Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here...

The early morning walks have been chilly the past few days. Yesterday was a little warmer and as we walked dew touched everything. Today we had a hail storm! Hail the size of a half dollar rained down for about five minutes. The vehicles got a good cleaning and the Honda has some dents in the roof and the hood.

A spiderweb draped in dew.

This armadillo made little huffing noises as the dogs tried to nose in and see what it was up to. Not sure if it was warning them off or was afraid. We keep them on the leash, so were able to amble on our way once we let them have a quick, curious sniff.

Two deer bounded out of the field on the right, and this deer stopped and danced a little in the road as she spotted us. Sammy alerted, but Buddy was too far behind. I cropped the photo to bring her in closer, we were actually a good football-field length away. Once her curiosity was satisfied, she bounded into the woods on the left and disappeared.

Every morning, after we drop Sammy off at her home, we meander down the road with Buddy to porch sit with Mom and Pa. Buddy gets a drink of water and a piece of cheese from Pa, and we watch the wildlife feed at the benches and the bird feeders that Mom and Pa have out. Today, these two turkey hens were in charge of the corn bench. 

When we work outside, we generally let Buddy run around the yard for a bit. We have to keep an eye on him as he loves to run off to splash in the creek. Usually he finds a good spot in the yard and settles in.  Occasionally, he likes a good roll in the grass. :)

The white bits on the ground are not rocks, they are hail. The translucent orbs are water droplets and the white orbs are hail coming down. It was hailing so hard the hail was bouncing six steps up on the covered porch. I was afraid the sun roof on the car would be broken, but it survived intact. The wind whipped leaves all over the yard, so we have a bit of a mess to clean up in the next few days. 

Dinah the black cat was under the porch and got scared from the pounding hail, so she took off running to hide under the car...and when that got hammered, she took off for the back deck, trying to find a place to hide. I called to her, but she was so frightened she couldn't figure out what to do. When the hail stopped, she streaked inside and hid behind my pillow on our bed.

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!

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. 

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? 

 

 

 

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.

Camouflage Cat...

I looked out my office window and Christian was on the ground.  Some birds were swooping around.  I don't think they were teasing him.  However, Christian apparently decided he could have a bird lunch. 

  We have always wondered how Christian managed to survive outside, because he has no protective coloring at all.  His white-bibbed front is visible, night and day.  His orange tabby back doesn't blend with anything natural. 

Well, we were wrong.  Christian blends with fall colors.  Can you see him in the tree below?  I made a black arrow.  If you click on the photo, it will enlarge and you will see his two white paws.

See his paws?

Here he is, trying to get down.  Richard and I, cruel cat parents that we are, stood and laughed, watching him circle that branch about 10 times, almost falling off another branch as he tried to figure out how to get back down on the ground (No birds were harmed in this picture, they chattered at the top of the tree and flew off).  I started yelling, "Backwards, Christian, climb down backwards!"  He obviously had no idea what I meant.

Finally, he figured it out.  Note his awkward position, he slid that far, then realized he could hook his claws in and "step" down.  About 5 feet from the ground, he took a flying leap and did a four-point landing in the grass.  Of course, Dinah was on the porch watching, so perhaps he wanted to impress her.  *She* knows how to climb trees, and can get down easily.