On the road again

If this post is a little disjointed, it may just go to show that one should NOT blog when one's brain is away on vacation. Hmmm... That seems like a common theme for me. It has been a LONG couple of weeks! I am home all day today after 10 days of running around. I normally have to run to town twice a week but last week I had two additional trips into Palmer/Wasilla, plus a couple more days out of the house, one helping Nate and Maggie pack and another having lunch with them before they left. We're still here but it isn't pretty. There are so many things I could be doing today, but I honestly don't feel like doing any of them! I wasn't going to blog today, but after I uploaded pictures, I couldn't resist. Besides, I did want to get a prayer request up on the blog before the weekend and I have some stuff to do tomorrow, so here we are.

Nate and Maggie did leave on Saturday so I'm sure they would appreciate prayer for their trip down to Kansas. They plan to take their time and stop and visit a bit on the way, so we don't know when they will arrive there. I'll try to keep you posted on that one. So far the camp is still standing but the entire camp staff is feeling the loss. We would all appreciate prayer, especially Rodney as he tries to keep up with everything that needs to be done even as he is still learning.

Andy and Barb Trautman brought our trailer from NY to Indiana (not Ohio as we first thought) and Paul Meeuwsen (I think) drove the van from Michigan to Indiana, so both the van and trailer are there (that I do know) and ready for Marlin and Ryan Beachy to make the trip up to Alaska. Getting it all together was not exactly a stress free endeavor. It turned out that no one was coordinating the van move but we didn't figure that out until very recently. We are so thankful that there were a lot of Victory supporters in the Hudsonville, Michigan area (and the Middlesex, NY area) willing to help out with that job! At any rate, Marlin and Ryan will meet up with Annie in Minneapolis on Saturday night and drive together from there. I know they would all appreciate prayer for their trip! The weather can be a little temperamental at this time of year through some of those passes and the vehicles are not four wheel drive.

Our weather continues to be lovely with mostly sunny days and relatively warm temperatures (40s & 50s). I talked with Harold and Carol Hackman in Alabama the other day and they said it was "warm" there (90s) so I suppose "warm" is a relative term. :) We have frost most nights which has helped Eider's allergies. He's mostly recovered from his little bout with trigeminal neuritis, but I doubt he'll ever be completely the same. There still seems to be some nerve damage and this far out, I doubt it will recover. I suppose like me, he's getting a bit older and you just don't recover from things like you used to. My ankle is still a bit bruised or something (some husbands seem to think it may have been broken, but others are too stubborn to admit such a thing) from my ATV rollover. It isn't that bad as long as I don't put pressure on it, but it does get sore easily if I over work it, like climbing stairs when we moved Nate and Maggie.

Naughty Ellie has been working overtime to find trouble lately. Rodney trapped those beaver that were stealing his firewood and had them tacked out on a board to dry. Ellie couldn't resist getting into them and chewing up part of the bigger of the two skins. She also took off with the castors and ate them. I can not imagine how those didn't maker her sick! A few nights later she decided to go kill a porcupine. You can just imagine how that turned out. Below are the quills that Rodney was able to remove on his own. She decided she'd had enough of that after these were removed and tried to bite him a few times so he decided that the vet would have to remove the rest of them. Ellie has a heart murmur, arrhythmia, SAD and some other odd health issues that come and go (liver, thyroid) so the vet warned us that putting her under could be dangerous. I pointed out that we didn't have much choice in the matter and he agreed. Fortunately the little debil survived and is back in fine moose and rabbit chasing form.

We've been seeing a LOT of wildlife lately. Momma moose with her twins has been all over the yard, sometimes so tenacious in her determination to remain where she is that I can't even get to my ATV. She has QUITE an attitude and I have no interest in challenging her! The other day I let Eider out and he promptly turned around and wanted to come back in. I looked out and there was Momma and the twins. Smart dog! The babies were eating the flowers off the front deck! They started off on their way by the time I got a picture of all three of them together.

Then there is this mom who decided that the graze IS greener on the other side of the fence. Rodney said something about this being war???? ;) I think the fence will be bigger and stronger next year. She got some of my kale that I had not gotten around to freezing yet. Sigh.

We've had a lot of swans and ducks on the lake as they head south for the winter.

It was neat that they felt comfortable enough to sleep with me so close.

And of course, the obligatory scenic pictures. I can't post pictures without one or two scenic ones!