another amazing weekend....

Beautiful sky in the Bighorns yesterday!

Wow, I just love it here in Buffalo when things start getting into full “summer” mode! Rob and I have been like running around like chickens with our heads cut off since we got home, trying to catch up on yard work and websites since we got back from our southern trip, but the weather has been so glorious, I haven’t really noticed!  Going down South into the depths of humidity has reminded me how much I truly don’t mind the longish winters here.

The first thing we had to do was get unbloated from the altitude change, which always happens when we have a visit down to any “Flatlander” areas.  The first time I went back east for a doctor’s appointment after we moved to Buffalo, I got some bloodwork done and the doctor was freaking out.  She asked “What the heck elevation do you live at now?”  When I told her I was now living at about a mile up, she relaxed and explained that she hadn’t seen that many red blood cells in someone’s lab work in many years.  You see, when you live at high elevations, your body compensates by making more red blood cells so you can carry more oxygen because there’s less in the air at this level. Well, when you go back down to sea level, those blood cells have nothing to do except fill up and you get really bloated!  I was starting to have trouble bending my fingers down in AL with all the congested blood cells.

It takes about two days of running to the potty to get rid of all the extra fluids that accumulate from one of these trips.  Now, you learned some new science, if you didn’t already know this stuff! So, Rob and I are feeling much lighter! I was carrying around about 5 lbs of water weight, thanks to the altitude change!

Anyway, Friday night, we had a blast at the Moose and we were lucky to get there in time for the tail end of a memorial for our friend Jaci, who passed away down in Kingman, AZ. She was such a sweet soul and she’s greatly missed here in Buffalo. While we were there, one of my favorite friends showed up that I haven’t seen in quite a while, so we ended up staying a little longer than we usually do. I think I convinced her to get a membership, so maybe I’ll see her more often! I also picked up two more wedding to do this summer while I was at the Moose and I’m really jazzed about that!

One of the weddings is for a dear friend, Bobby, and will be in early August and the other is for another good friend, Larry.  Larry’s wedding will be a two day affair, complete with pig roast up on the mountain and we’ll be taking our camper up for that one! Larry and his girlfriend are so funny, they had everything all planned except for who was doing the wedding! They had no idea I was an ordained minister, though, and found out while I was on vacation, so everything is working out perfectly and I not only get to do the wedding, I get to celebrate, too!

Saturday, we had to run to Sheridan and pick up a few veggie plants that didn’t survive the cold while we were on vacation.  We only lost one tomato plant out of 14, so that’s pretty good.  My jalepenos took a beating, though, as did the eggplant and had to be replaced. Hopefully, they’ll catch right back up since the weather is finally straightening out. On the same note, all of our garden is up!  The corn is already peeking its little stalks up and I swear the radishes will be ready next week! I am SO ready for some home grown veggies, I can already taste them.  I think I told you, we got a teaser already because there were produce stands all over MS as we were passing through and we loaded up on fresh tomatoes and cukes and watermelons while we were down there.

Saturday night, we had our annual Wild Bunch Wyoming Luau and it was awesome as usual.  The Younger Brothers Band was there playing and they are one of our favorite bands.  Chancy came over (the lead) and filled us in on how great they are doing getting discovered.  They’ll be opening for one of the top performers at Cheyenne Frontier Days this year, which is a very huge deal! They’ve been down in Nashville doing a lot of recording and getting a great reception there, too.  The Wild Bunch put on a fabulous spread, too. All the pulled pork and fixings you could eat and the beer you wanted.  We stayed until after they gave away the Bahamas trip (which of course, we did not win) and then headed home, exhausted.

Thistle found a bone to chew on!

Yesterday, Rob, Thistle and I went up the mountain for a load of firewood and to get the last straight log we need for the entrance gateway Rob wants to build in front of our side walk. We know we’ll probably never be able to have a “ranch” so Rob wants to make a little gateway for the house here in town.  He’s been finding the perfect 12 foot logs and peeling them by hand and he wants to have someone make us a metal lasered silhouette of some sort to go on the top. I told him we’ll have to name it “postage stamp ranch”.  It was just heavenly up on the mountain yesterday, cool and breezy and the clouds were so close I could almost touch them with my hand. 

Rob hauling and cutting firewood

It was Thistle’s first real experience out in the forest except when there’s been snow on the ground and she was having a mighty time!  She even found a big old thigh bone, looked like a cow, probably, to chew on and throw around while we were up there. She’s the busiest little retriever, wherever she goes. She chased centipedes that ran out of the logs and rearranged half the rocks up there, I swear.  I don’t know what she sees in rocks, but she sure loves to carry them around and chew on them.

Last night, we actually went to the theatre and saw Battleship.  We have Netflix and don’t usually go to the actual movies unless it’s something we want to see on the huge screen, anymore.  This was definitely one you need to see in the theatre!  I thought it was going to be a little dumb because it’s based on the board game but it was actually pretty darn good and had an actual plot.  It just amazes me what they do with graphics now!

I’m going to have a nice easy week and I’m really looking forward to that. Thistle and I need to get back into our walking routine and while we were gone, the weeds went nuts.  I only got part of the landscaping fabric down in the veggie garden before we left, so now I need to re-weed and get the rest of the fabric down.  It’s supposed to be in the 80’s all week with no chance of rain, so looks like I’ll get ‘er done. It will take me a while, I’m having trouble bending over these days, those darn tumors are sitting in a funny place right now and making me lightheaded when I bend certain ways. The doc told me to be careful because, since they are right up against my aorta and so large at the moment, if they push at the same time on my aorta, it may cause me to pass out. So, if you see me laying flat out in my garden, please come roll me over, would ya?

Well, have yourselves a fine and wonderful week!  Everyone’s weather should be straightening out now and we can really start to enjoy the warmth.  Life is awesome and beautiful, if you look in the right places and set your mind to it. Focus on the little things to make you happy and the big things will follow!