Don't ya just love to finish a project???

I started hooking a rug before we got married - probably somewhere around 1970-1972 !! I might have worked on it some after we were married, but with a move it got put aside. From there on it was in the original box and moved from garage to garage whenever we moved (TEN MOVES!!!). While working on the garage, it attracted my interest because it was almost done! So last week I reread the directions (because it's been soooo long since I've latch hooked anything) and in 3 or 4 evenings, I completed it!!! After roughly 35 years, I can't tell you how good it feels to look over and see the completed rug! Now the big decision is whether to hang this prize on the wall or brighten up a room with it on the floor!!!

Visiting local color...

One NEVER knows what's coming down the driveway! Last night looking out from the couch, I saw Sam get up to check out something coming down the driveway. I could see it WELL from inside the house, but went out to get a picture!!! It looks like a young tarantula!

It was lucky to get away with it's life!! Visible motion gets lots of attention around here!!! Unfortunately I missed THE picture of Mia carrying it around in her mouth!!! We turned it loose in the field, so it got to live another day!!!!

Without a Trace...

Thursday morning at 0700: ALL critters present and accounted for at 'breakfast' time.

0800: Moved tack and feed from Mike's truck back to the Honda (mobile horse supplies) - they're available to me at feeding/grooming time - More importantly, NOT available for Sam to chew up!!

0900: Mike got in truck to head for Wichita Falls for an appointment, and found a kitten in the cab of his truck! I retrieved 'Mia' and searched for her sisters to reunite them. NO KITTENS TO BE FOUND ANYWHERE!

1200: 3 hours missing - Little Kitty sleeping on the porch - didn't appear disturbed re: missing babies.

1730: 8 hours missing - Dinner served. Only Kitty and Mia showed up.

2100: 12 hours missing - Called for babies all over the immediate area with Sam on the alert - no kitties.

0700 (Friday): 22 hours missing - Breakfast - again only Kitty and Mia.

1200: 27 hours missing - On the phone with Bill Davis (his horses are with our 1 horse!) to order more grain for his horses. Told him about missing kittens and looked out window to see one kitty still. No.. wait!! It's not Mia!!!! Mitzi was drinking Sam's water and looked rather thin!!! Now we have two kittens and mom!!!

Wednesday: 0900: 6 days missing and no further sightings! With 97 degree days and tall grass around, my hope of finding Mouse and Marca has dwindled as the hours have passed. I am saddened by their absence and miss them a lot. Marca is my 'catbird' (a previous blog) and Mouse got trained on mouse-catching at 6 weeks of age (an earlier blog). I don't think my little kittens are coming home!!!

Back from the BIG city!!!

Yesterday, I was ready to hit the 'publish' button when there was a glitch in the power and it dumped the whole entry and lost a picture! So for the second time: The official chauffeur of the family (Mike) returned us from San Francisco on Tuesday, having driven some 2500 miles and encountering gas prices from $3.85 to $4.80 (guess where that was??? Yup, California). Running low in the middle of the vacant expanse of New Mexico, we stopped for gas at this 'in the middle of nowhere' station where gas was $4.13. We left last Wednesday morning, and pulled in our driveway mid-afternoon on Tuesday. Our 'waypoint' to and fro was Phoenix (actually Goodyear, AZ) to pick up and drop off Cheyenne who was great company and fun to be with! Riley, our grandson (due in August) entertained us with his intrauterine athletics. He liked the dancing and driving! And, of course, the purpose of our trip was to see Gwen (our niece) marry Hani, a delightful young man with a wonderful family. Of course she was a beautiful bride, and they got married in a Greek Orthodox Church. Pictured at left is Gwen with her 2 sisters, Chrys and Shelley (see where Travis gets his red hair???).

We saw some beautiful sights on the way back:

Phoenix was beautiful with flowers and landscaping everywhere (left) and I've always been partial to mountain views and rock formations (right - here in New Mexico). Mike especially enjoyed Picacho Peak which he flew over almost daily while at Pilot Training at Williams AFB. (below)

I was glad to get back to all my babies (kittens) and Sam (dog). I think they were glad to see us. Of course there was a week of catch-up with mowing, trimming, dusting, etc. So we're back in the groove now.