A Day in Fort Collins

Perhaps a Saturday wasn't the best choice to visit Old Town Fort Collins - or maybe it was the fact that they were welcoming the Colorado State University students back for the fall - or maybe it's because we were actually on the "main strip" in Fort Collins, and not in the actual Old Town area - but, for whatever reason, it seemed like we were walking through the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.  Most of the clothing shops were for name-brands and came in extremely small sizes - for anorexic teens and college students - or the stores were just too over-run with small children whose parents were letting them have a free rein...  We've decided to go later in the fall and see if it's any better.  There were two stores that were actually nice - and one of those was an artists' co-op shop.
    I think the other thing that bothered me was that people were so rude.  Both men and women, boys and girls, the whole gamut of ages, reached in front of us while we were looking at items, almost knocked us off the sidewalks, almost knocked us down with backpacks and/or papoose-style child carriers, and the shrieking babies were the worst.  And they were being ignored by their parents.  When I go out to wander and relax, and check out new places, I do not want crying infants and children up to six years old shrieking with temper tantrums in a book shop or a furniture store.  It's a good thing that "looking daggers" is just an expression - otherwise, I'd have been a mass-murderer today.
   At least all of the animals were cooperative and easy to deal with this morning, and this evening.  Lovey had quite a lot to say this morning, and woke Beatrice up earlier than usual, but, then, she's been extremely vocal ever since I returned from vacation.  Nedi does his purrs and little trills and the occasional soft meow.  Lovey comments at the top of her voice any time I'm not touching her, and frequently, when she's already laying on top of me.  Sometimes I think the only way to keep her satisfied is to let her live under my skin...
  Tomorrow, I'll spend most of my time with my animals - that will be calming and therapeutic.

Assorted Photos

Squirrel in meadow

Firefly, Don Leonard Stud II, Pixie Dust, Saltwater Renegade

Great egret on Assateague

Ryder heads for his new home

Church ruins on Shetland Island

Whale vertebrae on Shetland Island

The Ring of Brodgar on Orkney Island

Pets, Photos, and Tunkan Hoksila

It's been a busy day, and this is my first chance to sit down and blog...  There were a lot of small planes in the skies today, which meant that Cooper had to chase them all - as far as he could see and hear them in the fenced back yard.  Even Lola, his cohort in crime, got tired of bolting from the living room, charging onto the deck and then leaping out into space to hit the ground running - and come face-to-face with a six-foot solid board fence...Both Pounce and Tipsi, the two cats, were bored with the commotions after only an hour.  They would heave huge sighs each time the dogs charged out to chase the plane...  Lola doesn't do it on her own - she just goes to back up Cooper.  She pooped out this afternoon, and Cooper was plane chasing on his own....   Dogs - they are forever hopeful.
   Walked both Rosie and Charlie this morning.  Rosie is doing great for a big dog who's almost 14 and a half years old.  Her hind legs still give her trouble, and will, for the rest of her life, but otherwise, she's in great health. Eats well, has an interest in what's happening around her, is very sociable - she's just not steady on her feet any longer...  Charlie is a handful.  She's part Pug, and I'd swear the other half is whippet.  She has, almost, a Pug's face - but definitely has the head, neck, chest, back and tail of a large Pug.  Then she has these really thin, long, stilt-like legs...  She's an orange and brown brindle, and is cute as a bug.  Bouncy, happy, always eager to go - and she loves her toys.
    Finally finished cropping and captioning all eleven albums - 1,544 photos - from my vacation.  I am so glad that is over!  I feel I can relax again, now that that "job" is done.  I hate finding photos and not being able to remember when, or where, I took them.  I have to admit that I like the Snapfish albums, and the ability they give one to crop the photos and to caption them...  I thought I had taken about 1,500 photos all together.  I was wrong.  I took over 1,800, and then friends shared their photos from different perspectives with me.  I've weeded these 1,544 photos out of over 3,000 photos...  I'll start sharing a few of the best of the best here on this page soon.
   One really awful thing happened on Assateague Island while I was on the Eastern Shore for my vacation.  On Friday, the 29th of July, after night had fallen, there was a hit-and-run accident with a car or truck that ended in death.  One of the stallions on the Maryland end of Assateague was struck by a vehicle.  The impact crushed both of the horse's hind legs, and threw him into a ditch beside the road.  Tunkan Hoksila did not die immediately - he lived for another two hours, or more, awaiting a licensed veterinarian to assess the damage to his body, and then be euthanized.  Since it was obviously a vehicular accident, the Maryland State Patrol and the US Park Service were involved in the investigation.  Several campers were also there on the scene.  Poor Tunkan Hoksila!

And he would have had a chance to sire foals in the near future, too.  Now his bloodline won't be continued.  Three colts, all sired by Yankee, had been born so far this year on the Maryland end of Assateague.  The day after Tunkan Hoksila died, the final expectant mare gave birth to a filly (also sired by Yankee)....   The circle of life does continue.

Assorted Photos

Squirrel

Buzzard and moon

Skimmers

Spotted donkey

It has a nice V-8

Lunch

"Glory"  (Catwalk's Olympic Glory)  was an $8,100 BuyBack filly this year.

The money raised by her auction was donated to the Eastern Shore of Virginia's

Special Olympics team on the day of the Pony Auction.

Back in Boulder

We've had a couple of mornings in the upper-40s  (F) this past week, and at 6:15 this morning, it was 50 degrees.  I knew I'd be moving about, so I wore shorts and a T-shirt, which got a lot of stares from the locals...  They were wearing sweat suits with hoodies, and huddling into them.  Yesterday, it was 78 degrees, but cloudy, and people were wearing sweat suits...  I guess outside temperature is a based a little on your mind set.  I was never cold this morning, but, then again, I was moving purposefully and doing work with the fish, hens and cats.  Oh, well - I've always known I'm different.
   Nedi is currently sitting in my window and chittering at the raven family visiting Chez Thuy's dumpster.  Lovey is curled up on my bed.  And Bertrando, the squirrel, is up on top of his power pole, soaking up rays.  I've already taken care of the critters at Dellwood, read my mail, and made my usual posts to Facebook.  I need to take out our trash and recyclables as I leave to walk Rosie and Charlie; then I'll head over to the ABCs and go with them to Denver International Airport, before grabbing my overnight gear and heading back to their house.  Two kitties and two dogs - all with very different personalities, and both dogs are rescues...  I need to remember that Lola won't like any eye contact during the first 24 hours I'm there.  Both cats will want to be in my lap, and, if I sit on the sofa, the dogs will want to have their heads in my lap....  Critter love is great.
   I had a fantastic time on my vacation - I got to spend time with friends and family that I hadn't seen in years.  It was a very relaxed and enjoyable time, and I spent time on the beach, out boating, and walking the trails of Assateague (both in Virginia and Maryland).  Karen and I became better acquainted, as adults, and I got to see her brother, Woody, whom I hadn't seen in more than 30 years.  I had wonderful times with Maureen and her daughters, and was thrilled to get to spend time with all of them.  They are a fantastic family.  Of course, Maureen and I talked about Pony Pennings in the 1940s and 1950s, and how things have changed...  some for the good, others, not so much.
    Back here in Colorado, I'm busy as a bee.  I have work to do with all my different critters each day, and I've finally got 10 of my 11 vacation photo albums posted on-line.  All I have to do is caption the last one, and share it...  Then I'll have more free time to read and walk and do genealogy research.  I'm looking forward to that. - And sending a few "best of the best" photo collections to good friends who have expressed an interest.
   Lovey just had her 11th birthday, and she's gotten a little more "clingy" to me.  She runs through the house and howls, and plays with shoe strings, and gets high on catnip.  But my favorite thing to observe is when she chases her tail on the toilet tank reservoir - she really wants to capture that black and grey striped "sea snake," and she sometimes falls off the toilet and into the trash can when things get intense...  I'm so thankful that she's still a playful kitten inside!

Assateague and Chincoteague Memories

Left to right:  Thetis, Cody 2 Socks, Wild Thing, Galadriel's Bay Dream, Galadriel

Photo by DSC Photography

Assateague Sunset

A bi-plane on Assateague

The Chincoteague draw bridge is open...

Surfer Princess, a yearling, on Assateague

Dawn breaking at Tom's Cove

From Patrick Frederickson at Highcamera.com  ....

On the right is Assateague Beach in Virginia in 2005,

on the left is the same view, same month, in 2016

Finally Back At The Keyboard...

I must say that I feel totally refreshed after my 13 day vacation on Chincoteague and Assateague and the Eastern Shore.  I thought I'd start blogging immediately after my return, but I haven't really felt the need to do so.  I blog - or write - because I enjoy doing so.  I write for my own enjoyment, to share interesting experiences, to introduce new items of interest and new discoveries, to share information, and, sometimes, just to get thoughts and feelings off my chest and out of my mind.
    I had a stupendous time in Virginia and Maryland, and had a wonderful evening with my cousin, Maureen Beebe.  Spent great hours talking with cousin Karen Gaskins Quillen, and out on the water with Captain Barry Frishman, Captain Dan Davis, and Captain Dave Davis...  Went out for a long afternoon of flounder fishing with friends and caught a nice haul - had them broiled with lemon juice the first night, then deep-fried in a thin coating of hush-puppy batter...  Yum!  - Maureen, her daughters, and I closed down a bar one night, and then stayed in the parking lot talking for another hour, along with other friends.
    I worked up until 8 hours before I left for vacation, and began working again the day after I arrived home.  I down-loaded my camera photos and found that I had taken over 1500 shots in the 13 days I was gone...  I've divided them up into 11 photo albums, and have cropped and captioned the shots in 9 of them.  They are open to the public on Facebook...
    It's grey and dreary out today - it was 69 degrees at 6:15, when I left to tend the chickens, and it's 62 now.  Humidity is increasing, and it's been spitting rain off and on for over an hour.  Blech..
    Felling good about blogging again!  See you tomorrow!