END OF THE SEASON

Well it's that time again.  

Fall is here, the weather is changing and many crops are already out of the fields.

For me, that means it's time for my annual trek back to Phoenix, Arizona for the winter. 

This will be my fifth winter there with my dad.  He's 82 and not in the best of health.  We've been going to Arizona since the first winter after my mom died and I moved in to look after him.  Though it may sound exciting to some to be in my mid-fifties and live a snow-bird's retired life in a warm climate, it's not always, "all that"!

It's hard to be away from home....but I LOVE missing the snow, cold and ice of Indiana winters!

I miss my family often......but find that I enjoy the solitude I have sometimes and find I enjoy them more when they come to visit!

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, as taking care of dad, who is Diabetic, has Parkinson's and  Heart Disease is extremely strenuous.....but I am SO grateful that I have this special time with him.  

So as I grumble along, packing all the things that I 'think' I will need to be comfortable for the next 6 or 8 months, I remember...... .life goes so fast and I need to slow down and savor every minute no matter how hard, lonely, difficult or overwhelming.  There is good in every situation. 

Next post......from sunny Gold Canyon, Arizona!!!

SHERIDAN, FLYING ACE!

Look....in the sky....it's a bird....it's a plane.....NO.........it's.......SUPER CAT!

 Sheridan the super cat is on a mission.

Sheridan, who is the most suave and debonair cat on the farm (and the most handsome in his opinion!) is out to save the day! 

HMMM....I hope his mission doesn't have anything to do with the bird feeder in the left-hand corner of the above picture.   NO, it couldn't, not my Sheridan!  There must be a damsel in distress up there.  Yes I'm sure of it!!

AAAANNNNDDDD.......he's off!

HO HUM......resting up for his next mission.  

"Don't bother me", he says,  "I'm a super cat, super star"!!

This super cat MUST have more than nine lives.  

BABY DRIVES COMBINE

Not to be outdone by her FireFighter grandpa, Lacie's dad suggests a career in farming!

 She looks like she is having fun driving a combine.  

Who knew!!

JUNIOR FIREFIGHTER IN TRAINING!

My partner here at FenceRow Farms is a Captain on a local fire department.  He has been for nearly 30 some years now.  He thought it was time to start his granddaughter in training for a career in the Fire Service.

 Here he shows her how to hold the hose and assume the pose!

Here we seem to have a little issue on our ability to focus, but the Captain says that will come in time!

Now we are trying the aerial approach.

Here, Lacie prefers to play in the hose rather than work it!

The Captain Grandpa isn't giving up yet.  He says there's plenty of time!

BABY MEETS BABY

 

 

Hello world!

Hey....what's this?

Wait....come back!! 

Fine....I'll play with something else!

LUCY AT LAST

Today, out of the blue, Lucy decided to show up and stay just long enough for me to grab my camera and take a few shots.

Of course, it's hard to tell because she won't stand still long enough for the camera.

We can verify that it is indeed Lucy because of her 'war wounds', or what I call the notches in her gun belt.    

(Look closely at the left ear to see the evidence of her battle scars!)

  

Well.......that and the fact that she is biting me.  

She likes to bite.

GETTIN' THE BOOT!

Have been trying to catch the girl cats, Niblet and Lucy, to take their pictures so you can meet them.  They aren't cooperating though.  Niblet shows up well after dark and obviously.....I can't take her picture then.  Well I could.....but you wouldn't see anything, because she is as black as the night with no white on her anywhere. 

Lucy, on the other hand, shows up once in a while in the early morning and disappears long before I can get my eyes open and my camera out.  Lucy looks a lot like her cousin Jack, but with several notches in her gun belt.  Oops, I mean ear.   She is black too, just like Jack and Niblet, but Lucy has the same white locket on her chest that cousin Jack does.   Lucy is quite the fighter and likes to remind her brothers and cousin of that every chance she gets.  

So I wait to catch them.  

In the meantime, I can at least show a picture of me waiting.

Yeah that's me..... my leg.

Got this new 'boot' the other day.  Am just SO excited about it....NOT!  

Nothing serious. Bone spurs and a very inflamed and painful Achilles heel.  We tried physical therapy first but that didn't work.  So now.....I get 'the boot'.  For a whole two months.  Oh joy!  If the boot doesn't work, then it's surgery. 

I don't know how I'm going to wear it that long.  It's not the most comfortable thing in the world.  It's a pain in the patooty too.  Since it's my right leg that has to wear the boot, I can't drive with it on, which means toting it around and putting it on when I get to where I'm going.  It's just not worth it.  It's easier to run in the grocery with a limp than the boot!

So what are the chances of Niblet and Lucy showing up so I can get their pictures?  And what are the chances that I am going to be able to put up with 'the boot' for two months?

Something like a snowballs' chance in wherever!!