Charlie has a pen pal!

We have some very good friends that come and visit once a year and they even made it this year as a surprise.

We visited with proper social distancing and masks on the porch. The boys are young 8 and 6, I think. 
The boys fell in love with Charlie and Charlie charmed them. They had a bad experience with a dog and Charlie gave them back some confidence.

Here they are in the creek last year. Charlie was supervising with the older boy not facing the camera.

This fall I thought it would be fun to write them letters. Things were tough for the boys with school closings, quarantining because of Covid exposure at their school and the family moving.

So I had Charlie write the letter. 

This time Gannon wrote Charlie back directly. Charlie and Gannon like snow, love snow, but not terrible terrible cold. Charlie likes catching mice and biting them to make them squeak. Does Gannon? 

NO Gannon thinks mice are ugly and gross.

Does Gannon like cookies and treats.

YES, Gannon loves treats especially cookies.

Charlie has a few questions to answer now from Gannon. It is going to be lots of fun.

~~~~~~~

Dear Gannon ...and Gunner:
I miss you guys a lot. Wish you were here to go hiking and playing but Valmom says it is too cold for me to be out too long. My feets get cold and my tummy because the snow is so deep I have to swim through it up to my shoulders.

I do like ice cream but I don't get any because Valmom and Rich say it is people food and I shouldn't have it unless it falls on the floor then I can lick it up. Do you like food on the floor? I love things that drop on the floor. 
I bet your mom makes you eat at a table like most human folks. 

I think you miss so many fun things on the floor like crumbs and stuff. 
Since you don't like to bite mice, do you like to bite spiders or hunt them? I love looking on the porch for spiders in the summer. It is fun to watch them. 

Before it got really cold out I went hiking with Sven my goat friend. He is nice and doesn't bother people at all. Maybe he can hike with us next time you visit. He pretty much just hangs out with Valmom. He thinks she is his mom because she bottle fed him when he was an orphan. He eats leaves and stuff. Yuck.
He doesn't even try to taste deer droppings! 

How is your school stuff doing? I flunked obedience school according to Valmom. I just sort of do what I want to do. 

You asked how we were all doing with this Covid thingy. Well, I sit with Rich and keep him company all day. I make sure he doesn't wander off while he watches stuff on the TV. We are all doing fine. 

Valmom said she took Rich for his first shot. I think it is like getting rabies shots at the vet. It doesn't hurt much. But Rich didn't get a puppy treat afterwards. 

Last question. Valmom says you play sports. I play retrieve the ball when I feel like it. What sports do you play and which is your favorite?

Yours Truly

Charlie

I've always enjoyed having a pen pal to write to. Handwritten letters are so special in these times of email and texts. It is like getting a gift in the mailbox.
All I know is that I look forward to seeing what Gannon writes back to Charlie's questions.

Gannon turns 9 today. 
I must say that these two boys are near and dear to our hearts. We don't get to see them often especially since Rich and I don't travel like we used to. But there you go, this is another way to keep in touch.

Unexpected Wonders!

Saturday morning and the sky promised to put on a show...

However...

When I got outside and walked towards the shed to grab my bicycle, I saw a white truck parked in front of my Subaru.

I was all set to have a fit until I read the plates.

Missouri.

No.

Really?

Could it be?

How wonderful! Kristi and her husband Jesse showed up to surprise us with a visit! 

Jesse said that they decided to take off and surprise us. If we weren't home they were prepared to visit our portion of the state anyway.
We rarely travel out of the area for anything ... except doctor's visits now so it was a pretty sure bet we'd be home on the weekend.

And where else but the creek would we hike to?

It was very surprising too as to how chilly it was Saturday. The temperatures never really got up to 70 degrees.

Our evening was filled with laughter as we all sat around the round table and played UNO.  The rules changed with each hand and since we didn't keep a number score it was even more fun.
Rich really enjoyed himself.

Too soon the time came for them to leave. They said next time they would plan better and spend a few days. After all, it is an 8 hour drive one way for a visit.

The boys left me some toys to take hiking with me for 'stories' of adventure in the woods.

And you know I can't resist a good toy adventure!

We promised each other that it wouldn't be three years between visits next time. And the boys cried, they didn't want to leave. And they really like Charlie and would miss him.

Charlie was a superstar. He fetched for the boys and tried to figure out what they wanted to do and sat patiently while they played with his ears and nose and...gave him endless hugs.
.
I said it was a long drive but perhaps I could convince Rich to go. I quipped, 'Oh I suppose I'd need someone to watch Charlie'.
And Jesse said, 'Oh you can't come unless you bring him!'

See?
What an unexpected wonderful surprise.

Today will be more rest and relaxation for Rich while I take out the newly sharpened scythe and make a test run.

This afternoon? Anything goes.

We love company!

Saturday morning was very busy, we had the Tesar farriers at our place doing 5 trims.  I am happy to report that Siera's frog issues are almost resolved and she is nearly back to 100%. 

Of course Dan's recommendation is that she get more exercise.  I am very happy with that!  I even planned on riding her in a One Mule Parade on Memorial Day but that didn't happen.

I nabbed this shot of Danny trimming Sundance.  She gave him a bit of grief but I think some of her irritation was due to the fact that she was in heat.

Girls!

I'll be making an 8X10 for Danny out of this shot.  He liked it and so did his father, Dan.

After the trimming was done, I showered and decided to sit on the new 'porch'  and relax by sanding some blocks I'd picked up from the construction crew.

I had finished gluing the scrap table and it was drying.
I had a small box of blocks already hand sanded and thought I'd just sit and watch the animals and listen to the birds and do some more.

A van pulled down into our hollow and stopped far back where we had parked our vehicles to stay out of the mud and construction mess.

I stood up and tried to see if it was just a wrong turn or someone lost. That does occasionally happen around here. 
I thought I recognized the woman getting out of the van, but still...

Then Morris saw people and off he went at a dead run.  It dawned on me who was in the van and I couldn't believe it.
For them to come visit, they would have had to drive at least 8 hrs from the northwest corner of Missouri.

I kicked off my flip flops and began to run like Morris to greet our long time non-biological 'daughter' and son in law. [We sort of like to think we adopted each other over the past 20 years.]

Jesse said he heard me let out a soft curse and then saw me run like the dickens.  I ran up to Kristi and Jesse and threw my arms around them.

Kristi held Gunner and said, "Good, I hoped you guys were home, we wanted to surprise you!"
Oh they did!

When we got to the house, I took Gannon's hand and asked if he'd like to go wake up Rich.  He did.
Rich had laid down for his afternoon nap and talk about not believing his eyes when he opened them and found Gannon in the bedroom.

When we sat down in the living room after a construction tour, I brought out the newly sanded blocks and gave them to the boys.

Wooden blocks and tiny cars = happy little boys.  I sat back rather proudly and proclaimed, "Hey, my blocks work!"

Everyone got a pretty good laugh out of that.
We eventually moved outside and let the kids play.

I think Rich's face shows how much he enjoyed the visit.

Jesse and Kristi had rented a motel room so they wouldn't impose on our house that was in upheaval. They promised to come back Sunday.

When I got home from work on Sunday they were there, the kids were playing under the Hickory tree and the adults were visiting and supervising.

I think the 4 wheeler parked in the yard was the main attraction.

We visited and did the evening chores, Gannon helped Rich throw flakes of hay to the mules and we decided to go out to eat.

We ended up eating at Culver's in Viroqua. We had hugs and hugs all around in the parking lot before they went back to their motel.

They stopped by in the morning to say goodbye.

I sure do enjoy it when company comes and so does Rich.  It didn't matter that our house was torn apart or that our yard was in need of a mowing. 
We stopped what we were doing [well, I still had to go to work] and enjoyed the visit.

Jesse and Kristi also had the forethought to get a room in town. Last year they stayed with us for a few days and that was pre-construction and Gunner was only a week old.

What a difference a year makes!

What can I say? Rich loves company, he loves it when we get visitors.
Of course I do too.