Mountain Boomer

Another day of heat.

This is why I can't keep a bird feeder.

Two different Mountain Boomers. I think the bottom one is a female.

Kids Fishing Derby

Captain Dede and sidekick Kelsey Armes were the reason the fishing derby was a success.
Helping hands and big smiles make the world a better place:)
Rep. Don Armes stopped by to say hello and found the lost lid to the igloo:) Dede knows what that means:)

Silly girls:) who dat?
The fishing derby was at the beautiful Veterans center.
Some fished until they wore plum out.
Dede with her Veteran friend. Some of them joined in on the fishing fun.
fishing poles and worms lined the dock.

Knee surgery trip

We spent the night with Kerry and Kevin before Ken's knee surgery on Friday. Kerry and Hunter had a few laughs before we became the Mexican food junkies that we all are:)
Norma was our angel. She's worked in Orthopedics for a while now and was able to hook Ken up with Dr. Gilliam and he performed miracles. Ken said his knee hadn't felt this good for years. Thanks Norma! :)
Hunter and Norma had matching colored shirts:)
Ken was anxious to get his knee scoped.
Hunter, thanks for going with us. You helped make our trip enjoyable:)
Hunter and Dad waiting for doc.
Surgery is over and Ken is laid out in the back of my truck with our girl, Ali:)
We played games and laughed driving home:)
With his knee bandaged and feeling groggy he feeds Ali a french fry.
Kerry getting a Hunter hug before we head back to Oklahoma.
And Ken and Ali are ready to ride:)

Tarantula wasp made a kill

On the front porch yesterday Hunter noticed a tarantula wasp that was pulling her dinner across the deck. Then she decided to pull the tarantula backwards up the rock wall. Pretty crazy! Where she was taking the tarantula, I don't know, but I snapped away as she ooched her way up the wall.
Dinner tonight.


I left her alone, and she finally made it over to the bushes.Hunter and Marti helped me re-pot my barrel cactus. Ken and the boys got her in1998 in AZ, and this year I felt she needed more growing room. Now that I have her in a new pot, she's HEAVY.

We tied a rope around the cactus to guide it around. Then Marti broke the old pot around the cactus, and we lowered it into the new pot. HAPPY cactus :)

Happy barrel cactus.

This little cactus in my garden looked amusming to me:)
Happy:)
This is Serena's pond she designed and built herself with a little help from the fam.
Ali liked watching the brightly colored Koi swim around.
This is a bloom from a cactus:)

A day ago

Light was just right.
Preying mantis crawling around in the dirt.
I caught Marti and Hunter just as they were walking out the door. Goodlooking couple:)

Our small herd of bison.
Baby getting some yummy for its tummy:)
Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.

Out for a morning stroll

Bull Elk.
Longhorn bull calf.
Ken and Hunter fishing this morning.
The Madonna of the Wichitas on Mt Sheridan.
Longhorns were out this morning.


Butterflies enjoying the watermelon rind.
Our cow elk in the road.

North of our house the wind turbans line the horizon.
Scissor- tail flycatcher