Visit and experimenting

Ariel, our oldest grand daughter came for a visit. She arrived on Thursday just after Grandpa finished up with his Hospice Nurse and his Home Health Aide. He was like a little kid in a candy shop. He was excited and beyond happy. 

Thursday night and early Friday morning there was a one heck of a noisy thunderstorm. The lightening shook the house a few times and the storms just kept coming through 8AM.

I grabbed this shot while on the porch just as it was getting light. I tried a composite of the clouds and the storm, but it was too dark and I had to retreat when the winds blew the rain under the porch roof. 

The color is bit off. I had it in the mode I shoot for starry skies which is a cooler temperature. The storm was pretty exciting for a while.

The really bad stuff with huge hail went south of us. We got 1/2 inch of rain which we really needed.

I had volunteered once more to care for my neighbor's cat and two dogs through the weekend. I love their pooches. Their pets are so well behaved. 

So when the storm was all done, Ariel helped Grandpa with his coffee and breakfast while I ran up and took care of the pets.

Here is the sun breaking through the fog
from the cold rain hitting the
warm soil.
The black dog is Rupert.
He is the happiest dog I've
ever met!

 

This is Tijo. I don't know if I am spelling his name right.
He is part Basenji. He has no bark.
He does squeak though.
I adore this guy. He seems to be 

standoff-ish. But once you are

pals, you are really pals. He is so

dignified.

No goofy wagging or 
bouncing. 
Just quiet closeness.

I don't recall this cat's name, but he is really quite striking.

I think he is also a special breed of cat. My 
neighbors ended up with him

because a friend moved and
her new place didn't allow pets. 
I think this cat likes me 

now, he no longer hisses 

at me. He wraps himself

around my legs.

My buddy Rupert.

See?

He is goofy and so darned lovable.

Ariel and I went to the indoor Flea Market just a short jaunt away.

We always like to walk around and browse at the things people want to sell. It is our thing. There are two indoor Flea Markets and a Resale shop in close proximity. 

Some of the stuff was pure junk. Some stuff was interesting. Over the years I've picked up a few neat things.

This time I purchased some toy related things and Ariel got a beautiful insulated water bottle thingy for a friend of hers.

I also found a unique metal chicken for my flower garden. We decided to do the other shop on Saturday morning.

Ariel wanted to make a cake for Grandpa and cook a special dinner. Boy was it ever good!!!

Since no one slept well with the storm on Thursday night, we called it quits early and went to bed.

This morning I got up before everyone else and went out to do chores. I noticed that the morning sun looked stunning on the daffodils next to the house. 

I thought. Goodness. I wonder if I can do an in camera Double Exposure? Like Anvilcloud!

I figured out how to do it. 

This is a shot of Virginia Bluebells and a shot of blades of grass with water droplets.

We hit up the other Indoor Flea Market and then headed home in time to make lunch for Grandpa. He had cake. Why not? Life is short. Eat cake first.

Ariel got ready to leave and both Grandpa and Charlie had the longest faces. She had planned her trip to see us for two days and be home in time to go to her church on Easter morning and join her family later on.

The visit was really quite nice. Grandpa was worn out but all smiles.

Tonight he sat at the table and kept saying how much he missed her and he couldn't wait to see her again. So sweet.

Charlie is pouting on the couch.

Mules and More

Our fuzzy girls.

Sunshine is 25 this year and still going quite strong. We call her our little red mule. She is out of my grade Arab/Quarter mare which was the first and last horse I ever owned. 

Sundance is Sunshine's little half sister. Same mare, different donkey dads. Sundance is 14 this year. I've ridden her under saddle twice but she is retired with Ringbone. I've had two offers on purchasing her but took a pass on it. She makes a good pasture pet.

Oddly enough Sunshine got the flaxen tail from her mom, while Sundance got the flaxen mane from her mom! Both are brilliant red mules. We often refer to them as the Reds.

Here is Siera, our Peruvian Paso mule. She is really quite a nice ride. She hates leaving home, and hates leaving her mates, but will go eventually. On the other hand, she is gaited and fun to ride. Once she relaxes, she is pretty calm. With another mule along she is literally lazy. 

The ones behind Siera are Mica the grey who is 25 and retired due to health problems. She was a reining fool in her day. She can sit and spin with the best of them! 15 is the horse. She is a pain in my arse. I won't even go into her story. Let's say she and I have agreed to dislike each other immensely.

The weather is bizarre, we have Red Flag Warnings, Flood Watches, and a Weather Watch for snow up to 6 inches on Sunday evening to Monday morning along with thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon.

Miss Ariel is here and yesterday afternoon we went out the the two Flea Markets in Readstown. They are both called Crazy Franks. We had fun browsing all the cool junk and other things. One of the places had a 40 foot wall of nothing but Ertl farm equipment and assorted tractors. I found a tiny tea cup and plate that would go nicely with my little teddy bear girls when they have tea together.

Another bluebird came by and gave us a moment of excitement. We hope they come around again this year.

With this streak of hot weather, the trees have been showing off their catkins with leaf buds soon to follow.
The Virginia Bluebells are emerging along with Dutchman's Breeches. 

Virginia Blue Bells

Dutchman's Breeches

Pussy Willow Trees

These plants always show up first in Tainter Hollow along Tainter Creek. I think the Trout Lilies and Wood Anemone will follow quickly.

Gone Shopping

Well, the whole idea of picking up some goofy stuff was to entertain ourselves by dressing up oddly and enjoying some time on the porch.
The last shot is my pal Daryl moving around in a 5 second exposure. I had hit the remote and told Amanda to hold still. Everyone else got blurred.
Not a perfect shot at all, but all of them still fun.

I got the leopard print shirt at the Thrift Store for .75 cents. The hat was a thrift store find from a year ago. The Teddy Bear? I think I paid .50 cents for it. One of the girls was wearing an old evening gown of mine from the 1990's.
Remember the Bumblebee Transformer Mask in the last post? Daryl is wearing that. We found it all hilarious and good fun.
Who the heck needs cable?

The rifle in the corner is a .BB gun.

I dug out some odd chairs that Rich had picked up years ago at an auction. We took those to the creek and set the beach chair at the edge of the creek. My Thrift Store teddy bears [and rabbit] looked great sitting on the 'beach'.

One of the kids put the kid's blue chair right in the middle of the creek and set a Baby Doll on it.

Saturday was another Thrift Store experience. I guess it could actually be called an Indoor Flea Market. I purchased a set of mini chickens. A Hen and Rooster.
The store is in Westby and it used to be an old Tobacco Warehouse.

On our way back through Viroqua, we stopped at Driftless Books and Music.

This was probably our best stop of the whole week. Books, books, and books. Oh yes, lots of music also.

I spent $11 dollars and bought two mysteries, a philosophical book and a book on backpacking.

I think finding odd stores and thrift stores are fun. I know I'll go back for some more books soon.