Ranch Life Links

Hi All!

I put up a new post over at the ranch blog - it has photos from last week!

Here you go: Ranch Life

And, did I share the post from when I hit the fence? NO?????? Well!
Here's another: Andi's Fence Work

Have a great day!

Oh my.. The sun is finally out over here!!! Yipeeeee!

So - What's a Chicken Run, You Ask?

These are the Pasture Poultry Chickens
In their portable pens
And the crates are in the background on the quad

This is the back of the truck loaded withBoxed Meat
That I pick up at a processor's place in Nampa, Idaho
The processor takes care of our lamb and beef

More Boxed Meat
Each week I pack 'last week's' chicken's (processed)
into boxes, load them into the truck,
then take them to storage.

And, These are my Assistants
Each Tuesday, July through September 15th
We have had Chicken Run Tuesdays
At least one lucky kid get's to come with me,
and at the end of our trip we get our Root Beer Floats
Last week was the last trip for these guys!

For those of you that have been scratching your heads.. I thought I would share with all of you what a chicken run is!

On Tuesdays, Dick and I get up at the crack of dawn. He eats. I get ready to 'go' on the said Chicken Run. I load boxes, tape, clipboard, coffee, check to pay the processor, a change of boots, and one child.

We go out in the field.

We load 40-50 chickens in crates.

Put them in the back of the truck or trailer.

And then, about 5:45 am, I take them on a scenic drive through the Baker Valley, then off to New Plymouth Idaho, where they are then 'processed'. The drive is 1.5 hours - one way.

After they are dropped off, I get to clean the back of the truck.

Then pack last week's frozen processed chickens.

Then drive to another place - 1 hour farther, to store our meat.

Sometimes I have 'double duty' and get to take lambs, and/or beef, and also deal with those boxes!


So, there you have it!
My last run was this week.. I am starting to teach classes on Tuesdays, and now that irrigation season has slowed, Mr. Sexton gets to do the runs!

Hallelujah.

Ranch News and Photos

Hi all! I posted some photos and goodies over at the ranch blog...

Sometimes it's easier to just send you over there when I mix things together!


Here it is: Click Here!

Enjoy!

You Know it's Spring When....

Backyard Shenanigans
The kids are actually seeking refuge from the lambs!

My Favorite Tree Is now in Bloom!

Part of the Backyard Scene
See how tall the grass is under the trampoline?
Holy Moly!
Lambs, chickens, cats, kids.
Oh my...

The Far Away View
Dang that grass!
Its grows
It gets cut
It gets raked
Repeat
It's needs water
But it sure is gorgeous!

*********************

These are the signs of Spring at Casa de Sexton:

1. The apple trees are blossoming and smell so good!
   
2. The grass is super tall and we can't keep Mr. Deere on top of it - or a mower person. We mow in sections.. It can be a daily chore.
   
3. The grass needs to be raked.... and 'raker people' are hard to come by!
   
4. The bummer lambs follow you everywhere - and the kids seek refuge on the trampoline
5. The chickens are very chatty and like to get into the piles of raked grass
   
6. Bottle feeding schedule is out of control! GADS... 6 am for all 10 (2 babies died yesterday); 11 am for the babies, noon for the big ones, 4 pm for the babies, 6 pm for big ones, 8 pm for the babies.
7. We just could not get away for a decent outing yesterday.. Due to #6, and yard work.. The kids and I had hoped to go swimming! Another day...
   
8. More chicks are arriving this Thursday... Mr. Sexton is building the pasture poultry house! Yeah!
   
9. The town/shopping list includes:

• Claritin D
• Eye drops
• Wasp Spray
  
• 4 bags of chick starter
• Lamb pellets
  
• 3 bags of layena
• 2 bags of lamb milk replacer
• Coffee (lots, please!)
• Lots of fun ice creams and the makings for root beer floats

Yep! Spring has sprung!

OOPS! Spoke Too Soon! New Lamb in the Box!

Well Hello There!

And Who might you be?
We won't know until the kids get home and name him.
I want to call him Skunk.
But the next letter is 'L'.
Lunk?
Lucky?
Larry?
That's blue grease marker on his head.
Dick does this so I know who is who.
Like branding.
The marks are in different spots.
Actually, it helps him 'catch them' later, if he marks one,
he comes back to find the lamb he marked!

He's Itty Bitty!

The Rest of the Bummer Lambs
They are trying to suck on me...
Looking for the nipples.
I mean bottles.

I love this Photo!
You might want to zoom in on this one!
Look for:
The Ducks
The Chickens
The sheep out the field
The Backhoe (working on ditches)
The bummer lambs
My husband!

This is when he 'caught' me and gave me a new job..

No going to town until later!

********************

OK... So I went outside to take photos of the bummer lambs...

Oh my.. What a gorgeous day! It's 47 degrees, no wind, and I was just in heaven!
For 30 minutes, that is!


There I was minding my own business. And my husband 'found me'.

'Oh, by the way, there's another lamb in the box'. He said to me.

'Do I need to feed it'? I asked, full of shuga' (short for shug)-I was hoping to get out of it..

'Yep. You're feed the rest at 11, right?' He said, all throaty....

(Excuse me, I was trying to work on a romance novel there for a moment!!! All that warm toasty sunshine!)

SNAP!

Oh yeah! 11 am! '

Yes! I'll be feeding them at 11!', my heart beat faster.
With the realization that time has once again gotten away from me.

CRAP.. It's 10 am. I got lost in my photo-shoot.. AKA, carried away.. Not only did I get the bummer lambs, but I also got carried away with the cows!

You will see why later!

Off to the next feeding we go!

Then town.

Hopefully.

And Lunch.

I'm hungry!

Bottle Lambs aka Bummers (The Process)

Bottle Lambs - The Last Resort
The Tube and Syringe
These are used when we have to 'tube' a lamb.
When a bottle lamb can't drink on it's own, meaning, it won't take a bottle,
this tube has to go down it's throat to it's tummy.
THIS IS NOT A FUN JOB!
For some reason, mostly Jake's lambs have been the ones getting tubed.
And, he has to hold them down (they are lying on their sides, stretched out)
while they are being tubed.
Often the tube wants to go to the lungs instead.
And, we try again, and again, and again.
We say a prayer for each lamb that has to endure this.
Jake and I both have been in tears during this process.
Again, it is not fun.

The Top of My Dryer
Yep. Baby bottles. They seem to work best for us.
The Process, you ask?
1. The bucket has dry lamb milk replacer in it.
2. Mix with warm water in the bigger container
3. Strain
4. Pour into bottles
5. Go Feed
6. Repeat Every 4 hours (during the day)

This is the List of Lambs
The kids assign each new lamb a name
We are working through the alphabet
The hatch marks are how many ounces each lamb gets
(they start with 4)
That last guy, Khipmunk (yes, with a K) died last night.
The guys with their names crossed off have also died during their brief stay with us.
Basically, we are trying to rescue babies that have been 'found' and,
not under good circumstances.
We have 250 Mamas that are having babies right now.
A good lambing ratio is 150 percent.
That would be all mamas having at least 1 baby, and half with twins.

Two of the Bottle Lambs
(Back when there were 2!)
The orange thing is a towel I used to keep a new one
extra warm
(when it was really cold out - like last week, they arrive cold,
and with cold mouths. They have to be heated up)
A prolonged cold mouth equals death.

The Setup In the Garage
The Big Tall Box is for bummer lambs
The long box in back has 75 chicks in it
(don't get me started on the chicks!)

******************

Perhaps this is too much info for all of you... But, heck, I'm sharing my life...

I'm trying to get caught up on all my 'what's going on at the ranch' photos for you!

According to my list, you still have not seen Shearing Photos of 2009, or pictures of all our bottle lambs! (Right now, we have 6 live ones that are thriving and happy and healthy)... Right now my babies are outside getting fresh air and sunshine. I'll move them back to the box at the next feeding.

So..

Here's the deal.

My husband checks the fields daily. He's seeing how everything is going.. Making sure no coyotes have come and killed babies or mamas (Hmm.. I have not heard a word about 'kills' yet! That is good news! Usually they arrive because they 'smell' the afterbirth and are coming in to get snacks), and seeing if any babies are separated from their mamas, or if any mamas are having problems giving birth to a baby. When he finds a baby that fits the 'bummer' category, he brings them home to our 'bummer lamb' nursery in the garage. Last night, two new ones arrived before dinner. All 'systems stopped' - meaning, we drop everything and go into 'feed the new babies' mode.

Dick had a jar full of colostrum that he milked from a ewe (OK mothers, you all know what that is). The colostrum is the 'heavy duty antibodies' that have to be fed to each newborn. Problem was, one of the newborns was 'pulled' from it's mama (Dick assisted in the birth)... The baby had a huge head, and needed to be tubed. Unfortunately, he did not live through the night.

Each time we get a new bottle lamb, the kids name them...

This actually breaks my heart. At times, We are attempting to accomplish the impossible.

In my mommy job, I attempt to hold my kids and tell them, God has a plan for each of these lambs, and yes they had to go, but we are their resting place before they go to Heaven. I also say that our lambs are lucky because they had two loving kids who gave them a warm place before they left, and they knew they were loved and special.

Well.. I think this is a good stopping spot. Suddenly, my mind is now moving on to other philosophical topics, and I have got to get to town before the next feeding!

I promise to post happy photos next!

Phew!

Ranch Related News - May

I updated the ranch blog. Got lots going on!

Here's a link: To the Ranch

Catch you all later!

While The Cat's Away - Huffalumps and Woozles

Greetings From My World!
Yep. That's me in the reflection wearing my workin' mama rain gear.
Ranch style, that is.
No Jimmy Chew shoes here (or whatever they are called).
My husband has been out of town and the kids and I have been
assigned a few tasks in his absense.
Morning and Night.

A new Additon to the Household
This sweet little thing is Pumpkin.
Pumpkin has also created more work!

Some of the puppies
Don't ask me who is who. I give up.
Sami and Dick are in the endless puppy batch cycle.
I am loosing track of who is who. They all look the same
after a while!
Dogs. Black and White. All of them.
These guys are cracking me up. They have itty bitty growls and barks
for all the things that invade their space.

Snacks.
Mr. Sexton was a buying fool at the kids School Open House
this last Thursday. We (obviously) had a desert auction to raise bucks
for our PTCO's 'back to school supply' fund. Our parents do not
have to purchase school supplies. Our PTCO gives the teachers money
to buy (their own darn) class supplies. It's a win win. The teachers know each
student will be equiped. The parents don't have to shop.
The 'less fortunate' kids don't have to arrive without their needed goods if their parents are not in a position with money, or are flakes, drug addicts or selfish pigs. Some parents just really make me mad with the way they treat their children and their children's education. But don't get in the way of their fancy coffee drinks or big screen TV's! Uh uh.
Which happens.

The To Do List Left By Mr. Husband
OK.. These are the types of love notes my husband leaves me when he splits town.
Dude! Get a clue!
The kids and I have been 'lagging' on the check water thing.
But it rained 3/4 of an inch...
Not worried about it.

Dinner for Champions
The Corona is mine... All mine!
Friday night's dinner.
Whole Grain Mac & Cheese, with tasty whole milk and real butter.
When the boss is away, we indulge in highly processed white starchy carbohydrates.
I remind myself of my dad! When my stepmom would go out of town my Dad loaded up on twinkies and other tasty forbidden kid stuff.
Let kids be kids. At least once a year, eh?

Watching TV from the doorway
Carpets got cleaned late Friday. Oops.

Morning and Night Job
Putting up electric fence and taking down electric fence.
Twice a day.

The Huffalumps Moving from Yesterday's Grass to Today's New Grass
Life.. It's just so daily!

So...

My dear sweet husband has been out of town since about 11:30 am, Friday. Every time this man goes out of town I have grand plans about how much fun I am going to have while he is away! This usually revolves around hours of scrap booking and playing in my crafty zone with the least amount of work as possible!

Mr. Husband returns in 2 or so hours. Guess how much scrappy time I have had?

Nada...

We have been busy little campers over here at Casa de Sexton Ranches!

Here's the rundown:

1. The kids and I were given a job to do while Mr. Husband was out of town. We call it our 'Huffalumps and Woozles' job. You see, we 'get to' setup electric fence and take down electric fence, every morning and evening, and move the Huffalumps (Heifers) and Woozles (Direct Market Beef). This job takes us 'a while'. If you toss in going out the back 200, and feeding Jessie, the entire process takes 2 hours! In the morning at least. The pm job goes faster, because just the Huffalumps get moved at night. And of course, we have our usual chores as well. I'm not complaining though. Oh my gosh the weather is so darn beautiful right now! I love the drizze of rain, the smell, the clean air! Gorgeous!
   
2. It started raining Friday, about 5:30 pm. It did not end until sometime in the wee hours this morning. Puts a new twist on things... like, the Saturday 10:30 am soccer game the kids had yesterday. GADS! We had to husstle with our morning jobs, get to soccer, and they actually played in the rain the entire dang dong time. OH my.. It was the only game played at the Sports Complex! Diehard coaches. Our team has not yet lost a game. We are the champions.. in a 'nonkeeping score' YMCA liberal minded 'we are all equal' kindof way. Come on. Let us keep score! You know we all are!
   
3. The kids and I have been on an everlasting food fest. It started Friday.. I made the kids Mac&Cheese for dinner. A healthy one, of course. No, not really. Just slightly. We chased it with one of our four desserts that we got at the kids school Open House Thursday night. Yesterday we went out for Chinese Food for lunch, and had pizza for dinner. And then more dessert. (Burp.) OH.. and my little sister and I have been enjoying Happy Hour together! Fun... Even though we are 3,500 miles apart, I open a Corona, she makes a margaritta and we call one another and chat. Bliss. Sans the bloated feeling I have!
   
4. Oh.. let's not forget to mention the lastest addition to the household! Yep. Another critter! Friday morning Sami went with Dick after our huffalump 'how to' demo. They ended up at the barn, and Sami caught a baby kitten. Minature. On Friday. First day of freedom day became first day of kitty laundry day. I'm glad to say today little miss Pumpkin is potty trained. Alas.
5. And, not to be outdone by previous Husband Be Gone experiences, I scheduled a home improvement project. I do this everytime my Husband goes out of town! Something epic. Something I don't want to deal with on my own, yet find myself having to be available and supervise the help for several hours type of project. I had our carpets cleaned Friday evening. And, to prep for this event, I spent the morning hours vacuming and arranging things so the job would be easier for the project dude! What a dork I am. Why do I feel the need to make someone else's life easier? Dang. Well, the carpet guy arrived at about 3:30 pm and left at 5:30pm. I was plump tired after that. Which put a damper on Friday night's movie watching plans. Get it? Damper? As in wet carpets and furniture? Ha! I just kill myself sometimes! The kids watched a show upstairs in the doorway to Jakes room (why that room has white carpet is beyond me - and why we put our boy child in it is a testament to my lack of forward thinking) and I watched a mommy show downstairs, atop a sleeping bag, on the floor. Mrs. Pedigrew Lives for a Day. Super Movie!
   
6. Let's not forget the guests in my bedroom each night. First Sami on Friday night. Then both kids last night. Oh mama. But heck, they are so darn adorable! And no, they don't get to sleep in the bed. They have sleeping bags in the room. I do have my boundaries afterall.
   
7. Last night, pizza night for kids, and salad for mommy night (but caved and ate pizza anyway), we watched Nim's Island. Cuteness! Love the critters. Love the actors/actresses. Jody Foster, you rock!
8. This morning's after chores breakfast: Peaches and heavy cream, french toast with almond butter and syrup, coffee for mama, juice for kids... and I am so tired (or in a food coma, they feel the same)!

So.. off to napland for this camper!

Have a great rest of your weekend!

A Windy Day and the Lucky Number '51'

Jake in front of Lucky Number 51

Flying Kites

Sami Observing Mr. Sexton's Technique

A Closer Look at the Ranch Man Taking a Break

My Kidlets

This last Thursday was a very chilly, rainy and windy day...A typical 'what the heck is our weather doing now' day in Eastern Oregon.. I did panic.. I am not ready for summer to pack her bags. We started out with 35 degrees, which motivated me to start working on our Fall Newsletter (Ranch business - for our customers).

We decided it was time to take down the tent. Which is a bummer. It's fun having it outside for the kids to play in, sleep in, and just looks like summer! But, it was to rain during the day, so Jake and I got to work. Here's some trivia about our tent.

• It is 51 years old!
  
• My in-laws got it for their honeymoon trip to Alaska (they were guides on a packing trip. See where my husband gets his work ethic from? My father and mother in law worked on their honeymoon! ).
  
• They used it as a couple, then for family camping with their 3 young children (rumor has it that they bought a second tent as the kids got older and separated the boys from the girls),
  
• then my husband inherited it.
  
• We used it when we camped as a couple during our single days
  
• And then, all four us slept in this baby when we went camping last summer...
• The last time it was used was when Sami was 6 months old (during the Walsh Girls family reunion ski boat/House boat trip at Oroville Lake, CA) - 10 years ago!
  
• We are looking at a repeat performance later this week (the four of us camping and fishing)! Oh boy!!!
  

Late in the afternoon the sun came out, the clouds parted, and Dick and the kids flew a kite. Notice my husbands garb? That's his cold weather work gear! Mr. Carhart.

What cracks me up is Dick and Jake went and got their 'buz' cuts.. right before the cold snap! But, alas, today's high is to be 97, so all in all, perhaps the buz cuts weren't too premature.

Things We Do Before Breakfast

Irrigation 101
There are different types of irrigating. Flood or
sprinkler, and under sprinkler you have wheel lines, hand lines, big guns, and pivots.
On our place we flood irrigate, and have hand lines and wheel lines.

West End of Pipeline (Wheel Line)
It's about 7am.
We are in the field south of the house. This field is perhaps 200 acres.
We have a total of 1170 acres of 'grass' and pasture.
Our summer job is to grow grass for the critters aka sheep and cattle.
We water the grass, grow the grass, put the animals in,
let them graze and move them to more grass.

My husband leaves at 6am, and comes home at 8pm.
Well, he also comes in at noon for lunch.
He usually irrigates until about 10 am, then works livestock, or fence,
or other 'ranch stuff'. Then, he starts irrigating again about 5pm.

Farther Down the line
Now you are looking at hand line that is attached to the wheel line

The Entire AM Crew
Dick on the quad, about 5 dogs, and 2 kids
Sami & Jake move the hand line segments
at 7 am and 7 pm

Draining the Line
The line gets drained first, before moving pipe
That's my casa in the background

Hello Casa!

Moving Pipe
Team Sami & Jake
The real reason why most ranch kids don't get into trouble
They don't have time!

Sami At the Front of Pipe Segment
Sami has the sprinkler end
The kids are moving 23 segments of pipe

Jake at the End of Pipe Segment
Jake unhooks the pipe from the other segment, holds up the pipe
and drains any water.
Then they move to the next spot where the line
will be running for the next 12 hour set

A View of the Other End of the Line
The water line extends East & West in the field.
We are looking East
(but you knew that, right? It's morning, the sun is right over there, East)

Look West
Here comes the boss and two other crew members!
Dick meets the kids at 7am. He gets them started,
then takes off and comes back to see how they are doing

********************

Just thought I would share our summer morning routine:

• 5 am: Dick & I wakeup. I prep the kitchen (make coffee, put out juice and fruit for the kids) - Dick does his stretches, eats, I stretch, I wander off - fold laundry, dust, get sidetracked (let's call this my zombee hour!)
  
• 6:15 am: I wake the kids - they put on their work clothes and eat their fruit
  
• 7 am: Kids go irrigate, I do my outdoor chores (free the chickens, trash, today I went out and took photos)
• 7:30 am: I come back - Make the remainder of breakfast for the kids (today is French toast, with French bread) - put it into the oven. Do some housework (or blog, or get sidetracked with some other project!). This morning I am doing laundry, dusting, changed one light bulb, and uh, blogging. I did manage to get tonight's dinner into the Crockpot! Tip: a Crockpot does not put off as much heat as the oven!
  
• 8:15 am: Kids come back from irrigating, then prep bottles and go feed the bummer lambs
• 9:15am: An hour has gone by. I go looking for the kids. This morning I found them saving a baby gopher from the cats. They took the baby out into a field. I remind them that breakfast is waiting and they still have to do their other outdoor chores (cats, chickens, dogs)
  
• 9:20 ish: Kids eat

Now it's 9:35 am.

My goals for today: Housework 2 hours, yardwork 2 hours, office work 2 hours, and a trip to town (if I get the recycling loaded up!)

I also took photos of the beef and some rotational grazing shots. I'll share those later!

More Sheep Photos!

Hello friends!

I posted more sheep & lamb photos at the ranch blog. Go check it out! There is also a post about Badger, our newest bummer lamb.

Just click on the link below. There are two new posts.

Sexton Ranches Round Up

See ya!

More Lambs!

Hi all.
I posted more photos at the Sexton Ranches - The Ranch Round Up blog. If you are interested, go take a peek!

More coming soon!

Advent Day 10 - Happy Holidays!!! Meet Jess

Presenting......Our Christmas Card from Sexton Ranches

Every time I read or say out loud 'Happy holidays' I break out in song, Bing Crosby style!!!!
This is our Christmas Card (be sure to click on it to see it in all its glory!) that we are sending to all our wonderful beef and lamb clients...and some relatives and some friends!

You haven't met Jess yet - he is our new guard dog - and he is in the background with the sheep. Jess' full name is Jessie James, courtesy of Sami, the namer of all creatures great and small.

Jess is a shy guy... A true Guard Dog... also a little sweetie pie.. You can walk up to him, and he wags his tail, but he has his flight zone... get too close and off he goes!

Jess is the young dog Sami & Dick went to get after our other guard dogs were killed by the train. He actually came with a name... a mean one (Satan)... his previous owner obviously did not know his true spirit...

Advent Day 9 - Just a recap from yesterday.. Sami decided we needed a tea party.. She is so intuitive! She broke out her beautiful tea set from Auntie Paula, a Beatrix Potter collection, and she and I and Jake had tea and cookies! She made real herb tea. It was such a great Sunday event! Everyone poured their own tea. And our little hostess passed around cream and sugar. Afterwards I napped.. Sami joined me. Oh, life is wonderful! Of course it was only 11 am, but once again my insomnia woke me about 2:20 am and I just can't get back to sleep! By the way, in case any relatives are reading, Sami's tea set only has 2 cups.. we may need to upgrade!

Well, I am off to Grand Jury orientation! Yep.. I might be a little busy January through April! The kids are so curious about the jury process.. on one hand I would love to be selected since it will be a great experience to share with them. The downside is we would be home bound for Spring Break, and any other trips planned... and the markets start up again mid April! Oh well.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Advent Day 9 - Clean Up on Isle 5!!!

Results of Last Week's Storm


Side View of My Green House


Another view.....So, as most of you have heard, a good portion of Washington and Oregon have been declared National Disaster zones... A week ago we had a wallop of a storm here - winds, snow... the highways were closed due to accidents in our area - snow drifts... And, lots of flooding on the west side... We escaped damage, other than the above... It was the straw that broke the camels back!

So, looks like come March I'll be a buildin' a new structure! Or attempting to fix this one.. Oh Uncle John!!! Come on out!!! My Uncle John is the super duper man of all men when it comes to home repairs and yard stuff... Love him...

Jake's Snow Shoes

Look What I Found!

Sure enough... I found Jake's little sneakers out in suspicous spots in the backyard. Lefty 'lifted' them from the sheltered location I had them 'draining' from their last adventure - left out in the rain. Then it snowed and they were MIA somewhere under snow! These little guys were stiff as can be when I found them, and filled with snow balls. Note the kitty feet to the right - another accomplice no doubt.

Autumn Greetings - Happy Fall Y'all!

The kids and I by the Poplar Tree


Front porch color


Poplar Leaves!


The Poplar In All Her Glory


Hmm...The view of the Mountains! Winter is at our Back! Or, is that Front???

Hello everyone! Well, I am 'blowing off' Sami's soccer practice and just hanging out at home. Feeling cozy and homey and just not up for 'running around' crazy. It was a group decision. Sami decided she wanted to help her daddy at the shop, and as you can see, a storm is coming in.... and, why yes, that is fresh snow in the Mountains! Sigh...
I was so grateful when I got home from my trip that the Poplar Tree still had it's fall coat on. As I drove off on Thursday, I glanced at it and thought 'I sure hope I get a chance to take some fall photos before the leaves are gone!'. Well, I was at a campground 1 hour from here and it snowed all day Friday (did not stick, thank goodness!), then it rained yesterday, and when I got home it was blowing hard, and it rained in the evening! Yet the leaves are still on the tree! Yahoo!! I have a great view of this tree from my computer desk up here at the 2nd floor loft... straight out the window at my height I get to watch the branches sway in the wind, and the colors blazing... I love it! I watch the seasons change from up here... the view is breathtaking and inspires me when I write.. When I am not inspired I just stare out the window and get lost in the view....
Soon Winter will be here.. I am holding onto Fall's outstretched hand as long as she will let me!