Well, well.... Thanksgiving is here again....

Thanksgiving has to rank right up their as one of my favorite holidays.  THIS year however it's going to be a little different.  NOT for as long as I can remember, BUT for a long time, we've cooked a Turkey, and frequently a ham too and had anyone that wanted to join us to feel free.  Mostly we've had the family and friends and friends of friends. It's always been a fun day for, well for ME. My lovely wife usually (always) feels obligated to "clean up the mess", and it ALWAYS a huge mess, before  bed time.  This year we're taking Gnarly and driving to Loveland where our wonderful (one of two wonderful) daughter in-law is fixing dinner, I'm sure with James hindrance (I mean assistance).  Mitchman is going to feed the horses for us, and his mother, Minnesota Susie is stuck doing homework... Other than that we expect we'll see pretty much the same folks we always see, maybe some new additions from he Loveland area...

The Gnarly update.  - What a nice, nice dog... he is exceptionally easy to get along with. He really tries hard to please both of us.  He still chases the cats, but not nearly as much, it's especially funny to watch him try and get them to run when he does catch one... he's sure the hissing and swatting are  the cats wanting to play with him.  He has a few little annoyances but nothing serious. He has a VERY HEAVY paw and uses it when he wants to  play. He plays VERY ROUGH, but is EXTREMELY gentle to LITTLE children and cats.  105 pounds of Newf is quite the treat to play fetch with, well it's actually more like "I'll chase the ball, then you can try and catch me" haha... We've shredded several old t-shirts playing tug-of-war...  Hmmm he's learned that he likes people food and is a very annoying beggar. Sits there and stares Newf like, with those big brown Newf eyeballs, hard to resist.

Horses are all pretty good. The crippled "Kat" that was scheduled for execution a few months ago is doing VERY well all thing considered. All the babies are going to be a bit chilly tonight -1 to -11 degrees is forecast... No worries, horses are especially designed for the cold as long as they can get out of the wind...

Watercolor painting is going OK for me, BUT Susan has painted a beautiful "Urban Landscape" based on downtown Colorado Springs at a "famous" ice cream parlor, Josh & Johns. It features Gnarly and some scraggly old man feeding Gnarly some ice-cream.... she's almost finished....

We're going to go see the most recent "Harry Potter" movie in a little while. we rarely go  to the theater as we usually watch Netflix, or nothing but we've always enjoyed the Harry Potter books and movies... Hmmm kids books my ...

Had a power failure Monday night, a couple of hours in the dark, all of our "emergency" items, except ONE(1) flashlight failed.  The generator wouldn't start, the camping lantern was corroded and unusable etc. etc.  We went to Wal-mart (since it was to dark to do anything in the house) and replaced the stuff with new LED technology... wasn't too  long ago the camping lantern was propane or white gas and had a silk mantle, hmmm... Now it's a single very bright LED and 8 "D" cell batteries. I did get the stuff to get the generator running, if  we don't have electricity, we don't even have water....  The  generator will at least keep a few lights on and run the well pump (straining) and the heaters, if we're desperate for heat we can always light the stove...

In any case I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving...

Oh. The camera is not working at the moment, BUT I'm going to appropriate a couple of the pictures Susan took for her latest and greatest watercolor....

Gnarly meets the grand kids, well three of the grand kids

Gabriel, Molly and Connel came over for a visit and got to meet Gnarly.... It all went MUCH better than I had thought it would. Susan picked 'em up, Gnarly and I met them at the gate with Gnarly wearing his leash and collar, just to make sure there was SOME control... Face it Gnarly wants  to sniff and lick see what these guys are all about.  Problem is the littlest two look him right in the eyes and have a tongue level face perfect for licking.

Well as it should be, Gnarly behaved exactly like a newf should, he LOVED the kids, even played subservient to Molly, laying on his belly and woofing little woofs....

Of course when Connel ran, Gnarly followed .  When Connel jumped out of the way, Gnarly was invariably in Molly's face... Licking...

All in all they all settled down pretty good, none of the grand children even got knocked down (bumped into) by Gnarly.... You know what they say, "Prepare for the worst, and hope for the best"... I can't express how Gnarly has more than met my hopes and expectations, he's 99% newf (the other 1%, well he just doesn't "eat anything" like most newfs. He is expanding his taste a little).

It makes me cry to think he spent two(2) years in a "bad situation", but I'm sure glad he came to be with us...

Been a little over a week since Gnarly came to live here...... Hmmmm....

.... Well it's been just a little over a week since we "rescued" Gnarly (was Marley). He likes Gnarly better.  Gnarly chases the cats, but that's kind winding down as the cats are running less and he's getting kinda tired of them.  When he catches one he wags his tail and barks, they usually let him have it with the claws if he gets too close.

He sleeps on our bed but he's WAY TOO MUCH when we're in it.

He hasn't eaten the cat food, either before or after they eat it? He actually doesn't eat much of anything but liver snacks and dog food, potato chips...

He's VERY gentle, loves everyone he met. He does have a definite play time, about 7AM & 7PM then he's ready for bed shortly after 8PM and out like a light until morning. He is a rough player....

We've left him at home a couple of times, closed him in the bedroom and expected to come back to at least SOMETHING ripped up... nope, he's just happy to see us and ready to curl up at my feet and sleep some more....

All in all we probably couldn't have picked a better match for our family.

And he's very small as far as male newfs go

"I think I'll stay, I like it here"

AGAIN, this house goes to the dogs, or dog...

As my lovely wife pointed out a couple days ago a new (used but new to us) newf came to live with us.  He's a two year old solid black neutered male newfoundland that came with the name "Marley".  He's more than welcome to stay as he's very very nice.  HOWEVER his name has got to go.... at the very least it's kinda "feminine".

So the first order of business is to pin down a new name.  I immediately thought hmmmm Harley sounds like Marley, Susan nixed that as one of the horses is named Harley...

So we crossed several off the list - Harry (hairy), Darth, Gizmo, Buddy, and a few more...

Currently our short list is Chewie (Chubacca), Bailey, Riley - I'm leaning toward Chewie myself...

So if you have ideas, please post them  under the FB pointer to this blog, well if you're my FB friend, you can use he comment here if not, OR you can become my FB friend. If you don't have any new ideas how about telling us which of the short list you like...

He has a fabulous personality, typical newf. He weighs a little over a hundred pounds, about the same as Amanda.  He looks a lot like Amanda but with an obvious male head...

He does chase the cats so they've been hiding... When he catches them he just barks and wags his tail...

The camera has experienced a few issues.  Susan used it and somehow, who knows how she changed all the autofocus settings so all the photos she took of him playing fetch with a ball are  blurred.  It's true, a newfoundland that likes to play fetch. If he's like the others he'll outgrow it at about four(4) when he turns into a black rug.

I DID however get one OK photo that follows. That gnarly looking thing on the right is a HUGE bone he drags around.



I don't care what they call me as long as they call me for dinner!
  Newfs  aren't generally very photogenic being black and rather camera shy!

His general story is that a "service dog trainer" was looking for a newf, found him in Denver full of mats and left outside without too much contact.  While she didn't think he would be  a good "service dog" (for allergy alert & companion) for a four year old girl, she gave the $300.00 they were getting for him and turned him over to the newf rescue group. 
Well all I can say is I think he'll be happy here, actually I'm pretty darn sure he's already happy.

Well, We did come home!

The train ride back from Grand Junction was nice too... Unfortunately we got a good view of the Four Mile Canyon fire just after it started... It had only burned about four acres at that time.

Ah, so now we're home, all is pretty good.

I saw my lovely wife made a FB entry that said she put some paintings at the "Dream Pastry & Crepe" shop in Castle Rock. 

I had pointed out that she FAILED to post a picture to go along with it....

BUT, not only did she FAIL to post a picture, she FAILED to tell everyone that after THREE(3) days she sold one of the paintings for the asking price.

I was going to let her post it since I didn't want to "steal her THUNDER", but I haven't seen anything about the sale.  Ahhh perhaps she didn't want to brag too much..... hmmmm.... That's OK I can rag for her. congratulations lovely wife....

On the weather front.  It's been hotter since we returned from Grand Junction than it's been all summer. No rain in about a month, VERY HIGH fire danger, it finally did rain today.

We got TWO(2) smallish acorn squash from our garden. At least they were good. NO tomatoes, NO melons and NO peppers.

The Hollyhocks is 6 foot tall and has several dark red blooms.

The squirrels have shared he sunflower heads with the Stellar Jays.

The Cherry Tree, which did great as did the rhubarb, is starting to turn yellow and lose her leaves (I call her Virginia).  I did find out that MOST varieties of cherry require TWO trees to fruit... hmmm...

I almost forgot. We went to the "water dog" trials at Chatfield Reservoir.  We didn't stay long as we had the grandchildren and they get hot and bored rather easily.

Brown Newf retrieving the paddle

Same Newfy pulling the "stranded" boat

Grand Junction, Home to TWO of the FIVE Grand Children

part II .........

Rachel went to WalMart for me and ordered  a cake for the NO surprise birthday, well it woulda been a surprise but it "leaked" out.  In any case Rachel told 'em yellow with sunflowers. As you can see it's yellow with sunflowers, I think it's great, taste pretty darn good too...

Happy Birthday, dear Grandma, Happy Birthday to you!

So, picked up the cake and called "Famous Dave's BBQ" (Rachel Suggested and it was good) to get food for a dozen, to go.... Got there right on time to pick it up, expected it to be ready and waiting and figured Becca, Brent and the other three grand kids would be there when we (Cordelia went with me) got back.

Went to the Famous Dave's bar, just like they told me. The bartender looks at me like I'm outta my mind, says "I'll get my manager, I don't HAVE an order for you"... While I was waiting for the manager I pulled out my cell phone and re-dialed the number I had called.... "Hello, Famous Dave's BBQ, FT COLLINS"... oooohhh nooo... Well I placed an order to feed twelve that I was suppose to pick up at 3:15. Well the problem is I'm at the Famous Dave's in Grand Junction, 300 miles away... DUH!!  "Oh no problem sir, we'll use it all". So I ask him to read me the order so I can place it in Grand Junction... OK so everyone got a laugh at my expense...  At least Cordelia and I had a strawberry shortcake while we waited... hmmm hmmm good.

Well after dinner and cake, between eating too much cake and drinking too much of Becca's $6.00 bottle of cheap spiced rum, I felt kinda bad, went in, laid down and promptly "fell asleep" (read - passed out) till morning... cake, rum and don't forget the "run Forest, run" to the front of the train.... mild case of shin splints....

Woke up to a major slumber party, kids and Becca in the living room....

We were SUPPOSE to get up and go to the Colorado National Monument for morning photos (it's the light). too bad, so sad perhaps tomorrow. 

We did however make the butterfly pavilion, ONE that's right ONE butterfly but hundreds of fabulous flowers.... and a fruiting cherry tree, beautiful. 

Water Lillie's

Exotic Red Orchid

My favorite - Cherries, probably Sour Cherries

More later.....

The train ride to the first annual NO surprise birthday party

Hmmm Am I the ONLY one I can surprise? must be... Last time  we drove  to Grand Junction we saw the Amtrak going into the tunnels through Glenwood Canyon.... Hmmm I smell an adventure, sure enough the train stops at Denver and Grand junction on it's way from Chicago to San Francisco (EmeryVille)... $184.00 round trip for BOTH of us...

I made the tickets for the weekend of Susie's birthday. Conspired with Rachel to "surprise" her. 

Left Friday morning in the dark to drive to the Denver Union Station, got there and learned the train was two(2) hours late for down trees in Iowa (some storm).  No problem off to breakfast we go, followed by a trip to the corner three story ancient book store, the "Tattered Cover". Susie bought books...

We boarded the train, found our coach seats and promptly moved to the "lounge" car.  It was a GREAT eight(8) hour ride.... never did go back to our "reserved" seats... Met lots of people, 1 couple flew from London to Denver, the train from Denver to Salt Lake City where they are going to rent a car and drive to the western national monuments.... sounds like fun to me... The other couple, also from England, brought their two teenage kids and were going all the way to San Fransisco to drive down the California coast... I reminded me of our family vacation to Europe.... OH YEAH, they don't hate Americans like the MSM would have you believe... They say that's just the elitist politicians, which I already knew...

Two(2) shots from the lounge car, the second in one of 28 tunnels before Winter Park, one is 6.2 miles long and takes 12 minutes to traverse.

So we're going to stop at Winterpark/Frazier for five(5) minutes.  "If the whistle blows two(2) short, make sure you get on because it's LEAVING".... Hmmm...

Me being the type that likes  LOTS of pictures for "documentation" decided I was going to the front of the train engine and taking a picture back along the length of the train...

my, oh my.... who would have guessed it would be THAT far away? Certainly not me....

So there are two(2) engines, a baggage car, three sleepers, a diner, the lounge and finally our car, the 510 coach followed by two more coach cars.... You can't leave from the diner or the lounge car so I went back to our car, got out on the platform  and thought WOW that's a long way, better RUN....

when I got there I was in a full blown asthma attack (which I haven't had in over five(5) years) standing there wondering how the heck I was going to get back.... DANG, dang.....

Got the shot Hmmm, at what cost. The 510 car was PAST the people on the platform.

NOW all I gotta  do is get back before it leaves.  On the return run, I notice the door on the first sleeper, no one guarding it, I'll try that... So no sooner did the door close, toot... tooot... and it's away... I walk through the train to the lounge car and there's my lovely wife sitting there patiently waiting. guess she knew I'd make it.  Unfortunately the next 3 hours of asthma made it questionable as to the worth....

 I did take quite a few photos, but the following out of the back of the train was of particular interest to me. I actually DIDN'T notice the rock standing in the pond when I took the photo, I found it later.

We are on the last leg of the journey to Grand Junction, I'm just taking photos out of the back of the train and happen to get the rock balanced in the middle of the pond. Watercolor reference photo...

More to come........

Cats!!!, Why??? & the continuing EPIC truck/brake story. (whine)

EPIC truck/brake story.... Hmmm, Finally got the entire right side apart, now I'm just plain sore and tired from fighting with it.  I put the caliper on the left side and tried for 30 minutes to attach the brake line.  Hmmm this is weird, wonder why the "banjo" bolt won't go back in. FINALLLY in disgust I try the bolt from the other side, same deal so I take the dang thing off. set it next to the other new caliper and low and behold they (Chinese I'm sure)  had re-threaded the hole (looked like a heli-coil job) the WRONG FRIGIN SIZE, too small....

Went BACK the the parts store for the THIRD time, and showed them. Hmmmm.... well we don't have another in stock but we can get one by Monday or  err...Tuesday. Fine.... It's ALMOST together, just waiting on the replacement caliper.... So for all those that wonder why we pay $85 to $135 dollars per hour for our mechanics to do this HORRIBLE, FILTHY, GREASY, THANKLESS task (or any vehicular task for that matter). Just come and help me work on truck brakes and it'll ALL be crystal clear.... BTW I'll be making the FOURTH trip to the parts store to pick up the replacement caliper (this is at 30+ miles round trip)...

Cats.... A couple of years ago we decided to let a couple of kittens live in the house with us.... I have NO IDEA what I was thinking....

Today there are a total of SIX(6), that's right SIX(6) frigen feline CATS.... Now don't get me wrong I have affection for all of them, each is unique in it's own little feline personality, each is physically attractive... The PROBLEMS however seem to far out weigh any benefit. 

1. We have MICE in the kitchen (I have caught two(2) cats ZERO).
2. The white cat (Cream) self apppointed queen of the  house and cat that LOVED Amanda, picks on all the other cats, well one of them (the grey cat, Miles), hooked her in the eye almost to the vitreous humour, the clear gel that fills the eye ball.  That was nearly $100.00 dollar trip to the vet.
3.  Try and pick up a cat, any of the cats  to get them a little love and attention and all they want is DOWN.
4.  Try and keep a cat away because your busy or something and all they do is NAG to be held.
5. We have to close all six(6) cats OUT of the bedroom at night or they climb up on me and play "king of the ass", (good thing I sleep on my stomach).... they fight over who sleeping where, the purr, claw with that annoying "kneading" action, they PLAY in the dresser drawers and generally cause trouble..... OH and don't forget, eat the cut flowers knocking over the VERY EXPENSIVE one of a kind vase we picked up from Waterford Ireland. I finally tossed the flowers after the fifth or sixth time.
6. I almost forgot, they've lived in this house (well mostly) their entire  lives, at the minimum a heck of a long time, They are AFRAID of people (UPS Guy) knocking on he door, afraid of planes flying overhead, helicopters, noises the horses make, the ESPRESSO machine.... They take off like cats out of hell skidding, sliding and failing to gain traction on the hardwood floor..... This I gotta say is at least FUNNY...... stupid, but FUNNY!

Some people point out this behavior and tell me "cats are SO independent" personally I find them, well rather STUPID, relative to the other animals I have or have had around here.... No this doesn't mean I'd get rid of them, BUT I just can't see what I get from them relative to what I get from a dog or a horse (or seventeen) for that matter....

We have one(1) cat (Garfield) that's SO STUPID all he does is purr, NEVER stops except PERHAPS when he sleeps. Doesn't matter WHAT you do to him, he keeps right on purring, I think he's broken.

A couple of things... In cronological order

So, last night I go feed the horses as usual. It's getting dark and Susan calls the outdoor cats into the garage so they don't get eaten by the foxes trying to feed their young.... Almost EVERY night I "nag" Susan to get them in and close the door. Well July is the month the mama creatures teach their younguns the ways of the world. I'm getting, uhm... my "pajamas on" (scary huh?) and getting ready to crawl into the warm bed (it's about 50 and "cold").  Susan open the people door to the garage and SCREAMS running back inside doing the "woman hop" telling me there  are two HUGE ones out in the garage. "Ones?" .... uhhh raccoons.... DANG or the other word.... (this is a family friendly blog site). 

So I go  out to see one little  baby raccoon scooting to the door. I see a SECOND baby on the shelf, scared and looking for an escape route so I can kinda cleared a path and number two scoots out.  Well I stand there trying to see if any more are around, sure enough little cooing, whimpering under the wooden pallets holding all the expensive, boxed stuff from Ireland.... hmmm.... I could see the little eye peeking out and these desperate little noises. Well this one was much harder to clear a path for and I thought for SURE I'd get bitten and have to take the rabies series..... In any case it FINALLY decided to venture out and I kinda scooted it toward the door with a broom.... TONIGHT if Susie doesn't call the cats (they like her), I'm closing the overhead door and the fox family can have some tasty morsels for dinner.

So this morning I get a call from the mother of the young lady that Squirt went to live with. She's in tears telling me that their California home is being foreclosed and Squirt is coming back. While I'll be glad to see Squirt I am broken hearted for him, Carson (the girl) and the entire family. They've lived in the house for over 20 years. Scott, the dad, has been a landscaper for his entire working life, owns his own business and just can't make it in the California economy..... This is a real nice family who's entire  life is being upended and turn upside down by the liberal policies that have wrecked California and are wrecking THE REST OF AMERICA as we speak.... To me this is an more pathetic than I can possibly describe.... Please Pray for Scott, Georgan, Max and Carson.... I told them Squirt will be here for them if and when they can take him back....  PLEASE go out and vote conservative in November.... Help a family survive....

An Interesting Week in the Forest....

Well the BEST news is that Susie's (she WAS mine BUT SHE chose Susie), 22 year old mare, Kat, is STILL with us. She was scheduled for ah, "termination" last Wednesday. The vet arrived but the grave digger had a broken hose and couldn't make it till later.  In the mean time I started giving her extra large doses of pain meds and she seems to be MUCH better. the PROBLEM is that the pain meds are like aspirin and will eventually cause other issues that will kill her. BUT she's good for now..... I did take a few pictures Wednesday morning I'll post at the end.

Kats Eye

The mama doe that's been hanging around, I call her "Notch" because she has a rather large notch in her left ear, has FINALLY exposed her fawn.  I saw it once several weeks ago, just a fleeting glance.  Subsequently we've seen Notch all the way up into our "yard".  She's been acting very strange, we thought that perhaps the fawn had died, but Susan saw the fawn (Spot) out playing and eating with mom. Sorry no pictures, well Susie may have one or two but Spot's nearly impossible to find...  Pictures of "Notch" will follow.

Notch

So I get up this morning to 50 degrees. That's right, heater weather in July.  It's suppose to get up to a glorious 64 degrees with "flash flood" warnings from noon until Sunday Evening..... Hmmm more rain...... Well at least the grass will grow (if it warms up) to feed the equine. Guess I'll just have to stay indoors and watch NetFlix....

I'm a little concerned with our garden, because it's been so cool this "summer", all the plants are rather stunted. The Daisies are just starting to open, the Sunflowers are half as tall as they need to be before they bloom. We are getting plenty of Basil and Chives and ONE(1) of the tomatoes is starting to produce "licopene" (what makes them red).  None of the squash plants or melon plants has even produced a flower yet. The shiny garden spot is the Cherry tree we planted last year. No Cherries just yet but it's gotten MUCH larger and has a lot of new growth, I thought it froze to death last winter, all last years growth had been killed but the root system survived.... This year I'll use Solitares solution and put a plastic trash can over it, well her, I call her Virginia, she still has all her Cherries. lol.... (how stupid)!

Cats, six, yes six cats live in the house full time, one lives in the house when the weather is bad, but stays outside when it's nice.... I finally had to run them ALL out of the bedroom at night to get sleep.  If they stay, they play.... and play....and play, inevitably one of them offends another and they start a fight.... this went on night after night until I got the can of "air" (compressed air for cleaning the cameras and the computer), they simply haul ass out of the bedroom with one TINY squirt, then I close 'em out.... Hmmm.... a good nights sleep at last.

So we go to the farmers market in Monument and the sun comes out for a beautiful morning, still only 61 degrees, but sunny is always good.

When we get back, Susan decides to take some "slash" (branches and limbs) to the slash recycling center They grind it into mulch and essentially give it away.... Well you can load it yourself or pay a skip-loader dude $2.00 per bucket, BIG bucket....

In any case I'm working on other things and Susie is loading the truck with the slash.

Clearly one can see the slash pile BEHIND Susie. She's loading the truck from about 30 feet. Hmmmm....

NOW, I am NOT "making fun" of Susan, this is a serious matter. I'm wondering why it SEEMS like MOST  women would rather walk the 30 feet than take the 20 seconds it took me to back the truck up to the pile.  Personally I admit I'm way  to lazy to walk the 30 feet.

For further clarification, Susie cut the branches off the tree, made the pile and is OBVIOUSLY loading the truck while I'm taking pictures.... 

It just seems to me that in the name of efficiency backing the truck... well.......

 I did find a shot that Susie took of Notch and Spot. It's hard to tell from the full frame photo, BUT through the magic of photoshop and the really high pixel rate of Susan's camera, we could crop out all the extraneous stuff and zoom right in.

You can see more photos including Notch and Spot

Some days it just doesn't pay | and to our Military Heros

So this has been a VERY annoying month. (well June and so far July).  First the Red Dodge Ram finally died.  The fuel transfer pump was bad, several hundred dollars. and subsequently caused the injection pump to fail (diesel stuff), Over $1,700.. just for the pump.  One of the back windows is ALSO broken.

Then the White Dodge (Susie's truck) had the transmission rebuilt for $3,500.00+, BUT it runs real nice though.  NOW the brake caliber on the right front side hung and destroyed the rotor.  Figured may as well replace both calibers, at least the destroyed rotor (probably both as it'll be all new) and obviously the brake pads.

So what am I doing on our 4th of July holiday weekend, replacing the brake components on the white truck, a little over $400.00 so far, just in parts. 

GggggRrrrrrrrrrrrr....

Well I suppose the good news is the brakes on the white 3/4 ton are MUCH easier than on the red 1 ton....



On seconds thought, I suppose it could always be worse, think about and pray for the Soldiers, Sailors and Marines in afganistan, iraq and around the world.... Hmmmm Much much worse for them. I (and I hope you too) thank them  for thier service and sacrafice.....

His and Hers Riding Lawn Mowers.... | lol

So we've had two consecutive days of rain. It's really nice because it was getting rather dry here... BUT even better, my neighbors who have HIS and HER's riding lawns mowers, AREN'T out making a hell of a racket mowing the "lawn" (really it's pasture grass that looks like #$%& cut to 2 inches....).

Every single sunny day (most days in Colorado) he and his woman are out cutting 10+ acres with a puny little riding mower. If it wasn't so funny it would be pathetic.... You know move to the country and bring your lawn mowers... roflmao

NOT to be outdone, the Smith's (me and Susie) ran out and got our very own riding lawn mowers.... Not only are they RIDING mowers but they can be used in full AUTOMATIC mode (fairly reliable). In addition these are ALL weather mowers that double as snowmobiles in the winter.... The very best part however is the automatic fertalizer attachment, well come to think of it, it's actually always attached and operational. Some might say it's a rather #$%&ty design.

RedMan & Nic Supervised by "Fur B" the cat

This actually works out pretty good, while Susan is in cleaning the house, I'm cutting the grass!!! lol...

In reality Susan cuts the small amount of lawn (pasture grass cut to 2 inches) we have!!!! we DO turn the equine loose to eat down the growth around the driveway and cloths line....!

My 3rd annual "SURPRISE" Birthday Party

Well, it's been a week since the first of our family showed up, James and Solitare were closely followed by Edward, Rachel, Cordelia and Wyatt...

We started the celebration with baked corrned beef with carrots and cabbage.... hmmm... hmmm... good. Of course I wasn't expecting that many for dinner, I was truley and pleasantly surprised that Ed, Rachel and their kids were able to make the trip from Grand Junction.

As it usually happens when the family gets together, bedtime didn't come early.  I had to get up and put the "pork shoulder" (for pulled pork if you're from NC, carnitas if you're from the southwest) an 8lb roast cooks for up to 8 hours, until it's falling off the bone, getting turned every hour.

Saturday morning, got up late but already had the pork ready to go....

VERY shortly after the pork was in the oven, Gabriel came though the door. I had no idea Becky aka Becca knew that morning even existed.  That's not really true she goes to work pretty early some mornings.

Went to get ice and a couple of other things with James and Solitare.... Got back and was getting ready to start "peach margaritas" when I noticed the 10 Avacados waiting for me to make guacamole'. Decided that in the interest of accuracy, in makig the guac that I should do that BEFORE starting peach margaritas....

Minnesota Susie (not to be confused with MY Susie) came with a TURKEY she had cooked and de-boned. Mike and Cindy along with their oldest daughter, Gina and her two girls arrived. 

Of course by this time I had been working on the peach margaritas (and some beer) for a hour or so.

Robert(the horse whisperer/trainer) and Linda Hartford show up and it just happens to be their 10th wedding anniversary. Of course I tried to toast them and spilled TWO peach margaritas.... dang, waste of good liquor and better peaches....

In any case we had a lot of folks for quite a while. We eventually got around to "GAME TIME" just like we always do... We played the REALLY STUPID, but REALLY FUNNY game called "Quelf"...

As always happens, Sunday came and everyone headed home.... dang, another year older and a WHOLE LOT OF FUN....

Hmmm photos..........

Cordelia, Wyatt, Gabe(the big one), Connell and Molly

  

Becca playing the "air drums" with household items and Connells help (the game -Quelf) 

James & Solitare - Also playing "the game"

 

Rachel, ALSO playing "the game" - Note the dogs leash? hmmm....

 

Wyatt & Ed NOT playing "the game" - look like twins to me... check out them eyes

A REALLY "Old Man From Black Forest" OLD and tired.

and of course, not ONE single photo of my lovely wife, her camera!

Chapter 6 | Bed & Breakfasts + Global Warming Strikes Southern Colorado

I'll start with the "global warming" issues - It's the 11th of May, 2010 (last night). We're in bed watching the "thunder-snow",  Spring-time in the Rockys brings THUNDER-SNOW... woke up to two inches of WET, SLOPPY, SLUSHY, SLICK SNOW and we're expecting up to three more inches tonight and even more tomorrow night.... It may sound like I'm complaining, but it's really only an observation.

Back to Ireland.... As I had mentioned earlier in this "recollection", we stayed in Bed & Breakfasts through our entire Ireland visit.... So before you leave the U.S. you find a bed & breakfast in the vacinity you'd like to start your trek. These are the hardest to find, but not to hard if you start early.  The Bed & Breakfast "organization" that most belong to send you an inch thick listing with photos, directions, and descriptions of literally hundreds of possibilities. 

When we arrived for our evening stay we'd speak with the owners and get recommendations on the next days adventures and where they recommended we stay.  Make a phone call to the next days B&B and see if they can accomodate us, if not we simply tried another.  Both times we did this (it was VERY easy with just Susan and myself) we NEVER encountered any lodging issues.

Most also had "dinner" as well as breakfast so we did get a good deal of Irish home cooking. 

Usually the families were very talkative and seemed to enjoy our conversation. Of course me being me, my favorite topic was the Protestant vs. Catholic "conflict" that none of the Irish really cared about.

For those that haven't travelled outside the US I think the thing you'd find most perplexing is the plumbing, especially showers.

As we explored central Ireland, headed for Donegal we decided it was time to do laundry (yup, unlike in the movies, they do laundry, (and go to the bathroom) in Ireland too). and one of the highlights of the trip (for me anyway) Belleek, Northern Ireland, just outside Donegal....

Chapter 5 | Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Well I have a few minutes... So here I am, trying yet again.  I'm behind in my watercolor class, but I don't think I'm as far behind as Susan... Maybe, but I don't think so.... HOWEVER in terms of quality Susan is unsurpassed...


Well we FINISHED the watercolor class, Susan has some EXCELLENT examples of what watercolor should look like....

On to Dublin....

The Dublin airport hence the bed and brekfast we stayed at were on the East side of the city... We were headed West. In general we were headed to Donegal by way of bed and breakfasts along the way.... Dublin is a big city, just like other big cities, there are lots of people, lots of stores lots of traffic.... There's also a lot of history and of course Guiness (which we never got to, but drank our share, well, I drank our share....

We did visit Trinity College, Dublin with the beutiful old library and the "Book of Kells". for more information on the "Book of Kells" see http://www.bookofkells.ie/book-of-kells/ . Four gospels in very ornate "caligraphy" and in Latin (circa 800). 

On leaving Dublin heading toward Donegal, we just drove and stopped when we saw things of interest. Same thing we did on our Colorado vacations.

So what did we find?  Castles, castles and more castles. Big castles, OLD castles (and some forts).... I think we must have stopped and explored, I don't know, maybe twenty different castles.

This was one of the first, as you can see a real tourist mecca, the tourist buses actually swarm onto some of the better known castles like the Blarney Castle.... So this out of the way castle was great fun. No one showed up the entire time we were there, as was the case with MOST.

We parked the car and walked

The three "children" Ed is off in the distance

and NO, it didn't rain the entire time we were there, but it was clear why Ireland is so green....

REMINDER - Third annual "surprise" birthday party for ME.... Saturday, May 22nd noonish.... Pulled Pork, aka Carnitas um Guacamole, Peach Margaritas and we'll see what else..... Don't tell me, it's a surprise..... 719.499.7758 for directions.... 

Amanda Memorial Photos

Many of you know Amanda, you know how truly HUGE she was. You do get use to how big newfs are after a couple of years... Amanda was actually the smallest of the newfs we had, the photos just don't do justice....

This was taken during one of our snow storms... I went out to see how she was doing. You can imagine my thoughts when I saw this.

Newfoundlands LOVE sleeping in the snow!!!

This photo was taken just a couple of weeks before she died...

Just laying in the driveway

Finally no memorial of Amanda would be complete without a tribute to how absolutely gentle she was... All seven cats really liked her. But Cream just adored her. They use to go out the screen door together, Amanda would open the door and Cream would follow.

Amanda 110 lbs. & Cream 10.5 lbs This cat followed her EVERYWHERE, well except in front of Amandas fan.

It's been really hard, different and lonely (when Susan goes to work). Every time I hear a dog bark I jump up to check on her.  We went to a picnic in Fort Collin Sunday (the 18th) with James and Solitare and lots of dogs, but alas no Amanda... ;-( We really do miss her.

18 Years of Newfoundlands, 13 Year with Amanda....

We got our first Newfoundland 18 years ago, Windy.... Our last Newfoundland has been with us for 13 of those 18 years, Amanda died today the month of her birthday 13 years ago....

She couldn't walk and was starting to have breathing problems.... I called the Vet Monday and we agreed on Today (Wednesday), Susan and I spent all day with her...

About 2PM the vet called and said she was on her way.... We went in to say our final good-byes and Amanda was all happy, glad to be pet and fed carrots and liver snacks (she quit eating her regular chow)...

About 15 minutes before the vet came she laid down with me, went to sleep... The vet came, gave her some 'ace' (tranquilizer), got everything ready and administered the injection, Amanda NEVER woke up. I guess she too had decided it was time.....

We are both VERY sad, but also very relieved as she wasn't in very good shape and going fast.....

Chapter 4 | Republic of Ireland | "Shades of Green"

So... the high speed ferry arrives in Dublin Ireland.... We collect our loggage and head for the "rental car" location.... After arriving I present the confirmation for a "full size" rental vehicle.... Right this way.....

The look of disgust | Hmmm...

Five(5) adults in this "full size" vehicle... No amount of complaining did any good.

But we did make the entire time without too much friction. the three took turns in the middle of the back seat. Ed and Becky both tried the drivers seat. James and Susan, well they just rode....

So from the ferry dock to the "bed and breakfast" and it's starting to get late... Fortunately I had driven around Dublin on previous visits.  When I looked for a bread and breakfast I looked for someplace near something I knew,...  the airport...

The roads in Dublin are very hard to navigate. the street name changes every couple of blocks. No street names on the corner. The street names are carved into SOMETHING, usually stone near the street... Needless to say Dublin is NOT easy to get around... Not only was Susan impressed, the the guy that ran the bed and breakfast (with his wife) couldn't believe a yank could find them that easily... Big secret.. follow the signs to the airport...

So, we spent the night at the B&B, had breakfast and headed off to Donigal...

Sorry it took so long to post this, been kinda busy... I'll TRY and do better....

Chapter 3 - London England

So the plane lands and we get off to go through customs, the United 1st class attendent had already gotten all of our stuff off and it was ready to go through the "VIP" customs line.  The five of us and maybe a half dozen others went through customs in about 1 minute.  The remainder of the passengers were in this HUGE gaggle waiting for their bags and we were done. It pays to fly United and save those frequent flier miles.

In case you never get to fly international 1st class, it doesn't end with the flight. Once through customs we were all treated to a little (fairly large for an airport) private "refresh room". Showers, heated towels, toiletries and a chance to look human again after the long and arduous flight from the US...

We had decided that we'd take the "tube", aka subway, from the airport to the stop closest to our "bed and breakfast" destination.  I found an ATM, stuck my debit card in and son-of-a-gun the right color money came out.  We had decided early (based on my previous trips) to put our money into our checking account and just use the ATM, much cheaper than money exchanges. I think between the five of us we may have had $50.00 in cash. The ATM might be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century...

We finally leave the airport on the tube destined for downtown London. It's quite a long ride but the tube stop is clearly marked and we had an excellent map London Tube Map, our stop was Glouchester Road.  We arrive at the bed and breakfast at 10:00AM London time, DEAD TIRED because it's 3:00AM Moutain Time. Didn't matter that it was a sunny, warm day the body's clock said sleep, SCREAMED SLEEP... dang we can't check in until at least 1:00PM.  We did however leave our luggage while Susan and I walked around like zombies, the kids were off to fix Eddies tongue piercing...

We finally pass out on the bed for a short nap before we head to the theater for Cats.

I don't know why Rebecca HAD to see Cats, I didn't want to and the boys were pretty ambivalent.   James seemed OK with it but still not overly excited.

So we get to the theaer, I expect reasonably good seats, but these are like front row (maybe second) center. The stage/set is built right into the seats, the whole thing moves for scene changes. 

The "Cats" or the actresses (and I suppose actors but I didn't notice) were all dressed in SKIN tight leotards that looked like kitty cats, wiskers, ears the whole thing.  BUT the most noticable part was the skin tight. and DARN if those kitty cats couldn't resist rubbing up against the two boys mostly. They kinda stayed away from me as I'm OLD and my wife was sitting right next to me.  By rub up against I mean use your wildest imagination nd you might get the idea.... It looked like they both had catnip sprinkled all over them.... haha, it was great.

But really the play was fabulous. I never imagined a play could be this much fun... I saw "Cats" again a couple years later in Charlotte and I was very disappointed....

Dragging back to bed (didn't care about breakfast) it was like sleep heaven... But up the next morning to tour London. Very nice, I'd recommend the "New" Old Globe Theater. It wasn't open for performances when we went but we looked around and the museum was open, we saw a Shakespearian play there the following year, highly recommended... At least as good as Cats, probably even better.... Maybe we'll talk about that if I ever get to our "romantic" (without kids) trip.

The "tube" is just plain fun to ride around, goes everywhere... "Mind The Gap" as the conductor says.

Also the art museums are top notch.  I'm not going to bore everyone with the details, I'm not going to put all the tourist landmark pictures up... But they look just like the movies...

So Monday morning we're headed for Ireland, via Wales in a rental car... I told them I wanted the largest sedan they had.  It was, well shall we say, NOT big enough for five adults and all our luggage. Stuff was packed everywhere, the trunk barely closed... But never fear we have to turn this rental in as rentals don't go from England/Wales to the Republic of Ireland, or Northern Ireland for that matter. Something about the IRA (at that time). hmmm...

The drive through Wales was the most nondescript, boring drive I can remeber, It's almost like driving through southern New Mexico, desolate. We stopped at one place, I think to get something to eat. We went in and all the folks were chatting rather loudly in "Welsh" I guess. It was instantly quiet, the entire time we were there they all spoke in wispers, like we could understand them....

After what seemed like forever we arrived at Holyhead, Wales where we were to catch the "High Speed" ferry to Dublin.... Sounded interesting to me... ended up being pretty amazing.  We checked our luggage then went to the ferry dock... Oh My Goodness, this thing is maybe 110' at the beam (across) and at least 300 feet long, maybe longer.  It held 30 or so full size tour busses and over a hundred cars on the lower deck.  It's said that you can ride across in your car but it didn't look like fun to me.

The "ferry is a flat front semi-hydro catmeran (it has two narrow hulls on the outside and rides mostly out of the water on hydrofoils). It must reach close to fifty mph as the wind outside is intense.  There's a little deck on the very back where passengers can stand and see the water purpulsion jets, I kid you not this "ferry" is a technological marvel. It's powered by turbine engines (same as a jet plane)which in turn pump HUGE columns of water out of the back... check out the movie clip (not mine). Off the back deck of the "ferry"
The entire front window goes from side to side you can be seated for a meal, sit at a bar, or just stand at the window. The "ferry" has a complete casino and one-arm bandits all over, shops, snacks and just about anything one could want.  It was so impressive Susan and I did it again the following year too.

If I remember correctly the trip takes about an hour and forty-five miuutes, seemed like 10 minutes... So we arrive in Dublin, the Republic of Ireland... hmmmm what a treat....

AND what a suprise, the rental car was even SMALLER than the one we left in Wales.... joy....

I do have a single photo, I'm skipping all the photots of things you've already seen in the movies (or on TV). This photo happens to be the place we stayed at in London. It couldn't properly be called a bed & breakfast as it was mainly used by students visiting and touring Europe, it had a bed but no breakfast.. It was certainly exactly right for us, not too fancy but served the purpose well....

Bed no Breakfast - London England

It really was more than adequate, we stayed the same place the following year, right in the neighborhood.....

Cheers

Chapter 2 - The Big days arrives.....

Well before I get to the "Big Day" a couple of side commentaries....

First if you didn't get the Pioneer Womans cook book for Christmas, either buy it or put it on you Birthday list..  I made the Rib-Eye with wiskey sauce for the second time and it was just as good as the first, maybe better.

Second thank you Ed and Rachel for the bottle of Jameson Irish Wiskey you gave me Christmas 2008. Since I ran out of "Jack Daniels" for cooking I snuck a little of the Jameson into the Rib-eye. Started with a little over half a bottle and have about an inch left.  Good thing about cooking with Jameson is it's REALLY tempting to taste... Needless to say this may be a little confusing, at least to the readers....

The big day... I don't remember the date but it was the last weekend in May 1997 something.  Oh by the way I guess I'm going to have to dig out the old film camera photos, that'll be fun....

Everyone was at the house on Wilde right on time with a lot of luggage. We were going for two(2) weeks so we packed at least enough for one(1) week and we planned on laundery. Question, do they have laudromats in Ireland, guess you'll need to read more to know,, haha.... It's the Jameson...

We arrive at the airport the required two(2) hours in advance for international travel.  We check in and wait, and wait etc.. Nothing really interesting at the Colorado Springs airport... Our flight is to DIA for a connection to Washington Dulles continuing on to London Heathrow.... The five of use took most of the first class seats to Denver, boy were they (the kids ) ever rowdy, Susan was terrified as usual as it was a "small" plane a local hop 737... But it was only a thirty minute flight from gate to gate, still white knuckled all the way....

We connected to a HUGE, brand new Boeing 777. Check it out, the first class section was bigger than our living room with only eleven(11) seats.  Much better for Susan, she FINALLY decided she could stand up and get to the bio-break facilities without panic.  The kids are now in the bussiness class, all with window seats in seperate rows to eliminate any fighting, bickering or kid stuff... There really isn't anything to see from 35,000 ft and it's Dark over the Atlantic.... All three were VERY well behaved...

Well first things first, we arrive in Washington Dulles and have to get off and actually go to the terminal. No problem there's an International 1st class lounge, which they let the kids into, with just about every kind of food and liquor you could ask for. I don't know about James but I'm pretty sure Rebecca and Edward helped themselves to EVERYTHING they could "drink" and certainly everything all three of them could eat..

After waiting in the 1st class lounge for what seemed like forever, we boarded the 777 for Heathrow. Of course they had a seperate jet-way for the eleven(11) 1st class passengers as well as the thirty or so business class passengers. The HUNDREDS of coach passengers loaded by the other jet-way (aka cattle shoot).

Hmmm. there is a flight attendent for just about every two(2) passengers in 1st class. They're waiting with wine, champaign (the fancy stuff I can't even recall the name of). and pre-flight snacks.  The seats recline to a full 180 degrees, all the liqour and food you can eat is shuttled right to your fully reclining seat.... asppetizers, Filet Mignon, Lobster, crab, you name it they got it.  I suppose that's why people pay over $12,000.00 dollars for a 1st class seat/ (ours were on frequent flier miles)... Almost forgot the personal entertainment facilities with movies, games and other superferlous stuff....

It is an eight(8) or so hour flight. I HAD made it once before in coach (aka cattle car) once in business and and several times upgraded to 1st class. which I can assure you I wouldn't do unless I had plenty of frequent flier miles (all due to expire in the next few months).

I think the key is the HUGE space for only eleven(11) seats, Susan felt right at home, like she was in our living room... It was luxerious. (but not worht $12,000.00 dollars per seat, at least MY money)... Susan even drank some Champaign without using the bag usually provided in the seat back pouch....

So the plane finally arrives at Heathrow London and we break through the clouds just after sun-rise (they had already served a huge breakfast).... It looks like the movies, you know all the shots you see with the cameras flying overhead... Quite impressive and since the pattern is SO BIG with all the arriving flights it's almost a tour unto itself....

OK, gotta go get some MORE Jameson and watch "House".... more soon


Cheers.... Might even be pictures to go with chapter 3...

Chapter 1 | The Greatest Family Vacation EVER!!!! - well for us anyway!

I was talking with James today, he was recollecting places we had visited when the kids were younger. He brought up what he called the "Family Trip to Europe". I told him, see that's something you could write about on "Your Blog" (which he's never created because he has nothing to write about), Well I thought that I might like to write about it myself!

First of all most of you know that I traveled thousands of miles while I was consulting, factually I traveled over 1,500,000 frequent flier miles. Keep in mind that at the time any trip under 500 miles was credited as 500 miles... OK it was still alot.  To get an even better perspective the two(2) first class tickets, and three(3) business class tickets (we didn't want to put up with the kids in the same cabin) I got on "frequent flier miles" would have sold for over $50,000.00 at the going discounted business and first class rates.  Yes I flew alot, and yes my wife suffered the most, taking care everything on the homefront... Now that we're past that.....

The concept of going to "Ireland" started in January of James senior year of high school, he was seventeen at the time, he's now thirty, so it's been awhile and hopefully I can be accurate...well mostly accurate....

So the first thing we did was decide that WE (Susan and I) wanted to go. We decided we'd go around June when the days were longest. We then asked each of the kids if THEY would like to go, dumb, dumb question... OK we're all going what do WE want to do???

Well actually before we get to that the first thing is make sure we ALL get passports as I was the only one that had one.  Of course it was REAL wise that we started early as James had a bit of a birth certificate issue.  For reasons unknown his birth wasn't legally registered until he was five(5), trying to get into kindergarten.  Looks kinda weird to the passport folks when your birth was registered in 1984 and you were born in1979... Needles to say it was a hassle and it did take several months, but it arrived just in time...

Back to what do you want to do in Europe.  Susan and I had decided that we'd fly into London then drive through Wales and catch a ferry to Dublin, the Republic or Ireland... hmmm no problem there. Rebecca decided that we should all go see the live play "Cats" while in London, then fly back through Paris to go to some cemetary where ????????? was buried... hmmm joys... Once James and Edward heard this, they jumped right on the bandwagon. talk as I might I couldn't talk them out of Paris, OR the cemetary...

We decided that we were going to stay in bed and breakfast inns for the entire stay. We made reservations at one in London well in advance and made a reservation in Dubln for one night. We purchased front row seats at about $80.00 each for "Cats" I scoffed at that too, but everyone else (Susan) that counts thought it would be OK...

In retrospec, all of the planning went amazingly well, we weren't stranded, weren't without a place to stay, NOTHING went seriously wrong, that may depend on ones perspetive, but from mine it went as smooth as anything I'd ever done.... NOW we wait.  Chapter 2 - The day arrives.....

cheers.

So the 2010 New Year is here, there and everywhere....

Way back on New Years day when I started this post..., got sidetracked which is EASY when you're old.

And where was I when the New Year arrived, sleeping next to my lovely wife..That's right sleeping.... We went to Minnesota Suzi's for "taco bar", she fixed Peach Margaritas, Pork, Beef and chicken, we brought guacamole and other people brought various sides, I really can't remember everything that was there. While I cut up the avacados I drank two, or three peach margaitas, ok maybe four, regardless I sat in the chair next to the Christmas tree and consumed some pork and beef on nacho chips...hmmm...hmmm....hmmm.. I had to get the margaritas out of the way early OR let Susan drive home... enough about that...

Slept late the first day of the New Year, until 7 or so... fixed "Sour Cream Pancakes" out of Susans "new" cookbook... boy are those good,... and easy...

Now I'm just bummin' around for the remainder of the day.

Fast Forward to 10-January-2010

James commented that I hadn't posted anything in several weeks. It's true, it's not that I don't have anything to post it's just that I seem to have other things to do, things that "get in the way", like taking a nap... (don't tell), or watering the equine when it's 6 degrees outside...

We've had some BRUTAL cold day, one where the HIGH was 6 degrees and the overnight lows were in the negative double digits. 

We have two(2) diesel trucks and the van with no heater motor. Of course the van started right up, the trucks turned over but wouldn't start, well they turned over until Susie ran the battery down on "her" truck.  YES, they do have block heaters but it's hard to find extension cords and outlets around here as the horse water tanks need to be heated or they freeze SOLID. I had used all of the long extension cords on those leaving none for the vehicles.  Believe it or not we have NEVER had the trucks not start because it was just too cold. 

Santa left me a GREAT espresso maker and Mary (my mother-in-law) bought me a deep fat frier. Between the lattes and french fries I still haven't gotten down to 199.  Yup, that's right just a couple (1.5 actually) pounds over 200 and the New Years resolution is to break the 200 barrier.. Actually the reality is it's probably not as much the espresso machine and lattes as it is the "Pioneer Woman" cookbook Rachel bought Susie (who rarely cooks).  Check this out - Sour Cream Pancackes, Rib-eye with wiskey sauce, Blackberry cobbler, and the list goes on. We've tried (I've cooked) many and all are very good.

Enough about food, I'm making myself hungry and I'll have to run out and cook up some french fries....

Squirt is still is California. Carson has sent a couple of updates and a few more pictures. He seems to really be content, at least in the pictures. Carson gets along with him just fine.  They are getting to know each other so Squirt can take Carson "down the fence" at a reined cow horse show, very popular in California... I've put this link out here before so if you really want to know what we (mostly I, and Robert) do with our horses see the web-site that I created just for reined cow horses, http://www.rch.table-rock.com/ . The cow horse site has links to other interesting Quarter Horse, and "horse" sites...

Susan brought home YET ANOTHER cat the other day, a neutered male "Maine coon". He's really BIG and really hairy, VERY gentle and friendly.  The word on the street is that he "sprays" in the house.  I'm betting he just holds his tail up and twitches (making it LOOK like he's spratying) time will tell... I guess it doesn't really matter too much he's living in the "barn/garage", too many cats in the house already....

Amanda made it through ANOTHER Christmas.  She seems quite content and happy. She loves to lay in the snow at 6 degrees.  She is starting to show her age around her muzzle and in her eyes, Sometimes I think she might be dead because she doesn't hear too well (well I'm not sure about this, she seems to hear me get in the treat bucket (liver snacks) just fine). I have to touch her to make sure she's still breathing.

Kat is still hobbling along and seems very content. I will in the next couple of days take Harley and "RedMan" over to the 80 and bring back the the "two year olds" (they just had a birthday on January 1st, same as ALL horses)... I'll probably bring Cory (Squirts younger sister) over with them... Oh the two year olds are Belle, named after the race horse Eight Belles, Love Muffin (Roberts horse from Kat, her last baby) I call her Love Muffin (or Muffin) because her daddy's name is "The Love Man", haha..... I think Linda, Roberts wife calls her Miss Kitty, nice name but I've always called her Muffin and probably always will, the third one is hmmm can't recall her name, but she is also one of Roberts babies... Dang hate it when that happens.....

I really enjoyed the days off over the last couple of weeks. I consumed the remainder of 2009 vacation and just hung out with Susie (well one day I hung out ALL DAY while she went to work hmmm)...

I've decided that I really like my "Demand Planning" job. A lot more interaction with people than the previous IT job. But interesting, challenging and it keeps me on my toes. I think it's the "Going where no man has gone before" thing that makes it the most interesting. No one can really "train me", it's pretty much "learn" and pretty self directed... I still don't like "meetings" but at least I can ride my "wind-trainer" (fancy term for stationary bike), and maybe get to the 199 goal, soon....

It's Saturday morning, Susan went to her Palmer Lake Art Group meeting (she's the treasurer) so I have the house and the computer to myself. When she returns we're going to get the Rebecca grandchildren and spend the day playing in the sunshine (42.8 degrees today, higher tomorrow)... We're thinking about taking them to the zoo i n the morning, mostly so Gabe can use his new camera on something more interesting than "stuffed animals".

Oh yeah, I gave myself one other Christmas present... well or Santa brought another, whichever you choose... Susan painted this REAL NICE watercolor of California Poppies. I don't know if she posted it on her blog-site so I'm not going to, BUT I took a picture of the SECOND best thing I see from my pillow when I wake up in the morning (too dark to see at night). 

Anyone care to guess what the BEST thing I wake up to is?

Susan will have to upload the image (which has no reflections)

 Gabe the photographer, Yes it WAS as cold as it looks

Playing ON Palmer Lake, the ice is 4-6 inches thick enough to hold a car

As you can see he isn't too afraid, Bambis daddy, I think?

Squirt & Carson, bareback... Note the contrast between CA and CO. I'm convinced Squirt is really in heaven, he looks VERY content...

Cheers.....