This blog is my photographic journal of daily life on a Wyoming Centennial Ranch... 100 years in the same family! The dogs are English Shepherds, the cattle are Angus, the stories true! Also find me
at www.rimrockenglishshepherds.com.
As usual, you guys were exceedingly nice about my momentary lapse of confidence! I think this happens every fall... must be the lack of sunlight or something... But, sincerely, thanks for the encouragement from everyone!
I'm doing better... 81 readers yesterday!
I don't know how you are counted... I spend too much time trying to figure things out I *must* use... and I tend to ignore the things that would probably bring in more readership! I was told a few weeks ago to ask "Who do you want to read your blog?" and target *that* audience. I think I instantly had a glaze over my eyes and a slack jaw.
"Who do I want to read my blog?"
Like... everyone.
Duh.
People who live in big cities and can't see the views I can.
People who used to live in Wyoming and tear up at my photos.
People who love dogs... now *there's* an audience!
People who loved Roy Rogers and Bonanza, Monte Walsh and Quigley Down Under and Crossfire Trail, Open Range and Lonesome Dove.
People who played "Cowboys and Indians" as a kid.
People who yearn for their own little piece of country.
People who enjoy photography and handiwork.
Just... people.
That's the part of this "blog game" I don't get. Self-promotion. Blech. I was taught to act differently! You *don't* brag. You *don't* talk only about yourself. Being *humble* is a good thing! Remember "Pride Goeth Before a Fall"?
How about
"The Girl Scout Law
I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout."
This is about the third or fourth LAW incarnation since I began my career as a Scout in 1965(?) (really? gasp! that was a LONG time ago!) but I believed this phrase then... and still do. It doesn't say "Promote yourself!"
OK.
Sometimes I brag. But I feel guilty when I do! And I even have something to brag about. Now I don't want to share because I just spent 15 minutes typing out how I hate to do that.
Am I conflicted?
<sigh>
Blech blech blech blech blech blech blech!
I'd rather just stick with making the world a better place!
With that in mind, today I improved MY world just a little bit...
The Mills Place almost has a *real* bathroom!
Down went the vinyl floor... in went the light fixture, mirror cabinet, vanity, and toilet!
Look how everything MATCHES!
That just AMAZES me!
I buy things at different places, months apart... and somehow I have just lucked out!
There was a big trick here. We drywalled a long time ago... and kinda forgot how everything was wired... and where the studs were... and what we exactly had planned when we left this project last spring. But the guys figured it out... eventually!
Yes, there's more to completing it...
I have to seal my grout and caulk the shower. Fix/paint the window (I just threw that little lace curtain up there for kicks and giggles!). Decide if my "fossil chair rail" is going to work and do that. Glue fossils on my mirror where the old lights once were. Build the linen cabinet. Trim out the pocket door. Touch up the paint.
I kept trying to do a little <happydance> but Vernon would quickly move onto another project and I'd be running around gathering supplies or cleaning up from the last mess or nailing/sanding/staining.
My new stove has been backordered, so I get to fight with my old one for Thanksgiving. But by Christmas? I can't wait to see what the next month will hold!
We also made a mad dash to Worland for plumbing parts... and I spoke with my print shop guy... who assures me my Red Dirt In My Soul 2011 calendar is *almost* ready! Back to the self-promotion thing here... It is just easier to tell those of you who have pre-ordered... it *IS* coming, I promise!
11/17/2010 4:14 AMRaluca wrote:
oh, Carol! 71, 81 visits per day and you are complaining!? What should I say about my 20, 30 I got? I started my blog in order to keep track of my family's memories and now I find myself disappointed that people are not visiting / commenting as I expected.. But we should never forget those wonderful quotes: "I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them." & "I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back." So keep on blogging! You do a good job writing about your unique life experience! I'm reading your blog, although not commenting very often... Reply to this
11/17/2010 4:44 AM
Sally Rowe wrote:
Carol, You do not have it in you to become the obnoxious braggart that your mom was worried you could turn into. My mom said the same things. There is a difference in my opinion to bragging as a cover for a poor self image and trusting people enough to let them know who you are, what you do, well or not so well. Keep up the good work on this blog. I read it because I want to learn about the ups and downs and backs and forths of life on a ranch. You fill the bill for me. Reply to this
11/17/2010 4:52 AM
Sally Rowe wrote:
I forgot I wanted to write this: On my honor I promise to do my duty to God and my country and help other people at all times and obey the girl scout law. Does that sound right? It has only been, let me see, 60 years! And, I did earn my curved bar ( some bragging here!). Scouting has changed so much I don't think I would recognize it anymore. Reply to this
11/18/2010 4:05 PM
Marilyn wrote:
Yes, that sounds right to me - and it's been about 50 years since I was a Girl Scout. And we sewed our badges on the sleeve (long sleeve) of our uniform. Reply to this
11/17/2010 7:56 AM
Steph in Oregon wrote:
I understand not wanting to brag, but maybe thinking of it as sharing with others that really want to know what you do and how you do it, may help. That's not bragging. The bathroom is beautiful! Reply to this
11/17/2010 8:00 AMFrank D. Myers wrote:
Perhaps more people should tell more bloggers who they are and why they tune in. I started tuning in long ago because I like Wyoming (aunts and uncles in and near Buffalo), great-aunts and great-uncles at Ten Sleep and Worland --- all dead now (Great-granddad's buried at Hyattville). I kept tuning in because your writing captures so well life as lived by good people in a wonderful place --- and the photography's wonderful, too. It's as simple as that. So keep it up! Reply to this
11/18/2010 7:35 PM
Carol wrote:
Frank, I don't know any bloggers that would argue your point! I LOVE reading about my readers... and their comments! Reply to this
11/17/2010 11:57 AM
Linda D. wrote:
I can't find any bragging in what you show and write about - this is your life and there is nothing wrong with being proud of that. You have wonderful talents that you share with those of us that read you on a daily basis. When you were gone in December of last year and January of this year taking care of your mom, I did not feel like even turning on my computer to see what Shreve and her farmily were up to. As I was looking at your posts from last year and the year before last, I was reminded that I wanted to ask how Pate is doing and if his eye is still blue and how is the teepee this year. Before I go, your remodeled bathroom is gorgeous - great job! Reply to this
11/18/2010 7:39 PM
Carol wrote:
Linda, You are very sweet. Thanks so much. So much of being gone last December and January actually began in November... and boy, it's starting to get hard to read those old posts, because I know what was going on behind the scenes... sigh. Pate is now called Drover and he lives in North Carolina and actually will be a daddy soon. His eye still is blue! Thanks on the bathroom design... I'm pretty happy! Reply to this
11/17/2010 2:06 PM
Andrea wrote:
Let me tell you that there is a young woman from Germany that visits your blog on a daily basis Before I found your blog (and Shreve's) Wyoming was just a name, now it has a history and faces... I love that Reply to this
11/18/2010 7:42 PM
Carol wrote:
Andrea! Wow! Thanks for the long distance visits... my dad was stationed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He talked about how gorgeous it was! Reply to this
11/18/2010 6:26 PMRhonda wrote:
Carol, I appreciate you sharing your life and your world and what you do, I find it all very interesting, and you seem like a really neat person! Your blog is one of my favorites. And by the way, your bathroom is looking really good! I really like what you've done so far. Reply to this
11/18/2010 8:01 PM
Carol wrote:
Rhonda, thanks! I love comments, so keep coming back! I've got to see if my fossils will work next... Reply to this
11/19/2010 8:05 AM
Jeannie Bolt wrote:
Oh Carol, please don't get discouraged, I just love reading through your posts, if I miss a few days it's because I'm doing many of the same things you are (only not nearly as well!) - I just have to catch up. Note - use stainless steel sewing needles under the tiles and snip them off short before you grout - works great for keeping things where they belong and they are very strong! Reply to this
11/19/2010 8:27 AM
Jeannie Bolt wrote:
Oh Carol, please don't get discouraged, I just love reading through your posts, if I miss a few days it's because I'm doing many of the same things you are (only not nearly as well!) - I just have to catch up. Note - use stainless steel sewing needles under/next to the fossils and snip them off short before you grout - or just pull them out once the mortor dries, works great for keeping things where they belong and they are very strong! Reply to this
oh, Carol! 71, 81 visits per day and you are complaining!? What should I say about my 20, 30 I got? I started my blog in order to keep track of my family's memories and now I find myself disappointed that people are not visiting / commenting as I expected.. But we should never forget those wonderful quotes: "I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them." & "I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back."
So keep on blogging! You do a good job writing about your unique life experience!
I'm reading your blog, although not commenting very often...
Reply to this
Carol, You do not have it in you to become the obnoxious braggart that your mom was worried you could turn into. My mom said the same things. There is a difference in my opinion to bragging as a cover for a poor self image and trusting people enough to let them know who you are, what you do, well or not so well. Keep up the good work on this blog. I read it because I want to learn about the ups and downs and backs and forths of life on a ranch. You fill the bill for me.
Reply to this
I forgot I wanted to write this:
On my honor I promise to do my duty to God and my country and help other people at all times and obey the girl scout law.
Does that sound right? It has only been, let me see, 60 years! And, I did earn my curved bar ( some bragging here!). Scouting has changed so much I don't think I would recognize it anymore.
Reply to this
Yes, that sounds right to me - and it's been about 50 years since I was a Girl
Scout. And we sewed our badges on the sleeve (long sleeve) of our uniform.
Reply to this
Marilyn, amazing how those words stick with you!
Reply to this
I understand not wanting to brag, but maybe thinking of it as sharing with others that really want to know what you do and how you do it, may help. That's not bragging.
The bathroom is beautiful!
Reply to this
Perhaps more people should tell more bloggers who they are and why they tune in. I started tuning in long ago because I like Wyoming (aunts and uncles in and near Buffalo), great-aunts and great-uncles at Ten Sleep and Worland --- all dead now (Great-granddad's buried at Hyattville). I kept tuning in because your writing captures so well life as lived by good people in a wonderful place --- and the photography's wonderful, too. It's as simple as that. So keep it up!
Reply to this
Frank, I don't know any bloggers that would argue your point! I LOVE reading about my readers... and their comments!
Reply to this
I can't find any bragging in what you show and write about - this is your life and there is nothing wrong with being proud of that. You have wonderful talents that you share with those of us that read you on a daily basis. When you were gone in December of last year and January of this year taking care of your mom, I did not feel like even turning on my computer to see what Shreve and her farmily were up to.
As I was looking at your posts from last year and the year before last, I was reminded that I wanted to ask how Pate is doing and if his eye is still blue and how is the teepee this year. Before I go, your remodeled bathroom is gorgeous - great job!
Reply to this
Linda, You are very sweet. Thanks so much. So much of being gone last December and January actually began in November... and boy, it's starting to get hard to read those old posts, because I know what was going on behind the scenes... sigh. Pate is now called Drover and he lives in North Carolina and actually will be a daddy soon. His eye still is blue! Thanks on the bathroom design... I'm pretty happy!
Reply to this
Let me tell you that there is a young woman from Germany that visits your blog on a daily basis
Reply to this
Andrea! Wow! Thanks for the long distance visits... my dad was stationed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He talked about how gorgeous it was!
Reply to this
Carol, I appreciate you sharing your life and your world and what you do, I find it all very interesting, and you seem like a really neat person! Your blog is one of my favorites.
Reply to this
Rhonda, thanks! I love comments, so keep coming back! I've got to see if my fossils will work next...
Reply to this
Oh Carol, please don't get discouraged, I just love reading through your posts, if I miss a few days it's because I'm doing many of the same things you are (only not nearly as well!) - I just have to catch up.
Note - use stainless steel sewing needles under the tiles and snip them off short before you grout - works great for keeping things where they belong and they are very strong!
Reply to this
Oh Carol, please don't get discouraged, I just love reading through your posts, if I miss a few days it's because I'm doing many of the same things you are (only not nearly as well!) - I just have to catch up.
Note - use stainless steel sewing needles under/next to the fossils and snip them off short before you grout - or just pull them out once the mortor dries, works great for keeping things where they belong and they are very strong!
Reply to this
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