Thursday August 23 2007

Pepper

Thomas Cousins

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Aubrey and Pat's House

The trouble with catching up the blog is that I can't remember what I did a week ago - or more likely even yesterday - if I don't write it down every day. But I did write down the most important thing for today and that is we were invited to go to dinner at Aubrey and Pat's. James and Kathy were coming too. Sparky and Raven rode along. We got ready and got there about 5:30 to have time to visit. They live way at the back of Bargerville, and we go so seldom on those roads that we are never sure we're taking the right turns, but we found it fine.

They have a wonderful house, a summer home, that Aubrey built himself, and even built a lot of the furniture. He brought oak and other materials all the way from Georgia, where they are from, to build it with. They have it decorated great too. He built a garage this year and that is finished. There is a nice second story deck all across the back of the house with a spectacular view of the mountains. Probably if you could stand on the roof you would see Boulder Lake. which sits in a big hole behind a hill straight out from their deck. They have a really nice view of the whole mountain range. Since we were there last, there are quite a lot more homes developed near them though when they used to be nearly alone back there. Pat recently retired from teaching, and I hope she gets to spend more time out here now. She really likes to be with her family. Aubrey likes to hunt and fish. He makes jerky. Back in Georgia he has a very large garden and they do a lot of canning.

Pat has a brave and feisty little dachshund named Pepper. He is very protective of her and really smart. He loves to go in the truck and on the ATV, just like Sparky and Raven. It was the first time we've seen Pepper.

Aubrey cooked steaks on the grill for dinner, and Pat made wonderful accompaniments to go along with them. I especially liked her pineapple pudding. They are good cooks. And Aubrey gave me a bottle of his steak marinade to try. We also enjoyed the good company, with them and James and Kathy. When it was time to go we followed James out to the highway, so didn't have to wonder if we were taking a right turn. Again all the way home Sparky sat, ears up and eyes on the road, helping me watch for deer and the errant pony. We had a nice evening.