Friday Nite Check In

 

We got some much needed rain on The Ranch on Thursday..., but not near as much as we needed.  I guess we will get by with what we got and be happy about it.  The Potato Garden probably didn't need it..., I cut back the green stocks of the first row on Monday and plucked a few more new potaoes.  I have developed a liking for those thin skinned newbies and will pluck some more before the skins start getting tougher for some longer term storage properties.

I am blaming this out of focus shot on a weak battery :)

After I charged the battery I got this shot of the Heron and the Duck having words :)

I can't be sure..., but I would give you odds that the Blue Heron that has been frequenting The Ranch the last few days is the same one I wrote about a while back on the blog.  Back then I only saw him/her on one day..., but this year it has been hanging around most of this week.  Here's a link to that story and picture...,

http://scottrthequillayutecowboy.blogspot.com/2025/12/maybe-i-should-wash-my-windows.html

The sad news of the week..., Dolly Parton passed away.  I wasn't a big fan of hers..., never bought any of her records..., and always thought she was just a little too perky and used way too much make up.  But I was just coming of age (and in my pants) when she was a regular on The Porter Wagner Show..., and I contend that any man or boy who says he didn't notice that spectacular rack..., was either blind or a blatant liar.  She didn't pose nude for Playboy..., but she made the cover in a Bunny suit and was the interviewee of the issue.  I gained a lot of respect for her over that (along with the disappointment, I admit) and after seeing her acquit herself quite well in her movie roles.  My respect continued to grow along with her fame and fortune..., it is quite rare for someone with a rags to riches story..., that almost everyone is familiar with..., as astounding as hers chooses to share those riches instead of hoarding them.  And equally rare for someone in her position and profession to remain married to the same person for over fifty years.  They say she was worth between 450 and 500 million dollars when she passed..., and that is after all the philanthropy she engaged in while she was alive.

Where the Fortune is Going

Because Parton and her husband, Carl Dean (who passed away in March 2025), chose to be child-free, she left behind no direct primary heir. However, Parton was meticulous about her estate planning to ensure her family would not have to endure a messy legal battle over her assets. [1, 2]

While the exact specifics of her will remain private, details from insider reports and her husband's trust structures outline the likely breakdown of her estate: [1]

Philanthropic Foundations: The bulk of her fortune is anticipated to go directly toward funding her charitable endeavors, most notably her literacy program, the Imagination Library, which has gifted hundreds of millions of books to children globally. [1, 2]
Surviving Family Members: Parton leaves behind six surviving siblings and 19 nieces and nephews between her and her husband's sides of the family. They are expected to receive gifts or trust distributions, having reportedly been "treated very fairly" in her lifetime planning. []
Asset Trusts: Her crown-jewel intellectual properties—including her music rights and Dollywood stakes—were heavily shifted into private trusts before her passing. These assets will continue to operate cohesively under professional trustees, generating ongoing revenue to support her designated charities and family beneficiaries for decades to come. [1, 3]

Wikipedia has a good accounting of her life here...,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Parton

Most of the images you see of Dolly were in color and I already mentioned that I thought that she overdid the make up and always had that huge grin on her face..., I thought that Time magazine had a great black and white picture of her on the cover..., a thoughtful touch I thought..., it is the one featured in the Wiki piece.  But I thought that this image of her from one of the blogs I read was even better..., I seems to capture an innocence  and vulnerability in her that she spent a lifetime trying to hide from the public..., RIP Dolly..., you were a true and natural beauty..., inside and out.

So..., I guess your Friday Nite Music Video has to be a Dolly Parton song..., so many to choose from..., Wiki says she wrote more than 3,000 of them!  Though Whitney Houston is probably more famous for this song of Dolly's..., I still prefer Dolly's version...,

  

Friday Nite Check In

 

When I washed up the old Tundra last week I noticed a black sooty like residue coating the right front hub cap..., so I picked up a set of brake pads at the parts store in Forks on my weekly dump/grocery/mail/apple run.  I probably should have picked up new rotors as well..., but I didn't want to make another run to town when I got around to replacing the pads..., and discovered how bad the rotor was damaged.  I surmised that they probably only sell them in pairs..., and the drivers side was still as good as new..., so I figured that no more than I drive the old V-8 gas hog that I would be too damn old to do the job and would take it to a real auto repair shop when the time came to make the necessary repairs.  Charlie Horse..., as usual..., was providing over the shoulder supervisory duties..., just like he did last week while I washed the old gal up.  He was pretty disgusted with me regarding my thought process in that regard to installing new brake pads on a roughed up rotor..., and was even more disgusted when I couldn't figure out how to reinstall the spring clip thingy-maboby..., and he sent me back to the computer and YouTube..., and told me to pay close attention this time..., while he stood guard.  The drivers side went a lot smoother..., and I expected some "good job" comments from Charlie..., but he just moseyed off without a word.

I wish my dear old departed Dad was still around to share my horse stories with..., especially Charlie Horse stories.  Charlie is really my first horse.  Oh..., we had a borrowed Welsh pony from Tuff Smolinski (whose name will come to me after I publish this 🥲)..., and our neighbors had a little pinto colored pony they let me name Shadow..., in our shared pasture for a couple of years..., that all us kids rode the snot out of.  Then I got Scout..., a full size white horse for my birthday when I was 12 or 13 years old..., that looked a lot like the one Al-Boy is pictured on..., and I even won a few ribbons on him at the local gymkhana.  The first place Pole Bending and the second place Barrel Racing were Scout and mine alone..., while the other two were team efforts..., one in a four horse Baton Race and one with my partner...,  cousin Debbie Chapman (Smith now).  She "rescued" me in the Rescue Race.

But after I got a driver's license and a motorcycle my horse days were pretty much over..., until Julie and I got together over in Forks.  Her ex-husband gave her a couple of horses and our farrier gave her another horse..., but they really weren't mine..., like Charlie is.  He is the first horse that I picked out and chose for myself..., so he is very special.  

Just like my Dad..., That Good Lookin' Al Spence..., he has been gone now 17 years.  It sure doesn't seem like that long ago.  Here is a link to his obituary that I wrote back at the time...,

lhttps://scottrthequillayutecowboy.blogspot.com/2010/05/that-good-lookin-al-spence.html

His birthday would be a couple days away on the 23rd..., so I will dedicate this Friday Nite Music Video by Jackson Browne to the old cowboy...,

Friday Nite Check In

 About a month ago I cleaned out my stash of potatoes from last years harvest.  They were starting to get a little soft..., so I picked out about a month's worth of the best ones to eat until I figured that this year's crop would yield some worthy of harvest.

I think I timed it about right judging from the look of the first couple of plants that I pulled on Monday.  That's my foot for comparison of size..., and there are a few that I would have kept for seed potatoes..., if I didn't need them to eat 🥔.  The skins on this batch hadn't developed the toughness that makes for long storage..., so I will be eating this batch..., and have for the last couple of nights.  And I have to admit that these new potatoes that I haven't cut the green growth back a couple weeks before harvest so the skins could toughen up for long storage properties are a bit tastier with a couple pats of real butter than those old softies that I cleaned out.  Not that those old softies tasted all that bad when smothered with Hidden Ranch Dressing or Sour Cream and Salsa.  I am not sure how much longer they would have been good..., but why find out when you have new potatoes at the ready?

In other news..., Scotty Green Appleseed is back on the road again.  I have already delivered three of these bags to my friends with the deer in their backyard.  They all appreciated this two bagger load.  The apple trees are loaded like never before this year..., and after Charley Horse's little founder episode with the carrots last year I want to be sure to eliminate any chance of excess apples causing a relapse..., so I have been raking as many of these green apples off the trees as I can reach from the ground.  Once those higher apples ripen up and the fall winds and storms commence I will have to be on my toes to gather more falling apples before Charley discovers them.

I even scraped the moss and mildew and algae off and shined up the old Tundra for the road trip.  Charley Horse was right there through the whole ordeal..., looking over my shoulder to make sure I didn't miss any spots..., and giving me dirty looks when I got a little reckless with the spray nozzle.  And he pleaded the Fifth Amendment when confronted about the big dent in the bed, just behind the passenger door.  And he offered a theory that someone had backed into it at the grocery store when I was shopping there.  I tried to explain that I didn't believe that ANYONE would do such a thing and not stick around to take responsibility for such an incident..., unless you were a 16 year old kid driving momma's new Oldsmobile Delta 88 with four friends who had just deposited some liquids for the first time at a place of historical significance..., 

"Maggie’s Bend and Betty’s Steambath refer to a notorious historic site located along the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River, about 1.5 miles upstream from Kooskia, Idaho, along U.S. Highway 12. Operating under local names like the Riverhouse, Maggie's Bend, or Betty's Steambath, the isolated cabins operated as a well-known house of prostitution for roughly 27 years until a judge ordered it shut down and locked up by the Idaho County Sheriff in June 1975."  Google citation.

and were still giddy and high on adrenaline and melatonin when we loaded up in that boat sized Olds as I backed her out of the parking lot..., until that sickening sound of breaking glass and metal crunching crashed the party.  Well..., back in those days (late 60's) they still taught us in school to respect democracy..., and the unanimous chorus from all four friends was..., "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE"!!!.  So..., Charley may have had a point.

But at least I took responsibility for the broken tail light..., there wasn't much else I could do anyway..., but I might not have disclosed the exact location of the incident..., and may have told a little lie..., saying that there was no damage to the other vehicle.  And hey..., that might not be a lie after all..., the tail light on the Olds was about bumper height to a big 4-wheel drive pickup.  But just in case the statute of limitations hasn't run out..., I am not taking any chances of going down alone..., so I am not changing names to protect the innocents..., Monte, Jerry, Rod, and Earl. 😳

Speaking of being back on the road again..., here is your Friday Nite Music Video with REO Speedwagon and a song about just that...,

Friday Nite Check In

 

Yeah..., The Blog only got 2,260 hits in June..., but July was a different story..., this screenshot was from late in July and there were 6,706 hits..., and by the end of July the total was 7,165.  I took this screenshot to note the fact that on that day alone there were 1,539 hits.  1,500  from Germany !!!  I can't explain what happened..., though I once tried to explain why the Russians were hitting my blog so hard a few years ago in this piece from 7/31/2016 - The Russians Are Coming...,

https://scottrthequillayutecowboy.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-russians-are-coming.html

At that time the Russians had only hit the blog 852 times in a month..., and 392 times in the preceding week.

I get a lot of hits from all over the world..., I guess Saddle Stories have a universal appeal (they are by far my most read stories)..., here is a recent screenshot for the hits in a week...,

In another technology related issue..., I hope I haven't "call blocked" anyone that I know..., but the number of robo calls has become such a nuisance that I felt I had no choice.  I registered my number on the national do not call list..., but I am not sure it was very effective.  For about a year now I have just been letting the phone ring until the answering machine or voice mail or whatever it is clicks on..., and there is never a message left.  At first I would get up and check the readout on the phone and unless someone I know is identified..., I would just let it ring.  My thought was that they would quit calling if I didn't answer..., but that didn't seem to slow down the calls..., so I have begun to hit the "call block" button on the phone as soon as I see that the caller is just a city or other entity that I don't recognize..., the hell with listening to three or four more rings..., and the annoying voice from Bangladesh that can't pronounce half the cities identified..., and usually sets the dogs to howling.  The call block hasn't eliminated unwanted calls completely..., but it has sure cut down on them.  I can sometimes get my morning and afternoon naps in without interruption now days.  So..., once again I apologize if I have accidentally blocked your calls..., I still have the same and only email address that I have ever had..., and given my old age hearing difficulty..., and the fact that I don't have a cell (dumb) phone..., that is the best way to reach me...,

scottr@olypen.com

And since we are talking about phone calls..., raise your hands if you have ever made a call from a pay phone for a dime..., and you get bonus points if you can even find a pay phone for any price these days..., here's your Friday Nite Music Video...,