caught in the act

A few weeks back, I went out in the backyard to find a strange looking bird....just walking around. It sort of looked like a chicken, but had an odd shaped body and did not really have that chicken "strut". Well, I came back inside and told Rex we had a strange bird in the backyard...when he went and looked he just about died laughing. He said "ITS A CHICKEN!" Believe me, I still have not heard the end of that. Well, we can't figure out how he got in our backyard, (this is at our Vegas house)but I'm pretty sure he "lives" at a house down the street that has a few of them roaming their yard. Rex chased it out of the backyard and that was that....WRONG! It kept coming to "visit" us. In the mornings when I would leave for work, I would see it in the front yard. It sort of became a joke that our pet chicken was back to visit us. This was happening on a pretty regular basis.

Well, a week or so ago, Rex planted some new flowers in the planters around the trees in the front yard. After a couple of days, he said that he thought the chicken was getting into the planters and picking at his flowers, scratching at the dirt and making all kinds of a mess. He said there was a bunch dirt in the grass, like the chicken has been scratching at it, throwing it out of the planter. He was a little but hurt that this chicken was messing in his flowers.

That brings me to this morning....as I was pulling out of the driveway, what do I see? Yep, a chicken. It was not the first one I saw in the backyard that day...this one actually looks like a chicken. But there it was headed straight for the flowers. I had to take some pics of it...too funny! Maybe we will be having fried chicken for dinner!

heading for the planter...ready to make his move

on the edge....checkin it out...pickin the right spot

(see all that dirt on the cement edge, thats his handy work)

looking around...is anybody watching?

CAUGHT IN THE ACT!

the other woman

The mid-life crisis.....some might say thats what it is. It might be. I think it's just living.

Rex has been into motorcycles ever since I can remember. He used to ride around Harmony and I would watch him come around the corner on the lower street from my room atop the Harmony Hilton. Well, it was not too long after Gary brought his Harley here from South Dakota that we were lookin' to buy one. Needless to say....we have been having a BLAST! We have taken many rides to Mt. Charleston...thats where you go when its 110 degrees in the city. We also went out through Redrock and to Pahrump. We took the bike to Utah and have a a couple of fun rides there too. Riding up over Cedar Mt. is really beautiful.

So....as Rex said....if this is my mid life crisis, at least it's not another woman. AMEN to that....somehow, I don't think I would have this much fun with another woman.

In Utah...leaving the house for a ride.

Rex, at Todd's Junction.

Cedar Breaks

Rex's bike..the black one and Gary's bike, up Right Hand Canyon.

Rex, up by the "C".

V * A * C * A * T * I * O * N

Rex and I were able to take an amazing vacation this summer. We were able to stay with some friends on Cape Cod, spend and night in Boston and a day in Rhode Island. A little bit of background....
My good friend Erin, married Joe 3 years ago. Joe is from back there and the wedding was on Cape Cod. I was in the wedding and ever since then I have wanted to take Rex back there. Joe's parents live in a place called Pocasset, its on the Cape. He and Erin are spending a good part of the summer there with his parents and they were kind enough to invite us to stay there while we vacationed. So...how could we pass up on a place to stay....right on the water...on Cape Cod....with good friends....and great people.

This is the view from our bedroom at Joe's parents house. They have a deck that spans the entire length of the house. I'm standing on the deck right out the door of our room. SWEET!

This is looking at the house form a small beach just across the water. The house is right between the boats. There is so much green it is just amazing.

We went to Provinctown or as they call it back there "P Town", its at the tip of the cape. It is a community that has a very open gay population. It was quite eye opening--to say the least. Rex got a chair massage right when we got there...he had a really bad headache so I talked him into it. While he was getting his massage, I stood there and took in all the sights: the picture in the right...well, he??she?? was riding around on this bike---yes just like mine, advertising some "show". I had to get a picture.

Rex celebrated his 44th birthday while we were there. I surprised him with a cake. (thanks Erin and Pat for your help)

This was a really frightening experience..for both of us. If you notice form the first picture, you can just walk right out from the house to the little wood walkway and boat or swim or kayak. I did not think I would be so scared, but my legs were shaking so bad when I got back to land..it was weird. Rex is not all that fond of the water, or should I say falling in it, that he was hoping he would not tip over. He did much better than I did. I was fun and I am glad I did it, but I wish I was not such a chicken.

On the ferry to Martha's Vineyard.

At the beach on Martha's Vineyard.

We walked the Freedom Trail in Boston....there is so much history in the city. We spent 1 night and 2 days there. WOW! What an experience.
Me in Boston

Thanks to Joe's friend, we were able to go see a Red Sox game. That was a really fun night. We were really exhausted from walking the city all day...but that park was electric. We LOVED it!

Our second Boston day started out like this....we thought we would tough it out with our umbrellas, but we ended up getting in the car and TRYING to navigate the city...haha. Its much easier to walk. Once the rain cleared, we parked the car again and walked some more....which leads me to the next photo....don't say I did not warn you...

After all that walking, I took off my shoes and sox to bloody toes...I knew they were hurting, but???

Erin, Max and I at the little beach just across the water from the house. It was fun while it lasted....started to rain on us. Quickest clean up I've ever seen!

Rex on the Cliff Walk in Newport, Rhode Island. This was only about and hour and 20 min. form where we stayed and Mary Beth, a friend of the family, suggested we take a drive there. I am so glad she did. It is a beautiful place. All along this 7 mile (round trip) walk, (don't think the toes were not bloody after that one) there are some of the biggest and most beautiful mansions I have ever seen. You are walking right along the water..sometimes on rocks like these, sometimes on rocks not quite this friendly, and sometimes on a sidewalk they built there. It was a great day.

Me...on the Cliff Walk

This is one of the Mansions

After the cliff walk, we did some more walking down this historical street with all these shops and restaurants. We were starving, so we ate and shopped. We finally went back to the car and followed one of the maps we had on what was called Ocean Drive. We found a perfect spot to watch the sunset. It was amazing!

We went with Erin and Joe to the Bourne Farm. This is where they got married. It is a beautiful place that is open to visitors unless someone has rented it for a wedding or something.

This is our wonderful and kind hosts. Joe's mom Pat and step dad Paul. I have to say...they made us feel so welcome in their home. They were very warm and welcoming. I don't think we could thank them enough. We feel very fortunate to have met them and Joe's family. Everyone was so genuinely kind. Thank you all! We miss you! (sorry Pat, both pics your eyes are closed)

vIsItOrS

We actually had some company come stay with us for a few days. Brandon and Janna and their kids came down even though they were given fair warning about the heat during the summer here in lovely Las Vegas. I don't think they have been here for at least a couple of years so I guess it was about time. They went to Tuachan on Saturday night and came here after the play, so it was pretty late Saturday night when they arrived. We went to church Sunday morning and then we thought it would be nice to go up the mountain and cook a burger. What a difference a 30 min. drive can make. We went up Lee Canyon to a little picnic spot. I wondered if we would even get a spot but we were the only ones there. (except for the occasional carload stopping to use the bathrooms) It was only in the 70's where we had our picnic. Rex took his propane cooker and we had the yummiest burgers, deviled eggs, chips, Brandon's macaroni salad, fruit and dip, and rice krispie treats. Rex and the boys went looking for lizards, but no luck. We played some games and then took them across the mountain, stopped at a lookoff point and then back home.

Parker, setting us up some shade.

3 cute kids - Parker, Lauryn and Ashby.

Me, Rex and Brandon - relaxing with full bellies.

Janna and Lauryn

For entertainment on Sunday night, Brandon and Janna watched popcorn pop in the microwave!
Well, really we watched a movie and had popcorn, but they thought this microwave popper was pretty sweet. (it really is)

On Monday, Rex hooked us up with a pass to go swimming at "The Tank". It's the pool at the Golden Nugget. It actually has a shark tank that a water slide goes through. He was able to get us a behind the scenes tour of the tank and how they care for the sharks and other marine life that live in the tank. It was really interesting, I had no idea all that went into that. The day at the pool was fun and HOT! That night we went to dinner at BJ's and then they took their kids to see the "strip".

Listening to the tour girl talking about the shark tank.
Looking down into the tank.

The best part of the tour, Rex's fire sprinkler system.

Janna and me.
Me and Ashby.

Lauryn, coming out of the slide.Ashby, coming out of the slide.

We loved having them here and hope it's not years before they come back....maybe not in the summer though. Good times!

Weekend 4 wheeler Rides

Over the 4th weekend, Rex and I took off over to 3 peaks for a couple of evening rides. It was nice to ride somewhere so close...10 min dirve from the house, unload and ride.

Rex..unloading the bike. We did not take mine, I just rode on the back.

The clouds made for a beautiful sunset.

Looking towards Cedar from 3 peaks.

Another shot of the sunset, and me.

Rex, loading back up.

On Friday, we took the ranger and rode up on Little Mtn. in Harmony.

Me, on Little Mtn. I have so many good memories of picnics up on this mountain.

Rex, taking in the best view anywhere. (no, he's not peeing)

On the afternoon of the 4th, after we had taken in all the festivities, we hopped on the bikes for another little ride. It did not last long, it started to rain and we were not prepared.

Doesn't he look good on that bike?

Another little creature in the wash...this one was a bit smaller than the one I almost stepped on a few weeks ago.

Just some random shots....

sunset at sand hallowbridge we ride over on our 4 wheelers (marysvale ride)

braffits mtn.

flower on north mtn.

our property in harmony

does this need an explanation?

sunset...from enoch

our property in harmony

Where's the Beef?

I spent the week in Utah last week. One of the things I did was can beef. I know....sounds weird- but this is something I learned @ my Cooking with the Chicks group. (thanks Connie) Dad was there also. He was helping with the pressure cookers. He set up his camp chef out on the back patio and we put the pressure cookers out there. For the most part, this is a really easy thing to bottle, and although I have not tried it yet...I'm told it is delish!

If there is one thing I can always count on it is having Mom there to help with things like this. A I get older, these are things that I am wanting to learn more about and she is always willing to help me. We had a good time and I think we got 47 or 48 pints done that day.

Filling the pints with the beef.

Mom - making sure the tops are clean so the lids will seal.

They are ready to pressure cook.

Dad, making sure they stay at the proper pressure.

All done - pulling them out to cool.

Side note...another thing Mom and I did. Look at this beautiful wheat bread. Yummy!