Friday frenzy!

View from the park, see that road on the right going to mtn? That's our roof you can see where the road seems to end!

Hallelujah and pass the peas, we made it to Friday! Gosh, yesterday was the most glorious day yet in the little burg of Buffalo, too!  My car thermometer actually registered 77 degrees at one point in the afternoon.  I spent as much time as absolutely possible outdoors, yesterday. I have to tell you this is the warmest March I’ve ever seen in the 14 years we’ve lived here.  There’s already a lot of talk in town, though, about the upcoming fire season, and what kind of impact this warm spring is going to have on our beautiful national forest. I keep reminding people that the water content up on the mountain is still good, and we aren’t out of the woods for snow for the spring yet, either.  It’s funny how we are so attuned to the weather here.  Of course, there’s bizarre warm weather all over the country this season.

Yesterday, I took Thistle along when I went to tan.  She’s become quite the little lady when I take her for drives now.  She sat patiently for the 15 minutes I was in Kris’, waiting in the driver’s seat, looking like she was going to be my chauffeur.  I can now completely trust her in the car.  It doesn’t hurt that all the ladies coming in and out, coo and stop to talk with her through the cracked window while she’s sitting there, of course.

After tanning, we headed over to Mtn Plains Heritage Park, which is only a couple of blocks from the house but can seem a world away because of the magnificent view.  There were already a bunch of people with their dogs there at 9:15 when we arrived.  It looked like I wasn’t the only one who was intent on taking full advantage of the beautiful day. I couldn’t believe how warm it was out there, and there wasn’t the usual wind whipping around the park.  It was just a beautiful, calm day!  As soon as we got out of the car, Thistle had to do her usual barking at the big bronze statue of the bison, which I find hilarious!  Every single time we go to the park, she’s convinced that bison is real.  Once again, we had to spend the first 5 minutes checking out the statue to make sure it wasn’t real.  Thistle, of course, starts off with her hackles all raised, circling closer and closer, until she finally realizes that dumb statue isn’t going to attack her. 

When we finally got moving on the trails, we ran into several people who had their dogs and of course, had to stop and talk, allowing all the dogs to meet.  Thistle just loves other dogs and that’s so awesome.  My last golden, Tumbleweed, really didn’t like other dogs and it was a constant problem when we would encounter others, as she really hated having her butt sniffed.  Thistle, on the other hand, thinks absolutely every dog should be her friend, and especially the little dogs.  So, for the first round of walking, we did more socializing than anything else.  Pretty soon, the other walkers all drifted back to their cars and we were alone on the park’s paths and that’s when we really started having fun.  I got Thistle running as much as I could so I could wear her out a little.  I was amazed how well my knee held up, too!  This morning it feels just fine.  Anyway, we ended up spending about 2 hours out at the park, enjoying the scenery, running our fool heads off and taking short breaks on the park’s covered benches. 

We got back home just in time to make lunch and I figured Thistle would be totally pooped out from all the exercise.  So, I made myself a nice cold sandwich, which I put on the dining room table and went back into the kitchen to make Rob’s lunch, which yesterday, was hot roast beef and sugar snap peas.  I was only gone from the dining room about 2-3 minutes.  As I come back into the dining room, I see that Thistle has grabbed my sandwich off the dining room table, eaten the whole thing, and all that’s left is a couple of pieces of lettuce on the floor! I was so mad but I was also laughing so hard, just from the thought of how fast she had to scarf that down.  So, we learned a new lesson yesterday…Thistle is now big enough to grab stuff off the table! At least it was something healthy and not something that would cause her harm.  She spent the next couple of hours sleeping off the sandwich, totally knocked out in a turkey stupor.

While she was sleeping off her feast in the kennel, I took off to visit Breean and her son, Wyatt. If you remember, Breean is the new co-planner’s wife, who just moved here from Basin.  She said they are getting more and more acclimated to Buffalo and really enjoying it.  She’s gotten a part-time job that will be starting in a month so we’ve still got some time to hang out together before that starts.  It was still such a beautiful day, we sat out on her back deck, almost sweating in the sunshine.

Football in the backyard!

When I got back to the house, Thistle was rousing from her comatose state and I took her out in the backyard for some play time with her football until Rob got home. All in all, it was just a perfect day! I even managed to get some medical appointments scheduled that I’ve been putting off. 

Today is going to be a really busy day.  We have our monthly Chamber of Commerce Coffee this morning at 7:30.  It’s early this month because we have a Chamber Small Business Expo next Friday and Saturday (we have a booth for that).  After the Chamber Coffee, Rob and I are signed up for a Small Acreage workshop that’s being sponsored by the Lake Desmet Conservation District.  That’s going on from 9-12 at the Hampton Inn.  We went last year to their workshop on trees, shrubs and bugs and really got a lot out of it.  This one is concentrating on water wise landscaping with perennials and weed identification and management.  It’s a constant battle here with the wildest assortment of weeds!

At 12:30, we’re meeting Zack, the City Planner and his wife, Carol Ann, for lunch at the local Chinese restaurant.  That’s always a hoot.  Because they have teenagers, we don’t get to socialize with them a whole lot, even though they are two of our favorite people, so we try to have lunch or dinner with them at least once a month.  They keep joking that it will only be a couple of more years before they get their own childhoods back when these last two kids go off into the world.  Carol Ann has 6 kids, so I know she’s looking forward to that day!

The afternoon, I pretty much have to myself but I need to spend that getting appetizers ready for happy hour this evening.  I think I told you that Rob is pre-diabetic so I have to make sure he has something to eat when we go out for cocktails.  Our table of friends has been getting larger and larger lately at the Moose, we’ve recruited quite a few friends for membership lately, so I have a lot of food to make.  Today I’m going to be making some little appetizers with fresh mozzarella balls, basil, and cherry tomatoes that were a hit a few weeks ago.  I also have some leftover sourdough bread I’m going to chunk up and make rosemary garlic toast with. Of course, for Rob’s meat addiction, there has to be a bunch of cut up sausages to go along with the whole shebang.  I found some great coppicollo , ham and  salami while I was shopping the other day.

Sometime in the afternoon, I have to find the time to take Thistle for a walk, because it’s supposed to be even nicer than yesterday!  Whew!  I think I’m really going to be ready for my weekly Captain Morgan by the end of the day, wouldn’t you say?

Another pretty view from the park

I hope you have a wonderful Friday and an even more special weekend.  If it’s nice, don’t spend it inside, get out there and enjoy nature!  Everything here is sprouting out buds like crazy!