Critters

These are our critters...all lined up in a row. We have leather furniture because of the furry kids. Hojo on the back of the chair, Hildy keeping watch and Spencer, napping. He, however, has become the best of the watch dogs. He watches every move we make and hears every noise and barks at anything that moves or makes a sound. He has become quite a clown and is more and more becoming a lover...what a joy to have! Hojo is 12, Hildy is going on 8 and Spencer will be two this fall or early winter. They get along quite well actually and are very special to us. We are trying to get ready to go camping, but the weather doesn't seem to be cooperating. The pilot on our furnace had to be lit...in July if you can believe it, as we were expecting record lows last night and it is still quite chilly today.

I had lunch today with an old co-worker...she isn't old, just a friend whom I had not seen since 1998 I think. She lives here now and I think I have a quilting buddy as her interest in quilting is evident. We plan to take some classes together. We got a call from other friends from Phoenix and they will be here next Thursday. Had coffee this evening with my buddy, Sal, and will see her when she returns from a trip to see her grand babies. Have a safe trip. Hopefully things will have settled down a bit by then. (Critters like dogs and cats have the right idea.....)

"No day is so bad that it can't be fixed with a NAP." ~ Carrie Snow

Catching up

Having been blessed with so many friends has it's advantages. For those of you who regularly catch this blog, you are aware that my friend Sal and I have made a couple of "teacup" chandeliers. Sal has acquired 3 extra chandeliers and I want to have one above my table in my 'studio' (that's what I am calling it now.) Anyway, I have been searching for reasonable and pretty cups to go with the chandelier here without any luck. A couple of weeks ago I got a call from my buddy, Bonnie who was at a heck of a yard sale. "How many cups do you want?" she asked. She got me 10 of the most gorgeous cups and saucers and wouldn't even let me pay her for them. (She did get a great deal on them, but still?) What a friend!!! I have been trying to catch up on other projects and after Mike and family were here, the usual catch-up stuff needed to be done and I was a month behind on my Thimbleberries quilt squares, so in between, gardening, shopping for new windows (next big project which we will do ourselves because we are "cheap") and doing a stained glass gift for a new baby, (way overdue), and planning a camping trip and another "chic weekend" with more blessed friends, I am anxious to get started on this chandelier. That said, here are the quilt squares. I did manage to get the quilt for which I took a class last fall quilted finally and need to bind, also in between other stuff, so I feel good, but ready for a break...camping will be fun, but the weather outlook isn't favorable. Cold front here right now and it feels like fall....we actually lit the pilot on our heating system as we are supposed to get record lows tonight. Go figure!















Don't know who should receive credit for this quote but I feel like it reflects me somewhat...

"It takes a lot of talent to get a month behind in just one day"

up,up, and up

Last week I decided to paint the stairway walls leading to the basement. As you can see the walls are very, very much just "up". In order for me to reach the top, the Mr. built a plywood base which could be moved to any step. I was quite relieved to get the job done and hope not to have to do this again for a while.


This week is CFD or Cheyenne Frontier Days, the grandaddy of 'em all as far as rodeos go. The parades held on Saturdays, Tuesday and Thursday allow the largest collection of old wagons, buggies, and other horse drawn carts to be on display. Pancake breakfasts, free of course, were served to over 9,000 people the first day and the rodeo events, the big-name concerts, carnival, American Indian Village, museums and art sale, not to mention the Thunderbirds and other air show events will be over at the end of the week. Cheyenne is host to thousands of people who trek annually or once in a lifetime to experience the "Cowboy way". Among those were our son, Mike, his wife Maggie and their daughter Alexis. The time we had with them was way too short, but it was such a good visit and we so enjoyed them. They left today toward Cody and Yellowstone before heading home and we bade them a sad farewell this morn and hope for a safe trip.

Summer Fun

My friend Sal and I drove to Red River NM for the weekend. She had cousins from Oklahoma meeting her for 4-wheeling etc. and asked me to go with her. What a beautiful spot. As you can see from the photo taken from the ski lift, it lies along the river between two mountains. Apparently it is a vacation destination for lots of people from OK, TX,KS etc......places where the temp exceeds 100 degrees most days during the summer. (Nearly everyone seemed to have that relaxed southern drawl.) We rode the lift up the mountain and down again which took about an hour, but the views were spectacular, the weather balmy and the locals and tourists friendly. It is also a winter getaway as it is a ski resort town and tubing and snowmobile activities contribute to the economy. I must say it was a relaxing weekend and the locals were very hospitable. Sal's cousin and his family were most gracious and included me in all activities. We went 4-wheeling one day and we barbecued evenings by the river on the grassy lawn. Our rooms were equipped with all the necessities, we watched the hummers fight over the feeders, and the youngsters went to the dance hall (I was too pooped!) The drive for us was about 6 hours, but those Okies had a trip nearly twice that long. The Mr. babysat the critters and picked up Spencer with his new hair cut. He is sporting his new ball cap which says "Dogs Rule". I brought one back for both dogs but neither is really thrilled with them.














Today, it was back to the ol' grind. I began to paint the stairway walls. Do you know how difficult that is? The ladder on the steps would only allow me to reach a part of that so the Mr. came up with a device which will accommodate the ladder for the rest of it and I hope to get finished tomorrow. I put that off way tooo long! With Frontier Days starting ...the Daddy of Em All....and my Grand baby coming this weekend, it will continue to be busy for us. That Grand baby by the way will be 16 in October. She is bringing her mommy and daddy, (my baby boy) so we are getting anxious.

"Other things may change us but we start and end with family." ~ Anthony Brandt

Gardening

So busy, busy, busy!! I have so much to write about and so little time in which to do so. My sister, Joan, is here from Texas, my garden guru from Sinclair spent some time visiting, my neighbor and her sister from Berlin Germany and I went to Estes Park, we have had gatherings with family I haven't seen for ten years and some for over 30 years, on and on and on. So I will elaborate later. For now so that I don't loose track of this blog, I am just posting the fruits of my labor. Well, really veggies and flowers, no fruit. Look at the white radishes!!! The peonies were so fragrant and so large that the stems touched the ground and the foxglove....well my friend Bonnie made me buy it! I love her for it. Ignore the thistle in the background as we are still battling those. Made a trip to Denver today to see another cousin with my two sisters in addition to all of the above and on Thursday, I am heading to NM with my friend Sally for the weekend...just a chic get-away with some of her cousins.


More later!! Hope everyone had a safe 4th of July!!!