Ada plays ball

Holy cow—believe it or not, the squawking magpies this morning actually meant the trap worked! I’d popped in earplugs and managed to sleep until 9, but S had already gone out and discovered three magpies inside. Looks like location really is everything. Not long after, when I went out to give Roo her meds and food, another one had joined the party. That left S to carry out the “heavenly bound” elimination plan with his trusty pellet gun.

the concentration she has

4 magpies in 1 trap

I quickly got through my marketing work, then headed out to apply a third coat of oil stain to the table. B arrived around 10:30, just as I was wrapping up. With the temperature already at 23°C and rising fast, we figured it was a good time to get a ride in. While we caught two horses, S ran a wagon load of lilac pods to the pit. B then caught Beibs so S could join us once he got back.

Just as we were about to head out around 11, the dogs’ raw food delivery arrived. Since he wasn’t mounted yet, S put it away in the freezer, and then we all set off for a loop around the property. It was definitely heating up, so once we got back, we hosed down the horses and Harley. The horses happily rolled and relaxed in the middle paddock while B headed home, leaving Cooper in the A/C and dropping S off at Matt’s swather on her way.

I jumped in the shower and prepped lunch, just as S got back. His friend Robbie M dropped by shortly after and joined us for lunch, then the two of them visited out on the deck in the now 27°C heat while I hand-watered the pots and square garden boxes before turning on the soakers for the big gardens.

B was back out before 2 to feed and then retreated to Big Brown to read in the A/C—it had hit 30°C by then. After a two-hour visit, Robbie headed out, and S came inside to join me on the couch for our daily Spanish lesson.

At 3:30, B left for the city to meet up with the girls to look for bridesmaid dresses. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on blog posts—finished Heading Home from Ottawa with just one vacation day left to go, and got today’s post caught up too.

S was on his laptop when I noticed five gophers sitting in a small area outside. By the time he grabbed his gun and headed out, a crazy hurricane wind started blowing. S took shelter in the house paddock, and the wind briefly let up. He said the entire shelter lifted in the wind and it is HUGe but the tie down system held it down. He continued to the middle paddock, only to have the winds hit again and rain while the sun shone. The winds continued, but less hurricane-like, as we sat in the fireball, deciding to head to town to watch Ada’s ball game.

Eventually the wind storm hit town then passed so we made our way in. There was sun and bouts of a breeze and the now 25 temperature felt cool at times. Sadly Ada's team lost making it their last game of the season but good try. It wrapped up before 9 and we stopped at Road House on the way home to eat a very late supper - clam chowder and chicken wings.

Back to the ranch just after 10, the dogs were let out. We hit the bed to peruse X for S and Netflix for me. B arrived later to pick up Cooper and head home.