A bit of Equine Stuff

Busy morning! This time hubby didn't wake me at 4 am! Whoo Hoo!

Our old pony is starting to show his advanced age. This past winter has been hard on him. He gets a stall inside at night as he is the only one who won't try and rip things apart. Throughout the winter he has had access to places where he can not only eat hay, but he could search for greens.

I checked our paperwork and we got him as a 4 yr old from our friends in Missouri. I always thought he was a 2 yr old when we got him. That would put his age at 32. This is the first year that I've seen him lose weight. 

He was a very happy camper all this week when I found patches of green for him to be tethered out on.

He is our weed whacker and trimmer for tough spots.

In all of his years of being tied out, he has never ever damaged a vehicle nor has he ever gotten tangled up. 

This is 15 years ago when I had him tied to the tractor.

He surely has had a good long life being a Guard/Yard Pony. His first job on our place was being a teaser for our mares. His retirement job is Guard Pony and Entertainment Pony.

Here he is ON Guard in 2009. I physically had to get out and move him out of the way.  

He is such a handsome fellow with such a fine temperament. He can prance and dance like a fancy high stepping pony. But considering that he has been handled every day since he arrived here, he is a breeze to lead around.

I love how he talks to me with his wee little whinny every morning and evening. He wants to make sure that I don't forget him.

And since I was going through older shots, I came upon a photo of our old 'string' of riding mules in 2005.

Left to right. Henry, Badger, Pipes, and Patchy. All from our Jack named Bruce. All half brothers.

Rich's main mount was Henry and mine was Badger.

Patchy now works in North Carolina as a pack mule doing training exercises with the military and was used to pack in supplies after last year's hurricane.

The others are no longer with us but always in our hearts. These guys were our 'cool' dudes.

Another quiet rainy, misty, cold yucky day in WI!

Well that was fun.

 

Woke up with a nagging pain in the sternum area.

I did chores and hubby started getting after me for his coffee, for this, for that. Nag, Nag, Nag...when I didn't feel like getting nagged.

I didn't really feel that great and knew something was off.

So I grabbed the BP cuff and did some measuring. Wowzah! Off the charts!

After an hour or so of trying to 'calm' down and using all the tools in my basket [breathing, quiet, meditation, and so forth] nothing changed and I still felt quite off.

I grabbed my keys and shot off a text to Olive to ask her if she could drop in on Rich if I get held up going to Urgent care.

She zoomed down and picked me up and took me to the ER. The triage nurse asked what the issue was and I replied that my BP was very high and wouldn't come down. My sternum was painful as was my upper back. 

She said, "You said the magic words and suddenly I was whisked into a room and hooked up with a dozen leads with so they could look at my heart." I glanced over and it looked quite normal. Next came the vampire to draw blood...she was excellent and cheerful. 

The nurse started and IV on the other arm. A job nicely done.

The doctor came in with a dozen questions and said my heart looked normal and proceeded with the 100 questions he had to ask. When he gave me a chance to speak I told him I 'think' this is really just an out of control anxiety attack. My worry was my BP which is normally 102/77 raging at 167/88. With all the poking it went higher.

X rays, and more tests and then he came back and said it all looked good. I pointed to the BP and the fact that I was trembling and asked what that was all about. He shrugged and talked about the labs and I had to repeat in an hour.

He did ask what I normally took when I was 'anxious'. I wanted to be a smart ass and say Jack Daniels [I don't], but was honest. "I go for a hike. I go for a walk, nice long walk in the woods, or go work out at the gym."

He asked 'what can I do for you?' I said "Give me something that makes me feel like I'm not going to blow a head gasket?"

His answer, "I can give you Nitro and that should bring it down and will probably cause you a headache." --- It gave me a headache and the pressure went up.

Then the nurse brought me baby aspirin. Then they all left. I chatted with Olive and told her I was going to go into my Head Zone and practice my relaxation breathing along with some mental calming.

My BP dropped, still a bit high, but it dropped.

Then another person came in for more blood. It SHOT up. Go figure!

Next the Doctor glanced at the unimproved high pressure and told me I was good to go. No immediate life threatening issues were found. Go home and see your PCP.

Seriously. He was doing his job and all the protocol was perfect. He explained that he was looking to make sure I did not have a LIFE Threatening Condition. 

[Maybe not to him!]

One of my gym pals is a NP, she saw me and walked in to chat. She listened to me, offered comfort [as Olive did], she actually gave me some hope that I was NOT crazy. She and I did discuss the fact that the Prolia med has caused me to be ultra tired and unmotivated to be able do what I normally do. Was the high BP part of it? 

Was it a wake up call to something else? Would it hurt to no longer take the med and do what I've done before? More confusion that answeres.

All heavy questions, but questions I needed to talk to a health professional about. 

I walked out of there exhausted with a last BP reading of 171/90.

I ate when I got home, and took a long nap.

After a simple supper, I sat down with hubby and took my BP. 119/82.

When I woke up? 102/77. After chores? 106/76.

I will be the very last to admit it. But let's just call a spade a spade.

Anxiety Attack.

You know there is little out there that is helpful for a person in a full anxiety crisis. 
See a mental health professional. Breathing exercises. Do a group therapy thing.

Seriously. It does not stop those things in the moment. What is there to stop that crippling moments that lead to more crippling moments?

This is my first time with this serious of an issue. Being me, I will investigate and get myself some answers.

However...

And that is that.

The discharge paper included 'stress' and 'anxiety'. Funny how the doctor never seemed to be able to acknowledge those exact words to me.

Well now...

I sure had plans for this week. A bike trail, a hike at Billings Creek, and of course gardening, yard work, and grocery shopping.

Monday's text from the tree guys said: We should be ready to do your trees later this week.

I replied: Let me know a day ahead of time so I can take down the fence and move the animals.

So we hurried up and mowed the yard, I took down fencing that would be in the way where they would stack the cut up pines. I scurried around and cleaned things up so when I got the text there would be less to do.

And now it is Friday and I am wondering if later this week means Saturday or Sunday or??? Did they get held up on another job?

Everything got turned upside down this week. Wednesday was a complete wash as I didn't feel good.
Then there were the phone calls with the Palliative care nurse and the pharmacist regarding hubby's meds. I had to stay near the house all day and wait for an overnight delivery of meds and a video appointment with his Palliative Care Team.

I should learn never to make real plans this year. It just doesn't seem to work out well.

BUT!

I did get out just after sunrise each morning and take a walk through the pastures way out back.
After all, no one calls, texts, or needs me for anything at that time of the morning. So it is just me, nature, my camera, and sometimes my tiny box of Legos that need to go adventuring.

My method is just this. I walk along and look at interesting things in the pasture and woods. I look for interesting light and plants while checking to see if the hot wire fences are still intact. They usually are. Only during rut season do they generally get knocked off the insulators.

If something catches my eye, I stop.

I couldn't help myself in this spot of morning light coming through the woods. The rock was a perfect spot to do something with my little alien tourist and Skate Board Willy.
The little guy on the skateboard actually belongs to a space lab build, but I just imagined him as having more fun as a skateboard artist. Maybe gravity doesn't matter to him so much?

That must be his uncle taking his photo, right? What a daredevil.

The little sun flares just seemed to add to the fun so I kept them.

I had another character in my box. He is a rare Lego [I like finding the rare ones!]. 

I couldn't resist putting him in a ray of light so the sun shown through him.
He is a Rock Monster and in my thinking, he must be joining the others to steal that dragon egg that looks like a rock!

Truly, only a strange mind could think all of that up in an instant, right?

Creativity for me gives me moments of euphoria. It is a warm fuzzy feeling that is combined with a huge sigh. 

Soon enough after having those moments, I have to get back to managing another person's health care and running our small place.

Things don't always go as planned, but small moments of joy sure help out with that.

Onward.

What a nice hike!

 

Another great hike in the books!

The two images above show how different devices record one's hiking or trekking. My MapMyWalk app said we did 8.6 miles, Candace's Google Pixel watch recorded 9.35 miles.

Who cares? It was a nice long walk/hike. 

The morning started out very foggy. I mean fog like pea soup fog! It had rained off and on all day for Saturday so I expected we'd find some soggy places.

After meeting in the parking lot, we set off. Our shoes instantly got soaked with the wet grass and we jumped or stepped over muddy puddles. I quipped that it looked like we'd get wet feet right away. And we did.

That did not dampen Candace's or her daughter's spirit. They were excited and happy to explore trails on a foggy wet morning. 

I asked her to tell me more about herself. We often meet up at the gym and have short conversations about work outs or other subjects. But a long walk is a great way to learn about someone else. 

I learned a lot about Candace and her daughter on our walk. 

Our feet got wet a few times. We were able to avoid the standing water on low spots and other times we couldn't. So we'd get wet feet and then they'd dry out again, only to get wet again. Shoes and feet wash!

The bugs actually were not as bad as I thought they might be, but bug spray was used especially while walking in the low areas next to the Kickapoo River.

The sun came out just before we were midway through our hike. The woods and nature were amazing and beautiful. 

Below---> Candace and her daughter.

We stopped around 7 miles where we found a flush of oyster mushrooms and several other tiny mushrooms growing along the trail. We peered at beautiful mosses and scenery while we had a short snack break.

When we got back to the parking lot, Candace asked if they could go again. Sure! I asked her if she wanted to do a hard hike. I had planned on my next one being a more technically difficult hike around Hanson's Rock. It involves steep hills and some careful foot placement around rocks and roots.

She and her daughter said they'd love the challenge.

During the hike, I only took my camera out twice. I didn't think of taking photos of the trail or of us. I didn't do selfies. I just enjoyed the company of others who walked with me.

What a perfect morning.

The unconscious photographer

  NO, not like out of it and un-conscious --- asleep... . But something else. 

Long ago I took a photography class and had all sorts of things drilled into my head.

You need to follow the rule of thirds.
You need leading lines.
Follow the Golden Spiral.
Never shoot into the sunlight.
Golden and blue hours are the best.

...and more and more. 

It was a good class though as I was asked to do things I've never done before. I was asked to to Still Life as well as abstract photography. Of course back then, I aspired to be the next Great Landscape Photographer.

But then I didn't.

One of the instructors said I could never leave things to chance. Always watch the weather, get an app for predicting the 'best' weather and research and area to get the best shots.

All true things that the pros do. I was told that my method of serendipity was never going to make me 'great'. 

His reasoning was that I had to really work hard at getting that shot. The teacher was right, but I love photography so much that I don't want to make it become work.

I made up my mind that I wasn't going to be a pro shooter. It seemed as if they were always chasing THAT perfect shot, that perfect scene or place. 

In fact, I enjoy serendipity a lot. If I am hiking about and something catches my eye, I shoot it to enjoy it. 

I'm not a rebel, I am just realistic. I like seeing things through the lens. 

Even in a Lego or toy scene, I am not thinking of anything other than presenting a story or a photo that really doesn't need explanation.

As a caregiver, photography is an outlet of play and mental fun. I'm not consciously thinking of the rules for photography. Just looking for something to experiment with and that will bring me personal joy.

A morning walk...

A hike on a foggy morning when I thought I'd get a brilliant sunrise over a pond and ... well, I got deep heavy fog. Serendipity! A challenge!

Or out checking fences on a hot summer morning.

I spent so much time as a kid around my father whose hobby was photography too. I learned to 'see' things as he took photos. I learned to read a light meter. I became his little human light meter sometimes. He'd bring out the meter and hold it up to take a measure and I'd look around and say:

It's sunny Daddy! How about f11 at 250? I learned these things before I learned Algebra. He'd let me look through his camera and pretend to take shots. Other times he'd have me frame a shot with my fingers. I usually knew what speed film he had in his camera.

I'd play at taking photos with my hands. 

Here is a photo of my father with his Brownie camera. 

I guess what I am saying is that I go out and just look. I rarely plan [unless it is a Lego Story or Toy Story idea --> then I wander about and look for something that might work]. 

My whole idea is to have fun and enjoy things and not to overthink it too much. Photography is so much like doodling ideas from my [echo chamber] or brain if you will.

I can shoot nature and turn around and shoot something that amuses me. 

Just going with the flow and not worrying about rules....

This last shot is of that tree I've been following. It occurred to me that I better take a good look at it when walking past it yesterday.

The old leaves are gone and the catkins that were there all winter are expanding with little buds of this year's leaves emerging!

I don't think sometimes...I can just do. 

Joe

 

Meet Joe. He is a Worm Hole traveler. He and others have found their way from other places to ... well, to somewhere.

The story will stay vague. Maybe that is because I really never follow a story line. I let the character find his/her way.

He isn't a hero. Maybe he is more  of an anti-hero. He is Homeless and Alone. But he doesn't exactly seem to be unhappy in any way. He just is Joe.

He seems to be okay with whatever is happening to him and where he ends up.

He sits in a tree and watches this new place happen while he calmly smokes his pipe.

One of the Minibots told him about the Worm Holes or Rips in the Fabric of time and space....that are in the woods. Apparently the Minibots were experts at finding them and bringing others through to this world and others.

Joe was wondering about the holes. Did the Minibot know where they were? Oh sure he knew, they were all over this land in the least likely of places.

Donder the Luggan and one of the other Minibots were watching one of the most active worm holes in the valley. It seemed to be a rubber tire from ages gone past! Maybe even pre-historic! The type of item that the fabled humans used to use.

Joe thinks that maybe he should do a bit more wandering and look for some of those 'least likely' of places. Who knows what he could find that would be useful?

He lifts a finger and points....

That way...

Joe has no idea how much his life is going to change. 

A Word Choice

Just for fun I decided to try that Word Generator for the Word of the Year.

Immerse was the first word that popped up. Epic was the second. Hmm.

I still like....

Explore

But that was my word last year. And I am still Exploring. However, the Nudge word is fun to think about. Did I explore last year? Yes I did, I found so many new wonderful places to see close to home. I explored and found the old abandoned trails at KVR. I explored more in macro photography and of course in toy--story--imaginative photography.

Immerse
or
Epic

Hmmm. I have Epic things happening in my life. Rory, for example! I have new directions happening and interesting discussions for my future life too. [Not going to share any of that at the moment.]

I Immerse myself in play and creating stories. Not novels, just playful imagination. It is a wonderful way to distract from the mundane life of being the Caregiver.

The last word that came up was Devotion. That works too. I am Devoted to taking care of what happens in my little world and those around me.

But all of those words are kind of meh. They don't move me much or even excite me. I decided to look up a list of motivational/inspirational words and read it to see if anything popped out at me.

This word salad works better:

I'll take it.

Surely it is better than:

But there is that word: Mundane
I can sure do Mundane too!

But I think I will stick with the word salad and just be me, creative and mundane at the same time ~~ a sort of exploration in the opposites of what life offers.

I leave you with a mundane but inspirational and beautiful find in the woods:

Life

Is like an old leaf

It has a story to tell

So many aspects

Be Truthful to your Doctor?

 

Are we truthful to our doctors? How has medicine changed over the years?

What is your doctor like? Do they listen? Do you hear what they say? 

I was having a long discussion with my elderly friend in the southern US. She grew up with old school medicine and seems to have an old school doctor. Or their healthcare is different in the deep south. 

My MIL was old school too. She didn't like to see the doctor and listened to her friends for medical advice quite often. If Silvia had The Gripe and took a particular kind of medicine, then maybe she had The Gripe and should take the same stuff. They traded symptoms and came up with solutions themselves. 

Later in her life, she decided that the More She Doctored, the better off she was. Especially if they gave her more pills to fix everything.

I'm guilty of what happens these days. I look things up on the web because we all know that we can cure ourselves on the web.

Some of the older generation never bother to ask the doctor what is going on or perhaps they are afraid of asking. Doctors know everything right? No, they don't. But sometimes getting a doctor to have a real conversation, is like a Mission Impossible Movie. 

My friend struggles when seeing her doctors. I don't think she interacts with her PCP. Or perhaps she can't remember what they were talking about. [She has told me that her memory is very bad.] When she tells me about her visit, she complains that no one told her a thing about her ailments. If she gets a new medication, she can't recall why and refuses to take it.

I asked her if she told her PCP about her frequent falls and dizziness. Or about the fact that she felt lonely and depressed?

Um, no, not really.

She said if she told them about her depression then they would call her mental and put it on her record. Therein lies a stigma. Depression = Mental? She is in her late 80's and won't share with her PCP because she feels she would be judged.

If she told the doctor that she has frequent falls they may think she needs help. She said she had dizziness and the doctor ordered blood work. She was angry because dizziness is only dizziness and she knows that her ears need cleaning because her Grandpa had flaky ears. It won't be in her blood work, she needs a specialist.

The last thing I discussed with my elderly friend was that it was okay to tell your doctor the truth, because they were not mind readers and couldn't figure out what might be ailing her if they didn't know she was feeling poorly.

"Do you mean you are truthful with your doctor?"

I was a bit shocked. "Yes ma'am. I do."

I studied for two years to negotiate the ins and outs of doctor visits so that I could code the visits with diagnosis codes for billing. Even I know that humans are incredibly interesting creatures that are still a bit of a mystery for doctors.

And yet here we are trying to find answers.

And yet there is the doctor visit. 

Sometimes it seems as if you are going 'round and 'round on a merry go 'round with no way off.

Humans are not straightforward in their thinking or their ailments.

Hey, I heard walking was good for you.... and....

Another rambling mule post

Darn, I feel so tall when my shadow is like this!

Those LONG ears. Siera has super duper long ears. She is pointing out a young buck to me...

She is actually listening to me here when I tell her to 'walk on' and stop being stupid.

We walked by a trail that she knows goes towards home and thought she should turn there....

After our evening trail rides, I am ready to tackle the longer route and sent a message to my neighbor, Justin, to see if he'd like to go with.

It has been almost a year since I went on this long trail, so on Saturday afternoon, I will walk it to make sure it is passable.

Then I'll take each of the girls on a solo ride through it. They know this route too as they have done it since they were trained under saddle.

Disclaimer. I did training. They will 'neck' rein on trails as they see the path ahead of them. If they disagree with your choice of trail they will resist. 

Mules often resist because:

They sense the trail in front of them is not in their best interest.

Or it is dangerous in some way.

Or...they just don't see the point.

Following a mule's instinct is sometimes the best option. Unless they are bluffing.

Mules test your humor and your patience. If they do not feel the need to repeat a lesson over and over, they will just stand and refuse to do anything.

Last year I invited a person to ride with me and all the way along she complained that Sunshine was not what she expected. She wasn't polished like the horses all of her friends had. 

Her friends had show quarter horses, and she rode in their arenas. I imagine that compared to them, Sunshine was a bit of a brut. 

The only training I have done is giving them ground manners and riding manners. We need to get from point A to B safely and the rest is just noise. They go right and left when asked, unless they don't feel like it. They back up and step forward on verbal commands. They are polite with their ground manners and allow me to pick their feet while they are loose in the pasture. 
They come when called.

And their Whoa is impeccable.

These girls are not perfect, but they are reliable. Siera and Sunshine have taught kids to learn to ride. Fred, who died last winter at 38 yrs old also taught kids and grand kids to ride. He even took care of  adult riders who had no idea of what they were doing.

Once Fred thought you should know your stuff, he'd challenge you. The perfect pony mule!

I guess we have been so very lucky with our mules. Below is a photo from the last time hubby rode. The kids convinced him that he could just go with them once. He never rode again, but this was a memorable moment. [He could still move around outside without oxygen.]

He is on Mica, the grey mule, grandson Dennis is on Fred, Ariel is on Siera, and I am on Sunshine. This was 5 years ago this month. 

I do miss having the grands here to ride, however, I only have Siera and Sunshine as riding mules now. The grands have jobs and come to visit maybe once a year.

Getting dunked in the Kickapoo River

 So our friends from Missouri had traveled to northern WI to watch the predicted Northern Lights. They went to Eagle River Wisconsin and rented a Yurt at a campground with plans on kayaking, swimming, and enjoying the beautiful campground they'd booked into.

The Yurt was dirty, the bugs nasty, the lake had Swimmer's Itch, and the showers smelled like rotten eggs. The lake was filled with speed boats and water jetskis running all over...😕

They spent one night there and left in the morning as the clouds moved in and the prediction of the Aurora Borealis fell apart. 

When they arrived I was unprepared, but they were prepared with meals and great company. I invited them to stay with us and had to do some creative straightening up so they all had places to sleep. Their oldest son who is 11, really wanted to kayak. Did I know of somewhere they could go?

YES! I've wanted to try kayaking myself, but didn't want to try it solo for my first time. We went to Titanic Canoe/Kayak rental in Ontario Saturday early afternoon. Every rental place was crowded with people. I've never been there on the weekends and it has been 6 years since I canoed with the grand kids.

We got set up with older kayaks and a canoe and set off. Jesse and his little boy had trouble with the canoe right off and tipped it while bumping into the shoreline. Eventually we worked things out and they used a shoelace from Jesse's shoes to tie an empty kayak to the back of their son's kayak.

Mom and Dad put the youngest boy in between them on the canoe and things went fairly well.

On the weekends, the river is super crowded from bridge 1 through 4 with tubers and floating coolers. Party people. There was a lot of dodging and passing. It wasn't as enjoyable as going in the middle of the week was when I took the kids.

Once we passed bridge 4, it got quiet and peaceful. We still had 3 miles to go to get to out pull out point. We all relaxed and enjoyed the views.

These are shots of me that Kristi took.

Here is our friends' family.

After we stopped on a 'beach' to chill out and have snacks, the youngest boy was towed by the 11 year old.

I have to admit that the first time I tried getting out of the kayak, I lost my footing and ended up sitting down on the river bottom. It wasn't a bad dunking and I laughed! After all, this is a new skill and I needed to figure it out.

I climbed the bluff to take a shot of our 'rest' area. I wanted to see if my waterproof pocket camera would still work.

We paddled and drifted on to the the site where we were to pull out.

The shores near the bridges and pull out/launch areas are filled with riprap rocks so the footing get tricky as well as the current. I pulled myself to the shoreline and carefully walked feeling each step of the way and got out without incident.

A complete stranger assisted me in pulling the kayak up the ramp. I returned and helped others and saw both of my friends take a splash in the Kickapoo River. Jesse tripped up and went totally under. Kristi had done the same but only went up to her chest.

Somehow their cell phones survived and we all got out safely but we laughed and laughed. We were also nice and cool in the hot and humid air.

In conclusion. The river was a bit crowded at first. However it is one of the most popular places to rent a canoe, kayak, or tube and go down the river. It is scenic. The river is usually very gentle and easy. Buses pick people up and shuttle them back to their cars. 

Yes there were folks being loud and having fun, yes parts were crowded, but it was fun and everyone was friendly. When my friends tipped their canoe, strangers helped them. When their canoe got grounded on rocks a guy walked out and pulled them back into the flow.

Will I go again? OH yeah. In fact I'm trying to figure out how to kayak the less popular stretches. I'm even running images of getting a crappy kayak if I can figure out how to transport it and a bike at the same time.

A new world of exploration has opened up. Charlie needs a doggy life vest....then he could go with!

And I'm sure I'll have more Dunkings in The Kickapoo.

Have you done the Kickapoo? If you haven't, you are missing out!

The Big Meet up of Pets

There was quite the build up to Charlie and Twila meeting for the first time. We were not exactly sure what to expect.

When I pulled up to Eddie and Megan's house, Eddie and Twila were at the gate waiting for us.
Charlie sniffed through the gate and so did Twila. 

We opened the gate and let Charlie in. Charlie glanced at Twila and then ignored her.

The Big Meet was as exciting as watching paint dry.

Twila pictured below, was more interested in my toy tossing abilities. Charlie was more interested in exploring the yard. [He is the little black blob in the back].

We went to the Triple 4 so Eddie could show me around his land he'd purchased years ago. He and Megan plan to build their home on this land not too far from where they live now.

Here you can see Charlie's size compared to Miss Twila. 

The dogs became best buddies very quickly.

Charlie got to meet Aldo. He is one of Megan's cats. Around home, all the cats we see are feral cats.
Aldo doesn't seem to understand he is a cat at all. 

Charlie had no idea what to do. He just stood next to the cat that was taller than him and let Aldo sniff him. Twila was something he could deal with. Aldo? He had no idea.

Aldo:

Elenore hid from us most of the time, but I got to meet her finally on Sunday morning.

Perhaps Aldo told her about his early morning cuddle with Charlie and I. Ever have a cat come and sit on your chest to wake you up???

Maybe he told her that we weren't dangerous. I'm convinced that Aldo has no idea he is supposed to be a cat.

For a birthday present I got a Lego Minifigure! I was so happy! Now Acorn Guy...

can meet with ...

Acorn Girl!

My weekend was wonderful. I can be happy just watching the dogs play in the yard and reading a book on my son's deck. Or taking a walk along the lakefront ...

We took a guided night hike at Hawthorn Hollow, walked the beach, watched the Kit Festival, and took the dogs for a Sunday walk at a new favorite park called Poerio Park which I never knew existed. Kenosha has so many great places to go.

The puppers were worn out by the time I decided to head back home. 

Whew! It was in the 70's when we left. When I got home, it was 92 and stinkin' hot.

Charlie and I put one more K-town visit behind us. 

We will look forward to more adventures and chillin' on the patio watching Aldo in the Catio. [A cool outdoor cat patio!]

One more shot of Twila.

What a beauty!