Sue and I invited Steve and Cathy over for a Full Moon Fire Pit Pizza Party outside by the fire pit.

They had been so nice to have invited us over for a similar event not long ago (05/30/20: Fire Pit Visit At Steve and Cathy's House) that we wanted to return the favor.

On the way over, they stopped to order the pizza. I had tried to place the order, but the store's phone was so jammed I thought we'd be on Plan B as I had dialed the number 43 times in about a 20 minute period of time. Frustrating....

I grabbed Steve and me a couple of cold Sam Adams Summer Pale Ale, and we all parked it by the fire pit for awhile. Steve and I headed back down the mountain at about 6:40 to get the pizza. Surprisingly, the parking lot was empty and only 1 other person in the store when we arrived. I guess the orders just come in waves....

As dusk began to settle around us, out of the corner of my eye I suddenly spotted an owl flying through the trees. When he settled on one of the branches of a tree just at the edge of the woods, I thought I'd mention it. Well.... The girls jumped up, grabbed their cameras and scampered across the lawn and down the hill with Beau in hot pursuit.

So much for the full moon quest! Sue came flying up the hill to grab her big camera, then dashed back down. Then back up the hill she came, sputtering insults at her camera as she scrambled around trying to find her special cell phone lens attachment. They were all over the place while Steve and I held the fort down, quietly sipping our beers.

But after all of that, they didn't settle down for long. After getting a few shots of the full moon rising through the trees, they jumped in the car and headed off for a better vantage point.

By the time they got back, Steve and I had grabbed another beer, and retreated into the screen porch. They, however, were not interested in joining us, and took up their positions around the fire pit for quite awhile until they, too, decided to come in.

Actually, it was getting late, and Sue served up her freshly backed apple crisp with ice cream. We all went right through that; it was soooo good! By the time Steve and Cathy headed for home, it was well after 10:00 pm. I think we were all beat....

But... the story continues into Saturday. I got up about 7:45, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and then headed out to cut the grass. It was supposed to storm by mid afternoon, so I wanted to get that, some trimming, and a dump run done before that happened.

I had just finished mowing when Sue got back from walking Beau off in the woods somewhere. She grabbed some hand trimmers, and we worked on the yard for probably another hour or so before I just threw a flag on the field, and headed inside to take a quick shower.

So, I'm just getting lunch when Sue comes flying in through the door, slaps her cell phone down on the counter, and points excitedly at a picture she had just taken of some baby owls poking their heads out of a hole in one of the big trees out back.

I turned around to ask her something, but she flew past me trying to make adjustment settings to her Nikon while signaling me to keep Beau in, and was out the door faster than I could finish my sentence.

After getting more pictures of those owls than is conceivable, she was on the phone to Cathy saying, "You better hop in your truck and get your butt down here fast, girl! Baby owls in the tree! You coming?" Well, of course she came, as did Steve with her, zooming into the driveway just about 12 minutes later.

Steve is an accomplished photographer as well, and had one of his really good cameras with him. While I kept Beau in the house, they all trooped down the hill to the tree, set up positions, and started snapping away.

When they were done there, Steve came in and we sat and chatted on the screen porch while the girls headed off in the car to take pictures of the massive storm that was approaching.

They got back just in time for Cathy and Steve to hop in their truck, and get home before the first wave of the storm hit. We were lucky on that one as it passed mostly North of us, though we did get a lot of rain.

The second wave hit about an hour later with stronger winds, but again little rain as this time it passed South of us. I guess the mountain just acts as a wedge and breaks up storms that are close to the ground because both times I'm watching the radar and all I see around us is red.

Pizza and beer: what a marvelous combination!

Sue's flash firing off as I'm taking a picture of her taking a picture of me.

A great picture of the visiting Barred Owl sitting calmly on a tree limb not far from us.

Fire pit glowing brightly as darkness folds around us.

Full moon peeking through the tree branches off to the side of the house.

The girls had jumped in the car and headed off to capture this picture.

Another shot they got from about a third of a mile down the road from here.

Back Saturday morning photographing the baby owls.