Day 157 - lighting day!

Day 157 started out lovely and by noon was horridly windy. Everywhere dirt was flying and the sky was full of dust. At 12:30 Sheldon came in, stopped at ranch to get utility trailer stopping to test the septic field pump in the terrible winds. Rick was working on finishing installation and back filling today and the finisher fellows were busy in the house.

then we headed to Cowtown. First stop was Eecol for yet another supply of stuff however they shipped it to the wrong location!!!

Next was a dr appt for me where Sheldon chatted up a paving supervisor where he found out we should use recycled asphalt for our driveway, this has his interest quite peaked. I suggested we finish the house first ;-) It was then off to another Eecol location to pick up the order (this batch held 3 garage light fixtures and bulbs and a small roll of wire for over $600).

Stop #4 was Motion Chiropractic where Dr Marcie made Sheldon cry ( he says he didn't really but I saw the tear stains) She said he needs to wait until the ribs heal before coming back but did manage to realign the tailbone again.

Signature lighting was next destination but not much luck. Volvo rentals was GPS destination 6 where the trencher was loaded up and once battened down we made a trail to South Center to buy a gift for Kaylin's upcoming 20th birthday Sunday. By now we were starving so stopped at Ruby Thai Kitchen for a super delicious meal. Two thumbs up!!

Home Depot took up the next couple hours checking cabinets for laundry room

and finding the halo trim kits we need and light bulbs. Lets just say it might be cheaper to roll beeswax candles... we bought 37 bulbs including 1 LED which last for 25 years but cost $45 and we need 9 more LED and more  andCFL and 24 trim kits. We bought all they had and need 16 more! so when just the partial order came to over $750 I was shocked to find out just the pot lighting in your home can cost you a small fortune!

this was full across the back seat..
A quick stop at Lowes proved fruitless as they did not have any LED bulbs but they did have a trim kit that may work but now we are unsure so need to check with the electrician. They did have prebuilt cupboards with corner cabinets though

By now it was 9 pm and the stress of lighting purchases found us driving to Starbucks for the time limited pumpkin latte!

A quick stop at the ranch to unload the trencher and back to town for a cold beer, blog and bed! Tomorrow is another day!

Day 156 - spray the weeds night

Day 156 started a bit dreary but by noon was sunny though windy. There was a smattering of rain around ten but only enough to make cars look spotty after. After work I stocked the grocery shelves and created a yummy halibut cream chowder. Once Britt made it home from watching the school volleyball game and ate, we swapped vehicles with Shaina at work and headed to the ranch, but not before picking up lucky number 3 for me chai tea!
The finishing fellows had

 started putting up trim

 closer details

 the support leg details on island

crown molding added to bathroom cabinets
Britt got busy with another challenge, learning how to move and stack bales

 some quick instructions..

 and off she goes

returning quickly with her first bale
Sheldon's project was the spraying process since the wind finally died down

 hooking it up

 filling the flat tires

 and off he goes

working many passes to rid the tree area of the hardy alfalfa and sneaky buckwheat
I took some update photos

 as I trimmed some of my potted trees

 fed the ponies the last of the apples

 and checked out the cement job Sheldon did late into the night last night

soon it will be put together and working... but I requested that unsafe pipe cut off, still under review by the cement master!

 Rick installed the field lines

 all was inspected and during the test he said the water sprayed at least ten feet in the air, he was very impressed with our choice of pump, he even started to back fill

my legs grew a ton in the sun!
Britt and I took Beck and Hawk out for a lovely sunset ride at 7:15 arriving back at 8 to load up and head back to the town house. Shower, survivor, blogging and a cold paralyzer!! Britt whipped up some almond roca bars! yummy!

Day 155 - HD returns & concrete work on horse waterer

Day 155, another beauty day, 22 with a warm breeze. Work and school followed by a very long wait for the bell guy to arrive. While I waited at the house doing accounting and reading a ton of blogs I am behind on, Shaina ran to the store to pickup the pre mixed cement bags for Sheldon's evening plan. She then got dropped off for a massage planning to walk to the Ag grounds after to meet for riding lessons.

They give the window of 12-5 and finally the near non speaking English technician arrives at 4:55 pm! He could not go on the roof as per company policy so Sheldon went up and hooked up a few things, finally he shimmied up and connected another piece needed. Very entertaining as i think fear of heights were more pertinent than company policy! However he did get it back up and running by 5:55! We literally had to push him out the door and get on the road to the ranch to catch horses and get back to town for 4-H riding lessons. This did not go quite as planned of course but finally at 6:30 Britt and I raced back to town for the 6:30 lesson!

Sheldon stayed at the ranch with the goal of mixing concrete and setting up the horse automatic waterer. Rick was there working on the septic tank, then filling it with water and plans to finish the field tomorrow for inspection.

 The finishing boys picked up the french doors and sinks and worked on prepping for putting up baseboards and casing.

 under mount bathroom sinks

 hammering around window casings to make flush

 french doors

 windows from a distance

Back at lessons the girls rode patterns etc and finally finished at 8pm as the sun went down. We dropped Shaina at the closest intersection so she could walk to town house to work on a project with a school friend. Back to the ranch, drop off horses and trailer, we found Sheldon finishing up his first trowel with lights via his quad.

He drove us to town, chugged a beer and then ran back out at 9 to check the setting rate of the concrete and do the finishing trowel.

Day 154 - back to work week

 Day 154 - back to school and work day! I picked up tea for the work girls after dropping girls at school.

After work, we had an early supper of family favorite... tacos! Shaina and Cassidy headed out to catch horses to ride, we followed soon after stopping for our chai tea and an ice cap for the B getting out there at about 5:30.

All 3 girls rode while Sheldon and I loaded pallets, then ran to our good neighbors, Stout Imports and Acreage Implements to pick up a load of useful tools such as cement wheel barrow with trowels, weed sprayer, 4 new tires for the Buick and even a bonus block of cement for one of our many holes. No one worked at the ranch today as the painter forgot to mention that to start he needed all the baseboards and casement up! Hmm another lesson learned on our part.

 just a snap with good camera of the bathroom details

 my laundry room lino and below makes me chuckle, these boys are tidy!

Once back at the ranch we started loading rocks onto a pallet, wood onto another, extra rafters onto the skid steer while Britt moved them around. Although the temperature was 24 today, we do anticipate winter will surprise us so we need to clear all piles around the yard so no skidoo manages to finds them. Also by the end of the week Rick hopes to have the septic field finished and the inspector out to do his job then we can back fill. Sheldon then has grand plans to get the gravel put around the loop. Amazingly the time flies by when you are busy sorting stuff and trying to make pretty. But by 8 it was dark so we shut it down after trying to move the huge rail pile with little luck in the dark.

Off to Tims to meet Grama and Papa who just got home from their NYC trip. Yummy chai #3 for me today (however I did want to try the new pumpkin tea but they did not have it at the south one!) We had a nice hour visit hearing of their adventures in the city that never sleeps. Nine o'clock and they headed east to the hat and us home to shower, laundry, blog, homework and TV.

Day 153 - Cirque De Soliel Ovo!

Day 153 was another lovely day. Sheldon and I got our chai tea from Tims and headed to totem to show him the french doors for office an pantry at 9:30. Back to the town house at 10:15 I made brunch for us, Kaylin and Rachel. We ventured to the city at 11:30 to meet my dear friend Lori who was joining us for Cirque De Soliel Ovo at 12:15. It was a very good show, in keeping to the all Cirque shows. We have been fortunate enough to see Allegria, Corteo, Kooza, Cavalia and now Ovo! It is amazing how each can have so many interesting yet different entertainment acts.

Once out we found the temperature was up to 28 but the wind was crazy. The girls then voted for some shopping therapy so next stop was Chinook where every girl did some damage and came out with a few bags. I had to snap a few suggestive photos for Amanda at Bliss cupcakes.

A quick stop at the ranch on the way home to get a charger for Amanda's jeep battery and tend to Julio's most recent wound.

We dropped Kaylin off at her apartment then Sheldon hooked the charger up to AJ jeep. In exchange we got another cupcake.. YUMMY. Then home for supper, laundry and some new TV programming.

Day 152 - 32 degrees september 24th!

what a fantastic day 152 is. Up early for a Saturday Sheldon and I headed of to Tims for our tea and to the bank to make a deposit, we finally rousted the girls and got on the road to the ranch at 9:30 AM. At the ranch we found the cabinet boys at work as well as Rick doing some tweaking to an area we need to fill so we can cross thru the yard rather than the multiple trips of the hay field since the septic field has ripped up the yard.
Britt checked the water for horses while Shaina took the skid steer to water the planters at the main gate. Sheldon and I met with Dustin and fine tuned more details

 this is the stair detail

 we hooked up the dump trailer and ventured to the Caresland recycling, on the way we encountered a few fires in the ditch caused by a fellow pulling a trailer that came unhitched and the sparks caught the dry ditch grass

 here is the bigger of the two fires where Sheldon and 2 other Samaritans worked on putting it out

Arriving at 11:45, it took 1/2 hour again to hand bomb the drywall, boxes, wood pieces etc out

and then we were allowed to dump the random little trash pieces, Here Shaina runs the controls while Sheldon get the last of the corner stickies

 the heat (31 degrees then) and the work caused a need to stop at the Carseland establishments to grab a slurpie and a smokie, Sheldon enjoys his loaded!

 Back at the ranch he worked on filling the new crossing area, finishers finished up for the rest of the w/e

 while I trimmed KD's feet, Britt had some wounds she was caring for on Jessie

 the the new girls enjoyed some grass

 here is our new crossing looking from the south

and towards the house, by now it was 32 degrees!

 some of the beading the finisher/cabinet boys added today

 really starting to look like furniture.

 At 4 we loaded the rocky dirt piled at the house and the girls and I loaded all "crap" from around the house and we took to the pit. Above is a pile dumped by a fellow who said he had clean fill, yes this is the same fellow who the first time ripped up the field with his crappy driving skills after rain, this time he dumped a pile of junk - tims & starbucks cups, plant pots, beer cans, plumbing pipes, landscape fabric, cement blocks to name just a few of the junk he claimed was clean.. moral.. there never is free clean fill!

 we dumped ours

 and Sheldon got busy moving it all down into the bottom while I tidied up baler twine and rail ends that were all over after the filled pond in spring, it is now looking much more presentable since it is the first thing you see when entering our yard

 hard to see but the girls let the 2 new ladies out with the herd, we now have 2 herds - to the left Hawk, Bandit, KD and Jessie - to the right Daisy, Julio, Beck, Pepper and Baby

 Britt decided to come find us and practice her extreme biking skills. At 5:30 we unhooked the trailer back at teh house for the new week, Parked the skid steer, reloaded garbage wood chunks and picked up Shaina who was now "sick" after a long day with no food ( she had to eat a hot dog which she does not like) but who will feel better to go to initiation tonight.

Back in town at 6 we all hit the shower after a long dusty hot day, quickly threw on spaghetti with salad for supper. Amanda, Craig, & Asher stopped for a quick visit and invited us over for red velvet cupcakes so of course we must go for one after I post this blog.

then is will be home to bed for 3 of us as tomorrow we have tickets to Cirque de Soliel Ovo!