Stormy Weather...

We had a few days of almost cloudless weather, and then the spring showers came along. It's been really good for the garden, not so good for the morning walks. 

 

The weather is capricious, this clear sky is what we saw as we went around the bend.

The cool of the night causes a light fog, and the warm mornings burn it off. About ten minutes after I took this picture, the low-lying fog was gone. 

On the way home, this rabbit stood and watched us for a few minutes. He was about ten feet away from us, and although both dogs were showing interest, the bunny didn't move for a bit, and then he casually hopped off, unafraid of the dogs. 

Buddy sulks when it's cloudy and rainy, he doesn't get to go for a walk, and often, he doesn't want to go outside if it is thundering and/or if there's lightning.

Of course, Christian loves it when we stay inside because of the storms, he gets to lollygag all over my desk, occasionally stirring to climb in my lap for a cuddle.

The phoebe chicklets are growing fast, here's all four of them (one is only showing tail feathers).

Richard is still archiving old photos (both hard copy and on digital media). He came across this one. This was taken in 1989. I think it's our last Change Of Command ceremony while in Guam, Richard is wearing his sword because he was the Officer In Charge for the ceremony. The tradition dates back to the old days, when a party of officers was attacked at a gathering, and none had weapons. It was then decreed that the OIC would always have a weapon...hence, the sword.

Around The Homestead...

 

Wispy pink clouds at sunrise.

 

A bird's nest I found on the ground by the well...guess the wind blew it out of the tree. 

 

Buddy looking handsome.

 

Dinah hides in Tayla's stroller. 

Christian does what he does best. NAP!

We've been busy...

The summer was super busy for me.  Mom had a medium stroke on June 28 while she was visiting my brother in another state.  After she spent a few weeks in the hospital, Richard and I drove up there to escort her and Pa home.  They'd gone in their truck, and we brought our 4Runner so Mom could lay down in the back if she got tired.  We had a leisurely 2 day drive home, enjoying the sights, and taking our time.

For the next six weeks, many family members came to stay with me so they could see Mom for themselves and know she was doing good.  It was very enjoyable but also very busy! We had company clear into September.

In that timeframe, Richard also had cataracts surgery and his yearly checkup on his esophogeal issues.  Everything is fine, throat is looking good and he's doing great.

Christian the cat ended up having to go to the vet because he was bitten by something and the bite got infected.  He's fine, now.

Christmas came with visits from the kids, we enjoyed their stay.  Mom and Pa went to visit my brother again for Christmas and had a great time, this time!

A few days after Christmas, Richard had terrible pains in his stomach so I tok him to the ER.  They checked him out and determined he needed his gall bladder out.  He had to go in for a few more tests before they took it out, to make sure all was well with his liver and kidneys.  They took his gall bladder out on 2 days ago, and released him to go home yesterday. He is recuperating well and there are no issues.

I am still working on my goals of finishing up all my craft projects, and cleaning out my craft closet and room.  So far I'm doing pretty good, I've catalogued the things I've finished on my sewing blog. In addition, I have also passed on some things that I finished - several people got some of those quilts and some Christmas presents I made. Everyone is happy!

My goal for this year is to continue working on last year's goal of decluttering all the stuff we have.  I've made a grand start - I got Richard to build more shelves in our closet a few months ago, and we re-painted the closet, too.  We donated about 1/3 of the closet's clothes we no longer wear. We also invited the kids to take some of the clothes, and surprisingly, they did find a few things they wanted. It helps that we're all the same general size!

As I was putting all the Christmas decorations away last week, I decluttered them, too.  Threw out all the broken ornaments and lights, got rid of bedraggled decorations, and boxed up all the non-sentimental ornaments to pass on to family members or to donate.  

Today I attacked my dresser and got rid of a black garbage bag full of socks, T-shirts, tank tops, swimsuits, shorts and jammies I no longer wear.

Here is a gratuitous picture of Christian doing his favorite thing...sleeping.

I hope everyone has a blessed new year and that you and yours will prosper!


   

In The Jungle, The Mighty Jungle The Lion Sleeps...

I looked out the kitchen window and what did I see...

 

 

Christian enjoying the warm summer air and lounging on one of the chair cushions. I've bought fabric to remake the covers, just haven't gotten around to it, yet. 

It's been raining off and on for a week, good for the garden, but pretty much keeping us indoors.  Richard has been reading books on the Kindle, I've been writing, editing and keep thinking I'll do a little sewing, but haven't actually made the time for it.  We did do some clean-up between rains - power washed the front porch, put all the winter cat box houses away, washed the cat bedding , cleaned the furniture and freshened everything up.  The door trim needs to be painted, so I bought some paint for that, but it's too damp to paint just yet.

 

Buddy sulks when he cannot go on his walk.  Here he is, back in his cubby behind the kitchen cabinets.

 

 

The lone paw dog...

 

 

 

Rainy days makes all the animals hibernate.  Christian and Buddy share the couch.

 

 

Flint curls up near the front door.

 

 

Emmy begs for treats from Richard.  She'll sit there and wait patiently for quite a while. The fire-eye she's giving him is a trick of the light...I hope.

The Animals Make Our Days...

Now that Spring has sprung, we've been working on the garden, doing a little reorganizing in the house and generally keeping up with routine chores like lawnmowing, harvesting our "crops" and playing with our animals.

 

Just some fun pictures of the animals in no particular dated order.

 

 

Right in the middle of the picture, you can see Buddy's paws sticking out from behind the cabinet. There's a cubby hole in that corner he likes to hide in.  Because we've still not put the baseboards on the cabinets, his feet pop through.  :)

 

 

He was sulking about not getting his walk.  He's very good at sulking, and does everything he can to make one feel guilty, including cuddling my robe (and purse) and long-suffering sighs.

 

 

Now he's happy - he's a lap dog!

 

 

His favorite toy - it's not only easy to pick up, it SQUEAKS!

 

 

Dinah contemplates winter.

 

 

Emmy naps with the dog toys.

 

 

Emmy guards the porch side entrance, while Christian keeps a lookout.

 

 

 

 

Christian wakes up.

 

 

And goes back to sleep.

 

 

And then shifts to the pillow...with the wrong end.

 

 

And finally, he moves to the mink blanket on our bed and disappears.

 

 

If you click on this picture it enlarges.  There are tiny whilte lines in the trees above the Corolla.  Richard and I went outside, and it was raining right there...and no where else. I tried to capture a photo of the raindrops, it came out as lines.

Busy Autumn...

Time flies when we're so busy!  Sorry I haven't updated for a bit.  Let's catch up. :)

Richard had successful cataracts surgery on both eyes in September and October.  His distance vision is good, but he still wears glasses to read.  He also has that "twinkle" in his eyes, caused by the artificial lens. That's a good thing. :) 

Because the doctors didn't want Richard doing strenuous things after each surgery, he wasn't able to chop wood.  So we ordered 4 cords and after a suitable time had passed, he stacked it, put some under the front porch and some in the wood rack on the porch for ease of use.  Of course, with this balmy weather we've been having (70 degrees today!), we've not lit the stove, yet.

We didn't do our usual flurry of canning food this year, too many other things going on.  I am hoping after Christmas, at the tail-end of winter (January/February), I'll do some canning of sauces, meats, and maybe even some dry goods I've not tried before.

The animals are in good health, Flint did have a small cyst, but it was drained and he is fine.  Echo only had one bout of her chronic erlichia, but she is now fine.  Buddy and the cats are all fine.

Autumn leaves dropped before I could get pictures - they were green one day, but after a frost the next day, they dropped off.  The maples were glorious along the shoreline, but we really didn't get the good colors we normally see from the other types of trees. Despite the frost, we still have green grass in patches, I expect that to change with the onset of winter.   

Currently, I am quilting and sewing for Christmas, getting rid of massive piles of fabric in the process!  LOL.  Someday, this material and sewing will be at manageable porportions.  Someday!  Hey, I can dream.  If you want to see what I've sewn - here's a link to my sewing blog - http://www.sewingandquilting.blogspot.com/.

Here are some pictures of some of the animals...Buddy, Christian and Dinah. 

 

  When we went to the fair this summer, someone won the purple teddy bear for grand-niece Cheyenne at one of the booths, but with the suitcases stuffed, Cheyenne couldn't take it home with her.  So Buddy took it, and he loves it. He carries it everywhere, even outside. The orange thing under his paw is another stuffed animal that belonged to Cheyenne.  Buddy loves Cheyenne, and he took her leftover toys when she left for home. But the teddy bear is still his favorite.  

 

Christian, sleeping with his usual abandon. 

 

Dinah is hiding from the little dog we were watching while her humans were out of town.  See Dinah's ears behind the pillow? 

 

 

 

The Animals Supervise Our Work...

Our animals are here in a strictly supervisory role.  I took pictures of the bosses doing their jobs.

Echo keeps a close eye on quality control while Richard rakes leaves.

Buddy maintains a micro-management position in the man-cave.

Dinah assures that all computer department personnel are ergonomically conforming to proper handling of feline snugglers and nap-takers. 

Emmy's management position requires her to oversee all aspects of the animal/human dynamic from the boss's chair.

Flint is in charge of sleeping arrangements, testing all furniture for potential nap adaptibility. 

Of course, there's a slacker...Christian sleeps.

And sleeps. 

Busy Months...

It's been so hectic that I've not had much time to post.  Between church business (we're remodeling), a funeral of a much-loved church member, our camping trip, and various other pursuits, we've been busy.  I'll just  post a bunch of random photos of life here at Echo Ridge.

A sunrise over the bridge.

An eensy-weensy snake - it was a ringneck, harmless to humans.

Christian doing his faceplant nap.

Christian warming his back (that is a heating pad under him, turned on).

Buddy and the couch quilt blankie.

"That is NOT how you spell antidisestablishmentarianism!"

Contemplating his nap.

Cat nap.  With Dog.

Buddy sitting with Dad.

Buddy keeping an ear open for a truck, while Echo sleeps.

Dinah swats at Chistian to keep him away from her already eaten mouse.

Dinah and Christian sleep on a blundle of sewing.

Buddy plays with his cat toy.

Walking back from the mail box.