night friends

Tucked safely and soundly in my warm bed, someone is knocking on my door. Immediately, I am getting my robe on and headed to the door. Olive is barking, upset. Middle of the night...who would be at my door? It takes a while for all of us to settle back into bed. It is 1:30 a.m. ish.

I took the dogs for a little walk early this morning. They are still uncomfortable, nervous. Who can believe that the dumpster has been tossed, tossed like cardboard box, onto it's side. It is full of the cement chinking, so the toss was miraculously done. It completely creeped me out. We headed back into the house. A neighbor stopped by mid day to help me right the dumpster. It took a pickup truck and a tow rope to right it. He had had a bear last night. A big bear, chest high on his four legs. Scary! That was my late night visitor. I am prepared now. Shotgun is loaded with rubber bullets. Reminder to all, do not sneak up on me!

Hummers

Puffy, fluffed, winged fighter planes. I have f-16's, helo's, cargo planes. They are landing on the mother ship decks, touching down with calm,with finesse. The fuel line is delicate. It resembles a fine needle. No curves, no bends, efficient. I could suggest the cabin is Midway. Loved that movie. So many flight decks for the aircraft to choose from, so many choices to refuel, recharge. I have not seen Debra Kerr on the beach as of yet. I will keep you posted

Currently, I have eight feeders out. For those of you who know me, it would be like multiple Sonics to choose from. My idea of heaven! I am still amazed how much these little hoovers can eat. To be so tiny, they sure can pack it in!

The sun is coming up slowly this morning. I am guessing it is cold and stiff...what is it....a hundred million years or so old? I know I am getting more stiff almost daily! The cool just makes it that much slower for me to get going!

I have been up to Crested Butte. As of today, no new snow on the peaks. The beauty, as always, takes my breath away. It does not matter how many times I go up that way, the reaction is the same. The leaves are offering a bit of a tease. Tiny bits of orange and gold are hiding here and there in the thick trees. Autumn is on it's way. The streets are getting a bit quieter. Not so many families are riding bikes, shopping, filling the roads.

School starts in a week up here. This has always been my little piece of heaven - for some reason school never fit that picture for me. I never considered children actually made this their home. They look out their math room windows at the mountains - at the snow - at the trees turning. Good thing I did not go to school here. I would be day dreaming consistently. Imagining what adventure I would be in next. Mountains to top, trees to climb!

It is Friday. Tonight they are closing off main street for the Classic Car Show. A band will be playing in the middle of main. Small town at it's finest! I will let you know how it is. I have always wanted a refurbished t-bird...hmmm wonder if they will take a check!

BRRRR 32 degrees!

It is 32 this morning. Can you believe it? It is August 19th and 32 degrees. That does not bode well for winter. I am sure all my central Texas buddies are snickering. It has been something like 55 straight days of 100 plus degrees there. What you guys would not do for a couple of 32 degree mornings! We will talk again when it has been 50 plus days of below zero weather!

The hummers are up this morning. They are cold and eating ravenously. I refilled the feeders yesterday morning, which aggravated a few of the more aggressive friends. I do a pretty good hummer mix and they just love it! Honestly, I probably am the only one with this many feeders set out - so by default they love it. As I was rehanging the big feeder, several of my little friends landed on the feeder. It was like having hummers in my hands! Loved it!

I love to sing. LOVE to sing. Never been very good singing in public, but always had a silly dream of one day being in a band - you know Michelle Pfeifer in the Baker Boys. Ok - we can all dream... I have been listening to Johnny Mathis. What a voice. So I am belting out one of the fabulous songs - chances are - and Bogart comes and sits at (on) my feet and looks so adoringly up at me. Made me feel like I could belt them out just like Johnny!

I am running up to Crested Butte this morning. I can't wait. It is really one of the most fabulous drives. It is a bowl of majestic mountains with a quaint little town in the middle. I will let you know if there is new snow on the peaks - I will let you know if the leaves are starting to turn. It is God's paint brush at that point. He has such an amazing eye! I did see a herd of 30ish Elk on Monday. So huge! It was all the girlfriends and their babies. Totally unconcerned with me or the other cars zipping by. They are getting ready for bow season. I think they must laugh at us at times. What other mammal puts urine from it's prey all over it's body to hunt? And is this supposed to be some sort of perfume? Surely these animals see through this ploy. If they don't I sure hope at some point they do. My friends that elk hunt absolutely love it. It is a religious moment for them. I could compare it to a really good antique hunt and it is almost as expensive!

My antiquing buddy and I are heading to the big city later today. Montrose. Target. Really there are not words to describe how nice it is to find Target after a few weeks to a couple of months without a fix. We are going to a movie, have a nice lunch/dinner and antique. I am looking for an old garden gate. It is to put between my bedrooms and the living room. You would just have to see it to appreciate it. My monsters love to go into the bedrooms and reek havoc. I have been very surprised how difficult these gates are to find. Almost like an elk hunt, I have been on this trek for a bit. Also like an elk hunt, it could take years to find the exact perfect fit.

I have not really described my cabin. I know I have told you it was built in 1930. It was annexed in the late 1800's. I have found small apothecary bottles, pieces of purple - y/blue glass, treasures.

I redid the inside a couple of years ago. It started with the kitchen and it grew like the "BLOB". Almost as frightening. My old kitchen cabinets were interesting. The oven was over the stove with a foot clearance. Besides the fact you had to stand on a chair to put things in and out of the oven, I always had a fear that my stove would catch fire, moving to the grease under the oven and whoosh, my cabin would be gone!

n Gone gone gone are those cabinets. The plan was to level the floor in the kitchen (remember the can can roll from one end of the rooms to the other after they have been fixed) and put in new cabinets. Then I added a bit of wall moving/tearing down, new floors from kitchen to back bedroom. Then all the electrical had to be replaced. Just an FYI, should you start to replace some electrical, you have to do it all - by code. That was a bit of a shocker! Loved the old wires and porcelain insulators! At this point why not pull the ceiling down? It was low and a bit claustrophobic so down it came. Being incredibly creative, I had old doors used as the wood for the vault in the ceiling.

The bedrooms need a bit of love. I had already pulled all the carpeting out, pulled out the tiles underneath the carpet (which no doubt had to be asbestos!) and painted the floors. I had the walls stripped of the plywood covers and it exposed the wonderful logs. We sanded and stained them. I had found wonderful old ceiling tin. The guys scraped that and sealed it and it is in the bedrooms and bathroom. I added antique crystal chandeliers over the beds and fabulous linens. Next I get a call about the bathroom. Amazing that I had not fallen through the floor while bathing. (That's a picture, huh?) as the floor was rotten. A bathroom update was now added! Rusty corrugated metal is the tub/shower surround, an old medicine cabinet is above the old pedestal sink, drawers are fashioned for mid 30's drawers I had found with bak lite nobs. An old green outside enameled light fixture is above the sink. My hallway is wall papered with a book - the Great Alone. Page by page I placed these on my walls. Love it! I have used barn door hinges in most of my rooms. It is so much less space needed. Of course the only one that I hung fell down this summer. We do not need to discuss my carpentry skills other than to say I have them. We used barn wood as trim. Also, in case you wanted to know, old barn wood is like gold. Precious and expensive! I also hung a wonderful old crystal chandelier over the pine farmers table for my kitchen/dinning. The floors that have been replaced are heated. It is really one of the best features of a Colorado home. Nothing better than to put your piggies on a heated floor on a cold morning!

So now that I have bored you with my house updates, I will let you go. More about the weather and foliage tomorrow!

shoes make the man er woman

I love shoes. It is a great sickness. Unfortunately it also includes cowboy boots. I have 60 - yes - 60 pairs of boots and counting. I posted this on facebook for intervention but no one really had an answer for my illness. Probably the problem is that I am not listening! I LOVE SHOES!

I go in different directions on style. I love Manolo's and Jimmy Choo. I would love to have a pair of Christian Lobitans' again, you must be able to spell these important words before you can actually acquire these lovelies! Truth be known, I can not walk in high heels. It is true. I either fall out of them or twist my ankles. So not pretty! Shame on me - but I do still love them and have them in my closet.

My favorites are my dansko's and my Merrill's. I love Nike running shoes although I gave up running years ago. This year they came out with the natural leather stacked sandal. We all had them in the '70's. Loved them! Bought them this summer and feel so festive when I have them on!

Colorado is not the place for fancy shoes. I try. When I go to the big cities, Denver or Colorado Springs, I do wear the fancies. All other times I am in my comfort shoes! Promise I will not be into the SAS or those other comfort shoes, well, unless they are happy feet shoes!

Now, my true weakness is cowboy boots. I buy the old ones which means they are used. I had a hard time getting over that fact. To be honest, no one really does boots like they did in the '30's. My collection is varied and very loved! I wear them almost every day. I also collect baby boots. They are hard to find. I love the cut out boots. I have a couple of pairs with longhorns inlaid in them. All the baby boots have the toes curled up. You can just imagine some cowpoke loving these boots and actually wearing them to bed!

Everyone around here is aware of my illness. I have friends that will drop boots that have been so very well worn at my door steps. It is kind of a funny thing. Shelby thinks the boots have overgrown the cabin. Does this mean I should buy a bigger cabin to accommodate my habit?

NOAH Where Are You?

Second day of rain. Lots of rain today. It is almost 6 a.m. and it is still very dark outside. Today it is thundering. I love the sound of thunder. It is absolutely the best sleeping or snuggling weather. As I write, Bogart and Olive are snuggled here with me. Olive is wrapped in a towel from her adventures out in to the monsoon. Boggie is just happy to be up and alive. Puppydom, need I say more?

I have not mentioned the chinking in a while. Casey, my big strapping worker, is amazing. He is almost finished. Just a very small area in the back is left to do. I don't know if it is because my cabin is so small, I don't know if it is because I adore my cabin, I don't know if it is because I write all checks, but I love this place and I love all aspects of taking care of it. Probably I adore working on it because it is so old. I love anything old. It is a problem for me. I understand this. I do not care. I know that part of my enjoyment is that nothing here is perfect. Not one corner is square. Not one wall is plum. Not one plumbing fixture works perfectly all the time. You could roll a ball, untouched, from one end of the room to the other. I don't care. It is just charming. All that to say I love it! I have learned how to do electricity things, pull up carpet, pull up tile, paint floor, paint walls, hang barn door hinges, build tables, build desks, build decks, build everything! I even have really good tools! That is the really best advice I could give everyone. You are only as good as the tools you have on hand. Also, when you go to the hardware store, Do not be offended when you get the "hello lil darlin', are you lost today?" Finally, Ace Hardware leaves me alone to rummage through aisles of everything. Currently I am trying to find a way to hang an old window grate - the kind on old warehouse windows - to use as a gate to keep my monsters out of the bedrooms. Those are the kinds of things I love the most!

Shelby is in Austin today. She is shopping. I feel like a horrible mother for not being there to cook, shop, play with her. I miss her. She is the most amazing young lady. I know I am not suppose to go on and on about my child, but I am really blown away by the amazing adult person she has become. She is probably one of the smartest, sharpest people I know. She is very intuitive and creative. She does a blog, a running page, runs a home, helps with charities, gets promotions, etc. Her creativity is off the charts. I guess dragging her to all the antique and artsy shows was a good thing? We won't ask her that...I know what she would say. My reply would be that I had to give her fodder to talk to a shrink about some day...Unfortunately, I did not give out fodder sparingly! She writes so well. I am really a bit intimidated by her! And I love her more than anything in the world. My mom had warned me when I had her that my life would drastically change. She was so right. And I would not change a thing.

My hummers are up. I can not believe how much they are eating. I have BIG feeders and they were emptied yesterday. That is 3 days for one feeder. I think since it is cold they eat more to be able to handle the weather. Just another thing I am learning up here - as the weather gets cooler - the more all the animals eat. Burning calories to stay warm - means eating tons of food!

Hope ya'll have a great morning! Go have a wonderful weekend!

Beautiful Rain

I woke up this morning to rain. It has been awhile since we had a full day of rain. I am sure at some point Mr. Sunshine will poke his sleepy head out, but right now, I love the rain! I had replanted geraniums. I am so horrible at flowers. It is definitely not my spiritual gift! I let them sit out for a week in the nasty plastic pot. Now they are happily in new pots and had wonderful rain all night!

I hate to mention this but Fall is here. We have had frost on the ground and walkway for almost a week now. I even wore a sweater most of the day yesterday. I love the change of the seasonal guard. The trees will begin to turn in a week or two. The animals are really munching down to prepare for our sub zero winters.

I have so enjoyed the hummers. Currently my happy guys are pretty calmly eating their sugar water (for me that would be Dr. Pepper). They are so funny. At dusk last night I had 6 hungry guys eating at the feeder, 6-7 hovering around it, and a couple more doing fly-byes. This morning I only have about 6 total eating away. I find it a bit funny that these tiny tiny creatures can drink so hard and fast that air bubbles escape to the top of the feeder...little bitty hoovers!

Rocky Raccoon does not like the rain or his scent stays a little closer to him as he rummages through my yard as Olive was quiet this past night. She has had to spend several nights in her kennel due to her barking "issues". We are working on this - but like all my children, she has an incredibly strong will!

Bogart has gotten a couple of new names - Slimmer and Clubber. Depends on the time of day both of these names fit - Early a.m. he is Clubber. He is currently about 40 pounds and is 16.5 weeks old. It takes about 20 seconds for his back half to catch up to his front half's activities. When I am sleeping and he wants my attention he stands on his hind feet and clubs me with his front feet. Very painful if not on your toes....he slings those size 18's at what part of your body he hits. I have gouge marks on my back, he has hit the nose, the cheek, arms, etc. He is the slimmer every time he drinks. I don't know why he thinks it is more efficient to drink with his full face in the water! Once done, he loves to find me in my nice clothes (that would be anything other than my 501's...) and rubs up against me. SLIMMED!

The ....-tuttle meteor shower has been the last two nights. I know it is tuttle as I have given my son-in-law and daughter a little ribbing with the name. The first night I had to go to bed as it started after my 9pm curfew. The next night it did not disappoint. Falling stars with tails. It was absolutely beautiful. It is so dark up here at night that it was the perfect canvas to watch the show!

I have tried the new Off personal mosquito repellent - FYI - it does not work...I am very sad about this as I love to drink a glass of wine outside in the evening, but am cautious to do this with all the West Nile carrying bugs! I am glad for the cooler weather, I can cover myself tip to toe to avoid dealing with the crazy creatures!

It is so peaceful this morning. Of course a light rain is so helpful in making everyone feel tranquil, Olive is snuggled beside me (yes we are still working on the couch issue...) catching a few more Zs and even Bogart is still! I have great music in the background! I am wanting some new classical music should anyone have any suggestions!

wasps, hornets, bees....oh My!

Shame on me! One of the main reasons I did the blog was to get in the habit of writing daily. I love to write. I will try to be faithful!

I have had teeth trouble. It is really true - and so very bad! I have had 3 teeth pulled in the past year. I am getting implants for them. It is a process. I had one of the teeth pulled last Thursday. It is really not a horrible thing, and the discomfort only lasts about a week.

On Thursday, I also had a run in with a nest of wasps....remember Yogi and Boo Boo? Well it is very similar to that nasty cartoon - you know when Yogi goes after the nest for the honey? Thousands and thousands of wasps chase them to the lake that both Yogi and Boo Boo jump in...
It was not quite that bad....I have been amazed at how long my cheek has stayed red. Anyone that asks about it I tell them the other guy looks much worse!

For some reason when I have anything done - pulling teeth, root canal, medical things, etc - I am the one that has the problem that happens to 2% of the population. Who knew you could get bone spurs when a tooth is pulled? Who knew it would require surgery to repair? That has been my past year and a few months. TEETH! I am thinking of going to Juarez and having a couple of pairs of wooden false teeth made. I could paint them different colors - I could add gold accents or silver and turquoise! How about that diamond embedded in that front tooth. Options are just limitless!

OK Back to the wasps. It was a wasp that stung me. I got even. Payback is just so fun. I love the wasp killer that sprays 100 feet or so. I had a hive that was attached to the wall of my shed. I had placed a saw against the hive. No wonder they got me! I am lucky it was only one really mad bug. I have found a hive across the road from me that is 2 feet long. I am going to take revenge on it in the next few days. More to come!

happiness is a choice

You are wondering how in the world I could ever begin to discuss happiness when I am living in one of the most beautiful places in the world. As with all things, not everyone thinks this is one of those places! Can you imagine? I will discuss THOSE people on a different blog...

I woke up this morning happy. As a general rule, I am a happy person. There are not that many mornings that I am mad at the start. Don't get me wrong, One word said in the wrong tone, one word said with malice, one word thoughtless spit out can and most often will put me in "that mood". Ask Shelby, she would gladly agree with most of this! (Don't ask her about what it cost me to get her to agree!) Haha.

As I sit here the hummers are playing and chasing each other around the bird feeder. I am sure not all words are happily spoken around that feeder - especially when Rufus is around - but they all are working away, filling their tummies and zipping along. Bogart and Olive are happy, I have filled their food bowl, filled their water, let them out to bark at Rocky Raccoon and his family, and scratched behind their ears and on their tummies....All things so simple. Food, love, good work, basics that make the animals so content. I am sure there is one critter wondering what is in the neighbors' yard to eat, what joe or jim or jennie or ann is having for breakfast and what their plans are for the day. That would probably make him discontent. Why must we see what others have and long for it? Why can't we just love what we have and be satisfied? I wonder why that is!

There are things I want, things I lust after. I have noticed how my heart is so settled these days. It is so simple. I do not do anything all that differently here. I have great friends all over. I am very lucky. I have a wonderful family. As I write this the sun is coming up and I am listening to quiet opera. Can you imagine anything more perfect?

Clouds

I love clouds. Don't really know why. No, I am not one of those that sees animals, cars, ships, people in the clouds. They are just very....hmmm....interesting to me.
As mentioned before, I don't always sleep soundly. Waking up multiple times through the night has become the norm. Last night, at 3am, I woke up to see clouds low and beautiful outside my window. I wanted to touch them. One of my recurring dreams as a child was that I could fly. Much like the flying nun! Ah - Sally Fields, why did she have to ruin it with Smokey and the Bandit?
Living in Austin for so many years, I missed the big sky. City life hinders the ability to see the sky like the flat land of the Panhandle. Each time driving through or to Borger/Amarillo, I would take such a big, deep breath. I just love the sky. It is fascinating how far you can see, how fun the clouds are.
Here in the mountains, the clouds hang very low quite a bit. So badly I want to touch them, to get caught up in them, to breath in their air. To fly with them.

A new week

It is an early Monday Morning. The birds are starting to stir, the bird feeders are very active. Not a cloud, not one, in the sky. Not a breath of breeze as of yet. All are waiting to decide what this Monday should bring. Hummingbirds are so beautiful and so amazing. Their colors are vibrant. As they dive-bomb everything in site, it is hard to tell to what that flash of red, orange, blue, belongs.

Today we are working on the chinking. I am getting much better at pulling the old stuff out. My arms are loosing that bit of old lady swing that happens right below my shoulders. Maybe this hard labor thing is going to be OK. What project can I take on that would do that tummy tuck thing? I have enjoyed doing this work, it is so interesting how things were done 80 years ago. It is even more interesting that something that old can still be a wonderful resident. I have found old newspapers from December 1932. The adds are so interesting - could be adds from Denny's Men's Wear! Can you believe my dad wore a hat to work most days? He was always so dapper!
One of the wonderful things I have in this old place is a cowboy hat he would wear. Love it!

We had raccoons last night. The reason I know this is Olive protected me from them ALL NIGHT LONG! She is such a watch dog. She has a history with these hungry little ....well we will just call them animals. Rocky and his clan - 5 strong - would come every night this winter. They would sit in the bird food can, they would sit in the deer feed, they would look at us and give us that wonderful one finger salute. Olive does not like that salute and has taken it upon herself to tell them any time she gets a whiff of them. She will sit with her nose in the air - sniffing like a woman at a perfume counter...you know the one...who spritzes the ambrosia into the air and lifts her pert little nose to get a good idea of the mixture of floral, citrus, honey...I don't think Raccoon scent smells quite the same... This morning she is still upset. Currently she is delegated to the couch(I am really working on keeping them off of the couch!) to let her throat rest. I am sure by the evening she will need all her vocal cords to keep me posted on any raccoon smellings!

There is a bit of fall in the air. In Borger, I would always feel the day the season changed to fall. I think it is the way the sun beams hit the earth. It is like they are shinning at an angle. Nothing else has changed, it is still as warm as the day before, but it is a feeling as much as anything. All my buddies are upset with this. Winters are long and hard. It is such a fantasy land here. There are bikes to ride, mountains to explore, fish to catch, wildlife to photograph. It is as much an adult playground as it is a children's park! Both towns are full, sidewalks have so many footprints! Parents that don't have time to play with their children are now riding bikes through town with little Johnny or Jennie in tow.

When I was in Austin I really missed the changing of the seasons. It is sort of like the changing of the guard, the old season is worn out when the new one comes in to give it relief. Here the seasons are just so definite. I can't wait for the leaves to change. It is a burst of fire!
Shame on me! I don't want to wish or wait away a second! We loose so much time either looking back or looking forward and loose the now. I am working on that also!

Time to get me moving. I am headed to the W for a good country breakfast. Good day!

boy dog love

I am a dog lover. No way around that. For my old friends, Noel was my very first experience with boydog love. Next Boscoe, next Mickey and also, girldog Minnie. I had never pondered the different personalities between male/female dogs. Being politically correct, I felt differences between dogs had nothing to do with sex. I feel dogs are created as we are. Different. I always have just loved dogs! It never occurred to me there might be some differences with the "love".

As I write this, Bogart has jumped on the couch (we are working on the no couch thing), snuggled as tight as possible to my side, and is resting him nose on my arm. To compare, Olive was up here. She sat at the opposite end of the couch. She wanted me to come to her and snuggle. I gladly accommodated her. She is incredibly loving, but it is on her terms.

Mickey, a yorkie, was so fun. Bless his heart, he passed a few years ago. He was amazing. He would let Shelby dress him in her doll clothes, play baby with him, pick him up - drop him etc. He was always very good with her and her gang. He had quite the personality. Life was on his terms. Boydog love did not track with him. He was quite the snuggler...if it was his choice!

A good friend sweares by boydog love. She will have no other flavor than a male dog. I had allowed her the leeway to state this opinion, but really dogs just love - Right?

I am sure part of this discrepancy is Bogart is a puppy. Puppies are just happy. Puppies just want to make you happy. Every moment is a new experience and they are happy to share it with you! You are the queen or king of their world!

Boydog love - is it true or just an urban myth? Since I am in the boonies - would that make it a gool ole country tale? Which are you? A believer in boydog love or....