Tigers!

My son Austen has decided that he would like to work with Big Cats. When we lived in Arizona we used to be members of a wildlife rescue park called Out of Africa. They had lots of big cats and the kids have even petted baby lions, tigers, and bears (OH MY). So when he said that he was interested in working with big cats I was not surprised.

So we headed out to a tiger sanctuary very close to our property near Farmington. It's called Crown Valley Tiger Sanctuary. They only have 4 tigers and one lioness right now but the facility is beautiful and the cats are well cared for. After having spent so much time in Arizona at educational shows and watching the cats there and at zoo's, it's obvious that these cats are cared for well. They do not pace like zoo animals do from bordom. Their coats are full and shiny from a well balanced diet. And they are allowed plenty of room to romp and play with a variety of toys.


I appologize for the quality of the pics. It was late afternoon so the sun was a big issue plus the cage bars are immpossible to work around.


Austen posing next to the tigers - I think he looks pretty happy about this.


This big guy is very happy to just lay in the leaves!




They also have bed and breakfast that you can stay on site. This is the view out the back yard of one of the lodges - beautiful!





Saturday and Sunday were both beautiful days - here are a few more pics I took on Sunday at our property:


This is just a really pretty tree - with the sub behind it and the blue of the sky - it just caught my eye.


And I don't know what this plant is but the red berries just seem to pop!

Aubri's 18th Spider Statue Festival - with cats!

It's been a few weeks since I've posed here so I thought I would catch up on what's been going on!

Aubri celebrated her 18th birthday on September 8th at the Tatoo parlor.


Aubri getting her tatoo at "All Star Tatoo"


Taking a little break


Final tat


We didn't have Tom here to show off his but all the rest of them have it now... I'm next!

We took her to Joe's Crab Shack for her birthday dinner (her choice) and they made her walk around the table with a stick horse while we sang happy birthday to her. They wanted her to skip around the table and wear a cowboy hat but she wouldn't do it!



Then we had cheese cake for dessert. Meghan also made her a big cupcake just for her.



The next weekend Bill and I poured the concrete so that we could finally get the statue that we bought last October set up in the Hawthorn grove:







The next weekend we went to the HooDoo festival in Western Kentucky. It was the first time Aubri had seen the new camper. It rained on Friday night so we were very glad to have the camper!


Full moon over the soybean field at HooDoo near Hopkinsville, KY.


Tuatha Dea in concert at HooDoo


Aubri enjoying being dry on Friday night inside the camper!

This past week Aubri caught two of the cats all cuddled up together on a chair - this is the closest they have ever slept together. They usually just tolorate each other!



This past weekend Bill and I found this little gal on a tarp in the yard... that is a quarter next to it. It's a baby Tarantula!



And here is what we did this weekend - we set the lady on her concrete pad in the Hawthorn Grove!



I think you are all caught up now! :)

A walk at work...

On my morning walk at work....





this is a little trail that leads down into the woods - I didn't go today it's a bit wet and can be slick when wet.


And look what I was gifted on the path! I don't know if it came from the Redtails that nest in the trees in the background but I squeeeed when I saw it!

Magic Harley Grandson

We had Bill's grandson Noah this past weekend. We picked him up Saturday morning and took him to the Magic House in Kirkwood, MO. This place has really gotten a lot bigger since the last time I took my kids there! One of the funniest things is the electromagetic sphere - you touch it and all your hair stands on end!



Then we took him to Big St. Charles Motor Sports where my son Erik works.


Noah has a dirt bike about this size at home


Noah is a big MotoCross fan.


We visited Erik's girlfriend over on the Harley side of the store too

I think we wore poor Bill out, he and Noah both needed a nap when we got home! We all went to Racanelli's Pizza for dinner and Erik, Meghan and Noah made a fort in Erik's room and played video games until bedtime. I think the boys had a lot of fun.

Mary Mary, Quite contrary, how does your garden grow.....

Kinda slow. I've gotten 5 green peppers this year, mostely off of one plant but the other one is doing ok too I guess. I have lots of flowers on my tomatoes but just a few actualy fruits and I have determined that they are Roma's since they are getting longer rather than roundy. But they aren't getting very big nor are they turning red. As my friend pointed out - we need long hot days and we havn't had that this summer so I guess that is the problem.

I have two yellow squash growing and lots of flowers so we'll see how those do. And the Eggplants... I guess I'm not meant to grow them. This is the third year with nothing. No flowers. I had to pull the squash off of them as they were crowding into the eggplant area but still - no flowers or anything. I guess I'll buying them from the farmer's market.

With the weather so nice the past few weeks, Bill has been working inside to get the purlings up in the appartment so that he can put the ceiling up. Once that is done the electric and plumbing need to be finished and the HVAC needs to be hooked up so that he can work through the winter this year. Weather has really played a role in how much he can do in the house since it's either freezing in the winter or too hot in the summer. I told him he has about a year left before I need to move in so hopefully we'll start seeing some progress with that place.

We have his grandson this weekend and if the weather holds we plan to go camping. But if not, we do have a backup plan - The Magin House in Webster Groves. The kids used to love that place! It's been years since I've been and I hear they have expanded it greatly. The best part (for the kids) was after you got to the top of the third floor and were ready to leave - you just slid down the slide all the way to the ground floor! They also had a magnetic ball that when you touch it all your hair stands up on end and a wall that is photo sensitive and flashes every few seconds so that you can cast your 'shadow' on the wall and it stays for a few seconds. :)

Blackberry Ranger birthdays

This past Saturday was Bill's granddaughter Taylor's 1st birthday.  Of course we went to the party which is more for the parents and family friends than actually for the birthday girl.  Oh she loved her baby dolls and a child sized chair she got but really - she was more interested in just crawling around on the floor. 

 

The obligatory ice cream and cake was served to the guests as Taylor smashed her individual cake to pieces and consumed it with just her hands.  She dove right in like a champ and proceeded to demolish everything in a matter of about 15 minutes.

 

Sunday Bill and I went blackberry picking.  We have wild blackberries on our property as well as up the road so first we donned long sleeves and bug spray (Oh how I hate that stuff!) and drove the mule up the road to start there.  One particular blackberry bush was so big it was mostly in the farmers cow pasture next to the road.  Bill braved the barbed wire fence and the poison ivy and bugs to get to those small black jewels that would have remained just out of reach. 

 

Then we proceeded back to our yard and picked about a gallon of berries.  When we got back home I put the berries on the counter and proceeded directly to the shower!  No passing go, no collecting $200 for me - no I wanted that awful bug spray off! 

 

Monday was Bill's birthday.  I had to work so he puttered around the house all day and then we went out to eat when I got off work.  Blackened Salmon with mashed potatoes for him and steamed veggies for me. 

 

Oh, and Sunday night we also managed to go see The Lone Ranger.  Bill wasn't impressed.  I thought it was a funny movie and I love Johnny Depp so it was good for me.  :)  We also managed to get all of the linens and towels washed and back into the camper this weekend.  Bill doesn't have it placed back where we plan to store it yet as he wants to pull some stumps and level the ground a bit first.  We also have some rocks to pull from around the house and move to the campground to create a small fire ring near where we plan to set up the camper so that when we are out there by ourselves we don't have to walk so far to the big fire ring for dinner!  LOL We will be bringing his grandson Noah out in a few weeks for camping so we plan to do that whole cooking on the fire while he is with us. 

 

The shakedown cruise.....

This weekend was a great weekend! Beautiful weather, a new camper, and the woods to ourselves. At first I was a bit bummed that no one was able to join us for come camping but it turned out fine. We sat around the campfire and plotted and planned and talked about what we needed to do in the campground and what we needed to get for the trailer.

We found a few issues that will need to be fixed - have called them already this morning to set up an appointment. We found a few things we will need to get - like shelf liner, shelves, some 6x6 wood blocks for the stabalizers, etc. We spent time together, cooked over the fire, slept in the woods and just really had a great weekend.

We also managed to get some work done around the homestead. Bill is hanging the perlings for the ceiling in the bedrooms and bath and I helped him measure for the boards. We got both yards mowed and the campground. I weeded in the campground. We measured for the electric and water leads for the shower house. And we made plans for camping with his grandson (have to talk to mamma about this one first.)

All in all it was a great weekend - too bad this work thing gets in the way of our fun! :(

Here are a couple of pics for the trailer out in our woods:


This one was right after we got it parked and leveled.


Here is a closeup of it after we pulled the table and chairs over. I didn't get one of the awning out (forgot) but it provides some nice shade (not that we need it in the woods). Bill is planning on building a small fire pit nearby for when we are out there by ourselves - it's a long walk to the community fire pit to cook on! LOL And our friends Ana and Jim told us last year that we need a potty on this side of the road... I think I agree!