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. 

Beautiful summer weekend

In spite of the humidity, we've had beautiful weather these past couple of days.  The temperature has been in the mid-90's (which isn't bad compared to the past two years of temperatures above 110 at this time!) and we've been able to spend some time outside.  There is a cool breeze that sweeps past us on the front porch as we sit in our rockers and listen to Eric Clapton on the CD player, drinking raspberry lemonade over ice.  That was after an afternoon of driving through town (Watonga) in the Desoto with our guests from Tulsa.  David and Christi were here to hike at Roman Nose State Park in training for a trip to Spain next year to walk the Camino de Santiago. They rose early to have breakfast before hitting the trails at Roman Nose Park. 

Andy spent the morning mowing yards in town.  More and more people are starting to take care of their yards by mowing and clearing away weeds and trash and the town is looking better, though there are still a lot of dilapidated buildings that need to be torn down.  Mowing the weeds and tall grass in the yards of those houses just serves to reveal the blighted condition of the buildings. But in another week the weeds will be grown back up to hide the buildings.  

 In town we stopped at the Whirlwind Winery and introduced them to Brad and Don, proprietors.  I think Christi liked Brad's Wild Sand Plum wine best.  Brad told us that next weekend is harvest day.  Don had brought in some clusters of grapes from the fields to show off, and they were beautiful.  

Our new friends left the Retreat right after a breakfast of rosemary bacon and French toast with cinnamon apples.  Andy and I went to church services and I reflected on how meeting new people and sharing our retreat with them renews my faith that we are where we are supposed to be.  All of the children are back in school, both locally and in college, so most families are back from vacation.  We have a new minister at the Methodist Church and he is full of new enthusiasm, not only for our congregation but also for the community.  I was able to put out of my mind the upcoming battle with the City, if only for a little while. 

MORE CHEESE & WINE FESTIVAL NEWS

In last week's issue of the Watonga Republican (Page A4), there is a story about the Swaim girls. We are pleased to announce that they will perform (as Threefold Chord) at this year's Cheese & Wine Festival,  Saturday morning, before the Parade. Don't miss them!! 

Instead of new daily posts about Festival entertainment, I'll be updating this post regularly, so scroll down to find it if it isn't at the top of the Blog.  Thanks for reading!  /Linda

BLAINE COUNTY FREE FAIR this Weekend

ANYONE who has painted at Liquid ART event should consider submitting one of your pieces to the BLAINE COUNTY FREE FAIR!  It's FREE!  Take your art to the Foley building at the fairgrounds on Thurs. Aug. 22 between 4:00 - 6:30 p.m.  Check out the fair catalog for categories, but I know we've done a landscape and a still life and something with flowers!  This is an opportunity to support the County Fair and promote Liquid ART!

WEEKEND at the Retreat

Thanks to all who came by to celebrate Linda's birthday with us.  It was great fun. We had a couple of surprise guests!  The weather was perfect for outdoor seating.