Earth Angels

<- This is our friend Diane -

and this is our friend Vikki ->

They are Earth Angels. They came over today and kept an eye on John so I could go to work - - - They also cleaned our kitchen and guest bathroom. It made me dizzy when I got home, it was so white!

Thank you Diane and Vikki - more than you'll ever know!

The shepherd is still down for the count, but he stood up twice today - the first time for 5 minutes or so - Every day he gets a little bit better.

The damndest thing is that this morning I called the neurosurgeon that Dr. W. suggested - told the nurse that we needed to have Dr. B. evaluate John's MRI and get in to see him. They called this afternoon at 3:15 and told John (who was just woken up by the phone call and in his usual drug induced haze) "We can see you at 4:00 to talk about your options" Of course, he couldn't get hold of me at work, because I'd left for the day and of course, for the first time in ages, I didn't have my cell phone with me. When I got home and calmed John down and called them back, they indicated that the short notice was because they had a cancellation - I explained to the nurse (again) that John wasn't able to walk - and so we had no way to get him in there - Don't these people listen? Like last Friday when I told the lady at the imaging clinic - What part of "not able to walk" don't you understand?

So, he has the next available appointment - March 13 - and he is on the cancellation list. Hopefully we'll get a little more notice the next time - hopefully by the next time, he'll be ambulatory and able to sit in the car.

Well, I really want to go watch the end of Law & Order, but I'm pooped and I think I'll go to bed. Our minister is going to stop by tomorrow as well as another couple - hope it lifts his spirits. Later - T.

Houston, we have lift off!

Or, otherwise speaking, he stood on his own two legs, with out yelps of pain or anything - for almost two minutes! Yeah! Giant blessings for small steps - each day he's getting a little better!

Truthfully, it is easy for me to see how caregivers can so easily mistreat the ones they are taking care of - that person is so dependant upon you, it is frightening! And exhausting - I got up a little late this a.m. - (7:45!) - the sheep are used to getting fed at "0-dark-30" but they must have decided to sleep in this a.m. too, because when I got out to the barn they were all snoozing away - and gave me this look, like "what are you doing out here so early!" I came back in, got John some cereal & did a few things around the house - at 9:00 I decided that I needed to lay down - just for a little bit - Gave DH the paper to read, but he was snoring before I could get to sleep - and we didn't wake up until 10:45! And even then, I felt like I could sleep for another day!

Our friend Nancy came over this afternoon. It cheered him to have someone new to tell his story to, and she is going to come over on Friday at noon to help us with shearing. John is bound and determined that he will be out there to watch - maybe that is the one thing we need for him to get better - do you think?

Back to work tomorrow - let's hope that shearing day anticipation does its magic!

Later - T.

We are done with Day 5.....

and he's getting a little bit better every day - he doesn't think so, but tonight he scootched himself up in the bed and he didn't scream - to me that was a huge deal! I count every little thing as a success.

Of course, being on drugs, his mind is working way overtime - so far he has sold the truck, gotten rid of the boys, and several other things that I can't remember right now. It is hard not to laugh sometimes, like when he looked at me after sleeping about an hour yesterday morning and said, with all honesty - "I think that is the longest I've slept in days" - Ok honey, yup, you're right, is all I can say...

He's been eating well and drinking lots of water, pees alot, but still hasn't done, well you know - since Tuesday. Our friend Nancy, who is a retired nurse told me to buy a "fracture pan" - it is a bed pan that is shaped kind of like a dustpan - just slips under you butt and there you go, so to speak - I've been giving him those "red gel pills" but so far nothing has happened. I gave him the heavy artillery - Prune juice - this evening - boy he didn't like that one bit - but he did drink most of it. I don't want to comprehend the alternative if that doesn't work - and don't you DARE breathe a word to him that I put this on my blog - he would kill me - (and at this point, they'd have to bring him to the funeral on a gurney) - Sorry - I'm starting to get a very wierd sense of humor about the whole thing.

But I'm very lucky - John's boss came today with eight bales of hay - they are safely tucked in the barn - while he was doing that, I watered the greenhouse and after he left, I took a rake to the front pathway where the gurneys from the ambulances had left ruts. The weather has been pretty good - 50's during the day and only in the low 40's at night - it could be like my friend Kathy in Flagstaff - http://www.sheepthrillsfarm.com/ They had gotten a load of moldy hay and had to clean out their entire barn! And it's only in the 20's there at night, so everything is frozen brick solid! That's when I'd be saying - hey, I didn't sign on for this tour of duty!

Our friends Diane and Vicki from church are going to come on Tuesday and give him his lunch & mid day meds so I can go to work and not worry. Bless their hearts, they are going to do some house cleaning for me too. I am embarassed to tell you, I am a horrific housekeeper - things just seem to get away from me - hopefully they will still speak to me afterwards! They are going to do some weeding out in the yard too - that will really help ease John's mind. But he needs to hurry up and get well - the crocus are blooming!

I hate to do it but I have to go wake him up to give him his night time meds. I don't want him to get behind on the pain pills - then neither one of us will get any sleep. Gotta go - later. T.

Update on John

Well, we got him to the hospital for his MRI this a.m. - Instead of just going, having the MRI & having them read it some time this weekend & get the report to our GP on Monday, I told them that depending upon what it showed, we might want to admit him to the hospital. So, we had to wait a bit, but we got the results today. The good news is that there was nothing really "bad" - he now knows that he won't "die or sever a nerve" by getting up and getting around - the bad news was it showed a herniated disc in L1 & L2, & when I talked with his GP, he didn't feel that the problem was severe enough to admit him to the hospital - $1000 a day to have someone bring him a bed pan and give him his meds. Well I can do that, & I am free. His regular chiropractor, (who was nice enough to call today on his lunch hour while he is in Seattle for a conference) got the info too and he is going to probably give us a call tonight or tomorrow. John just loves this guy and I'm thinking that if Dr. K. says, "OK, buddy, it's time to start getting up and around a little bit every day" - he'll start doing that.

John was actually much better this a.m. than he has been since we took him to the ER on Wednesday, so, I'm feeling encouraged. The sun is out today and John's boss and good friend Kurt went and picked up 8 bales of hay for us this morning and he's going to bring them by the house tomorrow, so the bah, ram, ewes won't starve to death (god forbid they should be shorted on their hay - if they ate as much as they scattered around the barn, we'd be a bale or two ahead! LOL) They pretty much stopped looking at me cross-eyed when I go in the barn - but I can still get them to scatter - all I have to say is "booga booga" and they nicely get out of my way. I have been loading my pockets with animal crackers, but the only ones who really like them are the boys.

Keeping him in your thoughts and prayers will be much appreciated. T.

The Accidental Shepherd

This is my DH - he is really hurting right now - a combination of deteriorating discs in his back and (IMHO), bad chiropractic - I have nothing against chiro, believe me, it has kept him walking and working for years, but that was with a good careful & caring chiropractor, who was, unfortunately on vacation last week, so because he has been in pain for the last month - he finally went to the referral chiropractor - and it turned out to be not a good thing. He's "deteriorated" rapidly from the Monday appointment he had with this guy to the point that we actually called 911 on Wed. at 2:30 a.m. & had them transport him to the hospital, because he could not walk, he couldn't stand, or sit without EXTREME agony. Hospital ER doc looked at him - pumped him full of drugs & sent us on our way. Amazingly, he did walk out of the hospital, but that's the last time he's been up on two legs. Why we didn't have them do an MRI while we were there, I'll never know - I guess, because we had one scheduled for Saturday - and who knew that once we got him home, he would deteriorate so quickly. He's on Heavy duty pain pills - dilaudid - good stuff - I took it when they replaced my knee and after my surgery last spring - it is barely managing his pain. - Valium - 2 every 8 hours - (I'm giving him an extra one tomorrow before his MRI just in case he has a little case of the claustorphobes...) Prednisone twice a day -

So, he's got this MRI appointment tomorrow - How'm I gonna get him there if the cannot stand or walk or sit? There is a private ambulance company here in town but golly - they'd charge almost $1000 to transport him on a stretcher and our insurance wouldn't cover it! They said they were sorry and could see my problem, but they only paid for ambulance charges if the patient was being transported to the hospitan and so they couldn't help me! Shit! I called some friends and we were hoping that they might be able to help us - they have a Volvo station wagon - but there is still the problem of getting him from the bed to the car! - Then to top it all off, our doctor's office called at 4:45 this afternoon and the imaging clinic called them & CANCELED OUR MRI APPOINTMENT because I had told them that he was being brought in by gurney! They said that he needed to be able to walk from the door to the imaging table - now what kind of crap is that? AND why did that woman wait till the very end of the day to call our doctor's office?

I must say, tho that the nurse from our dr's office surprisingly stepped up to bat for us. She got us an appointment for tomorrow a.m. at he Hospital MRI - and then she got Dr. W. to OK that he will have them admit him after the MRI. (Unless a miracle happens overnight - anybody got one in your pocket?) I guess we're still going to have to go with the private ambulance place - but maybe because they are transporting him to the hospital, insurance might cover it. He just says it hurts too much to stand - and I already just about have him drugged into oblivion -

What about the accidental shepherd? Well, that would be me. The girls scatter like leaves in the wind when they see me coming and the little boys, well, they adore me as long as I have cookies in my pockets - can you tell I've spoiled them? I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do it because of my knee, but it seems to be handling it ok, for the most part - But this getting up early part is for the birds! Oh, that reminds me I forgot to shut the chickens in tonight - they were still out bookin around when I fed the sheep - well hopefully the boogie possum won't get them over night.

The first picture of John was taken in 2004 in Hawaii. The 2nd one was last summer when the boys were out for a "little jaunt" by themselves, and the third is with our friend Kathy H. down on the Oregon Coast.

Thanks for reading my tale of woe - think positive thoughts, pray for a miracle, or however you communicate with higher powers. We need all the help we can get.

Thanks, T.

Starting to celebrate a little early -

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY !!!

Ok, so, I'm a little early - this just gives you an extra day or two to know how much I care! XOX to all our blogger friends! Tina & her DH, with Neelix & Sinda & the whole farm crew!

P.S. - got this great picture off of Webshots.com - they have great pictures that I send as E-cards all the time.

A Sad Day

We found out today that our neighbor Adelaid lost her battle with cancer yesterday. I meant to call her all last week. I wish I hadn't been so "busy".

I also found out today that our friend Kathy at Sheep Thrills Farm http://www.sheepthrillsfarm.com/ lost her kitty ZuZu yesterday too. Kath has written a very sweet story about Zuzu on her blog.

This sunflower is for Kathy, and altho I know that Adelaid's family will never read my blog, it is for them too.

Eagles, or here birdie, birdie, birdie...

You may have heard on the national news a week or so ago, that "they" (the bird counters, I guess) counted over 500 eagles in a ten mile stretch of road along the Skagit (the "g" is soft, like in Roger) River - this is an area about 50 miles to the south of us, and we've been talking about taking a drive up there for some time - so last weekend, we decided we'd head out early and see if we could catch a glimpse of some of these birds.






Oh - there it is - right in the center of this photo

Well, here, let me blow it up a little more... yup, that was it - well, really we saw about 5 eagles - big disappointment, but we were relatively close to home - there were some folks who had driven a hundred miles or so to see this "rare" event - and they had cameras with lenses on them the size of my forearm!






I really wish I had taken a picture of some of the "tourists" - they were going to get a picture of an eagle it it killed 'em (and carrying one of those big lens attachments around practically would) All in all, though, it was a very pretty day -











So, here's the deal - I think all those eagles were sitting up in these hills - watching - and about every 1/2 hour, the head eagle calls out to one of the other eagles: "Marge, (I'm sure there must be eagles named Marge) it's your turn to go get you picture taken by the human beans - so get out there and fly one for the gipper" or something like that... What do you think?

Sheep Saturday

Since Leigh (http://leighsfiberjournal.blogspot.com/) was nice enough to link to my blog when talking about her beautiful Rare Breeds Sweater that she is knitting, I thought maybe I'd better have some sheep on here in case anyone popped in over the next day or so. As you might have read in the header, my blog was started almost a year ago to keep my friends and family updated after I received a diagnosis of uterine cancer. After my surgery was over & I was proclaimed "fit" or, anyhow, cancer free, many people asked me if I was going to keep up my blog, as they enjoyed seeing pictures of our farm & critters, and much to my surprise, they also were enjoying my writing. Never one to disappoint an audience (remember, I performed - sang & played my 12 string guitar for 21 years in the "old days" and RARELY missed a Sunday night). So I took the torch and ran with it - telling you stories about our church and family , our critters, my cooking, as well as sharing pictures of our beautiful yard that my DH works so hard to keep up with. The amazing thing is, this is my 98th post - only 2 more and I'll be at #100 - maybe that's when I'll reply to Leigh's wierd meme - (I've been working on it, I really have -
It's just hard to come up with six wierd things about myself LOL!!)

So, back to business - Sheep Saturday -

Remember Gwendolyn?

She came to live with us the first weekend in July - John has been hoping that she would stay spotted, but it looks like she's turning white. Boy is that going to be a cool lamb fleece though? I'm going to have to make sure I stay home the day we shear this year, so I can keep track of it. Her wool is long and crimpy. (here's the blog entry from her first day here: http://ablipontheradar.blogspot.com/2006/07/all-kinds-of-company.html

The girls are milling around in the barn, waiting for us to finish clipping off the tip of Gwen's horn - it's just turning in too tight to her head, but we'll just keep the end clipped and it should be okay.

That's Pearl on the left - she is such a sweetie - John calls her Minnie (ie, Minnie Pearl - get it? Ok, you need to watch some old Grand Ole' Opry shows - she was the greatest!) We are worried that when Pearl is sheared there will be nothing left - she is very petite - Next to her is Anna D -

probably one of John's all time favorite sheep - she has an udder problem, so sadly, he will not be able to breed her again.

I don't know, Pearl's fleece is going to really be nice too - Maybe I'll get to keep both of them?

This is Regina - she is the daughter of Primolana Hanre and Mistic Knoll Rob. She had twin ram lambs last year - maybe this year she'll have girls (hope, hope, hope). Her wool is so long, you can hardly see her legs!

And last, but not least in the ewe department is Susie - She is Anna D's sister, but a year younger. They are all kind of skittish around me, because if I'm in the barn, it generally means worming or something icky like that. But I'm going to "sheep-sit" when John goes to Boise next month for the UU district annual meeting, so they's get used to me again. (especially if there are cookies in my pockets...)

And finally what's not to love here - no it's not some rare "siamese sheep" joined at the horns, it's just the boys having a little discussion on who gets the good bye snuggles from me in the morning.

Well, I'm off the watch "Law & Order, Criminal Intent" - I was really wanting to watch "Crossing Jordan" tonight, but I forgot - and if I had remembered, you wouldn't have gotten to see our flock. Later...

Snack spreads for church

As newsletter editor for our church, I set up pairs of families/members to do the coffee hour every Sunday and our little church has the best snacks coming or going - (I think secretly we try to out-do each other) We were partnered with Keith & Theresa this past weekend. I had been wanting to try some cream cheese spreads, so she said she would bring the bagles & fruit. Here is what I came up with (they all have a base of light cream cheese) :

Brown Sugar, cinnamon, raisin w/toasted almonds

It was goon on the bagels - it would have been really good on some cinnamon bagel chips.

This one is Orange-cranberry with toasted Pecans - that's a glob of orange marmelade - it was supposed to be in the center.

This is "Seafood Caesar" spread - made with Surimi, celery, green onions, and caesar salad dressing. It was good on the bagels but REALLY good on the Triscuits that Theresa brought. I've been eating the leftovers on Ritz Vegi flavored crackers. Yum.

This one was the best - Tuscan Spread - it had Garlic, Black Olives, artichoke hearts, green onions and sun dried tomatoes. Let me tell you - I'll be keeping this recipe to make again. REALLY good on the Triscuits - I put the last of the leftovers with a little bit of pasta for dinner tonight. It was better on the Triscuits...

So, with mini-bagels, Triscuits, cut up bananas, apples & oranges, we ate like kings, but then we generally do.

A good way to start the week...

I belong to an email list called the Good Clean Funny List (can be found on the web at: http://www.gcfl.net/latest.php )

Sometimes they are silly, sometimes they are really funny, sometimes they are too close to home. they are always "clean".

Here's today's funny (it falls in the "too close to home" department) :

Three older ladies were discussing the travails of getting
older. One said, "Sometimes I catch myself with a jar of
mayonnaise in my hand in front of the refrigerator and can't
remember whether I need to put it away or start making a
sandwich."

The second lady chimed in, "Yes, sometimes I find myself on
the landing of the stairs and can't remember whether I was
on my way up or on my way down."

The third one responded, "Well, I'm glad I don't have that
problem; knock on wood," as she rapped her knuckles on the
table. Then she told them, "That must be the door; I'll get
it!"

Ha, ha, ha! Have a good day!

In Memory -

IN MEMORY OF SCUFFIE ANN

We would like to offer our condolences to our friends Robin & Del whose friend Scuffie Ann traveled over the Rainbow Bridge this week. We hope the happy memories of their days together help to ease the pain of her loss.

Wishful Thinking.........

This is Maui, from Oct. 04 - - just wishful thinking.....

Everything was very green & vibrant - and HOT

Did I mention it was HOT - it was so hot that even the locals were complaining! There was no A/C in our condo because it was supposed to be cooled by the trade winds.

The trade winds had stopped. We went to the Maui Ocean Center Aquarium - it was cool there. It was also air conditioned!

So this is just a little break for those of us who have been freezing our toes off this winter to remind us that when it's 95 degrees with no tradewinds -

that somewhere , there are misguided daffodils wishing it was warmer too.

Snow, snow, go AWAY!!!

Come again, some other day, and NO, I don't mean tomorrow -

What do you mean it's going to snow again tomorrow?!

Stop! Stop!

I can't take it any more!

Not again?

This look familiar? Mother Nature has taken her opportunity to dump on us again - OK, so once a winter, I can take, but enough is enough. The dufus brothers took the opportunity to play a little kick ball with their water bucket, so this afternoon, they were out munching on snow. Actually, the girls had water and they were out munching on snow too - must feel like eating a snow cone, don't you think...

















The roads have been pretty scarey - but I made it to work every day - here's our driveway after a lot of shoveling on the part of my DH - It's pretty much a straight shot now that the county has been through a couple of times -

Yesterday John took me in, with my 8 dozen cookies in hand - they disappeared in no time at all - To celebrate my birthday my friend & co-worker Tamara took me to lunch at our favorite Chinese buffet - and John came and picked me up at the end of the work day & we went to the Black Angus for dinner and then off to get groceries for the next week. All in all, it was an OK birthday!

When I got home from work on Wednesday, John said "We got a package from Skittles!" What could it be - we couldn't imagine - Our friends Kathy & Ralph from Sheep Thrills Farm sent us a this cute little ceramic ewe - I have decided to name her Penelope - & she wants to know what all this cold white stuff is? She looks like she'd like to go back to Arizona - but from what I hear, it's not much better down there Penelope - welcome to Marietta Shetlands!

When it's your birthday, You bring the snacks...

We have 40 people at work, which makes for a lot of birthdays (40 of them, to be exact). Sometime before I started, (13 years ago - when we only had 16 employees) they decided, that it was getting to be too much work for the offfice gal to go get treats when someone had a birthday, so they set it up that if it's your birthday, & you want snacks to celebrate, you need to bring them. So, with Friday being my 55th birthday (!) I set about making some cookies. I decided to make Farmgirl's Decidedly Different Chocolate Chip cookies.

http://www.foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com/2005/06/chocolate-chip-sheep-chocolate-chip.html

They are supposed to have raisins in them, and of course, I forgot to get them at the store last week, so they just had chocolate chips, and I didn't have any nutmeg, so I used extra cinnamon, and I used regular butter, so I only used 1/2 teaspoon of salt - they were just right - & instead of using a 1/4 cup scoop, I used my small scoop (and only baked them for 12 minutes) because I wanted 4 dozen cookies to take in - and if I hadn't eaten so much of the dough (well, it was good!) - I would have probably had almost 5 dozen cookies, but then, who's counting?

Which gives me an opportunity to show you one of my favorite baking pans - my Pampered Chef Bar Pan - well loved and I haven't burned a cookie in the past 6 years!

Tomorrow night I'll make The World's Best Chocolate Chip Cookies - a variation of Killer Chocolate Chip cookes from an old Diane Mott Davidson mystery novel (http://www.dianemottdavidson.com ) - They have dried tart cherries, a little oatmeal and toasted almonds, and are supposed to have two kinds of chocolate chips, but it is very snowy & slick out and John will probably take me to work tomorrow, so they will only have good old Nestles choco chips. They truly are the best chocolate chip cookies that I've ever eaten.

Oh, and congratulations to Susan at Farmgirl Fare (http://foodiefarmgirl.blogspot.com ) She won the Best Food Blog, Rural award from Well Fed.net - (you can read all about it on her site - someday maybe I'll figure out how to do it so I don't have to put the URL on here)

It's late, & I'm off to watch Medium - hope it's not a rerun.

Caps to the Capitol

My crocheting skills are pretty rudimentary - I can crochet a baby blanket - my favorite pattern is called "Alternating Puff" - two SC, then 3 DC in one SC, etc, etc. It makes a very cool pattern - especially in a variegated baby yarn - (I always use a yarn that can be thrown in the washer & dryer - I figure that new moms don't have time to screw around with fancy care for baby blankets)

The blanket I just finished was actually started for a little girl who is in kindergarten now - so, I'm not a very fast crocheter either...

But something recently caught my attention. In mid December, My friend Nancy, who has a yarn shop in Bellingham called NW Handspun Yarns ( http://www.nwhandspunyarns.com/index.php ) emailed an "Action Kit" from Save the Children & Warm Up America Foundation called "Caps to the Capital" http://www.savethechildren.org/campaigns/caps-to-the-capital/# - Actually that's the link for the Save the Children Foundation web site page about this project. Quoting from their web site: "After Save the Children's State of the World's Mothers 2006 report highlighted simple, low-cost practices that could save newborn lives, like warming their heads with a knit or crochet cap, Save the Children received numerous calls and e-mails from Americans around the country wanting to organize their friends and family to knit and crochet caps for newborns in developing countries."

This blossomed into a project that culminated on Jan. 2, 2007, with over 50,000 caps being made in all 50 states and donated to this wonderful cause. Called "Caps to the Capitol" - the Save the Children Foundation was going to present the caps with messages to GW to show that Americans want to do more to save the lives of newborn children all around the world. Here is a link to their video - it was very cool to watch and realize that my three caps were part of this big project http://multimedia.savethechildren.org/video/caps-2006.asp

The Action Packet had directions for caps - knitted & crocheted - I figured, OK, I can try that -(they requested that you use the patterns that they provided, because they were smaller and designed to fit the heads of babies born in developing countries - many are born premature and have very tiny heads) So, I made the first one, had to take out part of it, because I didn't read the directions right and left out "rows 9 - 13".... Oops - well if at first you don't succeed... anyhow, I think they look like little Easter eggs, don't you . . . As you can see, I ended up making three of them and got them to Nancy's shop the day before she was going to send them in. She had 137 caps just from here in Whatcom County - I wish I'd had my camera, she had them strung on a line in her store windows - they looked very festive! Many Thanks & Kudos to Nancy for spearheading this local effort!

I figure they will do this again, so I'm working on some more caps - next time I'll be ready, and next time, I'll make sure I let you know sooner, so you can knit or crochet a cap of your own to help save a child's life.

Christmas - Belated

This was "off year" for the "T" family Christmas - everyone went to the "in-laws" (or in our case, just stayed home and had a brief moment of relaxation) - so we always try to get together someplace, either the week before or the week after the big date. This year we opted for the week after - in conjunction with my oldest sister's 45th wedding anniversary - and got together at their home in Mossyrock. It was fun for all (except my sister, who had way too many holiday parties this year) - all three of my nephews were there & their families - in order of age - Chris, Jen & Parker, with his mom (my sister)



That's Jake smooching the family dog - his girls are going to be basketball stars, I think - they are getting so tall! His wife is a "Jen" too!









And these two handsome guys are Ben and Dante' - Ben is going to school at Central - He'd like to be a teacher - watching him with the kids this past weekend, I think he'd be a good one.
Here they are with Ben's mom & dad - the white lady in the bunch, that's my other older sister.










This is my "baby" sister Nance - (that's Aunt Nance to you, Parker). Even though we talk every week, we don't get to see each other very often. Nance is a "shopper extraordinare" - she's one of those people who start shopping for Christmas in January, for pete's sake! (it's worth it tho - she gives great presents!!)






Last, but not least, me and DH/the shepherd - an "only" who gracefully (mostly) puts up with my family 2 or three times a year - and who is mystified by the fact that I have to talk to my sisters at least two or three times in the week before I 'm going to see them - (we have to plan, you know!) We had a blissfully uneventful trip down & back (it's about 200 miles or so one way) - although, he asked me how I knew that, seein' as how I slept most of the way...ha, ha, ha

All in all, it was a GRRREATTT! weekend.


See, we promised we'd be nice to the farm sitter - we didn't butt at him even once!