Monday, Monday

    Here I am again. Mornin'! With the storms up north somewhere I'm wondering if my brother is doing okay. Keeping cozy in his truck I hope. He was getting it fixed last time I talked to him. It'd be nice if he was able to spend the winter in Arizona liked he talked about. Or, maybe he could come here for the winter. It's supposed to be colder and wetter than normal - should make him feel right at home. lol

  From the way back album ....I love this picture for several reasons. Came home from work to find my son had built himself a jump with 2 buckets and a board. Deleted the rest of the comments about this photo and on to more pleasant things.

 Just the year before. He broke Pegasus to ride . What fun he had. 

 Pegasus, a couple of days old and his momma, Sugar White. 

 A picture that my brother sent to me a few years ago. Taken somewhere in Utah or Nevada - some place out that way. It's actually a cell tower but the locals didn't want some ugly thing so they made the cell phone folks make it look like a tree. How funny and how interesting. They should all look like this! 

  I can not think of one single thing that might be interesting. You all have a diamond day! I'm going to, no matter what!  

 

Saturday .......

   Hard to believe it's just a few weeks away from another new year. As they say, the older you get the faster the time flies by. If the political idiots of the world play there cards right they might just be able to destroy the world this month. Chemical weapons! It's all insane. Never mind.....not worth the time spent to think about it.
  T is working OT today. Was off yesterday. We messed with the horses some and just messed around the house. He went to the feed store so I wouldn't have to. I did my treadmill and just finished it for today. 2.1 miles in one hour.... I'm now resting my bones...lol

 5# apples

 finished ! 

 pumpkin finished!

  I get no respect! That's her tongue sticking out! 

  

    It's going to be a diamond day. Gonna take a nap now before it gets too late.   Oh, the pictures are my pies from Thanksgiving day.

Wednesday

  I think it's finally going to turn fall/winter. It's 38* right now and of course still dark outside. T is back to work this a.m.. the last couple of days were really nice. We had some ran night before last. I've been anxious to see if the roofing stuff worked. I know of one place that it did not. Insert very sad face here. Our bedroom still has a leak. Granted it did rain hard when the storm came through but it was supposed to work! Dang it! We got about 2" of rain though. Always need it for the grass. Maybe another layer like T thought in the first place but dang that stuff was $600.
  I had another birthday since I posted. Getting old ....
  Better get on the treadmill - will be daylight soon.
  Had a whole page written but lost it when I was going to add a picture. Oh well

It's all good.

Beautiful Thursday!

  It was so nice outside today. Shoot, has been nice for quite a spell. T has been off the last two days. We've spent some time taking the Escort back to the shop, broke down in the Jag at the auto parts store. T walked over to the shop and took back the Escort, we went home and got the pickup, took the Escort back to the shop and dropped it off. Drove home and T had already called for a wrecker. Dang it ! Raining and pouring......Oh well, hahaha you can't take it with you. Just thought I might buy Christmas presents this year but guess it's not in the cards... that's really okay, no one would know how to act if I gave presents.
  Went to Lee and Brenda's for lunch with Mike and Linda on Tuesday. Hope I didn't already write about it. We had quesadillas. Turkey I think. Sure were good. Had just the right amount of kick to them. A little pico de gallo (sp?) and sour cream on the side. Yummy! My spell check didn't know how to spell it . I was correct. lol
 We had a short visit and then Mike and Linda brought me back home and dropped me off. At the north end of S ,where the eagles always fly, eagles were sitting in the trees just hanging out. About 8-10 of them. How neat that was! I love seeing them no matter what they are doing. Not everyone gets to see them and not everyone that sees them actually appreciates it. Nice day all in all.
  I'm so loving this weather. Gonna be nice for days. They have said on the news that our winter is predicted to be colder and wetter during Dec Jan and Feb - glad it may wait another week or two.
  Not much else going on around here. It's been a diamond day and will be a nice evening. A little tv and/or working on family trees.
  Have a diamond day!

Last day of vacation....

...was Sunday. Tim offered to go for a drive. I took him up on that offer and we decided to make a round trip to Eureka and back. Hadn't done that all year. We used to do it quite often on the bike. Sunday we took the car. Was nice and sunny and about 55*! Pretty nice for mid fall. We dropped a couple of things off at Lee's and headed to Eureka. I was surprised that some of the shops were open. Back in the day you could walk the streets alone and window shop on a Sunday. Guess they had their Black Friday crap too. We kept going instead of stopping. didn't even bother going to the Crescent this time. That place has changed too from what I understand. It was still a wonderful drive . Our next stop was Ann's for a short visit. They were both sick with a virus that drs say can spread like wildfire! Didn't know that at that time. I sure hope we didn't catch it. We served ourselves some drinks so chances are pretty good that we didn't. Although it seems that Tim has caught a cold. Yuck. Poor guy is sneezing a lot.
  Back in the car to continue the short road trip. Only about 100 miles. We skipped Roaring River and stopped by my sister's place for a short visit. Hadn't been there in a month or so. The place is looking good. She was able to have mom Pat for Turkey day. She did well. No trouble taking her back to the home. I'm sure was a very long day for her. For sis too. I did dog nails while I was there. They are such good dogs to work with. All of them.
  Made it home after a stop at Pizza Hut. A salad and personal pan for me and rotini for him. Good stuff. T fed the horses and closed up the chickens etc. I still felt pretty good for a change. Yay for me. Chronic pain for 30 years is still hard to deal with sometimes.
  Have worked a little on my family story. Only 20 some pages so far.

  Here's one of the last photos of James O. 

I'm guessing since the other picture of him was around 1906 and was taken before he went to Oklahoma this was taken between 1906 and 1920. Aunt Jo always said that James O took off to Oklahoma to be with "that woman". Or "a woman" . The story on that end says he was living with his son Charles. How many other stories were left out or misunderstood? The more you hear, the stranger the family is. I guess not really strange. Just more of the same - dysfunctional all through the years . Just not "talking about it" like so many other families. lol 

 Funny, these guys look like brothers or even the same person but this James Samuel Rethford. Our other elusive ancestor. On momma's side. The one that also "ran off" with another woman. He probably did though. lol He deserted Ira's dad as a young boy and I believe started another family over in Wright county. Which is where they started out in Mo....

  Maybe it was just the times... or maybe they shared things like PTSD. They were both in their mid twenties when the war started.  James Samuel ran off just after 1860 while James O was in the 46th Mo Calvary during the war. In his case it was brothers against brother and father! Maybe as he got older he just wanted to be alone. We'll never know. 

  

  See how easily I get distracted? lol 

 It's that time of year! I'll be warm if it's the last thing I do hahahaha.... That wind is sooo cold. 

 Jeanne is still having trouble. Still giving her antibiotics and pain killer. I feel so sorry for her. She is still showing some improvement. Wish it was more. 

All the rest are fat and sassy. We still have hay and enough to last til the end of Jan so will have to get more some time between now and then....not too bad all things considered. 

  I put up a couple of quarts of turkey for later. Sandwiches and turkey and noodles. That's what I made for dinner. A medium pot of turkey and noodles. Was real good. Also baked two loaves of white bread yesterday. Today I'll bake a loaf of rye for Tim. 

 White bread from last year

Rye from last year. 

  Haven't taken pictures of yesterday's bread haha. I could make banana bread but think I will opt for banana pudding instead.  A small one for two. Tim is putting on weight since he quit smoking. I haven't shrunk his pants no matter what he says. haha

  Better get to the laundry...

  Gonna be a diamond day! Hope yours is too! 

   

Thanksgiving Day

    Each day this month people on fb have been posting what they are thankful for. There aren't enough days to list all the things I have been blessed with and are thankful for. The good Lord knows what I'm thankful for as he has supplied it all ...right down to my family and loved ones.
    I cooked our turkey yesterday and started the pies early this a.m.. on to the rolls now. Making crescents instead of my usual sweet rolls. I'll let you know how they come out. There will be pictures later as I always download those to the pc not the laptop...
  Got the dough rising now. T is out feeding and putting hay out for the horses. It's 58* and about 10:30 a.m....how great is that?! Got a good old fashioned western on the tube and relaxing.
  T got most of the roof done the last two days. Yay! All but a little section of the garage (it doesn't leak) I believe is what he said. I'll check the next time I go out haha..I never dreamed we'd get it done this late in the year due to the temp...what a relief.
  Early this a.m. (3) an apartment building caught on fire. Five people were killed. How horrible for that community and all the families involved. And awful for the emergency workers too - bad enough they have to work a holiday without facing that. Sixteen other people are now without a home. How sad life is sometimes.
  It is still a diamond day for me. We have everything we need and then some and I'm not hurting too bad. Hope the same for the rest of our families. The Spfd bunch is getting together but most of us down this way are spending the day quietly and peacefully. Well, almost peacefully. Sis may will have her hands full.
  Haven't heard from big brother today. I sent him a text a couple of days ago and haven't heard back. May call him later. I called sis earlier today but didn't hear back from her either. Maybe it's me. hahahahaha  We're done with dinner and supper. Sure was tasty, if I do say so myself.
  I checked the roof out front and out back. Sure is white! Ought to reflect that sun next summer and make the house easier to cool!
  Jeanne is looking good. At least her body condition is real good. She is having less pain with the bute paste and hope the antibiotics are working on the infection. No swelling at all. Walking somewhat easier too. Improvement is good.
  Enough rambling for the day. You all take care not to eat too much!

End of the day

   normally I don't even have the computer on this time of night. Tonight......well, we're on vacation and didn't get up until 6 this a.m....I went and picked up the little ones about noon and great-papa had Buck ready to ride when we got here. So, after a grilled cheese sandwich and a few chips we headed out for "pony rides" . I think they really like it. Sometimes it is hard to tell with ones that little. It might be better to use one of the shorter horses. Maybe Dick instead.
  Then we read books and played with toys etc. ate a couple more times and they were asleep by 6:15. Poor little things I forgot to give them a nap! I bet they are up by 5 a.m.! They are used to getting up really early. Lee gets up at 4 most mornings and I've heard they get up at the same time! They are really pretty good kids all in all. They forget sometimes what the rules are here but it's a long time in between visits. They've done really well with the kittens. They are figuring out how to play with them and how to treat them. That's very important in this house. lol
  I'm glad things are settling in for my sister in her new house. I can't imagine trying to re-train the dogs on how to come in quietly one at a time so you can clean their feet! I know she's not really doing that but it is funny to think about.
  Haven't talked to my brother in a few weeks but I'm sure he's doing okay. Working too hard in the cold and dreary north. Probably knee deep in snow already.
  I guess we'll be having dinner for two on Turkey day. Lee  is working ( I think I mentioned that before) so they will not be having a dinner and she's staying home to cook a late dinner for them. T said he'd rather stay home. I'm good with that. I do miss family dinners but can't be helped when the family is either gone or too far away from each other. Oh, I'm wondering if my sister is planning on taking mom Pat to her house for Thanksgiving day dinner. That would be a nice treat for her. Pat..not my sister. haha
  It's way-back time:    "and we caught one this big!"

First pony: Sugar

:

"The clown"- abt 1983

 First ride : Trogdon's horse - 1976 or 7

 
   Life is good and it's ended as a diamond day. It was a bad stone day for a couple of hours there but I got over it.
 

Good morning!

   Tim is off to work and two of the kittens are helping me write. Good grief! Why do I put myself through this?              'cause I love kitties.
  We had a good weekend while T was off. Got a few outside things done before the cold and rain came. It's 23* right now and a just a bit chilly when letting the dogs out or in. Guess fall is really here.
  T and I have decided that thrush isn't the problem. She just has an awful abscess. Could be caused by many different things including not enough foot care, shoes left on too long (can't be that), going barefoot (could be that)and on and on....either way as long as she continues to hang in there with us we'll keep trying to see her through her troubles.
  T says this will be his last year at camp. Not sure why but have my suspicions. Anyway he plans on going Wed through Sunday of this week. Time will tell.
  Haven't heard from sis in awhile. Guess no news is good news. Did chat with Jaybird for a few minutes yesterday morning.. he'd been having some sleep issues. Dadgummit, who doesn't these days?
  Got my mile in on the treadmill. Been doing a mile and 1/2 but today was a mile day to go along with the diamond day. Think I'll go back to bed now. Take a quick nap.
  Diamond days to everyone!

Already November!

...good grief, I've tried to write some posts but it hasn't happened as you can see. I won't try to catch you up but sis and I did take a road trip to Spfd and we both got new glasses. Mine had changed  little in the last 2 years. Hers had changed in the last 12! years. We had a really fun day! Left early and came back late afternoon. Long day for me. She's probably used to it as she is always running all day long. She takes care of her family and several of the neighbors. They are always running some kind of errand.
  Anyway, the farrier was out. He said he thought it was thrush. I picked up some thrush remedy and we've been treating Jeanne. This will be day four. We treat for a week and then once a week after that. We will see how that plays out. I feel so bad for her but we're doing all we can. The farrier will check back in January to see if we need any work done on anyone. The rest of the crew looks good. We'll start working with the youngsters on their feet. They wear them down quite nicely so far but in the future they may need some attention. We keep everyone barefoot. We have ez boots if we need them.
  The kittens have settled in quite nicely in the household. They get along with the dogs and so far haven't gotten into too much mischief. They sure have a good time. I've got two on my chair with me right now - taking their morning nap. They sleep hard and play hard.

  Tim is off today. He worked OT again yesterday. I'm letting him sleep for a change. He likes for me to wake him when I get up but he's worked 60 hours in the last 5 days. The kids are coming up today for a short visit. Not seen them since Halloween. Here they are at Roaring River. It will be nice to see my kidlet. He was working on Halloween til late.
  I need to send some more pics to this computer so I can upload them. Dang it. Gotta go for now. It's gonna be a diamond day, I'm just sure.

Beautiful start to the morning,,,

..Tim made coffee and went directly back to bed. Haha He's on vacation this week so he's catching up on a little sleep. I hope so anyway. He works a lot of OT - he mowed the yard yesterday and it sure looks nice for the beginning of fall.
  I got most of my houseplants inside the past few days. A few are still on the back porch wishing they were inside. Banana tree is crying and all but banging on the door. We also moved the orphans into the house a few days ago. They are so cute. And have made their selves quite at home. Themselves? Not sure which is correct. Anyway, they have settled right in and are playing with dogs on occasion. Hank is afraid of them. Hannah is desperately trying to figure out the best way to play with them - Sheba is used to cats as she was raised with two.
  Fast forward 5 days ...I never got back to this until this beautiful morning. It's Sunday and the storms are over. Yesterday morning we had 2.7" of rain and haven't checked the gauge to see what we got in the storms that rolled through last night. Quite a bit I'm thinking.
  On Thursday we bought a little 1988 Escort that is still in pretty good shape from Marge. We're calling it Tim's rain suit. It will be so nice to have a little commuter car for T to take to work. They had been getting 32-40 mpg! It has over 300,000 miles on it. Got it washed and vacuumed out and almost clean. lol It still needs some elbow grease used on it. Marge even delivered it to us. Her daughter and son in law helped bring it down from the lake. I can not imagine what she's going through right now. How lonesome she must be without him. I know she lost another husband years ago that was the love of her life but now at this age it must be terribly difficult. She's a strong woman from strong stock and I know she'll be lost for awhile, but she'll be fine.
  Talked to big brother a bit on Friday. He's thinking of spending the winter in Arizona - fishing. I wish he would. He works hard and drives a lot of miles. He says he'll take a pole and bobber. No hooks ......and his cooler with a recliner . All he needs. Sounds like a plan.
  Well, sis has been dealing with C this week and more power to her. I'm still pissed at C for the way she has dealt with the situation this whole year. She has not done what she promised the folks she'd do. She has pawned it off on sis and her own son. I'm afraid I would not be as nice as sis about the whole deal. Glad I don't have to. Thanks Sis!
  Gonna put this on hold again, later.
  Fast forward again. The gauge had another 2.5" of rain! Good for that grass and everything else. Got another .2" in a little storm that came through.
 I have a helper this am. A little white kitten with no name. She's the last one to be named. We have George, Gracie and Patch so far.
  It's been several more days and not much going on. Same ol' same ol' . Daily chores and enjoying our place and our animals. Life is good. Some days are diamonds.....some days are stones. I like the diamond days much better!
  Buck is feeling better and Jeanne is actually showing a little improvement! A long ways to go but is improving. Jose got his well in and we closed the gate and turned the horses out on the west pastures. The wind was a steady 30 mph and 40 mph gusts. Tim put my plastic up again on the back porch. Just wanted to keep it somewhat dry this winter since the quail are still there.  I had it up but didn't put the lathes up with it so it didn't hold. Dang it!

  I've been in a writing slump as I'm sure you've noticed. When I think of something to say I'm busy doing other things and when I have time....I'm brain dead. Such is the way of it...........I love this picture of Jr Mom and Gpa. What a time they must have had. When ever you think you're having a bad day just remember how rough our ancestors had it on a day to day basis. We're very lucky to live in the time we do.

Beautiful Wednesday

  Found this is in my drafts and was to be posted on 9-26  oh well 0 I tried ..

It's cloudy, windy and 74* and it feels great outside. We got just a trace of rain this a.m. before Tim left but he was able to take the bike.
  We're planning on buying Marge's old car if she hasn't changed her mind. That will be Tim's "rain suit" lol .....something we can afford for him to drive to work during bad weather. There's a lot of time during the year when it's just unhandy riding the bike.
  We went down to see the kids this trick off. Stayed a few hours and really enjoyed ourselves. I played ball with Aiden and Dahlia both. Lots of fun and Aiden is going to be a good little player.
  Be back. The storm is almost here and need to shut down.
 Have a happy!

New toy

  A few weeks ago I bought myself a laptop that was on sale. A notebook actually. 14" wide. I'm learning how to keep my hands away from the little touch pad while typing. And learning how to deal with a computer that tries to think for me!!!! If you take too long in doing something .....sometimes it makes your decision for you. The damndest thing.....I will be months in organizing my photos in this new program. For years I've been using a Kodak program and it is now unavailable. I may buy a mini mouse to speed up the process. It's pretty slow with the touch pad. lol
  Got my mile in this a.m...been a few days. I just wasn't feeling quite up to it so I didn't. Got to make myself do it no matter what. It's important to me.
  Sometime in the next month or so we have to buy new phones. We're still using Alltel phones. Have had them about 5-6 years, something like that. Verison(sp) is now saying we need to use new phones and that our old ones won't work after the new year. That really sucks. I guess they're tired of us not spending enough money with them. I hate to change phones for several reasons. You do what you gotta do.

 Going through the pics on the laptop, this is still one of my favorites. I know, it has a burn cage in it but I was so blessed that these two girls trusted me enough to lay down with me just a few feet away. I had to step back to get them in the frame. 

 First time I ever saw Betty actually laying down. She's 17 hands and looks small for the first time. lol 

Much needed hay supply for winter that we started feeding in July. Dang it! 

Didn't realize this didn't post on the 19th! Must have been busy on that day. 

  

  

Monday , Monday

   Tim worked OT on Sat and Sun, now he's working his reg trick. He got the little pasture over-seeded on Friday. We may be able to do the other little one soon. Jose came by last week and said he was going to put in a well for the cows. We also got 2.7" of rain this weekend and the weekend before that we got another .8"! We have a start now on doing away with this dang drought. We're no longer in the severe category. Yay!
  The kittens are thriving without their momma. The are beginning to try to eat dry food. I hope they catch on quick. They are so cute. I love watching kittens play. Here's Number One:

 Yesterday I went to my sister's and enjoyed a good visit. I know she was unpacking boxes and I just  watched but we had a nice visit anyway. Her new house is beautiful and coming along nicely. It will be a home in no time. She took her Sheltie to the vet this a.m.. got him on some pain killer and some steroids for a few weeks and see how that goes. Not looking too good for the old fella.
  Here's Number Two:

   We actually had to mow the back yard last week! First time in months. Of course with the drought it wasn't growing. Time to mow the front now. At least part of it.
  Cheryl never made it down for another basket class and neither did Marylou. They just don't know what they are missing. lol. Now that it's cooler I will probably make a few more. I think I will have to make them outside - I've got to clear my sewing table off so I can do a little sewing too. So many projects and so little time! I've also got to get my houseplants ready to come in for the winter! Talk about a honey do list! Only this time it's MY list.
  It's been a diamond day but I gotta go for now.

Wonderful Saturday!

  Today is Tim's birthday! Even though he has to work he will have a good day.

  Yesterday we had a storm come through that had very high winds (abt 80mph) and some hail and rain. We didn't get any hail but those winds were sure strong. Blew my birds right off their table.

  Once again having trouble with the editing part of the this program. Doesn't seem to want to edit correctly. Oh well, I'll do the best I can with what I have to work with. 

It's been a diamond.

    

#4

It's a great start....

     to Sept.! We got 2.3" of rain!!!!!! How cool is that? Our vacation started on the 31st of August. Was a really nice and relaxing time. We puttered around the house, got a few things done. Played with the kittens. I'll get a picture of them later. Mawmaw Kitty has decided to no longer live here. She figures the babies are okay with us and left them for her freedom. Too bad for her. I sure hope that Jonathan's friend Chris can have a kitty. As much as he does for his mother I would think that would be up to him.
  Anyway, we have the little front pasture gated off from the kids and will try to seed that section this weekend. If Jose gets his well drilled soon we'll be able to do the other little pasture as well. We have the seed already (it was 25% off!). Yay! We'll be able to keep them off of it for most of the winter and hopefully spring too!
  Got Jeannie wormed again. I'm hoping it will help her. It may be that her teeth need floating instead. Not really a problem but not sure I can spare the $100 or so. I need all I can save for the winter hay. Her feet are still pretty sore but they are improving her ability to get around.
  I missed throwaway Thursday a couple of times last month. This month I plan to make up for that. I will be moving the "cow collection" to the shop and next spring it will go to the trash if no one comes after it. I need the space in the garage for this winter. I'm thinning this crap down no matter how I have to get rid of it.
Gotta go - storm is coming...Diamond day

Never got around to writing

yesterday. It just away from me. lol It was a beautiful day and I got some things done in the yard in preparation of the rain that is supposed to happen this week. Doesn't look to me like it will come this way. The hurricane is in NO right now. Has hit landfall or whatever they call it.
  The new farrier came by yesterday afternoon and trimmed up Jeannie and Buck. Wonderful job and gentle fella. You never know, he could have been like David. Jeannie is still sore but we'll see how she comes along. He'll be back in 7-9 weeks. He only has a handful of clients down this way and will make everyone's appointment the same day. Yay!
 Our connection has really sucked this past week. We got a notice that we have to update our phones and our connection gadget or they will stop working in a few months. I think they meant now. My battery in my phone has stopped holding a charge (it's about 3-4 years old) and now the gadget is not working well. It figures. lol
  It's been a diamond day but my back was semi out so I took it very easy.
Our vacation started 10 minutes ago. Will have a week off. Hopefully he didn't sign up for OT. The scarecrow painting has been canceled/postponed. Linda is not up to having us all over etc.
  Not much going on. Guess no news is good news.

It was a good week..

  but still no rain. It's supposed to rain (big whooping 50% chance)today. I'm sure hoping and praying for it. The whole state needs it so badly. Actually most of the entire mid-west needs it. Crops and animals etc. ....prices are high enough as it is and now with this, they will only go higher. What will people do then? Everyone lives pay check to paycheck now. I know, blah, blah, blah....
  Well it's been hours since I started this and we got a big whoppin' 1/10th of an inch of rain and heard thunder about 3 times shortly after noon. I'm grateful but sure could have used a little more.
 Yesterday I went to Susie's to pick up a plant and "spotted" for her while she worked Rocky for a while. He's a big ole handsome fella. A far cry from the mousy little thing he was a few years back.

 He's not been worked in over a year. Like my bunch. There's just so much health that goes so far and regular life gets in the way. You know, like cooking, cleaning and laundry. When that's all you can muster up that's all you can muster up..... in her case, throw in some thyroid cancer and breast cancer scare that is not over yet...






Been both a diamond and a stone day.....later

The weekend....

... was really nice. The weather was great and so was our time together. We got a little done around the place and the birthday party with family and friends on Sunday.

                                         
                                                 Sunday morning started out like this. How beautiful the fog was. It burned off very quickly and was gone by 9 a.m....

                  This is the free water park in Rogers. That's Dahlia on the right in pink. All the kids were having such fun. There are three buckets up there that fill up and then dump. The kids love to lay or stand under them and get hit..what fun. And below you can see the water gun as Dahlia runs away from it.

 

   Our princess ready for the party!

  And here's our shark boy. That's what Aiden says he was. See his fin?

 Here Pawpaw is giving him a push for extra speed. The little ones aren't quite ready for the run and slide on your stomach trick. Maybe next year.

                             Getting ready to blow out the candles and get those presents open.

This is one of their gifts. Haven't got to actually see them play with this one but I bet they like it! 

Supposed to roll them around while they scream with delight, I imagine. They didn't open that one until everyone was gone. I bet those kids were dead on their feet. Lee and Brenda too. Good party. 

Oh, forgot to mention ......I fell in the yard the other day. Dadgumit, it hurt my feelings more than anything else. Stepped in one of those dang holes, twisted my ankle, sat down fell and cried like a baby. Tim heard me and came running. I didn't mean to scare him when I cried out. 

  On Thursday Brenda and I spent the day shopping in Rogers. Wallyworld and Aldi's. Hadn't been to the Rogers store in years or Aldi's. I sure enjoyed the time together and the kids had a good time too. We went to the above water park after shopping. They are really good kids most of the time. 

  Didn't get this posted yesterday. I fell asleep and woke up to company. A surprise visit from the kids! Was so glad they dropped by. I know we just saw them but it's always good to see them. Nothing more comforting than having your loved ones all in the same house. Was almost perfect when T came home and they were still here. 

  Today is our 30th Anniversary! Hard to believe that much time has flown by. I'm so blessed to have Tim to share my life with. 

  Although, I did have to take out the trash this morning! haha We just started trash service again after several years of just burning. Has gotten almost out of control with the burn ban all summer so we decided it was time. The price has actually gone down a couple of dollars! Wow! 

  It's been a really nice day and a diamond day.

Not a good picture but these are our quail. Have 7 of them. Just a few months old. They mature at 6 weeks! Already laying eggs. Pretty cool. 

  

Wonderful Friday

It's been a really nice day. Started with 61* and so far has topped out at 82* and been breezy all day out of the north. Tim worked OT on Wed so made for a short weekend but was a nice day too. Sandi was taking Sam to the dr on Thursday so it worked out well for me to go down on groom him for her on Wed. Talk about a run on sentence! Didn't take long as it was only a couple of months ago that I groomed him last.
  Went to the dr myself yesterday. Changed my heart burn/acid re-flux med to see if we could get rid of all symptoms .....not too sure of that. Will give it a try. I've lost 5lbs! And need to start back on those dang niacin tabs. I hate those and for that matter, all the rest of the dang pills. lol

The local grocery store had a "kids day" and these guys actually won a six pack of cupcakes each in the games they had set up in the aisles. And free face painting. One of their friends got the spiderweb on her face too so Aiden declared "she'll be my sidekick!" How funny. Today when they all went to town, Dahlia went as a princess in her tutu. Bet she looked so cute.

Snagged this little chocolate eating machine off line the other week. Boy, has he got Steve's hair or what?

  Do they look like cousins or what? Little devils.......

Here's Tori and Julian in case you missed it online. His third birthday. Boy, they grow up so fast.

 
                                                           Can we have do overs?

It's a diamond day no matter what!

Throw Away Thursday (again)

  Time sure flies. Whether you're havin' fun or not haha! It's gonna be another very hot day. It topped out at 107.1* yesterday. I'm getting pretty tired of these temps. 

 

I got to spend two days in a row going to parks and watching the little ones play. Brenda did all the work while I watched. We took "fast food" the first day and Brenda packed lunch the next day. Two different parks: one in Cassville and the next day in Monett. What fun. Oh, and we also went to a fast food place that had a play area for drinks. OMGosh! That thing is sure high. The kids had a ball though. They did so well. They had to be so tired and hot. I was melting.


  Tim gave me a surprise for an early anniversary gift. It will be our 30th! How cool is that? Anyway, here's my gift:

 

1989 

Can't drive it far as the ac isn't working yet. And no, I'm not going to drive it with the top down in this heat wave! Driving around in a blast furnace is not fun! Tried that in the 90's and didn't like it at all.

It's a beautiful car and overall in great shape. Needs TLC on the interior but we've got all the time in the world. 

  On the home front, still doctoring two of my babies and don't seem to be getting anywhere. Cotton is the same on the other hand is not getting worse. Poor guy. And Hank is still miserable. Jeannie is having trouble and no way to help her right now. We're going to see if we can find a farrier to come trim her. It may be hard to find one just for a couple of front feet. No one else needs much of anything done. Maybe some filing. Her's are really long since she had trouble through the winter with an abscess. 

  Been watering the orchard and my tomatoes with the sprinkler. Hand watering the houseplants sometimes twice a day. It would be easier if I just brought them back in the house! I may do that in the next couple of weeks instead of waiting til fall. 

It's been a diamond day!  

Gonna be .....

....a diamond day. Started at 3:30 as usual. Tim and I enjoyed some coffee together, he got ready for work etc etc...I started some laundry and made the bed etc etc....I'm grateful I don't have to go to the laundromat. Haven't in many many years. It's the little things, you know. They all add up to a diamond kinda day!

  Wish one of these storms would roll by today. It's gonna be another hot one. Upper 90's for a couple of weeks now. Was 76* when we got up. Done with feeding and watering and back inside it's 83*. We have 7 new banties. Five black and 2 light. I turned her out of the crate as they are 48hrs old. I hope she'll stay in the house today as I saw the hawk as I was coming in. The teenager is liable to get eaten today. He's out of the coop running around alone catching bugs.

  There's a few grass fires a week now. You'd really think that people would pay more attention. I guess they think it will never happen to them or they just don't care. Sad really.
  I've got squash bugs eating my tomatoes. I might as well let the chickens have them. At least I get eggs from the chickens! A few more days of the babies growing and I will turn them out to eat the squash bugs. What a plan! lol
  I've worked a little on the family tree here and there. Every once in a while I come across a new tidbit of information. The search will never be over .....just handed down to the next generation.
 Guess that's all for today.
 
 
 

Note from dry country

  We have at least 4 more banties this a.m.. Three from yesterday and another one this a.m...cute little babies. Okay, that gives us: the original 3 from Mike + 5 teenagers+4 babies=12...now if the dang heavy hens could learn to do that! Out of the seven Blackie had she only managed to save one after a few weeks. Barn cat at it again. What to do about that?

  Speaking of barn cats they are down to two most of the time and another that stops by to visit from time to time. Oh, and Mawmaw kitty is probably pregnant again. If she is I plan on capturing the litter this time and taming them. If I can catch her, I may have her spayed.

   All this month the sky has given us a show just before daylight with Venus and Jupiter showing close together along with the crescent moon a couple of days and a really bright star thrown in for good measure. I saw the one with the crescent moon and it was really cool too. My picture isn't all that great but you get the idea. I need to actually leave the ramp and maybe go to the other side of the orchard for a better view. But then I have nothing to stabilize my camera with. Oh woe is me! 

Automatic float valve, where have you been all my life? Sure is nice. 

Jose's cows looking at one of the horses. Some of them are so cute. The large one is the bull. Beefy little sucker even if he is short. 






  There's a little green on the radar that may bring a few drops of rain to Jose's pond but think it will miss us. Dang it! Gonna water the orchard again today. It's just after 11 and it's 93*.  The wind has calmed down a little from this a.m.. but still a breeze. Every bit of the green just disappeared! Dadgumit! Up to 97*

  

This was in 09 at Di's family reunion on the coast. Did you see on fb that Kathy and Joe are going to Puerto Villarta? Spelling? The same place we went to decades ago. 

  

  Don't remember if I've ever posted this one from the wayback machine. On the "Hill" in Scappoose about 1968. 
  It's been a diamond day. Visited on the phone with Kate for about an hour. Everyone's fine up that way. Enjoying her birds.