So it turns out that Betty is a Bucky. I learned that the other morning when I woke up to crowing. I had hoped it was a neighbors rooster, but no such luck, it's Betty, er- Bucky. On the positive side, he's become a beautiful bird, black and gray feathers in a stripe pattern, strong red comb and wattle. The bad thing is the crowing-I just hope the neighbors don't complain. If they do, I guess we'll have chicken soup! He's young enough, he should make a good chicken stew. I hope I don't have to do that, frankly I don't like butchering chickens much. Maybe I can pawn him off on my Mom, heaven knows she's brought enough animals my way over the years. He doesn't crow horribly loud, so for now he gets to be the 'cock of the walk', until further notice.
We gave away the first puppy on Friday, one of the chocolate colored males. The proud new owner is a 9-year old boy. He visited them last week, and since then had already named him, made a couple toys and was dreaming of all the fun they'd have together! I'm thrilled to give puppies to people that love them and will take good care of them.
We've sure enjoyed having Megan and Taylor visiting the past few days. Megan is my niece, and we haven't seen them since their wedding last May. They've been out hiking in Sycamore canyon, and we went to Jerome, it's always fun to go there. There's a great yarn shop there, I try to visit it when I can. Megan likes to knit, so I've just been giddy having someone to talk knitting with again. Heather and I work on patterns together still, but over the internet and by phone now. It's nice to sit down, look at patterns and chat about the next fun project in person. I pushed tons of magazines and books at her, to see which ones she liked. I know, it doesn't take much to entertain me....
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Week in Review
It's been a busy week, at least for me. Adele, David's sister, came in Wednesday, and has been working through all of their Mom's stored stuff. Mom Farr moved a 4 bedroom house, garage and shop into one big garage here. There are lots of things there, from the beautiful handmade pieces of furniture that Dad Farr created, to really old toys and games that have been with her since the 50's. Adele found cancelled checks from the 1940's, how cool is that? She and her Mom have been going through boxes, divying up treasures between the 5 living children, and pulling a few things out for Mom to keep. It's a really tough job, Mom Farr gets a little overwhelmed with all the decisions she has to make, but at least she's finally decided what to do with a lot of it, and the kids are trying to pitch in and help.
I drove Nic to the airport on Thursday night, he flew to Salt Lake for the weekend. His flight left at 4:50, which meant we had to be there in the middle of rush hour. One of the reasons I left Phoenix 30 years ago was the traffic, and trust me, it hasn't gotten any better! I decided to take advantage of my strapping son, and stopped at Costco for a bulk grocery run. No frozen or cold stuff, I'd be traveling too long to carry them, but lots of laundry and pantry items. I love having Nic here to help with the heavy stuff!
We got him into the right terminal and I left the parking lot about 3:20, and it took an hour to drive 10 miles. Stop and go, jostle and dart, the traffic is snarled and awful! I decided to try driving up I-17 instead of going east to the 101, I have no idea if it was any better. All I know is that I'm very, very grateful to live in the sticks, where the traffic can get busy, but the roads don't look like a spaghetti bowl! Besides all the afternoon traffic, the roads are torn up and there is roadwork going on for miles on the 17, which is the only way home for me.
The puppies are growing fast, cavorting and wrestling with each other. They have free run of the back porch and backyard now, and they're doing really well, getting lots of excercise. It's tricky for humans though, to walk out there without tripping over a puppy, or stepping in 'droppings'. Cara is already starting to wean them, they are drinking formula from the bowl and munching on puppy chow.
We've had beautiful fall weather, at least for Arizona. The nights are cool and crisp, the days are in the very manageable 80-90 degree range. I've planted broccoli, red cabbage, spinach, turnips and radishes, so hopefully we'll have a nice fall garden that will make it to Christmas. We had a frost 8 days ago that killed my peppers, while we were at my Mom's. The tomatoes got bit, but survived, so I'm covering them at night, hoping to harvest the tomatoes still on the vine. All quite bucolic, but it's my life and I love it.
I drove Nic to the airport on Thursday night, he flew to Salt Lake for the weekend. His flight left at 4:50, which meant we had to be there in the middle of rush hour. One of the reasons I left Phoenix 30 years ago was the traffic, and trust me, it hasn't gotten any better! I decided to take advantage of my strapping son, and stopped at Costco for a bulk grocery run. No frozen or cold stuff, I'd be traveling too long to carry them, but lots of laundry and pantry items. I love having Nic here to help with the heavy stuff!
We got him into the right terminal and I left the parking lot about 3:20, and it took an hour to drive 10 miles. Stop and go, jostle and dart, the traffic is snarled and awful! I decided to try driving up I-17 instead of going east to the 101, I have no idea if it was any better. All I know is that I'm very, very grateful to live in the sticks, where the traffic can get busy, but the roads don't look like a spaghetti bowl! Besides all the afternoon traffic, the roads are torn up and there is roadwork going on for miles on the 17, which is the only way home for me.
The puppies are growing fast, cavorting and wrestling with each other. They have free run of the back porch and backyard now, and they're doing really well, getting lots of excercise. It's tricky for humans though, to walk out there without tripping over a puppy, or stepping in 'droppings'. Cara is already starting to wean them, they are drinking formula from the bowl and munching on puppy chow.
We've had beautiful fall weather, at least for Arizona. The nights are cool and crisp, the days are in the very manageable 80-90 degree range. I've planted broccoli, red cabbage, spinach, turnips and radishes, so hopefully we'll have a nice fall garden that will make it to Christmas. We had a frost 8 days ago that killed my peppers, while we were at my Mom's. The tomatoes got bit, but survived, so I'm covering them at night, hoping to harvest the tomatoes still on the vine. All quite bucolic, but it's my life and I love it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Wedding and a birthday
Blahh! I'm sick as a dog today, and yesterday too, for that matter. Some kind of stomach crud is going around, and of course it came to visit me.
We had a good weekend, David and I drove to Phoenix and met Jared for a few minutes. He flew in for his old roommates' wedding, and was a groomsman, so he wasn't able to get away very long on Saturday, since they were finishing up all the last minute details before the wedding at 5. Anyhow, he looks great, and was very happy to announce he's found a job. It is in insurance, customer service, and only a few minutes away from his house, so no long commute. Yea! After we saw Jared, we drove to Stanfield to spend the day with my Mom. It was her birthday, and we got her a DVD player, and planned to install it, but it outsmarted us. We needed one of the kids there! She needs to have the Direct TV tech come out anyhow, so she'll have him set up the DVD player too.
My sister Debbie made dinner for all of us, to celebrate Mom's birthday. She rarely cooks, so it was really special. She has one of the rare husbands that likes to cook, and is retired, so he cooks most of the time. I wish someone else would cook around here sometimes, I get tired of doing all the cooking. See, I told you I'm sick, and grouchy too. Anyhow, Mom's birthday turned out very nice, I'm glad we could be there.
We had the puppies in the house last night, because it's been so cold. Cara doesn't stay with them much any more, just long enough to feed 'em. They are in a little fenced enclosure, with old blankets to lay on. We felt sorry for the little boogers, they were outside shivering, all piled on top of each other trying to stay warm, so we put them in the laundry room overnight. What a mess! They pooped all over the place, past the newspapers we put down. David and Nic had to clean it all up this morning before they left for work. Needless to say, the pups are back outside, and we'll figure out a box for them tonight-outside!
We had a good weekend, David and I drove to Phoenix and met Jared for a few minutes. He flew in for his old roommates' wedding, and was a groomsman, so he wasn't able to get away very long on Saturday, since they were finishing up all the last minute details before the wedding at 5. Anyhow, he looks great, and was very happy to announce he's found a job. It is in insurance, customer service, and only a few minutes away from his house, so no long commute. Yea! After we saw Jared, we drove to Stanfield to spend the day with my Mom. It was her birthday, and we got her a DVD player, and planned to install it, but it outsmarted us. We needed one of the kids there! She needs to have the Direct TV tech come out anyhow, so she'll have him set up the DVD player too.
My sister Debbie made dinner for all of us, to celebrate Mom's birthday. She rarely cooks, so it was really special. She has one of the rare husbands that likes to cook, and is retired, so he cooks most of the time. I wish someone else would cook around here sometimes, I get tired of doing all the cooking. See, I told you I'm sick, and grouchy too. Anyhow, Mom's birthday turned out very nice, I'm glad we could be there.
We had the puppies in the house last night, because it's been so cold. Cara doesn't stay with them much any more, just long enough to feed 'em. They are in a little fenced enclosure, with old blankets to lay on. We felt sorry for the little boogers, they were outside shivering, all piled on top of each other trying to stay warm, so we put them in the laundry room overnight. What a mess! They pooped all over the place, past the newspapers we put down. David and Nic had to clean it all up this morning before they left for work. Needless to say, the pups are back outside, and we'll figure out a box for them tonight-outside!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Puppies!
The puppies eyes are open now, and they are tumbling over each other, staggering around trying to play, what joy! Cara is so patient with them, unless they come anywhere near her food bowl, then all bets are off. Sometimes when she's feeding them I'll put her bowl in the bed so she can eat too. If any of the puppies come anywhere near the bowl, she will growl and rumble at them like they are the enemy. She doesn't hurt them, but she sure let's them know who's boss.
A few of the braver pups are already crawling out of the bed, then holler long and loud until someone rescues them. I haven't seen Cara pick them up and move them yet, since we humans seem to jump in first. I want to move the whole group and the bed outside on the porch, and out of the laundry room, but so far I've been outvoted by Nic and David. Heaven forbid they have to live outside like dogs.....
A few of the braver pups are already crawling out of the bed, then holler long and loud until someone rescues them. I haven't seen Cara pick them up and move them yet, since we humans seem to jump in first. I want to move the whole group and the bed outside on the porch, and out of the laundry room, but so far I've been outvoted by Nic and David. Heaven forbid they have to live outside like dogs.....
Friday, October 3, 2008
Oceanside and mortality
Well, now I can say I drove "from sea to shining sea" this year. Mom called me last week and asked if I could go with her to Oceanside, CA. Her brother had 3 strokes and a heart attack within the past month, and wasn't expected to live, and she wanted to see him before he died.
We left last Friday and got to see Uncle Marvin on Saturday and Sunday. Monday afternoon he passed away, but not until he was able to see all of his family. He was just waiting for his son Tom to fly in from Chicago, and for Mom. While we were there he was able to make jokes, and Mom had a good visit with him. She told him goodbye on Sunday, and told him "Mommy and Daddy are waiting for you." While it was hard to lose him, we are all glad that he's not immobilized and suffering any more.
Sunday my cousins and I went for a drive along the ocean. Tom, Kathy and I walked along the beach, and it was so beautiful. I called Heather and sang "From sea to shining sea" to her, pretty off-key, but so what! I was able to drive from Maine to California in the past 6 months. It was cloudy in New Hampshire, and 40 degrees in April, and it was about 75 degrees and cloudy in Oceanside. A little cool for a desert rat like me, but I love the ocean. While Wes was driving us down the coast, we found the Carlsbad State Park, which is on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It has lots of trees and shrubbery, and an amazing view of the sea, I decided we needed to spend the night there before we left. We booked a spot before we went to see Marvin, and got all the stuff to have a cookout with the cousins.
We went to see Marvin, and he was passing as I walked through his door. I've never been with someone as they were dying, it was a very intense experience. He had let the nurse shave him and cut his hair. He put on his dress pants and a shirt that day. It seemed that once he saw all of his family, he was ready to go and wanted to look good. I feel bad that we didn't get there a little earlier, but I believe that things happen the way they are supposed to, so I have to trust that we really weren't late. Wes and Tom decided to still have the cookout, and Tom made a great meal for everyone. We reminisced about Marvin, talked about his great sense of humor, and how all his kids have inherited it. Tina, Wes' wife, was very close to Marvin, and had some good stories about him. It was healing for me to be on the ocean, feel the breeze, listen to the surf. It gives a broader perspective on eternity, and it was a good way to honor Marvin's memory.
We left last Friday and got to see Uncle Marvin on Saturday and Sunday. Monday afternoon he passed away, but not until he was able to see all of his family. He was just waiting for his son Tom to fly in from Chicago, and for Mom. While we were there he was able to make jokes, and Mom had a good visit with him. She told him goodbye on Sunday, and told him "Mommy and Daddy are waiting for you." While it was hard to lose him, we are all glad that he's not immobilized and suffering any more.
Sunday my cousins and I went for a drive along the ocean. Tom, Kathy and I walked along the beach, and it was so beautiful. I called Heather and sang "From sea to shining sea" to her, pretty off-key, but so what! I was able to drive from Maine to California in the past 6 months. It was cloudy in New Hampshire, and 40 degrees in April, and it was about 75 degrees and cloudy in Oceanside. A little cool for a desert rat like me, but I love the ocean. While Wes was driving us down the coast, we found the Carlsbad State Park, which is on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It has lots of trees and shrubbery, and an amazing view of the sea, I decided we needed to spend the night there before we left. We booked a spot before we went to see Marvin, and got all the stuff to have a cookout with the cousins.
We went to see Marvin, and he was passing as I walked through his door. I've never been with someone as they were dying, it was a very intense experience. He had let the nurse shave him and cut his hair. He put on his dress pants and a shirt that day. It seemed that once he saw all of his family, he was ready to go and wanted to look good. I feel bad that we didn't get there a little earlier, but I believe that things happen the way they are supposed to, so I have to trust that we really weren't late. Wes and Tom decided to still have the cookout, and Tom made a great meal for everyone. We reminisced about Marvin, talked about his great sense of humor, and how all his kids have inherited it. Tina, Wes' wife, was very close to Marvin, and had some good stories about him. It was healing for me to be on the ocean, feel the breeze, listen to the surf. It gives a broader perspective on eternity, and it was a good way to honor Marvin's memory.
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