I love my animals. They are the most devoted friends I have.

Ah, here is Icarus.  She is so very tired.  She is always tired.  Here she us in my chair.  When the flash went off it kind of woke her up.  Just a little. 

If you notice her left foot went down just a tiny bit.  Not enough to cause her to get fully woke up.  Just enough so that I knew I better leaver her alone. So I did.  That made her get up and go find a new place to lay. 

There.  The cold hard floor is always better than a nice soft recliner.  And we both know that when she laid down there the dog began to shift his eyes.  The only thing more scary than a cat in front of you, is a cat behind you.  Nope!  Can not trust a cat behind you even if it is sound asleep.  Pretty sure there is no such thing as a sound asleep cat. 

Think I will just go on outside and see what the weather is up to.  I think that cat can move without really moving and get really close and I have seen them claws.  Sure glad she is my friend.

There we go!

 

There is never a dull moment at my house.  I am sure the little dog, Elvira is on her pillow at the end of the couch.   Nope!  Here she is just looking at me and wanting Lord only knows what.  The biggest problem with Elvira is she stays so close to me that sometimes I trip over her.  Her full name is Elvira, Mistress of the Night, but she does not know what that means.

I do not know what I would do without my little animals.  This I do know, friends come and they go.  People tend to be selfish, but my little animals ask absolutely nothing from me.  I feed them and give them fresh water and for this they give me undying devotion.  They are never mean or thoughtless.  They are just always there.  Some times they want petted, but sometimes I want petted to, so it works out.  When I get a dog, it is for life.  I have known people that get a pet and then they decide that it is too big, or too little, or it barks, or it gets out of the fence, or this or that.  Well, I know I am not perfect and sometimes I get out of the fence, but my animals forgive me.  My geese talk to me.  As long as I have my animals I am not sure I really need friends. 

I just wish they could talk!

 

 

A three day vacation complete in 3 minutes or less!

I love these slide shows.  I can take the pictures in 6 minutes, download them to the computer in 1 1/2 minutes, and spend three days trying to find them and another day and a half getting them into an album, which is immediately lost, and when found is accessible only to the man over on County Farm Road.  But now you see it. Gotta love technology!
So the vacation began on Saturday and Sunday morning was the Garden City Pool which was not open, followed by the Richardson Zoo which was not open either.  Lot of planning went into this vacation! 
Dodge City proved a little better.  First the Casino and the camera stayed in the car.  Then Boot Hill then off to Hutchinson.  Hutchinson is always the visiting place so first to Donna and Karen's, then off to Skaets to test out the Moon Burger.  Never made a trip without bringing one of those back in my tummy!
Now I do need to interject something here!  Usually a trip to Hutch the end of July is very miserable weather-wise.  Such was not the case this time.   It was cool.  Course it rained buckets, which I thought was wonderful, but it does make dashing some where on foot a little tricky.  And since driving in rain is a trick itself and something you forget how to do living here in Colorado, a lot of time was spent in the parking lot.
But Monday I met cousin Daryle at McDonalds for breakfast.  Donna and I dropped in to see Dorothy and Joyce.  Michelle, who had chosen the time so we could meet her fiancée, was a no show.  Then drove to South Main to check on cousin Stephen, who was not at work.  I wanted to walk the riverwalk, but then again was the deluge so I gave that up.  I did find Evelyn and Kay at home, so that was good.  Karen made Ham Steaks for supper and then it was veg time in front of the television.
Tuesday was breakfast at Skaets with Daryle.  Then back to Smith's to see Stephen.  Lack of rain let me take a quick trip along the river walk which is coming along nicely and is very well maintained, although I do not understand that one painting on the side of that building.  Before the highlight of my trip, I did get a quick visit in with Sharon Jackson, whom I had not seen in over 35 years.  She looks the same as the last time I seen her, but then so do I!
At 12:30 I was back at Skaets for the rendezvous with cousin Sandy and My Favorite Republican!  Did not have the camera for that either, but I do have him and I on my phone as wallpaper.  Every time I look, there he is and it makes me laugh.  We discussed politics for 2 1/2 hours and never once did we get into an argument.  As you can imagine in a Bible Belt state. the majority in the Kansas government is Republican, but as I found out, they are a different breed of Republican.  A Democrat can actually get a bill passed if it is the right thing to do.  He was having a little problem with the gay stuff until I explained to him my thoughts. 
"When my husband died, I received benefits for my son from Social Security.  Two weeks later my friend David passed leaving his partner with two kids and one paycheck and no insurance.  Is that fair?"  You should have seen his little brow furrow and the wheels turned.  "I never thought of that!  It is about families, isn't it?  That is what we are missing!"
And that, my friends made the whole trip worth it.  I am confident that he will convey to his constituents our conversation and if any of them are like minded, which I am sure they are,  we will see good stuff come out of the state house in Kansas.   I bid my friends a fond farewell until next time and drove out to the Nature Center, then through Carey Park and back to the house where popcorn and game shows awaited my attention.
Glad I went?  Sure I am.  Glad I am home?  Of course.  And of course I hurried to the kennel to pick up the dogs.  "Here are two leashes and here are 2 dogs.  Sorry, but they ate their pillow!"  I think they were pissy at me.  What do you think?

I am off on another of my power vacations.

     It is that time of year and I have not done it for several years so, today is the day.  We discussed this and my friend wanted to have the Kansas experience and who should know better than me about Kansas?  Having lived there for the first half of my life I should have a vague idea about it.  As I recall, the " Kansas experience " is best done in the early spring when the Lilacs are in full bloom or in the fall when the wheat has all been harvested and most importantly, when the temperatures are moderate.  Lord I remember that Garden City and the thermometer on 115°.  All that was back in the day when air conditioning was a rare luxury and having a fan put you in the upper echelon of society.

     That being said, back to my "vacation".  So we will be leaving here this afternoon, and racing to Lakin, Kansas.  There Dona will cut my hair since I just decided yesterday that I can not go another day with this mop hanging in my eyes.  After a night of visiting and sleeping in a bed that is not my own with out any dogs on my feet or a cat on my head, it will be off to the Garden City Zoo.  Course I am going to need breakfast there some where.  Then on to Dodge City and Boot Hill.  Oh, yeah, and I need to eat again.  Arrival in Hutchinson should be sometime in the early evening.  Visit with Sister Donna and unload the car.  Go visit with Sister Dorothy.  Maybe squeeze Evelyn and Kay in also.  Oh, forgot about Tommy and Alina.  And the baby.  And the nieces and nephews.

     Jump up on Monday and hopefully meet cousin Daryle over at McDonalds.  Run out to the Nature Center, drive through Carey Park, stop at Smith's and see cousin Stephen, drive to Nickerson and see the old home place, or at least where it was when it was still standing.  visit the cemetery in Nickerson and also the one in Hutch.  And a trip back home is nothing without a tour of the Amish district.  Day should be pretty well shot by then.  Hope Larry brings Mary over for a visit.  Bed.

     Tuesday will be get up and have coffee with Karen before she goes to work and then off to  breakfast at Skaets.  Hopefully I will meet cousin Sandy and MFR at Skaets for lunch and an hour or so of frivolity.  Then back to see Evelyn, Daryle, Stephen, Sister Dorothy, and miscellaneous friends that I need to touch base with before I go.  I will spend the evening unwinding at home with Donna and Karen  preparatory to my departure early Wednesday morning.  Got to get on the road early because the doggies are going to be kenneled this trip and the place closes at 5.  They are going to be so happy to see me.

     Wednesday night will be spent thinking of all the things I forgot to do and all the people I forgot to go see.  Thursday, Friday, and probably Saturday will be spent flat on my back wondering why in the hell I bothered and what exactly became of the trip to the Cosmosphere, antique district, hike through the sand hills....and what exactly is the definition of vacation.  Let me grab my Websters here.  A period of rest or freedom from regular work or study.  Well, alrighty then!  It will be that! 

      It does not say I have to do all this stuff to relax.  I am sorry, but I do not relax well at all.  And it does not say I have to visit every tourist site along the way.  Would like to swing through Greensburg and see how that is progressing.  That was my friend, Lyn's biggest complaint.  She wanted to look at stuff and relax and not think.  Those of you who know me, know that I am a bit of a whirling dervish, so to speak, and I do not chill out well at all.  So hopefully this travelling companion will understand me a bit better and can keep up or otherwise be entertained without me.

    So, power vacation, here I come, ready or not!  See you people in about a week and I should have the slide show from hell for you to view!

 

 

 

Trayvon is remembered at the Sister Plaza in Pueblo, Colorado .

Had a lovely time with Janet and the rest of the group today.  Just want you to enjoy this video.  More to follow.

My insane mother goose!

I have a goose that has been with me since Bret was 9 years old.  All she has ever wanted to do was have babies.  True, she has hatched out a few.  I am not sure of the lineage since she is an African Gray and she has hatched several Imidens and one Imiden/gray cross.  That one had a white "v" across it's chest so I know it was a mix.  See, the way this works is the hens lay and somebody sets on them until they hatch.  Everything in the nest belongs to the whole flock.  They do not know that they are different.  This is mama goose with her "husband".  They have been together for 4 or 5 years.  I think he was her "step son" which means she hatched the egg, but did not lay it.

Now, here is her on the nest.  I took this early one morning.

Here is the nest with her NOT on it.  She has dragged almost all of the straw into this one corner. 

What you need to know is that she has been setting on this nest for 2 months.  It takes 28 days to hatch an egg.   I go in and pet her every morning and tell her what a good job she is doing.  Then she goes out to get a drink of water and visit the rest of the flock.  And every morning I rake her nest and then pile it back up.  There is no egg in there.  There was an egg or two early on which I ate.  But now there is no egg and there has not been an egg for almost 2 months.  But still she comes back in and sets all day and I want you to know we have had a lot of 100 ° days, so I am thinking this is one determined goose!  Someone said I should let her have babies, but I am trying to get rid of my flock that eats high dollar grain and does not pay me back.  I used to think I would sell the babies, but that did not happen!  So, I am sorry, but no goslings here on South Road.

I do not know how long geese live, but when Goosey is gone the rest will be shipped out to someone who wants geese.  I managed to set here and let the fox eat 37 ducks before I shipped the last two out to a pond in Pueblo West, but I am not going to be so lenient with the geese.  I have already lost 3 and am down to 10.  If I were younger I might do the baby thing again, but I am not and doesn't look like I will be getting younger any time soon.  Goosey is the last of my original flock.  I had three.  One had neurological problems and the neighbor man took care of him.  The the Muscovee Ducks murdered the other male.  So Goosey had to go many months by herself before Lyn moved into town and blessed me with a pair of African Grays,  a pair of Imidens, and a pair of Chinese.

So that is where we are now.  10 geese, 2 dogs and 1 cat and then I can move into town.  Probably going to be staying at the State Hospital, if you get my drift!

 

 

One year ago....Long Ago and Not Very Far Away....

"Oshermo"

Sherman Joseph Schroeder, Jr.

2/17/1935

7/13/2012

Some one once said that in order to have a friend you must first be a friend.

So very true in this case.

Sadly missed by a multitude of friends.

And the British Motorcycle Association of Colorado came to my house today!

And what a day it was!  Hey, Dana, come on in!  What are you riding? 

Oh, I see, it is Sherman's Black Matchless!  Lookin' good!

 

I wanna' go for a ride!  And Dana, ever the gentleman, took me!

 

And we feasted on pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, baked beans and all the other good stuff, topped off with an upside down German Chocolate Cake.  My grand daughter helped with the cooking and the clean up.  Great to have her around and not just because she is a work horse.

So it was a very fruitful day and I am very tired.  This was the one year anniversary of when the club came to bid farewell to Sherman.  Next week marks the one year anniversary of his passing, so it was a bittersweet celebration of that time in our lives. 

So let me just thank everyone for today.  And an especially big thanks for giving me the ride Sherman would have given me.  Thanks, buddy!  Hope we meet again soon!