My First Give-away!

 Sall's Country Life

will celebrate two years on Blogger

this March!

Not a huge accomplishment to some,

but a small milestone to me!

I've enjoyed this blog so much...

it has put me in touch with so many wonderful folks.

The love and support we receive

comes in different ways:

from the comment box and the Facebook forum,

to the holler from across main street

saying, "I love your blog!" 

I am overwhelmed by the number

of visits to this lowly little blog

(one of a million blogs out there)

Your visits and your comments mean the world to us!

(Although, I do all the posts, I think 

that Sall enjoys reading the feedback more than I do!)

So, Thank You!

Friend, Follower, Commenter,

Anonymous Peeker, 

 Prairie Companion, Country Seeker,

Farmer, Townie, 

and

Camera Keeper...

 YOU

 make the journey worth it 

and we will continue blogging about

our wonderful Country Life!

With that said...

Let's get on with the 

CELEBRATION

GIVE-A-WAY!

Remember the cute chicken purse

my sister made?

(I first mentioned it here)

My creative mother has donated

a piece of her handiwork....

(aren't Mom's great?)

A tea towel with bird and birdhouse

perfectly hand stitched!

 (we love our birds)

If that's not enough cuteness,

I'm adding...

a ceramic pheasant coffee mug

(just a little souvenir from South Dakota)

and

a bar of very special homemade soap

(my friend Jeanie makes it!)

But, Wait!

There's MORE!

When I was in the Black Hills,

I found these beautiful note-cards by a South Dakota Artist....

I immediately embraced the woman in the picture as myself

picking flowers on the prairie!

I got home and looked up the artist's website 

and fell in love with her

and her paintings! 

 Her story makes me proud to be a fellow Dakotan.

I hope you will visit her website too!

www.jaimekreager.com 

This is what she says about the painting above:

Capturing the season on the prairie between summer and autumn 

where the air is warm with cool undertones 

and the shadows are long. 

Take in the calming breeze, the earthy grasses,

 and feel the sun on your face and arms.

Exactly what I love 

about living in the country

in the middle of nowhere

on the prairie of South Dakota!

So, there it is... the whole package...

a "thank you" GIFT 

from Sall's Country Life:

Here is what you need to do

if you would like a chance to win our give-a-way...

1. Be a follower of this blog. (Use the Google Friend Connect button to sign up on the sidebar, if you haven't already done so.)
2. Leave a comment on this post saying you'd like to be entered.

and

for extra credit...

If you grab our button and add it to your blog,

we'll give you an extra entry! Just leave another comment here saying you did that please!

Good Luck!

We'll pick a winner on March 17th

on St. Patrick's Day!

(may the luck of the Irish be with you that day!)

Fun With Fences

A lil' somethin' for Fridays Fences...

Back at the Ranch...

The Meeker Ranch that is....

Yes, Ma'am you got yurself

a great fence there!

I always talk that way 

when I'm at the RANCH...

Uhh..hmmm...

and now for 

the Piece de Resistance....

(that's French, don't ya know!)

The same fence,

painted in "Gouache"

(french also)

with Corel Painter

("I know my versatility in cultures

is quite astounding!")

Hope you enjoyed

my little fence Post Du jour!

Smiles!

Linking with Jan and Jer's 

Fridays Fences #22

Mosey on over there and join us!

A Rural Snow Day

Aren't Blizzards Beautiful?

Well, they are

on February 23rd anyway!!

We woke up to snow on the ground,

the weatherman kept saying it was north of us...

and it just kept snowing more and more!

Tells you what they know :(

Big beautiful flakes coming down

with just a light wind...

I opened my kitchen window

and stuck the camera out for a picture...

It's pretty, but not worth getting all wet!

~~

then I decided to try to photo 

the Christmas Cactus...

It's starting to bloom again

(another "sign" not to give up on winter yet!)

the light coming in the window

was just enough for a pretty photo....

snap, snap, 

snap, snap, snap...

(every photographer knows 

you need to take a hundred

shots to get juuust the right one, right?)

I took some in macro-mode...

snap,

snap,snap...

snap,snap,.....snap,

HUH?

somebody's in my shot?

Hello!!!

I guess he decided 

it was too wet out

for him too!

(that's not a screen photo texture,

it's my old holy screen window)

I let Max in (wet paws and all) 

and decided it was time to get on with my day...

Sall will have to venture 

out in the snow...

we're out of milk!

I think I've ran completely out of

milk a total of three times 

since living on this prairie...

and every time happened to be 

just before a major blizzard!

hmmm, another "sign"??

While he goes to town...

I won't waste any time crying about it...

;)

I'll be too busy blogging!

Try to Weather the storm

where ever you are today...

Hugs,

Linking with Rural Thursday today

grab a cup of coffee and join us!

Then hop on over to The Charm of Home for 

Home Sweet Home #55

See you there!

Here's The Scoop

I knew this was going to happen!

Sall put the snow shovels away last week...

this week...

SNOW

TWICE, this week!!

Let it be a LESSON...

NEVER,

Never,

Never...

put the snow shovels away 

until Easter!

Sharing Some Green

Longing for Springtime....

tired of brown grasses and empty branches.

Three inches of snow fell on us Sunday...

but it's okay, 

  cause we need the moisture....

for spring blossoms to come...

and the grass to turn green....

   

Can't wait to hang outside...

do some raking

and open the windows....

Run in the grass

and stomp in the mud!

In the meantime....

Lots of planning to do...

Planters in Kansas City

Probably a good thing

we don't live any 

closer to 

Planters...

What's your favorite

garden store?

Needless to say,

I'm seedless today...

My fate is to wait,

so have a nice day!

Sweet Nothings

Have you been thinking

about your garden?

Anything popping out

of the ground yet?

I can't wait to get 

started on some planting!

My canned goods

are almost 

depleted...

Canned tomatoes...

apples...

relish...

salsa

and PICKLES!

What will you make this year?

Jellies and Jams...

Pickles and Relish...

 Ahhhh,

the sweet smell

of vinegar

and pickling spice...

Mmmmm...

Pleasant day dreams my friend,

I used Kim's texture "felicity" 

on my sweet nothing image...

Linking with Kim Klassen 

for Texture Tuesday today.

Stop by and see what others have dreamed up for Texture Tuesday!

Nestled In the Pines

   We ventured west 

for the weekend...

left the cats 

and the prairie 

behind for 

a couple of days...

The beautiful Black Hills

beckon us now and then...

Sall lived there 17 years,

and in 2001 that is

where our life together

started...

We loved it there

and spent many weekends

on drives and walks

in the forest.

We left the hills for the

prairie (and my hometown)

nine years ago...

It's still our 

favorite area

 to visit

not just for the scenery

but also the many friends

that still live there!

This trip we stayed

with our friends Kevin and Glenda

and enjoyed a relaxing

and fun time!

While the guys had some 

work to go look at,

us girls went for 

a walk in the forest...

Glenda told me about a recent project

of the Black Hills Preservation 

and the Forest Service,

she thought I would love 

the old buildings and the scenery

and she was RIGHT!

We drove a couple miles 

and walked maybe a mile...

and there it was...

a gorgeous open prairie

with an old abandoned homestead

all surrounded by gorgeous rock cliffs

and sprawling green pine trees...

Totally secluded...

you can only get there

by foot or A.T.V...

"Off the beaten path"

is an under-statement...

The buildings are mere shells

now of their passed existence...

the root cellar an open reminder

of how food was canned 

and stored underground

for survival a year at a time....

  

the little house was 

empty with just scraps of old 

news publications scattered

and empty jars left behind...

A tattered curtain

still hanging in the window...

Someone's window

to their past...

someone's blood,

sweat and tears

left behind...

Now they are

opportunity for us

to hold on to our history...

to share with our grand children

the way things used to be done...

the ways of our fore-fathers.

a window to the past.

nestled in the pines...

Here is a link to see more on 

this great preservation project

near Custer, South Dakota!

Black Hills Historic Preservation Trust

I hope your window to the past 

is always open,

Linking with Little Red House 

for Mosaic Monday

Rural Thursday

A post for Thursday...

Nothing fancy,

nothing creative

not even very imaginative...

some country scenes...

A worn out barn 

and abandoned farm house...

just something 

for Thursday...

the day of the week 

we go through wishin' it was Friday,

the day of the week 

we usually 

run out of toilet paper...

Another day...

another dollar...

if ya like this post 

give me a hollar.

I told you it wasn't 

gonna be imaginative!

Happy day-before-Friday,

sharing this exciting post with Nancy and Lisa
over at Rural Thursday
oh,
and I threw in the fence post for
Jan and Jer and Friday's Fences #21