Father Kit Cool Gun Garth

Actually, it's mayo. Meal is chicken, rice, black-eyed peas, mayo, green beans, carrots and fried onions.

@Subdeacon Joe, What contraption is creating the bubble/ fountain effect? NOTE: When it's summertime and its hot, the birdbath is the place to be! 20200523_110528.mp4

The two Rangers were glad they were able to reminisce about past events, even though their meeting occurred at the oddest of times. Kit had inquired of Jack who these other fellows were that he was associating with. Turns out the tall one that handled the three men who accosted the redhead, was Ben Ward, who goes by the nickname Doc, and is a landowner for whom Jack is working for as a cover while hunting this Lefty character. The one who rides the mule is his best friend, Linn Keller. Keller's land borders Doc's ranch. The last gentleman in the pearl grey hat is an old friend of Keller, a former CSA Army Captain goes by Burcher. Kit had told Jack he would have to get some formal introductions later. They soon went their separate ways for now, vowing to stay in touch more often. As Kit left the diner heading to the hotel, he couldn't stop thinking about this Lefty Frezzel character that both Caulder and the Pinkertons were chasing. Could there be some connection with this man and the man he is after himself, Frank J. Milt? Shaking his head, his mind turned to more pleasant thoughts..... Venus!

Maybe not in a wrap but..... A taco shell!

Ding...ding...ding!

Ms. Allie Mo, No Hopp'in John?

@Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967, Sit back, grab a glass of cold iced tea and relax...Its summertime.

40Rod, A before pic now, then an after pic later would be nice.

Ms. Allie Mo, How about this one?

12:00 - Italian Cut Green Beans 3:00 - IAMS Canned Beef Dog Food 6:00 - Chicken 9:00 - IAMS Dry Dog Food This is what one of our Cocker Spaniels eats for her daily meal. Reason I posted it - Looks, on the surface, better than some meals at a restaurant.

Kit's mouth opened so far; a Wells Fargo stagecoach could have gone straight through it. Realizing how he must have looked, he quickly closed it now waiting for Venus to explain. Instead, she merely stood there letting him compose himself while she took in his discomfort. With the anticipation exhausted, she proceeded, "Apparently, you're a descendant of the Garthe family from Norway. Your grandfather, Christen Isachson Garthe, immigrated to the United States in 1842 and settled in Kentucky where carpentry was his trade. He bought stock in the Union-Pacific railroad and they later gave him land they acquired to put the rails through East Fork in return for redemption of his stock. You are the proud owner of 500 acres of land east of town!" Venus was surprised at Kit's reaction which was basically stoic, seemingly unconcerned with knowing about his heritage or the fact that he now owns land here in East Fork. She then continued, “If you wish, I’d like to prepare a new deed indicating you are now the rightful owner of the land.” Kit immediately replied, as if he were one step ahead of her, “Please do so, and let me know what I owe you once you are finished.” “It would be my pleasure,” she replied, “I should have it done by tomorrow.” With that, Kit again tipped his hat, turned, and left the Land Office heading to the diner for something to eat. Heading down the boardwalk, three rough cowboys exited the General Store some distance in front of him just past the Bank. Two women were heading the opposite direction, when one of the men pushed a petite, fiery redhead almost causing her to fall were it not for her friend catching her. Kit was ready to spring into action, as this was a behavior he abhorred, but before he could get there, a tall man approached the group and a scuffle ensued. Kit halted his approach as he could clearly see that the tall man could handle himself well, resulting in their subsequent defeat and arrest by UB, who proceeded to take them all to jail and lock them up. Entering the diner, Kit finds a quiet table in the back and orders up a meal. Good to have something other than beans while on the trail, he thought to himself. When his plate arrived, it boasted beef, potatoes, eggs, and sour-dough bread served with a hot cup of black coffee. Soon the men who seemed to always be together, UB, Jack Caulder, the tall man who fought the three men, and another gentleman wearing a pearl grey hat, entered the diner. They did not seem to notice Kit in the darkened corner as daylight was surrendering to night and it started to rain outside. They seemed too involved in their own conversation, which Kit was unable to make out in detail, but involved some scheme to outwit their intended target. Kit merely relaxed and enjoyed his meal, as it was none of his business, and he had no intention of making it his. Eventually the group of men left the diner replaced by the man who rode a mule, coming in from the rain dripping wet. Kit was able to leave without being recognized.

Imagine if earth had two moons..... It would be astronomical!

"So, what can I do for you Mr. Kit? Venus asked, now seated comfortably in her chair, arms folded on her lap. "Please call me Kit, my last name is Garth. I've recently been handed a deed to some land around here and I wish to confirm that it's a valid claim before deciding what I want to do with it." He then proceeded to reach into his vest pocket, pulling out the yellowed, folded paper that J. Mark had given to him, unfolding it, and laying it on the desk in front of Venus. Moving forward, she pulled opened the right-hand drawer and retrieved a magnifying glass, and pulling the paper closer to her began to scan the document. After several minutes had passed, she placed the magnifying glass back into the drawer, closing it, then pushing her chair back and standing up she grabbed the paper and said, "Follow me." They both moved into the work area outside her office and as she approached one of the large plat cabinets lining the side walls, searching the labels on the outside, finding the one she was looking for and pulling it open, she stated with a decisive tone, "Your deed is valid and the original document". Before Kit could respond, she continued, "I want to verify the survey and plat to confirm our records match your deed to prevent any controversies that may arise, and Lord knows we've had our share of them!" she explained. Rifling through the stack of documents in the drawer she had pulled out, finding the one she was looking for, pulling it out and laying it on the counter closest to her. After diligently perusing the large document, she then moved to a row of smaller file cabinets on the opposite wall, opened the third drawer and retrieved a brown envelope. Closing the drawer and returning to the counter where Kit still stood watching this woman perform what appeared to be a well-choreographed dance, she placed the contents of the envelope on the counter and oblivious to the fact the he was still standing next to her, as if he didn't exist, began to scrutinize them. What seemed like hours, but in reality were only a few minutes, she stepped back from the counter, leaned against an opposing counter and folding her arms across her chest, gave Kit a Cheshire grin and stated, "Of Norwegian descent are we now, Mr. Garth!"

Only of they ask nicely!

Kit was not expecting the voice on the other side of the door, he heard a woman’s voice say “How may I help you?” “I’m in need of verifying a land deed that was just provided to me,” Kit replied, still rattled, and stumbling with his speech. With that, there was a brief moment of silence, then the slow unlatching of the lock, turning of the doorknob and a small, but usable opening of the door so as to only allow conversation. “I’m not open for business yet, could you come back in say an hour?” she replied. Not wanting to be rude, Kit apologized for the interruption; however, insisted that this matter was of great importance to him. Another moment of silence, then the door opened fully. When it comes to door opening surprises, this was no J. Mark Flint! Standing in front of him was this vision of beauty such that he had never seen since the passing of his wife. Always the gentleman, it was not in his nature to stare. Her petite figure went well with her wafer-thin body. Her complexion was impeccable with a glow to it even in the dimly lit office. Slender arched eyebrows only enhanced her sweeping velvety eyelashes and with a dainty nose surrounded by twin rapture blue eyes that were the centerpiece to her coils of sunrise golden hair. Her heart-shaped lips, though pursed now, shined. Although attired in a flowing overly large plain white shirt and brown khaki pants with boots, it somehow did not diminish her overall appearance. Before introductions could be made, they were both startled by the appearance of another rider, this time on a mule with four trailing horses, bodies laying belly over saddle and hog-tied. As they rode toward the Sheriff’s Office, I turned back around, and the woman had already gone back to her office. Stepping into the room and closing the door behind me, I approached the office and found her sitting at her desk shuffling papers as if to ignore me on purpose. “You didn’t seem to be bothered by the sight of dead men being hauled into town,” Kit asked. “Obviously, you haven’t been in town long enough, as this has become a daily ritual ever since Hammond and his sons laid claim to land that doesn’t belong to them,” she scoffed. Sensing the tension in the air already, Kit attempted to resolve that situation. Doffing his hat and extending a hand in her direction, he introduced himself to her. “Name’s Kit, and it’s pleasure to make your acquaintance. My apologies for the interruption.” Another moment of silence, which he was beginning to think was part of her nature, and then she stood up and took his hand, shaking it while introducing herself, “I’m Venus Lardy, proprietor of this Land Office.”

Although he was a stranger in this town, Kit apparently was not a stranger to acquiring large pieces of property through deed transfers. Having seen J. Mark at his door was a shock, especially after their last encounter. Kit had found him to have an initial reaction to strangers that, let's just say, leaves a lingering taste in your mouth that no matter how hard you try taking your tongue and rubbing your mouth and lips, it won't go away. Maybe, he thought, he was wrong about him. Grabbing his hat, and stuffing the recently acquired deed into his vest pocket, he headed downstairs, out onto the boardwalk and straight for the Land Office. Passing the General Store, he saw the lady inside at the counter that had given him a scrowl when he first arrived in town. Kit gave her a tip of his hat, and a pleasant "Fine morning, isn't it Ma'am?" to which she merely returned the same look as before. Shrugging off her response, he continued down the rickkety boardwalk, past the bank and stopped in front of the Land Office. Before turning the door knob, he glanced back down the boardwalk and as expected, saw the lady from the General Store who had popped her head out to see what he was doing, and quickly jerking her head back into her shop! His attempt to open the door to the Land Office failed. The door was locked. Moving to the left side of the door, cupping his hands on the now dusty window, he could barely distinguish any presence in the office itself. The inside looked dark and uninhabited with lots of paperwork strewn across numerous tables lined up like soldiers waiting for inspection. He could see what appeared to be a door leading to a back office and a shadow moving back and forth cast on the opposing wall. Returning to the door and raising his hand to tap on the glass, he was stopped by the sound of a rider coming down the street with two prisoners, hands tied to their saddle horns. As they all approached the Sheriff's Office where UB and two other men were heading down main Street, Kit caught his first glimpse of the man with the two prisoners. "Well I'll be... If it ain't Texas Jack Caulder", he mused to himself, as he nodded in recognition, too late to catch him, as he joined the others with UB. Turning back to the door, he rapped hard on the glass, hard enough to get someone's attention, but not too hard to break the glass. There was movement from the back office area as someone approached the door.

I've never been called a racist...yet. But just to be sure....

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29765226/former-portland-trail-blazers-great-cliff-robinson-dies-53

Ms. Allie, Unfortunately a lot more people know about it now!

OLG, I second that!

Having only arrived in town recently, Kit left the livery heading for the Boarding House, stepping from the boardwalk onto the dusty street and then through a short cut behind the stables. As he approached the boarding house, Kit heard voices coming from an adjacent lot. There he saw four men discussing troubles they were having with the Town Marshal. They were making threats that they would kill him on sight the next time they saw him. One of the men even suggested taking out all the lawmen in town. Concerned for their safety, Kit continued to the boardwalk in front of the Boarding House and down the street. Catching the first stranger heading his way, he queried as to where he could find the Town Marshal. After the man pointed him out, I approached him and introduced myself. “Marshal, if I may have a bit of your time?”, Kit said as he motioned toward a less crowded section of the street. “What can I do for you stranger?”, the Marshal responded. “I just came from the livery and heard four or five men making threats toward you and the other lawmen in town. One of the men had a bandage around his head.” Kit continued. “Well I take this kind of threat seriously,” the Marshal replied. “I’ll certainly take care of it and thank you for your concern. You say they were down next to the Boarding House?” Kit merely nodded his head in agreement. With that, the Marshal placed a firm strong hand on Kit’s shoulder stating, “You’re a good man,” turned and headed back in the direction he had come. Kit did likewise heading back to the Boarding House; however, instead of entering the building, he crossed the street and found a spot in an alleyway just off the boardwalk. It wasn’t long until he spotted what appeared to be five lawmen making their way to the vacant lot directly in front of him. One of them was arguing with the Marshal, but eventually the one gave way to the other four as they approached the lot. The four lawmen were now facing six cowboys. I heard the Marshal state, "Throw up your hands; I have come to disarm you!" Three of the Cowboys took off almost immediately. That was when I saw one of the cowboys start to draw his six-shooter and my instincts kicked in as I drew and fired in his direction. Although I missed, I believe I caused him to miss his intended target. Shooting continued and there was black powder smoke everywhere and as quickly as it started, it had ended. Suddenly, the one that had used the scatter gun turned around and looked in my direction. I froze, as he bent over picking up the shotgun and began to approach me. "I heard what you did there stranger" he said in between bouts of coughing. "I'm much obliged for saving my best friend." With that he held his shotgun with extended arms in a sign of thanks and gestured for me to take it. "It's yours to remember this day." "That I will do, Sir," Kit replied. The man then tipped his hat, smiled, and as he turned away said, "Call me Doc." A knock on the door to his room caused Kit to awake from his dream. "Ah, that was a good day," he whispered to himself with a smile appearing on his face. "Be right there," he responded to the person who knocked on the door. Kit was completely unaware of how tired he was and how long he had been sleeping, but he knew he was more rejuvenated and refreshed than he had ever been since his long journey to East Fork. Rising out of bed, he slowly approached the door, swinging it wide open. His eyes grew large and his jaw dropped at the person standing in front of him.