Ruff Ranch

More Christmas 2011

2012-02-14T20:36:00.001-06:00

So, I went to Vermont for Christmas. I missed Christmas with my kiddos, but I got to hang out with my parents, brothers, nieces, and assorted canines.

Plus, there was snow. Just a little; but for me - being gone from Vermont for 18 years - it was just right.

I went on hikes with Brother Rob and Near-Sister Bonnie, who has a cool Canukian accent. I really felt like sitting around and doing nothing, but they made me get my cool weather gear on and move.

I ate ten tons of Spritz, drank a good lot of cheap box wine and gained no weight.

It was my very small Christmas miracle.

Now, the Spritz thing was funny. Brother Cliff and I did some experimentation with recipes and varieties of butter and baking temperatures - hence, all the eating of cookies. They all tasted good-enough-to eat-too-much-of, but not quite like Grandma Ruth's cookies.

We all know that Grandma Ruth lied to people about her recipes so she could keep her fabulous reputation.

Then we got a batch of Spritz from Rob's X, Elaine. She, apparently, got Grandma Ruth's recipe somehow. The secret is the extra salt. They were delicious.

I'm sorry I didn't take more pictures of the cookies before I ate them. I'm trying to get back in the habit.

Out toward the driveway. The first snow I saw all year.

This little lean-to was on the shore of Preston Pond. It seemed very Christ-massy, even to this non-observer.

Very pretty snow scene including old-man-Bama-the-dog.

Bama peering at me over the snow.

Bird feeder on Mom and Dad's deck.

Doves!

Dad, Mom and Bonnie.

Rob making some point. Cousin Eileen laughing. Frank wondering what the he// Rob is talking about.

Eileen, Niece Lyia, Frank admiring his beer.

Shortly after this, we were all admiring the Irish whiskey... except for my lovely nieces who are still somewhere around 10 or 11 years old. Or perhaps they are closer to 30 now. *sigh*

And a flat panel tv.

What the heck?

When I lived there, we had a black and white tv.

I don't have a flat panel tv now!

(more about that sometime).

Frank, Courtney and Katie. I will link to pics of Courtney and Katie's wedding as soon as I figure out how to do that. Very, very pretty.

Frank's dog, Peanut. He is super-cute, sweet and cuddly. He does not, however, like to be away from his boy.

Nain, Rob's dog, who I have admired in previous posts. Nain is also super cute and sweet and cuddly.

I am a sucker for dogs, tho'. I also think these guys are super cute and sweet and cuddly:

Yuck. They are also gross.

Here is perfection:

Chip the Cat.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2011

2012-02-14T19:35:00.003-06:00

There is nothing better than the joy of Vermont Maple Sugar Candy.

I'm just sayin'.

Seriously, it's true.

Look at her face.

I'm the best mom ever.

Disney World: Day one at the Magic Kingdom

2011-02-12T22:11:00.002-06:00

Our Trip to Disney World was a while ago. I started a blog entry, but the site had changed and I got irritated and stopped. Here I go again.

Last June, we took the kids to Disney. But first we stopped at the Atlantic Ocean. Here's Hugh:

You've seen this look from him before.

Ellie kept getting knocked over by the waves and undertow. She shrieked and stumbled and generally had a good time.

Notice the pasty paleness of my lovely family. We changed that status in about one hour. Scott got the sunburn of life on his stomach, which made him cranky. Ellie got a little burn on her shoulders and back, but she didn't let it get to her. Hugh and I both had burns on our shoulders. I think we got off lucky. That Florida sun has no mercy.

Here is the view from the Pirates of the Caribbean resort where we had our room. It was a nice little spot. Nice pools and restaurants. I would have been happy to hang out in that area the whole time.

Hugh and Ellie on our way into the Magic Kingdom. I love Cinderella's castle. So pretty. I had to see that first so we made a bee-line for it.

The moment we got to the castle, this show started. It was some schmaltz about dreams coming true and some prince finally showing up. I got all choked up.

I really did.

I didn't want to start weeping in the very heart of Disney, so I started taking pictures. There are a LOT of pictures of this performance. SO embarrassing.

The kids at Tom Sawyer Island.

Back at the castle. Just wait til the nighttime pictures!

Now inbetween these pictures, we went on Space Mountain, Big Thunder, Splash Mountain, the Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan's Flight, Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World (Super Creepy!), Snow White's Scary Adventures and Prince Charming's Carousel. And many, many, many other rides. We got back to the hotel after midnight.

At night they light up the castle. Pink, purple, blue. Did I mention I love the castle?

This is Zurg from Buzz Lightyear. This is what my children tell me. I don't know.

Inside Cinderella's Castle. I have heard a rumor that there are a few guest rooms in the castle, maybe up in the towers. I want. I want. I want.

You want, too. Admit it.

End of Day One at Disney.

I have fallen behind

2010-10-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

Laziness, perhaps, or something else? Too much home remodeling? Plus, I had a terrible time trying to load pictures the last time I was on here, I just stopped. I will try again. We went to Disney World in June and there are lots of pictures. We'll see if I can get it going again!

Call of the Wild

2010-04-06T18:13:00.000-05:00

Snake in the terrarium

I'm not sure if I've mentioned that for the past six months we've had a 4 1/2 foot long black snake and a big, fat toad living together in a terrarium in our guest house.

Snake and Toad. They aren't looking at each other. I think they're fighting.

It's hard being roommates when you're different species.

The snake was a determined rascal who wouldn't give up trying to live in the guest house basement last fall, so Scott nabbed him and dropped him in our big terrarium which, at that point, was empty. Snake, as we called him, was not best pleased. But there he sat, hissing and rattling his tail like a bad boy. Hugh was thrilled, especially when Snake tried to strike at Hugh through the glass. Snake eventually settled down and spent his winter where we could keep an eye on him instead of where he would continually startle us.

Toad was originally meant as a snack for Snake. Toad had a broken hind leg. Snake was not interested. I guess this toad was too big or tasted bad or Snake was a big ol' softie.

So, Toad and Snake lived together peacefully, but were not a lot of fun to watch until I put in crickets for Toad or a mouse for Snake. Toad gimped around pretty well and caught all his crickets. Snake was really very impressive to watch. We have video of Snake/Mousie interaction. It's exciting, but not very pretty. PETA would not be happy with me.

Well, they wouldn't like me for a variety of reasons.

We also have video of Toad/Mousie interaction. That was hilarious. Mousie kept running across poor Toad's head. Toad got ticked and jumped at Mousie. Over and over.

Anyway, our intention was to let them go eventually and it was finally warm enough this past weekend.

Toad back outside. Look, he misses his old glass home already.

See Toad's broken hind leg.

Toad's handsome and dignified visage.

Big, scary, aggressive snake on a broom handle

Snake on his way to the corn field.

There's a face only a mother could love.

Snake in the weeds, I mean, cornfield.

I'm certainly not his mom, but I was so worried about his cloudy eyes that I got up in the middle of the night and looked up why snakes get cloudy eyes. It seems we did okay. He was in the process of shedding his skin. So he must've grown while he was with us.

Grey Water

2010-03-21T21:20:00.002-05:00

I like to spell it "grey". It looks fancier to me.

And then Grey Water could be my English Country Estate.

I can see it now: stone manse, formal drive, secret garden. I like it.

I really don't know what I'm talking about.

But this I do know; our toilet has an attachment which is a great use of grey water . Here it is:

www.sinkpositive.com

And if I did have an English country estate, I would still have this cool toilet-tank sink. It confuses the guests until they realize how green we are. And then they are impressed. Just flush the toilet and the sink runs while the tank refills.

Brilliant.

The after-market adaptation to use toilet tank water to wash hands.

The kids are completely grossed out, because you know, we're using toilet water to wash our hands. But kids don't know nothing.

The sink running

The guests are so impressed that they are no longer horrified by our teeny-tiny bathroom which is what necessitated the tank-top sink in the first place.

Where, Oh where, has my camera gone?

2010-03-15T15:40:00.001-05:00

Secondary title: Dolly Fashion Show

I'll beat the child. Yes, I will. She is incorrigible.

She was the reason for the long fall break in posts and pictures.

Look at her. Pure trouble.

I'd just gotten back in the swing of taking pictures and posting my silliness when, suddenly, I couldn't find my camera (weirdly similar to how I now can't find my cell phone). I *occasionally* misplace things so I didn't automatically blame anyone else.

I know my faults... Most of them, anyway.

Well, I was doing a little straightening up in Ellie's room, which is currently (temporarily) Grandpa RV's room. While shuffling things around on her dresser in order to vacuum up the dust, I found my camera. I thought, "How odd. I don't remember taking any pictures in here". No big problem, tho'. I was just glad to have the camera for my first Girls Night Out with Pformer Pfizer colleagues.

Long story made mercifully less long: I had not been in Ellie's room with the camera.

She had been doing a fashion show with her American Girl and American Girl knockoff dolls.

We know a fashion photographer; perhaps we'll get Ellie into the biz early. Here is her first portfolio:

American Girl Doll Julie, a child of divorced parents in the 60's, wearing a violet sleeveless evening gown and gloves with her signature hippie braid.

Julie

Julie is a camera hog. Could be issues with her parents.

Alice in Wonderland and American Girl knockoff Ashley taking a nap.

Dolly no-name

Center is Victorian Dolly Demetra in her winter ice skating outfit with Dolly no-name and her brother on either side.

Victorian Dolly Roxanne wearing a pinky-maroon morning gown. Check out those eyelashes!

*jealous*

Yes, that is a Twilight poster behind her. I must repeat that these pictures were not taken in MY room!

Victorian Dolly Sabrina wearing her strolling thru' the meadow dress

Victorian Dolly Emily in a deep purple riding gown on her way to Bath to take the water

Here is Julie again showing us her colonial style gown

Hmm. Maybe this is really a "pioneer" type dress. I can't really tell.

Okay, after further inspection of the actual dress, I'm going with generic Pioneer style, circa Laura Ingalls.

And this is apparently Grandpa RV's shirt hanging on a bed post. I hope this was just her testing the light levels.

Don't let go of your dreams. Don't let your mother telling you to leave her camera alone stop you from ignoring her.

Left overs

2010-03-09T07:43:00.000-06:00

As in left over Christmas in Vermont pictures. In no particular order:

Natural Giftwrap

Ellie and the cutest puppy ever - Nainette

We love show tunes!

Grandma Jane in the snow

Grandpa Jerry searching for whatever has jammed the snow blower

Success!

Tracks of some abominable monster

First sighting of the monster

AAAAHHHHH! It's hideous!

The horrible slavering jaws! The ferocious jabberwock!

Run away!!

Oh NO! It got in the house and has eaten Hugh!

The jabberwock's more dignified brother.

Uncle Rob torturing Hugh and Puppy Nain being cute.

Wicked Cool!

2010-02-18T18:00:00.001-06:00

Beautiful, shiny, stainless steel and chrome...

We are currently rehabbing our entire house at once. Ceilings are down, floors are unsanded, plumbing and electricity is being torn out and redone, woodwork is stripped of paint. We prefer to get back to the basics of a house. Our kitchen, however, is finally to a point where we can pick out the appliances. We have an awesome central table, of which I will take a picture sometime when it's not covered in homework and soda cans.

Today we have pictures of our 1964 Frigidaire Flair Custom Deluxe electric range. It is wicked cool. It has two ovens at eye level and the doors open up like those fancy Italian sports car doors. AND, the cooktop retracts. See that above? That's the cooktop, under the two ovens, pushed all the way in.

Now the cooktop is pulled all the way out. It also can pull out just halfway. Is that not excellent? It has its own cabinet underneath it for your stuff.

In the process of taking the Flair apart

Now of course, I had to clean this sucker, so we took it completely apart, storing all the bits and pieces in a gazillion little baggies. I don't know where I got all those baggies. Oh, wait. Yes, I do! Anyway, with razor blade, plastic scraper, some kind of green cleaner and lots of elbow grease, I cleaned that thing of all its years of built up grease.

So gross.

(I had to do this for a Chambers gas cooktop we got also and it was so nasty, I gagged. That's pretty bad, cuz we all know I am used to nasty stuff).

Here is the smaller oven. It's so clean and shiny in there, I could pluck my eyebrows in the reflection. But I won't cuz that is not hygienic.

Here is Mattie waiting for her dinner

When you come over for dinner now, you can have your food prepared on the Custom Deluxe. Don't worry; there won't be any eyebrows in the Newfie-hair casserole.

Wave 121

2010-02-09T14:04:00.001-06:00

I really like not working.

Did I ever mention that I had a full time job before? I worked as a sort of biologist at Pfizer, Inc. for quite a few years. I started at Searle, the pharmaceutical/cardiovascular division of Monsanto for a few years as a contractor. Then I was hired at Monsanto full time in the Nutrition and Consumer Products Division. Then my part of Monsanto was bought out by Pharmacia Pharma, and then that was bought by Pfizer, Inc. The whole thing was 14 years of my life when Pfizer decided to "exit" St. Louis. Now there are some Pfizer folks left in St. Louis, but I am one of many hundreds who were given notice this past November. Pfizer has this funny way of talking about those of us who are let go. We are waves. My wave was #121. Frankly, I think that they should come up with another name so they can start the numbers over again at 1. One hundred twenty-one is a lot of waves of good scientists to dump. It doesn't sound so good in a public relations sense, but what do I know? Anyway, I think 121 is a good number and will bode well for me. I really need to get back to work, but for now... I kinda like not working.

Wave 121 had their last day on January 29th. My group went out to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory where my favorite item is the seared ahi. Mmmmm. Excuse me.

After that my good friend, Sarah, and I went walking around the Chesterfield Mall. We realized that after working together for 10 years, exchanging kids' clothing and complaining about our husbands, we had never wandered around a mall for no reason. So we did. Sephora benefited from our wandering. It was one of the best, funniest experiences I'd ever had. I'm always intimidated by those kinds of fancy makeup places (remember, I live on a mini-ranch and am super cheap), but I had a great time. We both ended up getting makeovers and spending way too much money. I'd never been in that shop before as I'm more of a KMart/Cover Girl girl, but I was made into a stunning beauty and had to buy everything! Some wildly gay 12 year old boy got ahold of Sarah and beat her rosacea into submission. You should have seen his face when she said, "I have no cleansing regimen". How can I describe the look on his face? Shock, dismay? I laughed til I cried. He really did work wonders with her bright red cheeks, tho'. I was mightily impressed. Please forgive me, I cannot remember what the products were, but they were mostly green and soothing which calmed and counteracted the redness. The gal I made help me was able to sell me some stuff which minimized the look of my ginormous pores (the Present by Philosophy) and some powder foundation (the Supernatural by Philosophy) which was light and not sticky feeling. She had the good sense to compliment my skin, which made me giggle. If she had seen my skin in highschool, she wouldn't have talked to me! I liked it. I liked the folks who helped us and the products... Sarah, feel free to comment!

Wait, wasn't I talking about Wave 121? After Sarah and I were made beautiful, we went to the Fox and Hound, a very English bar where you are required to wear jodhpurs and use riding crops to order drinks.

No, not really.

Me, Chad, Sue, Sarah and Kathy

Well, we had a good time and I left before all the really wild stuff happened, which is always what happens to me, but it's okay, cuz there are like 8 waves left for all my friends to be let go in, and they will all have Farewell Happy Hours. There will be wild stuff to come, I'm sure.

More Christmas - I know it's late in coming

2010-02-09T13:39:00.000-06:00

Poor Bama tolerating Hugh's Santa Hat.

Hugh made all the dogs pose for pictures with the Santa hat. Bama is a senior dog and is very tolerant, but I could tell that he was just not into the Santa hat thing.

Ellie and Hugh making breakfast in Grandma's kitchen

Seems like I said something about Hugh's Christmas adventures. I can't quite remember why I mentioned that in particular. So here is Hugh at Christmas. Just a reminder: Hugh is a menace to society. He is also cute.

The first two pictures are his before and after hair cut at Ray's Barber Shop in Essex Junction, VT. As you can tell, he was not happy.

Hugh and Bison with Santa antlers

Hugh has an incredible imagination. He also has a way with paper and tape. After the Santa hats, he had a great idea. We had enough dogs in the house to pull a sleigh, so Hugh made all the dogs paper antlers. They all had to wear them. Valentine, who is a very old black lab, didn't have enough umph in her head shakes to get rid of her antlers and ended up with them on for quite. a. while. Poor Valentine.

Do you see the expression on Hugh's face? Compare it to the following expression:

Weird, isn't it?

And to end this one, here's one cute kid on Christmas Day.

Perhaps the worst movie ever...

2009-12-31T22:54:00.000-06:00

G.I. Joe.

Truly bad. Lots of impressive special effects, but really, really bad.

Jay came over for New Year's from Indy and we all went to Geno's for a toasty New Year's bon fire. The kids froze and we all came back to watch the ball drop in New York.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-31T22:53:00.000-06:00

Christmas in Vermont

2009-12-30T17:40:00.000-06:00

Jericho Center, Vermont

There probably isn't a more perfect place to spend Christmas. The problem is getting there in the first place. It's far, far away. It's an exhausting 21 hours of driving time which, of course, gets dragged out to about 36 hours. Kids and their bathroom breaks! We had to take a small snooze on the south side of Buffalo which for once was not having a major snowstorm. When we woke up, we decided to drive up to Niagara Falls. The kids had never seen it, and I hadn't seen it since I was in the Army 20 years ago. We spent a total of 15 frozen minutes there.

We got to my folks' house at 6pm the Monday before Christmas. Their house is good sized for the two of them and their two dogs, but add in an extra geriatric dog, two more adults, two kids and two Newfoundland dogs and it gets kinda crowded.

It's funny that we all just adjusted our strides to allow for the multitude of dog bodies that were spread out all over the floor.

Valentine in front, then Mattie, Bama and part of Bison.

We got the truck unloaded, got ourselves some Long Trail to wash the dust down and sacked out. The kids, of course, were not tired at all. They slept and watched movies the whole way (thank you Sarah!) and were ready to party the minute we got in.

Next up, Hugh's Christmas adventures.

What do you know...

2009-12-24T16:27:00.000-06:00

I have my camera back in order! It got out of order in September and it took me a while to get the nerve up to see if I actually bought the accident insurance on it. Ends up that my original camera was too banged up to repair, so I got a whole new one. Anyway, I'm back at the blog. We're up in Vermont for the holidays and I've got a good batch of pictures to load up when we get home. You just can't wait for these pictures cuz there are five dogs in this house, including two Newfs, and tomorrow there will be six dogs. It is crazy mayhem at dinner time!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Signs of Fall

2009-09-15T19:00:00.001-05:00

Fall is in the air at Ruff Ranch. The evenings are getting cooler and I like it. Fall is my favorite time of year. I may have left the colors of Vermont behind 16 years ago, but we've got a few things turning colors and doing their autumnal things.

Even weeds are prettier in the Fall.

The corn is not prettier, but it's ready to be cut down and made into sheaves for Halloween decorating.

Don't talk to me about the weeds in there. I know all about them.

Some leaves are turning.

One of two Japanese maple trees that we transplanted last year. The second one is not doing as well, but I think it'll come back.

This is the healthy one. It is beautiful.

The spiders in the stairwell to the basement have been very busy with their Fall activities. I didn't really pay any attention to them before because of their evil cousins who I have mentioned before. The house spiders spent the summer eating bugs, which was helpful, and if I didn't look up, then I didn't see them. I took this picture right before I finally vacuumed them all up. There were egg sacs, dead bugs and dead daddy spiders all over.

Poor daddy spiders.

Well, they're all in the vacuum now.

The Last Voyage of Meriwether Lewis

2009-09-02T20:06:00.000-05:00

Thank the heavens and whoever is responsible for them.

It's a long story which goes back to 1996, and contains all the elements of a good story, of which there are two. However, I didn't enjoy the story so much.

But now it's the end.

Lewis will be dead shortly; by his own hand or another's. And good riddance.

I was going to say "to bad rubbish", but I thought that sounded bitter.

Let's just say, I'm glad that THIS IS THE END!!!!!

This is the flatboat which is taking Meriwether to Memphis.

From there he will ride a horse to Grinder's Stand. And we all know what happened at Grinder's Stand.

Well, okay. We don't. But something happened and then Mr. Lewis was dead.

Then maybe I can have my husband back until the 150 anniversary of the Civil War and something tells me I'll lose him again.

I have made the big time!

2009-09-02T19:23:00.000-05:00

Holy cow! Someone is reading this blog!!!

I am SOOOO excited!!

You can tell by all the exclamation points.

I came home for just a moment this afternoon. The children were asleep in the car and I just had to grab my camera and let the dogs pee. Guess what I found sitting on one of our patio chairs?????!!!

Brains??

Sadly, no.

Your next choice is hedge apples.

You betcha!

Good for what ails you, which in my case is some blinkety-blank spiders!

Thank you Jim, you have saved the family from flesh-eating spider bites!

As busy as a...

2009-08-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

Bee.

Or a thousand bees.

Or perhaps more.

Did you know you can smoke bees with incense? They like it, and then they get all drowsy and then they don't sting so much.

We had a honey bee hive in our house. We knew approximately where is was (in the ceiling of the back closet), but had no idea what to do with it. Scott called "the man", and the man said he didn't want the bees now. There are plenty of honey bees in this area. Plus, they wouldn't survive transfer this time of year.

BeeMan said, "Do you have a shop-vac? Yes? Well then. Bundle up".

First sighting

After letting the bees inhale for half an hour, Scott and I bundled up to MOPP level 4 and started taking down the last ceiling in our upstairs.

We found the bee hive.

Holy cheesits.

Vacuuming bees out of the hive

I really never expected anything remotely like this. The bees...and the honey...

No wonder they're called honey bees.

The newest honeycombs

Scott was the one up by the ceiling with the vacuum and the knife with which he cut down the honeycombs. I was in charge of handing him stuff, taking pictures and staring aghast with flabber at the six feet of honeycomb between the rafters. It's amazing, really. Look at the perfection of those honeycombs. To think of all the hard work those bees put in.

But then, I'm afraid that I have to lump the bees in with the spiders and the snake...

Uninvited guests.

I didn't do such a good job of taking pictures, actually, but I did a great job of staring. I can't really even describe the number of dead bee bodies there were that had to be vacuumed, or the revolting mess of carcasses, honey and other detritus that had to be scraped out. Ugh.

Blech.

And then, the honey started dripping from the rafters and left pools of honey on the floor and then the dead bee bodies got all mixed in with it. And I stared. And I was aghast. With flabber.

A kitty litter bucket full of honey, combs and bees

And then Scott decided we must save the honey, because you all know that he is like that. So I washed out the kitty litter buckets (just fresh litter, not used, fer pete's sake) and he tossed rows of honey-dripping, bee-covered honeycomb into them. Scott wants to make beeswax candles out of it, and eat raw honey.

I hear raw honey is good for your allergies.

Cliff, you should expect some Real Ruff Ranch beeswax candles for Christmas.

First Day of School 2009

2009-08-21T22:06:00.001-05:00

Ellie's first day of 5th grade

Scott brought them into school of course, as he teaches in the district and I work 20 miles away, but I did get pictures of them before they left.

Hugh's first day of 2nd grade

So sweet...and really excited about the new school year. Even Hugh was excited. He seems like he is expecting something this year. I think the reading is going to break through soon...I hope it is anyway.

Do you see that guy with his summer-time brick construction project? He loves to build, and I hope he continues that.

He can help us finish remodeling this house before we die.

House work

2009-08-21T21:25:00.001-05:00

You know, I really wish that someone would tell me how to make the New Post window bigger. I can see about half a picture and that's it. It's hard as can be (I don't really mean "can be") to put a post together when you can't see anything.

I WANT A BIGGER COMPOSING WINDOW!!!

GAH!!

Back to house work...

We are always tearing stuff up. I may have mentioned some weeks ago that we were concentrating on the kitchen/dining room areas. I think that I might have lied about that.

We rented a monstrous dumpster which was so big that I thought we could never fill it up. I was SO wrong. So terribly wrong. It filled up and we have plenty more. The waste handling folks, however, have no pity. They won't let us have another 6 yard dumpster for free. I'm shocked, frankly. They were, however, kind enough to come over from an entirely different state.

http://yellowpages.sj-r.com/robert+bob+sanders+waste+systems.9.13417286p.home.html

I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of the giant dumpster that was in our driveway for three weeks. It would have made interesting gossip for everyone who is interested in their neighbors garbage. We have lots of garbage. It comes from all the ceilings of the 2nd floor of the house... not the kitchen/dining area. When you have a giant dumpster, you take advantage of it. When you have access to respirators and safety glasses for free, you take advantage of it. Over three weekends we took down the ceilings in Hugh's room and the hallway bathroom, then Ellie's room, and then the master suite bathroom.

I've got to say that it all looks very neat in the pictures. But I was working too hard pulling down the 50 - 100 year old insulation to take pics of the horrible parts. Some of the stuff was just nasty.

Bike America

2009-08-19T18:56:00.000-05:00

Guess who sent us another post card? Not a cheesy tourist attraction this time.

They are still together, making their way across the country! Be sure to let us know when you get to the Pacific Ocean. Scott would love it if you said, "Oh, the joy! Ocean in view".

Happy Birthday Ellie!

2009-08-18T21:40:00.000-05:00

Elizabeth, "Lizzie", who is saying, "Yes! I did brush my teeth!"

I'm late getting this out. I've been intimidated by the vast number of pictures. It's worse than the museum edition of Ruff-Ranch, but dang it, these kids are so cute, I had to take a gazillion pictures.

Have I mentioned that we are Harry Potter fans? Not Scott. He is not a fan; but he occasionally supports us in our fanaticism. Like when we all take off for several hours to go see the new release, or when I make wild plans for a Harry Potter birthday party for Ellie and he makes all the calls to set everything up.

Of course, we are not in England, so these girls can't go to Hogwart's School, but we could send them to Earwig's School of Wizardry, a local establishment. First step was getting them admitted. Not a problem for these girls.

Second step was getting them to school! You might have guessed that the trip is long and difficult. It is. Yes, it is.

Lior, Elizabeth, Amira, Emma, Hugh and Ellie

They had to canoe down the river. They were all game for it, but I did hear some worried commentary from these city-girls.

Showing the girls how tippy a canoe is

Off they go down the river. Bye, girls!

Thank goodness, they made it! One and one half hours of paddling and they were still smiling!

The girls hiking through the wilds - the banks of the Illinois River

It's the Whomping Sycamore!

Lior

Amira on Whitey

Elizabeth

Ellie

Emma

Relieved aspiring wizards; done with rivers, boats, horses and surly guides named Enos.

Welcome feast at Earwig's School

Elizabeth, Emma and Ellie

Lior and Elizabeth

Ellie the Queen

Elizabeth the Knight

Lior and Amira taking the enemy's rook

Look at the evil laughter!

Back at the castle, the girls find their familiars

Emma

Lizzie

Ellie

Amira

Lior and Amira

Emma singing "Dumbledore!"

Chopsticks extraordinaire!

Running from dragons. Wands are useless!

Conniption fit??

Petrificus Totalis!

Lizzie's been cursed by an Unforgiveable. I think it's Emma's fault.

Hmmm...not sure...

Ellie's second familiar

Chased by another dragon! Didn't know we had so many around here!

In the dormitory - watching movies

What a great day we all had. The girls got along so well with no pre-teen drama. I'm sure it will be the last time that happens. Such good girls!

Saturday August 1st

2009-08-03T21:50:00.001-05:00

Melodie

It was a busy day. Parties and driving all over town. Non-stop action and adventure. Especially adventure. We started out with a nice party over at RV's house. Scott's sister, Melodie, and her girls, Asti and Cali, are in town from the Denver area. Mel arranged to have a barbeque and have a bunch of folks over to visit. Mel was not daunted by the misting rain.

Asti

You might recognize something cooking on the stove. Yes, indeed, it's more of our corn. Scott brought enough to feed an army. Unfortunately, there wasn't an army present. Asti was being a very helpful teenager managing the mountains of corn.

Cali and Ellie

These two are very unhelpful pre-teens and were very busy watching the Disney Channel. Okay, just kidding about the unhelpful part.

Rusty, Emma, Cali, Asti and RV

Cali, RV, Doris and Asti

I didn't get pictures of everyone and can't remember some names of people we haven't seen in a while, but we had a nice time visiting.

Melodie, RV, Aunt Mary

Sadly, I did not get any more photographs of the rest of the day. Ellie and Hugh went to a birthday party next door for the neighbors twins. While they were there, I was getting ready for Neighbor George's surprise 40th birthday party. I didn't get any pictures of that either, but George will not leave off teasing me about rum and cokes.

The City Museum

2009-07-26T18:40:00.001-05:00

The City Museum

RAWKS

view from the Ferris Wheel

This is gonna be a long one, I tell you. I took pictures almost constantly today. We went to the City Museum, which is the most excellent place on Earth for both kids and adults who dare squeeze themselves into tight places.

Ellie getting giggly on the Ferris Wheel

Hugh and Scott

First, we went to the roof. Used to be, the roof was closed off and you could just see a few odd things up there like a school bus with its front tires hanging over the edge; but now it's open and not only is the school bus available to go into, but there is a giant praying mantis and a working Ferris Wheel.

Hugh with his new best friend

That was just the beginning, people. There is more stuff to do in the City Museum than you can scare a puffer fish with. There are puffer fish at the museum, but I didn't want to scare them by shooting them with the flash on. It makes them puff up and shortens their lives.

This museum is Recycling beyond what any Vermont lefty radical tree-hugger can imagine. Everything you see is scrap and reclaimed and has been made into a tunnel, sky-way, tree-house, jungle-gym... um, anything, everything you can imagine. There are almost no off-limits places...even the places that look extraordinarily DANGEROUS!

The school bus that hangs over the edge of the building. I hope there are some bolts involved in this display.

Hugh (in beige 3rd from top) and Ellie (in the red top)

This is where you climb up the rope and throw yourself down the cement slide.

The lily pads. The fountains ebb and flow and sometimes you get wet and sometimes you don't. Ellie got soaked!

Hugh in outside maze

This is the tree-house section of the museum. Do you see the spiral wire thing going around that post in the center of the picture? You can climb up that and go into a whole new world in the ceiling.

It was very sunny, so we had to go in to keep our lovely fair skin from frying. There is a tiny tunnel underneath the floor in the treehouse area. You get into it by dropping through a hole by the benches (for tired parents) and it comes out under the whale. There are glass portals through the floor which provide a little light, but not much. It's kind of scary. But awesome. I went through it when I was about 20 pounds lighter. I wouldn't do it now. It's tight. Hands and knees and skinny bum tight.

The whale. Scott in the ballcap.

The whale is the entry to the upper part of the treehouse area. Why a whale? I don't know. But I do know that the whale has tunnels where his tonsils should be and I can't fit in them.

Hugh in the tree house area

Blurry carp with lots of cash

There is a BIG aquarium in the treehouse area with lots of turtles and carp. It's a great place for parents to hang out and wait for their darling children to come back to Earth.

Hugh in the caves

You really have to wear old clothes when you go to the City Museum. You can get wet in the lily pad area or the rope walk or in the caves. Hugh got wet in the caves by stepping in some huge puddle which is not usually there. He said, "Aaurgh! It stinks and my shoes are all wet!".

Huh...

Well, I hope it was water. No harm done, though. Hugh is the world's expert on stinky stuff, and he wasn't too worried about it.

Ellie crossing the Rhine

Well, I didn't know I could load a video on this. Well, here you go. It's Ellie crossing one of the water features

Kids in the caves

Skinny Scott squeezing thru' the tunnels

The caves are not at all this light. It's very dark in there, but in order for you to get an idea of what it all looks like, I was forced to use the flash.

Here is one of the carvings in the cave section. The woman has boobs (OMG) and apparently people have been wiping their greasy hands on them for years. Sadly, she can't do anything about it, but believe me, I am offended for her.

Here are some more gals with molested bosoms. It's a sad state of affairs.

This is in the center of the City Museum building. It is a huge system of slides and ladders for fire escape. You can go all the way to the top of the building and slide back down to the caves.

Looking up at the slides

A lovely organ there in the middle of all the stairs and slides

Looking down toward the caves. I was holding on to my camera super tight!

We stopped to have a soda in a little cafe within the museum. There are all kinds of crazy things in there, like this fun cutout and a giant pair of men's tighty whiteys.

Monkey Hugh

This was quite a find. This merman sculpture was also in the cafe. See the look on Ellie's face? She is mortified by the anatomical correctness of this merman. "Disney merpeople do NOT look like this! Their scales come up to their bellybuttons!" Hugh just thought it was funny that his bum was showing.

Sorry for the x-rated nature of this post. The kids insisted I point out which things to avoid.

The last room we visited was this room where there are mazes, rope swings, slides and this giant pencil.

Why is it that every post ends with Hugh claiming victory over his surroundings? He is full of attitude.

horse prep

2009-07-25T17:05:00.001-05:00

So we had a couple of problems.

1. We want to get ready for getting a horse - like putting up fencing and a stable.

2. Scott's been cutting down trees that are too close to the house. Big trees.

What could we do with all these trees and their big branches?

Hmmmm.

Then Scott got a wild notion this morning...

Look out when Scott's got a wild notion.

He went crazy today using the branches from our trees as the new fence posts.

It's like 200 feet worth of fencing.

He really wants a horse to go with our corn.

He'll be done shortly. Where's my horse?

Corn

2009-07-25T17:00:00.001-05:00

The corn is up!

It's ready for us to pick.

The children of the corn.

Creepy, aren't they?

We are so proud of our corn.

Get ready...

Get set...

Go!

Don't get between Ellie and her corn on the cob!

Uninvited guests

2009-07-20T15:23:00.000-05:00

Black Rat Snake

Does this critter belong in the house?

Probably not. But there's one in here somewhere and he made his presence known to my daughter one afternoon this summer. Not dangerous, but very, very startling!

Brown Recluse Spider

Does this critter belong in the house?

Oh, heck no! I cannot express the feeling I have when I see these little guys, but it usually involves stronger language than "heck" and "little guys". It also includes a combination of incapacitating fear and blinding, murderous rage. I think this is because I hate spiders and because the first brown recluse I saw in this house was about 1 inch across and was in the bathtub with me. Once I got done screaming, I was really mad.

Neither the snake pictured above nor the spider are actual residents of our house. I would take a picture of the snake if I had a chance, but I haven't.

The spiders don't live long enough for me to get my camera and perfect the lighting. We are on an all out spider specicide at Ruff Ranch. With face masks, gloves and Tyvek coats we are pulling out all the radiators (that is where the little...guys live), vacuuming, scrubbing and spider-spraying the heck out of them. Scott and I take turns doing this while the other stands back to murder any escapees. Then I also have the plug-in devices that are supposed to repel spiders. I don't know if they really work, but it makes me feel better to have them. I also dust with Lemon Pledge continually as they don't like that either. I also spray with spider spray. Everywhere.

The other thing they don't like are hedge apples. Could someone send me a couple dozen hedge apples for my spider problem? And some more spider spray? I'm getting low.

Those bikers

2009-07-18T20:40:00.000-05:00

The three young men who stayed with us overnight a few weeks ago have sent us a post card! I have since found out that they call themselves "Bike America" and I put a link to their Twitter site on the left side of the page.

Apparently, they are going across the US looking for cheesy tourist sites. They are doing a good job!

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/towns/Cawker/twine.html

Rob, Josh and Pilgrim, I hope you are doing well and having fun.

We just saw

2009-07-17T14:21:00.000-05:00

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

It. was. awesome.

It was way better, IMO, than the last one. I'll be seeing it again! Here are some pictures of Ellie and Hugh getting ready to go to the movies this morning.

Hugh only wanted to go to the movies because of the popcorn. When Ellie told him that there was lots of kissing in the movie, he made this face...

This is Chocolate Chip, Cat of Excellence. He wanted to see HP also, but cats aren't allowed. Here he is giving us the stink-eye.

Oh, Chocolate Chip, Excellent Cat, you are a most superior cat. Please don't sort us into Slytherin.

You might have noticed

2009-07-15T11:59:00.000-05:00

the German names in the 4th of July post? Like I said before, Scott has a way of finding people.

Those people actually WERE Germans! From Berlin! They are a film company called Monsta Movies are doing a sort of travel correspondant thing for German-style PBS.

Scott, Bison, Randy and Matthias aboard the Flatboat

Now this is mud!

Sabine working hard at rowing. The feather helps the aerodynamics

4th of July again

Gratuitous pictures of teh kewt

Well, they hired our friends at QuaPaw (Mississippi) and Big Muddy Adventures to take them touring/adventuring/filming down the Mississippi River and they started here. Darling husband Scott was their on-camera tour guide for our area and we've all been invited to the premier of their movie in Berlin in 2010. Nice! We had them stay at our old place, and we all got to spend Independence Day together watching the fireworks.

Assembling the pontoon boat

The craft they are riding down the river in is a big pontoon boat. It's actually two big canoes with a 16 foot platform connecting them. The boat was assembled at Piasa Creek after arriving from Mississippi. I got to watch this happen while keeping an eye on Ellie and Hugh who were dodging motor boats in the creek.

Turning the pontoon

Maiden voyage of the Junebug

Should we pull him back in?

Ellis, Hugh (in the water), John Ruskey, Dinky

Ellie and Hugh got to go out on the maiden voyage of the pontoon boat - the Junebug, and Hugh surprised everyone (not) by "falling" into the river. You can see everyone looking overboard above, wondering if something should be done.

Yes, something should be done. He is out. of. control.

Bison...he's so

2009-07-12T21:32:00.001-05:00

America's dog Bison - he's so magnificent (and smelly)

puppy Bison - he's so cute

A boy and his dog Bison - he's so tolerant

Handsome Bison - he's so, uh, handsome

At home Bison - he's so friendly and...

energetic and

attentive...ew...and

he's so focused on food.

4th of July festivities

2009-07-06T10:23:00.000-05:00

On the 3rd of July!

George, Michelle and Leo

John Cooper, Lutze and Sabine

Scott, George, Ben, Casey, Emma and Claire

We celebrated with some of our new neighbors, old neighbors, canoe friends, fife and drum friends and a German film company at our old house where we could enjoy the fireworks without bothering with the crowds downtown.

Volker und Jadwiga

Suzanne DeWitt

Ben and Scott

Matthias und Volker

John Cooper and George

We had enough of a crowd where we were!

Seth and Tom

Leo, Hugh and Ben Jr.

Mike Clark

Independence causes people to react in a variety of ways:

Ben

Ben!

Some folks were wild and crazy

Randy and Jim

Some were mellow and peaceful

Leo and Claire

Some felt love in the air

Somebody's kid

Some got sleepy

Leo

Ellie

Some got patriotic.

All in all it was a fine night for a party.

Please forgive me for any butchering of German names!

Not strangers for long

2009-07-04T16:53:00.000-05:00

Scott has a way of finding people.

Last Tuesday, as he was driving home, he came across three bicyclists stopped by the side of the road. Scott could tell they were on a long trek and one of them had a flat tire. He stopped to offer assistance. As it was late afternoon, he told them they could come to Ruff Ranch for food, rest and a bite to eat. Scott arrived home and told me we were expecting company.

The cyclists arrived a little while later, tire repaired and accepted our hospitality very graciously. They were three - Rob, Josh and Pilgrim from Michigan- and they were just traveling across the country seeing America and getting to know the Lord. They had started at Virginia Beach, with their back tires in the surf (not such a good idea, they said) and will end up at the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. They shared hamburgers and pasta with us and showed us their proposed journey. Scott gave them some pointers on traveling out west - that is something he knows a bit about! They camped out in the back yard and left a bit later in the morning after a breakfast of eggs and toast and coffee.

I was too shy yet to ask them if I could have pictures for this blog, but I did sneak some pics of their tents out back before they woke up that morning. Scott feels strongly about giving these random strangers some help. He is paying it forward in thanks for all the people who helped him in his travels across the country during the Lewis and Clark bicentennial. I'm sure these three won't be the last we meet.

June haircuts

2009-06-29T09:59:00.001-05:00

Three members of the family got haircuts in June. Hugh only gets his hair cut once per year. That is his own choice. He likes his long hair. He ends up with a fairly short cut right around the time that school lets out. Occasionally, it's in time to flummox his classmates and teachers with a whole new kid, but this year he waited until summer vacation started.

Here's Hugh before: so cute! I know this picture is blurry, but it's so sweet.

And Hugh after: what a handsome guy! Wait...is that a blob of peanut butter on his cheek?

Yes, I think it is.

Now Mattie and Bison get their fur chopped for the summer as well. I know that there are plenty of people who don't believe that Newfoundlands should get their hair cut. I know the reasons why. But these two spend their summers lounging in our house by the air conditioning vents, so I'm selfish and make my life easier by reducing the brushing and sweeping of Newf hair. By November, Bison will have his yak fur back and Mattie will again be a hippie.

Bison before, with a bit of slobber decorating his fur.

Bison after. Awww, Bison. Come give me a smooch.

Mattie before. She has ridiculously long hair. Look at that 70's 'do!

Mattie after. For some reason, the great groomers at Kennelwood love to leave a little floof on Mattie's head and ears. She looks like a giant poodle to me. Kisses, Mattie!

The orphan in the house

2009-06-29T09:58:00.001-05:00

Orphan disease: a disease which affects less than 200,000 people
Orphan drug: a drug which not commercially viable

Cystinosis affects 500 people in the United States and 2000 people world wide. Cystagon is the drug used to treat it. The company which manufactures it takes a loss on it.

Eleanor and Hugh are two of the people in the US with cystinosis.
They take Cystagon every six hours.

Oh, yuck. I've been trying to write something concise and informative and all but it keeps sounding all miserable and whiney - which I don't want, because we aren't. If you want to know what cystinosis is, check out the Cystinosis and Natalie's Wish links. I guess I'll just go at our life with this disease bit by bit, and you'll get a picture over time. In the mean time, here are some pictures of the patients in question.

Ellie and the best cat in the world, Chip

Hugh, a maniac

Hugh and Ellie playing on the computer

Hugh at the Strawberry Festival at school

Cool, Ellie

Ellie at the Strawberry Festival. What hair!

Beautiful Ellie

Hugh after some time in Piasa Creek

I have a confession to make

2009-06-29T09:57:00.000-05:00

Ruff Ranch isn't really a ranch. We have three acres, with a big plot of corn and a little experimental veggie garden (me + garden = experiment), there are also quite a few grapes.

We're just a Newf ranch...you should see Hugh herding the Newfs. You should see the Newfs herding us.

Awwww - Babies

2009-06-26T15:43:00.000-05:00

Silly robins made nests in the crook of the downspouts on the guest house this spring. Two were made; one for each downspout, but I only saw one in active use. We watched them carefully for weeks waiting for the babies to show up.

Oh! Hugh and Ellie found an egg shell under the nest. I wonder if someone is up there.

Hello?

Hello! Baby robin!

More baby robins and papa robin bringing delicious treats. He went back and forth several times bringing back a rich and varied diet for the little peepers.

A few weeks later, a baby robin is out on his own. He gave me the hairy eyeball while I circled him and took pictures.

You can tell he has been eating very, very well.

He is so cute in a really ugly kind of way.

The papa bird has been hopping around trying to show baby robin how it's all done. He flits down a few feet.

Off he goes to follow papa!

Cool things Scott can do - home rehab

2009-06-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

The homestead on Ruff Ranch is 148 years old and there have been many, many renovations and makeovers during that time. We started in on our own redo last year almost immediately, all the while making snide comments about the choices and mental abilities of the former occupants. Everyone does this, right? I mean, what were they thinking?!?

Anyway, we have multiple projects going at once, as is our way, but we are currently concentrating on the coversion of the former dining room/powder room/laundry room/hallway into one big kitchen and the conversion of the puny former kitchen into den. The oringinal dining room had been split up resulting in three too-small rooms. Above is the former dining room/powder/laundry.

When we tore out the walls which made the powder and laundry rooms, we found numerous holes in the original flooring which had accommodated various pipes, lines and wires for some earlier renovation. Chip the cat loved these holes, but I kept catching my socks on them.

Scott had wisely saved some flooring from a former house which just happened to work perfectly well with this house and spent part of Sunday replacing the biggest holes. The smaller holes will get plugs. This will all get sanded of course and stained and will look beautiful.

Happy Birthday Hugh!

2009-06-22T09:44:00.000-05:00

The little monkey turned 8 this morning. I left for work before he woke up, but I gave him a kiss and checked to see if he looked any different. This kid always looks different!

We had a few of his buddies meet us at Chuck E. Cheese. We asked for no presents, just a good time and some pizza-eating fun. I'll have to update this with pictures later. *Someone* forgot to bring the camera. I had to use a disposable.

And then we went home for cake and presents from the family. Hugh already knew what his presents were - he picked most of them out.

But he didn't pick out the one from Mom! I had to get Gremlins when I saw it. Hugh is just like a gremlin; starts out cute but don't put him in the water,

don't feed him after midnight...

uh oh.

See the resemblance?

I love the little monster!

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-21T20:32:00.000-05:00

We spent the day at our house with Scott's dad, RV. The kids played in the pool for a while and then we went out for a bite to eat.

Introductions

2009-06-20T22:13:00.000-05:00

Hi! We are Scott, Kathy, Eleanor and Hugh Mandrell. Ruff Ranch has been our home for somewhat over one year. We live here with the "ruffs" Bison and Mattie, the cat Chocolate Chip, the budgies Pebbles and Sky, some fish and numerous outdoor creatures. We are home base to Big Muddy Adventures canoe trips (the owner of which came up with our ranch name. Thanks, Mike!). Here are some pictures of the crew.