Nest Building Is Serious Business

The squirrel's bedding was getting a little smelly, so I told Meg to get rid of his old stuff and replace it with some fresh batting. At first Scrat was NOT impressed. He made a huge production about trying to curl up in a ball on one of his shelves. Have you ever heard a squirrel sigh?

Oh yea, it was a BIG ta-do. Twisting, turning, sighing, curling this way and that and finally resorting to peeking out from under his tail with a very pathetic look on his face.

Apparently, throwing away ALL of his bedding was a little too much for him. I guess the problem was that nothing smelled like him.

Finally, I took pity on him and dug out the wreckage of his old bed and tucked that in and under the new batting. Oh my, that did the trick. Scrat got right to work rebuilding his nest. The batting had to be pulled apart, carefully kneaded into shape and then each ball tucked into place.



He must have worked long into the night, cause this morning, there was a very sleepy little squirrel tucked deeply into his fresh bed...

She Puts Me To Shame

Artists are a dime a dozen in my family. Artists, Photographers and Writers abound. I myself spent most of my youth devoted to drawing and painting.

My gosh, it's been eons ago that I posted pics of some of the work I've done...Art (linked to old post). I'll admit, I worked very hard to get my technical skill down.

But, I tell ya'll what...I do believe my kiddo has me beat, hands down, in the naturally talented department...

Meg isn't quite finished with this charcoal. She still has some shading to finish on the edges. But, WOW! I cannot wait until we get this back and I can get it matted and framed. You can bet if I am short of wall space, one of my paintings will go in the closet and Meg's will take it's place.

Bloggers Are Real People

Since Mrs Mom showed you the beautiful lodge we all stayed at, I thought I'd just jump right to the trail ride. ;-)

It was a bit nippy as we headed out, but once we got over the hill to the trails, it was really beautiful. In more ways than one...


(L-R) Mrs Mom on Washoe, Me on Estes, Megan on Jesse and GunDiva on Ranger...
Compass was behind the camera for us. Poor Estes found herself between Jesse and Washoe and was about ready to freak. Apparently a place she would rather not be. But she was a total sweetheart the entire ride for me. You can tell this mare has covered some country in her life.

Mrs. Mom and myself...

Sorry...Random Aspen shot...
I love Aspen stands. They remind me of home.

Coming down the trail...
Estes is a leader, so here I am, a total stranger to this neck of the woods and I was in the lead the entire time-LOL...

Compass and Mrs Mom...
If Compass had not come along on this ride, I think there may have been an all out brawl as to who was going to get her handsome grey gelding, Eli. Not that there was a single thing wrong with the horses we did end up riding, but who can see a booty like this and not want to be the one riding it?...
And I suppose that answers anyone's questions at to why we all looked like pumpkins while riding in the wilderness...
We heard the shot earlier in the ride and when we were headed back out Mrs Mom and GunDiva spotted the blood trail and drag marks. Compass generously offered to let Eli pack out these guys' buck. Now that's a horse after my own heart. I tell ya!

The 'infamous' Casa Bonita...
After supper, Meg and I rudely ran off like two errant children to play in the arcade...
Mostly cause after gobbling down an entire plate of so-so Mexican food, I was tired. We had all had a long day and lots of fresh air. I needed to get amped back up again for the drive back to the lodge. I finally took pity on poor Mrs Mom and DH...both were feeling the effects of trimming feet earlier in the day, so we headed out.

I shouldn't have worried about getting tired though. Meg and I are idiots when we travel...Jamming to music, practicing multiple head bobs and the like. However, DH kept us all in stitches most of the way home. The man has quite a talent for voice imitations. And just so everyone knows...We found our ho-hos!!!!

The 'sole' sisters in their entirety...and not even bundled up looking like it's 40 below or something...
(l-r) Meg, GunDiva, Mrs Mom, me(LT) and Juanita (GunDiva's mom and hostess extraordinaire)

We hit a bit (that's kind of an understatement) of the white stuff on the way home...
But the roads were good coming and going...which is saying something this time of year. The passes (Vail and The Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnels) can be very unpredictable.

Thanks again to GunDiva and Bill and Juanita for letting us ride your horses. Horse people know that privilege is not given lightly. So anytime ya'll want to come over to the 'desert' side of the state, your more than welcome and I've got plenty of ponies to share too.

Oh, and BTW...THANK YOU to Mrs Mom and Bill for mentioning my teenage daughter's extraordinary eyerolling ability. I tell her and tell her and she denies she does it. Soooooo....glad I'm not the only one seeing her doing it. Bwahahahaha

It Was The Best Time Ever

We had an absolutely fabulous time at Allenspark Lodge this weekend. GunDiva and her family are absolutely lovely people and so kind and gracious. Thank you all so much for letting Meg and I intrude on your weekend with Mrs (and Mr) Mom.

Since it didn't really dawn on me until after we left to ask MM if it was okay to post our trail riding photos...Ya'll know MM is a little camera shy...Here's a few photos of the beautiful fall scenery Meg and I got to drive through. The weather, took a rather sudden change the day before we left. The fall rains started. The temps have stayed reasonable though. Sure makes for some beautiful clouds...

Leaving DeBeque Canyon...

Rifle corridor...

Entering the Glenwood Springs area...

Entering Glenwood Canyon...

Scenery photos courtesy of my silly kiddo. She'll do whatever it takes to 'get the shot'...



More to come after I get clearance from MM. If not, I think I can find a few more pics to show you all out of the 350 that were taken. Don'cha just love digital cameras?

And We're Off

The big weekend has arrived...

Meg and I are headed to the other side of the state for a very special weekend.

We get to spend the weekend with GunDiva and her family at Allenspark Lodge...aaaannndddddd.....

We get to meet Mrs (and Mr.) Mom.

After spending so much time over the last many, many months talking to MM on the phone, it feels more like I am going to meet up with an old friend, not officially meet a new one.



Speaking of trips...It's getting to be that time of year again...

Time will fly and before we know it, we'll all be sitting in front of the t.v. watching the NFR.

This year however, we (myself, My Honey and another couple) will be attending the finals weekend.

Is anyone else planning on attending this year? Any chances of some more blogger meet-ups?

From House To Home

Did ya think I was every going to get these photos posted?

I kept forgetting my camera at the new house.

Here ya go...

The finished big living room...

I think the finished walls look awesome with the stone fireplace...

The 'faux' finish came out looking more marbly than leathery and I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but by the time it had dried, I loved it. The chocolate tones down the red just right. I tried and tried to get close-up pics of the marbling effect, but kept getting a glare. Maybe after I get shades up on the windows.

The finished (except for the baseboard) master bedroom...

The sheetrock repairs are done, so I can finish painting in the kitchen/dining/sitting room. The ceiling repair ended up being a little bit bigger than I anticipated...

Obviously that swamp cooler line had been leaking up in the attic for quite some time. A lot of the sheetrock was sagged away from the beams. Once it pulls away like that, there isn't much you can do but cut it out and replace it...

Obviously, still needing to have the joints finished and the texture applied, but thanks to the existing texture...making it 'blend' is not going to be a problem. I also get the joy of crawling up into the attic and replacing all of the insulation in that section-LOL.

My only BIG project remaining is refinishing the hardwood floor. I was hoping to have that done this week so that it could sit over the weekend...but I don't really see that happening. It will just have to wait until next weekend.

There is still a bit more painting to do in the kitchen/dining/sitting room, but I should have that whipped out in the next day or so. I am going to antique those walls as well, but am not really going to worry about that at the moment.

There is still a thousand and one 'little' projects to complete, but once the hardwood floor is done, there is no reason we cannot start moving in. There is nothing else that needs to be done that will interfere with our daily lives. A few light fixture replacements, new screen doors, a new window...you know...little things-LOL.

Back In Cyberspace

Helloooo????

Is anyone still out there?

I'm back online. My Honey finally took pity on my and bought me a fancy-shmancy new Apple laptop. He has been wanting to try a Mac for some time now. I guess he just got his wish. Happy early birthday to me...LOL.


I promise, I have pics of the work stiiilllllll going on over at the new house. I am not done. Getting there...But not there yet.

The master bedroom and big living room turned out beautifully....I cannot wait to show you all the pics. They don't do justice, but you'll get the idea. Sorry, I forgot the camera over at the other house or you would have pics right now.

I guess without pics, that is about all I have to say. Time to tootle around the blogsphere and see what ya'll have been up too.

Checking In

Sorry for the sudden disappearance. My laptop took a nosedive (thanks to 2 maniacal cats). I keep meaning to go to town and pick up another one, but that means actually having to drive to town, shop around, pick on out and wait to have it set up.

Uggghhhhh! Shopping for electronic 'stuff' is not one of my strong suits.

Maybe I'll get it done today, since I am already in town. Working in the office again. A little here, a little there.

This month is racing by and I only have a couple more weeks to get the new house finished. Wouldn't be a problem, but in spite of several phone calls in to local handymen seeing if they are interesting doing some work, I have yet to have one call me back. I would like to blame my phone, but I finally had to replace my 4 year old Razor with a shiny, new Envie. It doesn't have to stay plugged in the whole time I am talking to someone...LOL...You know what I mean MM. Heeheehee. It always irritates me to hear people say how desperate they are for work and yet cannot be bothered to return a phone call.

Speaking of that, I have put a phone call off myself and need to get that particular reservation made. No way am I missing out on that very special upcoming trip.

The ponies are doing good and getting fuzzy. They certainly have not minded the fact that I do not have time to ride. I'm not sure Spooks really appreciates his new role as Beretta's babysitter, but I do know that she is waaaayyyyy happy to have company during her turnout time. I have to say, Beretta is my little shining light. As much as I love my Shooter, he is not what I would consider a real barrel horse prospect. Beretta IS. Barring accident or injury...her future is as clear as a can be.



Okay-You guys take care and I'll get back to bloggerland as soon as I can. Miss Ya All!!!