Switch comes home ;)

Exciting Monday ahead, picking up Miss Switch from schooling and riding lessons ;) this is good since on a slight downer from the whirlwind paint projects that resulted in hours of work with little results. Today will be for the ranch. It started with lawn mowing but in order to do that it took about an hour of dog poop picking, bone & collection, found tools and a pile of other things littering the grass. Once all up it was time to get mowing. Mid way thru a fellow stopped for his pieces, a short visit and back on the mower.

The grade 12'ers arrived for spare Monday bearing a double peppered bacon burger, THANKS Grady! I visited a bit with them then finished mowing and started tree trimming and more poop picking. Did I say it was a great day? well the weather is hitting 20 and all sunshine. They took the quad for a cruise to the old house then headed back to school at 1:30. Flowerbed watering and yard care was majority of my day so far but hooking up the trailer took longer today. I so dislike the hidden hitch system.. grrr. today was inching back and forth with lots of colorful words.

Britt was to be home RIGHT after school so we could head out to get Switch before lessons. However she dropped items of for Shaina who was selling online and was late. I had the horses loaded and flogged her to get in. Next delay was following a trucker who seemed to be nodding off going into shoulder lane then across the center line and from 110 to 80 km/hr. Once we finally got passed him we were to turn off towards Okotoks but police had it blocked for perhaps an accident? we rerouted via High River but down that road a truck coming towards us had a mattress and huge couch cushion fly out of the back bounce all over but roll back to that side..holy crap.

Now we are safely at the destination of pony boot camp where Kenny the trainer jumped on to demonstrate all she learned. She side passes, walks, trots, lopes both ways, crosses tarps while doing so and has a stop that covered B and I in wet sand/poop lol. Well done Box M trainer Kendall Miller. Now it is time for the girl to come home and get summer off to grow out her feet after putting on about 150 miles in her 6 weeks there. She crosses creeks like walking thru sand, works cows still with a bit of trepidation but Kenny says they make the best cow horses and covered all kinds of terrain the rocky mountains has. He sees a bright future ahead for this smart little pony.

Kendall is a chatty vibrant fellow who is easy to visit with and pass time with stories and by the time we loaded her up with the other 2 it was just after 6.. oh no, we are to be at lessons in 15 minutes to tack up for our 6:30 slot and it is a 45 minute drive yet! Needless to say we were late but did a flash tack up and joined in cold to the already well underway lesson. It was another gorgeous night for a lesson. Britt went back after it ended at 8 and rode in a halter to try and get the things she was not getting during class time and did beautifully. I along with Hawk and Switch watched her. Once done we measured Switch who is 15 hands and Bird who is 16.1, visited with Jac and Shelby a bit before loading up and heading for home.

We fed the horses hay and feed as the 2 skinny girls are with bone rack Ju and can use some treats. We moved the trees back inside just in case, fed all dogs too who were starved now that it is 10 pm then went in and had a sandwich ourselves.. few what a crazy day Did someone say it is full moon? May the 4th be with you all! ;)

mini trade show ladies tea

Praise the Lord, on this glorious Sunday, Lola was quiet for most of the night, I however woke to check time every hour after 5:30 but not due to hear chatter. The sun was shining and not much wind, great way to start the busy day. Britt was off to work for 10. I lazed around not getting out of bed till 9:30 then dilly dallyed with coffee and pondering the days plans.  However once it came time to get ready I was besought with what to wear! comfy yet professional.. ok leggings and a pretty new top ;) but it was second guessed until Amanda arrived.

In the meantime, I realized it was 11 and I had not even packed the truck, holy cow batman.. jenga skills came in handy and I even managed to leave room in the front seat for Amanda, thankfully her jumbo tub could safely ride in the back with bigger furniture pieces. Hair and makeup were also a challenge but eventually it was what it was when she arrived just before noon with a hot chai, THANK YOU!

We were off to the venue and began our unloading and setting up. The event opened its doors around 1:30 with 160 ladies there. Sadly it was not a big sales day for either of us. I did manage to find something to buy at most of the other vendors, leggings, dips, salsa, necklaces, even tried body sugaring. Highlight was my favorite pie with fruit and flowers. The Caresland ladies are the last existing ladies club in Canada I believe and they did a great job setting up their ladies tea, our table cost was worth the donation to a great cause. But now the downside, repack, reload, haul home, haul inside (thanks AJ for your help) then haul all downstairs to the "store"age room.. whew and Shaina thinks I need to go to the gym!

my favorite pie.. flapper

Britt was home when we arrived so we enjoyed a cold Mike's hard and had a great visit sitting in the sunshine filled kitchen. Manda headed home to meet the family after her 2 days home alone preparing for the big show. Britt had a nap as I hauled it all down then updated my face book page and inventory list which that portion did not take long of course lol Eventually I forced her awake for fear of not sleeping tonight (both B & Lola) and had her walk the dogs, good job B! Time for some actual food even though 8 pm and leftover spaghetti then work on photos and the blog.

forgot to share this earlier in the week, time to pick up this young lady tomorrow ;)

ditch cleaning day

Well well, another long night with very little sleep. I thought Lola may have got the message but it seems not, last night was every half hour just enough to wake me as I fell asleep but when I blew a gasket at 4 and finally now she was quiet, I could NOT get back to sleep. The last time I saw a clock was 5:40 then woke at 7:30 out of habit, back to sleep till 9 so maybe 3 hours max?? Makes one irritable for sure. To top it off it is an overcast WINDY day!

on the good side the royal princess was born this morning ;)

Shaina was worried she might be getting sick as Kaylin was very ill and sure enough she only worked 2 hours last night and went home sick. She has to work tonight so wanted to get sleep so bailed on ditch cleaning promising to clean our tree area this week.. it it written now Shaina so proof ;) I finally got moving, grabbed snacks, warm coats/hats, made tea, fed the dogs and was off to pick up Britt from her sleepover. The dad was fairly chatty but eventually we got on the road to our designated ditch. In an hour we were done and on our way to Costco.

A quick trip thru the drive thru to get a new favorite peppered bacon burger at A&W and onto Costco. We chose 5 new trees then loaded up on some supplies and headed home dropping Britt at her car. By now it was after 3, I worked on my display board , cutting out biz cards and price tags all while watching the Kentucky Derby. Then it was on to waxing the stained rulers and coffee sign after it was sanded to look old.

safely stored for now

 sign before

and after.. paint new to make look old ;)

 waxing process and the 2 buttermilk boards

Britt's girlfriends arrived to take her to the city for a belated birthday supper. The night ended up being sunny and calmer as they left so I ventured out to take the dogs for a walk, hoping to tire one out so she sleeps tonight and I can get some well needed deep sleep. We checked all horses and watered the small evergreen trees I planted and decided where to plant my new trees before coming inside. Time to top coat and age the white ruler. I love when pieces are in final stages and you see the results of your work!

look at these 2 unplanned twins!

It is now 9, a hot bath is in order then should go to bed now while she is lazing hahaha. Big day tomorrow with the tea & trade show ;) Britt and friends popped home just before 10 to grab suits and off to hot tub at Grady's back home before midnight. What good girls and friends to birthday B!

May 1

Oh my it is May 1st already, yikes 2 days till tea/trade show with a ditch cleaning in between! Now the night was a bit chaos with Lola have a long barking session. I research these dogs and find they are genetically imprinted to protect usually via barking to dissuade the intruder/threat. She has had most good nights but some are crazy and the common factor is when D is out, I think she feels she is protecting him so either I put him in the garage (his favorite) or last night tried eat plugs hoping she could work thru him spending nights outside (last night was his first this year). This did not work but the pennies in a can shook 3 times nearly scared her out of her wits, she eventually left to bark./patrol away from the house a bit then back to outside my window where praise had her laying calmly. Lets see if this conversation works tonight. I then took a sleeping pill and was out till morning, even going back to sleep after Britt was off till 9:30.

Slow groggy start needs coffee, and some bills missed to pay. The magazine rack got a bit of tweaking. I was staining another coat on the wood rulers in my housecoat when Britt came home for spare. She got busy cleaning my bathroom, vacuuming and folding laundry, made us pizza for lunch before heading back, what a girl ;) Shaina was out after an acupuncture appointment ready to ride. Sam stopped for her sign and to drop off my kids rocking chair score she picked up for me, THANKS SAMMY!

I quickly trimmed Hawk's front feet before Shaina and I went for a ride. She waited for eggs to arrive before heading back to the city to work tonight. The next hour was spent on the phone with Bell correcting the bill yet again, how painful!  Time to hammer on the freshly painted toe caps on coffee table, dark wax crevices on the chair and bring all in to stage.

Next on the project line, I got started on hand painting the white growth ruler. only 1 minor glitch when beer/clam spilt in the middle of my fresh painted #4! Hazard of drinking on the job my smarty pants sister quipped ;), next I really hand painted, free hand to be exact a Hot & Fresh Coffee 25c sign I hoped to have done to stage the coffee bar but... better late than never they say.

By now Britt was home from work finishing at 7. Jessica and her parents stopped to pick up the repaired and ready to roll antique desk, finally going to her apartment!

B got ready to head to the ball party that moved to a friends due to the nasty wind that blew in this afternoon ;( but before going she mixed up food and fed Bird and Julio while I took Pepper in to trim his front feet. Dr Ty asked who trimmed, I was like me, he said well awesome job, his angles look great and heels pulled back and low, well done but if you want shorten his toe a bit more to give faster/easier break over even more to help take any pressure off his foot. This I can do. After she headed out after 8, I painted the last 2 growth rulers, finishing all 3 painted so far!

Britt is going to stay at Kyra's (the DD) tonight and I will get her on way to ditch cleaning in the morning, Shaina will meet us too to get it done.

finally got a picture of the tack room sprayed wall all finished from Monday