The Cats

BE has four cats. They are barn cats and are mostly afraid of humans. With the exception of Bob.

This is Bob, so named because he doesn't have a tail. Bob likes attention. His favorite pastime was taunting Gus.

I don't remember this cat's name. She was afraid of us, so rarely came out of hiding.

Ditto on this one. The only time I saw this cat was at feeding time.

This is Zero. I don't have a good pic of it, but she has a marking on one side that looks like a large Zero. 

That does it for the cats. To be continued...

The Pups

Those who know me, know how much I love dogs. So, it is only natural that I befriend every dog I can. 

The first dog we saw was RE's pup, Smoke. Smoke and I have spent time together before. He seemed happy enough to see his friend, The Ear Scratching Lady. Smoke is a Blue Heeler.

BE has two pups. Scout is an Anatolian Shepard. If you are not familiar with the breed, they are large dogs. Scout is well known for keeping the coyotes away from the ranch. 

And Bella. She is a beauty. Those eyes! She is a mix with husky and an unknown breed. She is as sweet as she is beautiful. Bella helps Scout keep the coyotes away.

Then there is Gus, our pup. He is a red heeler. The lady we got him from said his father was a blue heeler and his mom a red heeler, but we believe we were told this to hide the fact that he has some pit in him. Whatever he is, we love him dearly.

Those are the pups. To be continued....

The Cows

I love taking pictures of critters and the first critters I saw, other than pups, were cows. Where we live in Illinois we have lots of grain farms, but very few cattle and/or horse ranches. Whereas most may not enjoy taking pictures of cows, it was a treat for me.

Black Angus seemed to be a popular choice.

My previous visits to Oklahoma were in the northern part. I was happy to see the rolling  hills in the southern part. 

Curious calf.

Being so close to Texas, I expected to see more Longhorn cattle and we did see some. This guy is the wrong color for what I know as Texas Longhorns, but he is quite handsome. Sadly, I couldn't get him/her to turn around and pose.

This is more what I think of as a Longhorn, but she wouldn't turn around either. The story of my critter picture life. 

To be continued...

Our Home Away From Home

After visiting RE in Stonewall, we moved on to our final destination and our home away from home for the next few weeks.
First we drove down this road...

...then turned down this road.

Finally turning in at the gate with the Double Es to meet up with BE and CE.

Loved their welcome sign.

Parked and all set up. We were between the well house and the horse barn. 

To be continued....

Stonewall

Monday 4/3/17, we left the KOA in Springfield, MO for Stonewall, OK.

Stonewall is a town in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma. The population was 465 as of the 2000 census. There are not many businesses left in this small town. The business area consists of a couple of blocks on main street. The ones I can remember are City Hall, a hardware store, Abbott's Grocery and Feed Store, a beauty shop, a tire shop, and a gas station. As has become the norm in small towns, there is a Dollar General off the highway. The rest of the buildings are empty.

According to one of the residents, this was once a booming mecca of entertainment. There are a few buildings left to tell the story.

There are a few buildings left to tell the story. We arrived at our friend's ranch in the early afternoon. This trip was for DA to help our friend, RE, as he prepared to relocate from Texas to Oklahoma.

To be continued....

The Trip Begins

It's been a while since I posted. That's because immediately after DA's cardiologist appointment on March 28th, we hooked up the RV and took off for Oklahoma. We didn't stay at an RV park, but rather set up out by a friend's horse barn, where we had access to electricity, water, and sewer. However, there was no WiFi and only the TV channels we could pick up with our antenna. It was actually very refreshing. We found other things to do rather than stare at the TV and computer. Nice!

We came home last week, but have been busy catching up on the chores we missed out on for the 6 weeks we were gone. So now, I'm going to start from the beginning...

March 29th - Wednesday
Our first day consisted of driving about 5 hours from Illinois to the KOA in Springfield, MO where we planned to spend the night. It's a very nice location. The people are friendly and the RV park is well maintained. It is near Route 66, hence the theme.

Route 66 was prominently displayed throughout the park. 

I enjoyed sitting on this bench outside the laundry room. Nice place to people watch while waiting on the clothes to dry.

The shelves inside the laundry room were filled with antiques. I particularly liked this old hair dryer...

...and the roller skates.

Our plan was to only stay one night, but we had an issue with hot water and a leak around the toilet, so we had to call a repairman. When that was fixed, the weather turned ugly, so we decided to stay a few days and leave for Oklahoma the following Monday.

It was still winter-like outside. Some trees were beginning to bud and there were a few early spring flowers. I enjoyed taking pictures of Mr. Robin.

When the robins arrive, spring will soon follow.

To be continued....

The Week in Review

Nothing much to report this week. It was a week of hanging out at home, chores, with a couple of trips into town for grocery shopping.

I have a bedroom that needs repainted. It has a ton of repaired nail holes, which left a litter of white spots. We tried to paint match, but we were not successful. Guess we, or more than likely—me, will be repainting the whole room. When I work up the energy. I expect I will be scrambling to get it done next time we are expecting overnight guests. Procrastination is my middle name.

We did get some snow. Gus tried to jump through the window to get this poor rabbit. Not sure where he lives, but see him quite a bit in the back alley.

I like to drive around and take pictures in the snow, but was too cold and lazy to clean off the truck windows, so didn't get out until the next day. The snow was almost gone by then. It was still snowing a little when I got to the covered bridge.

Wednesday evening, Gus was barking and jumping on the window again. I looked out to see what had him so agitated. The rabbit was back. I took a couple of pictures and watched him until he hopped away. I discovered the little devil is living under our storage shed in the back.

Thursday we had lunch at A&W. I love me a frosty mug of ice cold root beer. Even in cold weather.

The Mallards have arrived at The Rez. They were enjoying a bounty of something wonderful in the grass. I don't know what the white duck was doing there, but they seemed to be friends.

Of course, in the middle of their photo shoot, a truck drove by and scared them away.

Linking to Willy-Nilly Friday 5 

Shady Dog Soap

This is kind of a commercial, but I love this soap so much I decided to share.

A friend of mine, Staci Szybowicz, recently started a new business called Shady Dog Soap. The name comes from her love of some pretty awesome pups, No, it is not dog shampoo, although I think Gus might smell a little better if I lathered him up, but I'm not sharing.

My order from Shady Dog Soap, was promptly received. Excellent customer service. The packaging is very nice. When I opened the box, the fragrance filled the room. The soaps are so pretty I almost hated to open them, but of course I couldn't resist.

I purchased the 3-pack special which included my choices of Lavender, Rose, and Sweet Orange. I've always thought Lavender was my favorite fragrance, but now I'm not so sure. They are all excellent!
Do yourself a favor and go visit the website below. I'm thinking Christmas already.

https://www.shadydogsoap.com/

The Week in Review

DAC, had a doctor's appointment on February 28th. His health is much improved since his heart issue last July. When we got home from the doctor, we decided to take off for a few days. It wasn't easy deciding where to go, but ultimately chose the horse races in Hot Springs, AR. It is an easy 7 1/2 hour drive. So we left the next day.

We took Gus with us, which turned out to be a lot of work. Next time we will probably board him. He enjoyed himself, but gave a few people near heart attacks by barking his mean bark out the window. He isn't used to seeing strangers. He looks innocent, but remember, looks are often deceiving.

Post time.

Cyclone Betty was running in the first race, so thought I should place a bet.

This is Cyclone Betty. She came in 2nd, which means I lost my $1. But it was fun screaming at the poor thing.

I have been to the horse races many times, especially when I lived in Texas. Never have I ever seen a horse or jockey injured until this time. 2 jockeys went to the hospital by ambulance and two horses had to be put down. It was very sad. When a horse runs, all of its weight comes down on one leg as in the picture below. Occasionally, a bone breaks and the horse goes down. Very sad.

Linking to Willy-Nilly Friday 5