Out And About...

We had beautiful weather for the last week or so, getting up into the 70s in mid-February! I started walking to the bridge with Richard and Buddy most days. A few photos of cloud cover during that time.

 

On the way to the bridge, just around the farthest bend.

 

In the lower right corner, you can see the peak oof Mom's and Pa's house. This was looking over their roof at the pretty pink clouds of sunrise.

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!

Reviving my blog...

It's only fitting that when I decide to revive my blog, I start with a post about the last thing I posted in 2015!

We went to the Eagle Exhibit again and got to see Phoenix and Aquila, again!

 

This is Phoenix, the bald eagle. 

 

This is Aquila, the golden eagle. 

We then went to lunch with Mom and Pa, who went to the Eagle Exhibition with us.  Pretty cool day all around!

Nature And Conservation...

This morning we went with Mom and Pa to the local Department of Natural Resources Center and saw a presentation on eagles - specifically, the bald eagle and the golden eagle.  This included getting to observe, up close and personal, two captive eagles that were injured and wouldn't have survived in the wild, so live in a habitat and go on tours to teach about their lives.  It was very interesting and we had an enjoyable day with Mom and Pa. 

This is Aquila (which means eagle in Spanish). Aquila is a golden eagle and got caught in a coyote trap in 2005 and required 3 surgeries to learn to fly again.  However, because of his injury, he cannot fly far ,so he now lives in a special raptor habitat at the Zoo in Springfield Missouri. He is about 8 years old.

This is Phoenix. When she was very young, her transmitter didn't move for 3 days so the DNR folks went to check on her.  They found her lying on the ground, barely alive, for no reason they could discern. Because she required round the clock care, she imprinted on the humans, and so cannot survive on her own.  She is 26 years old and also lives in the raptor habitat at the Zoo in Springfield, Missouri.    

On the way home, we were passing a field and saw two coyotes.  This is the male.  He took off (after lifting his leg on a bush). Then he paused and watched us for a good 2-3 minutes before finally loping off into the underbrush.  We weren't able to get good photos of the other coyote as it went into the brush very quickly.

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!


   

End of an Mural...

Back in October 2007, Richard and I tiled our guest bathroom while our house was still being finished.  Because of our Southwestern look, we had a photograph that Pa took at Hovenweep National Park, Utah, made into a tile mural and put it over the bathtub.  This is what it looked like.

 

 

 

 

 

Despite being sealed, over the years, the tile photo has degraded, due to water damage from the shower.  Our neighbor has touched it up (she's a painter) and afterwards, I sealed it again. However, despite her excellent painting on several occasions, the picture has deteriorated even more.  I finally made the decision to peel it off the wall.

 

It didn't take much.  A couple hours work with a nail file, a scratch pad and water, and the Hovenweep mural is no more.  Maybe one day I can replace it with a better tile photo application process.  

 

The smaller photo tiles I have scattered on the other walls are intact and still look great.    

My beautiful Flint has stepped over the Rainbow Bridge to be with his lifelong pal, our princess, Echo.  He was my faithful, loyal companion all of his life, I chose him because when we went to the Humane Society to get a dog, he ran up to me, stuck his head between my hands and begged to be petted.  He was my defender, no one could get near me if he thought they could be a threat…even Richard. He had to be in whatever room I was in, and when I left the house, no matter who was here, he wailed piteously, as if he’d lost his best friend.  And now, my heart is broken again. I have lost my little prince. 

Flint Moonbaby

September 2002 – July 9, 2014

“And this puppy he lived with only one thought, to love and be loved by me.” 

 

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.

Vanessa Atalanta came to visit today...

Otherwise known as the Red Admiral butterfly.  I took nineteen photos before I got a shot of it with wings open. 

 

Our princess has stepped over the Rainbow Bridge.  We are heartbroken. She was a fat little puppy whom we rescued from the Humane Society and it wasn't until years later that we found out that she was part-wolf when an expert told us specific characteristics she had. She was the gentlest of creatures and despite a painful, arthritic hip, she loved going on walks, and loved when our grand-niece, Cheyenne, cuddled her.  She is greatly missed and left a hole in our hearts where loving her will always be. 

 

Echo Avalon 

 

January 2003 - April 24, 2014 

 

"She was as constant in her love as the sun in its journey through the heavens."

 

 

Echo looking over the creek and lake

 

 

Echo with Buddy

 

 

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? 

 

 

 

Summer's gone...

Summer flew by for us! 

We went places and did things with family, had family come visit us, and generally were pretty busy throughout the last 3 months.

Richard did get another raised bed built, but we didn't get a lot of produce from either bed this year - the weather stayed rainy and cold through spring and early summer, and then blistering hot, which didn't do the plants any good.  We got about 20 tomatoes, 5 bell peppers, a handful of habeneros and jalepeno peppers, 3 baseball-sized watermelons, one watermelon slightly bigger than that, 6 squash, and about 10 blackberries, because the birds got the rest. Nothing got canned, either.  We simply ate it after it ripened, except the squash, some of which is frozen for future use. 

We plan to build at least 2 more raised beds next year.  He chopped down more trees and is still pulling more stumps to prepare the ground for the beds.

I'm back on the rotational schedule as worship leader at our church - one moved away, and 2 had medical issues, so a couple of us volunteered to pick up the slack.  I also do the children's sermon once a month, but I've been doing that, anyway. 

The dogs and cats are still doing great.  Echo had a relapse of  erlichea, and had to take a course of antibiotics, but she's fine, now.  Buddy was stung by something on his face, but he recovered without incident.  Buddy also tested positive for erlichea, but a round of antibiotics fixed that up pretty fast.  Apparnetly, this could become chronic in some dogs, so we'll have to keep an eye on them and if they relapse, they get meds to make it go back in remission. 

Richard only takes Buddy on the daily walk to the bridge, now.  Echo's arthritis is hampering her ability to walk that far. So Richard takes Buddy to the bridge, and then comes back and takes Echo for a shorter walk, which she enjoys very much.  Flint and I do not walk right now, due to his ACL leg issues.  I'm looking for a solution - I need a double jogging stroller so I can put either or both Flint and Echo in it when they get tired.  We shall see how it goes, however.  So far, I've had no luck finding one on the yardsale circuit. :)

The truck needed some repairs, the AC needed some repairs and my washing machine had an issue, but Richard was able to fix that. 

Other than that, life is peaceful as you can see in the picture of Buddy and his baby, and we're all doing well.  I'll post more pictures later. 





  

It's Been Ages!

Yes, Richard and I are still here - so are all the animals.  We went through the winter with bouts of sickness - your basic cold/flu stuff, nothing bad, just annoying. 

The weather has been different this Spring - lots of rain and storms.  Even now, it is hindering our garden building.  We are making raised beds, since we live on a ridge and have no good soil. 

It has taken us nearly 4 weeks to finish the first bed - first, we had to cut down some trees.  Then we had to buy 4 truckloads of cement blocks (they weigh so much Richard could only haul 20 at a time and 2 trips take all day).  Then we got soil.  In between, we got a load of gravel for some places in the driveway.  Then came fertilizer and mulch.  Then we had a clear day to actually build the bed.  That took all day and some of the next day. We finished in the rain.  We waited a few days for the rain to subside, and then we got plants because it's too late to grow some things from seed; they won't mature before fall.   

 

5 tomato plants, 4 watemelon plants. 

 

This is my deck garden.  Last year's was somewhat successful, so I decided to try again.  Some things are to be planted in the ground, but we are waiting or the rain to end so we don't have to get all muddy.  So - left to right - bell peppers, habenero peppers, rocket salad, orange tree, jalepeno peppers, tomato.  On the rail - lemon tree, aloe vera plant, lime tree, winter hibiscus.  The lemon, lime and hibiscus might not make it. They had issues while in the house, I kept watering them, but when I went to re-pot them, I found their soil at the bottom was soaked, and I believe the roots rotted. 

 

No picture - but a few days later, I happened to be in town and got more plants which are on the deck for now - a peach tree, zucchini squash and cucumbers, plus an herb garden with basil, oregano, thyme and parsley.

 

And for the moments of beauty - a pot of purple petunias.  The hummingbirds are already dipping into them. 

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. 

Scenery...

Photos of the scenery as the colors change. The pictures were all taken in different days except the cloud formations.

The field on the way home from the bridge.

Going up the road towards the bridge past Mom and Pa's place.

The bend in the road before the bridge.

An interesting cloud formation.

The same cloud formation from a different angle and a few minutes later.

A jet streaming above the trees.  If you click on the photo, it will enlarge and you may see some small black dots around the jet.  They are actually turkey vultures in the foreground of the photo.