The New Pickup

The Dodge was worn out, tired, and ready to retire. Jeremy bought it 10 years ago, before we were even married. It has served us well. The dealer almost made it sound like they didn't even want the poor thing.

Today we turned it over to the Ford dealer and got a 'new to us' pickup. It's a 2008 F350 diesel. It's got a few more bells and whistles than we need, like a navigation system, but the price was right and it was really well taken care of and met the criteria Jeremy had. He found it online at the Longmont Ford Dealership. So he worked last night, came home and I drove down there. We did the dealing and were home early afternoon. I think Jeremy slept about 2 hours, then got up and went to work.

And, yeah, it's white....

Finished Quilt

I finished the quilt for baby Thomas. I backed it with some pink and purple flannel. As the baby girl quilt from my stash was recently used, I have some fabric waiting in the wings for a new quilt. I think I'm going to do a stack and slash type of quilt….super easy.

I've gotten to the heel portion on the socks for my sister. I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this, so it's safe to mention them. If she does, she totally has to act surprised at Christmas! They are a pinkish/purplish/dark that fades from one color to the next. They scream Steph!

Jeremy's pickup has come to the end of its useful life in this household. We took it to the shop and it needs about $5000 worth of repair. We've probably put that much into it in the last year. So we are gonna cut our losses and look for something newer. Of course, Jeremy's stipulations include something in the last few years with low mileage. It has to be a 4-door with a long box, 1 ton diesel pickup.  You know, nothing very specific  :) He doesn't want white, but you can't always be too particular when it's used. He's been scouring the internet with no luck. And we just got the money from the oil and gas lease we signed about a month ago. Destiny seems to be working in our favor, so far.  Now just to find something.....

Getting Rid of Stuff

I've been reading the archived blog posts of Crazy Aunt Purl and am liking some of her thinking. She has purged a lot of her stuff. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my stuff as well. The girls are gonna be going to Grandma and Grandpa Y's next week because daycare is closed (that's a topic for a whole other blog post). Anyway, I think I'm going to purge a bunch of their toys that they never play with or have outgrown. We have a bunch of toys just sitting around collecting dust, especially in the basement, that I'm gonna donate to Goodwill. There is also some of my stuff that is not needed. The thing that comes to mind is a container of pretty red and green Christmas tree pasta that I've had for quite awhile and do not even remember where it came from that is just sitting there…so we will be partaking of some Christmas tree pasta soon. Why am I keeping stuff around collecting dust? And heaven knows, I hate dusting. I have learned not to touch anything of Jeremy's as he has a different theory on collecting stuff. I'm not gonna go wild with the purging, but if I do a bit at a time, eventually I won't feel closed in by stuff.

Downtown Aquarium

On Saturday, we decided to brave Denver traffic and headed to the Downtown Aquarium. I drove as I was less likely to get us killed or make the passengers cry with my driving. We got there slightly after it opened and stood in line in the HEAT, man it was already hot at 10 in the morning. We saw a flash flood in the desert, bunches of fish, piranha. Also saw the tiger, which stared at you in a rather alarming way.

We saw a tank full of sharks, one of which was showing off his mouth full of teeth. Of course, I got more people in the photo than shark, so here's another shot of a shark.

And jellyfish, starfish, stingrays and turtles.
crazy looking underside of a stringray!

Grace got to touch a starfish. Those little kids are vicious, we had to force our way up close to get a tiny touch. At the end was a large shallow tank of stingrays. Grace was not thrilled with the smell and proceeded to announce she was gonna die. You could stick your hand in the water and "pet" them if your heart desired. Anna and I were watching them and one got close and "waved" at her, that was enough for her enjoyment. Jeremy chose to feed them. You stick a little minnow type fish between your fingers and stick it in the water. He enjoyed the heck out of that and wanted to do it again. Grace got a picture of Gary, the snail from SpongeBob, painted on her arm.

Then Jeremy and Grace got a ticket to see the 4D ride depicting the deepsea. Anna and I watched a juggler on a stage outside in the HEAT! We got to see a serval. We were about ready to leave and Grace threw a fit because she wanted to eat at the restaurant there, but the wait was 45 minutes and we were famished. Makes you wonder if the restaurant serves the "naughty" fish that don't play well with others!

We were looking for a rumored Popeyes and actually backtracked to get there. Jeremy's pulse was racing from seeing all the RV retailers with sale signs all the way from Ft. Collins to Denver, so we stopped at one on the way back. We probably would have walked away with one, but Dave Ramsey heard the call and stood on my shoulder and gave his nod of disapproval. So no camper for us. We made it home safely and the girls slept through their first traffic jam. Elitches was across the river from the aquarium. We may plan to brave Denver again and go there later this summer. We all had a blast at the aquarium!

Veggie Socks

I finished the grandmother-in-law socks, also dubbed the Veggie Socks. For those of you knitting nerds, here are the stats: 2.5 mm circular knitting needle, Patons Stretch Socks in Plum. It's made for a size 7 (I hope) foot with a slipped stitch every 4th stitch to create columns. I think I'm going to enter them in the Laramie County Fair, then mail them off to their chosen recipient.
My next pair of socks are for my sister and are in another Patons sock yarn, the one on the right from a prior post. I think I'm going to do the Bubble Wrap pattern again as I really liked the look.


I have finished the top of the baby Thomas quilt, I just have to decide on the back and how I'm gonna quilt it. I'm thinking of using a girly pink flannel and tying at the corners with pink embroidery floss. I also need to think about another baby girl quilt as my "stash" girl quilt has a new owner. One of the guys at work is a proud father, again.

Today is July 7, yes, July 7 and the weather never hit the 60's today and it was overcast and sprinkled a time or two. Seriously? in July, in Wyoming? We don't get a long enough summer as it is and we have to lose several days to cool weather. And apparently the people at work don't get it and turn down the air conditioning when it's cooler. I wore my coat over a long sleeve shirt today at work.

Battle with the Weeds

Well, now that the horses are gone and the goat is gone, the only thing we have left are chickens, dogs, cats and kids. I'm wondering if the name of this blog still applies as the menagerie is shrinking!

Ever since I've had a garden here in Cheyenne, I've vowed that this year I will stay on top of the weeds. Well, guess what, yeah, I can't claim it's this year either. The weeds have taken over and grown at an alarming rate. I have been able to locate the radishes, lettuce and lone pea plant. Tonight I'm gonna try to find the beans and carrots. Then I'm gonna take the rototiller to the "aisles" and get rid of those suckers. Maybe next year?! I have kept up pretty well with the rock garden/Russian sage in front of the house....maybe that's only because there is a weed barrier under all the rock....

Maggie has gotten skinnier lately. The ribs and hips are pokin' out and the tail is like a whip. We took her to the vet and she's lost 4 pounds. And when you weight only 32 to start out, 4 is quite a bit! Nothing alarming according to the vet. We have to get some food for active dogs, mix some canned dog food in with it, and separate the dogs so we know Ace doesn't eat part of hers and hope the weight goes back on.