Sunday Stills "Summer"

Summer has always meant playing ball in our family. My three brothers, their

kids and my sons all played ball in the summer. Now my granddaughter is

the ball player in the family as she begins her first year of softball.

One of the busiest times of the year for us on the ranch comes in

the summer. We cut and bale our hay to feed our cattle thru the winter

and early spring. We raise both alfalfa and grass for hay. I love to pull

the strings off of a bale of alfalfa hay on a -20F day and as it unrolls

breath in the summer smell of alfalfa and maybe find a perfectly

perserved flower.

Summer also means going swimming. My grandson, Owen,

is sure having fun this summer in the city pool!

I spend a lot of time caring for my flowers each summer.

The heat and wind we have in western North Dakota

can make for tough growing conditions.

Summer brings lots of good things to eat and can!

My mother-in-law keeps us in produce with her

giant garden. These were cucumbers that were

going to be made into sweet pickles. I also anxiously wait

for the chokecherries to ripen so I can make them into

jelly and syrup.

Another big part of our summer are the various county

fairs and rodeos. Both my husband and I showed livestock

when we were grwoing up as did our boys. Fair is a time to

visit with friends and neighbors and relax alittle bit after haying

and before school and fall work starts. We definetly live in

rodeo country, for years lots of champion bronc riders

have come from right around our area and still do. These two

photos are from the Wibaux County, Montana fair last year.