lot of year

One year ago today I started blogging, at first I did not know what the heck I was doing, and I still don’t but I am having fun. I have manage to write a post most every day a total of 340 post with the help of a guest post or two, for which I am very grateful . I have found that I can write, as I have been told that my dyslexia would not let me do it. In the past year I have written more than I have written in the sixty four years preceding.  I have found I like to write poems and express my thought on the world and life.  To all of you who have came and left comments I would like to say thank you. This day would have not come if I were not for your support.  So I am saying thank you from my heart, soul and being again and bless you as god has so bless me.

I started this blog with the hope and last ditch effort to save my home from foreclosure, and bring in a supplement to my social security; it has brought in some extra income but not much. I would like to express a great deal of thanks to a fellow blogger who help me save my home by writing to my mortgage company and getting them to work with me.

The idea of a garage sell came as if I had something to sell I would hold a garage sale to get the extra money needed to save my home. But the only thing I have to sell is my ideas and memories. Spiltmilk is all I have so that is how the Spiltmilk cyber ranch came into being. I grew up around ranching and cowboys and always dream of having a ranch of my own. Most of my working life I have worked in the electronic field of research and development of the Aerospace industry. So from work, play and dreams I have posted.

I posted a story about mouse, every cowboy needs a sidekick, saddle pal, and the story of a little pika I called mouse came to mind, it is a true story and I am reposting it today. 

 This is how I met mouse.

There is a place out there to the west where a little fellar, that I know as Mouse was born and raised.  At the north end and a little bit west of the Great Salt Lake there is what’s left of an old Rail Road Town of Kelton.  Now I was about sixteen and rancher friend of mine who had some eighty head of beef free roaming out there, invited me to join the round up.  Weekend roundups were always lots of fun and I got to play cowboy and they always put out a good meal BBQ steak and all the fixens. We all call the place the west desert rather than Kelton.  There not much of anything good out there, just salt grass, alkali,  horn toad, rattle snake, sage brush, ticks and scorpions, and the ghost town of kelton and it is hotter than a lime kiln. It was about a 100 degrees’ in the shade and there ain’t any.  In its day kelton was a one wild town. Filled with saloons and marriage houses, you see there was some law against brothels, so the enterprising folks of kelton had the marriage houses where a fellar could get hitched for five bucks and then go over to the court house and get divorce for fifty cents.  They tell me that there was a marriage the lasted a whole week. Any way the old tail of Kelton hay days make for some fun camp fire stories.

I was out looking for cattle to get headed back to the herd when I spotted some cotton tails running thru the sage brush. Now back then in august you don’t eat rabbits but there was a bounty on them and two dollars bounty and a dollar for the pelt. Well I got down off that ranch horse as I had never shot a gun from his back and some horses don’t exactly like having a gun fired around him or form their backs.  I stated off in to the sage when I spotted him. That little fist size ball of fur laying there Panting twitching.  I did not know what the heck I was looking at. His ears were not long like a rabbit, they were round about the size of a dime.  He did not have but a stub of a tail.  Now I did something that you should not do with a strange wild animal and that is I bent over and pick it up. It looked more dead than alive. I look him over and he did not look like a rat or a mouse or a ground squirrel. I just did not know what the heck he was. I took my bandana and wet it down and made a lean-to and laid him in the shade of it.  I got into my saddle bag a got out the trail mix and offered him a dried apple chip; he was sitting up in the cool shade of the bandana, not trying to run off as I thought he might.  I put down some water in a bottle cap for him to drink, and then back off and sat down to watch him. Well he made short work of the apple chip and I could see he was making a speedy recovery.

 I could hear the foreman calling me, he wanted to know if I was all right and what he really wanted was  me back on the horse and looking for cattle.  Well I was getting ready to leave and that darn critter came right up my pant leg to my vest pocket after the apple chips and there was no stopping him.  Just then the foreman rode up and started to tell me that I was out here to be rounding up cattle not playing around or sitting on my rear. He was a little more pacific.  When I could get a chance to say my piece I showed him the critter that has now made a home in my vest pocket.  The foreman tells me that it is a Pika mouse and he want to know how I caught one, their fastest critter on four legs out there. I think there was a put down in there somewhere. 


Well I got mounted and started back to flushing cow out of the brush. You know when you find a cow you got to get him head to the herd and we generally make some noise to spook out of the brush and keep them moving. You whistle or crack a bull whip and yell. And some of the feller’s have a leather popper on the loose end of the lariat, Anything to make some noise, now I was one that did a lot of whistling and popping my lariat.  I had found three head of yearling and started pushing them out to the herd. Whistling and making some noise. Then I heard a loud high pitch whistle come from my vest pocket.  It was that mouse in my pocket and he sure could make noise. I t worked on the cows alright sending them at a trot headed the right direction.  The other hands were getting a charge out of my saddle pal and the
 foreman proclaimed him as the best wrangler on the roundup.

Well that’s how Mouse and I met a long time ago. He can find more ways to get me and him into more trouble than any ten people that I can name. Now we ride the internet all over the blog-a-sphere and see how much trouble we can get into.

 I had mouse for two years till I found he had pass away one morning. So to keep him alive I write him some adventures and share the friendship we had.

 Thank you for stopping by and help me celebrate my one year of blogging. God bless

Friday moment 11-25

This Moment

"A single photo – no words – capturing a simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

“This Moment” is a ritual found on Life inspired by the Wee Man adopted from SouleMama which was introduced to me by Sarah-Jane. If you find yourself touched by a Moment and would like to participate, post your picture on a Friday and leave your link in the comments section.

 At this Moment

At this moment a child take his first breath.

At this moment a woman cries with joy.

At this moment a man kneels in pray.

At this moment a bird sings.

At this moment the sun is rising.

At this moment someone is drinking a cup of coffee.

At this moment someone is getting their first kiss.

At this moment someone is saying I do.

At this moment there is silence and that is golden.

At this moment some where there is a rainbow.

At this moment a child takes their first step.

At this moment someone finds something that they have loss.

At this moment someone is seeing the world for the first time.

At this moment a kitten is purring.

At this moment you may be smiling and that is priceless!! 

You have won the bid and it did not cost you a penny. It is yours to keep. 

Wear it often after all it is god’s kiss!!

Thank you and god bless

thanksgiving Poe-a-tree hop

It’s Thursday and Thanksgiving, so I think we need a poem about that or maybe turkey and pie. Oh My! Pie. Pumpkin, minced meat, apple, cherry pie more pie that's what we need, more pie. No cow pie. LoL

How about a poem, story, or photo essay of pie thanksgiving style. What your favorite pie can you write a poetic recipe for a pie?  Give it a try. Who don’t like pie? I want some pie. Don’t be shy bring on the pie. I am a pie monster you know. Love my pie.

It comes on the afternoon breeze

A drifter if you please

Strolling along with the tumble weeds

And the smell of pine off winter slopes

Sage and thyme rumble the mind

                                                                                          

Cinnamon and clove fill your nose

It is not a prairie rose

Apples, cherries, peaches, and pumpkin

Fill the prairie sky

Hear the song enraging on

Gobble, gobble get off the hobble

More to a trot, hurry the pace

Don’t forget to say the grace

Remember you’re in gods place

Oh and wash your face

Apple for the horses’ pumpkin for my men

Careful now we don’t want a stamped

Breaking fences loosen your belt

Feast your eyes on all those pies

Fill your plate don’t be late

Turkey, ham, potato and gravy

Pass the biscuits please

A bean or two just to fill your shoe

Cranberries, turkey on biscuit roll

Think your done hold your horses

Cherries and apples whip with cream

What a dream last slice of pumpkin-n-cream

Lord thank you for all you have blessed

And to all, Happy Thanksgiving

Have some more pie

There is brandy-n-eggnog too

God bless you

Happy Thanksgiving

join the hop with your post

  

Lot of Wedensday Child 11-23

To day I have a special guess who knows first hand what life is with a special need child. please welcome Ester Belle.


Tomorrow many of us are preparing for a holiday that should be centered around being grateful. In these uncertain times, many of us are challenged by difficult circumstances, probably none any more or less difficult than my family. I am a recent widow, home lost to foreclosure, unemployed due to disability, living with a developmentally handicapped son. But GRATITUDE will still be the main topic around our table, and for the last 26 Thanksgivings, no matter where we are in life the first thing I am THANKFUL for is the Blessing of having our lives touched by autism. Yes, I honestly feel that my son was blessed by being born with autism.

When I first became aware of autism the statistics being touted were that one in ten thousand children would be affected by autism. The research was minimal, and much of it still blamed the condition on bad mothering. When I first became aware of autism, most educators had never heard of it. Most teachers had never met a student with autism, because students with autism weren't in school. When I first became aware of autism, parents were still being told that their children would never speak, would never interact in any meaningful way with other people and would be better off institutionalized. When I first became aware of autism, my son was 18 months old.

I started questioning some of his behaviors with his pediatrician. Those questions would eventually lead us through children's hospitals, university hospitals, as well as clinical classrooms attempting to get a diagnosis. Now, a correct diagnosis when it comes to special needs children is so important. It is the only way to get your child the proper services from the school district. Like other families then and now, we went through some wrong diagnosis before we got where we needed to be.

Our pediatrician sent us to a clinic at the local hospital, the very hospital where my son came into this world. This hospital diagnosed my son as severely mentally retarded. Now, I may have just been the mom, but I knew this wasn't even close to the truth. So, off I went to the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles where my son was diagnosed as having a communication disorder, and for 3 pages of the 6 page diagnosis, a bad mom. Interestingly one of the criticisms of the 'experts' at this hospital was that we did not have a TV. It was written that I talked to my child too much. Honest, that's what they wrote. They also wrote that I was unrealistic in my expectations. I expected my son to be able to overcome whatever challenge was thrown at us, and to succeed. How dare I believe in my son!

This diagnosis of a 'communication disorder' was at least good enough to get us a placement in an early intervention program. My son, started school at 3 years old. He has always loved school and learning. We have always been blessed with good teachers who cared about their students. The preschool program he was placed in had 10 students per classroom. I spent as much time in the classroom as he did. Parents were encouraged to be there and work with the teachers. As I looked around most days, I was the only parent there. I was stunned to learn, in overhearing a conversation between two teachers that in my son’s classroom all of the other children were there because of problems created by the mothers drug use during pregnancy. What a sad statistic, having to do as much as where we were living at the time as anything else.
Eventually, I could feel Spirit telling me it was time to move. Raising a special needs child as a single mom was going to be easier in the Midwest. So, we moved. The first house we lived in was in a school district that chose to not deal with my sons challenges. By this time I was certain that my son was autistic, and I let school district administrators know this. A parent attempting to educate and autistic child was a new thing, and it took me a while to find the right school district. Eventually we did, and we moved again. My son registered in kindergarten, I took him to the local hospitals, and finally we had a diagnosis of autism. It took four years of doctors and educators to diagnose my son. Autism at that time was a relatively unknown disorder. We were blessed. We ended up living in an excellent school district that provided excellent programs and teachers for him. We are aware that other parents are still fighting long and hard for their children. Our journey through school was challenging, but in our school district he was able to thrive. My son was the first autistic student in the district. He would soon be followed by more autistic students as statistics changed. One in ten thousand affected by autism has become one in 110.

I think the first time I realized what a challenge my son was going to be was the day(2 years old) we took him down off the roof...then there was the day he went shopping(4 years old), moving a 250 pound sofa sleeper, unlocking 3 locks to get out the front door. Running down the street, entering the grocery store , grabbing a cart, and methodically heading up and down the aisles choosing items. The shopkeepers recognized him; we were regular shoppers in our neighborhood grocery store. The manager said they assumed I would soon follow, so they let him shop. That was the day I put bells on the door.
Or was it the day when he was 5 years old and he slipped out--he had an uncanny knack for taking advantage of my bladder--of my auntie's front door, ran down to the intersection of a one lane street and a 4 lane thoroughfare. STOPPED traffic with his hand upraised, crossed the thoroughfare, and calmly entered the convenience store, where kind people called the police, and bought him an ice cream while waiting for the police and mom to show up! The police and I got there about the same time.

Perhaps it was the day in third grade when they called to inform me that my son had hacked into the school computer system and locked everyone else out! They wanted me to help convince him to tell the IT guys what he had done. When I asked him to tell the IT guy what he did he responded "He is the computer guy he should be able to tell." I said "Well, he can't, you have to tell him." Then I heard a sigh and a few keystrokes and my son said, "There I changed it back." We discovered that he had stolen his teacher’s password, not by watching, but by hearing her type it in. He could tell the sound each key of the keyboard made. So, my son had to go into the hall with the classroom door closed whenever his teacher wanted to log in.

Raising an autistic child is not easy, but I look around and see that raising any child these days takes a lot of hard work. My son is a young man now, the most amazing young man I have ever met. He has astounded the experts the experts and educators. He was recognized as a Presidential Scholar under 2 different Presidents. He was the first student to be in the Special Needs program and the Gifted and Talented Program at the same time. Yes, he still lives at home-but so do a lot of people his age in this economy!! We work every day on the skills he will need to become an independent person. We firmly believe he will.
Until then, I count autism as a blessing. I continue to learn so much every day while preparing my son for the world. At my infant sons christening I asked Most High to help me make sure that my son would experience the magic of childhood. The answer was the gift of autism. The most amazing blend of special needs, genius, and faith that is my son. My son believes that God will always provide, and that whenever we meet a challenge, Mom can find the answer. My son trusts me to help him learn to navigate a world he has trouble understanding. I am humbled by his trust and faith in me, humbled by Creator trusting me to raise this special child. I am truly thankful and I am truly blessed.

  Thank you Ester Belle.

Autism is not cause by drugs, alcohol, or being a bad person.  They are still in the dark as to why and how as are those who make the comments of blame.

Thank you for coming by and god bless

Pick on me Tuesday 11-22

Somebody is picking on me. I wonder who it could be; well this person is very special they have known many heart aches, but is the much better for them. This person writes about her life and that of her son, and family and some of the hardships she has face and won. Here is what she says about her Blog.

 “Just my thoughts on life and all that entails. I am a spiritual person, I am struggling with lots of issues right now and may vent, whine, pray, celebrate, but most often I will just be sharing my stories. I am, in this season of my life a storyteller. Sharing my stories in hopes that something may be meaningful for someone who stumbles upon this blog”

“Who am I? I don't know yet. But, as I continue to sculpt the bricks, and to choose to not give in to the fear I will find out. The fears used to blind and bind me for years, and now they only blind me for a few days. That is victory along the journey. It will be an amazing healing journey through the season of darkness, and of course spring should follow.

Who am I? Not sure, but I think I will love her into existence.” 

Well it’s you tube Tuesday and she like music that has heart so here we go.

 Josh from "its tiger time" came up with you tube Tuesday. Every Tuesday we set a day aside for sharing a favorite video. Feel free to join in and let's have fun seeing how creative us bloggers can be! The video can be about anything. If you participate, please remember to leave your link at josh´s site, where this event originated from. 

Ok now she does not post but once or twice a week however it always high quality and a good read. So I will give her blog four horse shoes and Award her the milk bucket. So here she is Ester belle or just EB http://eb-thefatladythinks.blogspot.com/  

Well the fat lady thinks. Give her a visit and you might want to follow I do. 

Thank you for your time and may god bless your days

lot of Monday too

Well its Monday again it sure keeps coming around doesn’t it.  Let me see there is Pick on me Tuesday, and then Wednesday’s child and of course Poe-at-tree hop.  This Thursday is thanksgiving, so I think we need a poem about that or maybe turkey and pie. Oh My! Pie. Pumpkin, minced meat, apple, cherry pie more pie that's what we need, more pie. No cow pie. LoL

How about a poem, story, or photo essay of pie thanksgiving style. What your favorite pie can you write a poetic recipe for a pie?  Give it a try. Who don’t like pie? I want some pie. Don’t be shy bring on the pie. I am a pie monster you know. Love my pie.

 I heard from Nick, that Mouse has got two of his deer back at the North Pole and is working hard at getting the rest back up there, and he has four weeks to get them there.  So it you have seen any of them, please let me know and I will tell Mouse where to look for them.  Now about that pie, sure would like some now.

I am going to be picking on someone but I won’t tell.  Guess what on Amazon for the next hour free priority shipping of my Christmas story http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=Andre+the+squirrel+and+the+Christmas+gift&x=14&y=16

 It a fun read and a lot of fun at a Christmas party.

Have a great Monday and four days to Pie. Yip pie epee

Thank you and may god bless your days with pie.

lot to think about

Just a little something to think about.

Please and thank you, we learn these words or something like them when we are young, but sometimes we don’t really understand the meaning of them.  They are part of forgiveness’ and love. You cannot love if you cannot forgive. If we like someone or thing we forgive it or them of all their failing.  Forgiveness is the stem of a rose, love is its blossom. Thank you is the forgiveness rose.  Please is the futile soil where we plant the seeds of forgiveness too harvest as love.

A day of thanksgiving is celebrated around the world mostly in the month of November. We celebrate a good harvest, and say thank you for the love we have received. We give thanks for the things that have blessed our lives.  I would like to say thank you to all who have paid me a visit here, and left your kind words of encouragement.

What do you give thanks for this harvest?

Thank you and god bless