.  She's always done farmer's markets, trade shows, rodeos, and home parties but has decided to expand her business to Facebook too! She's already sold tons of her jewelry from her Facebook page, but she's always adding more! 

Speaking of rodeos, CrazyMare Jewels is going to be in Miles City, MT for the WORLD FAMOUS Miles City Bucking Horse Sale!  She will be teaming up with another gal who makes gorgeous boot top purses for a booth in the trade show building at the Fairgrounds during the Bucking Horse Sale! So make sure to stop by and tell her 'Hi!' while you're in town!

And now for the good stuff!!

Here's what Miss Carly at CrazyMare Jewels has whipped up for the fabulous Turquoise Tuesday giveaway!

A pair of these gorgeous cross earrings are up for grabs!  I am absolutely in LOVE with them!  I have a similar pair of these earrings (but not the same) and I wear them ALL the time! 

And now for the rules!

The Prize:

One (1) pair of turquoise cross earrings made and sponsored by CrazyMare Jewels.

How to enter:

1. You must follow the Dirt Road Dreamer Blog and 'Like' CrazyMare Jewels Facebook page to enter, and leave a comment on this blog post saying you have done both.

Added entries:

2. Blog about this giveaway, and leave me a comment on this post saying you have as well as the link to the blog post.

3. 'Like' the Dirt Road Dreamer on Facebook, and leave me a comment on this post saying you have.

4. Follow Dirt Road Dreamer on Twitter, leave me a comment on this post saying you have.

The contest will close Tuesday, May 8 at MIDNIGHT MST.

Good luck Turquoise junkies!

Turquoise Tuesday!

Boy of boy, do I have some pretty turquoise to show you!  Well technically it's not actual turquoise stones, but they dang sure look like it!  And the best part is...it won't break the bank!

I recently ordered some gorgeous jewelry from Unbridled in Ada, Oklahoma.  The jewelry is made by some wonderful gals in Hutto, Texas that go by the name Sookie Sookie. 

Isn't this squash blossom necklace just GORGEOUS!?!! This was one of the necklaces that I bought and I am absolutely in LOVE with it!  Normally, a squash blossom necklace like this would set you back thousands of dollars because of all of the silver and turquoise...but not this one!  This one only costs $80--for the WHOLE necklace!  And you also have the option to only order the pendant too, which drops the cost down even more! 

The reason why the price is so much better than other semi precious stone jewelry is because this jewelry is made out of clay and each piece is hand painted to look like the real deal!! The jewelry looks almost exactly like the real stuff and at a WAY better price!!  I'm all for finding the good imitations!  And Sookie Sookie is great at doing that!!

Here's some more pictures of some of Sookie Sookie's gorgeous jewlz!  I also ordered the pendant in these first two pictures below.  This piece is called "Big Chief" and it is so beautiful!  And Big Chief's headdress is all blinged out too! 

Sookie Sookie makes everything from necklaces, rings, belts, earrings, bracelets, and headbands to wine stoppers, home decor, and more in every color, design, and size imaginable!!  These girls are outta control and I LOVE it!! 

And the best way to get your Sookie Sookie fix is to order from the wonderful gals at Unbridled.  They are so sweet and are great to work with.  You can browse through their Facebook albums and if you see something you like, give them a call to order!  If they don't have it in stock, they will order it, and ship it to you! 

I'd love to share more turquoise pictures, but I've got to head out to the fields and do some more farming!  We are preparing our fields for spring planting!  In the spring we plant hard red spring wheat, feed barley, and plant both field peas and feed oats together to make to grain hay for our cows! More on that later...

My view from the tractor seat!

What about you guys? Are you busy planting, calving, lambing, foaling, kidding (as in having baby goats...Haha!), cleaning (I should be doing that...but I'm avoiding it), travelling, working, or just plain having fun? I'd love to hear about it! If you've got a blog, leave the link in the comments! I love to read about what everyone else has going on!

Thanks for stopping by everyone!  If you need another turquoise fix, I'm always pinning lots of gorgeous turquoise finds on Pinterest!  So come on over and see what I've got on my Turquoise Pinterest board! 

Keep dreamin' big and always Carpe' Diem!

Whitney

**DISCLAIMER: This ain't no paid advertisement...just love Sookie Sookie! All pictures of Sookie Sookie jewelry are from Sookie Sookie's Facebook page and were taken by Talula (who also makes kick ass jewelry!)**

Testing...Testing...

*Tap*Tap*Tap*

"Hello? Is this thing on?"

Uffda.  It's been busy, busy around here!!  So sorry I've neglected you for the past MONTH AND A HALF!!  I promise I haven't forgotten about you! 

Here's what I've been up to in a very truncated version!

1. Tending to our momma cows and getting them ready for calving to start! (Calving started about 2 weeks ago and we're about half way done already!!)

2. Celebrated Mardi Gras in fine fashion with lots of food and fun.

3. Took hunter's safety class.

4. Traveled to the big city for supplies. (aka Billings)

5. Bought a handgun in the big city.

6. Practiced shooting said handgun.

7.  Trapped 8 skunks. Pee eww!!

8.  Mourned the loss of a great neighbor who died in a plane crash. 

9. Said and continue to say many prayers for our neighbor who survived the plane crash and his brand new family.

10.  Passed my hunters' safety class and shot a 99/100 at our handgun shooting test.  So you watch yourselves! :)

11.  Enjoyed the beautiful weather we have been having with family and friends.

12. Remembered dear friends that have left this world too soon.

13. Done an enormous amount of laundry.

14. Spent way too much time on Pinterest.

15. Neglected my poor little blog. :(

16.  Worked and continue to work on landscaping our yard.  Anyone have any helpful tips for types of grass that grow best out here?  We've thought about doing sod, but not sure if we want to put in the investment. 

17. Took Annie to the vet to get spayed.  And lemme tell ya...Dylan and I were worried lil' parents pacing around town all day waiting for Annie to get done!  But she was back to her full ball of energy the next morning! 

18.  Made a quick trip to Miles City to pick up some chicks!  Hardy har har!  Oh and I also visited my family while I was in town too!  The drive home was fun listening to 25 baby chicks peep all the way home as I drove across the lovely rough highways and gravel roads.  Sorry baby chicks!  But now they are in our warm and cozy chicken coop and growing like crazy!

19. Been super busy tending to all of our momma cows and their new babies making sure everyone is healthy and well fed.  As well as keeping a very watchful eye on our momma cows that haven't calved yet!  If you're on Twitter, many ranchers use the hashtag #calving12 and post information about their calving season.  You should join in and follow me on Twitter!  I don't use Twitter very much, but I do love to follow Blake Shelton and see the funny things he has to say! 

20.  And now I'm getting ready to host Easter here in our home!  I'm excited to have family and friends out for the weekend!  We are having a spiral ham with a honey glaze, perfect potatoes au gratin, roasted asparagus, homemade rolls and croissants (made by my mother-in-law), lots of deviled eggs (thanks to our chickens for their great egg production), fresh spring salad, sugar cookies, fresh fruit from our local 4-H'ers, and lemon meringue cheesecake!  There will be lots of people here and I'm looking forward to it! 

What are your plans for Easter?  Are you hosting or travelling to a family or friends?  I'd love to hear about what you're eating for Easter dinner! 

Thanks for keeping with me everyone!  I sure hope things ease up a bit, because I have some fabulous things to share with you!  Until next time...

Keep dreamin' big and always Carpe Diem,

Whitney