Sunshine, Sunflowers & Another Ancestry Day

S was up, ready and out the door for a rodeo meeting at 7:30. I made a coffee and learned some more Gmail tips before deciding a second cup was definitely in order.

I spent the morning working on the Hoffman side — my paternal grandmother’s side — and was happily lost in the family tree. With the sunshine pouring in, I also threw a load of laundry in after a refreshing shower. 

S was home at noon after his meeting and blood work and promptly hit the couch for a nap. I threw some bacon in the oven and settled back in with my ancestry.

It was just too nice outside to stay indoors, so after our BLT's I headed out. I pruned some extra leaves off the tomato plants and picked more of the partially ripened tomatoes to bring inside. The aphids are absolutely atrocious this year. Perhaps because our dragonflies have all gone south?

S put the dog seat cover back in his truck after having young Ava Kuhn detail it while he was out in AV. I took some sunflower branches out to the horses and removed Bird’s rain sheet, then S and I took Harley for a walk down the road.

I showed S the scentless chamomile and he went back with gloves and a shovel to dig weeds while I watered the front planters that missed the rain. We then attempted to sit on the deck with a cold, refreshing drink, but the aphids were so awful and S was busy on his phone, so I gave up and went back inside to work on my tree.

S came in and had another nap. He thinks it was a coyote we heard out last night, so apparently he might be setting up an ambush tonight and sleeping up for that!

tried a recipe for creamed feta with the beets, it was good but can't go wrong with butter beets on their own ;)

After supper, the golden hour was showing off dirty windows and floors, so I got the robot going and then washed the inside of the west windows while S chatted with Craig. It was such a lovely evening, although the forecast isn't looking nearly as nice after tomorrow.

B was out and ate her McDonald’s before heading out to feed her ponies. We finished season 2 of Lioness and started season 3, settling in with a yummy yogurt bowl. S nodded ff s I started the Dolly Parton: Here I am  documentary to finish off the evening.

A Rainy Birthday for Cooper

Today would have been Cooper’s 9th birthday. :( It seems the ranch was sad too, with drizzly, cool weather. We had our coffees to warm up, then S hit his laptop catching up on his info.

I worked on yesterday’s blog, then did my weight workout.

The rain started to really come down as I dove into more ancestry updates. I continued my ancestry Ball work while S swapped between naps and football viewing. He has not watched sports or TV for a week so getting his fill on this rainy day. :)

A hot bowl of soup for lunch, then back to the computer for me and TV for S as the rain picked up again. I had a vest over my sweater but finally cratered and turned the furnace on.

S suggested a game of crib, so I took a break from my family tree, only to narrowly lose. Then it was supper prep time. I even braved the rain and went out to pull a fresh onion to go with the zucchini. S cleaned the potatoes and I prepped the buttered cabbage along with pork chops in mushroom sauce. A perfect harvest meal on this chilly day.

B was out to join us for supper, with the gate having its usual rain issues, but she got in. She then braved the rain and fed the horses as I got back to my ancestry and S washed the pots while football played out. The Stamps were ahead but ended up losing.

He then moved on to baseball, but by 8 we both called it a day and went to watch Lioness. This show is getting far too political and over the top at times for both of us. Rain totalled 3/4" today!

At 2 am I woke with a start, hearing what sounded like a baby crying. I followed the sound out onto the deck to find what looked like yet another cat standoff, with one scooting around the west deck. I went in to that side to check, but no luck. I opened the bedroom window to see with my phone light — still no luck — then went back outside with the phone light.

J was on guard and agitated, with Stella hissing under the chair. I calmed them both, gave them some food and crawled back into bed, hoping the infiltrator would head off.

Fog, Soup & Falling Down the Ancestry Rabbit Hole

Horses in the Mist - like gorillas :)

The world was still under heavy fog when I woke. With my first coffee I did my relaxing Instagram peruse, then the slow cooker dinged, ending the bone simmer. I headed outside in the drizzle and pulled some carrots to go along with the fresh tomatoes, zucchini and potatoes going into the soup.

At 10:30 the rain started up, but it was once again short-lived, giving us just .04" of rain. Sheldon had a sleep-in after combining until 2 am. It had rained there during the night, so he planned to eat, relax for a bit, then head to the Hat to visit his parents and leave the trailer. I guess he’ll be going back to combining soon leaving the trailer hostage.

I did go down the ancestry rabbit hole for a while, seeing as it was another dreary day. I enjoyed a hot bowl of soup for lunch, while S made his way to Medicine Hat.

B was out around 3, ate a bowl of soup and then went out to pick the barn paddock clean as I continued my ancestry updates. This afternoon I was updating Sheldon’s Kuhn side with all the living updates, and there were lots of them contacting many of his cousins. I also published Hank trim blog.

B was off for home around 5 as I continued working on my tree updates. I was finishing up and getting ready to hop into bed and watch Outer Banks after 8 when S arrived home from his week in Acadia Valley. He unloaded his groceries and hit the hot tub.

I wrapped up my episode and we started more Lioness, but soon he was ready to call it a day. Lights out.

A Dreary Day, Foggy Nights & a Little Shelf Organizing

As forecast, another dreary day was ahead, and even S had a delayed 9 am start today. I did my usual Instagram peruse with a coffee after feeding the cats and letting Harley out around 7:30. Debby and I had a nice phone call catch-up before I moved on to watering all my indoor plants.

The dull weather had me back on the bed reading more of my book until I stopped to feed Harley, soak the beet pulp and get yesterday’s blog done around noon. I watched some Outer Banks on my iPad while eating leftover salad and chicken for lunch, then folded towels. Another load of laundry was remaking Brittany’s bed, so while I was down there I had the robot remap the basement and then max vacuum both hers and Shaina’s rooms. It is pretty nice having a little robot help with some of those jobs!

Papa was transferred back to Medicine Hat hospital. ;)

I moved on to channeling my inner grocery shelf stocker and redid the storage shelves in the furnace room. Nothing terribly exciting, but one of those jobs that feels really good once it is done. Everything had been getting a little too randomly shoved onto the shelves, so I pulled things out, reorganized and put it all back in a much more orderly fashion. 

I was right in the middle of my pilates then weight workouts when Britt arrived at 3. She trimmed Bird’s feet and then had me catch Hank while she made food. Once the horses were eating, she and I, along with Harley and Hank, went and trimmed Hank’s feet. Bird was still eating when we finished, so I came in and she sat with her until she was done, then headed home.

Today I suggested she sit on the little stool which helped

Harley eagerly awaits any frog remnants

Not long after, the rain started, so it was good timing on her part — and also good timing that Bird had her rain sheet on. Only .04" came down, but over in AV, S was out cutting grain in the golden hour.

The robot was charged again so finished the basement with only the bathroom to go (and the chaotic furnace room)

Our cutie reading the narrated by Nana goodnight book XOXO

I watched some more Outer Banks with a sandwich and yogurt bowl, then went outside in the mist and pulled a fresh onion from the garden before putting some soup bones in the slow cooker. I also finally finished my book. Not bad considering I only started it last night!

At 1:30 am I woke up remembering that I had forgotten to put some vinegar in the soup bones. So up I got, added it, and found the whole place engulfed in fog. It was the same at 3:30 when I checked it again, this time thinking I had somehow turned the slow cooker off by accident. Nope, it was still going.

A slow, dreary day turned out to be a pretty productive one after all — a little organizing, some laundry, horse feet trimmed, a book finished and soup bones simmering away. Not a bad way to spend a rainy September day.