Born to be wild....

.... and to ride.....

no, not me... this guy...

He's been months in the making. Just bits and pieces lying about.

For me? ....ooooh.... thanks Maggi......

Hope I can figure it out.

Oh, this is easier than I thought.

Wheeeee ..... ...

Hey..... look Mom ....no hands....!!  .. steering with my feet! ...

Stop it...you'll hurt yourself!

Ow............

Beverly in the morning light..

I love how the different light conditions affect colours.............. click to biggify and see her close up.......

                                                                            






A few other plants and flowers have appeared now as well.... even though I seem to have almost ignored the garden during all the wet days...and weeks.....

love the drooping bleeding hearts.....

lilacs are 16 feet tall and tower above the patio wall ... beautiful against the blue morning sky....

The diva ...

Finally, ... she makes her appearance.  All the others have bloomed and gone... she's been waiting them out I'm sure.  I thought the buds looked a bit strange and almost thought they were going to rot on the stem... so much rain here and not enough sun.  Nothing was happening ...and the outer covering just seemed to be getting brown... but, out they burst today... well, only one so far, ...  there are 3 other buds .... and, ohhhh...man...  was she worth the wait!

Please meet Beverly Sills... named for the famous coloratura soprano.  She really is an amazon next to any of the other iris in my garden.   She's beautiful, pink, and frilly......  I had seen and heard about this iris, but hadn't seen one in person.  It took me two years to find one.  It was late in the year...she had no flowers when I planted her... ... I was just going by the little picture on the identification tag and hoping for the best.  She is just as lovely as depicted and very near the colour even though I know one should never rely on an artist rendition...but, I was hoping... .... and it didn't disappoint.

....... on the golf course..

Finally!  I'm able to get a full swing and went out on Ladies Night to play 18 holes.  Here is the "island" hole.  It was beautiful, green and the water was so still..... but, the mosquitoes! YIKES !

This display is right beside the tee box on the 16th hole.... it's from last year.... didn't get to take a photo yesterday...

Me hurt today.  ow.... but,...a good hurt really, because it is just muscles being used.  Even my butt hurts from sprinting around dragging and pushing the cart full of "tools".  Those night time ladies like to have plenty of time to hang out in the clubhouse with a cold one and some grub.  That's a good thing.  Especially this time of year. OMG!!  the mosquitoes!  It was 'orrible!

If you got off the fairway they were so bad it was a rush to get the ball out of the long grass...so usually my ball striking was not the best.  But..also..I haven't been able to hit a ball for 5 weeks...so that has a lot to do with it. I hardly got to practice before I did myself in and then...just been waiting it out for the ribs to heal.

I do feel them a bit more today....but, Ibuprofen and in about 20 minutes...I will be better.  I hope.

Today ..no whacking golf balls.  Two days in a row right now is enough.  I'll do some more tomorrow.

I have other chores to get through today... like ordering a new throttle cable for my motorcycle.  Somehow a split appeared during the winter.... how it got there I have no idea. This bike is in pristine condition..is stored inside all the time...and there is nothing that can touch it in that spot. Look...pristine. So it seems weird to me.

I love this bike..but, I need to get it on the market...I'm selling it.  It would be foolish to ride when I know I have full blown osteoporosis.  If I get knocked off ... well, it would be more than just a few ribs that would be broken, and ohhh...man....that would not be a good thing.  So... best sell it.  Before I jump on and ride it and change my mind.

I'll be safer on the golf course, or in the kitchen..or making bears or something....
...

or ....we could go back to Portugal and  do some fishing.....

See more amazing history and architecture ...

Eat more of that amazing food!  Look at the size of those skewers!  Swords.  That's more like it.... with waaaay more meat skewered than we could eat.... oohhhh but it was tasty....

..oh, boy......now......where was I?.....

Oh, yeh...... I remember.  I was right in the middle of holidaying in Portugal.  Well, not literally...we were home, but, I was reliving it through my photos..... for me and for you..... but real life got in the way.  I wrecked myself.  Injured my ribs leaning into a woodbox and that was it.  That will be 4 weeks ago on Saturday.  Lost a month of summer already and we only have 5 months of summer around here.  Haven't been able to do much .... and time just slid past.

Finally, yesterday, it didn't hurt anymore to sneeze and cough.... woohooo ...so.... things are looking up.  Meanwhile, no golf of course, and my summer is dwindling already, so I'm still a bit grumpy.  Hope poor Mister BV doesn't think I'm a "lot" grumpy... which I probably am.  Okay.  I am.

We drove to the Okanagan over the weekend...which was not all that comfortable in a small sporty car.  I was wishing I had a corset or at the very least a towel to wrap and tie around me. But... we got there and I enjoyed petting horses and cats...and spent time outside at least.  The weather was great....

My sister and I always joke about it being "Vikki's Fat Farm" ... We don't diet, but we usually work hard enough that we can lose a few pounds.  Not this time...she is still recuperating from a broken wrist...and my ribs are wrecked...so we didn't do as much physical stuff.... (well, she did... she always does and is pretty darn tough in spite of a poorly healing wrist.)

It was still busy enough with a lot of non farm related stuff... almost too busy.  But... I did manage to get in my fun times with the furry guys.

oh..hahha..... sorry...couldn't resist.  This definitely lets you know farm cats live around here.  Didn't see many with hats on this visit though....

Mr. Thompson says hi... howarya? c'mon in....my food dish is right over here.

Okay..if you're not gonna find those scrumblies for me ...then I'll just have a little lie down while I wait...

Aaaaa, yes... a chance to rest my weary toesies..... seeing as I am a pretty big dude...and they get tired and the pebbles hurt them when I walk on the driveway....

Oh, boy....says Cleo........ guys.  Come in and pet me instead...  I can wait for my grub til later....

I better stay out here says Kira.....I'm not allowed in the house because I do the same thing to the furniture..... scraaaaatch!  But... come back outside as soon as you drop your suitcase and visit me too.....

Aaaah.....sun and scratching and petting ...nothing better is there?  Nope...not for me.  Not even food.  I'll just eat something later.   Oh, and ...say, come over here and see my horses.

Remember Mickey?   looks as good as ever doesn't he?  'Specially for a guy diagnosed with emphysema some years back and given no chance.  Vikki washes his hay so he gets no dust in his food.  He is pretty coddled.... and doing fine as are all her pets.  And.... that Suzi..... the cheeky little 34 year old Arab....just look at her!

Some neighbours up the road had goats.... they charged right over to the fence to see us.....not the neighbours...their goats.  I bet they thought we had some goodies for them too.  That fencing probably was not the best for goats.  They stuck theirs heads straight through the spaces....

Nubians