Smoky Hills!!

Smoke, Smoke everywhere!!  It just goes on and on, everyday there is smoke. The picture above normally shows a great view of the Cathedral Spites and the Needles Highway, but you can’t even see them and it's like this every day. So many fires going on around us it's impossible to keep track of them all.  I know the Smoky Mountains are back East, but this has sure been the Smoky Black Hills lately. It is so dry!  We pray for everybody that are almost consumed by the many fires in so many states. 

Jack and Danielle are in Woodland Park, just above Colorado Springs, and have been on "Pre-Evacuation Status" for days.  So far, at least the last time we talked to them, they are still on standby. It almost seems the whole western United States is on fire!!  We have had it easy compared to many other areas. Hot and Dry!! We need the "rain dancers"!!


Last year at this time this is how our Kitchen looked……..This picture was taken on June 18, 2011


This is how that same area looked on Sept 14, 2011.   What a difference in just 3 months!! We are so happy with this entire project. There has been a lot of effort on a lot of people's part to make it all come about. I guess you could say a lot of blood, sweat, tears and a WHOLE LOT OF LOVE went into it all. But it sure is nice and we are enjoying it immensely.


We still had one item that just didn’t fit.  This old refrigerator looked terribly out of place.  It had served us well as an “extra” for years out in our shed but it sure didn’t do our new kitchen any justice. Plus with the freezer across the top, you had to almost get on your knees to get anything out of the bottom food section.  The older we get, the harder it is to get down on your knees...if you know what I mean. :-) We knew it had to GO!!! 

Just a few days ago, on June 30th, they delivered our new "Kenmore Elite French-Door Bottom-Freezer" refrigerator.  Pretty nice isn't it and we even got a really good deal on it.


Now that’s better!!


It’s a beauty and is so much easier to use……..Ms. Pat is HAPPY!!!


A few more pictures of our beautiful “Cabin” that we are so happy with and proud of.  We still need a few little decorative items to finish it off but we are VERY HAPPY with our new "home in the Hills".

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Rollie called last night and expressed how happy Gina is with her "Surprise".  You just have to go over to his Blog and find out about it……All Because Two People Fell in Love.

I hope you all are enjoying this wonderful day of celebration of our INDEPENDENCE and thanking the many that have made it possible for us!!!
 
We also continue to Thank God for all the many things he has blessed Ms. Pat and I with.

Mike

This Blog is published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Ms. Megabyte2 Takes a Trip.

Ms. Megabyte2 likes to stay at home most of the time, but the other day I talked her into a little ride in the old pickup. So here we go, on a little adventure.



We stopped at this place just a few miles from our house. Ms. Megabyte2 says “This place looks familiar, where are we”?



She says “Oh ya, I remember this place. The place with the COLD table tops”.  “This is the place where they always go to my rear end and stick something up it....I DON'T like it here”!!!



“Oh OUCH.......,then they always stick me with that needle”! “Why do you bring me here Mom, I thought you were my friend”!


When we got back home where she was safe and sound as she looked at me I could almost hear her say “ You tricked me Pops, I’m not gonna go for a ride with you NO MORE”!!    But anyhow, she got her annual shots and lets hope I don’t have to take her back to that place again!! She is such an Angel…..


The weather has been real good here, getting a little hotter than usual for this early in the year, but Custer is usually always the coolest place in the state. All the insulation we put in our little “Cabin” is paying off, we haven’t needed any A/C at all yet.  We don't have any, even if we do need it. :-)

It is awful dry.....we haven’t hardly had any rain at all and the low humidity dries us out real fast. We also have a couple fires in the Hills north of us as you can see from the picture above. The sun is almost hidden by the smoke clouds on the left, which is North and you can see smoke in the hills.

Fortunately the great Firefighters we have here have them all fairly under control. Nothing like the poor folks have in Colorado, our heart goes out to them. Having your home totally destroyed would be terrible. Lets hope everyone is mighty careful with all those Fireworks during the next few days.  We are all so dry it wouldn’t take much for all us us to go up in a POOF !!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Happy 4TH of July to everybody…….Be safe!!

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our good friends Fuzz and Freda.  They are headed up from their home in Colorado and will try breathing some South Dakota smoke rather than Colorado smoke for a few days.  We're looking forward to seeing them...it's been way too long.  I'm sure you'll be hearing more about their visit.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Gone But Not Forgotten……

Happy Birthday Scooter!!  Tomorrow, June 28th is Scott's Birthday. He would be 51. Ms. Pat and I dedicate this blog to Scott and his Brother Mikel.

So many Memories of the wonderful times we had together. Our time together was cut short but it was a wonderful blessing that God let me have this boy in my life for 47 years. The memories go on and they will go on as long as I live.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY Scott.  I love you and miss you a lot!

I think my friend JB, of John & Brenda's Incredible Journey, summed it up best when he told me “The memories are what make the loss bearable”   So true JB, that and the fact that we know Scott would want us to continue on and have a good life is what keeps us going.  Scott is my Guardian Angel now and I know he is right here with me every step I take……every minute of the day….Praise God!
 
It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Thanks for stopping by,,,,,,

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Well, It Happened Again!!

Yep, it happened again and again I am very thankful it happened. Just like always, a few days after Fathers Day for the last 77 years I had another BIRTHDAY.  It was some kind of a great week. Fathers Day, Ms. Pat took me out for a super breakfast, then on Friday she got a group of friends together and we all went to the local VFW for supper. Most of us had the Steak and Shrimp...it was outstanding!! Thanks to everyone for all the greetings and well wishes. The older I get the more it means to me.

In my last Blog I told you about Greg and I putting the bed side tables together and that the replacement parts for the desk had come in. Now we had to put it together and it had even more parts than the tables. Hmmm, can Ms. Pat and I do it without Greg and Bonnie's help? We don't have much choice if we want to have a desk, so we,ll sure give it a try!!

Here we go.  I laid all the parts out and Ms. Pat counted all the pieces and studied the directions. I tried to tell her that nobody reads directions.  Who can understand them anyhow? Notice the shirt she has over her shoulders... it was a little cool when we started but soon we both had a sweat worked up!


I had pieces strung out everywhere, on the floor and on every table we had. Oh, Man, it is so hard to tell which part goes where. They don’t mark them very well either.  Ms. Pat continues to check the instructions.....by now I think she reads Chinese. We tried to make it fun and I told her I didn’t want to get it together backwards, so she would have to sit at the backside.  Boy, let me tell you....it's hard for an Irishman like me to keep my cool during all this.


Here is Ms. Pat with the directions in one hand and a piece of the desk in the other, holding it up saying “here this is where the AA part goes, it fastens on to both BB and ZZ with the special fasteners DD”. You can't believe all the configurations and gyrations we had to get into to put all these parts together.  Plus some of the fasteners were very hard to get at and tighten.  Whew!  Rollie...Greg, I need you bad…..  However, it is beginning to look a little like a desk right?


We had two of these drawers to put together and install the drawer slides on them, plus the center keyboard drawer…  How all this goes together just amazes me…. and yes Rollie, I got to use that little hammer that you bought me,,,,,,again!!


Well LOOK at THIS!!!  Even Ms. Megabyte2 approves of it!! With all the blood, sweat and tears that goes into building these things, you just have to appreciate them more. I must say, I was impressed with the sturdiness and the weight of it, it is solid and heavy!


It was amazing how it all fit together and the drawers all fit and worked superb……..

OK, there it is all done and Ms. Pat is happy! She moved here big computer in from the motorhome and can work in the cabin now whiles she watches out the window and can see when friends arrive. Speaking of friends arriving, we are very used to having company. Greg and Bonnie have gone on to Canada, Larry and Geri stayed with us for their last night before they headed for Alaska, so now spot # 1 is open and we have no company. You better head up this direction,,,,,spot #1 is a choice spot and the view is terrific and happy hour every night!!  so get on up here!

Yesterday afternoon (Saturday) was such a beautiful day, I told Ms. Pat that we had to fire up the 4 wheelers and take a ride in the National Forest. We went down south of Larry and Geri’s old campground, the Broken Arrow. It is in the vicinity of Cicero Peak, a new area for us and as you can see it is beautiful…. We cut our trip short because it was getting late so we cut over and hit Sidney Park road and headed straight home. We had gone over 20 miles. It was fun…

While I was up on one of the mountains I spotted this rock formation……  It was several miles away, so I zoomed in on it with my telephoto. I want Ellie to see this picture and ask her if she remembers the day we hiked up to the top of it and all around it looking for a hidden Cache. that was a fun day several years ago and I must say it was a well hidden cache, cause we never did find it. Even with two GPS’s, the 3 of us scoured that rock and it just wasn’t to be found….. I hated to give up, but we went home never knowing where that thing was. I will always think of that when I see this rock. (can’t even remember the name of it now) Remember Ely?

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!! It is another beautiful day today and I kinda feel a bike ride comin on!!
I know a lot of you were followers of our “Kids” Rollie and Gina’s Blog; All Because Two People Fell in Love”. Well, I am so happy to tell you that they have decided to post again and update us with new events in their lives.  They are not traveling as much in their RV but they are traveling a LOT by air.  I'll let them tell you all about it......

Thanks for stopping by and God Bless you all.. Come on back Wednesday if ya can.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We’re Getting Back in the Groove………

We began our morning hikes in the Park as soon as we got back in the Black Hills. No better way to start off your day than a nice early hike around the Stockade Lake area in Custer Stare Park. It's only a few miles from our house, so about 7:30 we are on our way. We did get a little out of our normal habit of an early morning walk since we had so much going on at North Ranch during the Winter.

Between Ms. Pats Line Dancing and shooting classes, and our competitive action shooting matches, and my reloading, we weren’t walking as much as we should. We decided to get back into the groove as soon as we got back here in the hills. Boy, I will say it a lot easier to get out of shape than it is to get into shape but we are hitting it every morning and it gets a little bit easier each time.



Ms. Pat needed a desk and some bedside tables for our cabin. Although we shopped and shopped for what we wanted in Rapid City, she couldn’t find anything she really liked. She then started searching the internet and found some on Lowe's website. You can have them shipped to the store and pick them up without a shipping charge. We picked them up the other day and while Greg and Bonnie were here they agreed to give us a hand putting them together.  Above is the box the desk came in and since she badly needed it, we decided to put it together first.  

As we opened it and were checking all the parts, we found that two of the pieces were cracked and one of them was the top so that ended that. Ms. Pat was on the phone immediately trying to get the new pieces ordered…Shucks!!

We then put the desk aside and began on the bedside tables.   How they get all these pieces into one small box is beyond me.  Unbelievable......a zillion parts and pieces.

The first table took awhile....figuring out which part goes where is not that easy. I was so happy Greg was here to help…….I couldn’t have done it without him.  The second one was a little easier. In this picture you can just barley see the finished one sitting behind us on the right side of the picture.



Bonnie was helping us find parts. Here she says “These are next on the list!”



This picture is especially for Rollie. I wanted him to see that I finally got to use the little “tack” hammer he bought me while we were building the cabin.  I didn't know where I was going to use such a "small" hammer but they worked great for these tiny nails.



Awww....finally we got both of them done! Now Ms. Pat has two bedside tables to match her white iron and brass bed.   Thanks to Greg for all the help and most of the work!  It took us all afternoon to get them put together. I was worn out!  Of course, it doesn’t take much to wear me out anymore.  :-)  But it sure shot our motorcycle ride we had planned for the afternoon.   But Greg says “You know what, Mike....we can take that ride when we come back in the Fall”!!   It's Happy Hour time!!

Well, yesterday the parts came in to replace the broken ones on Ms. Pats desk.  So today, we have a big job putting it together all alone.....this is gonna be tough!  Where are you Greg and Bonnie???  Will we ever get it together?   Stay tuned for the answer to that!! 

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

I want to welcome our latest new followers:
daxkitten
Michelle
We are very happy to have you join us…… stop in anytime and feel free to add your comments. 

Gotta go get my walk in!! Ya’ll hurry back!


Mike


This Blog is Posted every Wednesday and Sunday..

Happy Fathers Day…………….To All Dads!!

On this one day set aside especially for Fathers, I would like to wish you all a very pleasant, happy day! My Dad has been gone now for almost 10 years and I think I miss him more every year. Oh, how I wish I could give him a big hug. I didn’t do it enough when he was around. I love ya Pops and I know you're up there smiling down at us……I sure miss you and Mom.


All too soon it was time for Greg and Bonnie to continue on their trip north up into Canada, which is Greg’s homeland.  We had such a super time with them....I was hoping they would stay a while longer....like maybe the rest of the summer….  


Greg is loading his bike, getting ready to leave.  They have such a nice Toyhauler.  It is one of the nicest Toyhaulers I have ever seen. The last 12’ is a dedicated place to haul their Harleys. The living area up front is as plush as you can get.   It’s an Escalade Sportster. 


After a bunch of hugs, they headed out. Here they are out on the road headed North. They promised to come back on their way home to Tennessee this Fall.  We can’t wait to take them to the Custer State Park Buffalo Roundup in September.


Greg helped me clean up the area behind our Toy barn. It was a mess with tall weeds and rocks.  It looks so much better now. Greg is such a handy guy to have around and always wants to be doing some work that needs to be done.

Even with all the work we got done, we had some super visiting time at Happy Hour.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We'll have more pictures later.  Ms. Pat says she will take me out for Breakfast since it's Fathers Day so I gotta go.:-))))

Thanks for stopping by.....have a GREAT DAY!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

Another HAIL storm!

Our good Friends Greg and Bonnie from Portland, TN arrived Sunday afternoon in good shape. We hadn’t seen them for way too long and it was so good to see them again.

They have a beautiful RV that also hauls their two Harleys, pulled by a very pretty Volvo semi truck that has been designed to pull an RV. It is an excellent rig and reminds us so much of our big truck days……we know what an enjoyable set up they are.  We got them all settled in our old spot.


Monday we were up early and took them out into Custer State Park for a morning hike to get us all moving.   Ms. Pat had an appointment with her favorite hair dresser after we finished the hike and Bonnie went with her to do some shopping in our little town of Custer. Greg and I were going to take a little Bike ride around the hills.  However, we got to visiting and had such an enjoyable time that we almost forgot about the bike ride.

It is so great being around Greg,  just talking and discussing things. He had been telling me for several weeks before he arrived to save some “work” that I needed done.  I did just happen to have a few little jobs that I had been wanting to do. :-)  So with Greg’s insistance and assistance, we mowed and weed- whacked for a while, dug up some rocks, cleaned behind the barn and smoothed out some of the dirt around the new addition on the toy barn.  Boy-O boy, it looks sharp now.  I am so happy to get that done and with Greg’s great help and muscle power, it wasn’t near as nasty a job as it would have been alone.

Yesterday (Tuesday) Ms. Pat had an early doctor appointment in Rapid City. So we all piled into the new Silverado and enjoyed the beautiful drive into town. When we got the doctor appointment out of the way, we, of course, had a full day of shopping planned.  Wow....Lowes, then Cabelas, then the Tractor Supply store, Sam’s, Bed Bath and Beyond, Sheels Sporting Goods and Safeway along with a quick stop to fill our PowerTank with Co2.  That made for a long day but it was lot more fun and enjoyable to have Greg and Bonnie with us. 

We were a little late in heading for home and I wanted to stop in one more little, new gun shop south of town and then take an enjoyable drive across Custer State Park on the way home.    At the gun shop, I finally found the pistol I have been looking for and the guy made me a super deal. WOW, I was thinking what a beautiful day this had been as we all got back into the truck and headed across the Park.

Uh Oh, what was that developing in the Northwest? Hmmm, storm clouds for sure. Maybe it's going on North around us.  Gosh...looks like we are heading right into it.  The winding roads in the park made us look like we were heading away from it and then as we turned  it would be directly in front of us.  Suddenly we saw a few drops of rain on the windshield.  I believe we are just going along the edge of it and the storm won’t be bad.  Wrong! All at once the bottom fell out and we were in a hard rain storm. But you could see the sun shining just to the South of us...so we are still just on the edge of it. 

Then the HAIL began.  You know the drill, starts small, then gets bigger, and bigger, and soon we are all flinching and saying OH NO!! Wow, we took some serious hits, large hard ice. There was no place to go. I did pull under some trees in a campground to attempt to find a little protection.  I don’t know if it helped or not but there is not a lot you can do....except PRAY!    

About as fast as it started hailing, it stopped and we continued on home.  It was just barely sprinkling as we pulled up to the toy barn and Greg jumped out and opened the garage door. I quickly pulled the truck inside where it was safe   Whew!  I wasn’t sure if it had any damage or not and I really didn’t want to look but later when I checked I couldn’t see a mark or dent of any kind.    WOW...we were lucky. It was a hair-raising storm and way too close for comfort.  But meanwhile, the Motorhome was all safe and sound under it's new shelter! 

Well here it is Wednesday and it’s another beautiful day. Everyone is up and at'em and hollering for me to hurry up so we can go on our hike in the Park.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!   As we  enjoy our good friends and continue to Praise our Father for his many blessings….

Thanks for stopping by………….

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Just in the nick of time!

WOW!!  That was almost too close for comfort. Wednesday evening the building was completed and Thursday was the big day to see if the Motorhome would fit under it. The slope down into it is what has us all worried. (especially me!) Everyone kept telling me “You're going to have to slope the ground in front a little more to keep the air conditioners and the TV dome from hitting." I really didn’t want to dig anymore unless I had to.

So Thursday was the day to find out.  I’ll tell you I didn’t sleep too well thinking about it.   So Thursday morning, we slowly got the Motorhome ready to move. I had a big lump in my throat as I pulled that big old gal over and began slowly backing down towards the opening. Finally, the time has come. Will it or won’t it???

This is the slope I was referring to.  That’s what had us all puzzled.  Although the opening looks small in this picture, the tape measure says it will go under.  But the slope, that’s the question. Even the builders couldn’t say for sure. We wanted them to just raise the outside end of the roof a few more inches but they wouldn’t do it.  They said they had given us the minimal amount of slope allowed due to the weight per foot of possible snow, etc. That is absolutely the highest they would put it.  It should fit but the slope....well, that was a different story.

Slowly I backed down into the opening…….slooowly, ever so slow, as I watched and listened for Ms. Pat.  Hey, so far so good. :-) I had to stop and get out and take a look. Is it actually going to go?



Ms. Pat was perched on this ladder closely watching as I inched back into the shelter. I was watching her as I watched both sides and listened for her to scream and hopefully not hear any “crunches”!


It looked OK from the rear….


Ahhhhh,.....whew, it is all the way in!!! What a relief.  Praise the LORD! 


As you can see it took every inch of the space, as the building is 40’ long and the Motorhome is 40’ long.  We can get the bedroom slide out fine but not the long living room slide...which is fine as the coach is very livable with the living room slide in. The steps and the front door open in good shape as well as most all the side doors. All is well and we are happy. Gosh I lost all that sleep worrying about it for nothing!!


Just in the nick of time!!  A few hours later that afternoon, the sky darkened, the wind and rain began and shortly this was the view out our storm door. It was HAILING!!  For the first time in our lives, Ms. Pat and I just hugged each other in appreciation of knowing that our RV was protected.  What a great feeling as we thought of the many, many times that storms such as this had brought us to our knees.  We were ever so thankful!!


We received about an inch of hard, wind driven rain and a lot of hail.  I don’t believe any of the hail was big or hard enough to do much, if any damage. But a short distance from us, it was pool ball size, very hard and very damaging…breaking out windshields, windows and destroying roofs. The snow plows had to be utilized on the highways to remove the drifts of hail.

Then, last night just about bed time, another storm blew in.  We were lying in bed and heard a few "thunks" on the tin roof.  Nothing to worry about.....everything's under cover......zzzzzzzzz.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We again thank our heavenly Father for all he continues to bless us with.

We are so excited that our good friends Greg and Bonnie will be here to visit today. They departed their new home in Portland, TN Friday morning and headed this way. It will be so good to see them... it has been way too long.

Thanks for stopping by………. God Bless and Hurry back!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..