mum's the word monday

Blessings!

Roughin' it

Senor Smarty Pants and I took the boys camping again, well most of them anyway. As it always is when we spend extended periods of time with our adolescent male siblings it was full of laughs, shakes of the head, rolling of the eyes, potty humor, and some mildly inappropriate innuendoes. 

Usually Senor Smarty Pants is just a little worker bee. This time he decided he wasn't doing as much. So we set these two boys on the task of staging the tent. It took them longer than anticipated-but we feel it was a good learning experience...

Then we had a bit of a hiccup in the events. The small tent door has some zipper issues so we usually just avoid using it. So we went to option 2. Apparently it's zipper is shot. So shot that we could not get the thing zipped back up so we could just avoid it and go to our 3rd and final option-the last working door. We wrestled with it and decided to try to duct tape it, we ran to the lodge, spent an obscene amount on tape and came back. Check out this handy work:

I do not consider myself a redneck, just a little country but this was about too much for me to handle. the next morning we were so happy it didn't rain, but our duct tape job barely held through the night. As the breeze picked up throughout the morning the tape kept coming undone, soon my duct tape was in the trash. 

Thankfully we were able to find other camping accommodations for our last night.

The boys went fishing and swimming-I had to work in the afternoon, but that was ok with me. Work is air conditioned. 

Those are a sign of a good night. You know, I think people camp because of the evenings. There is something about the anticipation of the coming evening. As the sun is setting on the lake, the cool starts to settle in and the fire gets started. Then you get to listen to the crickets and chit chat as everything you say gets funnier the later it gets. Plus, everyone looks better when lit with the light from a campfire. Even my brothers' ugly mugs...

Blessings! 

Coconut + Chocolate

Macaroon anyone? 

They were so tasty. So tasty in fact they almost made me forget about the brats they were while trying to get them off the baking sheet.

Yes I just called these little delights brats-that was being nice actually.

Nevertheless, they were delicious, and I will make them again someday, when I've fully forgotten about and forgiven them for our fight.

Blessings!

mum's the word monday

Blessings!

Tie-Dye Irony

Is it odd that freshly worked up ground makes me giddy?

I would like to introduce you all to my Compost! This is Sissy's old water tank. It has a hole in the bottom and I decided instead of throwing it out I could use it as a compost bin.

Because I cannot leave anything just "as is" I painted some stripes on it but left some of the galvanized metal I do love how it looks. Then I just started filling it up, road apples, cut grass, old food, twigs, whatever I could get my hands on that would compost. It makes me feel good that I am reusing some of the unusables-best of all it's free! You can find a whole list of compost-able items online. I'm not going to blab on here about it because frankly I'm still learning and gathering information from many sources. I just want to encourage you to compost! It's easy, and makes great soil, I dug down deep and found what the product is yesterday-I'm amazed. It's so dark and rich looking, my plants are gonna love it.

The chicken wire top helps the little pieces of paper and such not blow around our yard-Dad would not appreciate that.

In other news: 

The other morning I got up, threw my hair in a braid down the middle of my back, slipped into a tie-dye shirt, applied my all-natural deodorant called "Hippy Pits," slid on my "bible time" sandals and started the day.

I went out and added the coffee grounds and orange peels to my compost pile and stirred it up. Then I came in took a shower and went to work at Country Drawers-a cloth diaper and Natural/Organic Family Products store. I cannot make this stuff up...I just put it all together and thought it was a little ironic. Hippie?

Blessings!

We Saw A Lot Of Rocks: part 4

We went to Custer and shopped a bit, that's where I bought my new moccasins! Custer is a cute little town. 

We then decided to go to Crazy Horse, where uh, you guessed we saw a lot of Native American stuff AND rocks. So, bonus! I will leave my words about Crazy Horse few, but going there is a strange mix of overwhelming and underwhelming feelings. This would be Rock #4

That night we went and saw some family in WY, it was so nice visiting with them! The next morning we got up and drove Needles Highway. I can honestly say if I never do that again I will be just fine. The scenery was beautiful, the colors of our faces as we piled out of the van when we finally got to Keystone was not. 

It was a rainy and dreary day, a nice change of pace. 

We came to a little stop and found out why it was called Needles Highway. There were all kinds of climbers waiting their turn to climb to the top of this little number. Unfortunately you needed professional gear, and we were fresh outta that so we just climbed the adjoining rocks. Rock #5

When we got to the top of "our" rocks this was our view. It was still pretty awesome. 

So pretty and melancholy, I liked it. Plus it was a much needed break from the highway for us all. 

I was able to get some very cool pictures. My favorites- close-ups. I'm "lichen" this one. Get it?  

Have you guys viewed enough rocks on this blog yet? I didn't think so. 

Shockingly Senor Smarty Pants decided to climb as high as possible. With no shoes-because and I quote- "My bare feet are as close to climbing shoes as I can get." Sometimes I just shake my head, turn around, walk away, and say a prayer he doesn't end up dead. 

There are this little tunnels on the highway. I didn't really see any of them, I was too busy trying to fall asleep and not vomit.

Finally after our stop in Keystone for a breather and lunch we got to what seemed like the main event, the reason that most people go to the Black Hills: Mount Rushmore. I really enjoy this place. Just something about it. Rock #6.

I had never before paid attention to how much there is to do at the Faces. You can just take them in but then there is the huge gift shop, the museum, and then you can walk down and get closer to the faces, just stroll around the area.

I learned about how they fill the cracks with silicone- the material they just started using not long ago after abandoning the old method. They cover the silicone with dust from the rocks so we can't tell a thing is wrong. 

I had never paid attention to the detail. Think of carving out those glasses with a jackhammer, a lot of work.

Coming to Rushmore made me hold my head a little higher about being an American. Some days I get a little discouraged but seeing these Faces restored a little of my hope.

The next day we got up and took the long journey home. It was a lovely Holiday. Thank you for putting up with all the posts. We've been home just over a week now, and now I'm ready for another Holiday, yes definitely ready for another one.

Blessings!

mum's the word monday

Blessings!