As a child of these television shows and a fan of Ron Howard's work, I love this video from Funny or Die.  I thought I'd share.

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 Saturday was shearing day on the farm. Always a group effort, it was led by the illustrious Papa Ernie, a 3rd generation shearer who has also taught Sons Ernie and Robert, 4th generation shearers.  To avoid the omnipresent heat which still reaches an unpalatable 90+ every day, we g… Read full post »

Today would have been my father's 69th birthday.  Although he lived a short 52 years, with little exception, he lived them well and I am very proud of him.

 I've written of him many times before so will not go into detail again but I wanted to take this… Read full post »

To view a larger version of the poster, click here . 

 A good portion of my family are dyed in the wool Republicans, the few exceptions being my mother and a few cousins.  I thought we had a detente of sorts, I won't talk about how wonderful Obama is if you don't proclaim your undying love for Sarah Palin.  Plus, you… Read full post »

This is not technically a post.  Although I could have done research or emailed my friends privately for the answers I need, that would have involved extra  work on my part and I'm too damned lazy for that.  Plus unlike Mick Jagger, time is NOT on my side.  Therefore, I am… Read full post »

So his real name is Spartacus and he serves as our guard llama (for the uninitiated among you, a guard llama protects the farm from coyote attack so that the Pretend Farmer does not wake up to find that her chickens and turkeys have been massacred in the night, thereby… Read full post »

Taken shortly after McCain's "that one" remark, all the dogs were truly turned off.  Cordelia continued to watch, but Marshall became apathetic and Millie could not hide her disgust. 

We bought it last December after every chair on our last table decided to fall apart, sometimes when in use and not necessarily when those of us with generous derrieres were sitting on them.  That old double pedestal table now serves as my desk. sewing table, yarn surface, and Chippendal… Read full post »

You see, something funky is going on with my right foot (it would be kind of funny if it was my left because I could talk like Daniel Day Lewis’s character and at least entertain myself but that’s neither here nor there because as I said it’s my right foot). … Read full post »

Lately, I've been doing a lot of self-examination, thinking about the hairpin turns suddenly thrown in our direction, thinking about how life's events can be simultaneously positive and negative and looking for a lesson in it all.

When I get like this, which is too often to admit, I turn to… Read full post »

Stacey Youdin sent the following to me so of course I had to share:

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And, I used my Latin! Dead language, my puga pyga.

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I fell in love with this man the moment I laid eyes on him, my eyes on those beautiful blues.  I loved him more when I found he was unattainable, a devoted husband to his now-widowed Joanne Woodward.  I loved his movies, his off-screen personality, but most of all, his… Read full post »

WaMu Is Seized, Sold Off to J.P. Morgan, 

In Largest Failure in U.S. Banking History

Don't even try to tell me I'm being egocentric.  I know it's true because this is the fourth (fifth now) bank I have caused to fail.  Can I even remember… Read full post »

So my mother sent me this joke with the preface, "Hope this will give you a laugh."  You see, something bad happened this weekend (don't worry we all have life and limb) and I've been a blubbering, vomiting from emotion mess ever since.  And no I'm not going to tell you… Read full post »

I was going to talk about sheep today as they’ve been unjustly maligned in this campaign season but we seem to be having a canine Renaissance here on Open Salon so dogs it is.  (Tomorrow I’ll defend sheep.)  We have four dogs, only one of which, Marshall Dil… Read full post »

Last night, I heard from my mother, my very beleaguered, very frightened, very confused, sad, and angry mother.  This week’s stock market machinations have pushed her to her limits and made her question her future.

When my father died 15 years ago, my mother did not have… Read full post »

After Monday's stock market uber-tumble, I wrote a post entitled Frightened and posted it both here and on my personal Pretending to farm blog . I knew posting it there was a risk and therefore tried to be as nonpartisan as this little liberal Bush-hater can be.  Shortly after… Read full post »

When I'm feeling low, sick, frightened, or a combination of the three as I am right now, I reach to the familiar and comfortable.  Right now, it's in the form of a movie/soundtrack that has been with me so long that it's like family.

#1- Harry Nilsson's "The Point" -… Read full post »

Although I tend to be a worrier and have wasted immeasurable time on that particular pursuit, my current worry has morphed into concern and my concern into fright.  In my 45 years on this earth, in this country, I have never seen the economy as volatile as it currently… Read full post »

After carefully considering all the candidates, their platforms, and running mates, the Union of American Farmer Trolls, UAFT, has decided to endorse Freaky Troll for President of these United States.

 We hereby donate the following:

Use them wisely.  They're eggzactly what t… Read full post »

Nestled amongst the Rocky Mountains just above the picturesque village of Estes Park, Colorado reigns The Stanley Hotel in all its magnificence.  Its lovely Georgian edifice gives merit to the phrase breath-taking, eclipsing all but the Rockies themselves, creating wishes in those not f… Read full post »

Better than nerve-inducing cute boys any day of my week but to each his own. 

 (Mom liked Bill here.)

The Guy in the Glass 


When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and loo… Read full post »

In the desert again.

When the Meem (my mother Lynda) and I left Colorado this morning, it was a brisk 46 degrees.  Upon debarking from zee plane at Sky Harbor, it was a beyond balmy 103.  A happy medium would be, well, happy.

Men in kilts, trebuchets in action, maces… Read full post »