Grounds, Maintenance & Stowaways

Not really a stowaway but when we got home from the Meston Family Reunion we had a new member of the menagerie. We drove in the drive and this little black kitten comes walking out of the barn to greet us. It is the most friendly little thing so obviously someone had given it a lot of attention but decided they no longer needed it and apparently left it at our house. As you can see it has made a fast friend.

It is almost entirely black with just a few white hairs here and there. If we could just harness its engine power we could probably power our whole farm. It purrrrrrrrs like crazy when you just start to pet it and really goes to town when you pick it up.

Just what we needed a free cat that has already cost us over $50 for vet bills with more to come when she is a little older. She has a small belly rupture which we will fix when she gets fixed. I think she is officially here to stay so might as well get used to it.

I took these picture the other day when I went for a little walk and the sun caught the front of the house just right. These are part of what has come to be known as Marcia's grounds and maintenance duties as she is heading up that particular department.

This one shows some of her flower gardens. She has many all around the yard which receive many compliments from my customers when they stop by the shop. I always give credit where due though and tell them it is all because of Marcia's hard work that they are so beautiful.

Marcia is still at her Mom's in Canada and won't be back for a few more days. She is enjoying her time with her Mom but not looking forward to that long drive home on Monday.

Where Have I been

I have not been keeping current on my blog, sorry to all of you faithful readers(both of you) but I have been busy trying to get healed up, getting back into some work and readying the camper for some trips. I took a little trip to Michigan for the Forestry Forum Pig Roast the 1st of August and then Marcia and I went to Indy to see the kids. We stayed at Mounds State Park in Anderson which is about half an hour from Brian and Jennifers. It is a nice state park and we were able to get a reservation which was good because they were full up. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and Brian and Jennifer brought the boys and pizza over to the park. We had a nice time with them and Cole got to stay and spend the night with us which is always a treat.

Sunday we got up early(remember Cole was spending the night) and had a nice morning getting around and playing some games. We had a playground just a couple of sites away from where we were parked so it was easy for Cole to go over and play. Marcia took Cole over after breakfast and then I went over and watched him and took some pictures while she went back and fininshed cleaning up. We then headed over to the Melton's for a relaxing day in the air conditioning as it was in the mid nineties that day and would have been pretty warm at the park. Alyssa joined us for a fun day of cooking out and relaxing. We had a good time playing with the boys and catching up on family goings on.

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Monday we went to Bloomington and stopped at Alyssa's apartment which Marcia had never seen. Alyssa showed us around IU's campus, and a beautiful one it is, and we had lunch at a campus eatery which was good. Then we went to Hoosier National Forest Headquarters office in Bedford about 20 miles south of Bloomington. Marcia and I purchased our Senior Passes which cost $10 and are good for your lifetime. They allow entrance into most National Parks, National Monuments, National Forests, National Grasslands, Bureau of Land Management and Corps of Engineering Parks. They also give a 50% discount on camping in most of these areas that have campgrounds. Can you see a pattern developing here? I see Marcia and Dewey staying in some National Forest etc. campgrounds.