Life on the High Plains

It's the last day of the man trip.  I'm headed down to Albuquerque to pick them up tomorrow so there's going to be a "girl" on the trip now.  They've been hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa and Misty the dog. They've also been visiting some of the tourist spots.  Here's Mr. Beans are with cousin Matt at the natural history museum. And here Mr. Beans is at the Nuclear Museum (or Nuculear as George W. would say). They rode the tram to the top of Sandia Peak and did a little hiking with Uncle J and cousin Eric. And finally, here's Mr. Beans with a new friend.  (I'm never holding his hands again.) I've got my bags packed and my books on CD so I'm ready to make that long, boring drive to New Mexico tomorrow. I hope everyone has a nice Memorial Day weekend!

Our daughter, JP, is in Wisconsin visiting her boyfriend, I mean fiancee's family.  Yes, it's true!  Brian asked JP to marry him today!  Look at this gorgeous ring.  He did good.  I'm so happy for them.  They are working on picking a date so Jillian can start her wedding plans while Brian finishes his tour in Iraq. More to come...

Can you believe it hailed this much in Denver today?  They had to get the snowplows out to clear the roads. They also had funnel clouds.  What the "hail" is going on with the weather??   Read more here . Pueblo was also hit hard by hail, but Colorado Springs was untouched.  Very strange.

The men, Irv and Mr. Beans, have been sending me updates on their road trip.  On Tuesday morning they headed to the Grand Canyon.  Luckily, neither of them fell over the edge. For lunch they stopped at Dairy Queen, a favorite hang out of the men.  I heard Mr. Beans had a Fudge Brownie Earthquake for dessert.  Yum!!! After leaving the Grand Canyon it looks like they stopped to check out a really big cactus.  Mr. Beans looks quite short in this picture. After a long day of sight-seeing they checked into the hotel, dropped off DP's car, and had a dip in the pool.  That pool looks so refreshing.  Wish I were there. Tomorrow they will catch a shuttle to the airport and fly to Albuquerque to visit Irv's family.  I'm going to there this weekend to pick them up. So what am I doing while the men are away?  I'm doing homework, quilting, watching the Biggest Loser finale, and watching all the HGTV I want.   Fun stuff!!

This morning Irv and Mr. Beans left on a road trip to Arizona.  Mr. Beans has an aunt, DP, who lives in Phoenix and last December she and a couple friends drove her car here for Christmas.  DP is currently living in Australia, but she may be coming back to the states this summer.  Mr. Beans' last day of school was Friday so he and Pappy decided to return DP's car to Phoenix so it would be waiting for her when she gets back.  Today they drove to Flagstaff.  Tomorrow they're going to get up early and go to the Grand Canyon before driving to Phoenix.  They had a lot of fun planning which hotels they were going to stay in and where they were going to eat.  Mr. Beans likes Chick-Fil-A and McDonalds so they'll probably be stopping at those places whenever possible.  A requirement for the hotel was that it had to have a swimming pool and complimentary breakfast.  This is Mr. Beans at the hotel they chose for tonight. I think it's going to b...

Irv went to get hay today.  He had to load the trailer by himself, but when he got home the dogs and I were ready to help. The dogs are always happy when they get to hang out at the barn. Here's Irv carrying in a bale.  They weigh about 65 lbs. each and it seemed like there was a never ending supply of them (actually there were only 35 bales). Here's me trying to get a bale up to the 4th row of the stack.  I couldn't do it. Irv could heave the bales up high.  I don't know how he does it.  Who's going to do this for us when we're old? Mr. Beans, I hope you're building those muscles.  Grammy and Pappy are going to need your help in a few years. We should be set for hay for a couple months until this summer's first cutting is ready in July.  July might be a good time for visitors, especially strong male-type visitors.  Let us know when you're coming.

It's time to introduce you to two more of my family members, Lucky and Chicky Baby. Lucy is about a year older than Chicky Baby and I think she's about 5 years old.  We used to have Lucy and her sister Penny, but a neighbor's dog killed Penny a few years ago.  Since Lucy survived we didn't want her to be alone and that's why we have Chicky Baby.  They're very mean, they only love Irv because they imprinted on him as goslings.  They chase the rest of us around and peck the back of our legs.  I carry a big stick with me whenever I have to herd them.  They are especially mean to Mr. Beans. You may be wondering why we have two pet geese.  Well, our county extension agent told us that they would help keep snakes away from the house.  Wrong!  They merely watch the snakes.  They are really good guard dogs though, better than the dogs by far.  Nobody can even come close to our house without the geese sounding their alarm. If yo...