Saturday morning coffee

Dang it's August already.

Sure is chilly here this morning.

Had to go find some socks my feet were so cold. 

Chyann and I went riding on Wednesday. 

Instead of the half mile walk to the West to the trail head, we snuck through our neighbors to the East's backyard and then through another neighbors back pasture.

Worked out pretty good. 

Gypsy and Jenny were nose in the air nervy with the new route. 

I had to make Gypsy do some circles and get her brain focused on her feet instead of that invisible tiger she was sure was coming for us. 

As you can see in the below pictures, most of the fields we went through didn't get planted this year due to the wet. 

Damn cows sure put a crimp in our riding areas.

We were able to venture through quite a bit of open fields, but every place we wanted to go was fenced off.

For as wet as it was earlier in the year, it sure is dry now. 

I said good bye to Krissy yesterday afternoon.

She should be on her way this morning.

Safe travels to you my friend.
I am going to miss you so much.

Currently I'm trying not to guzzle coffee as I'm going to the fitness center in town to do some boot camp exercise thing with the Mother of a friend of Caden's in 20 minutes.

Krissy did this class a few times and said it is a bitch.

Lot's of pushups - which is going to freaking kill my hands and shoulder.

I said I'd do this why?

Alright, I'm off. 

Have a good day!

Pickles and Cowgirls?

Sunday was quite a day.

I started out pickling my brains out.

12 quarts of kosher dills and 12 pints of sweet and hot.

Dang!

The recipes state for best flavor wait two weeks on the sweet and hot and six weeks on the kosher before sampling for best flavor.

Don't know if I can wait that long.

The lovely Chyann was impatient for this pickling process to end so she went out and rode Jenny.

 I was just cleaning up the last bit of kitchen when she shows back up.

She is shocked that I'm going to go riding alone now.

Of course I am.

The weather if perfect.

I'm done with the pickles.

Time to ride baby.

Well she can't let me go alone so she is going to ride Scotch.

FYI - it took me 30 minutes to untangle Gypsy's burrs and I only ended up cutting twice, that's pretty good if you ask me. 

We head out and encountered the neighbors cows moving toward the road.

Boogie back home and call him up, let him know what is going on. 

Then we go back out and move the cows back from the road.

We moved those cows all over the place, Chyann and I did.

Scotch and Gypsy never balked or spooked.

Did I mention we were bareback?

The neighbor finally gets there and we begin moving the cows back through the field towards a gate he opened. 

Oh man, I tell ya we had a blast!

Who knew moving cows would be so much fun?

We were real live cowgirls for about 45 minutes and loved it :)

Later

Chesapeake blue

It took us the majority of the day, but Chyann and I got her room painted.

It's Chesapeake blue.

Looks more like a Caribbean blue to me though.

The ceiling was the worst.

No idea when the popcorn ceiling was put on, I only know that shit is dry and it soaked up paint like a sponge in some areas and flaked popcorn in others as I applied the paint. 

Which led to us having to put numerous coats on and it still does not look great. 

Apparently I should have sprayed the paint on?

Didn't even think of that as I've never encountered this type of problem while painting before.

Live and learn. 

Anyhow.

The guys split wood yesterday since it was soo cool - got to start thinking about winter sometime I suppose.

Holy burr tooooo -

We only made it to a whopping 60*!

Speaking of burr's, the horses were out mowing and found a patch of burrs.

Now that is going to be a pain to comb/cut out.

Jeez.

These horses drove me nuts yesterday too.

Usually they will just meander from front yard to the back then up to get a drink of water and repeat all day.

No problem, right?

Yesterday they were everywhere they weren't supposed to be.

Scotch somehow (who left the barn door open?!?!) got into the barn and knocked the lid off the dog food bin and gorged on kibbles and bits.

Gypsy got into the alfalfa and ate who knows how much.

Casper went into the field next door and then decided to not come home.

Jenny got a gouge in her side about four inches long.

AAAH, the joy of owning horses.

These kids are staying in the pen today.

I don't feel like chasing them, I've got pickles to make.

My favorite part of the day was Krissy.

She came for dinner and we had the best time.

I'm going to miss her. 

She is going back home to Alaska next week and may or may not return.

Funny the twists and turns of life.

Sure we didn't talk every day or even see each other as often as we'd have liked recently, but I always knew she was there and if I needed her she was but a phone call away (and just down the road).

I'm hoping she'll get back into blogging so we can keep up with this new chapter in her life.

hint, hint

Feeling blue, Chesapeake blue.

Sigh.

Saturday Morning coffee

Yawn.

Another week done. 

July is almost over.

The last few days here have felt more like the third week in September since a big cold front has moved in.

Today's high - if you can believe this is only going to be 68*.

Burrrr.

Caden's baseball boot camp is almost over.

The Hubby has been helping out and having as much fun as the boys I think.

The boot camp boys are going to play a last game on the first of August.

The kid has had a busy summer and he is talking about wanting to join wrestling.

I don't know where wrestling would fit in the football/basketball schedule.

Seems he is busy enough with all that he has going on, but we'll see.

The lovely Chyann has decided she is going to paint her room.

Which is fine, but you've got to clean it first - which it appears she did after I went to bed last night. 

So when I'm done here I'll be doing a little tidy up for the house and waking her buns up so we can get this painting thing done.

(yeah - let's not even talk about my again stalled bathroom- makes me cranky)

(but really what I'd like to do is scrap all that and go riding, it's the perfect day)

I'm going to make that Pistachio pie again today too.

The incredible shrinking woman Krissy is coming over for dinner tonight.

Think we'll do some Mexican and margaritas with a little pie for a topper. 

I've got a five gallon bucket of pickling cukes, compliments of Sherri, to do this weekend.

Think I'll make those sweet and hot ones again and some regular dill pickles.

Colton is preparing for school already.

Which is FANTASTIC considering last year he had no preparations made until about the week before he left and even then they were half-assed.

He is growing up, putting those responsibility pants on and making me proud.

I've sure enjoyed having him home. 

He is so funny and does the best impressions of random people.

and

Something you don't see everyday:

My lil' rotten dog Tater.

I looked up from skimming the pool to see her shyly tip toeing around the pool edge in an attempt to follow me as I went around the pool.

Chyann came out and took a few pictures.

Silly pup.

Alright.

I'm off to find some socks and roll the kid out of bed so we can get this painting done.

Happy Saturday to ya!

Rock Fest 2013

We weren't going to Rock-Fest this year.

Really we weren't.

Until free tickets came our way and even then we weren't going to go as

Colton was going to take the tickets.

Then he decided not to go and he didn't know what to do with the tickets.

Well at this point really I HAD TO GO!

Yes, I'll admit that I wanted to go all along.

SO GLAD WE WENT!!

It was the perfect day.

Hot, but not too hot and low humidity.

Me and the gals.

Before and Slash and Myles Kennedy played we toured the fest grounds and ran into some characters that I had to get a picture with. 

If this dude had closed his mouth in this picture he would have almost been a ringer for Slash!

The real Slash and Myles playing some good music.

Got Colton a Slash tour t-shirt for staying home and watching his sibling.

They also had a zip line thing which we just had to try.

The Hubby (worrier that he is) was totally freaked out about my doing it.

He was just sure I'd be the one the damn thing broke on. 

Not likely, right? lol

He did tell me as we were buckling into the harness' that if I died during this foolish act he was going to marry "X" friend. 

I laughed and said good luck with that. 

Just as I stepped of that platform in the distance my tummy went all butterflyish.

Only for a second and then I was flying!

I wanted to try hanging upside down as I'd seen other people doing and

the operator guy said all you had to do was bring you knees up and over you'd go, but that surely didn't work for me.
drat

Laughing like maniacs we got unhooked.

The rush was incredible!

I loved it!!

Of course the main show of the evening was my favorite:

KISS!

The first few songs were off their newer album and I don't think the crowd was expecting that. 

They were good, but not the songs you know by heart ~ you know what I mean, the ones you could sing/shout along to.

Soon as they started playing the oldies the crowd really got rolling.

They played for about two hours, it was great!

And the light show?

Never seen anything like it!

Phenomenal! 

A gal told me the road crew was up from 3a until noon putting all the lights and pyrotechnics together. 

Towards the end of the concert they had a Veteran from a nearby town come out. They thanked him for his service to the country and presented this man with a free house!

Then we all sang the Pledge of Allegiance.

How cool is that?!

Favorite song of the night ~ I was made for lovin' you.

A great time had by all!

In other news:

Caden had a blast at the Dell's with the exception of - as he says "being flattened by a plus sized Grandma on the bottom of the wave pool!"

The poor kid has some major scrub rash on his back from the gal sitting on his tummy riding him down the sloped bottom!

He thinks he about drown.

Onlookers assure me he did not.

Talk about scary!

Caden finally freed himself and sputtered to the surface.

The woman was utterly apologetic.

Can you even imagine?

OMG

On that note.

Happy Humpday :)

Saturday morning coffee

It's nice and cool this morning.

Which feels so good.

Woke up this morning at 5a when the pool pump (which is on a timer) kicked on and started slurping water.

Had to go out and turn it off .

DRAT.

Then of course I couldn't go back to sleep.

My mind starts in on the "what if" crap.

Irritating.

Got Caden off for a trip to the Dells at 7a.

He's going for a friends birthday party.

Should be a lot of fun.

My Dad bought a house in AZ.

He is moving around the end of September.

Waiting on the Hubby to find out when he can take off time in August so we can go see my Mother and Gerry in OK.

My back has been aching.

Too much sitting for the job I think.

Drawing up plans for a homemade stand up work station type thing.

Or maybe just put some concrete blocks under the legs to bring it up until I get something else workable.

The count down for school has begun. 

The trip to Rochester was uneventful, thankfully so as Chyann drove about a hundred miles of it.

She got a little nervy when big trucks were oncoming and behind her, but did excellent.

The doc appt was fantastic!

Her vision is holding steady - if improving a bit to be less nearsighted.

The study she has been in since she was three is now complete.

She was the youngest to ever participate and the last to turn 15 within the study.

Next week all the big doctor brains are meeting in Chicago to reveal their results of the study and  determine which method of treatment results in the best outcome for kids with Amblyopia.

Can you imagine when she began the study her vision in her left eye was 20/2100?

and now it is 20/30!

How about that for miraculous!

 Anyhow a few pictures from the trip, it was a beautiful day for a drive. 

Getting ready to cross the Mississippi River.

Not the best picture obviously, but you get the idea.

Every time we cross the Mississippi I think of Clark W Griswald saying "the mighty Miss, ol' Miss"

Corn as far as the eye can see. 

MN farmers must have been able to get into the fields a lot earlier than those here in WI as the corn we saw was right on track in the growth department.

Some funky hills.

On the subway level at Mayo clinic they've got the most beautiful glass sculptures hanging from the ceiling. 

Happy Saturday folks

TGIF!

Morning!

The week is done for me, as I've got the day off. 

We are headed South to Rochester, MN.

The last PEDIG (pediatric eye disease investigator group) appointment for Chyann.

We are going a bit early and plan on hitting some thrift sales there.

What a week.

It's been so hot, maybe a little cooler today - only a high of 90*.

Last Sunday we had the baseball potluck and parent vs kid game.

It was a blast!

The parents trounced the kids!

I tell you they make it look so easy blasting off home plate after hitting and running to first base.

I had a hell of a time getting out of that sand and running for the base, was like slogging through quick sand or something and sure felt like I was going to trip myself up. 

Guess I am not used to that sensation of running full out lol

Caden the GREAT goofing around at twilight.

Have a wonderful day :)