A lovely weekend

Monday, Sept. 16

Another great weekend was shared with new friends! John and Sondra from Edmond spent Friday and Saturday night at the Retreat and lots of time at Roman Nose State Park. They ate dinner at the Lodge on Friday, and we recommended that they eat on Saturday night at the Noble House restuarant in. Watonga, which is featuring Eddie's BBQ & More on Fridays and Saturdays, 4:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. We need more places in Watonga that are open for dinner, so support Eddie in this new venture! He told me he had a lot of take-out business before the football game on Friday, so that's a great start.

On Saturday morning, Brad Stinson and the gang spent another morning harvesting grapes in Fay, and then had lunch at the Whirlwind Winery before pressing the grapes in the afternoon.  There was a good group of helpers.  While I was at the winery, Andy was home cutting up dead wood for the Oven and for a bonfire. He blazed a new trail along the south side of the property.  It was a pleasant day and there was a light breeze in the evening when we started the fire (not enough to stir up the flames but enough to cool us down).  Our good friend Jerry S. came out and enjoyed the bonfire with us.  There was a three-quarter moon out and a clear sky with stars. 

 

Sunday afternoon was a little warmer, probably around 90 degrees and Andy did some more wood harvesting.  I am ready to make pizza this weekend!  Skeeter is feeling better and spent most of the day out in the woods with Andy, but came back to the house right at 5:00 p.m. (dinner time)  He is one smart dog!

We had a nice rainstorm on Sunday night and are expecting more rain over the next couple of days -- just when Andy thought the mowing might be finished!!
  

 

RAIN !!

We've had a couple of weeks of hot, dry weather and I've been watering the grounds like a fiend to keep the grass and gardens alive.  Grasshoppers still munch on some plants but they aren't destroying everything like they did last year.  A cool front blew in last evening and we had a nice rainstorm -- no thunder but a good downpour.  We sat on the front porch and enjoyed the sounds of the water hitting the rocks on the north side of the porch. 

Skeeter has had a rough couple of weeks.  He began getting sluggish and lethargic and didn't want to run or play, but he was eating well and drinking plenty of water.  He had no outward signs of illness other than a slight limp in one of his back legs.  We thought at first it was the heat, but when he seemed to get weaker we took him to the vet.  It wasn't good news but the vet didn't know what was wrong with him other than he was severely anemic and seemed to have low blood volume.  He hadn't been bleeding or losing blood outwardly, and Dr. McCrary said it seemed like his body was reproducing blood.  The doc did all kinds of tests, bloodwork, and sent off samples to the vet school in Stillwater.  He arranged for Skeeter to get a blood transfusion, and put him on antibiotics while we are waiting for the test results from the vet school.  Skeeter spent one night at the vet's and came home the next afternoon, seemingly feeling better and with much more energy.  We're giving him liver to eat to help build up his iron.  Still waiting for the vet's call this afternoon.  He sat with us on the porch last evening to watch the rain, but since there was no thunder he didn't have anything to run after!

It's Friday night, yay!  We have guests staying with us this weekend and I'm planning on making Migas for breakfast.  Never had them?  You need to come spend a night at the Retreat and ask for Migas for breakfast!

Busy Weekend!

I'm recovering from a busy and fun weekend!
On Saturday we went to the Whirlwind Winery's vineyard in Fay, OK to help with the grape harvest.  The weather was pleasant when we started at 7:00 a.m., just at sunrise, but it warmed up quickly.  There were a few new people who joined us for the harvest.  At 11:30ish we headed to the winery in Watonga where Brad's wife Tanya had laid out a delicious lunch spread (Italian fare, of course). 

After lunch, Brad and the gang began the pressing process. He had plenty of help, so I headed home to get ready for guests at the Retreat.  I made a batch of granola from a recipe given to me by our friend Teri in Tulsa, and boiled some chicken breasts to make chicken salad.  I thought I would take a nap, but ended up working out in the yard, watering the gardens.  The afternoon went by quickly!  Our guests arrived from Frisco, TX and got settled in. I gave them the history of the house and some history about the area.  They had come specifically to hike at Roman Nose State Park.  After breakfast on Sunday morning, they headed out to the park and spent all day there -- they even made it to Inspiration Point.