First peonies

S was awake early after 7 which had me awake then too. He got coffee going after perusing the online news and continued with a couple more. He tried on a stack of jeans and shorts Chuck bought him gaining many new duds. We were just finishing our yogurt and fruit when the Schmitt’s came in. We visited until they headed to town at 11 for errands. S and I enjoyed a cold water on the deck trying to sort where we are going to camp next week.

Look at my first peonies blooming of the year!!

I worked on the blog trying to catch up then put the pizza in when they got back after 12. Deb read on the deck for a bit till mosquitoes chased her in. The fellows ended up in our trailer after finding that out trail hitch CANNOT pull a trailer eventually coming in to grab pizza and eat on the deck. Shaina arrived after 1 and was off to her room to do a couple calls.

Deb picked out some inspirational words then we put them on the transfer paper. I applied them to the laundry window frame while she ironed graphics on t-shirts. 

Trying to decide on an additional word lower right or not.. I think it needs a word :)

Shaina popped up for her pizza and a visit. I went to bath Harley, S helped on his way to change oil in swather. Chuck helped which also required fixing starter issues and changing the battery along with oil change. Shaina’s jeep was checked to see if we could borrow it to pull the ATV trailer but it had no towing package. She set off back to the city at 4 as the fellows were trying to figure out how to change the trailer hitch but it would be a huge project. Looks like we are going to have to make 2 trips to wherever we camp.

Chuck made salmon patties and I rice to go with the leftover salads for our supper. Visiting rounded out our evening. B was out at her usual time and did her horse stuff and back to town as had not yet ate and getting hangry. 

I forgot to share this from Monday, someone got their braces off!!

Schmitt’s arrive

After a coffee I got dressed to go to town to meet school friends Tracey and Kim at 10. Before going we weighed Harley who rang in at 117 pounds. Sheldon had a few coffees and headed out to start cutting grass as the skies darkened. We had a great 3+ hour visit catching up on everyone's life. I arrived back home around 1:30 as S was mowing the gate area. It had rained 1/10th mid morning slowing him up but gave him time to go in and eat.

Britt was here making food for her horses. I dug her some perennials and after she fed she and Cooper were off for home to plant them. I finished up another Toronto blog while S finished up mowing them started tidying around the 2 sheds. I went out to help him in the sunshine but dark skies were to the west and soon started to rain. Chuck and Debby arrived as it was raining after 3. Time to have a couple cold brews and visit as it rained.

Deb presented Mom with a quilt she made

Britt dropped Cooper off and was off to help a friend and her horse with Dave then supper out. Mom stopped out after 4 for a visit then headed off an hour later. I made a macaroni salad and kale salad to go with our barbequed burgers S did now the rain stopped. After eating S and C went out to spot the trailer and unload their razor. The rain gauge showed another 1.5/10th.

We had a few beverages while visiting then headed out to the hot tub at 9 where it rained briefly on us. Brittany and Dave arrived while we were in there and B put blankets and masks on some after feeding. She was struggling so after I got out of the tub I went to help her and moved all the mosquito covered horses to the middle paddock with shorter grass. B & D put KD’S boots on and headed home once done. We showered off then visited till after 11. S was off to sleep as I started Season 3 of Umbrella Academy.

Double Dad day

H wanted out after 6 and the fog was soaked in and cool looking. After putting her in the kennel I managed to fall back asleep until just before 9 when S woke to make coffee. Mom called and S had a call with Jarrod re bison herd with us having a quick hot tub in the sparkling clear new water. Once out I took of KD’S muzzle and let Switch and Biebs into the grassy pen.

Once out for S, he dressed and was off to grade the road while I had a phone meeting. Recyclables were sorted and once done road S helped me load them up along with the trash. I made us tuna sandwiches for lunch then we ran to town before 1 so I could help Dad with lunch. Mom was off to the city today for a doctors appointment. Dad was almost done lunch when we arrived but once I convinced him to finish a bit more we all went for a walk thru all 3 wings then to his room. He was ready for a nap at his request so once he was settled we headed out. 

Next stop was to pick up Cooper, grab some fruit, parts to finish the ATV trailer then do recyclables. On the way home it was toss trash and grab mail. S did a bit more on the road while I worked on blog posts. It wasn’t long before we headed back in for S to attend a rodeo meeting at 4. I dropped him at ag grounds and headed over to Dad’s. He was napping in his chair but soon woke and was game to head outside for a walk. The sun was now off and on with a bit of a wind but we made a good loop thru the residence area. we were back to his floor in time for supper with one of the gals setting us up an area near the window. Dads supper was brought out first so nice and warm and he ate it all along with a yogurt and a cup of ensure and cranberry juice along with meds. This is great to see his appetite returning and gaining strength to be walking outside again. He and I went back to his room with Sheldon getting dropped off and coming up to say hi. We then headed for home before 5:30 to cook our supper. I fed the dogs and prepped fruit and spinach salad while S cooked the chicken fillets. YUMMY!! And the Blue Jays game was on.

Britt and Dave arrived planning to take Biebs out for a cart ride after B fed horses. This plan was changed as the now dark clouds let out rain that increased from light to heavy. There was even a tornado warning and apparently it touched down in Namaka near us?? S had gone out to pressure wash the muddy skid steer before the rain let loose. After they fit up Biebs with some new gear added to the harness they came in when the rain ended for a visit. They then loaded up Coop and headed home, S was back to the game and I working on the blog being very far behind catching up from our Toronto tour. I did pop out to put masks on KD and Switch once the sun came out while S put the skid steer in the shop now all clean. He checked rain gauge; .125/10ths

I finished up Blue Jays win blog uploading videos and cleaning bathrooms between uploads and posted. S helped with toilet scrub duty even. I joined him in bed before 11 to write todays blog making us a tasty yogurt and fruit bowl, S added a few more items to his snack fest.

Hot tub drained

S was up and out to start the hot tub pumps to get it moving thru again before draining today. Usual coffee and H feeding then on with our day. It was another gorgeous day out full of sun and warm temps with no wind. S walked to get the skid steer and filled the sinkhole and covered in gravel. I raked the rest of the gravel pile around the pots and he scooped and dumped a bit at the front step.

The travel trailer was moved and with the box grader he cut the edges and weeds while I raked the edges smooth. All the while the hot tub pump was going getting the cleanser part finished. Then it was time to start draining it onto the road. We loaded the water tote and Harley and set off for town before noon. The tote was filled at Britt’s (who had the day off work) and while he did that B and I went over to visit Gran and Grandy.

Once filled we walked back and headed home by 2; I made tuna sandwiches and he pressure washed the grungy sides quick before coming in to eat. B and Cooper arrived just as we were eating so headed off to start stripping stalls. Once I was done I went and joined her loading the shavings and running them to the pit. B did a fabulous job of sweeping the stalls clean even using a hoof pick to get around the edges. She also did the main floor making it look super tidy!! S continued his hot tub cleaning swapping to the sump pump to empty faster then scooping out the remaining out of the bottom.

GROSS!!

the pack hanging out under the water truck

Britt and I trimmed mats of Mr Jenkins

KD walking update videos

B moved on to trimming KD, me watering the garden and once s was done it was time for a cold beer as the tub filled with the treated town water. Nathan popped out to join us on the deck at 3:30 while he waited to pick up Beans later who had surgery today to expand his nasal palate to breathe better and get neutered. When B was done we took some video and she too joined us on the deck. Nathan was off before 5 to pick up Beans. The tub was so slow to fill with the garden hose we decided to put it on the skid steer and lift above and open it up. This worked like a charm.

Britt loaded up and headed home and once we had the tote back on the truck and Harley loaded up again we were off to town. We swung thru A&W to get supper to eat at B’s while the tote filled. I also helped her prune a tree as she fertilized and weeded. Once full we were off and this time directly put tote on skid steer and dumped in taking about 10 minutes to finish filling. The water is sparking clean now, the heater was started and the other fancy part of the chemical system added tomorrow.

WOAH!! how clear is that?

I put masks on KD and Switch now that all horses were moved to the house paddock that is loaded with grass. Our yard has never looked so good and these last few days have made it even better with less weeds and raking. S started up a fire while I swept the area and put diatomaceous earth on an ant hill before sitting to enjoy the fire. I saw Switch get her mask off and when trying to catch her she and 2 other dark horses had a gay old time running from me. Eventually I called Sheldon to open the middle gate and Switch along with Biebs were sequestered into he middle paddock where he is chewing the shelter to bits so will save the house one that demise and the grass is way less for a mask less Switch.

The skies darkened and the wind picked up sending us in around 10:30 for a shower and relaxing in bed catching up the blog for me and internet for S. Another successful ranch maintenance day was had.

Yard work day

Dave dropped Cooper off before 8 and let H out to play. She wanted in shortly after 8 and waited in her kennel till I got up after perusing Insta to feed her and S made coffee. It was a BEAUTIFUL with sun and no wind hitting 25 degrees. Time to get laundry underway from the last week.

Our day was spent outside starting with S running a cleanser thru the hot tub which will run for 24 hours. I hand weeded the garden beds while S used the hoe/rake around it. I moved to the back flower beds and dug weeds while he started back on finishing closing in the deck.

S made a grilled cheese for lunch and I had a cold beer before we set back out. The island was weeded with all dandelions to the horses. S started the east side of the deck. We had a cold beverage break with popcorn on the deck. wat a gorgeous day! I came in to get the wedding sign tutorial posted now that the big day has come and vacuum the main floor.

 Around 4 Mom and Dad stopped to visit and go for a walk around the yard. Mosquitoes are out, dang it. S brought out water totes with the skid steer he had filled from the big tank leak only to find they were growing algae so he emptied 2 on the new trees and island then cleaned another out to get town water for the hot tub tomorrow. Seeing it was so warm I filled the puppy pool for the dogs.

I had prepped baby potatoes and beets for the barbeque to go with steak and a salad. Once finished washing out the water tote S came in and threw the veggies on while the Stanley cup hockey game got going.

B was out around 5:30 to feed and check horses after being away for the w/e. KD seemed to be reverting to worse and beavering the shelter so loud I could hear from backyard. B gave her bute to help with pain. While we were dealing with KD Sheldon put steaks on hold and ran a bucket of junk to pit only to get stuck in the skid steer having to walk back. B met him walking back on her way out.

He started BBQ and cooked them in short order and once we finished up we headed to the pit to pull out the skid steer before the 3rd period of the hockey game started. It was pretty easy to do with me in skid steer and him in tractor and soon we were back in time to watch Colorado win the cup. Laundry continued and I worked on the blog. We rounded out the night with a soak in the tub with new bath bombs from Kaylin and Nathan seeing the hot tub is still circulating the cleanser.

Supper with 2 girls

We had a relaxing sleep in with no chores to do, just enjoy a coffee and fruit. After a shower and the bags hauled out we were on the road heading south in the sunshine. The first stop was making our way to Wetaskawin to pick up a bale control monitor. S had arranged with the place to pick up by 2 pm however when we arrived at 12:07 we found a note on the door saying they closed early today at 12!!! He called every number with no luck. The car was filled at UFA where fuel was the cheapest at $1.68 purple ($1.78 at pumps) then a stop at Tim’s for a snack. We even drove back to store to see if after hour number which again led to nothing. 

Britt and Steph's wedding party photos, how fun are these?

We carried on south stopping in Red Deer to visit Randy and Yvonne for an hour break then back on the road. Kaylin had brought Lexi out for a vet appointment then she and Shaina went to visit Grandy and Gran at the park. 

They then came to the ranch and were here when we arrived. I pulled out burgers for s to cook to go with a salad I made for supper. After S & S went to finish removing her other Jeep door she had almost off while Kaylin kindly sugared me.

Kaylin and Lexi headed back to the city after 7:30 and once shaina finished cleaning out her Jeep and a short visit she was off an hour later. Sheldon headed out for a hot tub where he decided it was grungy and time to change the water tomorrow. After sugaring or lashes hot tub are not recommended so I stayed inside and watched some YouTube dog training videos before lights out.

Garth Brooks concert

It was drizzly rain when I let H out after 5 and looks to have been raining all night. Coffee was in order once up at 8:30. Time to get packed up for our trip to Edmonton today to see the infamous Garth Brooks. We did finally find a hotel about 2 km away from the stadium for $400. When S checked the rain gauge taking cats raw food it showed 1/4” from yesterday and overnight. B said there was an inch and 2/10ths while we were gone so lots of moisture this month. she stopped on route to her wedding to give Pepper meds and check on KD who she found was shivering in the cold north getting enough to eat to stay warm in her grazing muzzle. She left Cooper for the day for Dave to pick up later on and was on her way.

Shaina popped out to catch KD and Switch and put in stalls to warm up and eat hay at 10 on her way to train Sharon. We were loaded and headed out soon after her stopping to visit Dad and Mom quick before we headed north. The wind and around 10 temps with occasional rain are not making for much excitement for tonight’s concert but there were bits of blue sky now and then to encourage. Good thing we changed our mind on pulling the trailer to stay as S would be white knuckled all the way with the crazy winds. 

lunch for the road

video of some of the rain we passed thru

A quick stop on Red Deer for a pee break and back on the road. I brought fruit and beef jerky along for our lunch. We passed thru a few rain storms on the way as well as stalled out traffic past Red Deer but eventually made it to our hotel at 3:30. After we got to our room we relaxed with a cold beer and some sports on TV before heading out to find supper after 4:30. We walked part of the 2.7 km hike to the stadium stopping at a Vietnamese place to eat. It was very good and broke up the hike.

We arrived at Common wealth Stadium before 6 and found our seats. S had been texting Jarrod and friends who were there as well so we climbed the levels from our floor seats to theirs in the upper deck for a short visit. Then it was back down to our seats only to go up the other side in search of a cold drinks but found unlike all the other places were had recently been where it was only cashless, this place was cash only! No drinks for us tonight ;)

The concert was fabulous once it finally started at 8:20. Trisha even made a surprise guest appearance at the end. The stadium atmosphere was amazing and the weather turned out fabulous with the sun actually coming out.

fell like you were there with these 3 videos'

Our walk home was in the dark but in not very long we were back at our hotel to enjoy a refreshing cold beverage and relaxing after our busy day.