Surprise Sunrise

Early this morning the cats were all up prowling around looking for food and walking on top of me.  When I went into the kitchen to start the coffee, this is what I saw. WOW...the animals knew best.

Waves and Windsurfing

The weather gurus are predicting huge waves...20 feet or so by next week. Yesterday we went down to have a look. The waves were bigger than usual but certainly not big by Hawaii standards. What was impressive was the number of wind surfers that were out. It was a perfect day for them and at one point I counted 10 in a row. I wonder what their rules of the road are. How do they keep from getting all tangled up with each other? Several times I just knew they were going to get the lines wound around and pull both down but it never happened.

We will keep a watch on the surf as it is supposed to get bigger by next week as several storms come rolling in. When it is calm again, it will be a good time to go look for shells.

Beauty and a Beast

Johnny is such a sweet boy... most of the time. I love his eyes and the way he comes to get apples and carrots. His nose is so soft as he snuffles around my hand to get every bit of treat. When I come out the back door he nickers softly to say hello. When I open the barn door to let him out onto the pasture he always goes and does his business before he leaves. I hardly ever have to clean up the pasture...he goes back to the barn when he needs to do his thing. I don't know if this is normal for horses but it sure surprised me. It makes my barn chores so easy to have all the mess in one place. This is all good news. THEN he turns into the wild child.

He has this mischievous side. He will work and work and work to open the barn door and eventually it will come open. So now I have to put a second snap on. I will groom him for about an hour and then he goes and rolls in the dirt! I clean his hooves and trim them all nice and smooth and he goes and walks in the mud.   And what do I do with this hair? After a good run it looks scary. Last week I got out the vacuum and blew all the sand and dust out of his long hair. It worked quite well once I convinced him he liked sunflower seeds more then he was afraid of the vacuum!

Oh, Johnny, we love you...we do...we really do.

Sign Of Spring?

Didn't we just start winter on December 21? I didn't expect these narcissus to be poking their heads up for a while. When I did a little walk around the yard, there they were so perky and happy in their little bed behind the barn. I couldn't resist bringing some into the house. They make me smile.

Once In A Blue Moon

This was our New Year's Eve blue moon. I never really understood that saying, other than "not very often", but now I do. When there are two full moons in the same calendar month, the second one is called a blue moon. This happens roughly every two or three years. Last night was one of those blue moons and to make it even more special it happened on New Year's eve. The night was crisp but we went out and had a look. It was beautiful with fluffy clouds across the sky. This has got to mean we are going to have a good 2010. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas 2009

Christmas is always a wonderful time of year for us. The kids and grand kids were here and we had a very special time together. The grand kids are now 12, 13 and 15. An interesting age for sure. The oldest was receiving and sending texts every five minutes with the girlfriend!! Helloooo...I wasn't ready for that! He is looking forward to getting his drivers license in a few months. The two younger boys were improving their driving skills on the riding mower. I found donut tracks out in the barn driveway so I guess the plan was...drive slow and easy as we go past the house then go crazy up at the barn!

Ron did some photo darkroom work with the oldest grandson. His interest in cameras and developing film is a delight to Ron who was so interested in photography at his age. They used an old view camera. Of course, the new digital equipment is much faster and no worries about how much film is used but the old way has an appeal too. How things have changed in our lifetime!

The kids also used the wood shop to make a snack table and bench. They were very careful and used lots of Great Grandpa's hand tools. If any power tool was needed they came to get an adult. It made me happy to see them having so much fun in the shop.

We did a lot of cooking. Waffles were a favorite for breakfast and we made them several times. Christmas dinner was roast beef and mashed potatoes with all the trimmings. We cooked such a huge kettle of mashed potatoes and had very little left over. Made some more the next day! I love to see them eat. We played games and Wii. It was a special family time.

Everyone has gone home now and I am not going to cook for a while!   

Callie Bug In A Rug

Callie is such a funny cat. She loves to get under the rug. She thinks she is hiding. I need to break the news to her...we can see you!