Battery, tire and Microsoft troubles

Man, I dislike the sound of magpies, especially between 5:30 and 8. They are just so annoyingly shrill. I was up before 8 and made the coffees to enjoy while doing Spanish. Then, I moved on to marketing and creating/submitting my monthly work sheets. Roo was fed and medicated, and Har fed too. S took care of the cats, which required constant magpie watching because they’re so bold and eat right beside the cats and dog! S also swapped filters in the hot tub.

We had planned to go hiking with Harley and possibly Renn at Elbow Falls, but by the time we told Kaylin, they had taken Renny to school. I had cut her a bouquet of peonies earlier to take, so I went back out and cut me another one too. S had to boost Shaina’s Jeep because it was dead from sitting so long—I think her security system drains it faster.

Matt is renting the swather, so S drove it over. He had me pick him up, taking the Jeep to get the charge increased. We quickly drove to town to grab Cooper, and S automatically shut it off as soon as we pulled up, exclaiming, “Oh no!” Sure enough, it was dead. He wandered around the neighbourhood to find someone to give a boost while I cut a peony bouquet for Britt, who says she never has time to cut herself one. I may have taken a few for myself too. Once S found a neighbour and got the Jeep running, I loaded up Cooper, his food, and the peonies, and we were off.

Back at the ranch it was lunch with an iced coffee refreshment. S had put a charger on the Jeep battery then perused his laptop while I trouble shot yet another Microsoft problem. For the next couple hours I was off and on hold and help with technical support with a glitch on their end. So frustrating as I cannot do any blog work as that is where my photos are as well as the edited and watermarked ones. This really messed with my plans to take the dogs for a walk at the river too,

The weather was spectacular—full sun, a gentle breeze, and a comfortable 23 degrees. I mixed up food buckets and took them out to feed the horses. While they ate, I pulled and hoed weeds in the paddock. The bird wasn’t a fan of her watered-down feed from yesterday’s rain, so I ended up giving half to a couple of volunteers. S ran the quad wagon full of our weeds to the pit and unhooked the Jeep battery, which is now holding a charge better.

Another double rainbow evening

We prepped vegetables to go with steak for supper as the clouds rolled in and a bit of thunder rumbled. We waited a bit to cook, and to our surprise, it started raining while the sun was still out at 6:30 p.m. as S was grilling the deer tenderloin. It was a short-lived little rain shower, but of course, it was yet another delicious supper.

Nathan sent these adorable pictures of Renn's Beetlejuice hair

chillin'

After the rain stopped, the sun came out in full force. After watching the bull riding at the rodeo, we took the dogs for a walk, much to Cooper’s excitement before 8. He loves “walky” time. It was a spectacular evening with no wind or bugs, so I stayed out and pruned the lilacs. I texted S to bring the power saw, and we cut down big branches on the pear, apple, and mystery tree. I then hand-pulled grass from the culvert rocks and replanted hens and chicks around, while S pulled the thistles in the island. It was a great night to do yard work.

While we were outside, B texted that she had a flat tire and had it in the queue at a tire shop. At 8:30, they told her it was too worn out to repair, so she now needs four new tires. Her car is only a year and a half old, but she has already put on 70,000 km. We were in bed reading and perusing X as usual when she made it home on her spare after a supper meeting at 11:30. She also picked up a paint parcel that was at the gate for me. I had ran out at 11 and tossed Roo’s hay, but now B reset her boots, then she and Cooper were off for home at midnight. I closed my book and lights out not long after she left.