My sister's chickens

Hello readers,

You might wonder what Leo is looking at, look up and see the little wren pecking at the frozen suet cube. It is really cold here. At the end is a little video of how hard this little bird is working, hopefully it works...

These are my sister's chickens. I love these chickens, each and every one, although when I started there were 12, here chick, here chick chick...

Happy Holidays

Hello Readers,
As you know, Bud and I married on Christmas Eve a few light years ago and the pink cyclamen was my anniversary present. Photographs well I think.

Below is a picture of ODonna's new australian shepherd pup named Moon. So cute, and no she wouldn't let me keep him.

We've been digging out from the Christmas Eve snowstorm, while we managed to get out of the driveway to go to Helen and Bob's to enjoy a tasty Christmas meal, our neighbors came home Saturday night and got stuck in the middle of the road at Fox and 60th. They called, we tried to get them out, but in the dark it was not a happening thing. Today the road grader driver tried and then called the front end loader driver. That and a tow chain and 2 shovels freed their truck. The snow pushed to the side of the road was above my head... so very very high...


I received some lovely Christmas cards, and alas to my embarrassment, sent none. This is one of my favorites as well as one from Jackie.

So in lieu of the traditional method of well wishes, I offer this picture of Leo and my hope for a wonderful New Year for all. ap/p

PS, I've enjoyed keeping this blog and I may rename it and keep on... Thanks for your interaction and comments. :)

Thanksgiving 2009 - a very good time

Dear gold ones,

Do you remember ..."some are silver and the others gold"? This Thanksgiving was filled with gold and silver for me. Some of the silver was reliving the wonderful experience of seeing someone ride a horse for the first time... You'll recognize Hailey on Blue surrounded by her entourage...


The picture below is of Bud taking Hailey for her very first horseback ride compliments of the flashy Ebony...


Here is Hailey decked out for riding... with all of the gear I should have had for Amanda and Rachel when they were little...


This is Bud and Hailey and the first fish... look close!


And then there's the favorite "boy"... hard to believe we used to have to lift him to his feet.


So perfect company, perfect meal, perfect day... Thanks for coming to our house, ap

Black Dog Needs a Home

This lovely black dog showed up at Bob and Helen's last week. You can see where his collar used to be. He has a friendly personality and seems very bidable. Anyone need a new guy?


He has a handsome face.


Lovesssss to be petted.

Comes when called.


He is a tail wagger, friendly boy looking for a new home. Let me know.

Bob and butterflies

Dear Ones,

Here is our Bob on Tuesday with his black eye. Just thought that you would like to see how good he looks, better every day.

I had the opportunity to go to a conference in Westminster (near Boulder) Colorado and across the street from the hotel was the Butterfly Pavilion. Curious assortment??? Enjoy!

Looking forward to seeing you all in this holiday season. ap/p

Rent-a-Rower

Dear Favorites,

As blogger fans, you know that our Lawrence law student and her trusty companion, Joey, happened upon some boat races on the river during a walking tour. Coincidentally, KU staff recently received a notice from the Kansas Crew, the rowing team, made up of over 50 student-athletes and their fundraiser: Rent-a-Rower. For example, 1 rower for $12.50, 2 for $25... sounds like a deal!

We did one of those things on Saturday that leaves one shaking one's frozen face... we loaded up horses and dogs and motored out to Turon (near Pratt) on Saturday afternoon, watching the temperature drop from 40 degrees in Toronto to 32 degrees by the time we saddled our horses for our breezy ride through the very tall prairie grasses. Loosed three dogs, rode up numerous pheasants and some tiny baby quail... No time for chatting afterward as we quickly departed and turned up the heat in the truck.

Poppi, Mimi and I are watching DWTS and enjoying it... well, at least I am, I think Poppi is simply being a very good sport. If I ever get finished with my current project at work, I'm going to take some vacation time. The Sunflower All Age Championship starts on Monday. We have entered dogs in the weekend trials before and after... what are we thinking??? we don't know.

p

Out West in the Wild

Dear Ones,

On Thursday, October 1st, Bud and I headed West... well a little south, to Oklahoma and Texas. We traveled through the Little Sahara, 4 wheeling paradise and wound up south of Arnett, on a ranch for the running of the Raymond Rucker Classic. We picked up Lucky and one of our pointers, Fancy, in Pratt.

Arnett is about 6 1/2-7 hours from home depending of course, on how many times one stops. We also took Lacy the wild, Pretty Boy the good and Ebony the dependable. Isabel, pointer, was entered in two stakes, the first one she refused the front and chased deer and the second one, redeemed herself with 55 minutes of an excellent effort topped with a bit of disappointment when she then chased the quail. Whoops! West OK is based in sand and grows all things stickery, and sand burrs seem to be a specialty... In fact each and every dog's foot that ran was wrapped in duct tape. Some liked their boots better than others. And oh, heaven help your hands, if you drop your lead rope on the ground. Leather gloves are a must.

It's wide open, rolling hills of sand and what they call "chinnery", little 3 foot high oak trees, thick as bushes. Honestly, every thing either sticks or bites. Oh, and did I mention that hogs run wild??? I didn't see any but they are plentiful from all reports.

We spent the evenings at the Bar G Lodge in Texas, about 48 miles from the field trial grounds. Lovely accommodations, excellent company and meals prepared by a very fine cook. While we didn't win anything and Ebony came home with a "black" eye from an unfriendly horse, all in all quite a fine time. Not particularly relaxing, but a nice alternative to "real" life...

ap/p