Rain at Last, Car Decisions & a Cozy Day Inside

The wind howled all night long, rattling away outside the windows. Then around 4:30 a.m., the rain finally joined the party.

I was awake early anyway, checking on the horses through the window and eventually admitting defeat on more sleep. Coffee was made, and I settled in to watch the storm unfold. By that point we'd already received about half an inch of rain, and it showed no signs of stopping.

A fellow had messaged the night before wanting to see the car, so I arranged a meeting for today and spent part of the morning thinking about what we'd do if an offer actually came through.

Meanwhile, S was thoroughly enjoying a storm-day sleep-in.

Around 9:20 I asked if he was still planning on going to church. One quick "nope" later and he promptly went back to sleep.

Eventually he surfaced, moving from coffee in bed with his phone to the big brown chair with a second cup. A bagel followed shortly before he headed to town around 11:45 to meet the potential car buyer.

That left me with a quiet house and time to work on the tutorial for the latest kids' chairs.

These two camped this weekend! This was from yesterday as today is crap!

B and Cooper arrived around 1 to brave the miserable weather and feed the horses. She also put rain sheets on Jimmy, who is never allowed in the shelter, and on Bird, who needs the warmth. While she was at it, she hauled a bale into the shelter so everyone had easy access to feed while hiding from the weather.

At the same time, S returned from town with Vietnamese food, which made for a pretty excellent lunch on a cold, rainy day.

The big news of the afternoon was that the fellow who looked at the car actually made an offer.

Now comes the hard part.

The possibility of selling it immediately launched us right back into researching replacement vehicles and debating options. I spent part of the afternoon comparing possibilities while S eventually stretched out on the couch with a ball game muted in the background and drifted off for a nap.

By 4 o'clock I had officially reached my limit on vehicle research and switched gears to publishing yesterday's blog instead.

Outside, the rain continued steadily.

By late afternoon we were sitting at nine-tenths of an inch with mostly wind and drizzle remaining. Considering how desperately everything needed moisture, it was hard to complain.

For supper we made a batch of mushroom soup in the Instant Pot. While it cooked, we squeezed in a quick 15-minute arm workout.

The soup turned out great... except I got a little too enthusiastic with the fresh pepper.

Oops.

In the city, Chef Renn serves up supper

We accepted the car offer ... now to engage a plan to replace.

After supper I made yogurt bowls, and we settled in to watch Ladies First. It was entertaining enough, and kind of funny seeing a traditionally male-dominated world flipped completely on its head.

A couple episodes of Running Point followed before bedtime rolled around.

By the time we turned out the lights, the rain gauge had passed the one-inch mark.

After weeks of watching storms miss us, hearing rain on the roof all day felt pretty wonderful. The wind however was not.

Baseball, Blustery Skies, Yet No Rain

The weather forecast finally delivered on its promises overnight. We woke to dreary skies, gusty winds, and a chilly 14 degrees — quite the change from the heat wave we'd been enjoying.

Relaxing morning for the ponies

Coffee and our usual morning routine were in order, and then S headed for the hot tub to get his morning soak before B arrived around 11 to tackle paddock cleaning.

B officially started a week's vacation today.

Poor timing weather-wise, as the forecast is looking less than inspiring, but it should give her plenty of time to work on some of the indoor projects she's been planning, including painting in her house.

As soon as she arrived, she got busy cleaning the far paddock while S climbed into the skid steer and followed behind scooping up the piles. Between the two of them, the job was finished in less than an hour.

I brought in and staged the kids chairs.

Once the paddock was done, B and I caught our horses and headed out for a ride. The weather couldn't quite decide what it wanted to do, alternating between clouds and brief sunshine while the wind continued to howl. Harley did well today making 8/10 of the way. Glad to see her moving better.

After untacking, B fed everyone and headed home while S and I packed up snacks and refreshments for the afternoon.

Funny video from the city crew - no children were hurt in the making of this video :)

Just before 2, we headed for Okotoks to catch Asher's 3 p.m. baseball game followed by Ada's game at 5.

Partway there we learned Asher's game had started early, but we still arrived around 2:30 and managed to catch a good portion of it. The sun even made a brief appearance near the end, although it was noticeably windier and gloomier there than it had been at home.

Asher at bat

Between games, we followed the Paetz mobile back to their campsite for a quick visit and refreshments. Aislyn entertained everyone with cartwheels while Amanda got supper going in the Instant Pot.

Before long, it was time to head back to the ball diamonds for Ada's game.

The girls' game had a completely different energy from the boys'. There were chants, cheers, enthusiastic parents, vocal coaches, and plenty of excitement from both dugouts.

Ada at bat

It was a close game right to the end.

Unfortunately, Ada's team came up just short, but she played a great game and should be proud of her effort.

Well done, kids.

After saying our goodbyes, S and I started the drive home, making a quick stop at A&W for burgers to eat on the road.

A few sprinkles hit the windshield during the drive, but by the time we rolled into the ranch around 8:30 there wasn't a drop of rain to be found — just more wind. And it blew all evening!

I convinced Harley to make one final trip outside before bed. She peed quickly and practically sprinted back to the house.

Honestly, I couldn't blame her.

The rest of the evening was spent curled up watching movies. First up was Jack Ryan: Ghost War, followed by Crime 101. Both were good watches.

Not a bad way to wrap up a cool, windy day filled with horses, baseball, family, and just enough sunshine to keep things interesting.

Birthday Horse, Shiny Car & the Best Cook Ever

The morning disappeared in a hurry between indoor plant care, computer work, and the usual collection of little jobs that somehow fill an entire morning.

S, meanwhile, embraced retired life to its fullest with another leisurely start to the day.

Today was also a special day because Switch officially turned 14! Hard to believe that my horse is already 14 years old. That and I only technically own 2 horses and 1 was claimed 15 years by B as her heart horse!

Another thing that's hard to believe? The complete lack of interest in our car listing.

So far we've had exactly two messages. One was from someone looking for parts who had actually contacted the wrong seller. Not exactly encouraging. I dropped the price slightly, but neither of us is interested in practically giving the vehicle away just to buy something new. That's never really been our style.

By noon we had packed up return parcels and headed to town. The sun had finally appeared, temperatures were climbing, and it was already 24 degrees.

The mission list included picking up the repaired weed eater, returning packages, collecting Cooper, and grabbing Opa wraps.

Once back at the ranch, we enjoyed our wraps and cold drinks while escaping the growing heat. S settled into the big brown chair with his laptop while I worked on today's blog from the island.

By afternoon the temperature had climbed to 28 degrees, and the wind arrived in full force.

I headed outside to clear coat the little chairs while S tested out the repaired weed eater. I followed that up with a short walk with the dogs and a bit of tree pruning while he continued battling with the trimmer.

We have a few trees suffering this year, this plum tree is the worst with maybe 50 leaves!

Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that "repaired" might be a generous description.

Soon enough S was back in the big brown chair researching solutions and chatting with the repair shop while I squeezed in a weight workout.

B arrived home early from work because she needed to pick up her car from the body shop after repairs from her pheasant encounter. The best part wasn't even the repairs — they had done a full detail.

She was absolutely thrilled.

Honestly, the car looked brand new.

While she made food, I gathered some of the last apples to bring out for Switch's birthday. I removed Switch's bandages while she enjoyed her treats, and B worked on Beibs.

While checking Switch, B noticed some swelling around the injection site, so we headed for the hose to cool things down. Then Jimmy came in for his itchy-skin treatment and revealed a very swollen knee, which earned him some cold hosing too.

Apparently everyone around here is dealing with sore joints this week.

Back inside, S had already started supper preparations. Tonight marked the final package of deer tenderloin from the freezer, which led him to checking hunting draw dates for the fall.

B and Cooper headed home shortly afterward in her freshly repaired, freshly detailed, sparkling clean vehicle.

Supper, however, stole the show.

On the menu was deer tenderloin, corn on the cob, fresh asparagus, and a potato-carrot-onion foil pack.

S was so impressed with the result that he declared himself "the best cook ever."

A bold statement.

To be fair, it was absolutely delicious. I even gave it bonus points because I didn't have to prep or cook a single thing.

Of course, I did handle cleanup afterward, which is our arrangement.

With cleanup done, we headed out for a hot tub soak before settling in to watch Montreal get completely decimated in the final game of their series.

Not exactly the ending Canadian fans were hoping for.

The evening wrapped up with the newest episode of Dutton Ranch followed by a few episodes of Margo's Got Money Troubles before calling it a night.

Horses, Heat Waves & Changing Summer Plans

I managed to sleep in until almost 9, which is practically unheard of for me. Coffee was immediately required, and I spent the morning publishing a blog post, working on others and catching up on computer work.

Renn sent these couple of cute pics as she headed to school! <3

S, however, took sleeping in to an entirely different level.

He didn't emerge until after 10 and then enjoyed his coffee in bed while scrolling his phone. At one point he chatted with Craig, who was more than happy to call us out for backing out of camping this weekend because of the rain forecast.

Fair enough.

B arrived around 11 in a loaner vehicle while her own car is being repaired after an unfortunate encounter with a pheasant. The two of us quickly tacked up and headed out for a ride while S fired up the mower and tackled the random tall patches of grass around the yard before the forecasted rain arrives.

If it actually arrives.

The heat wave certainly isn't going anywhere. Temperatures are expected to stay high until Saturday, which has us rethinking more than a few plans.

Not only did we cancel our Okotoks camping weekend, but we're also seriously reconsidering our week in Canmore next week depending on how the forecast develops.

After our ride, the horses were tied up waiting for the vet appointment scheduled for 1 o'clock. Unfortunately, the vets were running behind, so we turned everyone loose in the round pen to graze while we waited.

S and I squeezed in a quick lunch before I headed back outside for some hand watering.

Dr. Jordan and Megan finally arrived shortly after 1:30, and horse treatment afternoon officially began.

Megan the vet tech stretching after assessment trot

While they worked, S headed to town for coffee with a friend and to run a few errands.

Switch and Beibs received surgical scrubs followed by their IRAP injections. Roo had blood drawn for her own IRAP treatment before getting her teeth done as well. It was a busy afternoon for both the horses and the vet team.

By 3:30 everything was wrapped up, and B and I turned the horses out into the house paddock as the vets headed on to their next stop.

With temperatures hitting 28 degrees, I set up a sprinkler on the far peonies which were looking decidedly unimpressed with the heat.

B and Cooper headed home around 4 just as S rolled back into the yard with groceries and a free bike chariot I scored for Renn.

We spent some time FaceTiming with Shaina so she could show us the latest updates to their apartment before enjoying a cold drink while I got supper underway.

The evening was one of those perfect summer evenings that make you forget all about the wind, mud, and snow from a few weeks ago.

S boosted the dead battery in the quad and hauled a load with the poop wagon to the pit while I painted a second coat of paint on the little kids chairs.

We also set up a few mosquito dunk pails and are crossing our fingers they'll help keep the mosquito population under control.

After that, I hand-watered all the plants and seedlings that are drying out in this heat.

My Japanese peonies in full bloom, to bad they are so short lived!

Then came a shocking realization: No hockey on tonight.

Naturally, we opted for a hot tub soak even though the air temperature was nearly the same as the water. After showers, we settled in to finish the finale of Funny AF.

S spotted this HUGE nest - turns out my guess was right - magpie!

Before we could start it, though, the Paetz family called with trailer electrical issues. S spent some time troubleshooting with them over FaceTime, but it quickly became clear the problem was bigger than a simple phone fix and will likely require an in-person visit after their camping weekend.

The sky was on fire as they chatted on my phone so I had to use S's to snap a few photos

Speaking of camping, after another look at the forecast, we officially cancelled our reservations for next week as well.

A little disappointing, but spending a week sitting in the rain isn't exactly the holiday experience we were hoping for.

Hot Nights, Work Bee & a Medication Mishap

What a night.

Poor Harley yelped multiple times through the night, though the one time I checked on her she was immediately back to snoring afterward. Stella eventually decided the garage was officially too hot and demanded out sometime during the night too.

Honestly, the whole house felt smoking hot.

The air conditioning had finally shut off after running for about five hours straight and had managed to cool things down substantially by around 1 a.m., but I still opened the bedroom window for awhile until the magpies started their early morning nonsense.

There was also a brief little sprinkle of rain around 3 a.m. which, unsurprisingly, amounted to absolutely nothing. I know this because I took Harley out for a pee not long afterward and the ground barely looked damp.

Eventually I gave up trying to sleep and officially started the day around 7.

On the bright side, my knee felt significantly better.

I made my usual coffee and settled in to read my book, seeing the internet was out thanks to a derailed train somewhere in western Canada. Only in rural life does a train derailment somehow affect your Wi-Fi.

S eventually got up later, made his coffee, scrolled his phone for awhile, ate cereal, and headed out before 9:30. He had plans to stop at Premium Ag before spending the day helping at the rodeo grounds work bee.

Meanwhile, I spent the morning painting two little children’s chairs for the upcoming market using two of the newly released paint colours. They turned out adorable.

Harley’s dog food arrived during all of this, though even barking at the delivery had her yelping again, likely from tightening sore muscles. That convinced me to book her a vet appointment for Friday morning just to be safe, though I was still hoping she’d improve before then.

After that I tackled my very last payroll sheets for the paint company and sorted out vendor insurance for the June market — something completely new to me. Thankfully the internet had returned by then so I could actually get things submitted.

Later, I coaxed Harley into walking down the road with me and once she got moving, she seemed more like herself again. Back at the house she happily ate what was basically a late breakfast/early supper combo and enjoyed a frozen treat after a thorough brushing session.

I also reconfigured the garden soaker hoses so the potatoes would finally get watered since they are now fully popping through the soil.

My own lunch was cottage cheese and blueberries while realizing the rodeo work bee had apparently turned into another full-day event. I had secretly been hoping S might bring lunch home.

The day itself stayed warm and muggy around 25 degrees with mostly overcast skies, which somehow made it feel even hotter. The A/C had to go back on, and after finishing computer work I squeezed in a 30-minute Pilates workout just as the sun finally appeared around 3.

Afterward I stretched out on the bed in the sunshine and read my book for awhile — one of the better parts of the day honestly.

S finally called around 4:15 saying they had wrapped up at the rodeo grounds, grabbed Cooper, and were heading home. I went out to move hoses and pull weeds until they rolled into the yard.

Then it officially became cold beer and “learn a new card game” time.

I made pork chops for supper just as hockey started up again. While giving Harley her medication afterward, I double-checked the dosing with Britt and realized I had completely misread the dropper instructions the night before.

In my defence, the measurements and dog weights are not remotely related on the label.

Turns out I had accidentally given Harley the dose for a 25-pound dog instead of a 130-pound dog… which completely explained why it appeared to do absolutely nothing.

Thankfully, once I gave her the correct dose she felt better a while later.

Epic fail on my part, but as Amanda pointed out, at least I dramatically underdosed instead of overdosing her.

The evening settled into a quieter rhythm after that. I read while the vacuum worked away and S disappeared to the basement TV for hockey. B came out to feed, and I helped her mix up fly spray because the bugs are getting terrible already.

Once she and Cooper headed home and hockey finally ended, S and I finished the night with a hot tub soak before watching the newest episode of Dutton Ranch and part of Funny AF before finally calling it a day.

Heat Waves, Hockey & Hobbling Around the Ranch

The morning disappeared quickly with all the usual little tasks and routines filling the hours before I even realized it.

My knee was so unbearably itchy during the night that I finally gave up around 1 a.m. and took a sleeping pill, which thankfully seemed to calm things down enough to let me sleep. Meanwhile, Harley had her own problems going on and yelped three separate times throughout the morning while sleeping on the floor. I checked both front legs carefully for any obvious injury and gently stretched them, but couldn’t seem to pinpoint what was bothering her.

So apparently everyone in this house is falling apart this week.

After lunch, the three of us hobbled our way down to the gate and back to leave out items for two different pickups. Since temperatures were climbing toward 27 degrees, I cut across the winter pasture on the way back to remove Jimmy’s fly sheet before he roasted in it.

While crossing the pasture, I spotted more gophers and alerted S immediately. Naturally, that sent him off in the Ranger to take a few shots while also pulling more henbane plants from the pit area.

A parcel arrived, and I recruited him to help wrestle a duvet into its cover.  Never much help deciding as “It looks OK,” was, of course, his response.

By 3, S headed into town for his doctor’s appointment hoping for some answers about his knee along with an MRI requisition. While he was gone, I tackled accounting finding a pile of receipts S had apparently been “collecting.” I also sorted birthday presents and managed to squeeze in a little online shopping too.

This bird cage would be cute with a baby tears for small vining plant

I was in the middle of repotting another plant when S arrived home with Cooper. He immediately settled into cold beer and laptop mode while also lighting the fire pit to burn the henbane plants he had pulled earlier.

Unfortunately, with the north wind blowing directly toward the house, the burning weeds quickly smoked out the west side of the house, forcing me to close windows despite the heatwave temperatures.

While the fire burned, S took a few more shots at gophers and I headed out to hand water pots and garden seeds.

The garden is finally starting to feel alive now.

The potatoes are up, peas have already been going strong since last week, onions are growing, beets are beginning to peek through, and the transplanted peonies actually seem to be surviving their move surprisingly well.

There is a trending idea to use the last of your jam jar to make a gin and jam, so I tried it!

and it was very tasty!

Supper was easy but delicious — leftovers paired with a fresh homemade salad — before S settled in to watch hockey with only four teams left now.

our ball girl

they incorporate all kinds of sports and movement

Their special after sports tradition

Even balloons need baths

I gave Harley some Metacam for her sore leg and finished writing today’s blog before heading back outside for evening garden chores. Compost got buried, weeds got pulled, the west flower beds got watered, and the fire pit got shuffled around before I finally admitted defeat to the incoming heatwave and turned on the A/C for the first time this year.

It definitely feels like summer has officially arrived. But not for long.

Later, I curled up in bed reading more of One Golden Summer when B stopped in after feeding. She asked if she could borrow the book once I finish since it’s already on her reading list too.

After she headed home, I kept reading long after S came in, scrolled his phone for awhile, and promptly nodded off.

Outside, dark clouds rolled through along with thunder and a little lightning, but once again absolutely no meaningful rain came from it.

BOO.

Ice Packs, Hot Tub & Mercedes Listed

My knee spent the entire night itching like crazy and by morning it was swollen, red, hot, and hard around the bee sting area. Honestly, I suddenly have a whole new respect for beekeepers because one sting is more than enough for me.

Despite my angry knee, another beautiful day was ahead of us.

We had our usual slow start to the morning, though today I tossed the last of the bran muffins into the oven while making first coffee. Nothing better than warm muffins and coffee to start the day.

One of the first jobs on the list was finally posting the car for sale. Unfortunately, I could only find one decent photo at first, so S pulled the car out onto the grass to take a few more. Afterward I used Gemini to edit out the bugs and dirt because apparently vehicle photography benefits from digital detailing too.

The rest of the morning disappeared into cleaning out my car and taking photos of the inside for the sales ad while S washed the floor mats when he pressure washed his truck.

Lunch was sandwiches before S headed out to his rodeo meeting around 12:30.

While he was gone, I repotted Mom K’s planter and pulled out a prayer plant to bring inside into its own pot. By the time S got back around 2, I was outside watering all the planters and garden seeds.

The swelling is down to my finger

Unfortunately, he managed to tweak his knee again just as it had started improving, so the afternoon basically turned into an ongoing exchange of ice packs between the two of us. He spent awhile planted in the big brown chair icing his knee before eventually deciding he needed to assess his weed eater situation — another item he has suddenly decided requires upgrading.

I headed outside to work on pruning and trimming in the island bed while S  took the weed eater into town to see what a repairman thought about fixing it.

The weather shifted around lunchtime with clouds rolling in and the sunshine turning on and off, but I still convinced Harley to come for a walk down to the gate. S was just pulling back into the yard as we made our way home.

At that point it officially felt like cold beer time.

The evening turned into a combination of weed eater research, sore knees, and trying to pretend we are not getting older. Since both of us were hobbling around, we opted for an early hot tub soak which honestly helped a lot.

Afterward I showered while S threw sausages onto the BBQ, and I made salad to go alongside supper.

Then came the robot vacuum drama.

I somehow lost an entire hour trying to troubleshoot why only one mop pad was washing properly. Naturally, S was completely absorbed in hockey while I sat there disassembling, cleaning, and experimenting with different repairs. I’m fairly convinced our salty water has clogged one of the tiny spray holes, though at this point I’m not entirely sure any of my fixes actually worked.

S migrated to the TV for third period while I finished supervising the robot vacuum and made yogurt bowls for us.

B and Cooper came out later to feed and stopped in for a quick visit. Apparently S forgot Cooper both times he went to town today, which honestly feels very on-brand for a man distracted by broken tools, hockey, and sore knees.

Meanwhile, I was perfectly content stretched out in freshly changed sheets watching TV with B and Coop stopping in for a short visit before eventually switching over to reading.

The hockey game dragged into overtime, and afterward S and I attempted to finish Funny AF, but exhaustion won yet again before we made it to the end.

Bareback Lessons, Bee Stings & Tire Trouble

I could hear Aislyn quietly sneaking in and out to visit Mr. Jenkins around 7 while the rest of the house still slept. I stayed curled up in bed editing and sorting through the many riding photos from yesterday — so many photos and even more hilarious facial expressions.

Eventually Ais wandered in to quietly chat, pet the dogs, and help me laugh over some of the pictures while S continued sleeping. She also popped back out to give J some dry food.

The two of us finally headed to the kitchen for breakfast where I made coffee while she happily settled for cereal and a banana. Ada joined us not long after, also opting for cereal sans banana, while S eventually wandered in bringing up the rear choosing only coffee.

The morning stayed relaxed as we looked through riding photos and laughed at funny faces before S showered and headed off to church with the girls.

While they were gone, I caught up on tutorial sharing, started tackling blog catch-up, and squeezed in my weight workout since I had skipped it yesterday. Naturally, both dogs supervised the entire thing very seriously.

I was in the middle of watering houseplants when the church crew returned just before noon carrying hot dogs and buns. The girls immediately were back into art mode while S cooked wieners for lunch.

Riding Lessons, Watermelon & a Candlelight Concert

I heard Aislyn awake just after 6, though she quietly stayed in her room while I lay there mentally running through every random thought imaginable. My brain decided it was the perfect time to remember I had forgotten the “greenhouse effect” step for my rubber tree propagation project, brainstorm savings ideas for Renn, and reorganize half my mental to-do list before the day had even started.

By the time I was cleaning up my contact list on my phone, Ais wandered in after 7 to quietly pet the dogs and chat for awhile before we officially started the day.

The two of us headed to the kitchen after 8 to make breakfast and coffee. Eventually S joined us, followed by Ada, while the hot tub drained outside and S settled into his usual “internet browsing in the big brown chair” routine. Meanwhile, the girls took over hair styling duties while I tackled a few computer tasks, including posting a few more items to purge.

Eventually the sunshine became impossible to ignore.

And what a day it was — warm, sunny, and finally no wind.

Outside, S worked on rinsing and wiping down the hot tub while I dove into gardening projects. Aislyn happily floated between helping with plants, cleanup, and basically every job happening outside. My new pruners officially got their first real workout and worked beautifully.

Peonies, Pizza & a House Full of Girls

I started the morning by making coffee for the prince and delivering it right to bed. We had our usual slow start with a couple cups while I published a blog post and shared some tutorials. Meanwhile, S tossed spa products into the hot tub for its 24-hour clean cycle and loaded the water tote onto the truck for a town run later. I clear coated the strawberry rocks Aislyn painted for me.

By late morning I was off to my hair appointment. Blond may be fun, but the upkeep is simply not for this girl, so after two hours in the salon I officially returned to the dark side.

A Good Day for Gardening & Horseback Rides

A beautiful day was waiting for us when we woke up, and after our usual slow start — coffee, catching up, and pushing all the planters back outside after 7:30 — it was impossible not to head outdoors early.

The sunshine was too good to waste.

We started the morning weeding around the little evergreens and digging fertilizer spikes into the ground then S tackled finally hanging up his antler project in the garage. Of course, hanging one thing somehow turned into rearranging half the garage first just to reach the wall properly with a good sweep too.

Then, I potted up the rubber plant cuttings after letting them callous overnight. Fingers crossed they root with this method.

Around lunch I made us something to eat and S joined me for a quick break before we both headed back outside.

Windy Weather, Flying Glass & Online Shopping Decisions

The morning started off deceptively beautiful — sunny, calm, and perfect for lingering in bed with coffee. S and I slowly woke up while catching up on the last few days and talking through plans for the day. Unfortunately, while we sat there cozy and relaxed, the wind slowly started creeping in exactly like the forecast promised.

And once Alberta wind decides to arrive… it commits.

Lilac Battles, Tiny Rainfalls & A Mango Boba Reward

Hello 7:30 wakeup. Coffee was immediately required, and while sipping it I finished up and published Sunday’s blog before heading outside to enjoy what felt like the nicest weather we’ve had in awhile.

Sunny, calm, and around 14 degrees? Basically a gift this spring.

I decided to tackle the lilacs and quickly remembered why mature lilac bushes are both beautiful and slightly evil. An hour and a half later, I had only finished trimming spent seed pods and dead branches off about three quarters of them. Every single year I wonder why nobody warned me about the level of maintenance involved before I enthusiastically planted all these bushes.

Eventually I traded pruning shears for a town trip.

Chilly Sunshine, Garden Dirt & A Quiet Night In

Even without little miss beside me, I was awake by 7:15. The house was quiet, the morning was freezing, and overnight temperatures had dropped to just 1 degree. Definitely not the spring warmth we keep hoping for around here.

I did a little Instagram scrolling before heading out to make coffee — one for me and one for S. Both sipping coffee and doing our morning social media peruse while trying to fully wake up.

With coffee number two in hand, I finally got my jewelry armoire tutorial posted having to wait for paint color release day. That felt good to finally check off the list. After that I worked away on Saturday’s blog post while bouncing between the computer, watering plants, and dragging planters around the yard trying to chase the sunshine.

Meanwhile, S packed up a few things, I made him a snack pack, he fuelled the truck up, and headed out after 10:30. His main destination was fencing at the bison place, though he was debating taking the Medicine Hat route first to pick up tractor parts and drop off a belated Mother’s Day gift. Unfortunately, their building is apparently in lockdown again thanks to yet another virus making the rounds.

Outside, I decided it was finally time to trust the internet gardening experts and get some herbs planted. The thyme and oregano officially went into the raised bed after reading they can survive as perennials in Zone 3 and tolerate cooler temperatures — basically the exact description of May in Alberta this year.

While I was at it, I planted carrots, beets, and another zucchini hill, plus dug out what felt like approximately one million weeds in the in ground garden.

After a quick lunch of leftover Chinese food, I headed back outside to mow the west-side jungle disguised as grass. Mowing also chopped up the massive pile of weeds I had tossed around earlier, which is when I fully experienced the “on-and-off mowing situation” S had warned me about.

What an absolute pain.

Every few minutes the mower would cut out thanks to the overly sensitive seat trigger. Apparently our options are either gaining 100 pounds each or hot-wiring the thing like S suggested. By the end, the yard looked… improved-ish. Patchy perhaps, but still significantly less shaggy than before.

The weather at least cooperated for most of the mowing. The sun stayed out until mid-afternoon before dark clouds rolled in from the west bringing colder wind and that unmistakable “you should probably go inside now” feeling. Once indoors, I finally chopped my nails short because gardening season and long nails simply do not belong together. A smattering of rain hit the window and was gone.

Wicked west and Ruby is starting to bloom :)

An hour later the weather calmed down again and the sun reappeared, though the wind stuck around. Somewhere in the middle of all that I was also chatting with Apple support about an annoying battery issue when B and Coop arrived.

After she ate her burger, we headed out to catch horses and went for about an hour-long ride. The evening sunshine mixed with the cool wind actually made for pretty perfect riding weather.

Back at the barn, B trimmed Roo and fed while I took care of Har before finally heading inside around 5:30 for a cold beer. Soon after, she and Cooper packed up and headed home. My supper? Leftover paw patrol noodles :)

I briefly considered using the hot tub, but without Sheldon’s app the thing refuses to start. We did get a new monitor for it last week, but it still hasn’t been installed yet. So instead, I settled for a long bath while watching an episode of Home.

He text he finished his mowing all the grass at the Carry farm and bison fencing assement day and was staying at Mom's for the night and just finished watching the Montreal Canadians win there division in over time.

After drying my hair, I crawled into bed right in that perfect golden evening light and started a new series called It’s Not Like That with a yogurt bowl. It turned out to be one of those unexpectedly cute shows that quietly hooks you in because somehow four episodes disappeared before I finally turned the lights out at midnight

Frosty Morning Snuggles & Birthday Wishes

Happiest of birthdays to our sweet Ada who officially became a teenager today — 13! Hard to believe. She spent the weekend soaking up some one-on-one time with her mom at a baseball tournament in Red Deer, which honestly sounds like the perfect birthday weekend for her. Hope she had the very best day!

Back at the ranch, little miss made her way upstairs right at midnight. I went down to grab her water and realized she had stopped to use the bathroom all by herself on the way up — even if she did leave the light on behind her. Such a big girl moment. She snuggled in tight beside me and drifted right back to sleep until stirring again shortly after 6. Thankfully, extra cuddles bought us all a little more sleep until nearly 7:30.

The second Renn realized Aislyn was awake too, the excitement level in the house instantly jumped to full volume.

I quickly tossed the bran muffins in the oven while S inhaled his cereal before racing out the door just after 8 with coffee in a travel mug. The muffins were worth the wait though, especially according to Renn who proudly polished off three mini muffins herself.

primary color sorting muffins

Aislyn decided she absolutely was not ready for the playdate to end and happily stayed here instead of heading into the city with her dad before 9:30 for baseball. We worked out a later ride with Nathan when he came to pick up Renn, which felt like a major win for the girls.

Outside, it felt more like fall than spring. It was literally freezing (0 degrees) when I woke up and despite the sun trying its best, the temperature only crawled its way to 9 degrees. The girls, however, were completely unbothered by the weather and fully committed to play mode all morning.

Check out Renn's dinosaur teeth and her marker grip :)

At one point they even ventured outside to retrieve poor Mr. Jenkins.

Honestly, Jenkins may be the most patient cat alive. Today he endured a full “vet spa day” complete with endless carrying around, pretend checkups, haircuts and brushing. Renn also decided to channel her inner Auntie Manda and opened up a hair salon somewhere in the middle of all the kitchen chaos.

B stopped by around noon to drop Cooper off, say a quick hello, and grab a few muffins before heading into the city for an appointment with Kaylin who is back to work today. Too bad we didn’t have an extra car seat here because the girls could easily have caught a ride into the city with either Auntie B or earlier with Craig.

Before Nathan arrived, I loaded the girls up with noodles and watermelon. He pulled in just before 1, and within minutes the excited duo had packed themselves up and disappeared down the driveway, leaving behind sudden and very noticeable silence.

<3 Thank you Boysis family for this lovely Mother's Day gift, all things I love!! <3

With the house quiet again, I settled into catch-up mode. Blogs, photos, videos — all uploaded and organized — and Friday’s post finally went live before I tackled the rest.

Later, I squeezed in a 30-minute Pilates/Tai Chi workout before taking the dogs for a walk. The weather remained completely unfriendly with cold wind and a high of only 11. Once back home, I set up the soaker hoses for both the raised beds and the in-ground garden, hand-watered the pots and seedlings, did a quick poop loop with the dogs, and then headed back inside to feed them.

I was in the middle of tidying up and setting the robot vacuum loose when B arrived again just before 5 after feeding her ponies. She headed home with Cooper around 5:30, and not long after that Sheldon rolled in, finished with his rodeo volunteer weekend and picking up Chinese food for supper — definitely appreciated timing.

After supper we climbed into the hot tub where the sun finally decided to appear… for approximately six whole minutes before disappearing again.

We ended the night curled up on the couch with bowls of ice cream while finishing season one of The Madison. Definitely recommend this one — especially for the gorgeous scenery alone.