Remember those clouds?

Remember the clouds I was talking about a couple of days ago? Well, yesterday's ride was complete with very similar clouds. So here's some pictures to make you see why your host was so happy about clouds.

I really do love these clouds. I mean, really really love clouds. I used to think, as a child, that heaven was on a cloud so anytime a cloud floated overhead, I thought that it was heaven floating over. I guess, that's probably why I have such a strong attachment to these beautiful things. And the fog, that's like a hug for me. Ah well, with the inevitable plunge in to winter, I will get to see my clouds...and I will see my rain. And I'm sure, long before it's over, I'll whine at least once...or ten times...or so...about how much I hate the rain and the mud. But for now, let me relish my once-forgotten friends. The romance won't last long...just the like the romance with the sun in summer. That's even shorter.

I enjoy the sun so long as it heats the pool...then I want it to go away because , like every year, I don't use the pool...because I don't like having to go out in the sun. Using it in the evening is acceptable...but then it's still hot and kind of muggy. Who likes that? So really, I should just live somewhere where it's cloudy, never hot, and doesn't have a lot of mud...Who's up for a trip to Antarctica?!

Looking for winter,

FFR

My Butt Is Gone...This concerns me greatly

Seven of us went on a motorcycle ride today. That includes Hubby and me. It was going to be nine but two of our riders bailed. We think it's because they knew what was going to happen to us. Anyway, seven of us took off on our motorcycle trip. 180+ miles all over the place. We went to check out a campground and to have some fun. Here's some photos...

Uncle G and Aunt J (not to be confused with MIL J) on their rented bike...which they will hopefully buy. Which all of us mentioned...a few times...not to push or anything...but in case they forgot...because that would be awesome...


There they are again. They're having fun aren't they? Maybe you should tell them to buy it...


FIL D, MIL J on the trike and Uncle G and Aunt J on the bike...but you know that now.


This is Uncle R. He's a lot of fun. He brought up the rear for us on this ride.


This is why we think Uncle D and Aunt A ditched the ride. They knew we were going to be rained on.


But it was only a little rain...and they missed this. These beautiful winding roads.


But they probably had forewarning about this too...traffic. Bad in a car, worse in a stick shift...worst on a motorcycle. No joke...it's terrible.

Worse still? My butt hurt so bad on the ride home...seriously, the last 20 minutes was unbearable. All of us kept shifting around on our bikes, trying to find a place that didn't make us go numb or cry. None of us are used to that long of a ride. I used to be, not anymore though. Still, it was loads of fun!

Numb Butts,

FFR

Oh Clouds, Where Have You Been?!

Today, clouds returned to our valley. They looked nothing like these.

Or these.

Rather, they were dark, looming, heavy clouds. They looked like they could let loose a nice sprinkling for us. They didn't, but their mere presence made me immensely happy. Here's why:

1) I don't like the sun

2) I don't like heat

3) I like the cold

4) I love clouds

5) I really really don't like the sun

So the clouds rolled in, and your host was very happy. They even stuck around all day...blocking out the sun. All day long. All...day... For those of you who get the winter blues...I'm sorry, I'm the opposite of you.

And now, for something completely different.

Tomorrow we have a big motorcycle ride. No running out of gas this time, Hubby topped it off...(but I did put some cash in my bag just in case we need to pay a tow truck driver for his gas). I trust Hubby, I really really do...but our last ride...just saying. I do trust him though.

Waiting for fun,

FFR

Moonlighting of the Sunflower

Remember Hubby? How late he was last night? Well, finally, on his way home he calls me. He tells me that he is going to be home in an hour and that I should look out at the moon. So I tell him I'm going to hang up on him and go take pictures. He was a little upset...me ditching him and all. But I ditched him anyway. Then I went outside with my happy little tripod and my happy little camera and my happy little lens. Emphasis on little. For when I went out to our driveway, I discovered that my lens was indeed way too small for this project. Hike back to the house I did.

And I got my happy big lens. And all was right with the moon.

Do you hear the howling?


I discovered last night, there are a lot of scary noises on the ranch at night.


I love this picture. I think it's beautiful.


I love our runway down the driveway.


The previous picture was done in shutter speed mode. This one was done in no flash mode. Big difference.


This is what sunflowers look like at night. Not much different from the day.




Because of the dark, I couldn't see the spider. I'm really glad, I didn't touch the flower.


In these ones, no spider exists.


But he's there...oh he's there.

I don't like spiders. I don't like much anything that crawls...unless it's Hubby crawling underneath the truck. That's a good crawling. Hubby knows I don't like crawling things. Ask him yourself. Ask him about how I woke him up at 6:45 this morning on his day off...to kill a crawling bee. *Shudder* And like a good hubby, he did it. Just for me.

Creepy Crawlies,

FFR

Dragons That Fly

I drove my new little hamster car to see Matt last Thursday and when I got there, we found this in my grill:

Isn't it purdy?

I wish I had my actual camera with me but my phone camera didn't do too bad of a job on that.

Look at those hands...those are the hands of a workin' man. I don't think I could ever have a man with soft hands. Those working hands are delightful. Speaking of working hands, my hard-working hubby is still at work. We can't catch a break says MIL J. She's right. In so many ways, we haven't had much time together since I started working. Alas, if anyone can do it, it's us.

Love you Hubby!

FFR

Fight or Flight

Three cranes showed up at our pond today and it was fight or flight for one male and two females. To my delight, the females were ganging up on the male.

The male


Run away run away!


And here come the girls!

Fleeing,

FFR

Trust

How much do you trust your spouse? This much?

I was helping Hubby move hay and to save some effort on his part, he jumped in the bucket and had me haul him over to the barn. Does your hubby trust you this much?

Trusted,
FFR

Shhhh...It Happens

Today's post is brought to you by "It Happens" by Sugarland. Why is this? Because, if it could happen today...it did.

It started at two in the morning. Our dear sweet puggle...you know her, this one?

She decided to pee in her kennel. She woke me up and because I didn't smell anything (she had been having poop problems in the not so distant past) I figured she had to go out but I had gotten there in time. Instead, I picked up a wet dog of pee. I got covered in it and woke up Hubby to ask him to help. I put Honey outside in her playpen to wait there while we got cleaned up. Hubby was still in bed. I woke him again and asked him to help. He seemed to think that I was just informing him the first time. I jumped in the shower and thought I heard him go out and get Honey and bring her in.

I get out of the shower and not only is Honey not in her kennel, she dug out of her play pen. Too tired to chase after her into my in-law's bedroom, I went back to bed. Hubby chased after her instead and put her away. Alas, I thought it was all going to be okay.

MIL J, FIL D, Hubby and I were going to take a motorcycle ride this morning. Well, MIL J and FIL D's trike wouldn't start up. So they ditched the ride and Hubby and I decided to take a ride ourselves. We were doing just fine until...we ran out of gas. Neither of us thought to look at the tank. So we called AAA who brought us gas. We thought we got plenty from the driver and continued on to find a gas station. Half a mile away from the airport exit...the bike dies. Again. Out of gas. Again. We get it started and get off the freeway. It dies again and we coast in to the station.

No more can possibly go wrong right? Wrong. Oh yes, more can go wrong. Hubby keeps looking down and I ask him what's up and he tells me his shifter is loose. So we pull over and work on fixing it so it won't fall off.

We get home, grab the car and go to lunch...at three o'clock because we never got to do it on the road. We have a good lunch. Hubby goes to sign the credit slip and the pen doesn't work. He gets another one. It works for the tip and half the signature. It stops working so he starts scribbling and ends up chucking it across the room. At this point I tell him we need to hide for the day.

We get back home and MIL J asks us frantically if we have Honey. You remember her, the cute puggle that peed on me this morning? Yeah, she escaped apparently. We did find her and she came running to me thankfully. Then we go about moving hay and who do I see around the corner? Honey, running free again. I get off the tractor and grab her again.

That seems to be the end of the Shhh...it happens day. But I think that's enough to qualify for the winner of awards for that movie. In the end, I laughed. A lot. It really was fun although it seems so horrible. You gotta laugh from time to time.

Laughing still,

FFR

The Sheep Races

It's that time of year again...The time of year when we're trying to catch a lone sheep that simply will not be caught. Have you ever tried to catch a sheep on foot? It's rather comical. My husband bought a rope for this very purpose...have you ever tried to throw a rope moving as fast as a running sheep when you haven't thrown a rope for many years?

So picture this. Four people running after 17 sheep with the intent to catch one...and them successfully evading us...and our rope...and our pool nets. *Whistles* So we didn't have the tools for the job. Yes, I know. Laugh it up.

At any rate, eventually we caught the baby we needed (she needs to be bottle fed) and put her in the barn. We chased the mom for awhile before I said enough was enough and grabbed Rocky and rode him after the sheep bareback. Poor boy had no idea what was going on (only that he was being worked twice in one day) but tried his hardest to understand why he was chasing the sheep. Rocky was more successful than we were...clueless Rocky...better than the higher thinking humans. Ah well, we can't all be Rockys.

Now some pictures!

Mmmm...now that's a hubby! Get away, he's mine!


Another successful herding...by me, not the sheep!


Chasing them again to a corner.


This is an awesomely awesome picture. I love it. Look really hard.


Oh Hubby...

Excuse me, it's date night.

Off and running,
FFR

A Man and His Dog

Now that I work at a vet's office, I see so many pets coming and going every day. I love seeing the variety of owners and talking about their various animals. Still, none has ever compared to my husband and his dog. She's my dog too of course, but still...they're just so adorable together. They play rough, something mom just won't do, and he can pick her up...something else mom won't do.

Ah Lucy. Our red-headed step-child whom we love so much. She's very well-behaved...but she knows when she has to, and when she doesn't. She's cute like that. The puggle, however, she'll push your buttons all day...and you just want to make her listen...but you can't. She's the teenager of the house. Lucy...she's the adult. Sadie is dependent, she's like the toddler who can't get away from dad. And Trixy...Trixy is the old woman. She's needy when she wants to be and independent elsewise.

Ah well, I should go let my loving dog out of her kennel for the morning.

Sleepy,

FFR

It's Just Another Day...

Picture this: It's just another day, although, slightly better because you have a new car. You go to work, you come home, you show off your new car to more family members. Normal right? Then something happens that causes your four weeks of work to crash in on you...okay, so maybe it's only my work because I'm at a pet hospital (and if you are too, you will know what I'm talking about here) but pretend that whatever job you have, or don't have, fits in to this scenario. Although, it really won't.

Anyway, you walk out your gate to take your car out for a ride and there it is, that thing that causes you to change your plans. And it comes packaged like this:

Not only do you cancel your plans, you want to stop and curl up with this poor lost thing. All the while, you hear in your head in an evil echoing voice, "LEPTOSPIROSIS!" Work has drilled it into you, the importance of vaccinations and the precautions to take with unvaccinated animals. But, how could you turn the face down?

You take precautions and you keep him away from all of your other dogs...but you can't just walk away from him. He's a lost puppy who looks like he's been on the run for a little while.

And the cuteness...

Then while you're taking pictures of the plan changer, something happens upon you that changes your plans again...You look over your shoulder to this:

And this:

So you stop taking pictures of the original plan changer and take pictures of the big plan changers and thus end your day with the big jealous animals.

Soft hearted,

FFR

Best Dog in the World

I've had some awesome dogs. Most of them have been rescues (who could deny them a home?!) and I find that rescues are often extremely grateful for their position in life and do everything they can to be on your good side. That said, one of the best dogs I've ever had was not a rescue per say, just a pick up from an unwanted litter.

Aussie was the smartest, kindest, most fun dog. I miss her so much.

Who's your best animal?

Asking questions,

FFR

Hamster Mobile

Sooo...I got a car! A hamster mobile no less. Don't know what I'm talking about? Watch this:



A hamster mobile. That's my new car! Only, mine looks like this:

Soul...I gots it.



Yes, it's a manual. I get lazy driving auto. Plus, it was the only one on the lot. So...not a matter of choice so much as necessity.

Driving home my brand new car, someone in a white truck tried to take out the front of it. I gave them a friendly beep beep. Okay...so maybe not so friendly. I tried.

New Car Smelling,

FFR