Tropical 26 day

I woke up at 5:40 with a start because I couldn’t hear the “dryer” sound machine noise over the monitor. It seemed I had logged out, so I found my glasses, typed in the password, and was back in. Now, I had to fall asleep again, which I eventually did. I woke up at my usual 7:30, but little miss didn’t wake up a peep until she coughed at 7:45. She continued to doze with occasional coughs or babbles until she stirred more at 8:30. Meanwhile, Sheldon made coffee and fed the cats, and then I made my coffee. He did his Spanish while I relaxed with my coffee, waiting for Renny to wake up. Finally, I went downstairs and got her so Sheldon could see her before he jetted off to the work bee day at the rodeo grounds.

Doogie Howser MD in the house .. or maybe she is a vet :)

I am guessing this song is now considered racist

She started out pretty somber and snuggly after some breakfast. We moved into playing doctor and other imaginative games before heading outside. well not before Jay got his loving. We enjoyed a bit of time on the deck with the ride on car then came back in for lunch.

high 5 Harley

When the tired little girl was put down for her nap before 1 p.m., I took advantage of the full-on sunshine to start laundry. Since we’re back on the solar marketing plan, the boss encourages us to use power when the sun is shining to essentially harness solar energy. I then got to work on yesterday’s blog and published it. Britt and Cooper were out around 1:30 p.m., and our first order was a ride in the 25-degree sunshine. She then moved on to bathing each horse. The wind started to pick up now.

I woke little miss after she had slept 3 hours! She was in such a smily mood when I got her out. We ventured out to see the horse bathing and auntie B. 

I did some raking of the dirt piles while R helped B put things away. She and I then came in to have her supper - alphagetti, fruit and cheese of course.

B finished up feeding then she and Cooper set off for home around 6:30 starving and seeing I had nothing ready to eat. I put the ribs and potatoes in the instant pot as I too am peckish. Renn had a very short bath as not in the mood with a sore tummy still. We did snuggle again prior too with about 10 minutes of Minnie Mouse on TV, the only screen time we had since she arrived. I actually started eating then while she played.

S was home at 8 after his long day of rodeo volunteer work, dirty and hungry. Luckily the supper was ready and milk was cold (he had cold beer at work bee). We then played multiple round of hide and seek and other toys before I put Renn down for the night after 9. S had showered and was watching hockey of course. We did head to bed and watched more of the series we started. The wind kicksd up even more.

Miss fix it in the city

Summer has arrived

I woke up after 7 a.m. and soon, tiny steps echoed through the house. Cooper jumped up into bed, a bit surprised to find Lexi there. She sniffed him and then went back to napping. Eventually, I brewed coffee for us, and S fed the cats and Har.  We spent some time scrolling through our social media feeds and practicing some Spanish to start our super sunny day. They’re predicting 24 degrees today!

Shaina surprised Renn with her visit. Renn will be dropped off later today for the weekend while the city folks go to a concert and relax.

Shaina surprising Renn after she woke up

S headed over to Matt’s for another project he’s been assigned to at 10 a.m. While I worked on listing the nightstand for sale on all the sale sites. I then headed to the garage and continued sanding the drawer fronts and dresser top.

It was 24 degrees at noon. S returned for lunch at 12:30 p.m., and we enjoyed borscht, thanks, Ma K! I returned to the dresser, repairing and gluing the lifted veneer on one side. S took a short break before heading out to mow the lawn. I ventured out to clear the grass, including old bones and poop.

This is nap time at Renn's new school, you can see most are awake and moving around but one little guy is sleeping.

But not long and all are sleeping on their little mats

Lordy, it’s hot out there! I was working on pulling dead foliage when I got the call back for our internet. Yes, issues once again! They sent an invoice now charging for the “free” router. This took an hour of my time to go through different people, but the last one solved it no problem and got it fixed in about 10 minutes. I headed back out with a cold drink and stopped the mower.

3 amigos

He set off down the lane while I continued the front flower bed and ornamental grasses. When he was back a short time later, he jumped into the truck and ran for the mail as I had moved on to the lilac trees. Then, he decided he would run to town for more parts for Matt’s work at 3:30. I continued doing about 1/3 of the lilac row. In my next life, I will never plant those high-maintenance bushes that only bloom for a short time.

I was heated out, I fed the dogs and mixed up horse feed. After the three horses ate their tubs, I left Bird to eat hers in the house paddock and came in for an iced coffee. I then went back out to release her. It’s now 25 degrees outside, so I’m catching up on today’s blog while waiting for Renn and S to return with Chinese food.

S was back just before 5:30 p.m. We were just starting to eat when Renn and Nathan arrived about 10 minutes later. He set up Bird’s crib, shared some of his house repair issues, and then packed up Lexi to head back to the city. For the next couple of hours, Renn was on full steam ahead. She found the tall reeds made the perfect wands, put on her shoes multiple times to go find kitty, pulled out all her favourite toys, ate half a can of her favourite alphabet spaghetti with a side of strawberries and blackberries, had a bath, and chatted the whole time.

She's a winker

all clean and getting in a bit more farm play and snacks before bed

Sheldon had run to Matt’s again after supper with the new parts, only to find them wrong. When he returned and began loading up the skid steer, Renn and I watched his skills backing the trailer. Stories and songs filled the air, and she was off to bed before 8:30. She chatted a bit to herself before falling asleep shortly after. S and I started a new series, but Sheldon was asleep after 1, so I watched a cooking special.

May 1 already

The sun shone brightly on my 7:45 wakeup, promising a glorious day ahead. It was another day of the same routine. I spent the morning marketing, including publishing the maple coffee table tutorial. I shared it with our sponsors and posted it on relevant sites to gain traction. Then, I headed to work on the nightstand, sanding, wiping, and prepping it for a clear coat.

Finally kennel buddies

Meanwhile, S went out to empty the dump trailer at the pit and dealt with the fireball battery. After having an early lunch at 11, he studied Spanish before jetting off to town for an early hockey shinny at 12:30. He’s also going to pick up a dresser for me, Cooper for B, and a few groceries.

I cleared-coated the nightstand and sprayed the hardware black. Again as after cleaning the original gold finish showed in a few areas.

Earlier, I had scraped and sanded the dresser drawers inside, but I now applied stripper to the drawer fronts and the dresser top. While all these projects were in progress, I came in at 1 p.m. to make an iced coffee, update my blog, and spreadsheets. I then went back out to check on the stripper, applied another clear coat, and returned to grab a cheese string and orange for my late lunch. I got S's laundry going as it was a mountain pile.

Back at work, I scraped the stripper off and scrubbed the dresser pieces, hauled them outside to dry in the 20-degree sunshine, and continued working on the projects.

The nightstand now has hardware put on the drawers, and the drawers were hydrated with a salve both inside and out, and it’s complete!

S returned around 5 p.m. with a large load of groceries, Cooper, Amazon parcels from the gate (including Lexi’s food and furniture casters to make moving easier), and a dresser. However, this was a significant disappointment. The dresser had poor chipboard construction with peel-and-stick faux wood, missing the backboard, and loose drawer boxes. S also scratched the truck box while loading it. ;(

It was time for a refreshing drink on the deck, but the breeze was too strong. So, I went down and pulled grass around the hot tub and in the raised beds. I then went in, I made supper while S continued on the deck doing Duolingo.

These 2 Face-timed while out for a snack

After spaghetti supper, it was basement plant care before I asked S to help me haul the black coffee table downstairs during the intermission of the hickey game. Then, I hauled in the nightstand and staged it up. Then it was upstairs plant care.

B was out at her usual 7:30 ish and asked if I wanted to ride with her. I asked S if he wanted to join us, and sure enough, as we were catching up, he moseyed out too. A fox was right behind the horses, but he wasn’t too scared until Cooper put him on the run. B caught Beibs, and we all tacked up. It was a lovely night to ride, and even though B thought there were lots of bugs, the breeze seemed to keep most at bay.

see the fox?

Beibs first ride of the year

Bird joining conditioning training by self ponying 

Looks like B is riding bridleless :)

Harry made it all around too

After we untacked and fed the horses, B gave them their four-way vaccines for the year. They were released back into the ever-greening field. B opened the winter pasture gate on her way out, but S shut it this morning after being at the pit. S and I hit the hot tub during a hockey break. It was surprising he went riding during the playoffs! He was back in front of the TV folding more clothes I had washed up today while I showered, then caught up on the blog. I shut it down at 10:30 and headed to bed to read while S continued his playoff viewing. He then joined me in bed to read for a while too. Shaina arrives around 11 o'clock for a concert weekend with the city kids.