What Are You Thankful For?

As the dogs and I were walking through the woods yesterday I was thinking about what I am thankful for. I am thankful for so many things; David, our family, our grandkids, friends and our ability to live the life that we enjoy living.
And this year we are especially thankful to a group of caregivers. People who care for others for a career will never become financially rich and we typically only hear about them when something has gone amiss. This past year David and I have gotten to know a team of people that excel in what they do. When David's brother (who lived in a home provided by Shiloh's Hope) came to the end of his life, this team of people went above and beyond so that Ron could live his last days comfortably in the place that he had called home for the past few years. With the assistance of Mankato Hospice and Nicollet County Social Services, Ron's caregivers made the heartfelt commitment to allow him to pass at home. Tammy (the caregiver working at his passing) reported that she was holding his hand when he passed-it doesn't get much kinder than that.
So this year David and I are especially thankful for the above caregivers and others of you that provide care to those of us that need it during critical times in our lives. Please thank your caregivers for a job well done-they deserve it.

I Dont Even Know How To Title This One

I guess the sign says it all. Yep we put our little slice of heaven on the market
This idea started pulling at David when he broke his leg this spring and got almost 2 months behind in his 'projects'. I think it was then that he realized no matter where we were or what we were doing he was always in a rush to get home to finish whatever project was on the agenda at that time. We have been so busy that we haven't had the boat out this year and the only time that we have had it out in the past two years was when Ryan was here in May 2010 (or was it 2009 Ry).
We are pretty remote up here, we drive almost two hours both ways to get to our doctor, to the pet groomers, the dentist and any major town for groceries. Don't get me wrong, we love this place and were proud to share it with the grandkids and kids that were able to spend time with us here as well as friends and family members. We appreciate those that took the time to make the trip but that is just it, it's a trip not just a little jaunt. Darn it Barbie and Lynn, we will miss you even though we didn't get together often, we did get together...thank goodness for facebook:) So David began the, 'What do you think about' talk and as we talk we kept coming up with reasons why it was a good idea. We need to retire from retirement, So I said how about we then spend the summers on our land by StPeter in the motor home (yes we plan on trading the 5th wheel for a much more friendly while you travel motor home) so that we are close to the MN kids as well as family and friends. We are looking forward to playing shoot with my aunts and uncle on a weekly basis (gonna have to save up my dollar bills), babysitting the MN kids at a moments notice, being able to go to any store that anyone ever needed with little effort and as I get older I realize how much I miss my friends and family. I have some very special friends and I miss you all so much.
For those that have not seen our slice of heaven here is the listing- BTW the babe that happens to be in picture 15 does not go with the sale of the house. How in the hell did they manage that little oops.

http://glarmls.fnismls.com/publink/default.aspx?GUID=22483830-88fc-4a0b-a69b-874bcd303cc7&Report=Yes

As I loaded these pictures from last weekend's hunting opener I became a little nostalgic because it was the last time that our MN kids will be here and I think these photos captured a bit of that nostalgia.
Julia is quite fond of her Grandpa Dave and it is pretty obvious

Shelby with momma and daddy walking through the woods

Oh this one really tears at my heart. Julia has always loved to spend time in my garden......My momma loved to garden, I love to garden and Julia loves flowers-a future gardener in the works perhaps?
Our Shelby will probably not remember this place but she is comfortable here, she loves the outdoors and is our adventurous gal.
Julia and daddy spent some time by 'Tackla's' pond
And Shelby spent the weekend being the happy go lucky girl that she is. She makes me smile every time I look at a picture of her.
Julia found Daddy's old trike that his grandma bought for him and I had used for garden art.
The plan is to sell everything-yes my friend Mary, everything...it will be OK. (Mary is my friend who if she were to help me decide what to keep and what to get rid of would put whatever I wanted to get rid of in her car). David does not even want his tools, I know I know that my friends is a heart stopper. He is tired of working and working and working and really does not think that he will get bored...heck we will fish rather than work! Furniture, nope it's going. When we are ready to come off the road we plan on renting an apartment and we can then at that time acquire the 'stuff' that we need to furnish it. My crafting really does need to downsize which is not going to be easy-actually what will be even more difficult is that I will not be able to have the stash that I am used to having on hand at all times. No worries I will get used to it:) Oh yes I see it now, this journey brings much fodder for the blogger....

We are far from our next step in our life's journey. We know that the housing market sucks and of course so typical of us-buy high sell low- but we feel as if something will come along and this will work out.
More to come.

1800 Miles In Two Days

It was a grueling drive. We drove straight through with a very uncomfortable sleep in the truck stop after the 1000 mile mark. Of course we made quite a few stops for the dogs and us and I suspect when we head back in December it will be the same sort of trip. Unfortunately we certainly will not have the same kind of comforts awaiting us as we did Saturday. We stopped for the night at Len and Kel's (thanks Mary for taking the doggies for the night) who offered a very comfortable bed to sleep in (although David wondered if we should just borrow a couple of pillows and sleep in the truck....HA), a nice warm shower and a home-made chicken Alfredo pizza for supper. This is going to be our new 'Kelly's special please make again' I am sure.

And it is surprising how much can change in even a few weeks when you are talking grand-kids (I cannot even imagine how much the ones we don't get to see very often have changed-sad face)
Shelby Marie is no longer sleeping in a crib, is walking walking walking, has a mouthful of teeth and is sitting in a regular chair with a booster seat for meals!
Does it look like she thinks she's a big shot...yep I am thinkin so.

Now that they both have their own chairs life is better
And Julia is driving. OK maybe not really but both girls sure do like their Barbie Jeep. Julia does drive only because Shelby has not yet figured it out. Once she does...look out cul de sac! For now she is content to enjoy the ride.
Right down to the backyard they go.
Yesterday we grabbed the dogs and put on our last 250 miles home. Not far from home I spotted what I was sure was an albino deer. I have never seen one much less gotten a picture of one. And this is not the best of shots because it was dusk and he/she was behind the trees but it is proof that I was not seeing things. I wondered if it could be a horse until we spooked it and it's tail went up and off it went.
Speaking of deer, next weekend is the opener and I hear we may be getting a snow storm just in time for it. Good for seeing deer in the woods as well as tracking them, if one should be lucky enough to not only see one but get a shot at one as well. Len, Kel and the girls will be joining us for the annual opener get together-more on that later I am sure.

October 27 2005

Makes today, October27, 2011 my sixth year cancer free. We are now on our way back home. David would like to make it in two days....that would be 900miles a day and i guess even I have to drive at some point....gonna muzzle him while I drive. Because we are on the road this post is going in via my Droid which does not allow for paragraphs etc so excuse the awkward look. I really do want to thank my family and friends who were there for me during my journey-you know who you are and so do I :)

Her Maiden Voyage

David found himself a good deal on what is called a Porta Bote this past summer. A Porta Bote is one that folds together so that you can haul it easily. When it's time to put her in the water it is unfolded, the seats are put in (three of them) a dealy on the front and one on the back, attach the motor (6 hp) the oars and walla you have yourself a 10 foot boat. It was certainly easier to put together than either of us thought it would be and she runs down the river quite well.

Here he is the proud captain of his ship...or porta bote. The first day we set out of course there are people on the beach watching every move. I waved and hollered, "We are on our maiden voyage wish us luck". We didn't get very far down river when a jet ski came upon us, slowed down and pulled up beside us. The driver, who we later fund out was 81 years old, was sent by one of his friends (one of the guys that I had hollered to) to check on us. His friend told him that we were on our maiden voyage and he was worried about us. Too damned funny to have an 81 year old nice as can be guy breeze up on his jet ski to check on us young-uns. It was actually a very nice gesture and we told him so...after we all had a good laugh. It is interesting that many of the folks on jet skis here are in their 70's and 80's. They must live well because one would never know how old they are by looking at them.

Anyway, we have spent the past couple of days on the water and it has been wonderful. We don't go all that fast but it is the sped that I prefer.
There are some pretty darned nice homes across the water from us.
The boats that we share the water with are these and more...
Every one of them goes much faster than we do and some don't play so nice. One big ass cigar boat going full throttle I am sure went by within 25 feet of us causing waves that didn't beach us but threw a tremendous amount of water in our boat-enough to get my camera wet and those are fighting words. As I threw up my hands and said very loudly, " What the fu--" he waved at us. See, some just don't play so nicely.
This is our campground from the water. We are in there somewhere.
Mountains and vegetation on one side-Cali side
And shear mountains on the AZ side. We didn't even get the boat out at home this year so this has been a treat, mean big boats and all. When we come back it'll be fishing time. The world record sunfish was caught here-5 pounds some ounces. I cannot even imagine!
But driving down the road beware of the burros. This momma and her little one held my interest for quite awhile
These guys are not dumb, they know where the good grass is. That would be on the golf course where they water it constantly. There has been a herd of about 20 wild burros here every time we have gone by. Wouldn't that be fun Ryan? Wouldn't have to worry about the burros, it's what they leave behind.
Yep it's nice here. We head back home next week but will be back in December.

It's Hot....Really Hot

And I am so not kidding!

But when your backyard is this the heat is tolerable. We are parked on a gorgeous sandy beach on the Colorado River in Parker AZ and lovin it.


Boats, there are a shit-load of boats running this river on the weekends calming down during the week. The water here is as clear as many lakes and is swim-able as well.
This is our beach looking towards the mountain and beyond that mountain is Lake Havasue City.

The river is not known for sharks BUT.....
It seems there was another frightening creature that slipped out of the depths of the river attempting to grab this unsuspecting swimmer for lunch. The look on her face tells the story of her fear.....

But then they both got up and danced....
OK so it all made a good story but pure fiction. This big guy was our neighbor for a few days, he and his people that is. One of those people was the gal that was playing with him in the water. This guy is a 1 1/2 year old mastiff and was as gentle and well behaved as could be. His people were not so bad either, fun neighbors.
On a drive to town David spotted a pair of road runners who seemed to want their picture taken. This we think was the male, the other was not quite as colorful and was most likely a female.
He fluffed his feathers for me letting me get pretty darned close.
Wild donkeys often tramp through the park at night. We can hear them but usually only see their leftover poop in the morning. Have not run across a snake yet and that is just fine with me.
One of these next days we are going to have a maiden voyage with our boat-more on that after the event occurs:)

And The Sign Said

This year we thought it would be wise to bring the 5th wheel down to Arizona while the weather is good, spend a few weeks and leave it in Arizona until December when we head back for the winter. It gets pretty dicey hauling the rig if the weather and roads are bad...so good plan right?
We decided since the weather was good that we would go via Colorado since neither of us have ever been.
After spending a night in a truck stop parking lot we headed out at 4am and even though it was dark the moon was full and I was able to get a few shots. Most of these were taken out of the truck window while we were moving.
The mountains in Colorado are gorgeous and even more so with snow covered caps


And this as the sun rose
SO, traveling in the mountains is great but maybe not so much while towing a 38 foot rig, not our brightest decision. This is the sign we saw after the 8000 foot elevation mark as we were coming down a bit. It was at this point that I became a bit nervous

Couldn't resist taking pictures though


Beautiful
The colors are starting to change

This one I took while we were stopped, one of our many stops to exercise the dogs
We made it down safely with the brakes smelling mighty hot. Not a choice we would make again and since we made it without incident we can now say we were glad we did it :) The smart choice of coming early should totally negate the not so smart choice of driving up to 8000 feet while towing a large 5trh wheel in my opinion.
We are now settled in for a much needed two night stop in Sedona. Going to see Rachel and Dezbah tonight then off to our final destination tomorrow.

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month

And fall as well. It seemed that our fall colors peaked for 5 minutes and then the wind came. My garden does have color though and it just keeps coming.
There are butterflies everywhere up here


And bees collecting their pollen

And my mums are gorgeous
I did manage to snag a few colorful leaf photos-reds
And oranges (as in color not the fruit). BTW why do some spell it colour?

And a mixture of colors

This is my latest project, a rag quilt, done in fall colors.

And on a drive one day we almost hit a porcupine crossing the road. They can move darned fast when threatened. He's not easy to see hiding behind the grasses.
And next is David's favorite time of year....winter..HA-not.

Three Years Ago

Gas was $3.29 a gallon

And Julia Bernice Leonard was born

Then she was one
And at age two she gained a little sister

And now (as of 9-23) she is three. Love you lots baby girl...and yes no matter how old you get you will always be my baby girl.