The RV Tub at the Cabin

I wish I had gotten a picture of the tub in our bathroom at the cabin. It was tiny. Gary is positive that it was an RV tub. Maggie hated it and mostly refused to shower while at the cabin. Gary hated it and would only shower if he had to. Being smaller in stature than the other two, I didn't mind it so much.

But I was tired of hanging out with those grungy, smelly things so I suggested that we remodel the bathroom for our 18th anniversary this year.

Gary hired our friend, Bruce, to come up and stain/seal the exterior of the cabin and remodel the bathroom. I've got to tell you, I love what he's done. Here are some photos:



Bruce laid the tile at a diagonal on the walls, then laid a strip of rocks and squared off the tiles on the top.



He put in a rainforest shower head.



And put flat river rocks on the floor pan.



Gary's going to order a glass door, but for now, the old shower curtain will have to do.

I'm just glad the other two Goodman's can shower at the cabin.

Pictures don't really do it justice. The bathroom is just too small to get in there without a fisheye lens.

The master carpenter at work:



Bruce, we love you! Great job.

Cottonmouth Close-Up

I just went back and looked through Maggie's pictures from the Photo Safari at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge last weekend. I had given her my longer lens to use, but I didn't realize how close she had gotten to the cottonmouth. Being terrified of snakes, I took a couple of quick shots from a very safe distance and skedaddled back into the vehicle.

When I look at this picture, I have to wonder: why aren't this guy's fangs out? Was he really just trying to warn us not to get too close? Was he lazy after having eaten his breakfast? And...why was Maggie so close? Inquiring minds want to know...well, kind of.



From inside a car at a very safe distance, at least.

Photo Safari at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge

Maggie and I signed up for Hagerman's first Photo Safari on Saturday. We were assigned to Jack Chiles' group. He is very knowledgeable about photography and the Refuge. We had a great time! ...but now, I need a new lens.

Blackberry bushes:



Red clover:



Cottonmouth spotted by eagle eye Maggie:




A tree leaning at an interesting angle:




Jack Chiles (on the right) and his group:




Wild turkeys:




Coots:




Primrose:

Ranger - the Appaloosa Paint Horse

Every time we go visit Dakota and Ranger out at Bar-K-R Ranch, Ranger is a different color. When we first brought him to the ranch, he was a green horse from rolling in all the fresh spring grass.

Then when he started hanging out with Dakota, he decided to be a brown horse.

Some weeks, he's a red horse (there's a reason why the Red River is so-named).

This week, he's a gray appaloosa:

He got tired of me brushing the mud off and threw his pan...or was it because he ran out of sweet feed?!!

Can't wait until it's warm enough to turn him back into the white and brown paint horse he's supposed to be!

Parrotheads

We became parrotheads for the second time in our lives this past weekend! The first time we went to a Jimmy Buffet concert was for Gary's birthday when we lived in Chicago. The second time was in Frisco at Pizza Hut Park.

Below are our hosts - Pat and Ron followed by Doug and Diane:




People really go crazy at a Jimmy Buffet concert. It has a festival-like atmosphere, and people rent RVs and create unbelievable party/campout sites. You'll see people in 70's garb, pirate outfits and others in nothing much at all. People bring all kinds of vehicles (mules, atv's, razor's, dune buggies, etc.) to cruise around. There were hundreds of campsites and thousands of people to see.








Who's this mangy crew? Doug Holzbog and his wife Sharla with Gary and James Clarke...that's who.



Even the dogs got into the spirit. Shiner wants to go next year.



Next year, we're bringing our mule! We've got all year to figure out how we want to doll it up. See below for the Land Rover Mule:



Mags looks good as a cheeseburger in paradise:



Doug's wife, Sharla, is also great in the cheeseburger hat:



This pirate thing didn't really work for me:



But we had fun anyway. Jimmy puts on a good show!

Bruce & the Bathroom?

OK. Anyone who has been to our tiny little cabin has seen our itsy bitsy bathroom with its RV-size tub.

Maggie hates that tub. When we first bought the cabin, she slipped in the shower and landed on the rim. Forevermore, she whined and complained whenever we forced her to clean up.

Thank goodness for our friend, Bruce! He's rescuing the fair Maggie (and us) from her plight of showertime woes.

Bruce has peeled the tile off the walls, removed the old sheetrock, pulled out the much-hated tiny tub and started the reconstruction. This is where the sink used to be:



The tiny tub was here:



Bruce moved the itsy bitsy drain to the middle of the floor in anticipation of the brand new, rain shower:



Here's where the sink and toilet will go:



Hoo, ha! Can't wait to see what Bruce has finished this weekend! Maggie will no longer have any excuses for not showering at the cabin. Bruce, we love you, man!

Playing with Macro

I bought a magnifying lens for my Nikon D60. Here are a few practice shots:






Not sure I like it yet, but perhaps I need to play some more.