Saturday, January 1, 2005

How I spent December 31, 2004

Cliff's still in the process of painting the Cub Tractor, and asked me to take a couple pictures of how it looks so far; so, on my way out to ride, I took two shots. 

The day yesterday was as perfect as you'll get for December, with temperatures in the sixties.  The awful wind from the day before was gone.  I rode at least two hours on Blue.  The highlight of the ride was seeing an eagle roosting in a tall tree; what an awesome sight!.  I so badly wanted to take a picture to share with J-land, but it was a tall tree, and there was lots of brush between me and him; when I tried to move Blue closer, he flew away.  We scared up a couple of deer, and saw several squirrels, but there's nothing unusual about that.  There were a couple of fellows on the other side of the Missouri River in a boat, wearing orange hunter's garb.  I don't know what's in season; perhaps ducks or geese.

I waited a couple of hours after my ride, then took Mandy for a walk on our property.  As I got down near the bottom of the old canyon where I could look out over the river bottoms, a thought came to me:  I had very much wanted to buy that place nearby that overlooks the same view, and someone else got it... but I have basically the same view at the back of my place.  If I had some sort of simple cabin back there, maybe 8 X 10, I'd have what I wanted from that other place, much cheaper!  I'm a hillbilly, so I don't need plumbing.  I wouldn't mind having some little source of heat; it would be fun to spend a night back there in late fall or early spring and wake up to that view.  Now some folks might think this sounds like a crazy idea for a sixty-year-old woman to have, but Cliff didn't even flinch when I told him about it.  Let's see:  under $500 just to build a cabin, as opposed to $50,000 for a dumpy old house down the road that we don't need.

Now, about our New Year's Eve celebration:  Rachel and Kevin had an invitation for the evening, so the girls were here.  They really enjoy the farm set I bought.  We all played together for awhile, then I left them to their own devices.  Cliff got off work early, and once he got home we all took intervals of making confetti by tearing newspaper into bits.  I've done this many times over the years, and I realize I'll be finding bits of the Kansas City Star in cracks, crevices and furnace ducts till next year at this time.  But it's fun!  I have some plastic wine glasses, so the girls each chose a wine marker and drank their Pepsi in high style.  At 11 PM, I thought we were losing Natalie; she asked if she could crawl under the covers in my bed.  But we nagged, prodded, and cajoled, and she got back up for the celebration.  This was a first for the girls.  They had never stayed up to see the new year in before.

I need to end this entry now, and go start getting rid of the confetti mess in the living room.  There's turkey and dressing in the oven, roll dough rising, and I'd say we're off to a good start on 2005. 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

i really enjoyed the pictures donna,, and happy the girls were with you and know the memories will be with them ... jackson got a farm set for Christmas too,, daughter said,, do not know if like that,, but she said it had a million pieces...LOL.. a friend gave it to him,,,shes waiting for her to have children so she can return the favor.... looks like your girls were having great fun with it...

Anonymous said...

Happy 2005, Mosie!  I'm so glad one of the things 2004 brought me was discovering your journal!  Here's to another year, huh?!
~Amy

Anonymous said...

Looks like a great celebration!! I loved the pictures... Your horse is beautiful, as is the scenery you are lucky enough to have the oportunity to ride thru.
http://journals.aol.com/astaryth/AdventuresofanEclecticMind

Anonymous said...

Mo, really enjoyed your New Year's eve celebration.  What a great way to spend New Year's eve.  So simple and so much fun.  Have a great new year!  
Sam

Anonymous said...

Sounds perfect right down to the turkey dinner. May 2005 be a great year for you and Cliff. Anne

Anonymous said...

Dinner sounds good. I like the cabin idea too!