Big Changes

We had a very eventful weekend.

Busy.

And lots of major changes.

Saturday morning Rod headed off to work.

Kyle and I headed off to pick up a trailer load

full of hay for the folks next door.

While there, I got a text from Rod's brother

and wife asking for some help.

So as soon as we were done with the hay,

Kyle and I headed north to their house.

Picked up Rod's Dad for the day.

We had a GREAT day!

Took him to the airport to visit Rod

and have a tour of where Rod works.



We had a good visit!

Then we headed over to the Honda shop

to visit with Jim and see where he works.

Rod's other brother, Scott works there too,

but he doesn't work on Saturdays.

(We didn't get a picture... Darn!)

Then we headed to our house for lunch

and a nap.

Watched a little TV.

And then about 5:00 Rod came home

and we all loaded up again (Kyle's truck,

the only one with A/C)

and headed back north.

But to a different house this time.

George has moved from Tim & Angie's house

into a really nice little assisted living facility.

It's actually a single family home in a regular

neighborhood (older and nice and quiet).

There are 5 total "residents" and a staff

of nurses to take care of the folks.

Each person has their own room.

Dad's room is the largest (lucky duck!)

Big enough for his bed, his BIG leather

easy chair, a guest easy chair, his TV,

dressers and bedside tables.

Plus he has his own bathroom attached to

his room.

The house itself has a living room, a den,

an eat-in kitchen, and a nice little covered

patio with comfy chairs for sitting out and getting air.

We met several of the nurses and everybody

seemed VERY nice and competent.

Of course, one of the residents immediately

came in, introduced herself and took George

under her wing.  Her husband retired from

the Air Force.  Dad decided he could be

friends with her anyway.  (grin)

(He retired from the Navy...)

The only other male resident retired from the Army.

They have lots in common and lots to talk about.

We left them at the dinner table and we

could hardly get a word in edge-wise to say Good bye!

We stopped up again Sunday afternoon

after church, to visit for a couple of hours.

He seemed comfortable and happy.

(I forgot to bring my iPod, so no photos,

but I'll take some next time...)

They have all sorts of daily activities

scheduled that you are welcome to participate in

or not.

There is a group who brings some therapy dogs.

There is a woman who comes to play the piano

and they can just listen, or join a sing-along.

They have another group that bring in arts/crafts.

He is the youngest of the group - the oldest

(and sharpest) are 94 and 96!!!

I think he will really thrive here.

He had a lady who came in to stay with him,

but for the most part, he sat in his room

with the TV on all day.

This house sounds like there is always

something going on - lots of laughter

and activities!

The residents help (as much as they want) with

meal prep, setting the table, etc. 

It's really a "home" situation rather than

a nursing home/warehouse.

We'll give it a try and see how it goes,

but so far so good...

As Promised

I remembered my chord!

Which is pretty amazing considering...

(actually, I put it in my purse last night)

Remember last month?  These little squirts

were hatched out on February 28.

They have porked out!

The little brown girls are my Easter Eggers.

They should (hopefully) be ready to lay

around July 4th.

But the white boys are just about ready

for "freezer camp".

We'll probably take care of that next week.

Or Saturday afternoon.

Whichever.

The girls aren't quite big enough yet.

But we got mostly boys anyway.

They grow too fast for their feathering to keep up.

Which is why there are some naked spots.

The bunnies were posing.

(the neighbor just brought her dog out)

We've got tiny, medium, big, and Bob.

Bob has been breeding the oldest two females,

so we are going to keep them for a month

and see what happens.

The other two adult females are OUT.

(The same day we do the chickens.)

This month one of them had ONE, the other

didn't even have any.

Meanwhile Green Mama had 4.

Almost the same time as the single baby,

so she is fostering that one as well.

They are one week old.

Meanwhile.

The CSA next door was selling sunflowers

as a fund raiser for Children's Miracle.

Kyle brought me a bouquet.

And I brought them to the office for the day.

We had company over for dinner and a walk

in the woods last night - they made a great

decoration for the kitchen!

Thanks Kyle!

+++++++++++++++++

Aunt Karen had her surgery yesterday - they kept her

for observation overnight, but Mom says she is doing well!

Keeping her in our prayers!

I Promise

Holy Smokes!

It was BEAUTIFUL outside this morning.

Such a lovely blue sky

light breeze

warm

aaaaaaaahhhhh.

(Yah, I know, it's probably snowing in Calgary again)

(sorry!)

Anyhow.

I threw caution to the wind and took my camera (iPod)

out to the back and took some pictures of everybody.

(Ok, just the chickens and rabbits)

(Rod was busy)

But then, when I got to work, I realized

I cleaned out my purse the other day.

And put the chord in a drawer in the kitchen.

Which means...

No pictures today.

Darn it!

But.

I WILL remember to get the chord

and I WILL post some pictures tomorrow.

But here are a couple from my boss.



(Don't know what happened to that last one - it's right

everywhere else... guess you'll just have to tip your head.)

Her geese just hatched these little darlings.

She is trying to get me to buy them.

HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

+++++++++++++++++

PS - Aunt Karen is having back surgery - remember her
in your prayers!  We love you Karen!

R.I.P. Richard

We lost an amazing man last week.

His name was Richard Onines.

You might know him.

You might not know that,

but you might know him.

He was one of the last remaining people

who was there on Omaha Beach.

He was a signal man.

He was standing on the beach

doing his Morse Code

to signal the boats to come

into the beach.

Everybody was crawling in the sand.

Richard was just standing there

waving his arms and flags.

And the Germans didn't shoot him.

He didn't find out until much later

the guys on the boats couldn't read

Morse Code.

They had NO idea what he was doing,

but they figured he must want them to come in.

So they did.

He featured prominently on a History Channel

documentary about that event.

Mom knows him.

A little.

He called the Geneology Center help line

and got her on the phone.

After she answered his questions, she

chatted with him and found out he lived in

our city and we were actually in the same

ward and knew each other.

He was a favorite "Grandpa" in the ward.

He was a great Gospel Doctrines teacher

and when he wasn't teaching, he sat on the

front row with his lovely wife and always

contributed excellent insight into the lessons.

His memorial service was held on Saturday

and we got to meet many of their 10 children

dozens of grandchildren and 37 great grandchildren.

They did a couple of really nice

family choir numbers.

(He was VERY musical - originally entering the

Navy in the drum corp and the choir.)

(Then they trained him to signal - but never

really taught him to shoot.)

He was a great man.

He was a true friend.

He will be missed by many.

Rain

While other parts of the country are getting SNOW

AGAIN

(sheesh - Mother Nature - enough already!)

it has been really beautiful here.

Just not today.

Or tomorrow.

Or Saturday.

Or even Sunday.

(*ahem - Mother Nature - isn't there a law somewhere

that states Easter Sunday MUST be beautiful?)

All these clouds and rain and stuff

have brought some stunning sunsets.

My supervisor at work lives on the river.

(Ok , not ON the river, you know what I mean...)

Snapped this with her phone and sent it to me.

Amazing, eh?

If somebody painted that, folks would think they

were making it up.

But nope - this is pretty typical.

Bright, vibrant colors, reflecting off the water.

Aaaaaaaaaahhhh.

Hope you are having spectacular sunsets

wherever you are.

(Psst - today is rain, rain, wind, and more rain.)

(ick)

We DID get to see the Blood Moon.

It just wasn't very photogenic.

More Building Going On Around Here

This is what happens when I go out of town.

They went out and bought a new saw.

And, of course, they had to build a stand.

And, since they were in the dog room/garage,

they had to clean up.

And look what they found!

Oh good, it still works!

Even Jimbo dropped by for a game or two

(Dad whooped him - until Rod sunk the 8 ball...

and Jim wisely left.  LOL)

(He was actually doing his taxes and picking up

his Jury Duty notice.)

I didn't get to play.

I had to go to a Trails and Greenways Committee meeting.

(They don't know how lucky they were!)

Roof Rooster, uh, Chicken

Several of my chickens have "discovered"

they can fly.

So they fly over the fence and range all over

the property all day long.

But ONE particular chicken has set her sights higher.

She flies to the top of the chicken coop.

From there it's a short flight to the

lower level of the barn roof.

And, of course, then to the higher level.

She has decided it's pretty fun and goes up every day.

The rooster, Fred, is scared to go up there.

So she is our resident Roof Rooster/Chicken.

This morning Kyle took a picture of her

with his brand new phone.

I can see we are going to have some fun

with this phone and it's apps...



Kyle the Builder

Not only does Kyle build a MEAN chicken coop

He can build other stuff too.

I don't have a little table for on the patio.

No place to put my drink.

My Kindle.

My phone.

My feet.

I mentioned it to Kyle the other day.

15 minutes later...

He had found an old 4x4 by the barn,

cut up some other leftover wood

and built me a table!

(He rubbed dirt into the top and then

put a couple coats of poly on it.)

Looks great, doesn't it?

I took yesterday off and ran a bunch of errands.

And then I sat in my chair

and put my drink on my new table.

It was wonderful!

Thanks Kyle!!!

Rod to the Rescue!

Yesterday was crazy.

I have a TERRIBLE time getting out of bed

on the morning after teaching.

So I was a couple of minutes behind schedule.

Which meant I started the day off in a rush.

Although I DID take a few minutes to go out

and see the coop in the light and take

a couple of pictures.

When I got to work, I needed to finish a

project and I only had a couple hours to do it.

Finally got it done at 12:30.

I was supposed to be in a training class

across town at 12:30.

So I figured I was going to be late anyway,

I stopped at Sonic drive-thru

(the first time since September)

and inhaled a cheeseburger

(first BUN since September)

on my way.

I was late for the 12:30 registration.

But early for the 1:00 start time.

That counts, right????

Sat in a training class, learning how to log in

and do the basic stuff on a system I have been

using daily for 15 years.

It was fascinating.

Luckily I sat next to the Executive Assistant for

our Revenue Director - turns out we know each

other - we were the voices on the phone back in

the old Architect days.

We actually did some work for her (several times)

through Buffalo Graffics.

So we had a good visit.

And I learned one new tip.

Anyhow.

We got out of class 15 minutes early.

(4:45)

I was anxious to get out of there.

When I walked to my truck, I couldn't

find my keys anywhere!

They are on a Parelli horse head carabeener (sp)

and I hang them on my purse.

ALWAYS.

But they weren't there.

Or in my purse.

Or any of my pockets.

Or in the t-shirt bag I used to bring my blanket.

(I FREEZE in classrooms - including my own.)

Nobody turned them in at the front desk.

They weren't upstairs in the classroom.

They weren't in the ignition or on the seat.

So I called Rod.

He drove over to rescue me.

(He's such a good man!)

Luckily I had my Kindle with me!

Once he drove into town and found me

we unlocked the truck and started searching.

I found them.

In my Sonic bag.

With my napkin and burger wrapper.

Sheesh.

I have class again this afternoon.

I will be leaving early enough to go to Wendys

and get a salad.

And I will make SURE I hang my keys on my purse.

And bring my Kindle.

More Improvements

I "think" we might be done (ish) with the

chicken yard updates.

The guys worked really hard over the weekend

and finished up the middle coop.

It's AWESOME!

They got the bottom all screened in.

With removeable screen.

(For cleaning.)

(Meaties are kind of messy.)

The new residents are VERY happy

to be able to spread out.

And take dust baths.

And not walk on wire.

They took out some of the old bottom braces

and put in new ones, so we can

actually walk in there.

And they built a new door.

(It might need a coat of paint)

The whole thing is so wonderful!!!!!

I'm working again this weekend,

but then I'm FINALLY off for two weekends.

So I might buy some Thompson's water seal

and paint the two big coops.

(And the door.)

The door is a sign we made for a property

management company several years ago.

The guys are off to the feed mill this morning

to get another 1100 pounds of feed.

160+ chickens and 3 horses eat

a LOT.

I'm so lucky to have these men to look after

us and our critters!



Kyle was BUSY

Since Kyle didn't get accepted to his college

he has been burning off all his excess energy

in projects around the property.

I'm loving it.

(And he's not really sad to NOT be going

to Wisconsin...)

Anyhow - yesterday he finished the pasture fence.

We have been talking about it forever.

Buddy is just the right height to sneak under the

top rail we put up a year or so ago.

Kyle ran some electric wire (but not electrified)

and Buddy just pushes through.

(Stinker!)

So yesterday Kyle put up a middle board.

And then he put up a permanent fence

dividing the "sand yard" from the "green yard".

We've had lots of variations of fence

along that section.

We tried electric.

We tried temp field fence.

Nothing really worked.

(You can just see the lighter board - clean and new)

And, the NEW fence!

He did a GREAT job.

Buddy was NOT impressed.

Next up... fertilizer and summer pasture seed.

(We seed twice a year to keep our pastures

green and yummy all year long...)