Humming Hummers and an Update

Sorry I've been so absent lately.  We've been pretty darn busy.  This week was a great one as my Ant (intentionally spelled-she's very short!) and my Unk came down to visit from Idaho.  We had a lovely time with them.  Their stay went too quick though.  It seems like the time just blows by during the summer months and I can't seem to get everything done that I'd like to.

Mom is doing ok, not great, but ok.  Last week we had a 112 degree day with dangerously unhealthy air.  It just knocked her for a loop and she's still just starting to recover a bit from those three or four really bad air/heat days.  We're a bit cooler now and soooo ready for the fall.

The garden had such a whacked out spring and summer.  We are just now getting the bulk of the tomatoes ripening.  We planted them in stages hoping to spread the harvest out a bit, but NOOOO they're all hitting at once.  I'm up to my eyebrows in tomaters!  Of course, we'll be loving it in the winter when we have those sun-dried tomatoes and the sauces..yum.

I decided to show you some of our busiest residents here at MoonCat Farms. ( I am working on getting better photos.)

We've rearranged the furniture on the front porch so we can sit out there in the evening. 

The bonus is getting to enjoy the activity at the new feeders we've hung for out little flying friends.  They're just now getting used to us.

Back in Action

I've missed all of you!  I apologize for the long lapse, but I can tell you that we've been extremely busy.  Thank you so much to those of you who checked in on us; we all appreciate you thinking of us.  I promise, I'll be better now and update you on all that's been going on here at MoonCat Farms....

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Mom is doing well.  She's still wheelchair bound, but she's determined to get back on her feet for more than a few minutes at a time.  I've been keeping her busy hulling strawberries and going through boxes for our monster yard sale in July.

We had some very dear friends here for several days.  Linda is one of mom's dearest friends whom she misses very much as she lives several states away now.  This is a photo of her with her husband and their adorable dog, Cappy.  I love Border Collies and would have kidnapped him in a second!

While Linda was here, some other dear friends also came for dinner.  Mr MoonCat outdid himself with some fabulous ribs which made my side dishes pale terribly in comparison.  We all really enjoyed the visit, especially Mom.

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Obviously I'm back online again!  I am so far behind on EVERYTHING:  email, blogging, reading the posts of my lovely friends, etc.  I was happy though that I managed to save everything from the laptop.  I was so fed up though, that I bit the bullet and bought myself a new desktop.  I had been wanting one for ages, but really couldn't justify it. 

But, wait for it........I won $2500 on a slot machine!!!!  I was just about bouncing through the roof. This hand was DEALT to me!   So after paying several bills and taking care of a few things, I decided that the money had dropped into my hot little hands at this particular moment for a reason - I needed a new computer!  The best part was that I hadn't gone there with any of my own money.  They were having a promotion and had sent me a $40 voucher and a free meal coupon if I'd come in that day.  I am SO tickled that I took them up on it.  It was amazing!

So one of the coolest perks of all of this is that the laptop is also back up and running.  I was being a tightwad and decided I'd fix it myself or it'd die from my trying!  I completely wiped it and started it back from scratch.  It's now behaving beautifully.  So I have my lovely new big guy in my sewing room/office and the laptop is used primarily as a back-up in the living room.  I do a lot of work on the couch while watching the Star Trek Next Generation reruns every evening.  "Tea - Earl Grey - HOT!" 

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I'll leave the massive garden update for another post, but I will show you what Mr. MoonCat is up to - besides getting all of his lovely curls chopped off for the summer..

Beuford - The Roping Dummy Steer

This is Beuford.  He is a dummy steer for practicing roping.  I can rope enough to help out at brandings and working cattle, but I'm not a competitor.  Mr. MoonCat doesn't know how to rope, but is insisting we keep Beuford in the front yard anyway.  Of course, he IS the cheapest of all of our pets to feed.

Below is Beuford with a dummy sitting on him...

"It's the other direction, dear.."

And finally, my beloved hubby - Mr. MoonCat.  Gotta love him....(I have a piece of paper that says I must, by law.)

"Thank goodness he has no aspirations to ride bulls.."

Weekend Recap

We had a really nice visit with Hubby's folks along with my Ant and my Mom's best friend. They were all here at different times so it was like a revolving door, but it was nice. Mom enjoyed all of the chaos for her birthday celebration. Dad actually came over for birthday lunch and breakfast the next morning. (Those of you that are familiar with Pops know that he is a bit of a hermit at times and likes to stay at the ranch.) I made Mom the spice cupcakes from Gramma's recipe and they were a hit as always.

We had a special guest in our yard for the celebration as well. This beautiful egret has decided we have a pretty good place to hang out. He spent quite a bit of time perched in the top of the tree by our gate.

I spent Saturday going through boxes in an effort to make room in the garage (for more boxes that we still have to get over here one of these days.) I was pretty tickled to find a lot of crafting goodies that I haven't seen in ages. They got packed away before Hubby moved in so it was a lot like Christmas. Hubby spent the day with Dad working on the fences and gates at the ranch.

Sunday was spent out at the ranch with Dad and cattle sorting again. Beautiful day to spend out in the fresh (country) air and sunshine.

I hope you all had a great weekend. I am working on a post about my decluttering strategies that I hope to have up later this week.

Our First Houseguests!

We're very happy to be welcoming the Hubby's Mom & Dad to our new home for a visit. They live in Arizona and we haven't seen them since July 4th. It's so nice to be able to share the new house with them as we didn't have room for guests in our old place (plus it was a pit so we would be mortified to even have anyone come in..)

It's doubly nice that they are up at this time because today is my Mom's 72nd birthday. We decided not to have a big shindig since she's not really up to it. So instead we're planning a nice lunch with cupcakes (remember the spice cake recipe here ?) and ice cream..yum. It'll be just close family with my Dad and my Ant Lola (another short aunt) also coming over. Beautiful day for a celebration and family visit!

(photo from our wedding which was also their 50th wedding anniversary! taken by Sara Deasy of DC Photography Studios)