Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

R's happiness and excitement about her volunteer job: one (full!) day a month at an equine clinic.



Here she is on her first day with "Doc", a horse skeleton that lives in the clinic lobby...

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

Watching Cody and Max's canine friendship develop. Max is K's dog, staying with us until she gets home from the Peace Corps, and this might be the first time he's lived with another dog. Cody is very much a people dog... happiest to be with his people... but Max LOVES having Cody as a new  "big brother" and will follow him around, biting the back of his leg to try and get him to play, he thinks Cody is the coolest thing ever!

Cody is always a good sport and rarely loses patience with Max...

 



... even when Max interrupts a nap by squeezing into Cody's crate to cuddle up with him. (Afraid of "breaking the spell" by walking closer to them to take the picture, I took it from the dining room... sorry about the poor quality.)

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

Watching the weather coming over the hills to the north of us.



This was yesterday afternoon... It started out sunny and fairly warm, then the clouds moved in. I watched the clouds moving over the hills on the northern horizon, knowing a change was coming. The clouds didn't bring snow, just a quick temperature drop and a foggy rest of the day.



(And yes Steve, I did get the nesting boxes cleaned before the cold hit. It was so good to talk to you yesterday... :) 

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

A little serendipity... and options.

After hounding M's spine doc for two weeks for the results of the spinal injection he did last month, and finally getting nothing more than a referral to a spine surgeon (does he not understand that spine surgery is the absolute LAST resort?!), I noticed a book E got me for Christmas last year sitting on the shelf.

I think she got it for me because it's a nice, feel-good, dog story.



She had no way of knowing that the author suffered through years of back pain (chronicled in the book) and gave the name of the spine clinic, and specific doctor who helped him when no one else could... a spine clinic that just happens to be in Denver.



Yes, serendipity is good....

I spent this morning filling out the intake form for the clinic, hoping to get M in for a second opinion. I know they might not take our insurance, and might not want to get involved because M has such a complicated mix of physical and psychiatric needs... but it is very good to have options. 

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

Finding books left laying all over the house after the kids had gone to bed last night...



Yes, the kids are supposed to put them away (or take them with them) when they go to bed...



But tonight, for some reason there were a few left here and there.



I LOVE that all of my kids are readers, and books are such a special part of their lives. And I even love finding the proof of that love of reading laying all over the house.



From top to bottom the books are: The Lady and the Panda, by Vicki Constantine Croke, a book M bought and thought I'd like to read. Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, our current read aloud (Yes, we are reading the whole series AGAIN... I think this is the third or fourth time :) No Passengers Beyond This Point, by Gennifer Choldenko, a book of R's that she thought M might enjoy reading. Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer, the book I'm reading right now. (I guess I leave my books laying around too...)

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

Beautiful fall leaves...





(These from our smoke tree out back....)

Enjoy your day!

Happy Monday

What makes me happy on this cool, cloudy Monday?

A straightened up barn.



It may not look like much, but until an hour ago or so there was a mess of dirty hay and baling twine on the floor, empty feeders laying around waiting to be put away, and odds and ends from the barn first aid kit scattered here and there (from doctoring the crack in Murphy's hoof). That's all put away now. R can put the saddles away now too (not done yet) because the extra stall, where they are usually stored, is almost emptied of the hay I'd been storing in there.

It's amazing how much bigger the barn looks when it's cleaned up!

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

Chocolate chip cookies in the oven...



on this lazy Labor Day morning.

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

"Hay Day"...

The day the year's hay gets delivered.

It was yesterday.






Oh yeah....a full barn is nice.

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

The chicken yard is done and ready for our chickens...




The coop will go where the 2x6 is against the fence, we hope to have it.. and the chickens, moved today.



One of our wood posts is taller than the other... something I'll trim down someday when I have the manpower. (I don't like using the sawzall, especially over my head like that...)

To give a sense of where it is in relation to the house, here's the view out my (sun glare-y, dirty) dining room window...




How nice to have this job finished... and the kids, especially R, can't wait for the chickens to get here. Fun times!

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

The scarecrow I made for the pumpkin patch...

I used a metal framework "man" I've had for years,

and added some old clothes. I wish his face was easier to see though, it kind of gets lost in the background...

I might grab some old corrugated metal my neighbor has in her trash pile, cut it to fit behind his face so it will show up better. 

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

My pumpkin plants growing big and starting to vine....

(just a little beat up by hail)

... and all the mid-summer blooms.

Here are my "pansies in a cage" (have I mentioned how much deer love pansies?), yes some are "escaping"...

My ancient geranium... this plant is at least 10 years old and still going strong!

And the first few blooms of what will soon be a riot of purple coneflowers. (the white dots on the leaves is deer stopper spray... deer like coneflowers too!)

... and wildflowers of course...

almost hidden in the waist high prairie grass.

Enjoy your day!

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

This picture...





... taken by Theron Humphrey of his dog Maddie.

I don't know why I love it so much, but it makes me smile every time I look at it. You can see more of Theron's work here.

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

R's happiness at getting to play at a Denver Uke Community event.



She and her instructor had planned to play one song together (which she did beautifully, I might add....not that I'm biased or anything),



and she had so much fun playing for people that she volunteered to do another... alone!



It makes me so happy, and grateful, to watch my children grow and spread their wings...

Happy Monday

What makes me happy?

A picture I found on craiglist...



I'm car (van) shopping and found this photo in an ad... the old VW buses are one of my favorite cars. I used to have a 1972 baby blue one, my Dad had a 1965(ish) camper very similar to the second van from the right in this photo.

I'm not shopping for an old VW van... I'd have to take out a second mortgage to afford one, and it wouldn't be practical at all, even if I had the money... but the photo of those old vans, the bright colors, the mountains in the background, just makes me happy.

(How much do you want to bet the photo was taken in Boulder??) 

~Happy Monday~

What makes me happy?

Waking up to find that we didn't get as much snow as forecast, and the branches on my fruit trees aren't broken off.

Alas, we won't be getting any apples again this year... 

...but at least the branches didn't break during the night... and that makes me very happy. There is always next year for homegrown apples.  (And until then there is always Sprouts!)