Skiff of snow and rain = 6/10ths moisture

There was a light covering of snow as well as puddles when I awoke early to let Har out before 7. I fell back asleep until Harley barked at britt and Cooper's arrival at 7:40. She brought us teas too, THANKS! Then she asked if I might drive her to the airport. Silly girl forgot to book her car to stay at VW. I had to decline as minutes ago just awoke. She was off in short order to pick up Dave who was at the track and get to the airport somehow.

S woke too for his tea to enjoy while perusing the net. I continued picking off my shellac polish then redo my nails myself. This last polish job suffered allot of breaking and tearing with gardening/yard work then having the polish picked off. I then got started on sorting our closet purging clothes for the homeless and thrift store. 

It started to drizzle then turn to snow but it all melted on contact. S went over to matt's to start a light project in his shop. He was back in short order to order parts. He spent time online then cooked BT sandwiches for our lunch. A box of GoodFood was delivered - it was not ordered but obviously not skipped so we have 3 surprise meals this week. I sorted out our coat closet too purging items. I also got the girls closet checked thru.

He headed to town for his parts after 1:30 and I to the garage. The dahlia bulls were trimmed and moved around in the damp pot. The wood crate was dry brushed and dark waxed. I am not sure I am totally loving it but will list it and see if it sells. S was back with a load of gravel, dumped it and went back for another. 

I planted all 3 Christmas cactus and a couple slips of one Candace gave me all in one pot. I hope the 3 colors will look good together. S was back after 4 with his 2nd gravel load. The moisture stopped a few hours ago. He checked the rain gage and it showed 6/10ths!! Thank you Lord.

Time for a refreshment while he did stuff online and I wrote today’s blog. I cooked up our GF supper - crusted pork chops and fresh pasta. It was good. Hockey entertained S so I took the dogs for a walk and checked on the horses. Sure enough Britt checked in to see if Roo’s mask was ok once they arrived in Kentucky. I did not know you could not fly to Kentucky. They flew to Nashville then drove 3 1/2 hours to Lexington.

The welcome moisture does have a downfall- mud. I had put down a blanket over my new white/blue striped rug. S had a huge foot mud print on it as did the dogs. The floors had muddy/dust prints so S vacuumed but no luck. I washed the floors to clean them but it wasnt long till more dirt was felt on the floor. I will take the moisture though :) S in his housecoat went and spread grass seed in the spots we put compost on the grass. I posted the crate for sale and low and behold it sold in an hour - to Corey :) 

It was another quiet evening of hockey for the prince and marketing/blog writing for me. No hot tub as too cool so I started my new library book - the Housemaid.

Birthday lunch

I did not push out the planters today as it is cool and very cloudy. It was then computer work for me paying my taxes finishing and publishing a blog post. Laundry was started  while S ran the vacuum around the main floor. We moved the few things under the lift in the garage then S got the fireball out to take to hockey at 1. I headed to town to grab a library book before meeting Sharon and Coreena for my birthday lunch at noon.

It was an enjoyable 3 hour catch up as it has been over 6 months since our last birthday lunch. Lots to catch up on with C having 5 grandkids and Sharon soon to have 4. I stopped to check if cat food was on sale and looked at outdoor plants. Tomato plants were $20 but I passed calculating I would need 10 pounds minimum to pay for itself. Think I will hope my seeds grow.

S was just leaving the arena and to the accountants. Having the fireball meant no keys for B so I picked up Cooper after grabbing a tea. The weather was breezy and cool all day. Kinda spitting now and then but no rain as forecast. Back at the ranch S was taking the skid steer to Matt’s for a job lifting a big fertilizer bag. I continued the laundry.

It didn’t take long and he was back just as graupel started to come down. I had noticed the the horses ripping around. They are good weather detectors. It was short lived covering the ground but melted soon after.

crazy soft fluffy graupel

S cooked up maple sausage from Mom along with his fave KD and a bagged salad. It was very tasty sausage, THANK YOU! The skies were very dark to the south so S pulled the fireball back in the garage and put the skid steer in the shop. I repotted the schefflera B gave me into a bigger pot. I also dark waxed 1/2 of the planter.

B made it out before 8. She fed, refilled the minerals in the far paddock then was of to finish packing at 8:30. They leave tomorrow for their week long trip to the Kentucky Derby. The rain finally started to actually soak the deck. And sound like rain!! What a glorious sound.

Hockey dominated S's evening at island, big brown and then bed. I finished up blog editing and marketing then watched Blown Away in bed.

Now for your daily dose of Renn cuteness

Paddock blade gets a workout

At first I thought I heard no wind upon waking but I was wrong ;( S made coffee as I pushed to the plants and fed the dogs and J. A bowl of porridge and S was off to church. I worked on catching up the blog, publishing a staging wall tutorial and getting my pay sheets completed and sent to the paint company. Next I wrote a Hometalk post for Amanda's stool redo. The wooden planter was up next. I sanded the painted stencil sides then added butterflies and flowers in a coral color. I was just washing up the stuff when S arrived home from church with a tea.

He scrambled up eggs and toast for his lunch. Seeing I had a late yogurt I only had a few eggs. It was then time to head outside and get yard work done. S hooked up the dump trailer and parked at the house paddock shelter. I planted another edition of peas in a raised bed and 2 areas in the in ground garden. S jumped in the skid steer and we emptied the compost from the bucket in different low areas on our grass around the yard. I raked it all smooth. S then took the skid steer to the house paddock to load the poop in the dump trailer. 

this was the poop just from the house paddock

The garden and south planters were watered before I took the quad out and hooked to the paddock blade. The trailer was moved to the winter pasture along with the skid steer. S took a few loops around the winter pasture with the blade while I picked rocks along the fenceline. We came up with a new plan of efficiency. I drove the quad set in a 1/4 of the pasture pattern looping back to the dump trailer. S scooped the pile into the dump trailer then as I stopped he would dump the blade. Some of his pile required hand pitching as it was edges and loose stuff. This worked really well.

me trying to video and drive... sorry :)

Around 3 I took a loop to the house and grabbed us a cold beer and protein bar. We were about1/2 done the winter pasture. The weather was mostly cloudy and blustery but occasionally the sun was out. It was sunny while we had a short hydration break then back at it. After the 3rd 1/4 was done S took the dump trailer to the pit to unload. 

A FULL dump trailer so far. I started the 1/4 closest to the pit so would dump my loads every couple of rounds. After he was done dumping he was going to take the truck/trailer to the house but it turned out the guy was at the gate here for his 2nd hay bale. That is it, we are out of all hay bales from 2023. S went and loaded him up while I moved to the far paddock we forgot needed the dump trailer anyway.

S brought the rig there and started hand bombing the pile I had made. He then went and got the skid steer as the poop was thick behind the shelter and not picking up easily in the blade. The temperature dropped, the wind picked up and dark clouds rolled in. We kept going and the dogs stayed patiently watching. Britt rolled in at 5:30 so Cooper was off to meet her. We wrapped it up before 6 for the day with almost another full trailer of poop loaded. This unit is a good little addition. Plans are to use it going forward to keep the paddocks tidy every few days. That and more hand picking too.

when picking rock I found this pretty fool's gold rock!

I fed the dogs, pulled in my planters and got started on supper while S finished moving the truck out. Britt was now riding Roo in the much tidier fields. The last GF meal was super tasty too. It was Tuscan chicken over bulgar, Brussels sprouts and spinach. Of course hockey was on but the hot tub called S as well after our big workout day. Britt was now feeding Bird who can take forever to eat. We were done our soak and showered by the time B headed off. Without even stopping to say hello/goodbye ;(. I am sure she enjoyed her w/e in Fernie.

Of course it was back to hockey for S so I wrote today’s blog in bed. He moved in there to watch the last game. I finished the season of Buying Beverly and started new season of Blown Away.

A big race day

Oh my the wind is wild again. I debated putting out the planters but in the end did so but was a bad idea. I am 3 days behind on the blog so worked on getting one done. However a video of Renn swinging for the first time would not load. No way, no how even trying 15 plus times. I finally gave up as time was running out to leave. We got ready and were heading off of the day when Britt finally made it out to feed her horses and drop Cooper at 11. She is to be at a baby shower in Fernie for 1 pm. Gonna be late. ;) We left H out with her and headed to the arena. Archer was playing in a tournament. We arrived in time to catch his epic goal. Unfortunately they lost but looked to have had fun.

new toy set up for Renn

She has her own really live dolly to feed.. or should I say doggy :)

I was starved having only had coffee so far. S had his daily oatmeal bowl earlier of course but was hungry too. Tim's was our stop for yet another fast food meal on the road. We met Shaina and Matt almost exactly at the same time at the race track at 12:45. This was our entertainment over the next 4 hours. 

Matt and Shaina did well in their bets both up about $30-40, Sheldon not so much once again (-$40) but all claimed to enjoy the challenge. Dave and "Woody" beat the unbeatable Shark Week today for the $25,000 purse. This was very exciting.

He also won another with YRU SO Sirius again. And on the last race he brought General Custard from 8th place to 2nd almost clenching another win.

After the races we drove over to the barn. Shaina and Matt swung thru Tim's then met us there.

Shaina treated Woody to black liquorice, all the horses favourite treat.

General Custard gave himself a shavings spa

Of course Dave had his Bruins game on in the barn just starting as we left at 6. KFC had just arrived as well, looking like a party ahead. We swung by Costco only to find it was now closed, dang it! Home it is. The dogs were let out and fed first thing after their quiet indoor day. I prepped another GF meal - pork meatballs in tomato fennel sauce. It was tasty and made S happy after not having a home cooked meal since Wednesday. This is very rare for us.

Of course hockey went on as soon as we got in the door and never shut off till lights out. S perused the net and checked over our taxes that arrived back to review. I worked on the blog and accounting. I remembered my planters were still out at 9:30 so hauled them in. Poor things were dried out and wind whipped so most likely was a bad idea to have them outside today. 

Family game night celebrating birthday week

Ugly wind and clouds today. After our usual start to the day S went out to work on the paddock poop picking and I did a bit of marketing then outside too. I was planting my potatoes in the garden when Britt called before 11 saying the paddock blade was delivered to her house and needed a signature. I jumped in the truck with Harley and raced in. The driver helped me load in the truck back, thanks. Having not found the main set of truck keys, I grabbed the extra which did NOT have B's house key so poor Cooper did not get to come home for the day. I grabbed a tea and muffin on my way home.

my plan for the planter

Back home I finished planting potatoes. S was still picking poop in the middle paddock. He stopped to make toad in holes for his lunch. I sorted my paint shelf wiping everything down and reorganizing. I have some to share with a fellow painter. Roo snuck into the yard seeing I left the yard gate open, little rascal. I put her back in then fed Bird for Britt.

When I turned the plug on the water trough it broke off, damn the luck. I emptied it and got it ready to move out of the septic paddock. The paint winner stopped to get her paint before 2. As she made her way out the gate, the gal who bought the dining table arrived. I helped her load it up and she was off. S was back out with the quad so called him to see if he had a plug. He put in a makeshift plug and helped me move out to the north. I then got it filled.

We took the new paddock blade out of the transport packing and hooked it up. S took it for a run. It picked up all kinds of leaves on his way to the paddock. In 30 secs it was full of poop/ He made a trip to the pit and a few around it but seeing it fills so fast we came up with an idea to make a pile in the paddock in front of the shelter and scoop with the skid steer bucket.

watch how fast it fills!

I got back to other tasks. The septic paddock was raked and rock picked then I put the rails back up to keep the horses out now.

my trusty assistants always around

I then came in and stencilled my flower carrier. Snacks and games were packed up for tonight before starting on today's blog. S finished up at 4 to catch some hockey. The planters were rolled in, planters outside watered and hoses rolled up, inside plants watered. S watered the grass seed at the gates then had a hot tub. I got ready to head to the city for a birthday get-together night hosted by Shaina. Drinks and snacks were packed up to go.

Just a little girl riding her horse around the kitchen.

B arrived after 5:30. Cooper did his thing, everything was loaded up and we were off before 6. We stopped in Langdon to get DQ for supper on the road. There was no underground parking at Shaina's so B and I carried the cooler and snack bag up while S found a parking spot. Shaina and Matt met us on her floor and we went down to the lounge. I let S in the main door to join us in the lunge where Matt had hooked up his cable box for play off hockey. We had a lovely visit while watching hockey. 

Dave, Nathan and Kaylin arrived at 8:30. Renn was sound asleep at home with her first sitter - "auntie" Shanice. Many laughs were had playing scattagories. At 10:30 the security guard reminded us the room was open till 10 only. We moved everything back to Shaina's place to play catch phrase with many more laughs. What a fun night with all our girls and their fellows together! XOXO We all missed Renny of course.

the lighting is not he best in her apartment so pictures are not great but capture the night still.

K and N headed home at 11:30 and the rest of us after midnight. Dave took home a couple of Shaina's plants and planters to store as well. B came with us to pick up Cooper and her car. I watched Netflix till 2 before lights out. 

 THANKS Shaina and Matt for the snacks, we never did get into the stuff I brought along with their great options. THANKS everyone for getting together to celebrate B and I's trip around the sun again. XOXO