End of year

  We had a real nice Thanksgiving with turkey and all the trimmings right here with the two of us. And had a real nice Christmas here too. Tim wanted to stay home instead of going to Jeff's so I was all for that. Christmas eve we took a drive to look at the lights. I was surprised there were not as many around town as I expected but still saw some real nice ones. We did go see the local "Griswold" lights out the other side of Ridgely. Never have saw so many lights on one place!!! Got a call from our son that morning and then T got a call from him on Christmas morning.

   On a sad note....our time with Buck is coming to an end. We are not sure when but will be soon. He's had a stroke. Lost vision in one eye but has adjusted to that just fine. Has seemingly lost use of one leg to a point so not getting around very well. He's over 35 years old and has only been with us for 5-6 years he has given so much. I will not see him suffer or be in pain. He went through enough before coming to us.

Here's the old guy sometime last year. Such a sweet soul. 

  Sam is now 6 months old and full of piss and vinegar. Sometimes I'm not sure he will survive til grown. haha I will be glad when he stops chewing on everything. 

  I made oatmeal cookies, vanilla wafers and peanut brittle the past couple of weeks. Not too bad. Normally T doesn't take dessert in his lunch but I figured what the heck. Maybe a couple more batches of cookies and another couple of pies and I will be done with my extra baking for the year. Our health can't take too much of that. Or should I say our weight? 

  Momma has been gone almost 7 years now and I still miss her every day. You all have a diamond day! 

Trouble posting

  I spent two days writing that last post and then had trouble getting it to "publish". It got the first half of it.
  I did say that I was glad that it was finally fall.....well.....we skipped fall and dove right into winter this week. Last weekend it was 80*. Monday the cold front came through, like in the rest of the country, and it dropped and blew and blew. When I came home from getting groceries the wind was blowing 44 mph sustained and gusting to over 50 mph ! The double gate for the back yard blew over. The two wooden posts that held up one side of it snapped in half and that was it. lol The dogs did not appreciate the afternoon staying in the house. It was too windy to stand out there with them for this old lady. lol Then my dryer quit heating the dame day. Dang it! We will try to get it fixed this weekend. Here's hoping. I do feel bad for T as it is opening day of deer season come Sat a.m..

 This is our new sassafras bench. The ice storm of a few years ago did a lot of damage to the tops of 4 of  them and this year was the year they finally gave it up. 

 These are our guineas we got in the spring from cousin Kate. They are very entertaining. 

  Another week has gone by. Wasn't too bad - had a tiny bit of snow for a day. Got the dryer fixed and it works so much better than it did before! So nice. Been a fairly good week for these old bones. 

  I do not envy my sister this past week. They have been in the deer woods and it was down to single digits one night and teens several others. More power to them as the saying goes. She says this is her last year to go. Next year the guys can go alone and do their own cooking. lol 

  I think T's plan is to go to their family deer camp tomorrow and just spend the day hanging out and visiting. Not taking a gun or getting a license. That will be nice for him as we haven't seen them much this year. Haven't seen our son much at all this year either. Maybe next year. 

  Not sure if T will be working on Thanksgiving day or not. Guess we will find out next week. If not the plan is to go to Spfd and spend a few hours with his family. 

Some days are diamonds and some days are stones. You all have a diamond day! 

Happy Birthday to Tim!

  Here's a couple of pictures of the kidlets on Lacey.

 

  

Spring River Park - such a nice little park provided by the pastor of the church.

Five of the littlest generation plus 2. The little ones weren't to sure of standing there alone without a parent. That will change in a year or two, I'm sure. Last pool party.

  We are going to breakfast this a.m.  for Tim's birthday. Taking the bike. Not too sure of that lol . We've broke down twice this summer! Gonna be hot today! Better go get ready.

Beautiful morning

  it's been a beautiful morning. Temp is about 60* with the sun shining. This past week has been perfect camping weather if a person was so inclined. We haven't been in too many years to count and I have missed it. There are a few other things I'v missed over the years but hey, what're ya gonna do? ......
  The week started out just fine. Things moving along until Thursday night with a downed horse. Gabby was colic ing .....don't know how to spell it and don't care particularly....I took his temp during one of his resting periods (not rolling back and forth)it is normally about 101*. This time it was 110* and pegged on the thermometer! Anyway, got a call into the vet and waited for him to call back - of course this was after hours.....by 9 pm it was pretty clear that this was a case that was more severe than average and we decided it was time to do the right thing. Gabbs crossed the rainbow bridge by the time the vet called - he said with a temp that high his brain was gone and we did the right thing. Gabbs was not with us very long but he was a sweety and I was looking forward to spending time with him. So all day Friday was spent renting a backhoe etc and bury our friend along with the others that have crossed before him. Needless to say I've been an emotional wreck since then and cry at the drop of a hat.
  Construction started on the main bath yesterday and will continue today. Moving along nicely thanks to nephew Mike. I know he was beat by the time he headed home last night. I so appreciate him doing this for us.
  T starts a new job on Monday. We'll see how that works out. Driving for someone in Joplin. Not sure ......

 I'm gonna try to make it a diamond day!

July weather? 54*!

  this is just weird! It's nice outside. It's 54* and gonna be a wonderful day. The only problem ? It is July 2! Normally it is already in the 90's and 100's.
  We had a really nice family dinner at my sister's house over the weekend. Good food and good company. Beautiful weather for it too. I wish momma was still with us to see her kids back together again. My sister will be having her annual party on the 6th for the "Fourth". They have a good time for that one too. Lots of fireworks etc...
  Good grief! Just had to rescue another songbird from George...I know it's their nature as cats to hunt birds but I really wish he'd quit. I want him to hunt mice in the barn, sheds and house. Dang it! A pretty little baby bird this time. It's got yellow on it and smaller than a banty chick. I will take it back outside in a little while.
  I got a little sewing done this past week. Have a little baseball shirt almost done for Aiden and finished a little sundress for Dahlia. We will have them again this week. From Wed to Sat. They will spend the night with us Friday. I'm not sure if T will want to take them to Mike and Linda's on Thursday or not. The neighborhood parade starts at 9am - they would have to stay all night on Wed too. Not sure he is up for them staying two nights with us. They will settle in after they are used to the rules in our house. Has to be hard on them. So many places and so many different rules.
  I'm concerned about Misty Blue. She has lost so much weight recently. I'm thinking she has diabetes with her excessive drinking and urinating. She's around 11 years old and I'm afraid she's approaching the end of our time with her. She is a wonderful dog.
  T has gone to Wisconsin with his brother to pick up at truck for one of the nephews. They bought it online but the delivery charge couldn't be agreed upon so they went after it. When in doubt...do it yourself. Besides being a good time on a road trip with brothers.
  T's jaw is still hurting quite a lot. I think he will have to have more work done on it. Not sure what they can do. Grind it down some more? There is still a tiny amount of that bone still showing in his gum.
  As you can see by my recent posts that I have still not been able to get a photo editing program that I like to use on this laptop. Maybe sometime this summer I'll be able to get that done. I miss sharing my pictures. Have a diamond day.
 

Time goes so fast

  These days, they are running together. We are getting some things taken care of slowly but surely. Still waiting on the tractor to be fixed but have a years worth of hay in the pasture and tarp-ed against the weather. Sure is a relief. The feed store guy was surprised we were able to find 56 bales this time of year that someone would let go of. Me too. I figured our hay guy would be hanging on to it in case of more drought.
  Sis and I had a fun road trip to take MomPat to the dentist this month and another road trip to Elkland to visit Aunt Jo. And one more trip to Mom's house to get more stuff out of it. If the weather finally settles down we'll try for another load. We had fun. Mom is a little more reserved these days as she loses her memories. She knows we are "friendly" and people she is happy to see but really doesn't know us. I know it's harder on my sister as she has always been closer with her but it is still hard to watch as MomPat slips away.
  I came up with an idea for a quilt for Aunt Jo and I think I have help from Kate and Lois. I'm not really sure if Kate can see my vision for it. I sent her a draft of it but that's not always transferable if you know what I mean. lol I'll send one to sis today and see what she thinks. It would be an anniversary present if we can get it started and done. Things are snowballing on me though so I'm not sure it will happen. We'll see.
  This month was my brother in law's 50th birthday. They had a really nice party for him and it was nice to see all the family (most of it anyway) And a couple of folks I hadn't seen in a long time.
  It's been a busy month of not finishing anything! lol I still have many things to do here in the house and out in the yard. Spinning wheels with this weather. lol Snow showers!? What's up with that this late in the season? Did get a few groceries bought yesterday but still need to go gt some 'mater plants. My lovely little cats pretty much killed all my seedlings. Some just didn't like the lighting. Have new baby chicks in the yard and guinea eggs in the incubator ready to hatch this week.
  Met Marge and her family in Mt V for lunch on last Saturday. Had not seen her since her and George left for the north a year ago. I know she is still adjusting to life without him.
  I've rambled on long enough and haven't said a thing......I won't proof read this or I would delete it all so you all have a diamond day! I'm gonna give it my best shot!

Sunday morning

  Already Sunday and I don't know that I've got much done lately. A little housework and a little outside work. Maybe a little more today as it's supposed to get to 60*.
  We had more vehicle trouble this week. T went to get hay and took a long time. When he got back (thank the Lord)he told me what happened. As he was leaving the place he noticed a small amount of smoke coming from the front of the truck where the windshield wipers are. You know, the little grill looking thing in between them? It now looks like a real grill. Long story short - had some more smoke and then some flame. Thank goodness there was a fire extinguisher in the truck. We'll be able to look closer at the problem when T is off again. And maybe today I'll air out the truck and get some of the extinguisher chemicals out of the interior. A light dusting every where! If it weren't for bad luck! etc etc

 

  

Here's Aiden and Dahlia riding Buck last summer. They sure had fun. I probably have already posted these but just now got them uploaded to my laptop from the pc. 

 Took this a couple of weeks ago. Some of our wonderful pack enjoying our bed and the sunshine. I have to keep my good blankets covered with that throw to protect them. lol The cats are beginning to think they are dogs too. When the dogs get excited cause someone is here, so do the cats. They want to go out with the dogs and pretty good at coming back in with the dogs. I can't leave them out very long at a time because of the hawks and coyotes but they sure like it (and the sparrows) I can see I will have to put bells on them soon. Next craft project coming up. haha 

  The old roo is still living on the porch. I had him out in the yard again the other day and the youngster took after him again. The next morning I let him back on the porch much worse for the wear so I haven't made him leave the porch again. He's been a good roo and guess I'll just live with him on the porch til he passes. Gonna have to change the name of the place to something about an old "folks" home. Of course the name is Rockin'TNC so it could be taken both ways. haha 

You know....rocking the house! or sitting in a rocking chair. Hardy hardy har! 

  I've still not started Walker's quilt! Good grief. How easily I'm distracted or how slow I am ....not sure which is the case. Maybe today will be the day. Some days by the time I get the "have tos" done I've barely the energy to make my mile walk. Winter sure is tough on my soul. I hate it more every year. 

  Gonna be a diamond day in spite of it all! 

 

Friday the 18th

  OMGoodness! I forgot yesterday was throwaway day! Didn't throw away a dang thing except in the kitchen. I need to do that today otherwise I will get behind. Ha! As if a person could tell just walking through my mess house. My so called library is absolutely trashed thanks to the kittens. They have tried to clean the shelves for me by knocking things off into the floor. At least they haven't killed any houseplants. I've got to go through that room again and thin it out. I'm hoping to get most of the house thinned out by spring so I don't have to worry about anymore. I'm sure I'm repeating myself. Maybe if I say it often enough it will get done.
   My oldest roo has lost his flock to the youngster so he has taken to sleeping under the porch instead of in the hen house. The last few days I've been feeding him separately and the last two I've fed him on my messy back porch with the quail. Well, not exactly with the quail but on the floor next to the crate. He marches up the ramp and into the enclosed porch and has his dinner. The dogs walk right by him and now the cats will. They tried to check him out and he puffed up. They respect that posture and now leave him alone.
  Speaking of the quail, one of them was playing with a cat this a.m....guess we'll never turn them out. haha Wouldn't last long if they're not afraid of predators. Still hoping to have baby quail next spring but not holding breath under these circumstances. Maybe later.
  It's 54* and sunny out there. T is busy in the woods and I'm doing a little house work. We'll have home made pizza for dinner and a nice relaxing evening. Watch a Barret-Jackson auction on tv. Having a diamond day and hope everyone is doing fine.
 
 

Saturday 5 a.m.

  Had a really nice day on Friday. Met an old friend in town, did a little shopping and went to lunch.  Came home to a cat with separation anxiety and a 1700 # horse in the old chicken run. How funny is that? Betty stayed there until Tim came home to rescue her. She quietly stepped over the part of the fence he cut open. It was way past time to do something with that fence anyway. Always looking for something to get into. Love that curiosity!

  There's an ice storm coming tonight. Well, I use the term storm lightly as it's not really a storm coming, just a cold front while it is raining, so to speak. As the weather man says,"winter weather advisory".  But.......it only takes about 1/4" of ice on the power lines to take out the electricity.
  I will be cleaning our oil lamps today just in case. Cooking and heat are no problem. Water and light is the only thing we can lose. Need to charge up phone and laptop too. Emergency radio is solar and crank - no worries. During the ice storm a few years back it took 7 days of no power before the National Guard showed up at the front door. Boy, was that ever a surprise! We were fine but running out of water for the horses. We used that water for the toilets. lol Purdy offered free water to folks for their livestock which was wonderful. We had a few barrels to fill so T took them to town and filled them.
  Went and got a few more groceries just now. Locked in the hubs on the truck so it's ready to go in the morning for T. I reminded him that he could use a sick day if he wants to in the morning. Depends on that ice. They are calling for an inch.

  I'll be glad when the cats grow to a size that maybe the hawks will leave alone. They sure do like it outside. It's getting harder to round them up and bring them back in! It's kinda hard to see but that's a red-tail hawk helping himself to one of the chicks last year. There is at least one pair living in the woods behind us. There is also a Prairie falcon hanging out this winter. He is fast and he cruises really low, about 7-8' off the ground and is not bashful at all. Has scared me in the yard a couple of times haha.
  I've been anonymously following several blogs for several years now. Once in awhile I post something and normally just left my name. Recently I started just leaving the rockintnc thing and not changing it to my name. Anyway, I started following sarawolf over at Sally's Country Home a long time ago. I believe I found her at the countryside forum. Her weaving took me there I believe. The blog kept me going back. I posted something after one of her posts and now I find out she lived in Purdy back in the 80's! What a tiny world we live in. It has been proven to me time and again.  We have a Purdy address but can see Butterfield from the front window.
  I just received a book with some of T's genealogy in it from a second cousin of his. She sent me a free copy of her book for helping with some of the research. It's a beautiful hardback one. We actually got to meet them 5-6 years ago when they were in "the neighborhood". They live in Vegas. eww! I just can't imagine living in that place.
  I'm having another diamond day. Hope you all do too.
 

Wednesday 5:15 a.m.

  First things first:

 If you look close you can see that this picture was taken on my son's front porch. I used to hang my spider plant on that corner post. My son says that guy hangs out every day along with a chicken hawk. I reminded him this a.m. that one of those birds may decide to have their dog for breakfast and watch out! I love the picture though. How cool is that? 

  I didn't walk yesterday. I will today after T gets up. 

  Don't know how much rain we have and won't know until the sun comes up but it may be quite a bit. Every little bit will help with our ongoing drought. 

  Rant for the day- paying for crappy television! It just galls me that we pay so much for tv and there are so many shows that are just plain crap. I keep thinking about the old "let's dumb them down" thing. Are there honestly intelligent people out there that want to see that stuff? I wish the satellite company would just let us pay in 20 channel packages or something like that. Let us pick the 20 or so channels that WE want and pay x number of dollars for that. Even some of the channels I would pick have some of those crappy shows on them. It's ridiculous! I know it's supposed to be just entertainment but give me a break. 

  I'm already thinking about a garden this year. I actually did a small amount of yard work yesterday while the temperature was over 50* . I'd like to try a few more things this year. Maybe peanuts again. The redheads were puppies and trashed them last time lol . Guess this year it would be cats, if I choose to let them out on their own. Without their barn/wild cat momma would they have enough sense to survive outside? They've been babied by me and I can't teach them outdoor living. Anyway, back to growing a few things. A few things here and there. My sister loves asparagus and I think she should grow some at her place. It's a perennial so why not? And rhubarb too. She loves that too. Me? Nope, don't like either one but if the SHTF it might taste pretty darn good it there's not much else. lol Some tomatoes and corn would be nice. I won't buy either at the stores unless I can tell they are local. I have gone to the farmer's market and picked up some. 

  I received a beautiful book on some of T's genealogy that a distant cousin wrote in 2012. We met them shortly after moving here. They were visiting relatives in Pineville from LasVegas. I helped her with some research and she shared research and pictures her side of the family had. It's a great book, put together nicely. It was a gift. The price of having one published hasn't gone up that much in all these years when you consider it was around $30 for the book Sharon wrote about our line in the 80's and it was about $43 for this new one by a publisher in Utah. A local publisher does small paperbacks for about $20. One day I will have one published with our tree. I'm still waiting on my sister and a good friend to write their novels and share their wealth with me for all the encouragement I've given them over the years! lol 

  Have a diamond day! I'm going to shut up now. 

Tuesday 2 p.m.

  This a.m. about 9, I went back to bed until 11. I was just used up for no apparent reason. Or because I only had 5.5 hrs sleep. I need about 7, would like 8-10 if that was possible. lol It was a beautiful morning. I went out about noon and it was great! Let the cats go with us (me and the dogs) and they all had such a good time. Running and playing together and giving the chickens a bad time. lol I wish the weather would stay this way but I understand it's winter and it will be in the 30's for the highs real soon.
  I've not lost but a pound but I can tell I've lost some fat. Turned into muscle that is. I average a 30 minute walk, 5 days a week for the past 3 months at least. That's just over a mile. Just think how much I'd weigh if I wasn't walking! haha I hoped for extra energy that people talk about after exercising but have not experienced any of that. Insert sad face here.
  Great job on posting the picture! I knew you could do it. I enjoy reading your blog! Keep up the good work.

 Did I ever mention that I gave this peace lily to the dr's office last summer? I just couldn't keep it in the house any longer. I figured at least with it there I could see on occasion. It's behind the desk now - was out front in the center lobby. May have moved it because of the Christmas tree. 

    Tim just sent me a message saying the van was fixed. We can pick it up tomorrow I think. Yay! 

  Just in time too. His car was making a strange noise when he drove up last night and again this morning. As much as I love to drive my truck, it is just a bit expensive to drive these days. 

  Better quit. You all have a diamond day!  

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!  

 

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.
 

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 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. 

  

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. 

Started early

   this morning. Was around 5:45 when I saw the cat lurking around the chicken yard. We're down to only two babies and we're pretty sure it has to be the cat. We have kept the chickens confined for the most part and she still lost a couple over the past two weeks. Tim says he's still planning on moving the hen house to the carport and that it won't happen there. Hannah is becoming quite a hand at helping herd the chickens. She stalks and goes on point and slowly walks behind them as we move to the pen when rounding them up. How funny!
 I forgot to mention that on the Fourth I gave Mary Lou, Tena, Cheryl,Athena a small basket each and sent one with Ann so she could pass one to Jeannie. I still need to take one to Pam when we go up next. Guess I could mail Nelta and Erica one. Just wanted to be sure that everyone has one before I can't make them any more.
  After scaring the cat off, I let the birds out and started Buck on his breakfast. Painted another coat on a lawn chair. I may get them done before summer is over. I only buy paint every couple of weeks. haha
Topped off both tanks and watered flowers. Blah blah blah......oh, and mowed a few strips of the yard that needed it - don't intend to mow the whole thing as it's way to dry. Brushed down Buck really well and Cotton had his turn without the extra feed. Sprayed down Hank with flea spray. His hair is growing back but every few days has to be treated. We tried the spot on stuff even every 3 weeks like Chip suggested but it didn't work. Spraying and benadryl seem to work best for him this year.

  Chatted with this lovely girl about 3:45 this a.m.. She had been up all night I presume. Didn't chat long but was nice of her to say hey. Said she didn't know if she was coming down to see her dad or not this summer.

  Remember at the end of the day you can always relax by the fire.
Forgot to tell you that I talked to big brother a few days back. He's doing okay and still living up north.

It's a diamond day....

Post Fourth

The end of the neighborhood parade 

Coolest sport umbrella 

Fun had by all most! We didn't swim as I don't even own a suit. 

I did however just get out of our baby pool and boy did it feel good. Just enough shade for my shoulders and had my cowboy hat on. Isn't that a picture? lol 

  We had the little ones for 4 days and that was a blast. I loved having little ones in the house again but I had forgotten how many questions they could ask. Felt like the guy in the commercial with the little boy asking all those questions and him finally telling the little guy to go ask his father. Linda came down on Friday to visit with us for a few hours. That was nice. We had a good time just playing with the kids.  

  Took the other 3 dogs in for their vax and rabies. That was a quick $135. Good thing it's an annual thing. Just had Hank in there a few weeks back and got his then. The rabies are good for three years. I was getting concerned about the rabies since there seem to be an awfully lot of them this year in surrounding counties. Can't be too careful. Would like to get the horses theirs but that is a little too much this year. Got enough going on with bills, doesn't everyone? 

     Speaking of bills, I filled my tank again this morning at $3.17. Tim must have used the van in the past 2 weeks......oh, we used it on the trip to Spfd! I was thinking good gosh, I never leave the house and still cost $38 and change to fill it!

   Checked the water troughs as it is so hot and dry everything is drinking twice as much. The bird bath is empty two - three times a day. Poor little birds. Even some that never come down to drink have been visiting. Topped off the horse trough. Cow trough was full. That auto fill valve is great! Gave the chickens some left over watermelon. They love that stuff. 

   

   Hard to see through the screen but look at all those dirty birds! One day there was about 15 at the bath. 

 

Noah's Ark

 

Got somethin' in her shoe 

Look at that dead grass. The pasture is so bad. Have already started feeding hay! Gonna be a long winter trying to keep hay. If we can find it. 

  Been a diamond day! 

   

Simmering Sunday

  Good golly miss molly! It's been so dang hot. I get my outside work done before 8 or 9 so I won't melt. Had to buy hay already as the pasture is used up.
 The hens may actually be learning how to care for young. I think the banty is teaching them. She raised 7 with one hens help with 2 of them and is sitting again. Now we have 7 "heavy" chicks that are a few days old that one of the Marans has hatched. Actually Maran 1 hatched 5, went to ground, Maran 2 hatched out 2 more . Those 2 fell to the ground and Maran 1 took them over. Anyway, we have 7 more babies and so far they have lasted about 4 days. Almost a record for the heavy hens! lol
  Oh, before I forget! I took a look at why I might not be able to comment on my sister's page. She needs to change the settings to allow me to! From members only to public maybe. I think that was the choice. Oh, and the picture in my last post (I think) was of Izabella- "Bella"- Frannie's daughter.
  Went to town, got groceries etc. Back by 10:30. And got gas for 2.98! Yay! Under $3. Should not have to be excited about gas being UNDER $3.
 Was already 92* when I got back. Dang, the poor animals are just miserable. It's so dry and crackly out there. Cotton is having a hard time breathing with his COPD. A horse with asthma or something similar. Good grief. A dog with a flea allergy and two humans with more things that are wrong with them. It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad.

  It's a stone day.